TechDemo
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A tearful tech demo from the studio behind 'Final Fantasy'
Square Enix, the studio responsible for the famously pretty Final Fantasy series, routinely creates tech demos for the latest and greatest gaming systems, and this week it added one more to that repertoire. During Microsoft's BUILD dev conference, Square Enix showed off a real-time DirectX 12 tech demo called WITCH: Chapter 0 [cry]. True to its name, this demo includes a crying woman -- Agni from previous Square Enix tech demos -- and all of the wonky facial animations that come with such an activity. WITCH features 63 million polygons per scene, "six to 12 times more" than what was possible with DirectX 11, Microsoft says. Check out the real-time demo below and note that while the animations certainly are pretty, there isn't much going on in these scenes in terms of AI or NPC population.
Quantic Dream's 12-minute PS4 tech demo is ready for your viewing pleasure (video)
Now that the dust has settled from Sony's E3 press conference, Quantic Dream's posted the entirety of its PS4 tech demo, The Dark Sorcerer. Over on the PlayStation Blog, the studio's director, David Cage, laid out the finer points of their experience with performance capturing and going from flexing the PS3's graphical muscle to working with the next-gen powerhouse. When it comes to technical details, the Heavy Rain developer's comedic sketch was rendered at 1080p in real-time (lighting and all), includes one million polygons for the set and just shy of a million for every on-screen character, which each boast 350MB of textures and roughly 40 different shaders. Impressed with what you see? Cage says it's bound to get better. As it stands, the engine used for the demonstration is in its first iteration, and is missing features that are scheduled for the final version. "We can feel that we are closing in little by little on the kind of graphic quality we find in CG films," Cage notes. Venture past the break for the video or hit the bordering source link for more background.
Quantic Dream's The Dark Sorcerer demo highlights PS4's graphics power
Remember the Emotion Engine from back in the PS2 days? Well, Sony's still on about the emotional connection its consoles will bring to gamers -- specifically, that of the PS4. And to showcase the console's graphical sophistication, Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida played a 12-minute tech demo of Quantic Dream's upcoming PS4 title, The Dark Sorcerer. The majority of the demo focused closely on the sorcerer in question, giving gamers an early glimpse of the nuance and hyper realistic expression capable in characters' eyes and faces. Only a short snippet was shown on stage here at E3, but if you want to digest the entire thing, Sony's planning to unveil the full 12-minute demo tomorrow afternoon. Follow all of our E3 2013 coverage at our event hub. %Gallery-190986%
Next 3DMark teased, who says benchmarks don't need trailers? (video)
Futuremark, one of the preeminent benchmark companies out there, is gearing up to let loose a new version of its 3DMark gaming test. The new suite will hammer GPUs with a DirectX 11-based scene designed to push a system to its limits. Now, benchmarks are hardly the sort of thing that people get excited for... usually. But Futuremark still sees a need to drum up interest for its Windows-only program in a landscape increasingly focused on mobile gaming and power-sipping GPUs. Hence the trailer (which you'll find after the break) that shows off just what 3DMark will demand of your next gaming rig. Its visuals aren't quite as jaw-dropping as Epic's Unreal Engine 4 demo, or as over-dramatic as the Samaritan demo NVIDIA has been running for the last few years. But, it's still an impressive showcase of dynamic lighting techniques, particle effects and fluid dynamic simulation. In particular the subtlety of the smoke is eye catching. For more info hit up the PR after the break.
Heavy Rain creators produce 'Kara' PS3 tech-demo (video)
Heavy Rain creator David Cage was showing off Quantic Dream's new game engine at GDC, which includes an innovative new performance-capture technology the company's developed. He's directed a seven-minute original short called Kara, which is the story of a female android as she becomes self-aware. Unlike traditional game production methods, this technology is able to record face and body movements at the same time as recording the actors voice -- ensuring natural and consistent performances from the characters. Actress Valorie Curry wore 90 sensors on her face, unlike in, say, Avatar, where the performers wore head-mounted cameras. Cage promises that the short is nothing more than a demo (it was rendered in real-time on a PlayStation 3) and none of these elements will appear in his next game. You can catch the impressive-looking footage after the break with one disclaimer: there's nudity throughout and a reference to adult themes, okay?
Get a physics lesson with this Euphoria tech demo
With the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV and the building anticipation for titles such as Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Backbreaker, we're constantly asked about the Euphoria physics engine featured in said games -- and by constantly, we mean never. However, to prevent such a onslaught of queries, we present you with a recently released tech demo from Euphoria creators NaturalMotion, which exhibits some of the differences between their engine and those of the ragdoll variety. Yes, we truly have reached a new era of making Michelin Men fall down in increasingly realistic ways.
The Ultimate Showdown: CryENGINE2 vs. Reality
Crytek recently whipped up a tech demonstration for their haughty, hardware punishing software, CryENGINE2, to show off at GDC. Mimicking an unforgettable ad for the Sony Bravia, the demo turned quite a few heads -- but how did the visuals of the ball-droppin' doppelganger compare to the original advertisement? Never one to miss an opportunity for a video comparison, Gametrailers whipped up the above video. What do you think -- are video games nearing photorealism? Or were your discerning, pixel-counting eyes not fooled?
Alone in the Dark tech demo shows gameplay, actual enemies
Finally, the rumors that the latest chapter in the Alone in the Dark series would be completely devoid of all life have been squelched by a tech demo for the game, released today. Not only does the video show off the intriguing "Real World Rules" engine (not to be confused with the Real World/Road Rules engine), it gives a small (okay, minuscule) sampling of some of the enemies you'll be going toe to toe with as you wander through Central Park like an acid-addled tourist.Alright, we're done making fun of this game. Between the gorgeous lighting, the innovative inventory management system, and the seemingly endless weapon creation capabilities the game will provide, we must say that our interest is piqued. Hopefully the next episode in the series of tech demos will shed light on further Macgyverisms.
Super Rub 'a' Dub makes a splash on Europe PS3 Network
Super Rub 'a' Dub, the one-time tech demo turned PlayStation Network game, is now available to download for European PS3 owners. In the game, the Sixaxis tilt control is used to balance the world and move the big duck around, akin to Monkey Ball, and try to collect all the little rubber duckies before reaching the exit. The game has an "introductory price" of 4.99 Euros / 3.49 British pounds (approximately US $6.75) until May 23. Trailer of the game embedded after the break. No word on when the US version is arriving.
Nintendo 64 tech demo videos still make us cry
Remember anticipating a 3D The Legend of Zelda? How about the excitement Final Fantasy 64 stirred up? Gaming was making its first leap into 3D in the mid-90s, and Nintendo was primed to usher in the new generation with its powerful Nintendo 64. Tech demo videos got gamers hot and bothered with the prospect of playing our favorite franchises in glorious 3D. While the graphics pale in comparison to today's games, we have to admit, they're still pretty cool to watch. Hit the jump for the videos, and be prepared for the tears of joy.
Unreal Engine 3 and other PS3 tech demos from GDC floor
Sony may have prevented pics of God of War 2, MotorStorm, and Resistance: Fall of Man from being taken during Phil Harrison's keynote speech yesterday, but they did let folks take video footage of the other PS3 tech demos on the GDC floor.So here you have not only the "Lots of Ducks" tech demo all the way from last year's E3 presentation, but you've also got a user-manipulated look at Unreal Engine 3 (which will purportedly power Unreal Tournament 2007 on PS3 next year), a performance-analysis app that flips a face around, and the underwater fish demo also seen during Phil's address.Of course, there's only so much nudging around of heavy barrels with the Unreal engine that you can take without wondering what juicy UT tidbits will turn up at E3 2006. What's nice, though, is if you're sick and tired of seeing more rubber duckies in Sony's bathtub, you can watch for them in that fishy underwater video resting at the bottom of the sea. Wow, those ducks went down... permanently! Just remember that these technical demos are not representative of final playable games. (Darn.)See also: GDC: The PS3 keynote blow by blow [Chris gets his "wrist slapped"] An in-depth look at Unreal Tournament 2007 Sony confirms God of War 2 worldwide Q1 2007 Engadget & Joystiq's live coverage of Sony's PlayStation 3 launch
