Adams Briscoe
Articles by Adams Briscoe
Rumor control: No plans for PS3 downgrade
You know the drill. First it starts out from an "anonymous inside source" then it gets construed until the cows come home. That's about how the whole rumor concerning the PlayStation 3 downgrade started. Apparently an "inside source" revealed that Sony couldn't quite get all the pieces to fit and still make it cool correctly, thus needing a downgrade. He or she also said that the Cell could be clocked down from 3.2GHz to 2.8GHz in order to manufacture them in greater mass.Well Jonathan Fargher, a Sony rep, has stepped up to dismiss those rumors for the BS that they are. "Developers have been working with PS3 dev kits for anywhere between eight and 12 months, and to suggest that we'd now take the decision to downgrade the hardware at such a late stage, is, well, ridiculous."And to address the issue of sticking all those components inside the already large casing, he said they "do have over 40 years of experience making consumer electronics equipment, and therefore, extensive experience in making things fit."
Guitar Hero rocks out online
Face it, you secretly wish you were a rock star. The girls, glamor and glitz are too much to pass up for strummin' on some chords. That's why Harmonix's Guitar Hero is so addictive. Sure, you're playing with a mass-produced plastic replica of a guitar not unlike a toy axe, but it's fun!Wouldn't it be even better online? Publisher RedOctane's boss Kai Huang says that next-gen installments will include online stuff like "downloading new music or characters or skins or online play features." The last part sounds the best: rocking it out online against your best friend would be priceless. Of course we can only infer what else "online play features" would entail.The allure of being able to download additional content like music begs the question: Would they charge for it? Micro-transactions could be a huge haul for a next-gen music-oriented title. We'll have to wait and see how that gets answered, but in the meantime try and imagine other "Hero" themed music titles for your imitation fix (Bagpipe Hero anyone?). More instrument peripheral games is the next logical step according to the publisher.
Frontlines: Fuel of War debut trailer
World superpowers, oil, fly this, shoot that. Frontlines: Fuel of War may not come across as the most original concept, but a debut trailer that came out yesterday proves it's still got a few tricks up its sleeve. This could be an excellent squad-based and vehicular shooter for the new Sony console. However online play would really make it stand out.The footage doesn't seem to convey much in-game action, mostly theatric stuff, but it still gives you a good feel for what to expect. Frontlines comes from the same people who worked on Battlefield 2 R&D projects and Desert Combat (could ya tell?) so the style of gameplay follows that paradigm. Look for it in 2007.
John Woo's Stranglehold set for launch
If there's one game that will excite you in the right places for the PS3, you can count on it being John Woo Presents Stranglehold. Inspector Tequila (starring Chow Yun-Fat) will jump, spin, kick and shoot your socks off in this "loose followup" to the Hard Boiled series.So here's some good news: PlayStation 3 fans can expect this title on launch day. Come November 17th, it will invade shelves along with the new console. Still no official word on the Xbox 360 or PC release dates, but we're sure you can come up with a reasonable guess.
Gamers speak up: Blu-ray is okay!
According to one community, fans looking forward to the PlayStation 3 say that bundling a Blu-ray player with the new console was a good move by Sony. A resounding 67% said they agree with the inclusion (granted it was only out of 1,120 votes). However the other third that voted thinks it would have been wise to have the option to choose it with or without Blu-ray.Whether Sony should have had two version of the console is neither here nor there. What really matters is what the gaming community thinks as a whole. Should Blu-ray have been optional or not? We've tackled this one before, but it would be very interesting to see the results played out on a wider poll. Expect one addressing this question to pop up next week and we'll get some formal numbers from our own community to see what you think.
Kutaragi hints at external power supply
Ken Kutaragi talked with a Japanese website recently about most of the things you've probably been wondering. He spoke about keeping costs down, heating issues, the Cell and even hinted at including an external power supply for the PlayStation 3.For starters, he said that reducing the size of the Cell in the future will allow for lower costs (as we've heard already). But he also said that power consumption will be key: "If we can't reduce [power consumption] we will never be able to make the PS3 cheap and small." Well then, for the love of all that's economical, please manage that consumption!When talking about heating more extensively, he said that "the power supply could almost be sold separately." So if they decide to go with that, expect a power brick, except of even bigger proportions than what you're used to (like the 360's). With a console the size of the PlayStation 3, it's going to need all the juice it can get.
Radical Movement: is motion-sensing just a fad?
IGN has a big four-page article tackling the notion about whether these newfangled motion-sensing controllers are just a gimmick or not. Are both Nintendo and Sony venturing down the road of the Power Glove, only to be a forgotten memory in years to come? The chance of that happening have yet to be seen, but to frame this correctly, you have to consider that it's not a new technology. Sure, everyone's talking about someone copying somebody else. But the reality of it is that this has been around for quite some time now. In this business you have to learn from mistakes in the past, which is what Sony and the Nintendo camp are doing. But what if we're just going through the motions and falling for another gimmick (no pun intended). There's a whole lot of potential behind this technology if we get the right creative minds behind it. Innovation has many faces, but will we see it used correctly? Read the rest of the article and think about it.
And Sony's two biggest mistakes are...
It's not hard to discredit a large company that is having such a hard time in bridging the gap for something like the next-gen console race. Think of it like kicking a dog when it's down. Many people have stepped up to proclaim what they believe Sony's biggest mistakes are.This particular instance comes from Guardian Unlimited and the writer catches two potentially crippling moves that will make or break the console. For starters, it's the design. Sony is wanting to move a console that dwarfs anything we've seen up to this point (and that includes the original Xbox). Size aside, the author says that by marketing a console that includes technology which is expensive to reproduce and ahead of cost-effective PC technology, they are driving away their customers.Of course that's the idea here isn't it? Sony is trying to out-pace the technology to get it into people's homes at an early rate. This will work for some people, mind you, and that's what they're hoping for. However, the article continues with the claim that by smuggling Blu-ray in with the console, they could be acting too soon. It's not an established format, after all, so why try to force it on people? When it all comes down to it, the PS3 will sink or swim based on what the people want. It won't be long until we find out which one the people choose.
Best Buy puts up Final Fantasy VII listing
At the ripe price of 60 bucks, Final Fantasy VII for PS3 is showing up on Best Buy's website. Oh but wait, there's more. It even goes as far to list December 1st as being release date, obviously for here in the States. With everyone and their grandmother talking about a next-gen remake, this puts a bit more substance to the discussion (albeit only a little).Now who wants to start taking bids on how long it takes for Square Enix to get this removed?[Via Gaming Horizon]
Rumor roundup: Ninja Gaiden Black, Burnout
Don't worry, these aren't just surfacing from the intarweb or malicious websites. Coming from Electronic Gaming Monthly, there's a bit more credibility to them. However, a rumor is a rumor, so don't take anything to heart! According to the publication, gamers could be seeing a PS3 installment of Ninja Gaiden Black. Should this prove true, it wouldn't be practical to hold out for a November release. However anything next-gen of the dangerous assassin would be well-received (but doubly so with an original title). Another rumor surfacing talks about the possibility of seeing a massively multiplayer version of Burnout. Talk about some design mechanics! This would have a lot of potential with a big fan base backing it. So there you have it: rumors for the taking. If we get any followups, you'll know where to find them.
Pressures to deliver Gran Turismo HD demo
Imagine you're in one of the most premier developing houses around, and you've suddenly been asked to ensure the showing of a historically impressive franchise at the biggest videogame gathering in the world. And you've got three weeks to do it.This is what was going through Polyphony Digital's Kazunori Yamauchi when he was personally asked by Ken Kutaragi to have something ready for E3 concerning Gran Turismo. So with three weeks to go before the big event, the staff set to work. The magic happened thanks to hi-res car models from the Photo Mode in Gran Turismo 4.Now if only every developer had that kind of work ethic (Duke Nukem Forever anyone?).
Oops: Sony spelling error marks PS3 controller
This will no doubt be construed in a certain way (we're looking at you anti-Fanboys), but it's still pretty funny. In a Ginza showroom in Tokyo, Sony was showing off their new console, but it was a silly spelling error that took the cake for one visitor. Apparently they misspelled 'SELECT' on the controller, having it labeled 'SERECT' instead. It's a small, yet noticeable mistake that will obviously come clean by November (we hope). Okay, go easy on the flogging.
PS3 wanted in CA, NJ, but not Colorado?
That's the vibe we're getting from this interesting write-up from GameDaily. They polled some gamers in each of those places only to find that California and New Jersey seem to be looking forward to the Sony system, but no love for it in Colorado?In fact, here's one quote that has a pretty good point: "With a price like $600, people might just come back to the arcade for affordable gaming. Well, either that or get a PS2." To those of you too poor not attracted to the PS3, think you may pick up your grassroots in the arcade for some gaming action? Seems like a viable alternative if you already own an Xbox 360 and don't plan on picking up Sony's console. Of course other gamers just spoke their mind like "They're out of their f***ing heads."Yeah, we've heard that one before too. Possibly the most valuable quote to take away from the whole affair pretty much sums it all up perfectly: "It's just the hardcore people that have a problem with it. Core gamers are little bitches. They complain about everything because they're used to a certain standard of living, and whenever anyone dares to change it they complain. You don't see people stressing out about the prices of new cars, computers, or appliances nearly as much. The cost of living is going up. If you don't want a PS3, then don't buy one."[Thanks boots]
"This is not a done deal" says O'Hanrahan
You've no doubt heard about the reality-check coined by Niall O'Hanrahan of Sony Ireland. If you haven't, let's recap.Sony execs have been tripping over themselves since E3 trying to cover ground. They've gone so far as to call the PC out and, to a lesser extent, lead the press on an anti-Sony campaign thanks to many a fallible quote. In the face of a jeering crowd, they have had a large amount of blind confidence that everyone wants to get a piece of.Now, arguably for the first time, a Sony executive is owning up and saying what needed to be said: "We have a marketing challenge from now until launch. This is not a done deal. It will require a lot of effort from us. ... We would never say we cannot fail." This is definitely a big contradiction to what we've been hearing from other Sony cheerleaders. If they had just leveled with everyone like this in the first place, it would have saved them truckloads of grief. Now it's time for Sony to take a different angle on the PR since they have our attention.
EGM sits down with FFXIII developers
It's a fantasy of the final kind that just keeps on chuggin'. Shane Bettenhausen of EGM fame got to talk it up with Shinji Hashimoto, Yoshinori Kitase, Tetsuya Nomura and Toriyama about Square Enix and their Final Fantasy XIII project.While the interview will be appearing in this month's magazine, the whole unabridged version can be seen on 1UP. Mr. Kitase starts it up by conceding that they had originally thought about doing FFXIII on PS2 before deciding that both it and FFVersusXIII would ship on PlayStation 3. On the subject of narrative crossovers, Nomura says that each world is separate and will not allow for other characters meet each other.Of course he follows that up stating that there is the "possibility in the future" of that happening, but obviously they haven't gotten to that bridge yet. Check out the full interview to see what else they had to say (motion-sensing anyone?).
Virtua Tennis 3 trailer now viewable
Serve up an ace with this new Virtua Tennis 3 trailer to get a feel for the next-gen volley action. Sega is pulling out the stops on this judging from the video (it's like Pong on steroids!). Slated for PS3 as well as Xbox 360, Virtua Tennis 3 is going to be hitting the courts in the spring of '07.
NBA Live 07 to be launch title, Mavericks win Finals
If you're a basketball aficionado you may be interested to know that NBA Live 07 is slated to be one of EA's lineups for the PS3 launch. By "one of" I'm of course alluding to their tendency to include an army of sports games for November and the Sony console as well. You may also be interested in the fact that they've predicted who will take the cake in the NBA Finals coming up via their NBA Live 07 simulation (though we don't know for which console). Hope this doesn't ruin anything for you, but it's Dallas Mavericks over the Heat.Sorry Miami fans.
Halo 2 celebrates half a billion games played!
Bungie is partying it up, and with good reason: Halo 2 is proud to have had half a billion games played on Xbox Live (we know a lot of you contributed!). From the words of Bungie, these are actual games and not player-sessions. The number was logged as of noon yesterday, and we suspect it won't be long 'till their next milestone is reached. Congrats!
Kaz Hirai says "Thanks" to Microsoft
It's been no surprise that whenever Sony is faced with the accusation of copying Microsoft's online strategy, they talk about progressing the industry as a whole and broadening the scope of the business. Kaz Hirai has furthered that mentality by going on the record saying "thanks" to the software giant."Thank you, Microsoft, for helping us in taking consumers online," he said to Mercury news. "The most important thing for us is to make sure online is an integral part of the experience. It's not a 'nice to have' feature. It enables new businesses."Even though the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will soon be going head-to-head, it's obvious that Sony and Mr. Hirai believe that this is a collective endeavor all the same. Think of it as competitive synergy. Of course if that's not the case then at least he's putting on a good poker face.
PS3 may include PS2 hardware inside
Quick: how do you ensure that the PS3 is backwards compatible with PlayStation 2 games? It's easy: you just put a PS2 inside of it.According to a Japanese periodical this is exactly what Sony has in mind for their back-compat strategy. Given that software emulation isn't an option (at least not yet), the PlayStation 3 is rumored to include the necessary hardware which is also used in the slim PS2. This would give one more reason as to why it looks so big.Of course sticking that kind of power straight into the next-gen system would guarantee a big number of supported titles right out of the box. However, it also runs up the cost and bloats the overall system. We'll have to wait and see what happens with this one as we get closer to launch.[Via Joystiq]