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What's coming to the PS-Store near you?
ThreeSpeech, the semi-official blog under Sony's umbrella of ultimate justice, have posted a quick reminder of what titles are coming to the PlayStation Store in the next month or two. Not surprisingly, more delays! Awesome. Calling All Cars - May 18th Nucleus - May 25th Super Stardust HD - June 15th Will Calling All Cars ever come out? Probably not. Will the US ever get Super Rub-a-Dub? Of course. While it is surprising to see the two crazy spaceship-ish shooters coming out so soon, we really wanted to get our hands on Calling All Cars back on March 22nd. Jaffe, you're a crazy guy, but you shouldn't drive us to insanity, too.
Sony unfurls Q2 release list for PlayStation platforms
Prompted by a panicked glance at a nearby calendar, Sony has blasted out a list of "key titles" slated for release on all manner of PlayStation devices during the second quarter of 2007. Starting over two weeks ago and ending on the last day of June, this period of time sees us paralyzed by F.E.A.R. and having to resort to Calling All Cars to save us from The Darkness brought by ninjas, pirates and Transformers. We'll likely run the Gauntlet in a Final Fantasy of Harvest Mooning... oh forget it. Just read the list. PSN Calling All Cars -- 18 May Nucleus -- 25 May Super Stardust HD -- 15 June Championship Sprint Gauntlet II Joust Mortal Kombat II Rampage World Tour Super Puzzle Fighter II HD Remix Rampart [Note: PSN release dates as published by "semi-official", semi-accurate Sony blog, ThreeSpeech.]
David Jaffe wants independent studio, hates capitalism?
David Jaffe is the closest thing to a mascot Sony has right now (we've actually got a nice feature detailing that coming up -- so long as this weekend allows Nick the time to research and write it up), so naturally whatever he says will be taken with a grin, nod, and written down to report on later. GameDaily had another interview with the guy, and we'll take the honor of posting some of his fabulous quotes.What would you change about the PS3? "I probably would have taken the Blu-ray out and sold it for less money." Fair enough. Is this the first time someone affiliated with Sony said something like this? Any plans to start up an independent studio or anything? "I think it's a great idea and it's an idea that I've explored and will continue to explore." He talks about how he's not sure whether the studio would be within or outside of Sony, but he plans to continue contributing to Sony either way. However, he's not sure about the idea. Are bigger games better than smaller titles? How do you feel about being driven to create blockbuster titles one after the other? "It's like, 'F**k you capitalist society that says all I need to do is work and contribute to the bottom line. F**k you up your a**.' I want a life." Now that's what we're talking about! It was strange how Jaffe's attitude was absent from the rest of the interview. Heh, capitalism. He's certainly entertaining. His games are, too. Even if he decides to shy away from those "bigger" titles permanently, he'll definitely become a force to be reckoned with once those downloadable games start rolling out. His latest, Calling All Cars, should be out next week. Probably Thursday, since the PS-Store loves updating on Thursday. Just like Phantasy Star Universe... speaking of, there's a huge update in that game today.
Jaffe: fixing scoring gap reason for Calling All Cars delay
Insomniac Games (Resistance: Fall of Man, Ratchet and Clank series) interviewed David Jaffe (God of War) for the second episode of their new podcast, The Full Moon Show. Of note is Jaffe's explanation for the delay of his upcoming PlayStation Network title, Calling All Cars.Jaffe said that during playtests people were enjoying themselves more when the scores were close, rather than when the scoring gap was wide. He talked to some industry vets who had worked on a few Midway titles to see if they had any code that could be used to narrow that scoring gap, and sure enough they had some code."We certainly don't want to go into and put in tons of that, but we've gone in and added just a little bit," he said. He continued to say that his hope is folks who are within 20% of each other's skill levels to have very competitive matches. Jaffe also explained that this was the reason for another playtest, and if the code's effects are noticeable then they will take it out.Jaffe noted that they are still planning for a release during the month of April.The interview starts 21 minutes into the 2-hour podcast. Jaffe also talked about his frankness in discussion, his love of playtests (the fifth one is coming up) and his ambitious, now on permanent hiatus, PSP tearjerker Heartland. The podcast also includes updates on Resistance: Fall of Man and the upcoming Ratchet and Clank Future.[Via Aeropause]
Why was Calling All Cars delayed so much?
The Full Moon Show, an Insomniac podcast, recently released "Episode 2" where they interviewed some guy who called himself David Jaffe or something like that. Ever heard of this lout? He thought he could explain why Calling All Cars, made by this other guy named... hmm... well, shoot, we completely forgot! Was it something like Javid Daffe? Either way, here's the explanation from the man himself.During their extensive playtesting, there were instances where one player would just blow away the other players, creating a gap in score that kept growing to silly amounts. Sensing that it would draw away from the fun, Jaffe retreated to some devs who worked on older, arcade-style games for some coding help. Enter the image of Jaffe conversing with a Council of Elders in Developerland. Jaffe and crew are currently testing out some of the strategies for fixing the issue as given by these other developers. At least he's trying to make it fair for everyone, right?
Calling All Cars on the run from March release date
We'd been expecting Calling All Cars, David Jaffe's PlayStation Network followup to God of War, to hit the service in March. Actually, we were looking forward to it, anxious to spend some serious time with another e-distributed title. Unfortunately the title, outfitted with prison stripes an awkward fetters, is running from its March release date. According to IGN, we won't catch up with the perp until "mid-April." While it's not an extension of Castle Crashers proportions, we ain't overjoyed about holding out another couple weeks. We'll just go back to carving the days out on our wall ... [Via PS3 Fanboy]
Calling All Cars delayed another week... or two
It's really closer to three. David Jaffe's insanely hyped downloadable game, Calling All Cars, was supposed to hit the PS-Store right around the launch of the European PS3. Obviously, that is no longer the case, as the title has been pushed back to mid-April. Why? No idea. No word from Sony on it, but we're going to assume it's because there's already a lot coming out at the end of March -- Sony wants Jaffe's game to get as much attention as possible.While we're on the topic of downloadable games, what is your favorite? We'll include game demos here because, well, sometimes demos can be really, really fun. I've had the most fun with flOw... not myself, but because I enjoy everyone else ask to play it and grin as they awkwardly begin learning the SIXAXIS, then smile softly once they've mastered it.
What's coming to the PS-Store soon?
While we can't be sure about what movie trailers are making their way to the PS-Store, we would like to remind you of a couple of games that should be getting released in a week or two. These two games are Mortal Kombat II and Calling All Cars. There's an exclamation point at the end of the second title, but it would just be complete silliness should we put a ! and a . right next to one another. They would fight, one would be taller... it would get ugly.As we said, Mortal Kombat II will be released very soon. Around March 15th soon. So if you're already tired of MotorStorm and want to get back into some bloody good fights, you'll just have to wait until Thursday evening. Calling All Cars! is getting its release on March 22nd, much to a couple of people's surprises -- a handful of people tried to tell me it had been delayed. I assured them March, they scoffed. In turn, I now scoff. So, which of these two sultry vixens of PS-Store games will you be grabbing? Or are you a hound dog... and will only settle on both?
GDC 07: Calling All Cars impressions
Calling All Cars, David Jaffe's upcoming PlayStation Store-exclusive game, was available for play on the GDC show floor. The game, which has you competing against up to three other players, has you controlling wacky cop cars trying to catch criminals. The game is easy to pick up, fast, and most importantly, totally fun.Playing with three other players resulted in a game of total chaos and mayhem. The cars were incredibly responsive, and the various weapons created constant clashes. The levels were highly destructible, encouraging players to enter total rampages.Be sure to check out Calling All Cars when it hits the PlayStation Store later this week.
PSP Fanboy Theatre: Volume 9
PSP Fanboy offers the latest and greatest movie and game trailers, formatted for the PSP in this new weekly feature. Check it out every Saturday. PSP owners can download files wirelessly via m.pspfanboy.com.Instructions: Save all movie and thumbnail files to MP_ROOT/101ANV01/. Requires firmware 2.00 or above. Do NOT place in "VIDEO" folder. Firmware 2.80 or above do not need to download thumbnails. This is Living (PS3 Blu-Ray advertisement)Download MP4 (10.6MB) | Download THM The following videos are featured after the break: Black Sheep, Paprika, Calling All Cars [PS3], Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai: Another Road [PSP]
Today's hottest game video: Calling All Cars
The most-watched GameTrailers video, a trailer for Calling All Cars, is our pick for today. We've been wanting this title ever since we saw a tiny glimpse of it at Sonys Gamer's Day back when it was called Criminal Crackdown. The trailer shows some of the party title's fast, overhead racing gameplay.Look for the downloadable PS3 game soon, and watch the trailer after the break.
David Jaffe hates focus testing
Designer David Jaffe's latest blog entry, as vulgar-laden as usual, was a liveblog of his day at a focus test for Calling All Cars (previously Criminal Crackdown), an upcoming PlayStation 3 downloadable title. You won't find much in terms of new game details, but aspiring game developers could learn a lot from this manic entry. We know that some of you out there don't appreciate Jaffe's verbose language or feel like the designer, who's probably known best for God of War, hasn't "earned" his street cred yet, but naysayers can still walk away from this transcript with an understanding of the inordinate amount of anxiety put on game makers when they watch their projects get critiqued and criticized by various demographic representative, for better and worse, and how technical issues will vastly affect the situation.Calling All Cars is planned for a release next month in the range of $5 to $10.
Calling All Cars preview overview... that works, right?
Well, we last spoke of David Jaffe's Calling All Cars game sometime last week. He was going to show the build to 1UP and like someone who keeps his word, he did just that. What did they think? What did they learn? We're going to talk about just that. But we'll say this: they had fun and that's a good sign.The premise of the game is fairly simple: choose a car, knock other cars out of your way (either bumping or weaponry works -- more on that in a bit), nab the criminal and port him off to the nearest prison drop-off. Bam! You receive points. There are other ways to get points, like nailing a helicopter or a paddy wagon instead of the regular prison drop-off point. Most points at the end of the game wins, just like golf! I always win at golf.Weaponry is a good assist when it comes to knocking your rivals out of commission. They're one-time use items, but they get the job done. First up is the Hammer: it's short-range and you can imagine what it does. If the car subject to your attack has a criminal inside, he'll pop right out. Next is the Magnet: it's medium-range and seems to suck the criminal right out of a car nearby. Handy. Lastly is the Missile: you can figure it out. Jaffe claims each weapon has defensive abilities too, but the 1UP staff didn't understand his hints. Like we said earlier: there's probably a rock-paper-scissors effect (magnet attracts missile, missile stops hammer, hammer crushes magnet is what this clever blogger is assuming). There's a bit more coverage about the game, but it's just the control scheme and their final impressions -- all positive. We're looking forward to this one![via 1UP.com]
Calling All Cars due out in March, like everything else...
Yeah, we've said that March is going to be a huge library-increasing month for the PS3 (thanks in part completely to the European PS3 launch) but it's also going to be a big month for downloadable PS-Store games, too. We've told you that flOw is coming out near the end of February (may as well be March), but now we've been told that Calling All Cars may be completed before the end of March. Along with the newly renamed Go! Puzzle (formerly Go! Swizzleblock 2), that's a triple threat of casual gaming awesome.As David Jaffe has said about Calling All Cars, it's sort of a mix between Bomberman, Twisted Metal, Demolition Derby, and fun. There's a video of it if you're curious, but really, we'd rather play it. These smaller releases will definitely prove to be a nice distraction between all the huge releases in March. Personally, I'm itching to get a hold of Armored Core 4, MotorStorm, Lair, Heavenly Sword, flOw... oh hell, I'm itching to get a hold of everything!
David Jaffe's Calling All Cars is running smoothly, like a new car...
God of War mastermind David Jaffe has to keep busy between now and the release of God of War 2, so he's been working on a few independent projects. The first project, known only as Heartland, was cancelled. His other project, Calling All Cars, which is a PlayStation Store downloadable title (coming soon) has been rolling along nicely. All the tuning is apparently complete and Jaffe is going to let the folks over at 1up look it over this week.The game itself is a sort of nonlinear cops and robbers type game (from what I read, at least) with a multitude of cars to choose from. There are three different types of weapons to choose from for your car and if memory serves, each weapon acts as a sort of rock, paper, scissors deal -- one overpowers another, but is vulnerable to the third. It seems like a really fun game and would be a welcome addition to the original titles sitting in the PS-Store. We'll keep an eye out to see how the critics react to the game!Side note: David Jaffe looks cold. Lucky. I wish it would snow here in Athens.
Jaffe's Criminal Crackdown could be a hit for PS3 download service
David Jaffe and Incognito's secret PlayStation 3 project has been revealed as Criminal Crackdown, a downloadable action/party game running at 60 fps in 1080p. With big names on board and "the right" numbers, could this be the first in a series of Xbox Live Arcade killers?Jaffe has suggested that Criminal Crackdown will lead a wave of "shorter, less expensive" titles (developed in under a year, and presumably distributed digitally) created by established development studios -- the future of the industry, he supposes. But is a throwback arcade romp (with just four levels) what the PS3 was built for?See also:Sony's Geometry Wars (and other e-Distributed titles) leaked
Jaffe abandons PSP, releasing quick-turnaround PS3 title
David Jaffe didn't have to make a game to "make you cry," he just had to cancel it. After boisterous claims that he was working on a game that would bring tears to our eyes, Jaffe blogs -- yep, back from his hiatus -- that this mysterious Project HL is now "on the shelf." For you optimists, the foul-mouthed designer adds, "fuck it. We'll do HL later ... maybe."As it turns out, Jaffe has focused his spastic energy on an unannounced PlayStation 3 project, which apparently shares characteristics with Twisted Metal and Bomberman and, well, Jaffe's not ready to say much else ... Interestingly, the game has only been in development for 6–7 months, but being on the verge of goin' Alpha, Jaffe expects the final version to hit retail between November and January. A surprise launch title? Perhaps.In typical Jaffe fashion, the post explodes, in ALL CAPS, into an excited ramble, envisioning the future of games as "SHORTER, LESS EXPENSIVE" projects, akin to the churn'em-out-style of old Warner Bros. cartoons. "...just knocking them out," blogs Jaffe, "and some are -- worst case -- just average, while some are amazing ... but it adds up to a hell of a batting average over time and lots of fun games." You have our attention. Now please deliver.[Via PSP Fanboy]
