FreeRadicalDesign
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'TimeSplitters' is coming back
British console game TimeSplitters saw massive popularity in the 2000s. Its humor, artistic style and cheeky pop culture references earned the three-game series a passionate fan base, but despite its success, the title subsequently lay dormant. Until now. Maybe. The series has been bought by Koch Media -- which has built an entire business out of buying and reviving old franchises like this -- and it sounds like they're planning to do something with it.
Haze: timed exclusive, or totally exclusive?
The answer is timed, if you ask us. At Sony's conference, all the buzz for today's news, Free Radical's upcoming shooter Haze was announced as a PS3 exclusive title, qualified with the phrase "this financial year." It's pretty obvious what that means and we're going to squash the rumors of complete exclusivity now, so that it doesn't get out of control and used against the, er, "Sony camp". It's only on the PS3 until the end of March 2008. That's a long time, considering its release is coming in a matter of months. Oddly, a trailer has yet to be slapped onto the PS Store, but you can always check the one above.[Update: IGN interviewed Free Radical. "Haze will only be found on PS3 this holiday season, and will remain exclusive through the first quarter of the calendar year."]
Haze video warns us not to eat too much nectar
We're all excited about Haze, probably more so than other FPS titles to be announced lately. That means something, because there are a ton of those being announced or released, previewed, reviewed, or introduced. This new video of Haze is awfully long -- clocking in nearly 13 minutes of your weekend time, but the footage shown a few minutes in is something impressive, for sure. We won't ruin the surprise for you, but if you've seen the film Jacob's Ladder, you might giggle at the parallel between it and overdosing on Nectar. Enjoy![via PS3Attitude][Thanks, DolphGB!]
Free Radical says PS3's power locked away, demands key
Dave Doak of Free Radical Design recently was quoted talking about the trials and difficulties of a new console, specifically the PS3. You may know Free Radical Design from their latest work on the impressive-looking FPS title Haze. Doak said the experience with programming for the PS3 is the same as with any new console. It's challenging, sure, but it fades over time.He said about the PS3: "Its strengths are obviously that is has a lot of processing power. Its weaknesses are that its processing power is locked away at the moment. But everyone's going to hit that wall across all platforms at first." As technology grows more complex, he sees the process of developing growing right along with it in complexity. With the onset of multiple cores, which will no doubt grow in number, it's harder to learn how to tap into the power of the system. This, he's implying, is the problem many devs are running into with the PS3. Instead of pushing through the wall, they're giving up, saying it's too difficult. We say to them: don't give up! Keep trying and soon you'll learn the PS3 inside and out. Then we'll see some very impressive titles. Like White Knight Story. Whatever happened to that one?
