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PlayStation through the years: Mark Cerny on the PS4's roots and the brand's evolution (video)
The genesis story: the long-lead up to every console's launch usually leaves one in its wake. Typically, we get some sanitized version, appropriately molded by corporate PR and fed to the public with the crust cut off. But when you're Mark Cerny, lead PlayStation 4 architect, and you've literally grown up with the games industry and the PlayStation brand itself, the tale you get to tell tends to be more truthful, mesmerizing, and chock full of the hard knocks that make success stories so great. And that's just what Cerny delivered at Gamelab in Barcelona this week, recounting the whirlwind career that led him to have the heaviest hand in shaping Sony's next-gen platform. Not familiar with the man's esteemed background? Then sample this bit of historical trivia: Cerny was the youngest Atari employee at age 17 (!). How's that for inspiring? Oh, and what's more, Cerny even fesses up to the egotistical attitude that flattened Sony's PlayStation 3 launch (spoiler alert: it has to do with crushing third-party devs). There's much, much more insider-y goodness packed into the 45 minute-plus video after the break. Go on, now. Watch it. You'll be better for it, we promise.
Daily iPad App: Supermagical provides polished fun
You've played games like Supermagical before. It's similar to Bubble Bobble or Snood, two games which have been seen multiple times on almost every platform, including iOS. But the key here is polish. Supermagical is a fun game that has you matching up colored balls that you fire across the screen. Just like the developer's previous release, Pro Zombie Soccer, the production value is very high. The game is tilted on its side, so instead of shooting up to the top, you're firing across the screen, and bouncing balls across the top and bottom. That simple change adds a lot. Supermagical's cute characters and colorful graphics go a long way as well, and spells, powerups, and special attacks make the game pop off of the screen. There are also extra goals, like completing a level in a certain time, and various items change the gameplay. Supermagical's core idea isn't new. If you've played Snood, you'll know how this all works. But it's well done, and more than worth the 99 cent price. Supermagical is available as a universal app right now.
Kojima likens game industry's challenges to Charlie Chaplin
Somehow, between helping run Konami Digital Entertainment and accepting a lifetime achievement award at Gamelab, Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima found the time to sit down with Gamesindustry.biz and talk shop. Specifically, the impact that new technologies are having on the way games are being made. When asked about cultural expression in games, Kojima said that developers now have "more capability for expression" than ever, likening the situation to a similar story-telling crossroad that challenged silent-film giant Charlie Chaplin. "He didn't need words to express himself in his movies but suddenly he had to include words in order to stay relevant. With this increased capability of expression through games, I think it's a matter of learning how to use it." This enhanced ability to express ideas also causes problems for Japanese directors, according to Kojima. "There was no cultural barrier to the rest of the world because the technology meant that you couldn't tell whether it was Japan or anywhere else. Now it is possible, so it becomes more difficult." He maintains that "creating something is about turning impossible things into possible things," and that as technology continues to improve, game design could potentially lose its luster. "If it gets to the point were I'm able to create anything I want," he says, "I'll probably stop making videogames."
Highlights from the future of gaming ... panel at the New York Gaming Meetup
If you didn't join us at last month's New York Gaming Meetup, there's a good chance you missed out on Take-Two Interactive CEO Ben Feder and Gamelab founder Eric Zimmerman discussing where gaming will be 30 years from now. Luckily for you, we captured highlights from the event on video and dropped them into a 10-ish minute vignette just after the break. We found Feder's take on hardware plateaus especially interesting. He believes developers will be free of technical constraints, allowing them to solely focus on creativity. Though he's not sure we'll reach that plateau in the next few years, he sees it as an inevitability. "There is an element of technology needed for innovation for sure," Feder said. "I think that's not going away -- that's going to be with us forever. Just in the way that humans will always invent new things and innovate to solve problems." Eventually, he said, entertainment technology will reach a point at which it's "Good enough to tell an interactive story. Or to play an interactive game." He then admitted, "I don't know when that is." Us? We're going with 25 years. Yeah, that sounds about right.
X3F TV -- XBLA in Brief: Diner Dash, Gyromancer
This week brings two casual games to Xbox Live Arcade. For puzzle fans, we have Gyromancer (1200, $15), an RPG take on PopCap's Bejeweled Twist. For those who prefer something a little more manic, there's Diner Dash (800, $10), which tasks players with running a restaurant and keeping customers happy. If you've ever dealt with real customers before, you'll know that keeping them happy is harder than it sounds. See both games in the latest episode of XBLA in Brief. Download the trial version of Diner Dash Download the trial version of Gyromancer [iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes. [Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly. [RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [M4V] Download the M4V directly.
Rumor: Wii Fit 2, Wii Rhythm Heaven on the way
Japanese game magazine Game Labo is sometimes hilariously off base with their wild rumors (like when they had Dragon Quest IX heading to PSP or when they teased a redesigned Wiimote with a rechargeable battery), but sometimes they hit the nail on the head (in the very same issue as the Dragon Quest thing, they scooped everyone on the imminent release of the DS TV Tuner). 1up shared the latest rumors from the magazine, which include a couple of rather half-heartedly masked Nintendo rumors. One, about "Game Company 'N'" and a sequel to "its fitness game 'W'" is pretty clearly about Wii Fit. According to the magazine, a sequel to the megahit exercise game is on the way, adding stretching and massage to the directed activities, and potentially featuring endorsement from a "certain former U.S. Army instructor." Considering that Wii Fit is, like, a cultural institution, we are not surprised at all to hear about a sequel.Also unsurprising, but about five million times more awesome if true, is the rumor that the same Game Company N is working on a Wii version of the DS "Rhythm game 'R'," or Rhythm Tengoku. Since the DS rhythm minigame collection turned out to be a big hit in Japan (and had better be a hit in the US, people), this makes total sense.Also rumored is that Bandai Namco is going to make a ton of Tales games for every platform. Wow, such insider information. We also heard somewhere that EA is working on some games about playing sports. Don't go preordering just yet -- these rumors are just that, rumors, and may just be junk some guy made up. But it's plausible junk!%Gallery-4745%
IndieCade: International Festival Finalists #1-5
All week, Joystiq will be revealing the 26 finalists for the IndieCade: International Festival of Independent Games, set to take place October 10 through 17 in Bellevue, Washington. The winners will be announced on October 11. And Yet it Moves This Austrian-born title has a unique, papercraft-inspired art style and a simple trick (rotate the camera) that serves as the focus of a maddening, yet rewarding, puzzle platformer. A demo is available at the game's website for both Windows and Mac.%Gallery-32379%
Witness 'The Metagame' in action, thanks to MTV
It ran at GDC 2007; we reported on it, but you didn't get to see it. Now, MTV has hosted a special edition of The Metagame game show, as part of their "Gamer's Week" Coverage, and Stephen Totilo has posted the highlights for mass consumption.The Metagame, designed and hosted by Frank Lantz of area/code and Eric Zimmerman of Gamelab, pits two teams against each other in a battle of video game smarts. Each round, teams move pieces on the game board to form comparative statements between two games (such as "Halo would make a better movie than Half-Life," or "Virtua Fighter is sexier than Super Mario 64."), and argue these statements to earn points. Vying for victory this time are MTV's Stephen Totilo and Tim Kash, versus Newsweeks' N'Gai Croal, and fellow journalist Heather Chaplin, author of Smart Bomb.The debate is heated, hilarious, and only the slightest bit pretentious. We'd definitely enjoy watching more designers, developers, and press-members argue the semantics and specifics of the industry's most influential games. Any chance of picking up the show full-time, MTV?Update: Due to silly legal restrictions, the video posted above is not viewable in the UK or Canada. Apologies for any confusion or irritation this might cause.
Diner Dash devs dance, debate Wii Fit
Two employees of Gamelab decided to have a little STEEL CAGE CHALLENGE friendly debate about the viability of Wii Fit in the US. If anyone is qualified to discuss casual software, it's Gamelab, developers of the casual hit Diner Dash. K. Thor Jensen (of Portal of Evil fame!) and Naomi Clark debated the issue of whether Nintendo's newest peripheral-based game would take off in the US like it undoubtedly will in Japan.Both sides make some interesting points: Clark cites Americans' general distaste of extra peripherals without extremely compelling games behind them (DDR, Guitar Hero), and Wii owners' desire to have fun outweighing their desire to be healthy. Jensen notes the interest in lifestyle software like Brain Age and the simple fact that people have gone in for the weirdo Wii already, and Wii Fit looks like an extension of that idea.They then "settle" the debate by having a dance-pad vs. controller DDR competition. That certainly solves that issue.[Via GameSetWatch]
MacArthur Foundation funds NYC school to teach 'Gaming Literacy'
This past week, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced a $1.1 million grant to the Gamelab Institute of Play, to design and create a new 6-12th grade public school in New York City. The school will teach critical thinking skills and media literacy, using game design and game-inspired education methods.The Institute of Play, a non-profit currently headed by designer and educator Katie Salen, seeks to introduce games into school curricula in order to foster creativity and promote new ways of thinking about problems. The Institute has dubbed the term "Gaming Literacy" to refer to a revolutionary way of approaching education by adhering to modern media. The school, which is being built in collaboration with New Visions for Public Schools, is due to open in the fall of 2009.The MacArthur Foundation has shown great support for the potential of games in education. In a recent NPR piece, journalist Heather Chaplin spoke with Connie Yowell, the Foundation's Director of Educational Grant-Making, who was excited to introduce games into the education process. The MacArthur Foundation also recently awarded a grant to the Institute of Play's sister company Gamelab, to create educational software for teaching game design.Update: corrected a minor factual error.
M.M.O.F.O's and other video-game thugs
Prepare to take a beating. Yesterday and today, independent New York developer Gamelab has been heading Gangs of GDC, an in-conference game running on various floors of the expo center. The idea is to join a video-game gang (choices include sects like the M.M.O.F.O's) and then fight rival gang members for control of on-screen territory. Players use their cell phones to call in for gang assignments, then they stand by a Gang TV to get paired off with another knife-wielding thug. Why do all that? Because it gives us a chance to play while we learn about playing. Also because what the Game Developers Conference needed was a little, old-fashioned gang violence.
Ayiti: The Cost of Life
Ayiti: The Cost of Life is a simple, web-based strategy game built by NYC-based developers gameLab and students from Brooklyn's South Shore High School. The game's purpose is to teach about poverty in developing nations, but don't let the game's educational mission deter you from giving it a shot. It's not easy. In eight attempts to win with the "Money" strategy, we lost eight times (Cholera being the leading cause of death in the game). If you find a strategy that keeps your family from crapping themselves to death, do share, because the game's not at all easy. Then again, maybe the point is that you're not supposed to be able to win this one.
GDC: A game worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize
What kind of game concept would be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize? That's the question GameLab CEO Eric Zimmerman posed to the group of developers competing at the third-annual Game Design Challenge.The winning concept (as judged by audience response), Peace Bomb, developed by Deus Ex lead designer Harvey Smith, would be a multiplayer game for the DS. Players would join together and trade resources, eventually leading to real world flash mobs — a crowd that assembles suddenly in a public space, performs a notable act, and then quickly disperses. It's Smith's hope that the Peace Bomb flash mobs would erupt around socially constructive movements, encouraging players to transform an entertaining game into an effective social project.
