GDC 2010
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'Arc' lives on in PlayStation Move's logo
Even the not-so-keen-eyed observer has probably noticed by now that the PlayStation Move's logo doesn't really look like a letter "M." That's because it's a letter "A," as in "Arc," the name which, according to multiple Sony sources who wished to remain anonymous, is what the peripheral was to be called at retail until the company was refused a trademark on the Arc name. In fact, we've been told that the change to "Move" was made quite recently, which further explains the incongruous logo. If you think "Move" is an odd name for Sony's motion controller, these same sources assured us that we got lucky – many of the other proposed names following the trademark denial were ranged from silly to awful, they said. When we suggested that "PlayStation Boogie" was about as bad as we could imagine, we were told, "Actually, that's an improvement over a lot of them." Keep an eye on the Move logo -- we wouldn't be surprised if Sony's marketing department adds a little extra blue ink before E3, making it a true (stylized) letter "M."
GDC: Making games to prevent violence against children
The highlight of yesterday's GDC Serious Game Summit panels focused on an appropriately consequential topic: How games can help protect children from the commonplace dangers they face from predators, both online and off. The panel was led by Child Safety Research and Innovation Center president Allan McCullough -- a man who's strived to develop games which teach young people how to identify and avoid dangerous situations. The two Flash-based games which represent the fruits of McCullough's two decades of labor look deceptively simple on the surface. They are, after all, hand-illustrated, poorly animated educational games geared towards children, with budgets too small to allow the hiring of professional voice actors and experienced gaming professionals. However, beneath the crude surface of these games lie clever methods of imparting crucial information to their young players which could ostensibly help them avoid encounters with people who mean them harm.
PlayStation Move first hands-on (update: video!)
At last, we've felt Sony's long awaited motion controller, now at last officially known as "PlayStation Move," in our unworthy, sweaty hands. We have a bunch of videos on the way, but for now you can revel in our first close-ups of the controllers in the gallery below. Here are some of our initial thoughts: The controllers are light. Much more akin to the DualShock3 than the Wiimote in heft, and we're guessing that's due to Sony's continued love of rechargeable batteries. The main controller does have some subtle vibration (not DualShock or Wiimote level, but present), but we're not sure yet about the subcontroller. We hate to say this about "pre-alpha" software, but we're feeling lag. An on-rails shooter we tried out, dubbed The Shoot, was discernibly inferior to shooting experiences we've had on the Wii, both in precision and refresh rate of the aiming cursor. The gladiator game is about as fun as it looks, we'll have video after the break momentarily. Unfortunately, while it's less of a defined experience than something like the sword game on Wii Sports Resort, you're still working through a library of sensed, pre-defined actions instead of a true 1:1 fighting game with simulated physics. Not that it isn't possible with PlayStation Move, just that it's not this. The lightness of the controllers means we might be feeling less of that Wiimote fatigue, always a good thing! There's an aspect of the controller that feels a little cheap, but at the same time we wouldn't call it fragile. As far as we can tell, the control scheme for Socom 4 is quite similar to dual-controller shooter setups on the Wii, with the camera moving based on your aiming cursor hitting the edge. It's hard to see this as the preferred hardcore setup, but we're told it's configurable, so we'll try and see what else is on offer. The system seemed to have a bit of trouble understanding the configuration of our body in a swordfighting stance: even though we selected "left handed," it was putting our sword arm forward instead of our shield. Right-handers didn't seem to have similar problems, and we're sure this will be ironed out in time, but it certainly shows that the controllers aren't magical in their space-detection prowess. As would be expected, you're supposed to stand relatively center on the TV, and at a certain optimal distance. The system is forgiving, but there's a sweet spot that users will undoubtedly have to learn. Lag is less prominent on Socom 4, and we'd say we're pretty accurate with the controller already, though the framerate choppiness of this pre-alpha build obviously hampers that a bit. We did get a slight feel of being in "scene to scene" shootouts instead of a free-roaming FPS, perhaps a design choice to mitigate the limited camera movement offered by the controller, but we'll have to see more levels to know for sure. Update: We added in a longer video -- are you ready for three minutes of nonstop excitement? Update, final edition: We've got a new video with close-up walkthroughs of the controllers and some in-depth gameplay of Socom 4. %Gallery-87937%
Hands-on: SOCOM 4 (with PlayStation Move!)
There are two questions I'll try to answer with this quick hands-on preview. Firstly, is SOCOM 4 the true sequel to the SOCOM franchise we've been waiting for? Secondly, does the PlayStation Move controller work as intended? It's hard to answer the first question, especially within the constraints of a ten-minute demo. What I can say is that even in this early state, SOCOM 4 looks very good, sporting incredibly detailed environments. While the early code has a noticeably choppy framerate, there was already a large number of objects in the environment. Whether it's a car, a trash can, a thrown-out mattress, there are tons of objects to take cover behind in the world. Controlling your squad should be familiar to anyone that's played a recent SOCOM game. Holding L1 on the Move allows you to slightly slow down time and direct your team to move to position and await orders. You can even call in an airstrike by holding down the Move button and holding Down on a target. After sneaking down an alley, we were able to catch a large squad of soldiers lounging in an open field. They had no idea what hit them as the bombs dropped. %Gallery-87398%
GDC: EA's Schappert touts DLC as most profitable form of digital distribution
EA's chief operating officer John Schappert had a fireside chat with Alex Pham of the Los Angeles Times about "mythbusting" at GDC today. Unfortunately, not many myths were actually busted -- other than the one we heard that everything at GDC is exciting! But Schappert did speak briefly about DLC, talking up the fact that Dragon Age: Origins DLC has made over a million dollars (and that was by November's count!). He went on to explain that digital distribution, in all its forms, earned $575 million dollars for EA last year, and the publisher placed its expectations for this year at $750 million. "The fastest growing area of digital distribution -- and that includes subscriptions and microtransactions -- is downloadable content," Schappert said. "It's the extension of your current game through expansion packs and downloadable content."
GDC: This is what Unreal Engine 3 on iPhone looks like
Unreal Engine 3 on the iPhone ... it looked better in person! While we've yet to see Unreal Engine 3 ported to Nintendo's Wii or Sony's PSP, Epic did undertake the considerable task of squeezing its seemingly ubiquitous middleware platform onto Apple's similarly ubiquitous iPhone. According to Epic's Josh Adams – Epic Games' senior console programmer – that could be due to fundamental hardware limitations in the other platforms. You see, the iPhone 3GS has a PowerVR SGX graphics processor which supports programmable shaders. According to Adams, "Programmable shaders are something UE3 is pretty much dependent on." Though you're probably most familiar with Unreal Engine on Windows, Xbox 360, and PS3, Adams says the engine also runs on Nvidia's Tegra 2 platform, on Linux, and on Mac, though (Adams notes) "we haven't shipped any games on those platforms yet." Adams says the iPhone port was "a fun 'Can we get UE3 onto the iPhone?' kind of project." Though Adams' presentation was exceptionally technical – this is the Game Developers Conference, after all! – it's fascinating to hear about the technical underpinnings and workflows that result in this type of outcome.
PlayStation Move sub-controller: Don't call it a Nunchuk
Click for little-big size digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playstation/The_PlayStation_Move_sub_controller_Don_t_call_it_a_Nunchuk'; In case this is your first visit to Joystiq, know that Sony has dropped major megatons this evening at its GDC press conference -- as well as one very small megaton: the PlayStation Move "sub-controller." What you see above is the little brother (if you will) to the main ice cream cone–esque Move wand and the enabler of all things analog stick-controlled. As per Sony's announcement of Move, the sub-controller attachment is intended to "expand the game play options that PlayStation Move games can offer," and -- unlike Nintendo Wii's Nunchuk controller -- it will connect wirelessly to the console via Bluetooth. We'll have our hands-on with the PlayStation Move (and the sub-controller) for you later tonight. For now, ogle the high-res images in our gallery below. %Gallery-87946%
The PlayStation Move games (we know of)
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playstation/The_PlayStation_Move_games_we_know_of_Joystiq'; According to the block of info posted on European PlayStation Blog, there are a lot more PlayStation Move games out there to be seen than tonight's press release let on. Beyond the already revealed support for Move in SOCOM 4, LittleBigPlanet and EyePet, a whole mess of games were shown off at Sony's GDC event, from Move Party (um, a party game) to Slider (Mirror's Edge meets Pain?) to a Western shooter in The Shoot. (We've dropped a screen of Sports Champion above -- a game we think looks particularly fantastic.) Oh, and the Euro Blog's mention of "DUKES" is just another name for that Motion Fighter game, which was mentioned onstage during this evening's press event -- so cool your heels and put the Jump to Conclusion mat back away. (We do rather like the name "Dukes," we'll admit; though we've been told it's a regional thing, and us North Americans are likely stuck with "Motion Fighter" instead.) We've yet to confirm which studios are developing which games, but you can be sure we'll ask Sony just as soon as we can. Here's the complete list of PlayStation Move titles that we know of, though, for now: Sports Champion The Shoot Slider TV Superstars Move Party Motion Fighter
PlayStation Move trailer shows you what you'll look like whilst Moving
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/First_trailer_for_PlayStation_Move'; PlayStation Blog recently got its hands on a trailer for the very recently monikered PlayStation Move -- though it doesn't really contain any information which hasn't surfaced over the past few minutes (or rather, months). There's PlayStation Eye integration, voice support, and -- guess what! That ball on top? Totally changes colors. The only new information this new trailer imparts is what you're going to look like while you play a game with the PlayStation Move. That is to say, infinitely dweeby. Check out the trailer above to see what we mean. %Gallery-87946%
Move supported by 36 companies, 20 games this fiscal year
digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/10/sonys-move-supported-by-36-pubs-and-devs-gets-20-games-this-fi/'; At Sony's special GDC event, Activision, Capcom, WB Games, Namco Bandai, Square Enix, Ubisoft, EA, Disney, Konami, Sega, Crave and Tecmo Koei all confirmed that they'll be supporting the Move in future versions of their games. Although that confirmation came in the form of a slide full of company logos and word from Sony vice-president of marketing and PSN that, "Virtually every third-party publisher" will support the new motion-control device. Sony's Jack Tretton went on to say that 36 publishers and third-party developers will support it, and according to a press release, "In fiscal year 2010, SCE Worldwide Studios will also release more than 20 games that are either dedicated to or supported with the PlayStation Move platform. While this same group of publishers will probably support Microsoft's Project Natal as well, it's good to know that everyone is onboard. But onboard how? Are they developing Move departments that will get every possible ounce of gameplay out of these things? Or do they mean support like backrubs and cookies? We aren't sure what titles will be supported just yet, but our team of Joystiqers are waving the Move about as you read this, and we'll have more news very soon.
New TERA screens revealed
Publisher En Masse today revealed three new high resolution screen shots of Blue Hole Studio's forthcoming action MMORPG TERA: The Exiled Realm of Arboria. "TERA is a new class of MMO that combines the depth and flexibility of online PC games with the lush graphics and immediacy of console action games," said Dr. Jae-Heon Yang, CEO of En Masse Entertainment. "Players can go beyond factions and static story lines to write the history of TERA in real time as six races learn to work together." Stay tuned to Massively this week as we'll be sitting down with En Masse at GDC 2010 and bringing you full coverage of TERA's debut. %Gallery-87895%
SOCOM 4 to support PlayStation Move
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/SOCOM_4_to_support_PlayStation_Move_Joystiq'; During its GDC 2010 conference Sony has revealed that Zipper Interactive's upcoming shooter SOCOM 4 will support the (just officially named) PlayStation Move motion controller. Controlling the shooter requires the PlayStation Move and its optional secondary device known as the Move "Sub-controller" -- a wand like device which sports an analog stick. During Sony's Game Developer's Conference keynote SOCOM 4 was demoed using the precise motion-control scheme to varying accuracy success. PlayStation Move support was also showcased in a demo for LittleBigPlanet (originally shown at TGS 2009) where PlayStation Move players could interact with the environment around Sackboy (or Sackgirl!). Sony also featured a handful of mini-games for an upcoming compilation title titled Sports Champions, including a gladiator-style fighter and table tennis. The PlayStation Move will release later this year in a variety of bundles.
Joystiq live at Sony's GDC 2010 press conference
It's an awfully nice gesture of Sony to invite us to its GDC 2010 press conference -- and it's one where we expect to see some equally nice gestures. That's a Motion Controller joke, folks. Check back by 4:00PM PST (7PM EST) to catch our full and irritatingly detailed liveblog!
PlayStation Move bundles announced, starter kit under $100
digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/10/playstation-move-bundles-announced-starter-kit-under-100/'; During its GDC press conference, Sony announced that the PlayStation motion controller -- newly dubbed PlayStation Move -- will launch in several different packages to accommodate the various gamers out there. Sony is planning an "aggressive" marketing campaign around the new peripheral when it launches later this year and -- similar to Microsoft's launch plans for Project Natal -- it will treat the launch of the PlayStation Move as a separate "platform launch." There will be multiple bundles, including a bundle that includes a PlayStation 3 console, the PlayStation Move and the PlayStation Eye. Furthermore, the company will launch a starter pack, which includes a PlayStation Move, a PlayStation Eye and an unnamed game all for under $100.
'PlayStation Move' is official name of motion controller
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playstation/PlayStation_Move_is_official_name_of_motion_controller'; Though you guys had some bold, provocative ideas for what the heretofore unnamed "PlayStation Motion Controller" should be called, Sony has just squelched your creativity during its GDC event by giving the peripheral its official name: The PlayStation Move. We know, we know -- we were also really hoping for "The Seybold," too. So, now that we can stop posting conjecture about what the device is going to be called, what other reason will we have to write about it? Sony hopes to provide that information later in the event, when it reveals a few of the killer apps that will accompany the peripheral's release. Stay tuned! Update: Follow along. %Gallery-87946%
PlayStation Move motion controller launched at GDC, starter kit to be under $100 with game
No surprise here: Sony just officially announced the PlayStation Move motion controller at GDC 2010, calling it the "next generation of motion gaming" because it's so precise -- latency is about the same as the DualShock 3. As expected, it uses the PlayStation Eye camera to track the controller, and Sony says it becomes an "extension of your body." The plan is not only to engage casual gamers, but to use the precision of the controller to create "new experiences for core gamers" -- many of the demo videos we saw involved using a controller video in each hand, and there were quote a few demos of action / RPG games. We also saw a demo of Move Party, which uses the camera to do augmented reality gaming and video chat. The demos are pretty impressive -- Sony's not kidding when it says the Move is incredibly precise. There's also going to be a secondary "subcontroller" with an analog stick for shooters -- you can play all the way through SOCOM4 with just the Move and the sub-controller. (Yes, it's just like the Wii Nunchuk, only wireless.) You'll be able to get Move in three ways: in a bundle with a PS3, standalone, and in a starter kit targeted at "under $100" with the PS Eye, a controller, and a game. That's all the pricing info we have right now, but it certainly sounds aggressive -- Sony says they're treating this like a major console launch, so expect to see this everywhere when it launches around the holidays. Video after the break. Update: The European PlayStation Blog says some games will come bundled with Move as well. Check out our hands-on right here! %Gallery-87941%%Gallery-87956%
Live from Sony's 'PlayStation Move' motion controller event
We just got underway at Sony's PlayStation Move motion controller event. Sure, they haven't called it "Move," just yet, but we just saw the "Move" moniker on a demo screen at the side of the stage, so we're feeling pretty confident at this point.
GDC 2010 roundup, day one
The tenth annual Game Developers Conference is in full swing in San Francisco, CA, and our sister sites Joystiq and Massively are on the scene! No matter what kind of games you're into, there's a ton of news on its way out of the convention, and we're compiling some of the stuff that might matter to you in daily roundups just for you. If you want the whole GDC news experience, check out all of Massively's and Joystiq's coverage! Sword of the New World: Let's get political GamersFirst's achingly pretty MMO import Sword of the New World, née Granado Espada, is getting new content in its Political PvP system, allowing players to "run for office, control the colonies, and be a tyrant" in the SotNW universe's bizarro-America. Battlestar Galactica MMO on its way to your browser TV space opera Battlestar Galactica follows in the footsteps of that other popular space show and gets its own MMO -- right in your browser. That's right, you can be a forsaken and a Cylon at the same time if you so desire. Somebody knows their audience. Massively gives it an in-depth look right here. Indie Fund wants to help your indie game get off the ground Ron Carmel of 2D Boy -- creators of indie superhit World of Goo -- unveiled plans for Indie Fund, an innovative funding and mentoring system for indie developers who might not have the capital to get a game completed and published on their own. Taikodom blasts its way to America Taikodom takes the mine-space-rocks economy of EVE Online and throws in a dash of twitch shooter for flavor, and GamersFirst is launching it stateside, with plans for a closed beta by summer and a release by year's end. Fallen Earth iPhone app is, well, basically Fallen Earth Icarus Studios wants you stay connected to their post-apocalyptic romp Fallen Earth, and to that end, they're developing an incredibly comprehensive FE experience on the iPhone, allowing you to check out your inventory, browse the auction house, chat with friends, and even craft items, all on the go. Civilization V is bringing hexy back Firaxis' latest entry into the Civilization series doesn't want you bogged down worrying about stuff like cardinal directions. You don't even need most of those anyway! Civ V goes old-school with its hex-based grid. Oh, and they also built a whole new engine from the ground up. Hug that DX11 card.
EA's John Schappert comments on Activision & Infinity Ward situation
EA's John Schappert spoke on the sticky situation regarding Activision and Infinity Ward at GDC today, and rather than put a spin on what he said, we'll let the man speak for himself: "I'm sure there's two sides to that story, I'm certainly not passing judgement," Schappert said. "On the human side, they're two great guys. I'm disappointed on a couple of fronts. I'm disappointed because I think Jason and Vince, on the human side, are two great guys. I know them personally, and they've done great things. And I think they're two of the best creative leaders in our space, and to think that they're going to be spending their future dealing with litigation and lawyers rather than crafting the next great experience." "I don't think that's good for them," Schappert continued. "I don't think that's good for our industry. I think that's disappointing. I hope that they find a way to make games and focus on that during this period." "I think the other disappointing thing is that, rivalries aside, Modern Warfare 2 is a great game," Schappert concluded. "It's the biggest launch our industry has seen, it's a great franchise. I'm putting my consumer industry fan-hat on to think that there could be some challenges -- what's the future of that franchise? I don't know what's going to pan out. I feel bad for Jason and Vince and the franchise itself because they're great leaders and it's a great franchise for our industry."
GDC Impressions: Gaming on Windows Phone 7
We already broke out the news you're looking for: Each of the Windows Phone 7 Xbox Live-infused games will offer its players 200 Gamerscore points. You'll be able to boost your Xbox rep in significant chunks without having to hunker down in front of a big screen for long stretches. You'll never again have to go so long without hearing that satisfying "Achievement unlocked" sound. The world, as you know it, has changed. Fortunately, the channel through which you'll access these on-the-go 'cheevos looks like it has loads of promise. The handful of work-in-progress Windows Phone 7 games we were shown today at GDC didn't leave much of an impression -- however, the effortless portability of games between the platforms supported by the recently announced XNA Game Studio 4.0 opens up a lot of possibilities for development on Microsoft's new mobile device.
