gdc07
Latest
GDC 07: Sacred 2 hands on preview
The last day of GDC tends to be the slowest, so we understandably pleased to get a chance to play Sacred 2: Fallen Angel from Ascaron Entertainment. Sacred 2 is an action RPG title in development for both the PC and Xbox 360. The game features co-operative gameplay for up to four players in an open world environment. The game plays more or less like most action RPGs, with the action seen from a distant third person perspective. Fans of games like Baldur's Gate and Diablo will have a pretty good idea of what to expect. We spoke with Ascaron's Heiko tom Felde to learn about what sets Sacred 2 apart.
GDC 07: Phil Harrison talks more about Home
We've been slowly releasing details from yesterday's bloggers meeting with Phil Harrison. One of the biggest points of discussion (unsurprisingly) was Home. There are still a lot of questions that we had, and Harrison was quite candid about the upcoming "Game 3.0" project: Considering the wild support of Home at GDC, why didn't Sony reveal this information earlier? According to Harrison, the idea might have been "too complex to explain" so close to the PS3 launch. It might have been "misunderstood" during a busy launch period. Also, Home simply didn't have the polish it needed to be shown at the PS3 launch. With that in mind, Harrison would have made "no adjustment on the PS3 launch." The world of Home will never get too big: additional worlds will spawn when a certain one has become too full. Through matchmaking services, Sony will attempt to place you in an environment you're most likely to have fun. Home's arcade games were originally going to be based in Java to make it as easy as possible for indie developers to get content ready. However, they moved away from the language for better performance. When asked, "will this sell PS3s?" Harrison quickly answered: "Yes. It's another reason to play PS3 every day." Like Nintendo, Sony believes this will attract non-gamers. They've attempted to make the interface as easy as possible. Yes, the characters are in a 3D environment, making it "not 100% accessible." Gamers that don't want to use Home are still free to use the XMB for PS3 navigation. "It's still an important interface." Most of the features of Home can still be accessed from the XMB--you simply lose many of the social interaction aspects. Home is nothing like Second Life, according to Harrison. The similarities end at both having 3D characters in 3D environments. The "PlayStation focus" of Home will be what keeps the community together. "PS3 owners all share a love of digital content." Expect the sharing of music, video and game content to be what keeps PS3 owners connected to Home. No touching! Your digital avatars in Home will not be able to touch each other. You will, however, be able to jump on each other in LittleBigPlanet. Like Nintendo Mii, your digital avatar will be available for use in other games. However, it won't be too easy, says Phil Harrison. Not only does the character model have be exported, but the animation system will need to be moved as well. It's clear from the enthusiasm of the individuals in the room that everyone's interested in Home. The public beta is going to be available soon, and those of you with PlayStation Network accounts will want to pay attention to your inbox: you may be getting an invite (they're figuring that out, though).
GDC 07: Firmware gains inspirations from homebrew
Although the PSP hardware may not change anytime soon, the system will still continue to evolve through software. John Koller reminded us that PSP has the ability to continuously expand its functionality. "We have released 13 firmware updates since launch."I asked him about his stance on incorporating features from homebrew, and he admits that Sony actually watches what the scene does. "RSS is actually from homebrew," he admitted. Future firmware revisions may incorporate some of the additions that custom firmware users have been able to enjoy for months.Unfortunately, full resolution AVC support doesn't seem to be on the table any time soon. Phil Harrison was actually surprised when I told him that the resolution was locked. John Koller, on the other hand, discussed how the perpetually-delayed PSP movie download service would be one way for fans to (eventually) watch full resolution videos on their handhelds.
THQ, EA, others recruiting at GDC
The second floor of Moscone West, one of the three buildings housing GDC, holds many publishers and developers looking for doe-eyed talent. Armed with just a dream and a résumé, students try to launch their careers, and industry vets try to find the next opportunity. We checked in with a few of the companies to discuss their outlook and objectives at the show.An EA recruiter told us that the company is hiring developers for 11 different studios in nearly every position, including character animators, environmental artists, and software engineers. EA has a university relations department to entice students, but the company also helps schools develop programs to train future industry workers.Heidi Lese, Manager of Recruitment for THQ, discussed her company's role at the show. THQ is looking for both developers and publishers to fit into its 17 studios. With the addition of publishing roles, THQ is seeking nearly all kinds of talent. If a walk-in candidate fits an open position, THQ holds an immediate interview. Otherwise, THQ evaluates and contacts candidates over the next few months.Lese was more tentative about game schools, saying that some are great and can lead to roles at THQ, while some are still too young to offer a useful program. She didn't specify any school recommendations but said that students should attend one with a high placement rate in the industry. She also advised students get an internship -- whether interested in publishing or development.
GDC 07: PSP won't get redesign; new colors coming soon?
People have been longing for a PSP redesign. It's not happening. John Koller explained that there are currently no redesign plans, regardless of all the rumors that have been on the Internet for ages. One of the main reasons PSP won't get a redesign comes from the issue of screen size: Sony will never make the screen smaller. In fact, the generous screen size of Sony's portable is considered one of the system's greatest advantages.Rather, Sony is looking to continue to add more value to their existing model. Eventually, Sony of America does plan on releasing new colors, but they're waiting for the right opportunity. It's no secret that handheld owners purchase multiple systems, Koller explained. Especially if they're of new colors. Undeniably, launching a new color will spur sales of the system, even if it doesn't necessarily expand the audience.
GDC 07: fl0w was almost on Wii
Jenova Chen, Kellee Santiago and the rest of the thatgamecompany team discussed their latest motion-controlled PS3 title fl0w. The game certainly would have been an incredible addition to the Wii library, considering its use of motion controls, relatively subdued graphics, and non-gamer-friendly gameplay. Santiago revealed that fl0w was pitched to two companies: Nintendo and Sony.Well, Sony won. Sony's aggressive approach to supporting new developers was what gave PS3 the edge. "They [Nintendo] weren't right for us at the time. Sony kind of came to us with the process of incubation ... They helped us get our studio started."Sony has proven at GDC that they care about developers through the announcement of Edge and extending their Network offerings to independent developers. When will Nintendo jump on the bandwagon, and give Wii owners the ability to download new, original content on the Wii Shop Channel?
FlOw almost was a Wii title
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/flOw_could_have_been_on_Wii'; Speaking about the history of upstart developer That Game Company at GDC, President Kellee Santiago revealed an extremely interesting tidbit as to where flOw was heading on consoles. Two companies were interested in the title: Sony, as we all are now aware of, and Nintendo. "That was the hardest decision we ever had to make, choosing between Sony and Nintendo," admitted Santiago. Speaking during the Q & A, Santiago clarified that "they weren't right for us at the time. Sony kind of came to us with the process of incubation ... They helped us get our studio started." Nintendo did not approach them; the team actually cornered them about Cloud at a prior Game Developers Conference. FlOw creator Jenova Chen chimed in, saying "in the end, we are game makers and not console makers," expressing his satisfaction working with Nintendo on other projects. That Game Company did not rule out working on the Wii in the future. From our current impressions, we think Nintendo missed a golden opportunity here. We'll have more on That Game Company's presentation later in the day.
Off the Grid: The Metagame at GDC
Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column on gaming away from the television screen or monitor. On the final day of the 2007 Game Developers Conference, Gamelab's Eric Zimmerman and area/code's Frank Lantz organized a one-hour presentation on a unique game concept they'd been developing. Dubbed "a battle of videogame smarts," the Metagame challenged both its participants and the audience to engage in discussion revolving around their favorite games of the last thirty years.Two teams, comprised of well-established industry personalities, made their way around the virtual game board, attempting to qualify statements such as "Lemmings is more strategic than Civilization 3," and "Guitar Hero is more culturally sophisticated than Parappa the Rapper."The red team consisted of game designer Jonathan Blow, industry veteran Warren Spector, and Tracy Fullerton, currently an assistant professor at the university of Southern California's Interactive Media Division. The blue team was made up of ludologist and videogame theorist Jesper Juul, Ubisoft lead designer Clint Hocking, and game designer and industry veteran Marc LeBlanc.During a turn, each team moves its piece on a projected board; a web of classic games like Doom, Zork, Myst, and more contemporary titles like Rez and World of Warcraft. Each space represents a particular game, and the space that the one team lands on creates a comparative statement with the second team's space, formed by cards like "has better audio than" and "is more violent than" on a second projected screen.
GDC 07: Full Auto 2 impressions
Full Auto 2 was available for play on the PSP, and it gave me some mixed feelings. The graphics are decent at times, featuring an incredible sense of speed and an incredible amount of destruction. However, collisions can feel awkward, as nothing seems to have any weight: the lack of physics is disappointing to say the least. The car models look decent, but there is no apparent damage model, which is surprising in a game all about destroying other cars. Even PS1's Destruction Derby had better ways of showing off damage.The controls were also a mixed bag: turning was sharp, but the feeling of impact feels suspiciously absent. Weapons don't feel damaging enough, and it simply doesn't feel like your car is taking damage (even though it is!). The races are fast, and thanks to the amount of things being destroyed on screen, the game may be fun in short bursts, even if the game doesn't have the polish to make it an excellent game.One of the most puzzling aspects of the game has to be the story of the single player mode (pictured). As you can see, there was a robot named Sage. That's why you're racing. You'll read pages upon pages of this incredibly unnecessary story. At least it's (unintentionally) funny.
GDC 07: Look at that Miyamoto keynote line
In taking video of roughly half the line outside of the entry to Miyamoto's keynote at GDC, we're shocked and amazed at just how incredibly large the line is. Certainly all of these people could not have gotten into the keynote? Regardless, it demonstrates just how much of a legend the man is in the industry. We're still bummed he only had the one announcement, though.Check past the post break for the video.[Via Joystiq]
LocoRoco spotted in PS Home trophy case
Though Sony continues to toy with us about LocoRoco sequels, the recent trophy sighting in the PlayStation Home video seems to confirm what Sony's led us to expect. LocoRoco is (likely) headed to PlayStation 3.When questioned during his GDC presentation about which platform -- PSP or PS3 -- the next LocoRoco would land on, the game's director Tsutomo Kouno said he couldn't yet answer that question directly, but slyly added, "I'm not going to betray your expectations. You can count on this." And he teased, "I'd like to use a new way of playing the game for the next version of LocoRoco." Just say it: "SixAxis."
GDC 07: Mark Rein talks Unreal Engine 3 on the Wii (again)
He said as much last year (wow, seems like yesterday we were calling this thing the Revolution), but the hopes of seeing the Unreal Engine 3 on the Wii is still strong in the community. And this year at GDC, again the question came up and again Mark Rein took the time to take those hopes into a headlock and proceed to give them the Yoga noogie of a lifetime. Mark said "this is kinda a high definition engine. Designed for a certain level of graphics card and certain amount of CPU. You know, I'm sure one of our licensees will squeeze it down into the Wii. The way Ubisoft squeezed Unreal Engine 2 into the PSP," he explained in a little bit more detail exactly why the Wii and Unreal Engine 3 won't become best buddies, "Unreal Engine 3 is designed for a high level shader architecture and the Wii doesn't have that. I mean, you know, it's just not what we've been aiming for, so it's not something we're looking to do or support." Mark didn't go on to talk about specific companies that were already looking to license the engine, if there even are any, but apparently its fairly cheap to license as Mark said he "only saw a splinter of the money from Splinter Cell."
Castle Crashers gets bumped into 2008
Joystiq cornered The Behemoth's Dan Paladin after the GDC awards ceremony and asked about a release time-frame for Castle Crashers. To their (and our) dismay, Mr. Paladin stated that there was still "about a year of development left" on the XBLA title. Shocked, Joystiq then inquired to whether The Behemoth was going to take advantage of the 100MB bump in the XBLA size limit and were pleased to learn that Castle Crashers would benefit by adding additional features and content. So, we'll be seeing more Castle Crashers content, but will also have to suffer a longer wait. With a year or more of development nobody will be having any Castle Crashers fun until 2008 ... so you better make one hell of a game Mr. Paladin, because this hurts. This hurts a bunch.
Behold: CryENGINE2 GDC demos
We first showed you a glimpse of Crytek's GDC booth, now see why it was built. Talk about a convincing sales pitch. Something tells us Avatar Reality won't be the only studio with a CryENGINE2 license for much longer. (Better quality videos available for download at Crysis-Online.)
GDC 07: Miyamoto keynote video
There are dozens of clips floating around from Shigeru Miyamoto's keynote yesterday, but IGN has streaming video of the entire event available for your anxious eyes. You won't find any megaton announcements or landmark revelations, but the presentation is full of insights on "the Nintendo Difference" from the company's preeminent game designer. What's Miyamoto's primary focus when developing a game? Why did it take 20 years before he could finally use his face creation software in a complete game? And whatever happened to Mario 128? If you have a free hour and a half, watch the keynote and find out.
Castle Crashers likely due 2008, receiving more content
var digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/09/castle-crashers-likely-due-2008-receiving-more-content/'; It seems that Microsoft's decision to expand the size restriction of Xbox Live Arcade games has become a double-edged sword, especially to fans of sword-swinging, skull-crushing adventure, Castle Crashers. After congratulating The Behemoth's Dan Paladin on the team's IGF award win at the Wednesday evening's ceremony, we enquired about the game's release timeframe and were met with less than pleasing information.Mr. Paladin noted that the XBLA title still had "about a year of development left," thus placing the completed Castle Crashers in 2008 at the earliest. Disappointing news, certainly, but not entirely without one of those consolatory silver linings that people love to point and stare at. When Joystiq asked about the length of the game, Paladin noted that the 100MB boost in the XBLA size limit had allowed The Behemoth to include even more content and features in the game, making it a fuller and more satisfying adventure overall.Alright, 2008. Come over here please.See also: Castle Crashers GDC '07 impressions
Poking around with Virtually Jenna Jameson
Oh pr0n 2.0, you are so very close. Porn and games are often compared, but typically not related. However, we got to take a look at the new version of Virtually Jenna, the official video game of porn icon Jenna Jameson. The "game" is a Canadian title that is slowly being updated over time. It is currently available online only. Actually, the game lives on a server like an MMO to prevent piracy and comes with a $29.95 monthly fee.We sat down with Brad Abram, president of Xstream3D, to get a better understanding of the game. There are currently three versions of the title available to customers: Hetero, Homo and Hentai (Anime porn). Abram is surprised that the Hentai version hasn't done better, between the robot and massive tentacle creature sex options, he thought there would be a bigger market.
GDC 07: UK retailers didn't want the 20GB
Some UK residents have felt angered by Sony's pricing scheme in the PAL territories. At £425 (~$820 US), European users are paying quite a lot to get a chance to PLAY B3YOND. One reason for the price hike? The government-imposed VAT, which makes up for up to 20% of the cost. "The money doesn't go to Sony," Harrison reminded.While the availability of a 20GB model would have certainly alleviated some financial pressures on European buyers, it simply wasn't possible: retailers said they only wanted 60GB versions. Considering the numerous retail schemes that have popped up in Europe, color me unsurprised.
GDC 07: Why no GTA exclusivity?
This is an undeniable truth of the gaming industry: it's all about the games. Sony's multimedia approach to PS3 is certainly novel, but many have felt that Sony has neglected its gamers by abandoning high-profile potentially exclusive games, such as Grand Theft Auto IV and Assassin's Creed.Phil Harrison put it quite succinctly: "There wouldn't have been an economic sense in keeping GTA as an exclusive." When exclusive deals are made, someone has to pay for the potential difference in install base and sales. Considering how the PS3 install base won't be as large as the Xbox 360's for a while, the economic ramifications of such a deal would've cost Sony quite a pretty penny--and considering how they're losing money on every PS3 sold, it didn't seem too worthwhile.Sony seems to be taking an approach that's been long-familiar to Nintendo fans. Harrison notes that Sony will have a "greater investment in first party [games] than third." Sony maintains the largest collection of development teams, and certainly it has some truly significant franchises: Ratchet & Clank, God of War, just to name a few.
GDC 07: Nintendo may grab headlines, but Sony still has sales
Sony's Phil Harrison was quick to remind his audience yesterday that Sony is still the number one brand, and that he personally doesn't feel like Sony is losing. The combined sales of the PlayStation brand show that gamers want PlayStation products: the PlayStation 2 is still the greatest-selling console on the market; and the PLAYSTATION 3 has sold faster than the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 in the same time frame."While certain systems grab headlines," Harrison commented about the recent love of Nintendo by the gaming press, "sales are what matter."When faced with the issue of the launch library drought, Harrison noted that the PS2 and PS1 didn't have the greatest launches ever: "Fantavision, bless its cotton soul, was NOT going to establish a 100 million system ... The Bouncer [Square launch game] was NOT a good game."
