Interview
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Sony exec admits PSP more about media than games
Dave Karraker, new PR head for Sony, was recently confronted by Gamasutra in a pretty intense interview. While it focuses mostly on the upcoming PLAYSTATION 3, Karraker had a few interesting things to say about the PSP:The PSP is doing incredibly well, and I think that you'll see even more interest behind it now that the PS3 is coming out, because the inner-connectivity between the two, I mean you saw the demo in terms of accessing your PS3 harddrive through your PSP. That's just the tip of the iceberg of what can be done with that... I'm not just talking about games, I'm talking about entertainment content as well. Already the TiVo-to-go option for the PSP is turning into a huge hit for us, as people discover that they can take the shows they've already stored on their TiVo and put it on their PSP and while they're riding the bus to work or to school, they can watch television shows on the PSP, I mean that's huge. You can't do that on anything else. So again, I think when you compare the two products, the Nintendo product versus our product, it's kind of apples and oranges. We're providing more of an entertainment system, and they're focused more on gaming.While the Nintendo fanboys may criticize Sony's approach to creating a media convergence machine, I highly applaud it. I do a lot more things than simply game on my handheld, as I have no desire to carry around a huge laptop to watch movies, listen to music, and use the internet.
Andrew Yoon11.07.2006
Yosuke talks more Sonic Rivals
Yosuke Moriya, one of my friends at SEGA, recently talked to Gamespot about Sonic Rivals. While the interview doesn't reveal anything new, it goes over the entire game's structure very thoroughly. You may have missed a few points in our previous coverage of the game, so check this video out. It features some great footage of the game in motion.Sonic Rivals races to stores on November 21st.
Andrew Yoon10.27.2006
Valhalla Knights details in lengthy interview
GameZone recently interviewed Jimmy Soga, Assistant Localization Producer of the upcoming PSP-exclusive RPG Valhalla Knights. Like in most RPGs, the main hero seems to have lost his memory, and must go on a journey to find out the truth behind his past. And also like in most RPGs, his destiny will most likely intertwine with the fate of the world. Pretty dramatic, no? The interview is very, very long, so for those of you that are too lazy to read it all, here are a few excerpts: Character customization is key: you can customize the main character, and all the playable characters that join your party. "You are able to select the race, gender and job class of additional party members you hire (create)." Each character can carry more than one weapon: "Backup weapons can also be equipped on a character and can be switched out almost instantaneously during battle. For example, if your thief starts running low on HP during melee combat with a sword, you can back him away and switch to a bow and arrow to continue with ranged attacks from a safe distance." The game features a relatively unique leveling mode, where your physical strength and class skill level are independent of each other. So, if you switch classes, you won't lose any of your physical strength. (Read the full interview for a good example.) "Valhalla Knights offers a 2-player versus mode as well as a co-op mode... The co-op mode features 30 co-op missions exclusive to the multi-player mode." So what do you guys think? It seems like the game's going to be loaded with features. The game was one of IGN's favorites at Tokyo Game Show, and I can see why.
Andrew Yoon10.16.2006
PSP Fanboy interviews Sonic Rivals' Yosuke Moriya
Fellow blogger Chris Powell did not like my somewhat negative preview of Sonic Rivals from the DigitalLife show floor. He told me on AIM that I should "play it until I like it." Well, buddy-- I tried to follow your advice. I spoke with Yosuke Moriya, product manager for Sega, about the PSP-exclusive title and he talked a little bit about the game, revealed some of its features, and played multiplayer with me. Mr. Moriya reassured me that some of the complaints I had were being addressed before the game ships in November. For example, the framerate certainly hindered the sense of speed the game needs: when debug mode was turned on, I saw that the framerate dropped frequently to 15-20fps. Music will obviously be added, but unfortunately, it appears that voice acting will not (the game currently features very short quips: Sonic says only "yeah" over and over again). The single player portion of the game will be meatier than I originally thought, as I was shown a few of the later levels and a very cool secret unlockable character (which we can't reveal, sorry!). You'll be able to collect rings and cards, which will be redeemed for new customization items for the characters: for example, you can get new shoes for Sonic, or a new outfit for Knuckles, etc. Sonic + Barbie = fun, right? The game was obviously designed with multiplayer in mind, and it became a much more fun, and lively game when playing against a human opponent. I got to trash talk Yosuke as I sped away, racing towards the finish line. The moments where we able to use special powers against each other were the most lively, and the game has to create as many opportuities for interaction as possible. You can bet cards at the beginning of each race, so I could've stolen Yosuke's shoes. I didn't, though... because I'm just that nice. I have to admit I had a blast, but unfortunately, the game will only support ad-hoc multiplayer with two UMDs. Without Infrastructure play, it might be difficult to find another human opponent to play against. And that's a shame, really, because the game does become a much more lively game with it.
Andrew Yoon10.14.2006
Interview with Peter Moore
Kikizo sat down with Peter Moore for a little chat after X06. In the interview Peter talks about the HD-DVD player, Blue Dragon, why Japan is important to Microsoft, XBLA, Peter Jackson, Live Anywhere, why surfing the web on a TV sucks, and why rumble is important. In his own words, "when you hit the wall at 150 miles an hour, you should feel something." The interview is 24 minutes long and well worth watching. See it after the break.
Richard Mitchell10.12.2006
Konami code hidden in upcoming online chess game
Online Chess Kingdoms is going to be unlike any chess game before it. For example, it's one of the only chess games I can think of that has a story mode. As Konami producer Jason Ray wrote in a recent interview with IGN, "There is no reason to have a story mode, but the game is far more interesting with it." Jason's right: chess doesn't need a story. Heck, it doesn't even need a GOOD story. Almost anything will beat staring at the Chessmaster's menacing face.Besides a story mode, there are other things that should make this game appear on your radar. Firstly, it'll support Infrastructure multiplayer, so you can lay down the chess smackdown to people around the world (strangely, it doesn't feature Ad-Hoc multiplayer). Secondly, the game allows you to use the infamous Konami code. What will the code unlock? Wer'e not sure yet, but hopefully, it'll be good as the cheat from DDR Ultramix.
Andrew Yoon10.10.2006
Medal of Honor hype on IGN
IGN has a huge blow-out on the upcoming PSP Medal of Honor Heroes. They have one written-by-a-marketing-team write-up that features profiles of the in-game characters: Generic McAmerican, Jimmy Paterson, William Holt and John Baker. Snore... The other is an interview with the game's producer, Peter Choi. It very similar to a previous interview, but it's great to know that he understands some of the things PSP fans are looking for from a game: 32 player online (Infrastructure) multiplayer. I can't stress enough how awesome that sounds. "The game is also optimized to have very short load times, which is hugely important for gamers on-the-go." (Yes!) "User Hosted Server feature along with official EA Nation Server games, are both fully customizable and have very detailed leaderboards and stat tracking." (Yes!) If all that hype wasn't enough for you, then you might want to check out the newest trailer for the game. It looks a lot like the previous videos, but with even sharper, prettier graphics.
Andrew Yoon10.07.2006
All the news on Panzer Tactics DS
With Panzer Tactics set to roll onto the DS this winter Nintendo site Cubed3 decided they needed the early details on the down and dirty. They sat down with CDV's Mario Kroll to get all the details on the historical strategy title, and Kroll had nothing but praise for Nintendo's handheld.Most of the interview is given over to the push for historical accuracy. They originally wanted to include more than 350 units, but considering that some of the finer details are impossible to discern on the DS screen, and with system limitations, they cut the initial number down to about 150 unique units for the final game. They also discussed in depth how the development team worked to offer multiple solutions for dealing with those who cut and run rather than just taking a loss, and how the online component will function. For strategy fans, this is shaping up to be a must-have title.
Alisha Karabinus10.06.2006
New game for the Wii: Heatseekers
And lo, yet another game is bequeathed unto us mortals. Codemasters (responsible for the well-received Heroes of the Pacific) have announced that their new dogfighting sim, Heatseekers, will be coming to the Wii (and other major formats) in March of 2007. From what we could gather, the game seems to be a robust combination of arcade After Burner-type combat and an actual jet sim, but it's difficult to siphon through the utter dreck that is the interview in question. The answers read like a 1996 press release, spouting off nonsense like "hang onto the edge of your seat", and "kick the tires and light the fires" rather than actual information. Still, the game sounds exciting, and we think the Wiimote is a great fit for a joystick-style control scheme. From the interview:"You can pull G in over 30 flyable fighters and their amazing variants, and you'll see another ten flying alongside (and exploding into fiery frags) during the game."Mmm, we can't wait to "pull G". Are you guys excited?[Thanks, Erich!]
Jason Wishnov10.05.2006
NPR interviews Steve Wozniak
Can this guy get around, or what? The Woz has been everywhere lately, from the Colbert Report to the It's Showtime event on a Segway, and he's on his way to the South Pole in a hydrogen Hummer. Now even NPR got their hands on the big W for an interview, waxing ecstatic about his life after Apple, and hopefully a bit more about his book than he got out on the Colbert Report. Check it out, though you'll need (*snicker*) Real Player or Windows Media support installed via Flip4Mac.Thanks phi
David Chartier10.03.2006
Jack Tretton reveals bullish numbers for Sony
An interview with GameDaily BIZ reveals optimism for SCEA Executive VP Jack Tretton. While many find it easy to criticize Sony's moves as of late, there's no denying that press attitudes and reality may differ greatly. For example, according internal sell-through data, the PSP is a much faster success than the original PS1: 18 months after launch of each system, the PSP sold 5.30 million units in America compared to the PS1's 3.48 million."We really feel we carved out new territory [with the PS1] and then we built upon that with the PS2. The parallel that we draw to the PSP is that it is exactly the same to portable gaming to what the PlayStation was to console gaming, that we are carving this new road out and we are selling again to 20-something consumers that were not fans of portable entertainment, were not playing Game Boys because the technology and the software offerings just weren't appealing to them... And now because of the technology in PSP and the game offerings it appeals to them and that same consumer we carved out with the PlayStation is now being carved out with the PSP at an even much greater rate than we did with the original PlayStation"The executive rightly questions whether or not Nintendo is truly "expanding" the market. He suggests that most DS owners have owned a Game Boy Advance in the past. The PSP can appeal to a wider demographic, considering how gamers are getting older and demand more mature games and multimedia functions out of their handhelds. He questions that older gamers would want Brain Age over a PSP: "I would tell you for a fact that there are much more people in their 50s and 60s playing PlayStation platforms in terms of console, than there are playing Nintendo platforms."[Via Joystiq]
Andrew Yoon09.23.2006
TGS 06: Gunpey & Every Extend Extra media
Gamespot has just posted up new media of the upcoming Q? Entertainment games, Gunpey and Every Extend Extra. Of note is the comprehensive interview that goes over the features of the PSP version of Gunpey. The interview reveals there are 5 artists contributing music to the game, each with their unique genre. One of the new features for the PSP version is the 10x10 mode, which has you creating a horizontal line twice the length of the original. (Trust me, that won't be easy!) According to the interview, the beginner gamer can squeeze out about 20 hours of gameplay out of this title. But, can you really quantify the amount of time you spend with a puzzler? Hell, I still play Lumines.Watch - GunpeyWatch - Every Extend Extra
Andrew Yoon09.22.2006
Castlevania heading to PSP?
One of my favorite games on the DS is Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. The series has always mesmerized me, ever since I started playing the Game Boy Advance games. Konami gave me a huge castle to explore, and tons of ways to traverse through it, and I loved it. Unfortunately, I missed what people call the best Castlevania game ever: Symphony of the Night. Yes, it's coming to Xbox 360, but wouldn't it be absolutely lovely on the PSP screen? 1UP spoke with Koji Igarashi and forced the issue:1UP: Castlevania series seems to always stick to the Nintendo handhelds, the GBA and DS. So I'm wondering, do you see yourself doing any PSP Castlevanias in the future? I mean, Konami seems to support the system pretty well -- so I'm wondering if you're personally interested in doing a PSP game. And in the very least, would you want to bring Symphony of the Night to the PSP, given that Sony is eager to start offering PS1 games for download? Igarasahi: I think the PSP is an interesting platform with a big and beautiful screen, so I would like to put my hands on a PSP version. As for offering SOTN, yes, I would love to provide it as a download if the users would want that.This is where, if I were the interviewer, I would turn into a rabid dog and scream "YES!!!" while potentially frothing at the mouth. But the love for the PSP doesn't stop there. It appears that Igarasahi-san wants to develop original games for the system as well:1UP: Can you just clarify your comments about developing for the PSP? Igarasahi: Basically, I would like to move to a multiplatform basis, so PSP is included as one of my targeted platforms.
Andrew Yoon09.21.2006
Interview reveals some secrets behind MGS: Portable Ops
1UP has chatted with the people behind the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and there are a few bullet points that are pretty juicy. [Andrew's note: I'm typing this while Sony continues to not say anything interesting in their press conference.]The classic Kurosawa film Seven Samurai is the inspiration behind your newfound ability to recruit friends in the game.The unique character generated through multiplayer is determined by the IP address of the hotspot you connect to.The characters obviously feature unique attributes. Unsurprisingly, Snake will not be the best character to play as in the game. He's very recognizable, as he's gained quite a bit of infamy by this point in this story.The game is being developed by the same team as Metal Gear Acid, for better or worse.
Andrew Yoon09.21.2006
A touching talk with Touch Detective's Jamie Ortiz
Joystiq's Ludwig Kietzmann sat down recently with Touch Detective's project lead, Jamie Ortiz, for a little hands-on. Or more likely just discussion, since we're pretty sure there's a court order floating around that keeps Ludwig at least twenty feet from everyone in the industry. Among other topics, they discussed the challenges involved in translating a story-heavy game from Japanese into English and the changes that had to be made -- and how they tackled those challenges while remaining true to the original characters. They spent a little time exploring the art style as well, and Ortiz mentioned that the style is often compared to Tim Burton's work, but we prefer the comparison one of our readers here at DS Fanboy drew -- the style looks influenced by the work of Jhonen Vasquez, the brilliant and twisted mind behind Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Squee!, and Invader Zim.And it seems we're not the only ones who think Funghi is somewhat questionable in shape, though the esteemed Mr. Ortiz did not seem to share our opinion. We'll leave it up to you to decide.
Alisha Karabinus09.21.2006
Sam and Max scope out the DS
It seems like just yesterday (or last week) that Telltale Games was begging for help in getting Nintendo to notice them, and now IGN is interviewing CEO Dan Connors about the possibility of bringing versions of their point-and-click adventure, Sam & Max, to both the DS and the Wii. How time flies!For those unfamiliar with the dynamic duo, Sam and Max, an anthropomorphic dog and his "hyperactive rabbit thing" partner, first debuted in a comic book by Steve Purcell back in 1987. The pair are self-styled "freelance police" (see: private dicks) and have made cameo appearances in several LucasArts games while their creator was working there. They've also starred in their own games and television shows, as well as other comics. Recently, Telltale Games has been panting for notice by Nintendo, but did they bite off more than they can chew?In discussing the possibility of a DS title, Connors expressed some apprehension. They love the DS at Telltale, he says (and we commend their impeccable taste), but for a small company, a project of that scope is somewhat daunting. The Wii would be easier to adapt for their style, Connors said, if only because it needs only one screen and DS games work best when they take full advantage of the handheld's capabilities. While we admire the sentiment, we hope they can grow with new support from Nintendo and manage to bring a new title to the DS.
Alisha Karabinus09.20.2006
Super Columbine Massacre RPG creator interview
Canadian television network Canoe interviewed Danny Ledonne, the creator of the Super Columbine Massacre RPG. The game has become the scapegoat for the Montreal "Video Game Killer" school shooting rampage.The interview is worth watching for the way Ledonne behaves himself. Like watching Marilyn Manson in Bowling for Columbine, Ledonne handles himself professionally with word choice precision; meanwhile, the Toronto Sun columnist being used as the counter, who "tried to play" Ledonne's game, comes off like the stereotypical out-of-touch old man -- because he is. We'll avoid the First Amendment soapbox and just throw a quote in here from Ledonne, the new poster boy for the ESRB:"Find out what your kids are playing, talk to them, get in touch with them. I mean, most of these cases have kids that have fallen through the cracks, they hate life, they say it, and these I feel are the root causes, not whatever video game or book or movie they happen to pick up that weekend."See also: Columbine game scapegoated for Montreal shootingsThe Political Game: The blame gameWatch - Canoe Interview
Alexander Sliwinski09.18.2006
Details on Microsoft Office 2007 for the Mac
APC Magazine had a chance to sit down and snag some juicy details from Mary Starman, group product manager for the MacBU, on the next version of Microsoft Office for the Mac. Probably the most significant change will be a UI redux (while still accounting for Apple's UI guidelines), borrowing from the controversial new 'ribbon' UI Microsoft is introducing in Office 12 for Windows (if you want a rundown on the new Office for Windows UI, check out Download Squad's killer video review, but remember - that isn't exactly what we'll be getting). For standards buffs, the new versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint are adopting the new native XML file format.The next version of Office for the Mac will, of course, be a Universal Binary, and Mary referred to that alone as a big milestone for the team, as they cited many of the same major challenges as Adobe in updating a lot of really, really old code for Apple's Xcode. This challenge, however, is one of the reasons we aren't going to see a new version of Office for the Mac until sometime between July and September of 2007 - as long as everything stays on track.For more details, check out APC Magazine's interview with Mary for more details on what to expect in this major Office update.
David Chartier09.18.2006
iLounge interviews, um, everyone about new iPods
Ok, maybe not 'everyone,' but they certainly made the rounds to a healthy portion of companies who have just about anything to do with the iPod. iLounge asked for general reactions of the new products from the likes of Griffin, Altec Lansing, Pacific Rim, Targus, TechRestore and even the Chief iPodification Officer of iPopMyPhoto and iPopMyBaby.com. Plenty of other companies sounded off with reactions, and (of course) just about everyone got a word in on the status of their products, whether they'll work with the new iPods (save for the shuffle, many products should be fine) and what they have coming down the pipeline. While some of the reactions may be packed with more marketing than genuine answers, it's still a good overall 'state of the iPod universe' article, providing a nice communication channel between the accessory manufacturers and their adoring fans. I haven't seen a post like this before from iLounge, but I hope they keep 'em coming.[Update: Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge let us know in the comments that they actually have been doing these types of posts for a while, and they even have an archive. Thanks Jeremy!]
David Chartier09.17.2006
Sling CEO sez Mac client poised to launch
There's great news afoot in the world of the Slingbox, so we'll get right to it: in an interview yesterday with The Guardian, Blake Krikorian, chief executive of Sling Media, dropped some pretty significant info on the future of the SlingPlayer and SlingBox. First, he said that the beta of the Mac client would finally be released worldwide this week -- though given that the week is just about over, we're not sure how that's possible. Second, he told the British newspaper that while Sling had already released a Windows Mobile Smartphone version and a Pocket PC version, more mobile support would be added "before the end of the year" -- look out, S60 and Palm fanatics. Finally, he discussed Sling's business plans; specifically, how Sling's recent deal to put its software in another company's box may not just be a one-off. "Slingbox is a type of product where it starts to make sense to get TV and high-speed data from one place because our product means you can get your TV anywhere," he opined. We're not sure if that means we'll see a simple re-brand, or if a whole new licensing scheme is on the table -- Blake, we're watching you.[Via Zatz Not Funny]Update: Sling gave us a ring, and it's not good news, Mac fans. It would appear The Guardian misquoted Blake, and the above with regard to the Mac client is, well, not entirely accurate. According to Sling, they're still on track for release this year of the Mac client, and do actually expect to have the public beta launched by October. But that this-week-launch thing, not gonna happen. Fret not, we have a feeling it's got more to do with them getting it right than it does with unabashedly trying to piss off the Mac community, you know?
Cyrus Farivar09.15.2006