Resistance
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All right, let's get some PS3Fanboy Resistance started!
We here at PS3Fanboy finally feel as if we've gotten enough practice to hold our own in a match to the death (well, multiple deaths) on Resistance: Fall of Man. We're of course talking about creating a party game of sorts where we can all meet up, do a little chatting, do a lot of killing and overall make NDoerrFans look like a complete fool at FPS titles (which he totally is, smiley face).There's a problem, though. We need your help! Since we're already starting this idea up in the middle of the week, sorta kinda, we'd like to know what day you guys can regularly meet up and annihilate one another. Personally, I'm available practically every day after 6PM, so whatever day you all choose, I'd gladly be around to form a game. Anywho, the poll below allows you to vote once every week, so make sure you know what you're doing next Sunday-Saturday. We'll start putting this up every Saturday from now on (and increase the breadth of titles it can apply to), so... bah, you get the idea. Vote away, PS3Fans! What day would you like to frag your friends? I've got a case of the Mondays! Tuesday's the most useless day of the week. Wednesday -- I'm half good, half bad. Thursday! Almost done with the week! Thank goodness it's Friday! Saturday works best for me. Sunday -- the day of rest... and kicking ass. I don't have Resistance, silly! Free polls from Pollhost.com
Andrew's raving and random rants: in podcast form
For those of you willing to kill an hour of your life listening to my whiny, irritating voice can head over to Tired Thumbs. I was invited to speak rant on a variety of gaming topics, and you'll hear my (incorrect) answers to questions like: Which system has better wi-fi connections? The Wii or the PS3? Is World of Warcraft the work of Satan? Is Gears of War the best thing since peanut butter? Why do I hate Resistance? Why do you never, ever, keep a disc inside a PS3? I may have also mentioned the PSP somewhere along the way. If you have nothing better to do with yourself on this lazy Sunday, you may want to check it out. by clicking the link below. Once you're done, feel free to flame me here.
The big Resistance: Fall of Man update -- more lists!
All right, if any of you have been playing Resistance in the past few days, you may have noticed an update or two. Well, the good folks over at MyResistance have compiled a list of update changes that have either happened already or are scheduled for the near future (correct us if everything is already in place). It's a really, really long list so we'll have to ask you to click on the "continued" link -- it's worth it, if you care about your lovely launch title.
Ted Price talks more about Resistance
Now, the game's been out for a month, so it's a natural time to look back and reflect on things -- what worked? What didn't? No matter how many times you go back through something you work on, it will never be perfect or ready in your eyes. At one point, though, you just have to decide that it's "good enough" and let that baby bird fly. With that in mind, GamePro's Vicious Sid (oh, a Sex Pistols reference... that's so cool... because gaming news interviews are hardcore) sat down for a chat with Insomniac CEO, Ted Price. Highlights follow: The game was built specifically for the PS3. With the multi-processor usage, translating it to another system would be difficult, but not impossible... The Cell has a pretty steep learning curve and Ted claims they've just begun to understand how to work the PS3. Scratch the surface or some such. 16GB was the final word on the game size and there are many reasons why: more character animations, more sound (7.1, etc), HD movie/cutscenes... but the cut back from 22GB came from switching the movies from PAL to NTSC for Europe. Which you can try to say that about 6GB of the game is cinematics, but would that be accurate? Hmm. The game could never fit on a DVD. It would have to have entire levels removed. So it seems that it's stuck on PS3 only, unless that HD-DVD add-on learns to play games... then maybe. 720p is smoother than 1080i, despite the larger number going towards the latter. I know, I know, a lot of you knew that, but there are others that weren't too sure. But Resistance went the 720p route for just that reason. They don't miss rumble (but some friends who played the game do... my hands have become pretty numb to that option, so I don't think I'd care). Nothing groundbreaking, nothing really "oh, we shoulda done this", but still good to know the guy loves the game they made. A lot of the humor for me comes from the comments on the GamePro article. Wow. If any of you thought there were some "bad" comments here... we're all educated very highly in comparison. Take this opportunity to pat yourselves on the back, despite your, um, "console affiliation". Whatever that means. Also, let us know what you think worked best, or didn't work at all, in Resistance.
Resistance multiplayer patch: better balance, more strategy
Resistance: Fall of Man's lead multiplayer programmer Eric Ellis has blogged the lid off of Insomniac's patch plans. While avoiding full disclosure, Ellis did outline the team's intention to bring better weapon balance to the game's online experience, with a focus toward enhancing team-based strategic gameplay -- a welcome alternative to those chaotic 40-player free-for-alls.Ellis was clear that the patch would be implemented "very soon."
Resistance padding files only 420MB per region [update 2]
[Update 1: We got our answer. The entire thing is blown way out of proportion. There are still padding files, but they're a relatively meager 420MB per region. 2: We've removed the original headline which read "Resistance = 17.75GB of garbage?" We've maintained the original post below for accountability, but remind readers that the speculative remarks about the game's size aren't accurate.] Resistance: Fall of Man was billed to be the defining game for why Blu-ray exists in the first place. Resistance developers Insomniac stated that the game took up 22GB of space and that all those bits and bytes were necessary to make the game work. It would seem that ripping the disk in Linux shows otherwise. A NeoGAF forum member by the name of squatingyeti posted a long list of padding files on the Resistance disk; the padding took up approximately 17.75GB of space. Padding is frequently used to push data to the outer edges of the disk to improve read times, but Blu-ray is supposed to be a constant read over the entire disk. It's possible that the data isn't fully true and we would like to see some confirmation; however, if this report that 81% of Resistance is just empty filler and could fit on a single-layer DVD is accurate, will this put a hole in Sony's claim that Blu-ray is absolutely necessary this generation? The padding isn't needed to make the read speeds any better and (if true) is a lame way for Sony to justify Blu-ray for gaming.
Resistance: Fall of Man easter egg goodness!
I'm here to enforce the Travelocity guaranteeeeeeeee! While our good reader (and frequent commenter), Microdot, was playing his copy of Resistance, he came across what appears to be an easter egg of sort. Not to mention a time paradox. Now, behold! Enter the new Chimera breed -- the evil super-secret final boss (not really), the Travelocity Lawn Gnome. Sure, it may be a regular ol' lawn gnome (that's what the Travelocity guy is, until he scored that gig), but it'd still feel great to unload some kind of explosive at that thing. About that time paradox... that may not be entirely true. Upon further research in my personal alchemy laboratory, researching ancient demonology texts and creating my own chimera demons, I have discovered that lawn gnomes are like elves -- they live a long, long time. They're just... fugly, so they were kicked out of the mainstay fantasy realm. With that in mind, finding the same Travelocity gnome presents not a time paradox, but a glimpse into his past, before his current job. My logic is not unflawless, argue if you will.[thanks, Microdot!]
PS3 launch: Overheard on Resistance
Dude #1: We camped for four days. Bought a couple cots and stayed in sportings goods -- 'til they kicked us out. So we got some tents, barbeque grills -- partied outside. Dude #2: Yeah man, we camped for two days. I love that shit! Dude #1: Ah, that shit is so cool! [Resistance: Fall of Man; unranked deathmatch]
Resistance: Fall of Man -- welcome to the killer app zone
I've said it before, I hate the term killer app. But apparently, IGN has given the thumbs way up to Resistance, scoring it an impressive 9.1 out of 10. They go so far as to call it a killer app available on day one. Let's break down the highs and low of the review. The alternate timeline story is pretty solid, pretty cool, pretty pretty. Graphics are great, although not the "best" out there. Weapons, weapons, weapons! The weapon designs are hailed as fantastic, to say the least. What do you expect from the Ratchet & Clank people? The AI grows with you -- the first few levels consist of fairly "dumb" enemies, but by the later levels, they are rather intelligent. Oh, just a rant, but I played Gears of War over the weekend. It's pretty cool, but you know, if they gave you a Light Gun and a pedel to push when you duck behind stuff, it's basically a more interactive Time Crisis. Which is fine, since Time Crisis rocks. So, it's good, but not "the best game ever". Load times are only at the beginning of stages. Sweet. No lag in game or in the insanely impressive multi-player matches. Speaking of... multi-player matches are plenty, varied, and loads of fun. What's not so good? Well... the ending is fairly vague and open-ended (which, unless otherwise set in stone, is fine for sequel material) You can read the IGN review to get a better feel for this summary of sorts. But let it be known! The game is deserving of your attention, even if it means a simple rental.
Resistance using a single sign-in ID for online play
Well, Sony had already confirmed that each game for the PS3 will use the same universal sign-in and online ID, but some will have the option to use an extra buddy list system via xfire, like Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom. As for Resistance, UK producer Dan Brooke "wishes to be clear that Resistance uses the PlayStation online ID to sign into the game. There is no separate login for Resistance and the online ID you create will be the same you use for all titles." All right, so basically, don't make your ID "fallofmanfragger" or else you'll look foolish in an online... like... Sonic match or something.As far as other features Resistance will offer, you've got some advanced community junk like clan support, party support, match-making and the more or less mandatory ranking system. The PS3 doesn't currently have these options as a standard, so those are specific to Resistance (does that mean you won't rack up entitlement points or whatever? Bah, online squabbling). In essence, this is still dangerously close to the PS2's online system, but give it a few software updates over the course of a year and it should be a viable online console.
Famitsu reviews the first wave of PS3 games
The overall verdict? Not a sad bloke in the lot. Then again, this ever-intrepid blogulator considers a 7 as it should be considered: above average, but not great. Besides, that number was the lowest. Let's also remember -- Famitsu is a tough cookie when it comes to reviews. Only six games have made perfect scores (and lo and behold, some of my favorites): The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64), Soul Calibur (DC), Vagrant Story (PSX... Best. Game. Ever.), The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GC), Nintendogs (DS), and Final Fantasy XII (PS2... same people who made Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story... and the lesser cared about Romancing SaGa games, which are also great). You can check out what else got almost-perfect scores on Wikipedia. Some surprises, really, but you have to remember -- unlike our video game magazines that seem to arbitrarily pick numbers based on "awesome factor", Famitsu bases their scores in comparison only to other games in the same genre. A perfect score means that, in that particular genre, nothing else can possibly be better.Whew. Sorry about that, but it's just so exciting! Without further ado, here are the review scores/highlights for the first wave of PS3 titles: Miyazato Golf Club: 7, 7, 7, 7 good tempo, hard to judge where shots will land, doesn't quite look next-gen Genji: 7, 7, 7, 8 camera is difficult, but the game looks great; challenging for beginners, good amount of content, good controls Gundam: 8, 8, 8, 8 excellent Mobile Suit models, problematic system, great textures, tons of optional/unlockable stuff, satisfying, but with divided opinions (don't look at me -- just copying from the forum) Resistance: 9, 8, 8, 8 (keep in mind, a lot of people say the Japanese don't like the FPS genre -- but again, the grading is based on others in the same genre, so...) standard FPS gameplay, excellent netplay, very high standard of next-gen Riiiiiiidge Racer 7: 9, 9, 9, 9 totally satisfactory, tons of content, very high quality graphics and sound There you have it. Report your reactions in the form of comments! Dismissed!
PlayStation 3 HD details revealed at Gamers Day
Sony hasn't exactly...forthcoming with information about its upcoming PlayStation 3 but over the last couple of days solid information has come out about what we can expect this November thanks to the company's Gamers Day event. What does it mean for HDTV owners? Some of it's good, some of it makes us shake our heads in disbelief and wonder what Sony is doing, but here it is:The Good: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is going to be a pack in with the launch consoles, so in exchange for pre-ordering early or freezing outside overnight, PS3 owners will come home with at least one Blu-ray movie to watch. While this may not be the first title to come to mind in terms of showing off incredible visual and sound quality, it is a funny smash-hit movie that most will enjoy. The PS3 loads Blu-ray movies fast. Reports are that within 10 seconds of selecting the movie from the menu, its playing. Long load times have plagued standalone Blu-ray and HD DVD players so far, in that respect, the consoles may have them beat. 18 launch titles, including true 1080p games like NBA '07. Most are multiplatform, but Madden, NBA 2K7, Fight Night Round 3 and others have added a few features to take advantage of the tilt controller, or just enhance them slightly over their Xbox 360 counterparts. HD Movies can be stored on and played directly from the hard drive, although codec support is still unknown. The Bad: No, there aren't any HD cables in the box. Really. The HD era starts now, but BYOC. That may be old hat, or maybe even preferred by many home theater enthusiasts, but for $500/$600 you shouldn't have to buy anything else to get HD out of the box. If you already have component cables from a PS2 however, the AV connector is the same and they will still work. Standard HDMI cables will of course be necessary for digital connections. Yes, there are native-1080p games, but Resistance: Fall of Man is not one of them. Previously touted as 1,920 x 1,080, 22GB of goodness, it is now merely 16GB of 720p goodness. All in all this is probably for the best, but this game is one the PS3's most anticipated games and is supposed to show why gamers need 1080p and Blu-ray...and not Xbox 360s. The PS3 does not do DVD upconverting over any connection, and there are reports that despite previous claims, it will not enhance the visuals on PS1/PS2 games. This is a joke, the console has more than enough power for upconversion, and with its HDCP-protected digital output it is perfectly capable of upscaling to 1080p. The Xbox 360 does it and there is no reason why the PlayStation shouldn't. That recently-reduced-to-400k in the US launch number is really more of a "target", which may or may not be hit due to production issues. Either start lining up now or mortgage the house to buy one on eBay, getting a PlayStation 3 in 2006 won't be easy. No included remote, the BD remote will ship "soon" for $24.99 and operate via Bluetooth, not IR. There it is, are we missing anything? All that's left now is the waiting. We hate waiting.Read - DVD upscaling "not part of the feature set" - IGNRead - PlayStation 3 launch window titles announced - JoystiqRead - Sony PlayStation 3 may not meet shipment targets - BloombergRead - Sony Computer Entertainment America Announces Extensive Line Up of Game Titles for PlayStation 3 - SonyRead - PS3 features lightning-fast Blu-ray playback and video sharing with the PSP - Ars Technica
Japan gets some prices for their PS3 titles... it's not too bad
Not too bad is about the extent of it. While one price shouldn't be indicative of any other game prices, there's at least a little comfort in the recently announced pricing of Resistance: Fall of Man, Motorstorm, and Genji. 5980 yen. Roughly $50 US. That's really cool, should the prices remain the same upon the North American release. Will they? Maybe. Maybe not. No use guessing, but we can pray to the almighty lords of gaming to make it so. Let's not forget that Sega also released some prices a few weeks ago: Sega Golf Club and Sonic are both being priced at 7140 yen (about $60)... the expected next-gen pricing, but didn't someone see Sonic for cheap somewhere? Maybe that was a dream. Seems the pricing will be stuck around $50-$70. Oh well. Is anyone unnaturally bent out of shape about this?
Why does Resistance take over 20GB? Glad you asked...
Ted Price from Insomniac has humored himself by reading the theories everyone has offered as to why the upcoming PS3 title Resistance: Fall of Man will take well over 20GB. Now, he's tired of that and wishes to tell us why. We'll just toss up the whole quote so no word can be twisted on our behalf.Ted Price explains: "Consider that even with compression, each of our 'levels' (or loaded areas) has more than 300 megs of unique data. And keep in mind that we're also streaming data during level playthroughs. It doesn't take too much level data before you've gone past what can be stored on a dual-layer DVD. And between single player and multiplayer we have a lot of level data (over 40 different large loaded areas) – yes, more than will fit on a dual layer DVD."Also mentioned is the fact that all game movies are in more than one format, multiple full language tracks, and a fist full of extras. That clears that up, sort of. Kind of. Mostly. Should they have focused the storage space more for AI and less on extras, different movie formats, etc? If you could arrange the game's focus in terms of memory space and features, would you have done it any differently?
Resistance: Fall of Man gets some more press
IGN sat down with some of the guys at Insomniac games to talk about a few loose ends regarding Resistance: Fall of Man. Not all loose ends are tied up, but some questions are answered we've been waiting for. Here's a summary: To run a 40-player online match of exploding awesome, they downed the frames per second to 30 and focused more on "running with artificially high latency and packet loss" to make sure the system can handle the numbers and also to look good while doing it. Playing as either hybrid or human has distinct advantages and disadvantages -- not just a skin swap. You can disable tilt-sensing if you want, but other uses for it are still under wraps. All HD modes, including 1080p, will be supported. Framerate is locked at 30 fps, AC3 and ATRAC3 for audio codecs (aren't those the codecs Sony uses to restrict piracy? This Sony Vaio seems to recall it as such...) There will be both nonlinear and more restricted levels to explore and move back and forth through. Some restricted areas force you to go ahead so the suspense and such keep you glued to your seat. There is a stealthy aspect to smaller corridor areas, but the large battlefields will take some bravery and loud explosions. So, experiment with your play styles! Now, if you check out the interview at IGN, on the last page there are a few very amazing answers to some amazing questions. They're too fantastic to even try to summarize, but they talk about how Resistance could not have been made on any other system (20GB size aside) and some misconceptions about programming for the PS3. Check it out, leave your thoughts. This game is shaping up to be a fantastic title.
Blog debate: PS3 to load games slower than the Xbox 360
From the "PS3 can't get a publicity break" file comes news that the system's Blu-ray load times will be slower than the DVD speeds of the Xbox 360. Following our post regarding Resistance: Fall of Man's beefy 22GBs of data, Microsoft's Andre Vrignaud (aka Ozymandias) wrote about why storage capacity isn't as important as drive speed and -- wouldn'tcha know it? -- Blu-ray has bunches of the former and not so much of the latter. Former Sony employee Mark DeLoura responded with a long, thoughtful response sticking up for the format that fanboys love to hate, talking textures, audio, and even read speed. Naturally, there's some guffawing from the other side of the aisle as Ozymandias takes umbrage with some of DeLoura's claims, notably that textures and other media will take up a sizable chunk of that Blu-ray disc. One area they are in agreement on is that Blu-ray's read speed isn't as fast as the Xbox 360's. Says DeLoura: "Admittedly, Blu-Ray looks dicey from several non-capacity angles. Blu-Ray movies require a 1.5x Blu-Ray drive, or 54Mbits/second. Sony announced that PS3 uses a 2x BD drive, which is 72Mbits/second or 9MB/second. The Xbox 360 uses a 12x DVD, which should give it about 16MB/second. That is significantly faster for games and will result in shorter load times. And that 12x DVD drive should be a whole lot cheaper. (Note that the PS3 drive will do 8x DVD, and even that is faster than 2x BD.)" Says Ozymandias in response: "This is pretty much what I've been saying regarding drive speeds. A good example of where we're pretty clearly agreeing." So, they're in agreement. The PS3 will load slower than the Xbox 360, leading one to question whether bragging about 22GB discs is the most prudent course of action. Let's hope they use the compression technologies touched on in the debate to shrink the data down considerably, even if it obviates a key selling point of the console. ... but wait, it's not all settled. Be sure to read the comments on Ozymandias' last post to get a bunch of great feedback, including this gem on the finer differences between CAV and CLV drives ("a BD25 on PS3 fares better than a DVD9 on the 360"), or Kim Pallister's link back to his own feedback on the fight and the "innovator's dilemma." [Thanks, Hank; via DigitalBattle] Grist - Will Resistance: FoM justify the PS3 pricetag? [Joystiq] Point - Drive Speed More Relevant to Games Than Capacity [Ozymandias] Counterpoint - On PS3 and Blu-Ray [Mark DeLoura] Counter-counterpoint - Oddly, We're in Violent Agreement [Ozymandias]
Will Resistance: FoM justify the PS3 pricetag? [update 1]
Insomniac Games, the guys behind the Ratchet and Clank series, were in the Big Apple showing off the latest build of their upcoming PS3 launch title, Resistance: Fall of Man. Kotaku had a Gawker cameraman on the scene to grab some video, and MTV News' Stephen Totilo managed the impossible. He extracted some positive press about the PS3 (Sony must be furious at Insomniac, this goes against their entire pre-launch strategy). Turns out that Blu-ray drive that every armchair analyst is convinced is a giant wooden equine built to penetrate our consumer-weary walls and then attack with an army of HD movies may actually be useful for gaming afterall. The game currently takes up 22GB! That's seven whole gee-bees more than a single layer HD-DVD disc that the Xbox 360 won't (?) be using for gaming. The Dual Shake functionality that was supposedly tacked on at the last minute ... well, it looks like it was still tacked on; nevertheless, it holds some serious promise. Ninety days before this thing has to be on store shelves the developers have still not activated the functionality on the controller, but they have added in some clever gameplay currently triggered with a button press. Shake off a melee attack by shaking the controller, or introduce the end of your rifle to their face with a quick jab of your right hand. Sure, you won't feel the vibration when that blow connects, but it's something. But there's also multiplayer. How will Sony's secretive service compare to the superlative Xbox Live? R: FoM will feature: "40-player online matches at launch; 60 levels of player progression while playing online; two-player offline co-op." 60 levels of player progression ... sounds like another popular online game. According to MTV News, Insomniac even promised "better, deeper support than any Xbox Live title." Has the PS3 buzz finally begun? We've been increasingly anxious that someone at Sony didn't get the memo that their latest and greatest was launching in a few scant months. [Update: Insomniac's Ryan Schneider called MTV News to clarify what exactly is on those 22GBs. "While the music and vocals in Resistance take up only about 1 Gigabyte of disc space, graphics, level data and programming code occupy most of the remaining 21."] Watch - New Resistance: Fall of Man video Read - MTV News on Resistance: Fall of Man
Did Resistance: Fall of Man truly get a graphical boost?
A forum over at NeoGaf has an interesting quote from Insomniac Games' James Stevenson. Someone had asked if the graphics for their upcoming title Resistance: Fall of Man has had any changes since the E3 demo. To this, Stevenson responded: "Over the E3 demo? Hah! I'm incredibly impressed with how much the graphics have improved in the past two weeks. I almost didn't recognize a couple of levels now that the lighting has gone in." Well, well, Mr. Stevenson. Have you any screens to back up this haughty claim? ...Didn't think so.Even though there are a few screens on the forum page, they're the old ones. But still -- if the graphics have been overhauled from what is shown there (with advanced lighting effects or particle nonsense... whatever) then we'll definately have a fun launch. Resistance: FoM and F.E.A.R. will probably compete with each other for some reason (not to mention Gears of War). Basically, these realistic crazy alien-demon-shooters are going to go at each other's throats and that will be one exciting death match to watch. If you're into those sort of games. Where do you ally yourselves?
Resistance is futile, you will be exposed to marketing
Have you heard of the game Resistance: Fall of Man? If not, you most certainly will. Posted at the NeoGAF forum, people have been buzzing about the new marketing plan Sony is initiating. To quote: "Sony Computer Entertainment America will support Resistance: Fall of Man with a blockbuster multimillion dollar marketing campaign. This will include aggressive national television, print, online and viral advertising campaigns, full promotional support, dedicated point-of-purchase displays and merchandising support, broad-based public relations support, an immersive and interactive website and feature coverage in the Official PlayStation Magazine/Underground DVD." Wow! That's a lot of advertising for one game, even though it was speculated this game would get a lot of press.If you're interested in multiplayer bouts, James Stevenson, a new addition to Insomniac Games has posted a blog about his adventures with the 40 player online mode, also summed up at the forum. Check it out, get excited, whatever. Does anyone think this game will prove worthy competition to the much anticipated Gears of War? That's a tough call and probably a good battle to watch upon both releases.
New screenshots: Resistance: Fall of Man, Frontlines
Here are a few screenshots of the PS3 launch title Resistance: Fall of Man. Look eerie enough for you? Either way, it's hard not to love the dynamic environments and grungy atmosphere. But do you think Frontlines: Fuel of War looks that good?[Resistance: Fall of Man][Frontlines: Fuel of War]
