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PSN Thursday: Get stuffed by 'The Taxidermist'
Heavy Rain's "The Taxidermist" DLC is ready to fill you up with more suspense for $5. To access your wallet, you'll have to flick your analog stick up and to the right. PSP owners can download titles like BlazBlue Calamity Trigger and Perv Simu ... ok, fine, Dead or Alive Paradise -- we still contend we were going down the right path the first time. As is pretty common, the latest deluge of PSP comics is the real draw for the handheld. Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)
10 games added to PS3 Greatest Hits lineup, Sony confirms
Looks like the Walmart ad we posted yesterday actually undersold the number of PS3 games that Sony will soon add to the $30 Greatest Hits collection. The following 10 titles will be decked in red and reduced in price in the U.S. and Canada within the next few weeks: inFAMOUS (Sony Computer Entertainment) God of War Collection (Sony Computer Entertainment) Killzone 2 (Sony Computer Entertainment) LittleBigPlanet Game of the Year (Sony Computer Entertainment) Resistance 2 (Sony Computer Entertainment) Dead Space (Electronic Arts) Fight Night Round 4 (EA Sports) Resident Evil 5 (Capcom) Soulcalibur IV (Namco Bandai Games) UFC 2009 Undisputed (THQ) That's a pretty good assortment of quality titles -- assuming, of course, that this isn't some kind of horribly distasteful April Fools' Day joke.
Rumor: inFAMOUS, LBP GOTY and others joining Greatest Hits
According to a recent Walmart ad dug up by NeoGAF user ghostmind, a whole slew of new PS3 titles will soon be added to the $29.99 Greatest Hits collection. Featured on the ad are five games which will apparently get the red box treatment: LittleBigPlanet: Game of the Year Edition, Killzone 2, inFAMOUS, Resistance 2 and UFC 2009 Undisputed. Actually, according to the flyer, the games are being offered for $29.83. That, dear readers, is the Walmart difference. We've contacted Sony America to find out if the Walmart ad is authentic, but we have no reason to believe it's a mock-up. We mean, all those games are "hits," and they're all pretty "great," right? [Via 1UP]
Heavy Rain 'Taxidermist' DLC hitting PSN for $4.99 on April 1
We have a hard time watching films where people get caught being in places they totally shouldn't be. We get no enjoyment from watching a Misery or a Rear Window, for example. That kind of scenario is the bread and butter of Heavy Rain's first downloadable chapter, "The Taxidermist," which pre-order customers of the game have already gotten their hands on. The rest of us will have our chance to grab the suspenseful scene on April 1, when it hits the PSN storefront for $4.99. Check out the video above for a brief teaser of the chapter's events. Actually, it doesn't look that scary to us. Madison climbs in a window, walks up some stairs, and accidentally intrudes on a woman taking a bath. What's that? The woman is dead? Yes, well, that is significantly more upsetting.
Interview: Spoiling Heavy Rain with David Cage
Once a major release has been completed and propelled to the top of the sales charts, the critical discussion surrounding it typically evaporates just as the Next Big Thing appears on the horizon. But Heavy Rain -- whether you like it, love it or loathe it -- has been kept afloat in popular opinion, with critics still debating its controversial design and embarrassing themselves as they attempt to shoehorn water puns like "afloat" and "evaporates" into ham-fisted introductory paragraphs. We drew Heavy Rain's director and writer, the soft-spoken, passionate and occasionally enigmatic David Cage, into the ongoing discussion and asked him to elaborate upon the game's story, its technology and its critical reception. Oh, and the nature of the Origami Killer, which means ... SPOILER WARNING: The following interview contains massive, big-huge spoilers for Heavy Rain. If you have not completed Quantic Dream's cinematic adventure, do not proceed beyond the break -- and don't even think about reading the comments. Just turn around and slowly R2 away.
Heavy Rain patch development complete, release 'very soon'
While the Joystiq staff hasn't experienced a game-ending Heavy Rain crash, there are a number of vocal members of the PlayStation forums that have reported some serious issues, most notably save file corruption. Quantic Dream is working on a new patch for the adventure game, one that "address a range of minor issues," but isn't "targeted purely at the issues reported." According to Sam_Protagonist, SCEE has had difficulty in reproducing the reported bugs, but hopes that the patch should fix various "contributing factors" that may be at the root of Heavy Rain's issues. "We're optimistic that this patch resolves your problems but cannot guarantee that this will be the case." Development on the patch is now complete, and is undergoing the "final stages of testing." Let's hope the patch actually does its job -- otherwise, angry Heavy Rain owners will be left with nothing to play but Press X to Jason. [Via VG247]
'Press X to Jason' distills Heavy Rain
Sure, Heavy Rain was great, but what was with all the story? Don't you just wish someone would come along, strip out that cinematic nonsense and leave only the visceral thrill of repeatedly calling for your missing son while tearing through a shopping mall? For you, there's Press X to Jason, a low-rez action/puzzle/platformer/adventure from Heavy.com that nails just one mechanic: Yelling for Jason. [Fair warning: If you don't know how this particular Heavy Rain scene plays out, like, in the real game, you may not want to play Press X to Jason just yet.] If afterwards you still aren't sure about little Jason's fate, you'll be happy to know that we've located him, and he's on Twitter. [Thanks, Wez]
Molyneux says Heavy Rain offers the 'first glimpses of the future' of games
If only Sony had waited until after the South by Southwest festival to release Heavy Rain, the publisher could have printed several glowing quotes from a known Xbox consorter on the back of the PS3-exclusive's game box. Oh, well -- there's always the "Game of the Year" edition. During a a one-on-one conversation with writer Frank Rose at SXSW this week, Fabled designer Peter Molyneux heaped praise on Heavy Rain, calling it "absolutely brilliant." "I recommend anyone who wants to start to see the first glimpses of the future of video games to go out and buy it," Molyneux advocated, before exposing his softer side to the audience. "But, personally, I could not bring myself to play more than 90 minutes, because the world that was there was so dark and so emotionally involving I felt emotionally beaten up." Aww, Mr. Molyneux. "But there's no question in my mind that games like Heavy Rain -- games that have a new fidelity in the way that they present their experiences; obviously made with cinematography and motion capture in mind -- can really show the way forward to a new form of entertainment, which is evolving the story and choices and consequences." Molyneux steadfastly declared, having apparently recovered from painful memories of the game (perhaps cries of Jason? Jason? Jason! still faintly echoing in his head). Molyneux also commended developer Quantic Dream's design choices, observing that the QTE interface "really meant that you had to pay attention all the time because you didn't know whether these quick-time events were going to come up"; though he noted that such gameplay mechanics "may be a little bit tired after a while." Still, he said, "I have to take my hat off to [Quantic Dream] ... There's a couple of things they do in that game which were really revolutionary, and what they do with quick-time is fantastic." "Us designers were just laughing because we thought quick-time was dead, but that really was part of the drama of Heavy Rain."
GDC: How Sucker Punch built inFamous' big city with a small team
Last year's shockingly awesome superhero title inFamous boasted a massive sandbox world known as Empire City -- a playground full of climbable, grindable, shootable objects. It was an impressive environment, made all the more impressive by a startling piece of information revealed by Sucker Punch's Nate Fox during a recent GDC panel: The whole city was created by a team of just 12 artists. Fox explained that this feat was accomplished with the liberal reusing of the game's catalog of environmental assets. For example, there were only two types of cars in the game, differentiated by hue shifts and decals. The map was partitioned into a hexagonal grid -- the inspiration for which came from the popular board game Carcassonne, Fox explained. Edges of each hex were designed to effortlessly fit together, allowing designers to make minor changes to each compartment, and paste the location into another chunk of the city. This might sound like a cheap tactic for a developer to employ, but Fox explained that a developer's time and resources are limited. By swiftly executing the creation of a game's setting, the developers are given more of an opportunity to focus on designing "evil lairs" and other memorable landmarks. Oh, and according to Fox, the industry term for these outstanding structures is "Weenies." Yes, for that reason. Yes, that is wonderful. %Gallery-26262%
inFamous is temporarily inExpensive, $27 on Amazon
Did you miss out on Sucker Punch's shockingly awesome superhero simulator, inFamous? Today's the perfect day to rectify your oversight -- Amazon's offering the title for just $26.99 until the end of the day. If you're wondering whether or not it's worth this price, we'd remind you that this is a game where you can electrocute large groups of innocent civilians with a single, errant bolt, provided they're standing in a large enough puddle. Of course it's worth it.
Interview: John Hight, God of War III director of product development
John Hight runs Sony's Santa Monica studio and oversees the entire God of War 3 team. He makes sure that everyone is happy, that the game is going to ship on time, and that it's going to be something you'll want to play. Read on to learn more from him about the the future of the franchise, the possibility of multiplayer, the God of War movie and why he hasn't played Dante's Inferno (yet).
Interview: Adam Puhl, God of War III's combat designer
As lead combat designer of God of War III, Adam Puhl has the enviable position of creating an arsenal of weapons and abilities fit to take down the gods. I recently spoke with Adam about the design process for such a titanic task and the pressures of surpassing the first two God of War games. Additionally, Adam offered his gameplay reactions to Dante's Inferno and Darksiders, two recent action-adventures that owe a lot to the God of War series. Read on after the break for the full interview. %Gallery-44594%
Hands-on: God of War III (well, the first boss battle at least)
A common refrain from many (including us!) about God of War III is: "It's God of War ... in HD." And, as our last preview attested, that's not such a bad thing. In fact, while the demo was impressive in its own right, the game's director tells us they've added depth of field, motion blur, and high dynamic range lighting to the finished product. Too technical, right? We'll just use our fallback word: awesome. For this hands-on, we went all the way up to the first boss and beat him ... err, after several tries. It's none other than a certain God of the Sea, and he's pretty moody on account of Kratos and a bunch of Titans trying to scale Mount Olympus. In fact, there's a gathering of the gods up there and they're all pretty miffed: Zeus, Helios, Hermes, Poseidon, Hades, and a mysterious someone else. Based on this preview, they're going to do everything they can to try and make sure Kratos doesn't play king of the hill on their precious mountain. Read on for our experience with the opening of God of War III up to, and including, the first boss battle. If you're hoping to go into this game spoiler-free next month, you might want to stop here; otherwise, press on! %Gallery-44594%
Heavy Rain buoyed to top of UK sales charts
Consumers in the UK poured out the pounds for PS3's Heavy Rain last week, according to Chart-Track's all-formats chart. The adventure game took the hill from Aliens vs. Predator, which slipped down one spot. Meanwhile, Just Dance kept doing its cha-cha of endurance and took third. Nintendo's Wii Fit Plus got a second wind (or a big shipment to the region) and overtook Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 after moving up five spots and into fourth. Finally, Napoleon: Total War marched in at #12 while White Knight Chronicles began its quest at #35. Source – Heavy Rain storms the charts [GFK Chart-Track] Source – Latest UK Software Charts [GFK Chart-Track]
New Line Cinema options rights for film adaptation of Heavy Rain
What if Heavy Rain, which is so often heralded by creator David Cage as "interactive fiction," was just a bit less interactive? Is the game's story and cast of vaguely-French-sounding characters strong enough to carry a feature-length film? We might just find out, some day -- internet super-sleuth superannuation recently uncovered copyright documents which reveal that New Line Productions optioned the rights to turn Heavy Rain into a movie on May 15, 2006 -- just a few days after "The Casting" trailer (NSFW) was revealed at E3. This doesn't ensure the development of a Heavy Rain movie, of course; it only means if any film studio makes the film, it's going to be New Line Cinema. We think the rights are in good hands -- New Line did some great work on the film adaptations of those Lord of the Rings games.
RE5 Gold tops Japanese charts; Heavy Rain floods top ten
Even without the PlayStation Motion Controller to back it up, Resident Evil 5 has struck gold for a second time. The PS3 version of Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition (Alternative Edition in Japan) hit the top of the Media Create sales chart in Japan following its February 18 release, selling 143,339 copies. God Eater continues to gobble up attention, taking the #2 spot with 64,192 units sold (while passing 500k units sold to date). Another big PS3 game also debuted in the top ten this week: Heavy Rain, which fell in at #6, selling 26,775 copies. In a way, the Japanese version is the superior release, because the voice acting doesn't seem to have been performed by French people faking Japanese accents. See the full top ten after the break.
Heavy Rain Special Edition soundtrack suffers 'technical delay'
Expressing their concerns on the PlayStation forums, several owners of the Euro-exclusive Special Edition of Heavy Rain have been unable to solve one of the game's most sinister enigmas: "Where is the soundtrack that was supposed to be included with this thing?" Heavy Rain product manager for the region Alex Pavey has provided an answer on PlayStation Blog post, saying, "I'm sorry to say that there has been a last-minute technical delay with the Official Soundtrack, meaning that if you redeem your voucher code before 4th March, you will be able to download Chronicle 1 and the Dynamic Theme, but not the Official Soundtrack." Should players redeem the voucher after March 4th, they'll gain access to all three pieces of Special Edition content: a dynamic theme; the first prequel Chronicle; and the game's orchestral soundtrack (though it's still unclear what format it will take). If the code has already been redeemed (the theme and DLC are already available for download), Pavel asks that players contact their "local customer service teams," which should be listed on the packaging. To pick up the phone or send an email, do a semi-circle with the right analog stick, hold R1 and Triangle and tap Circle. [Thanks, Josh]
Metareview: Heavy Rain
Quantic Dream's serial-killer-suspense-meets-family-drama adventure title, Heavy Rain, received the official Joystiq Seal of Approval™, but how did our peers in the world of gaming journalism feel about the title? Let's see what some other critics had to say about the interactive romp through rainy Frenchadelphia: GamePro (5/5): "Put simply, Heavy Rain is a gaming experience that took huge risks in design, narrative, and game mechanics, and executed on its ideas to masterful effect. You will care, in the end, about the decisions you made to shape the fates of your characters, and wonder long after it's over if you made the right choices." 1UP (A-): "Though shorter than other epic, multi-disc titles, there's more than enough content in Heavy Rain to warrant a purchase. At the end of my first playthrough I was left utterly satisfied with the conclusion of the story and wanting more titles of this caliber." Eurogamer (9/10): "A thrilling mystery, cleverly composed, and unlike anything else you will play this year. It may also be the only game you play this year where pulling the trigger makes you really feel something, and I can think of no greater compliment." Giant Bomb (4/5): "Interactive storytelling might not yet be able to evoke the same degree of raw human emotion as more traditional art forms, but this is a big step in the right direction."
Sony shuffles gaming organizations: so long, SCE, hello new SCE
We're not exactly sure what Sir Stringer is up to with this one, but Sony has now announced a reorganization plan for its gaming-related divisions that should make a few heads spin but ultimately end up with most employees staying where they are. The short of it is that Sony Computer Entertainment will be renamed the "SNE Platform" (or SNEP, for added hilarity), and that Sony's video game business (previously part of SCE) will be transferred to a new division called -- you guessed it -- Sony Computer Entertainment. SNEP will then be responsible for Sony's network business (including PSN, it seems), but only until April 1st, at which point SNEP will simply be dissolved into Sony. The goal of all this, according to Sony, is to "strengthen the network business within the Sony Group," but the company is otherwise staying pretty mum on specifics.
Sony reorganization shuffles names, but doesn't mess with the games
You ready? Okay -- follow along: Sony announced today that the Sony Computer Entertainment subsidiary will change its name to SNE Platform (or "SNEP"), and then transfer its video game operations to a new subsidiary, named -- surprise! -- Sony Computer Entertainment. On April 1, SNEP, which will be primarily operating Sony's network services and business as a wholly-owned subsidiary, will merge with Sony, and then promptly dissolve into the parent company. Since Sony already owns all shares of SNEP, there's not going to be any market action (issuance of new shares, share capital increases or cash payments) upon the merger. So, wait, what's happening? Essentially, Sony is moving its network business out from under the gaming wing and bringing it up to the parent company level. This is a different path than the one laid out a year ago, which suggested SCE, as then operator of the network business (think: PSN), would begin to play a larger role in the unification of the company as it pertains to an online strategy. Instead, the "new" Sony Computer Entertainment will have a slightly more narrow focus, "mainly consisting of the planning, development, manufacturing and sales of home-use/portable game consoles and software," according to the reorganization announcement; and Sony Online Service, including the proposed expansion of PSN IDs to non-gaming Sony devices, will seemingly be handled by a new division (but possibly the same personnel) within the Sony parent company. Though listed as the "Representative Director" of the short-lived SNEP subsidiary, Kaz Hirai will presumably remain in charge of the PlayStation division now and after the April 1 merger. Sub-divisions SCEA and SCEE are unaffected by the reorganziation.
