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Dave Karraker leaves Sony Computer Entertainment America
Dave Karraker, current Senior Director of Corporate Communications, is leaving SCEA. In an e-mail sent to members of the press, Karraker stated "I am saddened to leave such a great group of people, but I have been presented a global opportunity near my home in an industry where I have previous experience that I feel I must pursue." His position with the company ends this Friday. He will be moving on to Skyy Spirits.We at PSP and PS3 Fanboy are saddened to see you go, Dave. You've been so incredibly helpful in providing the answers that our readers have been looking for, and we wish the best of luck in your future endeavors.
Dave Karraker leaves Sony Computer Entertainment of America
Dave Karraker, current Senior Director of Corporate Communications, is leaving SCEA. In an e-mail sent to members of the press, Karraker stated "I am saddened to leave such a great group of people, but I have been presented a global opportunity near my home in an industry where I have previous experience that I feel I must pursue." His position with the company ends this Friday. He will be moving on to Skyy Spirits.We at PSP and PS3 Fanboy are saddened to see you go, Dave. You've been so incredibly helpful in providing the answers that our readers have been looking for, and we wish the best of luck in your future endeavors.
Blast Factor: Advanced Research due out today?
Just by chance, we decided to give Blast Factor another go this morning. Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps we were reminded how fun it is by the promise of an soon-to-be-released expansion on the PlayStation.Blog. Either way, when we started the game we were greeted by a message on the menu screen. It read as follows: "A new Blast Factor expansion pack is available to download. Please visit the PLAYSTATION@Store to find out more!" Of course, with no new updates to the UK or US store as of yet, there's nothing there. We're hoping that means we'll be seeing Advanced Research when the store update hits. We'll let you know when that happens and what it contains.
Lair not done, delayed until September 4
Though originally confirmed to be complete and on track for an August 14 launch, SCEA Associate Producer Ryan Hamlyn has posted on the official PlayStation blog that Lair is being delayed until September 4 due "to enhance the community features in the game.""Natural challenges that arose while finalizing the offline game to include key online features - such as leaderboards and medal systems - have led to the difficult choice of pushing back the release date," he said. It'll be interesting to see what happens to those early reviews of the game.%Gallery-3183%[Via PS3 Fanboy; thanks, Sceren]
Blast Factor: Advanced Research on its way to the PSN Store "soon"
The president of Bluepoint Games, Andy O'Neil, has posted on the PlayStation.Blog with details on the upcoming "expansion" to Blast Factor. We put quotation marks around the word "expansion" because, from the looks of things, it's going to be bigger than the original game was. Namely "Seven new specimens, eleven new types of enemy, two new bosses, monthly online high score tables, new practice mode, remixed sound effects, eight new music tracks and dynamic lighting." Sounds great to us! While Blast Factor: Advanced Research has an uphill battle ahead of it if it wants to beat Super Stardust HD and become King of the dual-analogue shooters, we're looking forward to it. We were big fans of the original Blast Factor, even if no-one else was. Thankfully for those who are a bit more cautious about what you download from the store, Advanced Research will have a demo available with the release of the game. Check out the post on the PlayStation.Blog for more details. %Gallery-4025%
SCEA teams up with ESPN for X Games 13
For the upcoming X Games 13 event in Los Angeles in August, SCEA announced its "renewed sponsorship" for the global action sport competition. Lets hope the competitors aren't superstitious, eh? Like the last 8 years of Sony's sponsorship, this year's event will be highlighted with the presence of Sony, but this time in a new truck-like package. The gargantuan PlayStation Experience truck will allow players to get an up-close and personal hands-on with the latest software for the PS3, PS2 and PSP. A 52-inch LCD HDTV will be displaying your hands-on skills in games like Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction, Folklore, MotorStorm, Singstar Pop and even Parappa the Rapper. Leather chairs will ensure style and comfort while players game away. The absence of heavier and more violent content is a purposeful move to merge the event (oddly enough) with Sony's softer, more kid-friendly side. "As the X Games and PlayStation appeal to the younger audiences, we couldn't be happier with this partnership and look forward to future events with them," says Rick Alessandri, Managing Director of the X Games franchise. The X Games 13 event will take place August 2-5 at both The Home Depot Center and the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA.
Jaffe and Incognito chief leave Sony to start 'Eat, Sleep, Play' - announce Twisted Metal PS2 port
As promised, game developer David Jaffe has finally announced – in a move many expected – details of his new development studio located, not surprisingly, in Utah. Titled Eat, Sleep, Play, the new studio is a partnership with Incognito chief Scott Campbell who worked with Jaffe on the popular Twisted Metal series while both were at SCEA. With Ingognito's Warhawk about to take flight on PS3 and Jaffe having just finished Calling All Cars, the two are finally ready to branch out on their own ... but it's hard to get away from the mothership Sony. They've "signed on for a multi-year, multi-title deal to create titles for the PlayStation family of products, with the first slated for release in 2008."It's not clear if that includes their first project, a PlayStation 2 port of the PSP's Twisted Metal: Head On with some notable tweaks: bumped to 60 frames per second, higher-res textures, "5-7 levels from the never released Twisted Metal Black: Part II," and "a documentary on the history of the series." Jaffe surmises it may be some eight to twelve months before we hear about these new titles, but Twisted Metal: Head On will be available this holiday season. Read – One Door Closes [Jaffe's Blog]Read – SCEA Announces Exclusive Game Development Deal
Joystiq interviews SCEA's Phil Rosenberg and John Koller
Phil Rosenberg (left), and PS Fanboy lead writer, Andrew Yoon (right) At E3, we had a chance to talk to SCEA Senior Vice President Philip Rosenberg and John Koller, Senior Marketing Manager of the PSP. We talked to these two Sony executives to find out more about Home, possible PSP integration with Home, the redesign, and more.The press conference was narrated through Home. Why does Sony believe Home is such an important part of the PlayStation family?Phil: That's a great question. Home for us is a way to engage all of our users in real community, but in a real 3D manner that gives them a place to meet and to share their successes or their failures and then jump into gameplay. It creates an opportunity for us to help engage them even more in our platforms. I think when you look at the interface -- like how a PSP pops up in Home -- our whole proposition is around the ecosystem of PlayStation. It's not just about one platform. If you're in the house, or away from the house -- no matter where you are, you can stay connected with your peers.
Joystiq interview confirms Home amibitions for PSP
At E3, we had a chance to talk to SCEA Senior Vice President Philip Rosenberg and John Koller, Senior Marketing Manager of the PSP. We talked to these two Sony executives to find out more about Home, possible PSP integration with Home, the redesign, and more.When John was asked why PSP integration with Home wasn't on display at Sony's press conference, he noted that "It's absolutely roadmapped. It's certainly on the agenda. I think the point of the cell phone was just to show you can bring other products into play. But the PSP is certainly roadmapped at this point. Like Phil was saying, it's all about bringing together the PlayStation portfolio of products together and using them the right way with Home."Thankfully, Philip Rosenberg was able to give us a few hints at things to come. "But being able to access leaderboards, or community, or find out which of your friends are in Home, or in-game via hotspot, I think is realistic. As far as timing? I think that there's more to come."To read the complete interview, visit Joystiq.
SCEE president: Going up 20 GB is 'not worth it'
Look out, Reggie and Pete! If Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves keeps it up he's going to take the lead as our favorite executive. First there was the fire sale incident, which you may have heard something about. Now there's this interview with Dagbladet TV. When asked why there's no 80 GB PS3 in Europe (at about 3:40 in), he actually responds: "You know, the difference between 60 and the 80 gigabyte is very small. We just feel that going up 20 gigabyte is not worth it. If you're going to double it, it's worth it. So maybe you'll see something a little bit later, but 60 and 80? Really not much difference."Do you feel that? That tingling sensation is what it feels like when an executive tells you the truth. Forget president of SCEE, we're ready to elect him president of video games. (P.S. Sorry about the small video size, hit the link for a bigger version.)
Sony says $499 60GB PS3 is staying alive (alive!) in US
After some turbulent hours of confusion over this story, Sony finally got its facts straight and let the world know that it is in fact not going to discontinue its 60GB PS3 in US once current stock runs out. According to SCEA's Dave Karraker, "As announced this week, SCEA's product offering in North America consists of a 80GB PS3 available in August at $599 and a 60GB PS3 available now for $499. We have will have ample supplies of both models to meet the needs of our consumers for the foreseeable future." Apparently the confusion arose from Sony Europe's David Reeves explaining that if they cut the 60GB price in Europe, they'd run out of stock in Europe by the end of July. So, false alarm people, please resume buying / not buying your $499 60GB PS3s in an orderly manner.Update: This has been semi-contradicted once again, with Sony now saying that they have enough stock to sell 60GB consoles for the next few months, but it doesn't sound like they'll be making any more after that. According to Karraker, "We won't be making any further announcements regarding our PS3 model hardware strategy in North America until the 60GB model is exhausted and market conditions are evaluated."
Tretton: Sony doesn't "bribe" for exclusives
An interview in this month's PlayStation Magazine held a couple revelations. First, Sony doesn't shell out money to keep a game exclusive, or buy exclusive content to make a game seem better on their console. Second, Jack Tretton feels Sony is the "middle ground" for gaming -- we'll explain in a bit. We're not sparking this flame -- this is Tretton himself and we honestly couldn't agree more with him.In the interview, Tretton said "We have a very different approach to exclusives than some of our competitors. We don't buy exclusivity. We don't fund development. We don't, for the lack of a better term, bribe somebody to only do a game on our platform. We earn it by saying "you can build a better game on our platform. If you focus your development on our platform, you will ultimately be more successful." We believe him. Even if, over the next few years, only half of the PS2 owners of the world adopt a PS3, it will be the most successful machine this generation and spending, say, $50 million dollars to some company for exclusive downloadable content would be completely meaningless.Tretton also touched upon what exclusive games meant to Sony. "You know, if we were working on three games, it doesn't make for a very big exclusive list, but if we got 15, we've got a larger exclusive list before the third party comes to you with an exclusive. You almost get to the point where Nintendo's at, where they can do it without the third parties, but I don't know if that makes for a healthy environment. I think we sit perfectly in the middle. Microsoft is too dependent on the third-party community, and Nintendo is too dependent on first-party. We like to feel that we got a pretty good mix." Nobody can deny this. Tretton hit the nail on the head. Even though the price is high, even though the big library of games is still a month or two away, that is the reason Sony will continue to pull through. They don't, as the old saying goes, put all their eggs in one basket.[via Joystiq]
Warhawk gets an official retail price, package
This is another one of those times where we were right, but feel sort of bad about it. We surmised the retail version of Warhawk would cost the same as any other PS3 title because of the inclusion of extra features and a wireless "headset" and turns out that's exactly the case, according to EBGames/Gamestop's website. The retail version is going to sell for $59.99 in the US. After telling us your impressions from the beta, would you drop sixty big ones for a decent headset and some extra features?We are glad the included headset is a small earpiece. We're glad it's bluetooth and we're glad it's wireless (USB cable included for charging). The headset is from Jabra, a fairly well-known manufacturer of fairly decent-quality headsets. Our verdict? If you don't have a wireless headset, buy the retail version. If you've already got one, just download the game. That way, everybody is getting a pretty good deal. Agreed?
Nielsen tracking in-game ads for Sony
Sony Computer Entertainment America and The Nielsen Company want to track your stats. Specifically, the two companies have teamed up to "develop a measurement system for game network advertising that will help make game software a more competitive advertising platform," according to the press release. SCEA will "share with Nielsen game network traffic and other data" from PS3 titles, PlayStation Network and the upcoming social MMO Home, at first only in North America -- details beyond that are sketchy, but Nielson calls the effort "fully-transparent" in the press release. The results will be used "to deliver the right ad to the right person at the right time" and to help advertisers figure out a CPM, or cost per impression, for in-game ads.The initial results of the partnership are expected later this year. Expect more in-game ads you're less inclined to ignore and possibly the strange feeling that Big Brother is critiquing your gamer skills.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Sony's Phil Harrison: Don't judge console by launch titles
Though pointing out the success of PlayStation 3 launch titles such as Resistance and Motorstorm, Sony executive Phil Harrison told Game Informer magazine (via GI.biz) that "it's always dangerous to judge any system by its launch lineup," while adding, "you only have to go back to the games that launched PlayStation 1 and Playstation 2."Excellent observation! Indeed, if we remember when 1UP compared launch lineup review scores, there is a curious (albeit not stringent) trend: the two consoles on the list with the worst-reviewed launch lineups belong to consoles (Wii and PlayStation One) who have shown great success, whereas the opposite has also proven true (GameCube and Dreamcast had well-received launch titles).Given the trend, then, we say Sony should embrace the notion of a lackluster PS3 launch. They've got a good statistical probability of pulling out this generation (especially if calls for a price drop don't go unheeded).
Sony to cough up $8.5m settlement, devs finally get paid
The law offices of Shapiro, Haber & Urmy have publicized the settlement terms of a class action lawsuit filed against SCEA in February 2005, which alleged that the company failed to compensate a number of game developers for overtime work. The settlement will see $8.5 million paid out to current and former employees involved in the suit, and, along with the overdue checks, Sony will "reclassify" Associate Artists and Artist 1s as nonexempt (from overtime pay) job positions. Under the terms, Sony will uphold its denial of the allegations, admitting to no wrongdoing. Ah, formalities...The settlement is still pending court approval. Regardless, the deal would be called off if for some unimaginable reason (it's "free" money, people!) enough class members opted out.
David Jaffe is 100% Sony, despite new office
While rumors abounded about David Jaffe leaving his position at Sony to open a new studio with some buddies at Incognito Entertainment, we held back until we got more information. Good thing we did, because the rest of the internet buzzed with headlines along the lines of "Jaffe leaves SCEA, world doomed!" We remained optimistic and Jaffe answered our uncertainty on the NeoGAF forums.Jaffe replied to the rumors of a Utah office and leaving Sony by saying "I can promise you guys I am still part of SCEA...I just got a paycheck from them! I am still 100% a Sony employee and unless I got fired today and they didn't tell me, I'm still working for them ... I sure as s**t ain't moving to Utah...nice as it is, I don't think I could live there long term and I don't think the good people of Utah would want me to." However, Jaffe is working with Incognito and has a Utah-based office in the works. So, he's still a Sony guy and isn't moving to Utah, but will have a new office to crank out those super-fun PSN titles. As the new studio progresses, we'll keep you up to date with our favorite developer.[via GameDaily]
The full track list for SingStar PS3 has been revealed!
Our parent-site Joystiq has posted that Sony Europe has finally confirmed the complete track list for SingStar PS3, due out in Europe later this Summer. The list is the usual mix of pop music commonly found on the SingStar releases, though the quality seems skewed a little higher than normal. As usual there's a sad lack of rap songs, but that's not a huge surprise considering past versions. Luckily, Sony is aiming to have over 300 songs available for download on day one, so there's always the hope that people with more specific genre tastes can find something to caterwaul to. Here are a couple of the highlights from the track list: Blink 182 - All The Small Things Britney Spears - Toxic Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc. OutKast - Hey Ya Radiohead - No Surprises REM - Losing My Religion The Killers - Mr Brightside Weezer - Buddy Holly Check out the full list after the jump!
SCEA aware of porting difficulties, requiring "re-engineering"
We have a love-hate relationship with these kind of articles, lest they deter into all-too-familiar fanboy territory (wink wink). Regardless, they still are fascinating reads on technology and where our beloved full-time job hobby is headed. Gamepro recently questioned a developer tasked with high-profile PS3 ports from Xbox 360 code and the response was unsurprisingly, "nobody wants to touch that issue right now." Can't say we blame them. It's becoming increasingly complex a situation, with console exclusives falling by the wayside as publishers strive to get the most out of their investment. Professing love for one platform over another just doesn't seem like it would make things easier for anyone. An article by Dr. Dobbs Portal that ran in March, delivers an in-depth dissection about how much longer the learning curve is when it comes to developing for the Cell and how much more fruit the Cell can bear once established and competent developers get through the crux of utilizing its potential.
Sony vows legal action against hackers and pirates
SCEA has declared that they will "actively pursue" legal action against hackers that attempt to crack the PS3 anti-piracy software. This announcement arrives just after recent news that hackers were close to completely cracking the PS3 anti-piracy software found in firmware versions 1.10 and 1.11. Their progress on the crack would allow pirated PS3 games to boot, but they still were not playable. The homebrew community is also still waiting in the wings, as even this latest attempt still prevents any type of homebrew gaming on the PS3 console. Obviously, SCEA hopes to stalwart further progress and deter hackers from completely subverting the anti-piracy measures completely, because saying "please" just doesn't carry the same weight as legal action. Dave Karraker, SCEA spokesperson says, "the best we can do as a company, is to make our security that much stronger and aggressively pursue legal action against anyone caught trying to use an exploit in an illegal manner." The pirates who want to burn and run copied PS3 disks? Yeah, they're bad. Bad, bad. Spankings all around kind of bad. And if you're thinking of doing it, you shouldn't. Go find someone to deliver a spanking for even thinking such thoughts. On the homebrew front, we're kind of indifferent. Now, we're stepping out on a very thin limb here, but maybe, just maybe if Sony was a little bit more organized in lining up a steady stream of content for thirsting PS3 owners, we wouldn't have hackers so interested in cracking the PS3 for homebrew. What do you think?
