sony-santa-monica
Latest
Jaffe: God of War 3 'looks 25-30% better' than VGA trailer
Commenting on the 40-odd seconds of God of War III shown during last night's VGAs, series creator David Jaffe says that it looked good, but not as impressive as the game does in its most current form. You may recall that Jaffe had heaped some extremely high praise on the game's visuals after he recently saw it in action.Last night's footage is only part of what he saw during an internal SCEA meeting, Jaffe revealed on his blog. "The stuff I saw that I raved about was probably finished 1-2 days before I got to the studios. The Spike stuff I saw had aleady been turned into Spike so it was 100% older," he explained. "To give you an idea, the stuff I saw that I raved about looked about 25-30% better [than the HD footage Spike broadcast]," he said of the closed meeting footage, adding, "It happened to blow me away and remains the best looking console game I've ever seen ... beyond Gears 2 which so far is the best looking console game ever released." As for what Jaffe had to say to those who questioned his likening of GOW3 to a painting, well, you'll have to hit his blog to read that colorful prose (and watch a video of his thoughts on video game awards shows).
Sony: God of War 3 will be the 'last installment'
Kratos will be hanging up his swords after God of War III, though we hope he does something about those chains first. Sony has revealed that the upcoming sequel will be "the last installment" in the series, leaving the Ghost of Sparta to find creative ways to make beheadings and impalement look good on his resume.According to Sony, the game will also boast four times the texture resolution seen in God of War II, as well as dynamic lighting and more on-screen enemies than before, which goes a long way explaining why David Jaffe's jaw is still on the floor. Do something about that, will you?
More recruits dropped into the Killzone 2 beta
"Look into my eyes ... you will beta test Killzone 2 multiplayer," the above image seems to say. Actually, the text that accompanied it – and went out to lucky PlayStation Underground members – said basically that (without the "Look into my eyes" part).According to the email – which may be in your spam folder right now – beta testers will be able to play 'round the clock, in addition to participating in scheduled test sessions with production team members from Sony and Guerilla on hand to kill you in an online zone. So, check your email. There may just be a pair of glowing red eyes staring back at you ... or at least a good deal on pet medications.
Next Warhawk update is good news for newbs
What you're looking at in that there screen is something that addresses one of the chief complaints about Sony's ever-expanding online shooter, Warhawk: a training mode. After all, with no single-player campaign or bots to speak of, new purchasers basically get dropped into the fray with more skilled opponents, left to fend for themselves. For the forthcoming v1.5 patch, developer Incognito is introducing – among many other things – four tutorial missions, each focusing on a specific gameplay style.According to a PlayStation Blog update by Warhawk director Dylan Jobe, completing these scenarios will unlock Trophies – a whole slew of which are also being added in the update. Along with these will be custom soundtrack support (which, when playing your own tracks, automagically mutes the game's score – nice!), new ship paint schemes, more insignias, and a clearer designation for "rookie" servers. The dev team is also tossing in special "ceremonial blades" for Warhawk players who participated in the Global Gaming League team event, which wrapped on July 27.In concluding his address to the Warhawk nation, Jobe teases the next Booster Pack, dropping a hint: "With one of these equipped, a soldier can escape quickly ... even bail out if needed!" Jetpacks, anyone?
Don't stay in the dark, Linger in Shadows explained
For some time now we've been wondering what exactly Linger in Shadows is. Thankfully, our days of suppositions need be over for senior producer Rusty Buchert of Sony Santa Monica has clarified what this formerly mysterious game is all about. Said Buchert in this video interview from SCEA Judges Day, "It's interactive digital art." It's a PSN title that's a collaboration of "programmers, artists, and music guys all getting together ... and building these compositions of an artistic nature." The key word here seems to be "artistic" which no doubt shows in the game's surreal visuals. It also looks like it won't be too long before all of us can get in on the action. The game is expected to see release this Summer or July at the earliest.
