Your One-Stop, All-in-One, Everything PS2, PS3, PSP News from GDC 2006
Judging by the sheer number of This-Just-In updates itÂ’s been generating, GDC 06 has got to be the hottest spot in the Gaming Universe. In the time that took me to write the first sentence of this piece, 17 new GDC newsbits got splattered all over the site! We know scrolling up and down QJ looking for them is just as fun as Pong (ask your grandparents about it) but thatÂ’s blogging for you. Sephiroth_VII, one of our readers, decided to do something about it. Seph 7, was nice enough to send us a summary of every significant PS development from GDC. Here they are:
Everything PS2, PS3 and PSP!
Judging by the sheer number of This-Just-In updates itÂ’s been generating, GDC 06 has got to be the hottest spot in the Gaming Universe. In the time that took me to write the first sentence of this piece, 17 new GDC newsbits got splattered all over the site! We know scrolling up and down QJ looking for them is just as fun as Pong (ask your grandparents about it) but thatÂ’s blogging for you. Sephiroth_VII, one of our readers, decided to do something about it. Seph 7, was nice enough to send us a summary of every significant PS development from GDC. Here they are:
- PS2 is still key, with games such as God of War II in development.
- PSP is the fastest growing Sony platform ever.
- RSS feeds on next PSP auto update
- Sony will push GPS and Eye Toy on the PSP very strongly.
- Development tools for PSP are now $5,000 making it cheaper to develop
- Network update hits this summer.
- Camera to arrive in the fall, GPS still winter.
- Full 1080p resolution for both NTSC and PAL.
- Broadband connection required, HDD included, wireless connection capable.
- Final development kits for game developers before E3.
- Wireless connection with the PSP and PS3 – seamless.
- Blu-ray will insure tons of space, incredible animations and level of detail. Improved sound. Improved localization abilities given the extra space available.
- New PS3 title revealed, first person shooter, huge weapons, physics in the game effect those shot and the environments completely. Amazing physics shown.
Everything Demo!
- God of War II: Divine Retribution (PS2): Kratos rips an eye out of a cyclops, rides a phoenix and rips its wings off, and tears apart a wild boar!
- Rag Doll: 1,000 people on screen each with all rag doll like physics. (Crowd applauds.)
- Car Tech Video: Physics change when a gun shoots at it. Individual paint chips. Tires pop and fall off. Video is not pre-rendered at all. (Crowd roars.)
- Getaway: Shown with the camera being moved around in real-time.
- Heavenly Sword: A thousand knights getting blasted is shown. Looks very cool, with bodies scattered about.
- Warhawk: The water effects look fantastic, as does the scattering of gunfire and the clouds. Ambient warfare is a key aspect. Hundred of fighters on a screen at once, think star wars space battles. Waves generated after each frame. Individual clouds rendered. Demo’s focus put the player’s plane up against massive airships that hover above a procedurally-rendered ocean surface. Getting in close to the airship reveals some impressive detail, like weathered metal surfaces and very nice lighting effects. The game also appears to be able to push particles around very well, as there’s a great deal of tracer fire being shown in the demo. While light on info about how the game will actually play, we can tell you that you will use a square reticle to target your enemies. Earth-shattering, we know. But the visual detail and particle effects are definitely impressive, and we’re looking forward to seeing more. The full Warhawk demo will be shown at E3.
- Motor Storm: A dirt bike and a yellow buggy are duking it out, racing in the mud. Mud in the game reacts seamlessly with the changes in the environment. Mud dries and can affect one’s driving. Suspensions are fully interactive to curves and bumps. Standard services will be entirely free. Scott Kirkland of Motor Storm takes the stage. third party game servers can connect easily. Unified login capable as well as matchmaking, video and voice chat. Friends list numerous shops where games can be bought. Download to HDD. Pay for online products on the network, similar to Xbox Live Arcade. Network starts when PS3 launches in November. SDK for network distributed next week. Messages can be sent while in a game. You can email your friends from within a game. You can buy tracks for a Formula 1 PS3 game on the network. Buy new vehicles as well.
- Ratchet and Clank: A clip showing a futuristic city is shown, with a blimp reading Ratchet and Clank. The camera pans through the city with enemy robots and flying vehicles overhead.
Everything Else We CouldnÂ’t Fit in the Other Two Categories!
- Playstation Network Platform (Sony’s online gaming network) four basic principles of network, content, commerce, community, communication . (Same as E3). World wide gaming network. Subscriptions from third parties allowed on Sony’s Network. Think MMORPG’s. Character customization is a huge focus for the PS3 and Sony’s Network. Merchandising of games is a heavy focus, as you can put real clothes on your virtual characters.
- Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios President Phil Harrison presented the new PS3 game Heavenly Sword. Developed by Ninja Theory, the PS3 title was one of the most amazing in the E3 2005 presentation reel, with internet talk on the game hot and heavy after its showing. Unlike the demo which was not realtime, this one was. In the game, the presentation from E3 of warriors was shown again, this time with thousands being blown up and thrown about as before. This time, though, it was in realtime, with real physics and realtime sound production. The camera in the demo zoomed out to show characters as if ants miles away, then zoomed tight for amazing close-ups.
- In the future Sony wants to move away from disk based software distribution to an entirely digital scheme.