PS3 Fanboy

We can't wait to get our hands on Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet. The release is still a while away, so we're anxious to hear more information about this upcoming PS3 creation game. Mark Healey and Alex Evans, co-founders of Media Molecule, will deliver the opening keynote at the upcoming Paris GDC. According to the press release, "their talk will touch upon the ways in which game developers can incorporate creativity into their designs, and the future of user-generated content as illustrated by their upcoming title, LittleBigPlanet for the PlayStation 3."

While PS3 Fanboy won't be attending the conference, we do hope that some intriguing newsbits will make their way out of the conference. Who knows? Maybe they'll surprise us with an early release date (we hope!).

Update: Paris GDC is the second French edition of the Game Developers Conference, and is scheduled for June 23-24 at the Coeur Défense Convention Centre in Paris .

It's been a long time since we've heard anything about this seemingly secretive new MMO from Square Enix; however, some promising info on this illusive title has recently popped up. It's been revealed on the Game Developers Conference website that Square Enix has four representatives speaking at the event -- one of which is Taku Murata, general manager of R&D, who will be discussing the technology that goes behind making Square Enix's current-gen games (specifically the White Engine).

The news nugget about the MMO can be found rather subtly on Murata's personal page where it states he'll be talking about the White Engine used in Final Fantasy XIII, the new MMO in development, and other future titles. Of course, this only confirms that the MMO has not disappeared into vaporware, and still leaves a lot of room for speculation. Will we be seeing some new game footage or will new info on the game itself be divulged? We guess we'll just have to wait until GDC rolls in to find out.

[Via Forever Fantasy]

Crytek's amazing engine behind Crysis is finally coming to PS3. (Does this mean we'll be able to play the wonderful FPS on our console as well?) "This year's engine will be shown for the first time running on multiple hardware platforms such as the PS3 and Xbox 360, to a select audience" during GDC. Are we allowed to be part of that audience, Crytek?

Cevat Yerli, Sten Hübler and Bernd Diemer will host a GDC session entitled "Crysis in the Making", providing a behind the scenes look at the challenges of developing Crysis and the CryENGINE 2. Other Crytek staff will also be in attendance at various programs during the show: Chris Evans, Technical Art Lead, Tomas Neumann, Crytek's Audio Programmer, and Tiago Sousa, R&D Graphics Programmer. Crytek will also host a series of public presentations at their booth #6611 in the North Hall.

Game Developer's Conference begins on February 18th in San Francisco. PS3 Fanboy will be updating live from the scene. Stay tuned.

[Via NeoGAF]

We've already heard Nintendo's response to the PlayStation HOME, but we hadn't talked about how Microsoft felt about the ambitious new service. We will now. Chris Satchell, general manager of Microsoft's Game Developer Group, poo-pooed the HOME, saying it was "not a very game-centric approach." Oh, really? Last we checked, Sony has stated that everything is about software now -- software generally includes games. Since that's their focus, isn't that a game-centric approach? Meanie.

Satchell goes on to the inevitable comparison ending with a "we're better" indirect implication: "I think they've definitely taken some concepts that we originated like achievements, but I think they're pushing in a different direction and we've sort of fundamentally got two different approaches going on here. I think theres is very much a vision that people see it and it looks cool but it's fundamentally separate from the games - or at least what they've shown so far. It's a cool world but it's like a little game by itself. Our approach is the other way around; it's that games are the center and that's the star of the show, that's what people buy the console for."

Satchell did say LittleBigPlanet is a neat game and concept, what with user-generated content and all, but he says that "I can't see a big portfolio of games at the moment that do this. I don't think there's a whole load to catch up." Maybe not yet. But soon. Wait, isn't LBP a game? That's software. Lay off, Microsoft. Sony's concentrating on games... you yourself called HOME a "little game by itself"... again, software. What are your guys' thoughts? Is MS blowing steam or do they have a point?

The challenges of the PS3's first few months are in the past. The age of bashing Sony is coming to an end as they get the ball rolling on the right side of the mountain (the side that, arguably, goes downward... imagine a 2D mountain. The right side is downhill, so it's easier to roll a ball. They've been pushing the ball up the left side... that's hard. Get it?) and start busting out some great ideas and some even greater games. Games are the emphasis now, Phil Harrison said. "It's all about software now, it's not about hardware. It's all about services, it's about the way the industry is changing and the way we hope to be taking a leadership position in that change."

Phil also responded to his own fantastic keynote address: "We're taking some pretty giant steps forward... The keynote here at GDC was a very, very significant moment for the evolution of PlayStation 3." He also talked about why he titled his speech "Game 3.0" and what it means for the industry: "It's something that as a platform holder we have a responsibility to grow the market, and to try and push the market. What I wanted to do here at GDC was paint a picture for where this industry should, I believe, move - which is to empower the user with user-created content. That's what I was referring to with the Game 3.0 aspect to my presentation. I hope the industry debates it and challenges it and takes it to another level beyond what we have imagined. We're just trying to kick off the debate; we're not trying to own it or control it."

Well said, Philly H. User-created content is going to be huge this console cycle, what with the internet taking over the universe in the guise of SkyNet and Time magazine labeling the collective "You" as person of the year... it's important to be narcissistic this year. What do you guys think? Is this where the industry is headed? Or should they concentrate on making fun toys instead?

With 110,000 downloads and counting, fl0w has managed to be the top selling PlayStation Store game so far. thatgamecompany wanted to create a new kind of game that broke through traditional conventions: considering its success so far, it appears that the experiment is working.

Jenova Chen and the rest of the team don't plan on being content on the incredible success of their downloadable title. The team revealed at GDC that they are working on a new title, one which is guaranteed not to be a sequel to fl0w. Considering the support they've received from Sony, it wouldn't be surprising to see their next title land on the PS3 yet again: maybe they'd like to do a Cell-remake of Cloud?

Jenova Chen, Kellee Santiago and the rest of the thatgamecompany team discussed their latest motion-controlled PS3 title fl0w. The game certainly would have been an incredible addition to the Wii library, considering its use of motion controls, relatively subdued graphics, and non-gamer-friendly gameplay. Santiago revealed that fl0w was pitched to two companies: Nintendo and Sony.

Well, Sony won. Sony's aggressive approach to supporting new developers was what gave PS3 the edge. "They [Nintendo] weren't right for us at the time. Sony kind of came to us with the process of incubation ... They helped us get our studio started."

Sony has proven at GDC that they care about developers through the announcement of Edge and extending their Network offerings to independent developers. This kind of approach has allowed Sony to earn the respect of valuable talent. For example, LittleBigPlanet comes from the developer of Rag Doll Kung-Fu, who was originally interested in making titles for Nintendo. Sony's attractive development options will continue to make the system gain new, interesting and truly innovative, exclusive software for the platform.

See also:
Joystiq interview: Jenova Chen

This isn't related to the PlayStation 3 at all... wait, barely. We've already warned you this is flame-bait, so if you're easily offended, uh, rant away. This isn't coming from PS3Fanboy's mouth. First off, let's say this: Chris Hecker, founder of the developer Definition 6, spoke at GDC the other day... not so much spoke as ranted and raved about how crappy things are. Especially the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo's inability to recognize games as a form of art. We mostly disagree, but for the sake of making this guy look even more like an ass, let's go on.

Last year, Hecker said the PS3 and 360 had focused their lenses too much on graphics instead of gameplay. This year, he's attacking Nintendo. "At the end I asked the audience, will Nintendo save us? Will they deliver a balanced machine that's fast enough? The answer to that question is the topic of today's rant." He flashes a slide that said 'Fear of the Wii Planet' and ranted on, "Everybody loves the Wii. 'Oh, God, the Wii, we love the Wii so much'... The Wii is a piece of shit. I have uncovered the secret to Wii manufacturing. The way you manufacture a Wii is you take two GameCubes and some duct tape." Heh. Funny, maybe. Crude, sure. True, mostly.

He also said: "This thing is totally underpowered... This is not about graphics, more polygons, all that kind of crap. What I want to be able to do is spend CPU to make the machine smarter, more interesting and more automatically intelligent." Which, granted, it is. But... motion-sensing!

Hecker used some quotes from Phil Harrison and Bill Gates referring to video games as works of art. He then juxtaposed a quote from Zelda creator Eiji Aonuma: "I don't feel that games can necessarily be considered art. There's nothing wrong with that; our goal is just to make games that are fun." Hecker feels that people shouldn't think like that anymore, that gaming has transcended the frame of making "a fun toy".

He said he'd rush Miyamoto at the keynote today, asking two things: "Number one: recognise and push games as a serious art form. Number two: make a console that doesn't suck ass." Ouch. Looks like they'll never be asked to work on a Nintendo platform.

What do you guys think? Are games still just toys, or should they be cared for and developed as something higher and more important? I feel, personally, that "fun games" are perfectly fine, so long as there's a proper mix of "artsy-fartsy" games in there too. What I mean is, variety is a spice of life. I don't want to play 100 Shadow of the Colossus style games, nor do I want 100 WarioWare titles. Different games suit different moods. Hecker, you're a jerk. And yes, that is the best response I can come up with. I wouldn't waste my brainpower on thinking up something better.

Mattias Worch, technical art director for Factor 5's upcoming PS3-exclusive Lair, recently spoke to GDC attendees about creating textures and normal maps in a next-gen environment. The very technically-oriented lecture can be effectively summarized as such: "Lair looked really crappy until we used normal maps. Now it looks really good. You should all use normal maps."

Developers were told how to use Photoshop to accentuate and restore detail from textures. Also, artists need to have a clear vision before making a single texture: "Unless you know what you want to do with a normal map beforehand, it'll look wrong."

Afterwards, Worch showed off some incredible footage from Lair, running off a PS3. The graphics, while still glitchy, show a huge deal of promise. Of particular note were the incredibly lifelike water effects: when a ship explodes on water, you'll see realistic, physics-intensive, ripple effects that must be seen to be believed. The Factor 5 team clearly is doing something right: the textures were absolutely breathtaking, even up-close.

Worch promised the audience that his Powerpoint presentation would be made available for everyone to download on his personal website in the coming days. More excitingly, he also promised new videos of the game. Stay tuned.

At last night's Sony press event, Sony unveiled a plethora of new products and services that show that the PS3 is far from dead. Phil Harrison will undoubtedly be discussing more about their Web 2.0-inspired effort that he calls "Game 3.0" at his conference (happening right now). The revamped PlayStation effort to be shown today includes a performance-sharing version of Singstar, a beautiful cooperative platformer called LittleBigPlanet and a new service called PlayStation Home. Joystiq has all the pictures, videos and details you want right now:


Playstation Home, the free virtual world of Playstation 3
"Comparable to Second Life, PlayStation Home is a virtual community of PS3 owners living together in both public and private environments. Users will be able to login, chat with both text and speech and play casual games together such as pool, bowling and even embedded arcade machines. And when the old stand-bys grow stale, users can invite one another into other PlayStation Network titles outside of PlayStation Home."
Gallery: Playstation Home

Continued, after the jump.

We recently posted what appeared to be a summary of Phil Harrison's keynote speech, but it's still just a rumor -- possibly speculation, although it sounded pretty spot on from what we would like to hear. Anyway, here's another interesting tidbit about what to expect from the GDC this week -- Sony is going to try its hardest to pull in some exclusive IPs by attracting developers to play with their platform.

Sony and IBM recently offered classes to interested developers, teaching ways to proficiently tackle that tricky Cell processor. If people didn't want to pretend they were going back to school, they could check out what the PS3 is creating -- Sony will probably rely on titles that are exclusive, like Lair and Heavenly Sword... maybe MotorStorm. Are there any companies or games you'd want to see get an exclusive set on the PlayStation 3? Snag exclusivity for Silent Hill? Get Konami's attention specifically for a little while? Let us know.

[Thanks, Jonah!]

Phil hasn't given his speech fo' realz yet, but someone got a hold of a copy of it, or listened in on a rehearsal (do you think they have rehearsals or just wing it?) or something and have compiled a list of key... notes about the speech. Here's what's important:

• March 8th is the big firmware update. It includes:
• More refined PS Store frontend
  
• PlayStation Network "integrity enhanced"
  
• Wallpapers from pictures
  
• Ability to change background colors
  
• Sony Connect Store for music and movies added to the PS Store. Hundreds of trailers/full films/songs
• Videos and mp3's available for download.
  
• Playstation Card option in PS Store enabled.
  
• Playstation Lifestyle- Similar to my space/youtube. User generated content and experiences are the key.
  
• + more.
• Removal of Emotion Engine chips will come stateside and to Japan in April. Upscales certain PS-One and PS2 games to 720p/1080i.
• Game announcements: Warhawk in June/July, Heavenly Sword delayed, Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 in late 2007.
• New PS-Store stuff being added on the 8th include:
• Tekken 6 trailer
  
• Lair demo & (new?) trailer
  
• Rainbow Six Vegas demo
  
• EA: Skate trailer
  
• Battlefield Bad Company trailer
  
• Warhawk demo
  
• Virtua Fighter 5 demo
  
• Virtua Tennis 3 demo & trailer
  
• GRAW 2: trailer
  
• Mortal Kombat 2 game
  
• Killzone 2 trailer... demo to come in May

May we just say one thing? "Superfantabulous!" Sounds like a kickin' keynote address, except for the Heavenly Sword being delayed thing. But that's so all the first-party and semi-first-party games get their own time to shine instead of competing with one another. What do you guys think? Badass or assbad?

One place says Killzone 2 will be at GDC while another source gets told that no, in fact, Killzone 2 won't be at GDC at all. Who to trust? It's a tough call, since we reported on a pretty lofty rumor stating that a demo for the new game may just make an appearance at the Game Developer's Conference. After going over the two linked stories above, you may think that, indeed, IGN has the correct story. They spoke with Sony, after all, right? But, CVG has "well-placed sources!" This is turning into more and more of a big deal, but it really shouldn't. If it's there, neat. If not, well, damn.

Now is the time for all of the beautiful readers out there to think about the two conflicting ideas presented here and discuss them in a rational, logical, adult manner. Personally, I'd like to believe the game will still make an appearance. It's not like Sony would try to hide its trump card, right?

Heh, Face/Off was a funny movie. Was it supposed to be funny? Doubt it, but movies where the point is to get as many big stars as possible (Ocean's Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen) so they can draw in as many "admirers" as possible are just silly. Luckily, Face/Off just had two or so big celeb names. I digress. Over at 1up, there's an interesting blog entry discussing Sony's answer to the Halo 3 beta arriving soon.

The answer? According to Luke Smith, Sony will respond to the beta even before it's released -- the Game Developer's Conference. Phil Harrison is one of the keynotes (all the keynoters are actually very important... I mean, Miyamoto? Awesome.) and what better way to rise up to the Bungie challenge than announce a playable Killzone 2 demo? The game's rumored to be very far along in development, so why not? But please, don't call it a Halo-killer. That term is really annoying. But if this speculation turns out to be true, Killzone 2 will inevitably have that phrase tacked onto it.

Are you sick of the same ol' World War II shooter? Have enough of the clichéd role-playing hero? Want more innovation and gaming as art like Katamari Damacy and Shadow of the Colossus? Now is your time. Join the Experimental Gameplay Workshop, which is hosted at the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco. You can check out what they accept and reject on their website.

Interestingly, they don't deal with "edgy" material (probably something completely stupid to think of, like playing as a rapist or something else unspeakably "edgy") which is probably for the best. What they do look for are more open-ended gameplay mechanics -- linearity is a thing of the past, ostensibly. It all seems so interesting! I'd love to try my hand at offering some ideas, but I live way too far from San Francisco to think about it. So go ahead, submit yo'self, or leave a couple of your fleeting ideas here and we'll talk about them.