PS3 Fanboy

Sony Online Entertainment is betting it big on PS3. The company is currently working on three MMO titles for the system: Free Realms, DC Universe Online and The Agency. While consoles haven't traditionally been home to MMOs, SOE is hoping that free access to the PlayStation Network will give them the opportunity to succeed in a brand new market.

"I think PS3 will be close to half our business. There's an audience now waiting for online games on the PS3. I believe PSN has over 15 million users today. It's growing so quickly, we see a great user base potential there," SOE president John Smedley told GameDaily BIZ.

We're excited for all three of SOE's MMO projects for the PS3. However, we're most excited by Free Realms, a completely free MMO that charges for in-game items. The variety of gameplay options make us believe it will become a great alternative to PlayStation Home. The beta is starting soon on the PC -- we can't wait to see what the PS3 version will look like.

MTV Multiplayer recently got in touch with Geoff Johns, who was announced as the writer for DC Universe Online back in September, to ask about the latest developments on the superhero MMO title.

Johns clarifies his role in the writing process, stating: "I've written the overall story and the path that gets you into the game and the areas of the universe and how to explore them, but not every line of dialogue." The man also tells us an estimated release date. "It launches I think in early 2010, it could be late 2009."

Hopefully the story makes some semblance of sense. Or you can always go the Marvel vs. Capcom 2 route and just not bother.

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On November 18th, PS3 Fanboy HQ received a tip that the PS3/PC online spy game, The Agency, had been reportedly canceled. GameFly listed the project as dead, but we doubted such an ambitious game would be killed by SOE. We did some further investigating.

According to SOE's Katie Hanson, there's no reason to believe that The Agency is canceled. Why GameFly would list the project as canceled is beyond. Perhaps ... there's foul play involved?! (cue dramatic music)

Evidence is presented, after the break.

Update: Yet another official statement: "Sony Online Entertainment's game, The Agency™, is still in development for release on both the PLAYSTATION®3 and PC platforms. The game sku has been reinstated to GameFly's website. Feel free to add The Agency to your GameQ!"

Sony Online Entertainment has promised a number of MMO games that will appear on PC and PS3. However, none of them have come to fruition quite yet. The most likely candidate for release appears to be FreeRealms, SOE's innovative MMO game. The game is almost reaching beta on the PC, and from what we've seen so far, it's shaping up to be a fun way for casual gamers to jump online into a safe online world. Best of all, FreeRealms' big gimmick: it's free.

This isn't meant to be a World of Warcraft-killer, and we think that's a good thing. By aiming for younger players (and their families), FreeRealms has crafted an intuitive, easy-to-read and use interface that looks charming. The UI takes advantage of easily identifiable icons, and the screen real estate is wisely used. This is great for the console player too: the large icons can be easily selected with a PS3 controller.

For better or for worse, FreeRealms tries to appeal to many by featuring a variety of mini-games. Unlike other MMO games, your character isn't tied to one class. You can be a Ninja, Explorer, Wizard -- whatever you want. In fact, you can change your class at any time, so that you're able to tackle each situation appropriately. The freedom to change classes gave the development team at SOE the opportunity to create a wide variety of gameplay modes, from racing to combat, to card battling and cooking. A universal experience points system makes it so that doing anything in the game will let you level up any aspect of your character, in any class mode.

Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley spoke to MTV Multiplayer in a post-New York Games conference interview to talk about their plans for future MMOs under their wing. Smedley clarifies a few things; the PlayStation 3 versions of The Agency and DC Universe Online will arrive the same day as the PC version, there's "a chance, maybe" Sony will use a non-subscription-based model for their upcoming MMOs, and finally, the Smedley confirms that "all of SOE's MMOs will appear on consoles from now on."

Smedley has stated beforehand that MMOs will become a selling point on the PS3, so this doesn't come as a surprise. However, it looks like SOE is leaning against having PS3-PC cross-platform play for upcoming titles The Agency and DCUO due to their potential inability to provide simultaneous content updates. Will this lack of cross-platform play spell the end of MMOs on the PS3 or can console owners sustain their own community?

Speaking to Gamasutra, executive producer Wilson (we are going to assume it is Matt Wilson) said that Sony Online Entertainment is still considering cross-platform play for their MMO The Agency, seemingly contradicting statements made earlier to Eurogamer by lead designer Hal Milton.

But if you read each of the original source articles, both Milton and Wilson states that it is entirely possible technologically to have cross-platform play. They even have very similar reservations; console certification process hampering updates and gameplay balance issues stemming from differences between PC mouse/keyboard and the PS3's controls. We are guessing SOE simply haven't finalized their plans yet.

Either way though, it was revealed that at least the game accounts will be both global and cross-compatible -- meaning that if you have a PS3 account, you can still play at a friend's house on their PC with your own account and vice versa. We'll keep you updated if there are any developments.

Download to PSP

Whoa, where did this come from? A new trailer, released on the PLAYSTATION Store today, unveiled the brand new PS3 Jeopardy! game. It does everything you'd expect from a game based on the popular TV show, but this trailer does an incredible job of selling the game, thanks to the catchy theme song.

The game teases Trophies, but unfortunately we're not sure if these are XMB Trophies or not. We'll have to wait for official details on that. We love some trivia, and so long as this downloadable title is priced right, we may want to find ourselves in Jeopardy. Now, can we have some more info on Wheel of Fortune?

Download to PSP

If you have a European PSN account, or you actually went to Leipzig, you may have seen these promotional trailers released by Sony promoting their upcoming line-up of games. We have three videos for you to see: one for PlayStation in general (above), one for the PSN, and one for Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming MMO games for the PS3. Enjoy!

While it was a feature touted when it originally debuted, it became increasingly clear that The Agency would unlikely have cross-platform play between the PS3 and PC versions. Now, it's official: the spy-themed SOE-developed MMO will definitely not have cross-platform play. The two worlds of the PS3 and PC versions will be kept separate. The reason? According to the developers, the imbalance between keyboard and mouse versus controller play.

"PC guys say, 'PS3 guys have aim assist and the controls nerfed for them'. And PS3 guys say, 'PC guys have a mouse and keyboard - it's all easier for them'. Even if it's not true," Hal Milton said. He also added, "a couple of members of our team gained a lot of experience working on Shadowrun, and no matter how well you fine-tune it, you end up with a player-base that's polarized." [Ed's note: Shadowrun is one of the few games that features cross-platform play between Windows and Xbox 360 systems.]

There are a number of MMO titles coming to PS3 via Sony Online Entertainment. This ten minute video from the developers tries to explain how the upcoming casual MMO will work, starting from its Facebook-like social networking website, moving on to the four styles of gameplay Free Realms features. Burning questions like "can I be a ninja?" are answered (the answer is yes). Unlike other MMO games, Free Realms is more about various mini-games -- there is combat, but it's optional.

If this piques your interest, you may want to check out all of Massively's coverage so far.

Our friends over at Massively got a chance to talk to SOE's Director of Development, Matt Wilson, about the latest developments concerning The Agency. Wilson reveals the following:

• They are currently in "full alpha" and the plan is for a beta in the fall. They are also working towards a demo.
• They haven't decided between a subscription based financial model or a microtransaction one. However, Wilson noted that the PS3 is a console, and "console players don't generally do subscriptions."
• The penalty for death will be "as lightweight as possible to begin with" since the player will die "frequently." Penalty will mostly be in the form of lost gameplay time, but Wilson cites an example of after dying ten times, you'll need to get fixed up at a field office, presumably losing extra time.
• World events are planned, and SOE is hoping for content that "is easily playable for everyone" and accessible to players who do not invest as much time into the game.
• Vehicle combat will take place. No other specific details are given.

With SOE coming out with two MMOs in the near future, do you think the PS3 will dominate as a console for that genre? Read the entire interview over at Massively.

There isn't much new information per se in this E3 trailer for DC Universe Online, other than what was revealed last month. But gosh, watching your favorite heroes and villains in action is a completely different experience from hearing it. You've got all the major players of the DC universe here: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Joker, Bizarro ... you know, we'll just let the video do the talking.

We are actually pretty stoked about this; with a well-known and well-established franchise behind this MMO, Sony might just have a fighting chance. We'll see how it is marketed and whether the gameplay elements live up to expectations when the game comes "next year."

[Via Kotaku]