PS3 Fanboy

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.

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.

An announcement regarding Sony's online game, The Agency, ruffled some feathers last month. "You can customize your character any way you like with microtransactions for clothes and such!" was more or less what was told to the public. Eurogamer went on the scene to uncover the reasoning behind such an action and found out that, no, you won't spend any more real-life money than it costs to buy the game itself.

Instead of enlisting Live Gamer to create a microtransaction system, there's going to be a real-world auction house where players can buy and sell in-game items. You'll get new duds and accessories by taking out enemies with a sharp-looking coat, or a nice pair of shades, then taking them away by force. Much better than paying some cash up front for a piece of polygonal cloth, right?

[via Joystiq]

We haven't had a chance to really see The Agency in motion, especially with a typical espionage/spy musical score in the background. This world premiere from X-Play shows off the main characters in the game from both the U.N.I.T.E. and ParaGON factions. There's a short clip of actual gameplay footage and it looks a bit like Uncharted went to the mall to buy some tuxedos and have a shootout against enemies other than pirates. Still, the game will have to show us more before we can truly judge its worth, but this is a good start for the PS3's first real MMO.

We feel like we've heard this spiel before -- MMO's were promised to come onto the PS3 because, let's face it, the thing is practically a computer. What's different this time around is that Sony no longer is saying that MMO's will be something to look forward to, but their forward strategy is to focus on them as key selling points.

Sony Online Entertainment honcho John Smedley said this in an interview with the Seattle Times: "MMOs are going to be a real strong selling point for the PS3 long term - there's going to be some great ones on the PS3." He goes on to blab a little bit about The Agency, which we know only bare bones about, but is supposedly going to be a real shining star and pave the way for other MMO's to get onto the PS3. We'll find out soon enough, right?

[Via CVG]

We all love videos about games. We love video interviews slightly less, especially when painted towards the PC side of the upcoming MMO The Agency, also due out on the PS3. Sony Online Entertainment's Kevin O'Hara speaks up a bit regarding the game, so go ahead and take a listen. It seems to be shaping up nicely.

If you don't remember, The Agency is an MMO designed for the PS3 and PC -- we assume it's a bigger deal to the PS3 crew though. While many online games gladly accommodate cross-platform play, like Phantasy Star Universe, it seems the group in charge of The Agency is having a slightly harder time.

It's not that they don't know how to do it, but they feel it might be a bit unfair due to the difference in control scheme between the console and the PC. Sony Online Entertainment's CEO, John Smedley, affirms this, saying, "Would the mouse player have a unique advantage? Would we have to make the auto-aiming system on the console a lot better to compensate for that? That would take some of the skill element away on the console."

You'll still be able to log into your character from either the PC or PS3. SOE is still going to try out cross-platform play, but as far as we can tell, they're warning you not to count on it actually making it to retail.

What's Sony Online Entertainment up to? Surely you'd think they've got big plans for the PS3, since it's got a huge, open online network to spread their wings and make some stuff for. It seems they are planning stuff for 2008 and we're glad that most of what's planned sounds pretty darn good.

The basic plan is this: Free Realms will launch for PS3 six months after it releases on the PC. The Agency and the DC Comics game will launch simultaneously on PC and PS3. As for the PlayStation Store, SOE is making downloadable versions of classic games like Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. There may be tie-ins with the TV shows for those games and both will be integrated into Home. Also, the film Hancock, starring Will Smith, will have a downloadable game available around the film's launch in July. SOE has a busy year ahead of them, but we'll follow them every step of the way to keep you up to date on their plans.

[via NeoGAF]