During TGS, we had the opportunity to visit the studios of Polyphony Digital and meet with the man behind the Gran Turismo series, Kazunori Yamauchi. We had just finished watching a demo of their video-on-demand GTTV service – which was announced during a Japanese-press only event at TGS the preceding day – and got to poke around their studios (check out Gamespot's fancy video tour) before sitting down with the man himself. We talked about GTTV (of course), the current status for Gran Turismo on PSP, how they reached the elusive 1080p goal, and if their PSP/PS3 connectivity ideas are any better than a rear-view mirror.
Gallery: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
Thanks for taking the time to meet with us and show us the game and your studio. It's very much appreciated. Could you explain the rationale behind releasing GT5: Prologue before releasing the full Gran Turismo 5?
So there's basically two reasons behind GT5 Prologue. First one being, as we move with the franchise to a new generation of hardware, the PS3‚ and trying to extract the maximum out of it and being comfortable, it's already taken us three years to get to a point where we're almost happy with what we're delivering on the system.
May the furries rejoice, the continuing adventures of a Lombax and his robot blows up the PS3 with Rachet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Apparently everything old about Ratchet & Clank is still old, but it's gussied up and makes excellent use of the PS3 as something other than a movie player. Ratchet & Clank looks to be a boon for games on the system, even if it does amount to what Game Informer deems perfectly as "comfort food."
GameTap(100/100): "It's rare that a game critic feels the way I do about this game, but in all honesty, I find it really difficult to find something that's not to like. The controls feel great. The graphics look great. The score sounds great. The weapon selection alone make me want to play the game over and over again, just to test out all the cool offered. And that's that's what happens when a smart development team has spent a long time imagining a game like this. It's obvious they've accomplished feats here that they've probably been wanting to do for a long time."
Game Informer(93/100): "You know how we always say that it's not enough to make a prettier version of a last-generation title – that you really need to offer us something that wasn't possible five years ago? Well, leave it to Insomniac to make me a liar. Because, in all reality, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction sticks extremely close to the formula that made the series one of the PS2's best. There's not much here I haven't seen before. But I don't care, and neither will you, because this is an adventure packed to the brim with vivid characters, amazing gameplay, and heartfelt humor. In a way, it's the ultimate in video game comfort food – a familiar old favorite for those times when you're hungry for nothing but an expertly crafted good time."
Gamespot(75/100): "Try as it might, Tools of Destruction doesn't achieve the same level of greatness as its predecessors. It's too easy, the story falls flat, and the "throw everything in including the kitchen sink" style of gameplay takes too much of the focus off the tight platforming and fun combat. That said, the gorgeous visuals and generally fun gameplay are enough to make Tools of Destruction worthwhile for the series' fans and newcomers alike."
When screenshots described as "work in progress" look this good, you know a game's headed in the right direction. It turns out that the version of Super Street Fighter II: Turbo HD Remix shown at Capcom Gamer's Day in London wasn't the most recent build available at the same. To make up for it, the developers decided to post some screen-captures of the game on their blog. The high-res images show off the Ryu and Ken sprites, two of the game's levels, and the character select screen.
Forgiveness is the Christian way, so it's not too surprising that Manchester Cathedral officials have officially forgiven Sony for their use of the historic church in Resistance: Fall of Man. But the subtext of the public acceptance shows there is still some ill will behind the words.
Despite twoapologies from Sony for any offense caused, Cathedral Dean Rev. Rogers Govender could only passive-aggressively tell the BBC that "we do forgive Sony for what they have done, even though they still believe they have done nothing wrong." Govender went on to urge the game industry to follow the "long held traditions of film and television" by "having courtesy, respecting the dignity of your subject, and admitting when mistakes have been made." Such traditions of filmic church respect can be seen in this action-packed church scene from Face/Off and this bloody church shootout from The Killer.
On the plus side, Govender admitted to the BBC that the controversy over the game has caused "an increase in visits from young people and tourists." It might not be the "substantial donation" they were looking for, but we're sure the Church doesn't mind the extra money.
A newly announced collaboration between Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Polyphony Digital and BBC Worldwide will see the broadcaster's popular motoring show, Top Gear, distributed through Gran Turismo TV. The online channel, expected to launch on the PlayStation Network during 2008, will host 40 downloadable episodes of the Jeremy Clarkson vehicle snobbery-fest.
An added bonus resulting from the agreement is an in-game replica of the Top Gear Test Track, bound for the PS3 installment of Sony's driving sim, Gran Turismo 5. You'll be able to experience "every white knuckle, hairpin turn," whether or not you're rambling into a camera about how the unnervingly attractive car makes you feel. If you haven't done so already, you can coax the Japanese PSN into giving you the GT5 Prologue demo while you await the final game's release.
It looks like the early release of Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is not without consequence. Shacknews reports that some American PlayStation 3 owners may encounter a glitch which prevents them from playing Insomniac's latest platformer. Unlike the sudden loss of your arms or a critical lack of money, however, you can entirely blame someone in the quality assurance department for this predicament*.
Insomniac community manager James Stevenson describes the issue, which presents itself during the game's setup, as such: "With specific amounts of free space on your drive, you may see a screen that tells you have insufficient space to create game data even though there is plenty of free space on your drive." He remains decidedly non-specific regarding said "specific amounts," but at least the man provides a workaround. If you encounter the problem, "either delete or add about 500MB of data to your hard drive and the problem will go away." You'll know you've won when you can actually play the game.
*Excluding the unlikely circumstance of an insane QA manager capturing you and lopping off your arms. We've heard stories.
Time-traveling Native American news now (we'll have to create another spin-off site at this rate!), with a newly released video of an animated Turok film. Presumably releasing straight to DVD in early 2008, Turok:Son of Stone looks to feature plenty of violence, reptile dysfunction and at least one scene of a fat man being eaten unexpectedly.
If you're confused as to why this Turok looks nothing like the one featured in Disney's promising Unreal-powered first-person shooter (slated for February), it's probably because you either skipped the comic book series or never accompanied the dinosaur hunter when he battled his greatest foe -- the N64's draw distance.
If you want to experience rumble with your PS3 games as soon as possible, you're going to have to go on a quest of sorts. First, time travel into next month (or wait a couple of weeks) and import a DualShock 3 from Japan. Next, you're going to need the PS3's new firmware, 1.94, but sadly, it isn't available for download yet.
But don't be deterred. Shacknews is reporting that if you pick up Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (the first retail game with built-in rumble support) you'll be able to find 1.94 right there on the disc. Imagine the convenience. Now, unless you have obsessive compulsive disorder, we have no idea why you'd need the firmware weeks before the controller's even out. But at least we know a certain former Double Dare host is going to sleep well tonight.
Are we seeing a movement developing? No sooner does EA's Gerhard Florin say he'd like to see an "open, standard platform" then game designer extraordinaire Denis Dyack says he sees such an idea as "inevitable." Writing for the UK's Official Xbox Magazine (as reported by Computer & Video Games), Dyack argues that having multiple competitive consoles is bad for third parties, who have to make tough decisions on how to split resources, and bad for first parties, who have to spend gobs of money on hardware development to attract the third parties. Such an inefficient market can't sustain itself, Dyack argues, turning a one-console future into "a future we can't avoid."
Sorry, we don't buy it. Even with the market split between three strong systems, both first- and third-parties seem to be doing just fine by targeting content to the specific audiences of each console. More importantly, a single standard would remove the competitive drive to innovate, meaning the unified platform could quickly stagnate. The VHS format reigned supreme for nearly twenty years partly because of its near-monopoly on the home video market. Can you imagine if the NES had lasted that long? Thankfully Sega and the Genesis kick-started the competitive cycle that has led to today's varied crop of systems.
Dyack sees a "consortium of game makers" deciding on the single standard, but such a consortium would inevitably devolve into petty squabbles over hardware issues like type of disc drive, controller design and motion sensitivity, hard drive size, media center features, RAM and a million others. The result would either be a kitchen-sink system that tries to do everything and costs a bazillion dollars (3DO, anyone?) or a splintering of different hardware configurations that would probably look a lot like our current marketplace.
Sorry Denis, but it seems to us like a single-console future is far from inevitable.
IGN's preview of Area 51: BlackSite is sort of a mixed bag. Sure, we loved hearing new game modes like Abduction and how weapons would affect running speed, but imagine how disheartened we were when the preview ended with the news that online co-op had been cut from the game. It was like an awesome birthday party with a cake made of SARS.
In other disappointing news, the article says that while the 360 version will feature ranked and unranked play as well as constant chatter for teammates, the PS3 version won't, and the PC version is still a question mark. Sure, there's cause for concern, but, luckily for Midway, we really, really hate aliens.
Hello, friend. Do you have a comfortable chair? Do you have a refreshing beverage? If so, it's high time that you snuggle in and prepare yourself for an approximately 12-minute long demo of Metal Gear Solid 4 in English. Just a warning, the player of the demo occasionally blows through some of the dialog when it goes on a bit too long. Wow, it's just like you're playing at home!
Speaking of which, if you want to grab a controller and pretend like you're playing, we won't tell anyone. The demo starts with the first part above, and then continues below the jump. Enjoy.
Ubisoft's Haze is still a month away, for the PS3 at least, but that has not stopped the band Korn from being "inspired" by Free Radical's sci-fi FPS, prompting the nu metal rock group to record an original track for the game. The single, creatively titled "Haze," will debut over radio, television, and download sites in November alongside the game's release, meaning even your non-gaming friends could be banging their heads to Haze marketing material in the near future. Take pictures.
Korn's vocalist Jonathan Davis is said to be a major driver behind the collaboration, which makes sense given his apparent passion for games. He once worked on a PS2 fighting game called Pop Scars that aimed to pit celebrities like Mary J. Blige and Marilyn Manson against each other, but this project was eventually canned by Davis in 2004. This setback did not dampen the rocker's spirits, however. Said Davis, "Gaming for me is a religion and Haze is the shit!...I had to come up with a track that can hit up that kind of rush I get from the game and I think we really rocked it!!" We share your enthusiasm for games, but I think we speak for everyone when we say 'stop shouting!' Please.
So, there's good news and there's bad news, die hard fans of Destroy All Humans. (Yes, we're talking to both of you.) First off, as previously rumored, a third Destroy All Humans subtitled Path of the Furon is in the works for the PS3 and the Xbox 360. The bad news? Well, it's just been delayed from the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2008 until FY 2009, meaning you can expect it between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009.
The news came from a fiscal outlook from THQ, in which Frontlines: Fuel of War on PS3 and de Blob for the Wii were also moved into 2009. In completely unrelated news from the same release, Stuntman: Ignition and Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights are performing worse than THQ expected, despite their impossibly sexy titles.
Since we first heard that a new Bionic Commando was in the works, all we've been able to think about is how his non-boring arm will be implemented. Will he use it to choke dudes? Will he throw massive chunks of debris at bad guys? Will he use it to to pull a tram down to the ground and destroy a car for no apparent reason? Yes, yes and -- as strange as it sounds -- yes.
We've also included some swinging action after the jump (spoiler alert: It's Spider-Man), but the interesting part is the video above. Who would have thought that Nathan Spencer would come up with radder things to do with his arm than Radd Spencer? Oh irony, do you know no limits?
We don't know if you've been keeping up with Warhawk, but the dev team has been working on plenty of fixes and tweaks for the game, so much so that we thought a brief check-in was in order. Coming your way at the end of the month will be patch 1.1. This patch is pure under-the-hood stuff, improving connections, stability and fixing a few glitches. The patch will also add "Arbiters," officials who'll take to games and make sure that all of the players are on the up-and-up. Think Air Marshals for Warhawk.
Following that, there's already another patch (1.2) in testing. This will add some new layouts as well as some more customization options for your matches. Some other new features are also added by the patch, including the addition of support for the DualShock 3. Wow, next-gen delivery methods meet last-gen tech. Inspiring.
