Tecmo: PS3 Titles To Be Announced Soon
Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda touches briefly upon next generation gaming in a short one page interview featured in the latest issue of Famitsu PS2. While he reveals surprisingly little about his company’s plans, he does offer one tantalizing bit with regards to software for the PlayStation 3. After explaining that timing is important when announcing next generation games, he adds, with a laugh, “We will announce titles… shortly.”
Yasuda has previously been critical of Sony for its lack of information regarding the PS3. In this interview, he takes a neutral approach to all three next generation systems, citing the Xbox 360 for its internet support, Revolution for its unique interface and PS3 for its visual power.
First Medal of Honor: Airborne Scans for the PS3
Gaming magazine, Game Informer, has recently published pictures of Medal of Honor: Airborne for the PS3. Being the first glimpse of this title for the PS3, I must say, they look great! I’m not sure if the screens are in-game graphics or not though. Take a look:
PS3 chip could reshape entertainment
IBM’s radical Cell processor, to debut in Sony’s PlayStation 3, could reshape entertainment and spark the next hi-tech boom, says Forbes.Com.
IBM’s radical Cell processor, to debut in Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3), could reshape entertainment and spark the next hi-tech boom, says Forbes.Com.
Sony’s PS3 game console performs 2 trillion calculations per second. This means millions of homes will soon sport a supercomputer with the kind of power once reserved for seismic exploration and nuclear-weapons design to enable programmers to create videogames that look as realistic as film.
The report says some techies predict PS3 will usher in the next microchip revolution. The Sony system owes its computing power to a microprocessor called Cell, which runs at least 10 times as fast as Intel’s most powerful Pentium.
Source: JustPlaystation3.com
Sony Confirms DevStation PS3 Developer EU Conference
According to remarks on its official website, DevStation, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s yearly development conference for Sony platform developers, will this year focus exclusively on game development for the PlayStation 3.
The conference, which will take place in London’s Brick Lane from March 1st to March 2nd, has posted an extensive agenda online, which includes significant discussion on the Cell chip, graphics, art, performance, audio, networking, and a new tool named PSSG, which is described as “a PS3 optimised cross-platform graphics engine and tool-chain.”
There will also be a third-party demonstration and a lecture from Unreal Engine creator Epic, as well as middleware input from companies such as Havok and Ageia, who have already officially signed up to provide their physics technology to PlayStation 3 developers.
More information on the conference is available on its official website, which notes: “DevStation 2006 is a PlayStation 3 Development Conference, to receive a delegate space your company would have to have an executed TMLA agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.”
Source: Gamasutra
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle’s Game for PS3
In an announcement that can only be described as “unexpected,” Ubisoft, 4Kids Entertainment, and the Mirage Group all confirmed that they would develop and publish a brand new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game based on the upcoming CG feature film from Imagi Animation Studios. Though Ubisoft won’t confirm which platforms the game will appear on quite yet, its representatives did say that it would be “several of them.” So take from that what you will.
“Ubisoft has demonstrated its strong commitment to making quality license-based games and truly understands the spirit of one of the world’s most famous children’s brands,” said Christian Salomon, director of licensing at Ubisoft. “Ubisoft is thrilled to be bringing the Turtles back in an exciting new adventure that will attract the first generation of enthusiasts all the way through to the current and future generations of fans.”
“We are excited that the Turtles are returning to the big screen in 2007 and pleased to partner with Ubisoft for the creation of a new movie-based Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game,” said Alfred R. Kahn, chairman and chief executive officer of 4Kids Entertainment. “We are confident Ubisoft’s commitment to quality, strong international distribution and presence in the worldwide video game market will complement the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie experience and help generate added excitement for the Turtles brand.”
So how does Konami’s previously existing deal with the Turtles license fit into all this? We don’t know yet. Attempts to reach Konami’s representatives this morning for comment have, as of yet, gone unanswered. So we’ll have to keep you abreast of that situation in the future.
The TMNT movie is the first “completely CG” movie to feature the half-shell heroes. It’ll carry a PG rating and be based loosely on the original comic book series rather than the more kid-friendly animated cartoons seen on television over the past 20 years. Expect the game to release in the first half of 2007.
Source: IGN
PS3 to be $500?
While there was little doubt the Xbox 360 was going to be a hit in the just completed holiday season, no one was real sure how consumers would react to the $399 price tag.
Despite the $100 bump over the launch price of the original Xbox, few seemed to mind. Now, with Sony’s PlayStation 3 looming, it appears another price threshold may be crossed before the year is out.
Sony hasn’t commented on specific pricing figures, though Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Consumer Entertainment, reportedly told attendees of a 2005 corporate meeting “it’ll be expensive.” Analysts and many video game developers, though, suspect the system may debut with a price tag reaching nearly $500.
“[Sony] could now consider launching its PlayStation 3 at a price range of $399 to $499, with the $499 price point more likely,” said American Technology Research’s P.J. McNealy in a note to clients Monday.
Sony, as you might guess, didn’t have much to say about McNealy’s theory.
“We haven’t made an official announcement about pricing yet,” said Ryan Bowling, PR manager for Sony. “At this point, that’s all speculation.”
The strongest argument behind the $499 price point is the PS3’s inclusion of a Blu-Ray drive. This bleeding edge technology will give Sony (Research) significant bragging rights, but it comes at a cost. Pioneer last week at the Consumer Electronics Show unveiled a standalone Blu-Ray player for $1,800.
Obviously, Pioneer’s earning some profit there – and Sony will almost certainly subsidize the cost of the drives, but you’re still looking at an expensive bit of hardware. The PS3 will also feature other pricey items, such as a hard drive, the Cell processor and a new graphics chip from nVidia.
Developers, for the most part, say they, too, are expecting the PS3 to be more expensive than the Xbox 360’s highest price package. Sony, they said, has been sending mixed messages to the gaming world, but several developers I spoke with (under the condition of anonymity) said their studios were expecting the system to launch at $499.
There wasn’t universal consensus, though. Some predicted the price would be closer to $450, others said they wouldn’t be surprised if it was as high as $600. $700 was mentioned by a couple of developers, though even they said the number seemed unreasonable. And one game maker felt Sony would try to stay in line with Microsoft, offering the PS3 for just $399.
None of the developers, by the way, echoed my hypothetical theory that Sony might be pulling a head-fake on Microsoft with the high price warnings, though a couple did bring up the months of speculation leading up to the PSP’s launch. Analysts, journalists and even publishers were wildly grasping for a solid clue about the launch price of the handheld device. (Atari’s CEO even publicly proclaimed he expected the PSP to sell for $500.)
Sony, while this went on, smiled enigmatically and did nothing to dissuade anyone that the device would be $300 or more. It launched at $249, still incredibly expensive by handheld standards, but lower than some consumers were expecting.
We’re seeing much the same thing with the PS3. After an onslaught of information last May, the company hasn’t released any information of substance. Even at CES, the device was an essential no-show. (A hardware design was there to be gawked at and a video loop of potential gameplay footage, but no new information was announced.)
There’s one other possibility about the PS3 that few people have discussed: Dual-pricing strategies. It’s frustrating from a consumer standpoint, but Microsoft proved it can work – at least in the U.S. Whether Sony’s willing to risk fragmenting the market by offering both “bare bones” and “bells and whistles” versions of the PS3 is another matter.
For one thing, it would look as if Sony were following Microsoft’s lead – a vision the market leader does not want to convey. Offering a PS3 with reduced features would also chip away at the company’s stance that the system is much more than a video game machine.
Whatever Sony decides, we should start to get some sort of clarification in the next few months – almost certainly by E3 in May. One thing’s for sure, though: For saying a whole lot of nothing, Sony has somehow managed to keep everybody talking about its product.
Souce: CNNMoney.com
4,000 PS3 dev kits shipped – Stringer hints at retail slippage
Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas yesterday, Sony heavyweight Howard Stringer failed to assert the previously published spring release date for PlayStation 3, furthering expectations that the highly-anticipated console won’t be on sale in the early part of this year.
Stringer simply said that Sony’s new machine will debut ‘later this year’, leading many to believe that SCE has abandoned its original launch plans. Indeed, there is the belief emerging that Sony never intended to launch in spring, merely offering the period to consumers in an attempt to distract them from Microsoft’s frenzied Xbox 360 launch.
Stringer was joined on stage by Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Kaz Hirai who also avoided making any mention of a ship date for the PlayStation 3. Hirai’s appearance consisted of outlining the support program in place for developers of PlayStation 3 software, announcing that around 4,000 development kits for the Cell-powered monster have been shipped.
However, the resounding note of the somewhat lacklustre presentation came from Stringer’s words, ‘later this year’. We contacted Sony yesterday in the wake of the CES address with a simple question – When is the PlayStation 3 expected to launch in any territory? We received no response at time of press.
Source: JustPlaystation3.com
CES 2006: Next Generation HDMI For PS3
It was revealed on E3 2005, that the PS3 would be using HDMI interface for HD video output. On CES, Sony has told us more about it.
With the released of PS3, another important standard that needed to be pushed is the HDMI. The current HDMI is suffering from the limitations of the band range, makes the colors to be transferred in only 8bits. But on 3rd of January, the 7 companies that works with HDMI has announced the next generation of HDMI, which supports transferring each color with 16bits at most, in the first half of 2006.
“Processing under 16bits internally while outputting under 8bits is meaningless. Mach band’s defect is also present at the moment.” and “We hope to get 16bits. And 12bits is the bottom line. A next-generation HDMI with doubled band range is one of our strong hope.” said Ken Kutaragi.
Hmm… so when will the PS3 be released if the complete date of the new HDMI standard is even unknown? D’oh…
No PS3 announcement at CES 2006
We’ve all been anxiously awaiting this month’s International Consumer Electronics Show, mainly because we want details on the PS3 which will soon be following the Xbox360 into the next-gen gaming arena. But could we all be in for a big disappointment? TG Daily is reporting that Sony representatives denied that any sort of PS3 announcement would be made at CES. If true, this means that while the PS3 will be at CES, you shouldn’t expect any new information regarding launch titles, launch date, or estimated price.
A spokesperson for Sony’s PlayStation division denied to TG Daily this morning that the company would be making a PlayStation 3 related announcement at CES 2006.
“Although we are participating in many CES activities with Sony,” said the spokesperson, “we have no new announcements on PlayStation 3 planned at this time.”Sony Corporation has planned special announcements on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, which had been presumed by many in the press and elsewhere to pertain to PS3.
1st Generation PS3 Titles ‘Looking Good’, Better Than 360
Tommy Tallarico, the host of Judgement Day, a show on G4 that reviews and previews games, revealed a tidbit about the PS3 titles he has seen so far on the IGN boards — he says they look great. Apparently, the first generation of Playstation 3 titles is much more impressive than the first generation of Xbox360 titles (according to Tommy, at least). Then again, we have heard this before.
“Unfortunately I am under strict NDA and cannot mention any titles. The gameplay graphics look a little better than minor… but it more of the way the worlds and environments are being created and built. For example… in Project Gotham racing if you stop on the side of the road and look at a tree… it is basically just two texture maps pasted together in a cross pattern (like games have done for the past 10 years)… but some of the stuff I’m seeing on the PS3 has every element of a tree including branches, leaves, etc… and it all gets affected by the wind as your car passes by… as well as the lighting. Not saying the 360 CAN’T do that… I’m just saying that from what I’ve seen…. I’m a lot more impressed with the 1st generation PS3 titles compared to the 1st gen 360 titles.”
