3rooms posts (Subscribe to this feed)

Heavenly Sword downloadable content coming ... if it sells well

by Jem Alexander { Sep 14th 2007 at 12:30PM }

It's a two-way road, this video game business. Developers want you to buy their products so, in turn, if you request something from them then you had better be willing to front the cash. During a presentation and Q&A at last night's Warhawk tournament at 3Rooms, Tameem Antoniades (co-founder of Ninja Theory) was asked what his response was to the criticism that Heavenly Sword was too short. He replied that Ninja Theory are definitely interested in extending the experience via downloadable content - but only if it sells well.

The game has been getting good reviews pretty much across the board, with the most common criticism being that there simply isn't enough game to play. With the marketing push that is happening in Europe (we couldn't get through the paper this morning without being greeted by Nariko's face at least twice) we expect the game to sell well, but will it sell enough to persuade Ninja Theory to release extra content? We sincerely hope so. If you want to see it happen, then put down the money and buy the game.

Bad EU PSN updates? SCEE knows and is working on it

by Jem Alexander { Sep 14th 2007 at 6:00AM }

At a ThreeSpeech organised Warhawk tournament (more on that later) at 3Rooms last night, a member of the Sony Europe PR team spoke to attendees regarding the lackluster EU PSN releases. The general gist was that Japan and America are receiving decent content regularly because each territory only has a single language. Europe, on the other hand, has 21 languages and each piece of content has to be localised for all of them. They recognise this is an issue and are working on a fix.

"Will you be able to see improvements in the next week, or the week after? Probably not, but do expect to see things get better in the near future." We look forward to it! Despite that, yesterday's EU PSN update has been heralded as the best yet. It's good to see Sony plans to push beyond that with future EU updates, rather than sitting back and relaxing now that some people have been appeased. We look forward to seeing what they come up with over the coming months.

Updated Folklore gallery and new details to up the hype

by Jem Alexander { Aug 21st 2007 at 3:30PM }

We've updated our Folklore gallery with a load more images that really show off the great art style of this game. For those of you who don't find screenshots too exciting, take a look regardless. Monster designs, concept art and the final boxart are included.

Just six of the game's monster designs are shown below, but rest assured that all 100+ are as creepy as stylish as the ones you see here. We have some more interesting information about this title that we gleaned from our time at 3Rooms yesterday. Here they are in handy bullet point form.

100+ monsters to catch and abilities to learn
The game takes advantage of the internet by allowing user created dungeons, online leaderboards and Quest Packs
The game includes seven different regions (read: levels): Hell Realm, Faery Realm, Warcadia, Endless Corridor, Netherworld Cave, Undersea City
Ellen's costumes each correspond to one of the above regions
You can start the game as either Ellen or Keats. You then play as that character for five chapters, before being able to switch between them at will during the final two chapters.

Gallery: Folklore

Six quest packs planned for Folklore

by Jem Alexander { Aug 20th 2007 at 6:10PM }

During the Folklore presentation by the game's designer Yoshiki Okamoto at Sony's PR space, 3Rooms, some details on planned downloadable content were shown. Six download packs, or "Quest Packs", have been planned. Each pack will contain the following:

4 new quests
1 new costume
1 new monster

At the moment there is something that looks suspiciously like the first Quest Pack on the Japanese PSN Store. It weighs in at about 24MB and is downloadable for free. We obviously love the idea of these packs being free. Unlike some downloadable content. We also caught a glimpse of the concept designs for Ellen's costumes and they look great. There's one for each of the seven areas of the game, with an extra one being added with each of the six Quest Packs.

EU PSN update due on Wednesday; Folklore demo included

by Jem Alexander { Aug 20th 2007 at 3:15PM }

The EU PSN store is in a sorry state, wouldn't you say? Don't worry, we've already said it for you. Don't worry though, while we were at Sony's 3Rooms today, we were told that Wednesday night will see a large update straight from Leipzig. Why Wednesday? Because that's when the Sony Press Conference is, of course. The update will contain lots of trailers from the show as well as an English language Folklore demo.

Don't go being tardy about downloading it, however. The demo will only be available for a limited time before being pulled down again. We're not entirely sure why, but we're warning you regardless. If you didn't play the Japanese demo (or if you did and got stuck, what with it being in Japanese and all) then get it downloaded. Folklore is unique in its aesthetic style as well as its gameplay and has been shamefully overlooked. It's like playing a Japanese Tim Burton film.

New PlayStation Eye title spotted: Trials of Topoq

by Jem Alexander { Aug 20th 2007 at 1:30PM }

While at Sony's 3Rooms brand space in London today we had some hands-on time with Folklore and Eye of Judgment (more on those later today). We also saw a couple of things we didn't expect to see, including a PS3 attached to a PlayStation Eye running a game we haven't seen before. Trials of Topoq is a "run the ball through the level" game which reminded us of Kula World on the PS1.

The game requires you to move the ball around the different layers of each castle, breaking open cages as you go. Each level has a different task, including getting to the end within a time limit and breaking a certain amount of cages before reaching the finish line. Crossbows can be found around the levels which, when the ball is rolled into it, will shoot you to a hidden area of the level.

The ball is not moved via the analogue stick, nor the SIXAXIS. Instead, the floor of the castle shows an image of what the PlayStation Eye can see. By moving your arms (or any other part of you, really) you affect the height of the floor temporarily. The idea is to create slopes to guide the ball around and collect the items (or "smash the cages" as the game calls it) whilst making yourself look like a prat in the process.

We snapped a few photos of the game in action, check out the gallery below to see all three. There's no word on whether the game will come bundled with the PlayStation Eye, sold separately or be downloadable. No doubt we'll hear more at Leipzig.