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Joystiq Interview: Kuju's download-only studio doublesix

by Jason Dobson { Dec 19th 2007 at 2:27PM }

We admit that the opening of a new studio is not the most terribly exciting event under the sun, but that news becomes decidedly more intriguing when said studio dedicates itself to a single market, or in the case of British developer Kuju's newly opened doublesix studio, a single distribution channel.

With a moniker always referred to in lowercase, we expected doublesix to be quietly reserved regarding its plans, which include developing titles exclusively in the downloadable space for Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Network, WiiWare and the PC. What we found, however, was a studio that is enthusiastic about its positioning in this young, but rapidly growing segment of the video game industry. To find out more, we managed to speak with doublesix studio head James Brooksby on a number of topics, including the price of downloadable games today and in the future, the importance of platform exclusives in the digital space, and of course, where the team likes to eat.

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Aqua Teen devs to develop, publish PlayStation Network games

by Jason Dobson { Dec 7th 2007 at 11:00AM }

Fresh off of Midway's laboriously titled and unanimously panned Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am for the PlayStation 2, who can blame Creat Studios from wanting to try something different? The studio, which operates out of both Massachusetts and Russia, has announced a new deal with Sony that will allow it to develop and publish both its own and other company's games over the PlayStation Network.

While no specific titles have been announced so far, we're hedging our bets that N-Cube and Warbit, two mysterious titles from Creat that appeared on last September's DualShock 3 compatibility list, are among them. Just back away from those Adult Swim licenses and we'll all stay friends.

Devil May Cry 4 demo confirmed for PSN, XBL in early 2008

by Jason Dobson { Dec 7th 2007 at 10:00AM }

Getting gifts and embarrassing ourselves while under the influence of copious amounts of alcohol are reasons enough to count down until the new year, but Capcom has given us another reason to continue to mark through days on the kitchen calender, announcing plans to release a free playable demo of Devil May Cry 4 over both the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store in early 2008.

It's unclear exactly what will be included in the demo, with Capcom saying only that the download will serve to introduce the game's new hero, Nero, and feature levels "chosen to showcase Devil May Cry 4's varied locales and allow gamers to familiarize themselves with Nero's unique abilities." The demo will also include in-game instructions on how to use DMC4's Exceed sword charge system and various superhuman abilities, made possible by Nero's "Devil Bringer" powers, and will be capped off with a fight against a surly boss named Berial. We hope the boss has insurance, because players have been waiting a long time revisit Devil May Cry, and we imagine Berial is going to buried many times before the game's February 5, 2008 release.

Uncharted demo fixed for European PS3s

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 11th 2007 at 9:45AM }

Some good news this morning for PS3 owners across the pond: Though Sony Europe has promised that the demo for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune would appear on the European and Japanese PlayStation Stores November 22, Naughty Dog has dropped the region specificity on the American demo, opening it up for everyone.

According to Christophe Balestra, co-president of Naughty Dog, the whole ordeal originated from a lack of knowledge about the PSN infrastructure. He claims they didn't know that European and Japanese PS3 owners couldn't access the US PlayStation Store and download demos - an oversight that Balestra himself corrected with the quickness. Now if Naughty Dog can just get the game out without boobies in their opening logo (link NSFW), they should be in the clear.

[Via PS3F]

Stick-figures get their hero in Echochrome

by Peter Vrabel { Jul 13th 2007 at 3:00PM }

Enter Echochrome, one of the most interesting and engaging new titles popping up at this year's E3. "Least graphics, most game play is their angle," said Sony's Phil Harrison, as he introduced Echochrome in the midst of Sony's E3 keynote. In addition to our earlier description as, "Jenga blocks, plus stick figure man plus acid," game play seemingly bears a distant resemblance to games like Crush (PSP) and the upcoming PC release Portal. Echochrome looks like it will have players assembling the game world to steer the stick-figure hero to his end goal. An orchestral score keeps an ambient atmosphere, which should help for those ultra-tricky sections that will be sure to induce cold sweats. Ah, the intense pleasures of a great puzzler. Echochrome certainly looks promising and the fact it will arrive on both UMD for the PSP and the PlayStation Store as one of the "more than 80 first-party games available" makes it all the more desirable.

Sony announces Echochrome

by Zack Stern { Jul 11th 2007 at 3:09PM }

At Sony's Keynote press conference, Phil Harrison introduced, Echochrome, saying it has "possibly the least graphics and most gameplay of any title you are going to see this week." The puzzle game, in development by Sony's internal Japanese studio, seemingly has players direct an outline of a drawing-model doll walking through black-and-white, three-dimensional mazes.

The levels resemble MC Escher doodles and optical illusions, with a distant leg of a puzzle becoming the top layer after a quick rotation. While little was explained other than a simple preview video, players seem to control Echochrome by these rotations, changing and warping perspective.

Harrison didn't announce a shipping date, but he noted that several games, including Echochrome would be available by March, 2008. The game will be available for PSP on UMD and for PS3 download on the Playstation Network.

See photos of this mind-bender after the break.

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Sony 'bringing home' E3 too, on PSN

by Ross Miller { Jul 6th 2007 at 2:55PM }

Much like what Microsoft has been doing with the Bringing It Home campaign since last E3 (and again with this one), Sony has unveiled its initiative to provide coverage of next week's E3 summit to PlayStation 3 owners via the PlayStation Network.

The July 11 press conference will be available for download as well as unspecified "trailers, videos, and other editorial content," according to a GamesIndustry.biz report. Additionally, the official PlayStation blog will reportedly be updated alongside the show.

Nielsen tracking in-game ads for Sony

by Ross Miller { Jul 2nd 2007 at 4:15PM }

Sony Computer Entertainment America and The Nielsen Company want to track your stats. Specifically, the two companies have teamed up to "develop a measurement system for game network advertising that will help make game software a more competitive advertising platform," according to the press release.

SCEA will "share with Nielsen game network traffic and other data" from PS3 titles, PlayStation Network and the upcoming social MMO Home, at first only in North America -- details beyond that are sketchy, but Nielson calls the effort "fully-transparent" in the press release. The results will be used "to deliver the right ad to the right person at the right time" and to help advertisers figure out a CPM, or cost per impression, for in-game ads.

The initial results of the partnership are expected later this year. Expect more in-game ads you're less inclined to ignore and possibly the strange feeling that Big Brother is critiquing your gamer skills.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Long-delayed Resistance update coming Friday

by Ross Miller { Jun 28th 2007 at 4:26PM }

An update to Resistance: Fall of Man that Once Upon a Time was to be released at the end of May is finally coming this Friday. The download, ~~so far confirmed only for Europe~~, will enable global multiplayer matches. Servers will be down for 16 hours, from 2:00 am to 6:00 pm BST, while they are updated, according to Eurogamer.

Also coming tomorrow is the first Map Pack, which includes maps Westmorland and Camborn, for £2.99 GBP and US $7.99. No word on the map pack or update outside of Europe; we've contacted Sony Computer Entertainment America for information on the status of the update in the US.

[Update: Included US information care of Sony's shiny new blog. Thanks for the heads-up!]

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Super Stardust HD shoots up PSN today

by Ross Miller { Jun 28th 2007 at 2:29PM }

You're a spaceship destroying bad guys and asteroids -- it's been a time-honored tradition from Space War all the way to Geometry Wars and now crash landing on the US PlayStation Network as Super Stardust HD, an ~~ancestor to~~ descendant of [update: you have your concept of the direction of time and I have mine] the 1993 game Stardust with 1080p visuals.

The shooter was released in Europe on June 15, receiving a glowing review from Eurogamer. Super Stardust HD should be available today for US PlayStation 3 owners for $7.99.

Gallery: Super Stardust HD -- PSN

Paid subscription a possibility for the future of PlayStation Network

by Peter Vrabel { Jun 18th 2007 at 4:00PM }

Paying for a subscription would certainly seem to be a possibility, especially as the long-rumored feature upgrades come filing into the PlayStation Network. When speaking with Geoff Keighley on the latest edition of Gametrailers' Bonus Round, Eric Lempel spoke about the PlayStation Network's current free service and that, "in time, anything can change." Comparing the PlayStation Network to Microsoft's Xbox Live service, Lempel, Sony's director of Network Operations reconfirmed "we're working on an achievements system," describing its inclusion as "an important feature." Voice-chat across all games is also something (thankfully) that Mr. Lempel touched base on, saying "talking across games ... definitely builds momentum for games and actually migrate(s) users to other games and keeps you in touch with your gaming community." We couldn't agree more.

Exactly when these implementations will make it to a PS3 near you, via firmware upgrade, is uncertain. "It's not in the next firmware update but it's something we're working on," says Mr. Lempel. We certainly hope so, though we are catching wind of the potential trade-off here. What do you think? Would you pay a subscription fee (similar to Xbox Live) for a plan that allows cross-game invites, built-in voice chat for all multiplayer games and a similar achievement points implementation? Or would you rather say the heck with all that, and voice to keep the PlayStation Network free for all, setting it apart from Microsoft's Xbox Live service?

[Via Next-Gen]

PS3 Tekken 5 going online via premium update in Japan

by Ross Miller { Jun 13th 2007 at 5:25PM }

The Japanese version of Tekken 5: Dark Ressurection for PlayStation 3 will soon have online multiplayer, but it's going to cost you a bit extra. The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu reports that T5: DR Online will feature free online multiplayer with a ranking system, practice mode and survival mode.

The game will cost 2,800 yen (about US $23), or 1,000 yen (US $8) for current owners of the game to upgrade. Since the game initially came out for 2,000 yen, early adopters are paying 200 yen extra for the time they've had with the offline title since its release in late December. No release date has been decided for the upgrade, and no word at all on a release outside of Japan.

PSP Fanboy Theatre: Volume 23

by Andrew Yoon { Jun 10th 2007 at 1:30AM }

PSP Fanboy offers the latest and greatest movie and game trailers, formatted for the PSP in this new weekly feature. Check it out every Saturday. PSP owners can download files wirelessly via m.pspfanboy.com.

Instructions: Save all movie and thumbnail files to the VIDEO folder. These high resolution 480x272 videos require firmware 3.30 or above. (Note: OE custom firmware will also play these videos.)

New for PSP: Get selected videos delivered automatically to your PSP via our new RSS feed.

Metal Gear Solid 4 [PS3]
Download MP4 (84.9MB) | Download JPG

The following videos are featured after the break: Kane & Lynch (PS3 & 360), PLAYSTATION Network, You Kill Me

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Resistance & Motorstorm updates further delayed

by Ross Miller { Jun 7th 2007 at 8:51PM }

Technical issues befall updates to PlayStation 3 titles Resistance: Fall of Man and Motorstorm. The content was originally supposed to be on the PlayStation Network today alongside currently-available trailers for Heavenly Sword, MLB 07 The Show and Stranglehold, which did come out.

The MotorStorm 1.2 update has now been slightly split up. A Sony spokesperson told IGN that the patch, which promises to improve online play, will be available on June 11. The new Time Attack mode will be made available June 14. The update was initially due in mid-May.

Resistance: Fall of Man was to have new content pack that includes new maps and the game modes Team Conversion and Assault, as well as allow for global online play. "The delay will not be long, and we'll have a firm date to share with you shortly," said Alyssa Casella at SCEA, citing "a few last minute issues ... during the final testing of the global server" for the game. The update had already been pushed back to today, initially promised for the end of May.

Remote Play reveals unique features for Mainichi Issyo [Update]

by Peter Vrabel { Jun 5th 2007 at 7:15PM }

For PSP owners itching to test out the game-playing capabilities of Remote Play (made possible from the last firmware upgrade), you'll want to go here for a walkthrough on setting up a Japan PlayStation Network account for your PS3. Mainichi Issyo has been (and still is) only available through the Japanese PlayStation Store. As reported during the firmware 3.50 release, the Remote Play functionality will allow Mainichi Issyo gamers to "interact with Toro the cat" through any available internet access point. New details unveil the game's unique ability to complete microtransactions through the PlayStation Store in-game, instead of dumping you out to the PSP built-in browser. Feel free to have yourself a look-see. We'll be sure to update you with our in-depth impressions on Remote Play, as promised.

[Update: Changed the wording of the post to reflect the newly unveiled features within Mainichi Issyo, using Remote Play. The post title changed to reflect the description of these new in-game features.]