Archive for 2005

IGN has posted some hi-res versions of some PS3 trailers from the Tokyo Game Show. I was a little disappointed – some of the trailers didn’t show much at all, and I also had video problems.

IGN – KOEI PS3 Movie Mayhem

Kikizo has a long list of PS3 videos, a great resource.

Kikizo – PlayStation 3: New Videos and Vid Archive

Next-gen graphics, next-gen sound, next-gen physics. The PS3 promises all of these things. Previously I’ve posted some ruminations about what PS3 racing games and RPGs might be like. This time I’m thinking about first-person shooters (FPSs).

Although I’m not sure I should really bother.

I mean, with trailers like Killzone PS3 one, do I need to? Everything next-gen is right there in the video. The Killzone trailer shown at E3 was simply amazing. Though not rendered in realtime, it shows what a PS3 game can aspire to.

The graphics are simply astounding. Exhaust trails, explosions, detailed characters. Great animations. Very real looking sets.

Gameplay wise, it was interesting to see some interaction between players, with one NPC (non-player character) giving a weapon to the player. NPCs also told the player what to do. The utter mayhem was just astounding, with things happening everywhere. Kinda like the MotorStorm trailer.

How close will a real play-it PS3 FPS look compared to the Killzone PS3 demo? I don’t know. That Killzone demo was recorded at 5 FPS and sped up to 30 FPS. That means the developers have pull out a six-fold increase in performance to get it up to realtime. I have to say I’m skeptical. I don’t think that it’s do-able, though I’m hope I’m wrong.

But even if we can’t get up to Killzone quality, getting close will still be pretty great. I can’t wait to see some in-game footage. Maybe we’ll see something at the PS3 festival coming up on October 22 – 30 in Tokyo.

Next generation physics. Next generation graphics. Next generation storage and connectivity. The PS3 will be quite a machine. What will this mean when you boot up the next Champions of Norrath? Or the next Gauntlet? How will all this now power give you a better RPG experience? I’m thinking of Gauntlet-type RPGs. That’s games like X-Men Legends, Champions of Norrath, etc.

Last time I looked at racing games, and mentioned graphics, physics, and sound. I think that’ll be a common theme among the next generation games. (Duh!) In general, the graphics will take a big step up with things like better reflections, better shadows, lighting effects, water, etc. But I think it’ll really be the physics that’ll be the WOW factor with next-generation games. Witness Fatal Inertia. Sure, it’s not an RPG, but lots of the stuff you see there could be applied to an RPG as well.

Rock avalanches, bridges collapsing, trees and grass swaying in the wind. Forest fires, spectacular spells, and dragons with great flaming breath. Imagine hacking at a foe and having their weapons and armour fly off, bounce off the wall, land in a fire and start to burn. Kick the fire and a shower of sparks blinds the enemy. His leg catches fire, and he goes down in a flury of flames. Or shoot the bridge to bring it down on a boss’s head. Better zooming and rotating. Characters that slip on a rocky slope, and you have to recover.

The sound will be in DD 5.1, so you’ll get the whole surround-sound effect. While this will be great when campaigning by yourself or online, I’m unsure of its usefullness when playing with other friends.

And of course, all this in full four-player glory. Or online! Your choice. Wait a sec… seven players! Hey, maybe a couple of the players could choose to play the bad guys in each encounter, making it tougher for the main adventurers. This would allow easy pick-up play by friends that come over on a less-than-regular basis. Coooool…

I know I’m missing lots of things here, help me out.