Archive for April, 2007
Folding@Home Doing Well & New Client
Posted by Blackstaffer in Talk on April 25th, 2007
A press release about Folding@Home from Sony:
Tokyo, April 25, 2007 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) today announced that great progress has been made in the one month since PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment systems became part of Stanford University’s Folding@home™ program, a distributed computing project aimed at understanding protein folding, misfolding and related diseases. Since the program launched in March, participation by the PS3 user community has been phenomenal, providing Folding@home with immense computing power that is helping to fast forward its research. Furthermore, thanks to PS3’s powerful Cell Broadband Engine™ (Cell/B.E.), the Folding@home program has become one of the most powerful distributed computing networks in the world and is quickly approaching a level of computing power that is of historical proportions.
Exhibiting its continued commitment to the program, SCE also announced that starting tomorrow, it is providing a Folding@home application update that will further enhance the user experience. The updated software features an improvement in folding calculation speeds, increased visibility of user location (*1) on the globe and the ability for users to create longer donor or team names.
SCEA’s Dave Karraker Talks PSN & Killzone @ E3
A few people who write and contribute to this blog have been pretty vocal about the improvements they would like to see to the PS Store and XMB, and it seems the improvements we want to see are pretty much universal with most PS3 owners, myself included.
KILLZONE Unit had a Q&A with SCEA’s Dave Karraker and although not much was revealed other than the obligitary ‘coming soon’ comments, you might find some of his comments interesting, not least his comment regarding PS3 Killzone:
We got a really great reception to the Killzone video we showed at GDC this year. It was basically a tech demo that showed the particle lighting and other features, but I think it really showed where we are heading with Killzone. E3 will be the big coming out party, however.
A couple of months and Sony’s most hyped title will be on view for the world to see. At least the people at Sony are aware of the improvements we want to see with the PS Store and XMB, we just need to be a little patient until the improvements can be made. It is a free service after all.
Stolen from Dav at the GR Forums. 
New DMC4 Trial Gameplay Footage!!
Posted by Gary in D, PS3 software on April 24th, 2007
I can’t emphasise enough just how badly I want DMC4. My mouth was open in awe during the entirety of that video. How fantastic does that look! The classic DMC formula is all present. Superb action packed gameplay? Crazy demonic bosses? Typical arrogant and smart arsed comments? Oh yes! 
Could DMC4 surpass DMC1? That castle says maybe…
I love you Capcom. 
New GTA IV Info
Posted by Gary in G, PS3 software on April 24th, 2007
There’s some new info about the much anticipated GTA IV, from “Game Informer’s Andrew Reiner, the only journalist so far to have seen Grand Theft Auto IV in action”. He responded to some questions from GTA fansite GTANet.com.
You can fly in Liberty City by using a helicopter but as it’s just one city, it would be pretty pointless to make airplanes available as a mode of transport.
It seems you can climb up telephone poles to get a better view of your surroundings or maybe just because you feel like climbing up a telephone pole. Also, remember in previous GTA games where you tried to get into a car and it was locked so you just left it or blew it up? It seems you can now smash the window of a car to get into it:
From what I was shown, the only new element was breaking the window of the car to get in. The animation for this was awesome, and something I wish I had seen more than once. The car I saw was newer in make – which was evidenced in both the beautiful crimson sheen and suspension that handled pot holes and variances in the road with ease. Now, I only saw one car, but it really did have that new car look to it. It’ll be interesting to see how Rockstar handles the shocks and struts for other vehicles in the game.
If I had to give a comparison, I would say that the new camera angle positioning is more like Midnight Club now. It’s closer, allowing the player to see more of the minute detailing on the car, and also lower, allowing you to see more of the horizon and verticality of the city.
Finally, for people like me who rates great visuals just as highly as great gameplay, this next bit of news shouldn’t disappoint:
The visuals are tremendous and easily some of the best I have seen. What’s scary about this statement is that Rockstar North is still improving upon the visuals. There’s little question that it will be one of the best looking games come this holiday. As for the draw distance, I didn’t see one building, car, streetlamp, or pedestrian pop up. The framerate was also incredibly smooth and the lighting really couldn’t have been much better.
Classic GTA gameplay + no draw distance and pop up = gaming heaven! I have a feeling GTA IV is going to rock the gaming world when it’s released!!
Kane & Lynch Confirmed for PS3
Posted by Gary in K, PS3 software on April 24th, 2007
SCi has announced that both Kane & Lynch and Crossfire are going to be released on PS3, 360 and PC simultaneously. A PS3 version of Kane & Lynch was rumoured but not confirmed until now, so that’s some good news for PS3 owners and would be owners.
SCi also seems to think that the PS3 userbase will increase significantly during their 2008 financial year. Here is the press release:
SCi Entertainment Group Plc (‘SCi), one of the world’s leading publishers of computer and video games, has announced that it has taken the commercial decision to launch two new games from it’s leading franchises, simultaneously on a multi-platform basis – including previously unannounced PlayStation 3 (‘PS3’) versions which are currently in advanced stages of development.
Consequently, Kane & Lynch will be launched pre-Christmas 2007 on PS3, Xbox360 and PC and Crossfire (Conflict series) will be launched in early 2008 on PS3, Xbox360 and PC, rather than in thisfinancial year on just Xbox360 and PC.
The Group’s strategy is to release its new titles on next generation consoles once there is a significant installed base. Therefore, the Group has taken the commercial decision to release these products simultaneously on all three platforms during its 2008 financial year, rather than just on Xbox360 and PC in the 2007 financial year.
The simultaneous releases will enable the Group to achieve high profile launches of these important new franchises across multiple platforms and into a growing installed base of Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 owners. It will also enable the Group to maximise the impact of its marketing campaign over three platforms. Kane & Lynch will be sold into a strong retail market at Christmas 2007 and Crossfire launched early in 2008 when the installed base of hardware will have benefited from Christmas purchases.
This is a decision which the Board believes will enhance the overall strength and long term revenue potential of these important franchises.
Good stuff and yet more evidence that there will be very few 3rd party exclusive titles for either the PS3 or 360 this gen. Thanks Sporty!
Kane & Lynch and Crossfire Confirmed For PS3
Here is a nice video of what to look forward to in Kane & Lynch. Towards the end, he says it’s quite hard work to have a simultaneous release for 360 and PC. I wonder what he says now that a PS3 version has been added to the mix!
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