Archive for October, 2007

Anyone looking forward to this title? If you are familiar with this series let the rest of us know what we are missing (or not missing).

It’s nice to see some more exclusive PS3 RPGs. Up until now, the PS3 seems to have an anemic RPG selection. The PS3 has gotten some good action RPGs (Folklore), and the PS2 probably has the best 2007 RPG selection which are playable in BC mode (on most PS3s), and we’ve got an excellent version of Oblivion despite it being released later than other systems, but the selection of new RPG titles that are PS3 native is quite slim.

This looks like it is finally about to change, with PS3 exclusive RPGs like this and White Knight Story just a few months out, followed by others such as Final Fantasy, and even some non-exclusive but simultaneous releases of big name western RPGs like Fallout 3. Also, all those PS2 exclusive RPG titles should gradually start rolling over PS3 native releases. Things should start improving for PS3 RPG fans in the very near future.

There is a new video demonstration online of the upcoming PS3 exclusive title, “Nobi Nobi Boy”, by the creator of Katamari Damacy.

On the positive side, I’m really glad to see the creator move on to something new. The original Katamari title on the PS2 was a fun, quirky, budget title that showed definite talent, but the sequels were basically the exact same game. Let’s hope this new title delivers another original gameplay experience.

On the down side, this game doesn’t exactly look appealing. The graphics are very primitive and I can’t quite figure out what the heck is going on in the video.

Anyone have any interpretations?

Sony released their quarterly financial report for fiscal Q2 2007, which corresponds to calendar Q3 2007.

Here are the numbers for Sony’s game division. These numbers are listed in millions of U.S. dollars. Sony’s real financial data is in Japanese Yen.

Of the $841 million dollar loss, $462.68 million of that was due to inventory deterioration. This deterioration was primarily PS3 related and occurs for two reasons:

1. Inventory deteriorates when it is produced at a higher cost than the intended selling price. The book value of your inventory is less than your production expense. The difference is booked as a deterioration expense.
2. When you reduce the selling price of your product, you reduce the book value of your existing inventory. This reduction in book value is treated as a deterioration expense.

On the bright side, Sony’s other divisions turned profits, and overall Sony made a $787 million dollar profit during the quarter. Obviously, the PS3 is a long term investment and up front losses are expected. The PS1 and PS2 provided many profitable quarters. Let’s hope the PS3 proves to be a profitable investment over it’s lifespan and encourages future development of its kind.

Hardware Unit Sales

(in millions of units)

Software Unit Sales

This presumably does not count downloadable purchases. Not sure if this includes budget priced titles.
(in millions of units)

Warning: This isn’t a review and this isn’t trying to approximate public consensus. This is merely my personal opinion as a fan.

The R&C series reminds me of a Pixar movie, and not simply because of the graphics and the “look”. Pixar is known for making high quality movies that simultaneously satisfy both children and adults. Children need movies that are somewhat simple and easy to enjoy at an accessible level, while adults appreciate more clever writing and subtle complexities.

In the same way, R&C appeals to both novice gamers who want something that is rewarding to play without being too complicated or difficult, and to veteran gamers who enjoy innovative, extremely polished game play, with high production values, and bleeding edge technology.

If you are a veteran gamer who is turned off the family friendly look of the title, I would strongly recommend you give it a better look. Often, the cutting edge games are made by passionate developers who tend to prefer mature themes while the family friendly titles are made by market-savvy business types who don’t want to put the effort into making an innovative title. However, this title really does both.

My biggest worry with this title, was that it would be exactly like earlier titles in the series with upgraded graphics. Fortunately, that’s not the case at all. The general structure of the game is exactly the same, but there are many evolutions, improvements, tweaks, and changes that make this experience feel fresh. I’ve only played through the first few levels, but so far, it definitely delivers the gameplay improvements that I had hoped to see.

The graphics and technology in this title are amazing. The wow factor behind the graphics and animation are the best I’ve seen on the PS3. There is constantly a huge amount of activity occurring in the foreground and background and the frame rate is consistently high. The most impressive graphical feature is probably the animation. Everything in the game has a very complex and fluid set of animations. The PS2 R&C titles still look amazing, and while better graphics are assumed, the improvement is quite dramatic.

If you haven’t played this series, I’d summarize it as a light-hearted, innovative, funny, family-friendly, extremely well polished shooter with some platforming and exploration elements. If you’ve played previous titles in the series, you know if you like it or not, but compared to previous entries, the gameplay is better than ever, there are definite enhancements, the polish is very high, and the technical wow factor is strong.