Co-optimus is reporting that “the 360 and PS3 version [of CoD5] will also feature a 2-player offline splitscreen mode. If that wasn’t cool enough in it’s own right, we’ve learned that the co-op mode will feature the same addictive Perks System that made Call of Duty 4 so popular.”

Now that is cool news. My friend Steve and I play a lot of co-op games and just finished Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (anyone want to trade for Army of Two?). So I’m really looking forward to playing through the campaign with perks with a friend. Great stuff.

Not only that, but PS3Fanboy is reporting that the game will have 4 player local co-op! I don’t know where they get that information from, though, because the press release (available at Co-optimus, linked below) mentions nothing about that. So I don’t think that this particular rumour is true.

Anyway. Good times are a comin’!

Call of Duty World at War Co-Op Details Emerge

Just a heads up for North American PS3 owners:

The PLAYSTATION®Network will be taken offline during the following times for a scheduled maintenance:

Starting on June 24, 2008, at 8:00 a.m., Pacific Time
Ending on June 24, 2008, at 2:00 p.m., Pacific Time

During this time, access to the PLAYSTATION Network will be restricted, including:

* No access to the PLAYSTATION®Store
* No access to play online games on the PLAYSTATION Network

We can only guess as to why this is happening…

Cheers Gavin.

NA PSN Going Offline for 6hrs Tomorrow

I’m a huge PS3 fan, and (IMO) it’s easily the best system. However, here are some things that I think Microsoft does better that I would like to see Sony imitate. This is intended to be lighthearted, so please make comments accordingly.

1. Timely Western Releases of Japanese Games.

There are great Japanese PS3 exclusives like Yakuza 3 that take forever to get released in the west. Yakuza 2 is taking at least two years. WTF! The game is done: the code, art, plot, game mechanics, everything is built, written, finished, and tested. Does it really take years and years to add some sub-titles? Of course, not. There’s absolutely no good reason for such a long holdup. Westerners love Japanese games. Even the smaller niche titles are important to the influential taste makers in the west. Microsoft knows that and has nipped this issue. There are no three year localization periods for Japanese developed 360 titles. Sony needs to do the same thing: Get on the phone, schedule some meetings, knock on some doors… make it happen.

2. Shift PS2 Developers to PS3.

Microsoft was smart. When the Xbox 360 was coming out, they moved all Xbox developers over to the new system very early. Obviously, PS2 is a little different in that it’s more profitable and still very popular among a certain demographic. Clearly, games like Madden and Guitar Hero sell very well on PS2, and some poorly reviewed budget priced license heavy titles such as Iron Man even sell better on PS2 than on newer systems. However, why are we still seeing new titles like Persona 3 FES, coming to the PS2, even in 2008? That kind of highly-detailed niche RPG title appeals to the enthusiast crowd in the west and that’s the exact type of crowd that has lost interest in the PS2 platform. If they just did a quick and dirty recompile and put the same game in a PS3 box it would have sold much better and it would have served as a brand halo as well.

3. Milk your back catalog.

Microsoft has developed quality remakes of every back catalog title that has a shred of credibility. Look at games like Marathon. Fans love this stuff, and it’s way safer and cheaper than doing original game development. Why can’t Sony give it’s fans the same thing? Sony has a much larger back catalog to draw from and plenty of untapped PS1/PS2 gems. People would kill for downloadable emulated versions of older favorites, and enhanced remakes would be even better. This is low hanging fruit. Take the fruit, Sony. I don’t want to hear about legal complications and IP restrictions: Maybe your legal team can scale back on some of those three hour lunch breaks and get the paperwork done to make this a reality.

Here are the picks for this week. Anything for you?

* 10,000 B.C.
* House of Fury
* Persepolis
* Rossini: La Cenerentola
* Step Into Liquid
* Tchaikovsky: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3
* The Spiderwick Chronicles
* ZZ Top: Live from Texas

Blu-ray.com

Yakuza 2 Coming to the West with english subtitles Way nicer than a dubbed voice over.

Sega, how about Yakuza 3? Does it really take two or three years to localize for the west?

I loved previous MGS titles, but this game completely exceeded my expectations. There are a few things that really set this title above the glut of other action games on the market:

Pros

• Original, Inventive Gameplay: MGS is probably the most original and inventive in terms of action game mechanics. Most action games, even my favorites, tend to take a very standard and well established genre and add a few cool, unique touches and polish and clever implementation details on top of that. MGS has so much unique play elements and content in it, that it really goes beyond a simple genre and stands in a league of its own. One good example of MGS originality: the boss battles. If you’ve played any of the MGS games, you will know what I mean.



• Balance between depth and ease of play: A lot of developers are dumbing down their games to cater to a wide audience. We see a lot of titles that are nothing more than very basic run-and-gun gameplay; they are easy to get into but ultimately superficial, derivative, and not very interesting. At the other extreme, there are games that are so complex and require prolonged effort to learn and appreciate. MGS4 definitely balances this well. There is plenty of depth and tons of highly detailed and very original gameplay systems to sink your teeth into, but players can dive right in and enjoy without reading a manual or playing tutorials or tutorial-like levels.
• Variety: The game structure changes quite a bit as the game progresses. Just as you start getting comfortable with one game mechanic, the game changes things up. Some games create a single set of gameplay mechanics, and then build N levels of story, art, and content on top of that. MGS4 is not like that at all. The downside to this is that I sometimes felt like I didn’t get enough time to play with certain game mechanics before I moved on to the next thing. I can always replay the game, but a little more length to some of the levels would have been nice.
• Gameplay Options + Customizability: You can clear most scenes through a blast-everything approach or a stealthy sneaking approach. But beyond that, there are tons of optional ways to customize your play experience. There is an a elaborate weapon customization system, with tons of optional guns, add-ons, and modifications. There is a close quarters combat system to master, lots of specialty stealth moves, a variety of special camoflague tricks, and you can learn how to exploit battlefield dynamics and ally with militia groups. And none of these systems are forced on you or are necessary to progress through the game. You can delve into the ones that interest you and play the game how you like.



• Story: This isn’t Academy award material, but this is top notch comic book style fiction. The villains are reminiscent of Batman, with goofy themes, special powers, and exagerated personality quirks. There is some really well thought out pop-science and dystopian alternative history. The mythology to the series is also very deep and well thought out. Players can appreciate it without any previous knowledge of the series, but it’s more rewarding as you get into it. I’ll be honest, some of the dialog in MGS games has been atrocious, it can occassionally be long-winded, and I’m not enough of a fan to read the Metal Gear graphic novels or anything like that, but for the most part it’s like a really cool comic movie. It’s even better (IMO) than Hollywood comic movies and provides the perfect backdrop and context for the game experience.
• Cut Scenes: Metal Gear has become infamous for having long and frequent cut scenes. Reading about 45-minute cut scenes sounds very daunting at first, but ultimately, the cut scenes are a key part of what makes the game great. I tend to hate cut scenes, because most games have terrible stories, and the cut scenes get annoying after a few seconds. It’s not simply that MGS has a great story, even though it does. The blend and pacing between action sequences and story cut scenes just works. There are tons of storyless action games out there, and many players will prefer them, but for fans, the story and atmosphere are a key part of the MGS experience, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. You can also pause/skip the cut scenes, and many of the cut scenes feature limited interactivity, such as switching cameras, and controlling a mini-robot while the dialog proceeds in the background.

Cons

• It’s easy to miss everything: For a game with so many options and gameplay systems and subtleties, it’s really easy to beat the levels really quickly and only see a small portion of what’s in the game.
• It’s not for everyone: For most players who appreciate the occasional comic or graphic novel, this game is a fan’s dream. Some other people don’t have the time or patience for that type of fiction or have simply outgrown their appreciation for such fantasy; these people probably won’t have the patience to appreciate this game.
• Out of Style: I’m so sorry, Snake. But, the mullet? Cigarette chain smoking? The bandana? And what is that, a glute suit? Please don’t try to rationalize it; it looks ridiculous. The designers may have fooled themselves into thinking this stuff was the peak of comic hero fashion in some previous decade, and they were wrong. But today it just looks crazy.



• Online ID System: This is a nitpick that doesn’t affect the core game, and it’s been harped on plenty already, but it’s still worth mentioning: Their online dual-ID system is excessively obtuse and completely unnecessary. Why not hook into the user’s PSN ID like every other game?

Sometimes I wish PS3Blog.net had some clout. Then we could do interviews like this one with Media Molecule, the makers of the upcoming LittleBigPlanet! Not a whole lot was revealed that was new, but there was this interesting little nugget:

Q: Can we expect more quirky music (featured in the trailers) in the game?
A: Absolutely. We’ve got some real gems in there. I won’t name them now and spoil the surprise. But we’ve got … well, I forget the number. We’ve got several really cool tunes in there from bands that aren’t necessarily very well known. In addition to that, we’ve got a whole set of interactive pieces of music. So, things like the Go Team track are effectively licensed track that you can place into a level if you like and they just play. But we’ve got some other pieces of music where you can actually tinker with a virtual mixer, so you can alter what they sound like. You can alter the drums, or the bass, or change the vocal parts. You can sequence that and have different mixers throughout the game. Hours of fun just messing with that. I’m not going to say more about that … but that’s very cool. There’s some exciting things related to that in store. It’s something that’s never been done before, I don’t think.

I think that this is going to be the game that really puts the PS3 on the map. Seriously! Shooters are a dime a dozen these days, but LittleBigPlanet is something new, interesting, and creative. Not only that, but it’s cute enough to appeal to the youngsters but not cloying like Nintendo’s cute. So grown-ups can like it too. So this game will appeal to everyone.

LittleBigPlanet dev chats about story mode, adult content, and Sackboy plushies

This is actually available on the Japanese PlayStation Store now. You can change the language to your choice too. I didn’t have time this morning to download it. I can’t wait to try this out tonight! I still haven’t beat MGS4, still on Act 2.

The MGS4 Database is a free, downloadable interactive application that contains the official knowledge base of everything that is Metal Gear, reaching all the way back to the very beginning of the franchise. Including complete storylines, character profiles, relationship diagrams, and much more! The MGS4 database is a great way to catch up for someone new to Metal Gear, as well as a useful resource for any veteran of the series, with complete official details on every aspect of the intricate Metal gear lore.

The MGS4 Database also contains a special feature – if you want to make use of the database, but have not yet fully played through MGS4 yet and are worried about spoilers – all MGS4 spoilers are “blacked out” until you’ve beaten MGS4.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Database on the way!

Last month, there was a dispute about whether PS3 had overtaken the Xbox 360 in cumulative sales. Sony Europe exec David Reeves claimed that it had, while Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg said that this was definitely false and subsequently accused Sony of “snowing” the press. Microsoft exec Shane Kim also said that Sony’s claim was questionable.

Recently, vgchartz, a small game industry stat tracker says, that according to their data, the PS3 has been consistently outselling the 360 by 2-to-1 and has just recently overtaken the 360 in cumulative sales.

Xbox 360 has sold an average of 41,023 units per week in Europe since launching in 2005. PS3 has caught the Xbox 360 in Europe by selling an average of 83,860 units over 65 weeks of sales in Europe, a pace roughly double Xbox 360 sales but still off the pace of Wii and PS2.

Sony may be using slightly different measuring criteria, or may have prematurely jumped the gun by a few weeks, but this sounds pretty convincing.

I’m about to make all you folks out there who tire of my splitscreen discussions even more sick of me!

With all the talk and footage about Resistance 2 recently, a friend of mine remarked that he hopes that it has a splitscreen mode so that he and I could play through it together, much like we did with the original Resistance.

If I remember correctly, I think that Resistance 2 does indeed have a 2 player splitscreen co-op mode. So we should be fine there. But this brings up other questions.

My main question is this: what kind of 4 player splitscreen modes will Resistance support?

I assume it’ll support the old fashioned 4 players against one another in deathmatch or whatever modes. If anyone can confirm this, that would be great.

But remember Warhawk? That game where you can go online with 3 of your buddies, playing splitscreen? This is quite common in the Xbox 360 world, but it isn’t very common in ours. Will Resistance 2 support going online together as a group, much like Warhawk did? And will it be only for multiplayer matches like Warhawk, or will you be able to play the 8 player co-op campaign with others? For that matter, what about not even going online to play the 8 player co-op campaign? You could play it with 4 players.

So here are all the options in a list. If anyone can confirm or deny any of them, I’d love to hear from you:

1. Local 2 player splitscreen co-op.
2. Local 4 player splitscreen multiplayer (deathmatch, team deathmatch, ctf, etc).
3. Online 4 player splitscreen multiplayer (like Warhawk).
4. Local 4 player splitscreen co-op (doing the 8 player co-op campaign, but locally).
5. Online 4 player splitscreen co-op (four players at one location, playing with up to four from the internet).

Whew!

If you can’t view the video go here

This looks like a interesting idea, not sure if this is real or not though. We’ll probably find out at E3 soon enough. I think it would be fun if it’s applied correctly. But I don’t want every game to turn into a Wii game either.

[Update]

Seems the video is 2 years old. But we do know that Sony is working on a motion controller of some sort.

PS3 Wii Break-Apart Controller is Two Years Old

Firmware (v2.36) coming soon, (v2.40) to include trophies, in-game XMB What does it do? Well not much - “improving system stability when playing select PlayStation format software titles”. But at least we have official word that FW 2.40 will have in-game XMB and trophies. Hopefully we get 2.4 “soon”.

Nearly 500,000 for Metal Gear Solid 4 in Japan Not only that, but MGS4 causes the sales of PS3 systems to increase seven-fold.