PlayStation

During the year of 2010, I thought about the following topic a considerable amount: the value of aesthetics in interactive entertainment. This was partly a result of there being a less than abundant supply of games that I found engaging this year.

I firstly want to make clear that – obviously – there were games that I greatly enjoyed in 2010. To give a few examples – God of War III, GoW: Ghost of Sparta, Heavy Rain and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. These games consumed a lot of my free time. Yet, the time I spent with the aforementioned titles pales in comparison to the time I invested in older games released in the 90s and the first half of this decade.

In order to analyse this concept faithfully, I’ll need to touch on other issues that influence the situation.

The currently slug-like state of my internet connection accentuated this thinking. I was cut off from the pulsating flow of community consciousness. It brought to the forefront of my mind the huge similarities in fundamental gameplay when comparing what we buy today and what we bought ten or fifteen years ago. This idea is not new, and many people are acutely aware of it.

So, if what I’m saying has any weight to it — if we’re essentially buying the same games over and over again – what makes us do it? Among other smaller, varying factors, it seems that marketing / hype, narrative, and graphical fidelity are the main culprits.

If price wasn’t a factor, what would Sony have done with the PlayStation Move? If these patents are clues, it seems like a lot more. The PlayStation Move that we know of now comes in two parts: the Move Controller and the Navigation Stick. The Move side of things is meant to, well, help you move, via the sphere tip at the end of the device. By having your position tracked in 3D, Sony has been able to deliver pin point accuracy, something not seen on other motion controlling devices out there. But Sony also knew that many games simply couldn’t rely on just motion tracking, hence the mess the Kinect is with games that are slightly more complicated and the reason the PlayStation Move can work with games like Socom 4 and Killzone 3. The Navigation stick that the user can hold in their other hand gives the user not only more buttons, in order to control additional game functionalities and not rely on gimmicky hand gestures, but also gives users an analog stick as well. This can be extremely helpful in games like Killzone or Resident Evil 5 where the user needs to move their character around with accuracy that they are used to from the Dualshock 3. But if we look back at earlier Move patents, it seemed like Sony had something different in mind.

The original Move indeed seems to be a combination of the Move and Navigation controller married into one device. There’s a trackball on the bottom of the thing, giving it some mouse-like control, and an analog stick on the actual Move controller as well. This marriage of controllers might have lead to an even greater depth of immersion for the user but the stumble blocks are clear as well. Had Sony put everything they wanted in the Move, they might have had another PlayStation 3 situation on their hands in which they offered the most cutting edge technology but at a higher price than the market was ready for, thus leading to slow initial sales. The fact that Microsoft was also set to release the Kinect in the following month was probably the final nail in the coffin of this idea, leading the way to two separate units which brings not only the price down for Sony to make and sell, but also gives consumers a much lower entry fee. This is actually very apparent with the PlayStation Move being priced at $49 while the Kinect sits at $149. Another angle at all of this is probably ease of use. Currently, anybody can pickup a Move controller and, within a minute, understand the basic concept of it. Had the original version gone into production with more buttons and tracking balls, this might have created a hurdle for those who are looking for a simpler experience. But alas, the tech guru in me always wishes for more and the original Move seems like one hell of a device.

[Via Patents Office]

Think Sony’s PlayStation Home is a barren wasteland? Time to think again. Sony has released a new chart, showing the growth of the PlayStation Home community and offerings on the eve of its second anniversary. Launched back in 2008, PlayStation Home has been a social networking frontier of sorts, tied directly into the PlayStation 3 and many of its games. Offering users the capability to create virtual characters and homes, players can chat with each other, listen to music via a dance floor, and view trailers and shows like Sony’s own The Tester. PlayStation Home also offers gamers both private and social lounges, based around particular games where the entire “space” is designed and centered around that game. Here users can hang out, talk strategy and discuss their favorite games, and even jump into it together. More on that in a second. Many times, these dedicated game spaces also host related mini games, as well as virtual items and other goodies that the player can collect and use in PlayStation Home. Another feature that is sure to attract gamers is game launching. This allows you to create a group in Home and have users join that group and launch into a particular game together. It’s perfect for when the need arises to organize a group and head into a Socom or Warhawk match. Home not also supports game launching, but also now boasts 236 unique games, all which are free. This can range from mini games for Resistance 2 where users shoot down an oncoming alien fleet to a fully robust MMO experience like Sodium, all which again are free, no matter if you own the original game like Resistance 2 or not. So if you haven’t checked out Home in a while, it’s time for a second look. Also, hit the jump for a much more detailed look at some of the new games, coming to PlayStation Home next year.

[Via PlayStation Blog]

Sony has finally gone on record about the 3rd installment of their award winning series UNCHARTED – named UNCHARTED3: Drake’s Deception. Uncharted 3 again will follow the story of Nathan Drake and his adventures, this time set in the deserts of the world.

 UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception features the return of famed fortune hunter Nathan Drake and follows him through a gripping, action-packed storyline that will take you all over the world. In his search for the fabled “Atlantis of the Sands,” Nathan Drake and longtime friend and mentor Victor Sullivan set off on a daring trek into the heart of the Arabian Desert. But when terrible secrets of this lost city are uncovered, their journey becomes a desperate bid for survival that will force Drake to confront his deepest fears. 

UNCHARTED has been one of the key franchises for PlayStation 3 that has shown what the real power of the system can achieve. Providing an unparalleled story telling, with breathtaking visuals and game physics, UNCHARTED as a franchise has gone to sell nearly 8 million games and has won countless awards, including the covenant, Game of the Year. With UNCHARTED 3, you can again expect the same single player, cinematic experience but the creators want to further develop the mechanics and gameplay of competitive and co-op multiplayer that is hopefully set to tie in with the single player experience. UNCHARTED 3 will also support full 3D gameplay, though no Move functionality has yet to be announced. Check back here for  more details as we get them and hit the jump for some more pictures and first trailer.

From the time the native Netflix App launched for the PlayStation 3, there have been numerous account of two to three different types of interfaces appearing for users. When a PS3 owners would scroll to the movie section of the XMB (Cross Media Bar) on their PlayStation 3 console and launch the Netflix App, they could never actually be sure what version of Netflix would appear. Some speculated that old versions were still in the Sony servers and this was caused by them while others thought this might be a glitch from Netflix. Now, we have the answers, straight from Netflix and it’s neither of those scenarios.

The Nielsen Company is out with a new list of likely purchases, which pits companies like Apple, Sony and Microsoft against each other for your money.  The two part survey first wanted to look at the purchasing habit of kids 6-12 (so really, what they want sense no 6 year old can afford a PS3 or iPad on their own) and found that 21% of them want a PlayStation 3 versus 18% who want a Nintendo Wii and only 14% who want a Xbox 360.

Next, the survey posed the same question to teenagers, ages 13 and above. Again, the PlayStation landed ahead of the Xbox 360 with 13% wanting one in the next 6 month, versus 8%. Oddly enough, in this category, the Nintendo Wii came on top at 15% which caters greatly to kids.

[Via Nielson]

Just a quick little reminder, PS3 Firmware 3.55 is now live and will be needed if you are looking to jump online with your PS3. The firmware is being dubbed as “minor update that adds a security patch.” Probably has to do with more recent PS3 Jailbreaking efforts if I had to take a guess at it. PlayStation Plus members will note that their system should have already downloaded and installed the update for them.

[Via PlayStation Blog]

Looking to expand on the ever popular iPhone game, Rovio’s CEO Peter Vesterbacka is looking to expand into gaming consoles, including the PlayStation 3. Though the game won’t be played with touchscreen controls like the iPhone (PlayStation Move maybe?) the CEO did say that this will indeed be much more then just a port over, instead “the pigs will be a lot more active than just being slingshotted at by birds.” Look for the game to be distributed via the PlayStation Network (PSN) some time in 2011.

[Via BBC]