Just arrived at the top of The Roosevelt Hotel where Sony has kicked off their Gamer's Day. This time around the company has decided to cut to the chase and just let us dive in to the rooms full of games they have present for hands-on.

So far I've seen consoles set up for Buzz! PS3, Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet, MotorStorm 2: Pacific Rift, Resistance 2 and SOCOM: Confrontation. PSN titles on hand are Linger-In Shadows, PixelJunk Eden and Siren: Blood Curse and Playstation Portable titles playable are BUZZ! PSP, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee and Secret Agent Clank.

Stay tuned for hands-on impressions of all of these games from myself and McWhertor throughout the day.

Source:Kotaku.com

http://next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_c...20&Itemid=2

Shuhei Yoshida will become the president of SCE WWS beginning May 16, marking what may be the beginning of a new era for PlayStation's software division.

Yoshida is currently SVP of U.S. Studios at SCE WW. When he assumes his new position, he'll be filling shoes left by the highly visible Harrison, who departed Sony in February this year, and took a job with French game publisher Infogrames.

Yoshida has been with SCEI since 1993, and was an initial member of the PlayStation business, according to a Sony statement. In 1996, he became producer of the product development department, and in 2000, joined SCEA as VP of product development.

He landed his most recent SVP position in February 2007.

A statement from SCE group CEO Kaz Hirai read: "SCE WWS has been developing global hit titles, sharing resources and know-how within SCE Group since its foundation, and we will reinforce our software business by further enhancing coordination among the studios under a new leader.

"Under the leadership of Yoshida, who has proven track record in managing creative talent, SCE WWS will accelerate the software development for the PlayStation 3 and PSP platforms and vigorously expand the gaming market."

User-created movie sharing debuted in Mainichi Issho

Sony Computer Entertainment has added support for the YouTube API to the PS3 SDK.

According to Japanese website ITmedia, the experiment is being supported globally and is designed to let developers easily integrate YouTube uploading into games made for the system, helping developers onto Sony's user-generated content bandwagon.

The functionality, which is being debuted in the free Mainichi Issho daily news and entertainment service, will allow uploads of user-created movies to YouTube directly within the game - making the PS3 the first games console to have official support for YouTube, according to Sony.

http://www.developmag.com/news/29815/Sony-...-support-to-SDK

PS3’s Image Biases: Good or Bad?
May 14th, 2008
by Sean "Rothbart" Workman

From: http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/index.php/200...-ownership.html
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I’ve noticed this trend for quite a while and have been trying to come up with a good way to discuss it. After letting the idea mull around in the back of my mind for a while, I think I’ve seen it played out enough to easily cut to the chase. The image and reception of the Playstation 3 is very much affected by whether the person looking at it already owns an Xbox 360 or not. Let’s take a closer look at how the PS3 is viewed differently by 360 owners and non-owners.

For those of you with ADD, I’ve broken it down into categories, complete with Bold lettering!

People That Don’t Own An Xbox 360

People looking into the PS3 that don’t already own a Xbox 360 haven’t been exposed to the current generation’s improved audio and graphic fidelity, or improved network capabilities. The current gen consoles have a library of dozens and dozens of good games. As someone looking at getting a PS3 that doesn’t already have a 360, the PS3 appears as a very viable choice. Fifty (and counting) good games, free online, Blu-ray movie playback, rumble controller, industry standard items such as (USB or Bluetooth keyboard/mouse/headset support, retail 2.5″ SATA drive support, uses regular power cables, uses regular HDMI cables or PS2 component cables, optical cable support without any sort of adapters, etc.), web browser, Linux support, etc. Depending on the model considered, you even get PS2 backwards compatibility and memory card readers built in. There are a lot of positive attributes to consider.

For clarification’s sake, what I’m calling a “good game” is a game with a cumulative metacritic score of 80 or higher (Metacritic makes the distinction at 75, which would add another 19 games to the list, but I personally have been treated well by considering 80 as the cutoff.) I realize everyone has different tastes, but as a rough metric, Metacritic is a decent enough starting point as anywhere else.

Most of those PS3 titles are multi-platform titles that are also available on the Xbox 360. If you ask Xbox 360 owners what they love the most about the platform, you’re likely to hear Xbox Live, Achievements, Gamerscore, or Xbox Live Marketplace. (possibly in that order.) The thing about all of those topics though is that they’re not that compelling until you’ve already been exposed to them. Telling someone that’s predominantly gamed on an Xbox, PS2, or GameCube that Xbox Live is “all that” might not be received as enthusiastically as someone that’s used Live on the 360 for a year or more.

Achievements and Gamerscore can sound even a bit funny when you’re describing them to people unfamiliar with them. If you describe how you’ll become addicted to Achievements and increasing your Gamerscore, some folks might even take that “addiction” aspect as a negative counterpoint to consider. Why would you intentionally _want_ to be addicted to something?

Without knowing more, the PS3 would appear pretty appetizing to a new console buyer.

People That Do Own A Xbox 360

For the folks that already own a Xbox 360. They already know the quality and features of Xbox Live. They already know about Achievements and Gamerscore. They also, largely only view the PS3 as something to use for games they can’t already get on their platform. The list of PS3 games on Metacritic with a score of 80 or higher is suddenly roughly 1/3 of what it was. So instead of (currently) 50 games, they’re looking at 16 retail games plus Blu-ray playback.

On the whole, most people would probably agree that the Xbox 360 controller is a more comfortable controller than the PS3’s controller, although the DualShock3 has done a lot for the PS3’s controller issues. We’ve yet to have a PS3 box/bundle released in the US yet that includes the DualShock3. That’s set to change with the release of the MSG4 bundle next month.

So to a happy 360 owner, it’s somewhat easy to see why they might not value the PS3 as much as someone that doesn’t own a 360 (or worse yet, someone that owns and is unhappy with the 360) does. While it’s a completely valid viewpoint to have, I think a lot of the “fanboy wars” or “flamewars” on the various gaming forums around the net stem from people’s inability to put themselves into other people’s shoes. As someone that falls into this category, I can totally understand how someone crazy about console FPS games and loves to play competitively online would value the 360 very highly. I can see that.

What This Means For The Future

If you look at the combined install base from the last generation of consoles, you’ve got: GameCube (21M worldwide), Xbox (24M worldwide), and PS2 (127M worldwide). Combined, that’s a very large number… 172 million people. Yes, clearly there is overlap between the consoles and there are folks that bought more than one PS2 to replace aging/broken units, but when you look at the Xbox 360’s 19M worldwide and the PS3’s 13M worldwide, there is a LOT of room for additional sales. Even throwing the Wii’s 24M in there doesn’t drastically change the numbers. There are a LOT of folks that bought systems last gen that haven’t bought systems this generation. Those are the folks that are more likely to see the PS3 in a much better light than the 19M 360 owners do.

A lot of folks see it as an inevitability for the PS3 to surpass the 360 in total sales and I think this will play a large factor in the PS3’s success. Perception sometimes can become reality. Strong exclusives will win over multi-console folks to pick up a PS3 in addition to their 360 and the continually growing library and feature list will make it compare better and better to the folks owning neither, but looking to buy into the current generation of consoles.

We’ve got one of the biggest exclusives of the year (for either platform) launching in 30 days to very little competition. We’ve got millions of people that haven’t bought into one (or both) of the current-gen consoles. We’ve got prices that can only go down and game libraries that can only increase in size. It’s a great time to be a gamer and that certainly applies to being a Playstation 3 gamer as well. The legitimacy of owning a PS3 for gaming purposes is no longer something that should be qualified by a question mark. It’s absolutely true that the draw to a PS3 is less if you already own a 360, but the draw is still there and I’d say for folks without a 360, you can pick up a PS3 and you’ll most likely always have something interesting to play.

Okay, let me have it guys. I want to hear what you think. If you decide to simply take the “Bah! He’s just a fanboy!” way out and not give any weight to what I say, I’d love to hear your arguments for why the PS3 doesn’t compare at least (if not more) favorably to the 360 for someone that doesn’t already own or isn’t very familiar with a 360. Be objective and realize things you value may not seem valuable to them. Bring it.
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2008 will be a landmark year, says Kim


At an event showcasing upcoming first-party releases, corporate VP of Microsoft Game Studios Shane Kim said that 2008 would be an even better year for the Xbox 360.

"What we're really trying to communicate is that this is going to be another landmark year for Xbox 360," Kim told GamesIndustry.biz and our sister site Eurogamer.net.

"Mainly because we are really focused on the strategy of tremendous exclusive content. Titles like Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Banjo, et cetera. as well as the continuing leadership we have in the online space with Xbox Live."

When asked to clarify whether the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3 was winning in Europe, Kim said that it was a "horse race no matter what."

"I understand that Sony has declared leadership already. We'll let the data speak for itself," he replied.

Noting that Europe has historically been a Sony stronghold, Kim said that any progress the company was making there is great progress. He pointed to the increase in console sales as a result of the recent price drop as well as data showing a larger amount of GTA IV sales for the Xbox 360 over the PS3.

As for the 360's showing in Japan, Kim was under no illusion that the race was close.

"Look, we've acknowledged for a long time that we probably wouldn't win in Japan and that it was going to continue to be a tough market for us.

"We took some different steps in this generation - our partnership with Sakaguchi-san produced two very well-received and critically reviewed titles in Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Unfortunately, it remains a difficult market for us."

Even so, he thinks that in the long run the company will see more success in Japan.

"I'm not going to go out and say our hope is to win in Japan because that's not realistic. Do I think we have room for progress and improvement? I absolutely do.

"So, no, the battle is not over."

GamingIndians Preview: Ninja Gaiden 2
By Bhabarnaba Das (OceansAndEarth)

Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Genre: 3rd person Hack & Slash Action
Platform: Xbox 360
Release: June 3, 2008

Diclaimer:
1. Read the preview and understand the context in which it is written before complaining.
2. We were told that what we played was an October/November 2007 build, so you can expect a few changes/improvements in the retail build.




I am not going to beat around the bush much and plunge right into the meat of the preview. For the newcomers, let me give you some good news. Ninja Gaiden 2 has two difficulty modes to start with - Easy and Medium, which in ninja speak translates to "Path Of The Acolyte" and "Path Of The Warrior" respectively. For the old timers, the "Path Of The Warrior" mode is more difficult than the Normal or Medium difficulty mode of Ninja Gaiden Sigma on the Playstation 3.

The first chapter is named "Sky City Tokyo" and it starts with a video (in-game) showing a conversation between Itagaki’s latest muse, Sonia, and the friendly-neighbourhood shopkeeper Muramasa. Sonia enquires about the whereabouts of Ryu to which Muramasa has no concrete answer. The scene quickly changes to reflect the entry of the Black Spider Clan, which very predictably turns into a hassle-free abduction of Sonia. Ryu turns up in dramatic fashion but is unable to stop the Black Spider Clan from making off with the girl. To add insult to injury (literally), the goons mock Ryu's abilities before leaving the scene. This is where the game (finally) begins.


Visuals

The first thing you notice about the game is the visuals and frankly, it did not hold up to my expectations. It is looking more like a polished and colourful version of Ninja Gaiden Sigma. In an ideal world, we would not compare anything to anything else, but this world (read video game industry) is far from ideal and two names immediately come to mind for my comparison - Ninja Gaiden Sigma and Devil May Cry 4.

In the build we previewed, you will not see much of the visual effects next-gen "demands" from a game. We don’t see the AA capability of the Xbox 360 come to the fore, which it’s quite capable of, and "the jaggies" are frequently seen. The smoothness of the visuals, motion-blur, quality lighting are all nearly absent. The quality of textures is also inconsistent. At times, you will see very high-resolution textures and at other times textures feel like a copy-paste job from Ninja Gaiden Black and Sigma. However, like in their previous outings, Team Ninja has done an excellent job at character animations. The animations of Ryu as well as those of the enemies, whether a regular ninja from the Black Spider Clan or a Ninja Dog, armed to the back-teeth, move and act in a very fluid manner.

As a final comment on the visuals, I would sum it up to be a more polished/sharper version of Ninja Gaiden Sigma, nothing more, nothing less.


Audio

The audio is pretty much the usual Ninja Gaiden fare, heavy metal riffs blended with Techno grooves is what you get nearly all the time. Nothing much to write about here.


Gameplay

Let me come to the most important aspect - gameplay. The moment you start moving Ryu around you realise that NG2 is fast, really fast; faster than Sigma even. This is action at 60 frames-per-second, no holds-barred. The buttons have been mapped almost like the previous games. Amongst the important functions are:

LT = Block
RT = Re-center Camera
X = Melee Attack
Y = Strong Melee Attack
A = Jump
B = Ranged Attack

This game on the "Path Of The Warrior" is tougher than the Normal/Medium difficulty modes of the previous games. This has probably got to do with the insane number of enemies on screen at any given time. In Sigma, you faced 3-4 enemies at a time, whereas in NG2, it can easily go up to 8-9 enemies at a time. There is an unbelievable amount of stuff happening on screen at any given time.

The attack evasion system has changed significantly in NG2. You no longer roll to evade. Instead, you have a short-dash (which reminds me Devil May Cry).

Ryu's health bar has also undergone a few changes. Firstly, the upper-limit of the health has increased in this game. Secondly, and more significantly, NG2 is using the "re-generative health system". Once you’ve taken damage, the health starts getting restored if you are not in action. However, there is a catch - if you get damaged beyond a point, a part of the health that you have lost will get marked in red. This red segment of your lost health cannot be re-generated and if you wish to gain back this health you will have to use a Health Potion. Veteran gamers, don't fret and complain, this is not taking away anything from "hardcore" aspect of the game.

Much like the previous games, you have magical abilities (read destructive abilities) called Ninpo. This time around, the Ninpo seems to be a little more useful and can be a part of your offensive strategies even against the bosses. The available number of Ninpo attacks is marked as flames underneath your health bar. The Ninpo can be manually directed using the analog sticks in any direction you wish.

The save points, like in the previous game, are marked as Dragon Statues. However, this time around, the save point will restore your entire health and Ninpo the first time you use it. In short, you cannot use it again and again to gain health and Ninpo. The downside is that there is only one save state. You over-write the same save state again and again, which makes it very difficult, actually impossible, for you to play the game from a previous save state. This can be huge problem in case you feel like playing a previous chapter in-case you are not satisfied with your current playthrough.

Ninja Gaiden 2 gets even more brutal with the introduction of the ability to take out an enemy limb by limb. Every time you hit your enemy, his limbs and bodily fluids (only blood, people) go flying in all directions. This brutality extends to full decapitation as well, and you will often see heads of fallen enemies rolling around on the ground and down a flight of stairs. The satisfaction of literally tearing your enemy apart cannot be penned down in paper (or word processing software).

However, the enemies with missing limbs behave in a befitting manner and try to take you down along with them in the form of suicide attacks. A dying enemy in NG2 can be a lot more fatal than the "alive and kicking" variety. Ryu also has the ability to perform what are known as Obliteration Techniques (OT) on dying enemies. Press Y on a dying enemy and Ryu will finish him off in the most stylish yet sadistically violent manner, which in more cases than one involves decapitation.

These moves are extremely satisfying to pull off and have the ability to impress even after the umpteenth use. Ryu retains his former techniques as well; the charged essence attack, also known as Ultimate Techniques (UT) of the previous game, has returned in a more user-friendly incarnation. It takes very little time to pull off a UT now and the player is forced to use UTs time and again to ward off the multiple enemies on-screen. Blood and gore, baby, blood and gore.

This preview would not be complete without a look at Ryu's weapons. Ryu retains most of his gear and has some stylish new additions. He has and will forever have the Dragon Sword with him. Apart, from the Dragon Sword, we could only get a glimpse at two other weapons - The Lunar Staff, which is basically a, er, staff, which can unleash some real fast and mean combos. Then there’s the Falcon's Talons, which is like a pair of metal claws (think Wolverine) on both hands and feet. Each weapon has its own style of OT, which makes it a lot of fun. One of the things I would like to clear-up is that weapon switching is still not real-time in NG2. Pressing the D-Pad now brings up both a Weapons and Items sub-menu which cancels the need to go to the Start Menu like in the previous games. Though weapon selection is a lot easier now, dynamic on-the-fly weapon switching like the Devil May Cry may have been an awesome addition.

The there’s the camera system, which by the way, still sucks. I feel that there has been absolutely zero development from Team Ninja regarding the camera system. It gets really frustrating at times when you are actually in the blind while fighting a dozen enemies and I personally feel that this is one of the biggest gameplay complaints against NG.

Though my preview actually finishes here, there is a lot more that needs to be said. Chapter 2 brought with it a host of glitches and bugs - mostly frame-rate drops and slow-downs. It becomes almost un-playable at times when the frame-rate goes from a silky smooth 60 fps to single digits. Then there were the flickering tables and floating blood.

However, I am confident that these bugs will not be present in the retail copy of the game. Aside from these bugs, there are occasional moments of screen-tearing and clipping, much of which does not affect gameplay significantly. Also, the build being an early one, we were unable to upgrade any of the weapons. We were also unable to record any of the stuff we did on screen via the Demo Recorder.


Conclusion

Despite all the flaws, what I was amazed at was the amount of activity on screen at any given time. Maintaining a consistent frame-rate of 60 fps is not an easy task by any means and in the case of NG2, I feel that it has come at the cost of visual grandeur one has come to associate with "now-gen" games. Yet, I shall expect good things from the final build because NG2 promises to deliver a lot and I don't think failure is one of them.


Discuss GamingIndians Preview: Ninja Gaiden 2 here

Why Achievements Are Awesome!
SmellyGeekBoy | February 21, 2008 | 8:08 pm

From: http://www.teamteabag.com/2008/02/21/why-a...ts-are-awesome/
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Aaah… Achievements. Something my good friend and fellow blogger OwningXylophone knows a lot about, as he recently got more of them than anyone else in a competition he was taking part in, and ended up winning an assload of stuff. Achievements can be good because they can win you prizes, you see.

But they have the Xbox 360 community divided. Some are classed as “achievement whores”, social outcasts who spend every waking moment grinding away on the most ridiculous of tasks, only to be rewarded with an achievement and a slight gamerscore increase for their trouble. Others shun this way of life, playing as many games as possible from beginning to end while their “completion percentage” whittles away to nothing.

I’m firmly in the middle, although I have to admit that just lately I’ve been swaying more towards the “whore” way of life. Here’s why.

You see, all modern games have a story of some sort. You progress through it, passing various milestones along the way, until you reach the end. It is at this point when, on other systems without the achievement scheme, you put the box back on the shelf and move on to the next game. But not on the 360, oh no. Not if you’re a big dirty whore.

There are so many “ancilliary” things to do in modern games that the vast majority of people miss out on all the fun that could be had because they’re too busy concentrating on the story. Whether it be driving at 88mph in a thunderstorm in a DeLorean (PGR4), completing a level in a stupidly short amount of time (Sonic The Hedgehog, Zuma), or even launching a garden gnome into space (The Orange Box), game developers are now using achievements to encourage gamers to notice all the silly little things that kept them sane throughtout their game’s development cycle.

So, why did I bother completing Half-Life 2: Episode 2 with garden gnome in hand? Why am I taking part in some of the more ridiculously long rallies in DiRT even though I finished the career long ago? And why, oh why did I set up a race with my aforementioned fellow blogger in PGR4 just to do synchronised endos on motorbikes? Because the people who made the games thought that these things would be fun for me to do. And if they want me to keep playing my games long after I traditionally would have given up, squeezing every last drop value out of them, then I’ll keep on achievement whoring until I can whore no more!
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