The Darkness comes into light

As the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, The Darkness is an important release for Swedish outfit Starbreeze Studios. Adapted from a Top Cow comic book with a brand-new storyline from writer Paul Jenkins, the game ambitiously mixes first-person shooting with superhuman abilities in the form of a young Mafioso. Jackie Estacado is a don in New York's Franchetti family mob, and on his 21st birthday, he's taken over by a mysterious force called "the darkness." This is where the game begins, and as Jackie, you must harness your increasing supernatural power while also struggling to control it.

'Risky' Take-Two could struggle to make profits, warns analyst

Grand Theft Auto IV may only enjoy modest sales when its launched later this year, due to competition from another highly anticipated gaming franchise, Halo 3. Analyst Michael Pachter sees a more loyal following for the Bungie sci-fi shooter than Rockstar's urban crime sim, while a small installed base of next-gen console owners and increased competition from the Nintendo Wii will also hamper sales. The analyst detailed a significant number of warnings over the future of publisher Take-Two, including concern about profitability, the performance of the rest of its gaming portfolio and the possible loss of key creative staff.

Harrison: 'We turned down the mud'

When the subject of the much debated movies is raised during an interview with GameTrailers, the vertiginous Harrison claims that if the original demo movie and genuine in-game footage is compared side-by-side it's apparent that Sony has "over delivered" explaining that: "You actually get a better experience in the game - more cars on screen, more physics, more dynamics than we ever did in the visualisation..." When the interviewer points out that there's a lot less mud in the finished product, Harrison replies, "You know what? We actually turned down the mud because it made the game impossible to play." So, less dirt flinging, more of everything else, but is it really more impressive than the intense, jaw-dropping trailer that first introduced us to MotorStorm nearly two years ago...?

Japan: Xbox 360 beats PS3 & PSP in Most Played Survey

A survey conducted by Famitsu's online division found that its readers played more on the Xbox 360 than they did either on the PSP or PS3. Infact the PS3 ranked so lowly, it failed to even make the top five. No prizes are on offer for guessing which consoles took the top spots... the Wii and DS of course.

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Rumor: Bioshock for PS3?

The other day, we reported that Mercenaries 2 might not be a Playstation 3 exclusive and could be heading to the Xbox 360. Today we are reporting an almost identical situation, with a different title and this time an exclusive is said to be moving to the PS3 instead of away from it. OPM UK have quite bluntly stated that the recently announced “Microsoft exclusive” will indeed be heading to the Playstation 3 in their March issue. Originally slated for Xbox 360, Vista and Playstation 3, Bioshock was shot down from the PS3 line up when Microsoft announced at CES that it would be a Microsoft exclusive.

Crysis coming to the PS3?

After telling the world that next generation consoles were too weak to handle Crysis, it seems Crytek might be releasing one of its most anticipated games not only for the PC but also for the PS3. In an article posted by Games Radar titled, Crysis PS3 first look, a brief description of Crysis and its components is given—"You are tasked with saving the world from aggressive extra-terrestrials, who've ploughed a pretty big asteroid into a Pacific island's countryside." Then, in an effort to confirm our speculations, Game Radar goes on to say, "You’ll be astounded by the game - it's jaw-dropping." Although Crytek mentioned more than once that the current consoles would not be able to handle Crysis, it does not make sense of the fact that at one point, they were looking for ps3 programmers. On their website, Crytek states the responsibilities of the said job. • Development of a Next-Generation Game Framework based on CryEngine 2.0. • Work on various aspects of porting to PS3 and creating solutions to get the utmost out of the PS3 If the rumor of Crysis on the PS3 is in fact confirmed and the PS3 is able to run this game near perfection, the demarcation between the strength of the PC and next generation consoles will weaken and the limitations of consoles might for a time, be forgotten.

Over at FreeRepublic.com, one of the recent discussions is centered on helping a poster figure out which of the three major consoles in the market he

Over at FreeRepublic.com, one of the recent discussions is centered on helping a poster figure out which of the three major consoles in the market he should purchase. It's actually all quite mundane enough, that is, until Electronic Arts game dev Andrew Garett voices out what he really thinks would be a good and a not-so-good choice. Andrew Garett - "Last year, the prediction was that Sony would win the next-gen war, that the PS3 would be the dominant console, just like the PS2 was. That is no longer the case. The extremely strong performance of the Wii, combined with the miserable performance of Sony has revised pretty much everyone's expectations. Right now, most of us here think the 360 will be on top for this generation, with the battle for second place between Sony and Nintendo (and that's a major shock, as we'd nearly written Nintendo off for the non-handheld market.) Most of us still think Sony will beat off Nintendo, simply due to the older graphics on the Wii, but it's not a sure thing. My opinion - get the 360 and/or the Wii. Skip the PS3 unless there's a big change in the near future."

Rumour: GTA IV Box leaked

A photo of the GTA IV-box appeared on the Internet... it seems kinda realistisch. There's a helicopter in the high left corner, a female in the middle etc, which all also appeared on previously boxarts of GTA.

Oblivion PS3 Downgraded. Xbox 360 upgraded? Wii errr... Never.

An article over at Joystiq.com suggest so -- "When we learned that the PS3 version of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion would not feature the majority of downloadable content found on the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game, it was a blow to fans of horse armor everywhere. This weeks episode of The 1UP Show (02/02) provides the follow-up hook as Managing Editor Garnett Lee relays a juicy bit of info from Bethesda. As it turns out, it's due to a memory limitation with the Playstation 3 itself." Read the full article for more details on the PS3, Xbox 360 and rumored Wii versions.

Background downloading confirmed in PS3 XMB FW 1.6

Here's cofirmation from Phil Harrison (during a gameinformer interview) of PS3 background downloading, which will be introduced post Firmware 1.6 Quote: GI: Well, it was very important, especially for me. There was all of this talk about the big update when the console hits Europe in March. You mentioned today, background downloads. Will that be part of it, and what are some of the other things that you have planned for that? Harrison: The only thing I can talk about is that background downloading will be part of the 1.6 upgrade. There’s a bunch of other stuff, but Kawanishi-san would kill me if I was to reveal all of the details. Hit the link for more info

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Reggie: PS3 is too expensive without good Games, Wii Online Titles coming

In a recent interview, Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime stated that he believes the PS3 is stacking up because it is too expensive and doesn't have a selection of good games. When questioned about the Wii acting as a 'party console', Reggie replied by saying just look at the DS. It was also stated that online titles will be coming soon for the Wii and that Ninty is about to move onto their next huge stage in growth!

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Reggie: PS3 is too expensive without good Games, Wii Online Titles coming

In a recent interview, Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime stated that he believes the PS3 is stacking up because it is too expensive and doesn't have a selection of good games. When questioned about the Wii acting as a 'party console', Reggie replied by saying just look at the DS. It was also stated that online titles will be coming soon for the Wii and that Ninty is about to move onto their next huge stage in growth!

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First Transformers Details Revealed

It's been exactly a year since Activision last said anything about its game based on Michael Bay's upcoming robot movie, Transformers -- and even then, explicit information about the title was closely guarded (specific consoles hadn't been named; the developers weren't identified, etc). But after 52 weeks of nothing, IGN's contacts at Activision have finally come clean and given a couple of details. Officially known as Transformers: The Game, the Traveller's Tales-developed actioner is scheduled for just about every platform out there (PC, PS2, PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360) and will come out this summer with nearly identical content. Its storyline will follow the movie closely, giving players control over both the Autobots and the Decepticons as they choose to either protect the earth or pimp slap it...

Lair Roughly 90% Done, Shipping in Spring

Game Informer spoke with the company's co-founder and president Julian Eggebrecht at this week's D.I.C.E. summit, who revealed Lair is in the last stages of development: tweaking and optimization. "Basically, by all definitions, pretty much everything is there. Now it's optimization and really getting the difficulty curve right and really getting everything tweaked right. All of the systems are there. All of the unlocking-everything is there. Would I want to give it to you? No, because it needs to be tweaked right...."

Japan Virtua Fighter 5 Selling Slow

Early reports are that Virtua Fighter 5 isn't exactly flying off store shelves. AsoBitCity in Akihabara had a hands-on for customers that was so slow, a Sega employee apparently killed time by playing the title alone. And why should it be a hit? Sure, VF hasn't really matter to most Western gamers since, oh, 1997, but the game has a huge following in Japan.

PS3 Dev: "It’s great hardware-it really is!"

Factor 5's co-founder and president Julian Eggebrecht talks PS3 development and about upcoming title Lair. He also points out why Factor 5 went with Sony over Wii and Xbox 360 and will probably remain that way.

DICE: Harrison Addresses PS3 Critics

Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal interviewed Phil Harrison during the D.I.C.E. Summit yesterday to talk all things PS3. Click through for Next Generation's write-up.

Blow Sh%$ For Reals With Warhawk

An interesting invitation was sent out to game blogs and websites from Sony Computer Entertainment America and Incognito Entertainment today: "Primary Mission Objective: Complete Warhawk aircraft, vehicle, and infantry training with distinction, and receive instruction from top creative talent at critically acclaimed developer Incognito Entertainment (creators of the Twisted Metal franchise - on-camera interview opportunities to be available on site). Secondary Mission Objective: Blow $#!% up."

D.I.C.E. 07: Phil Harrison speaks

President of Sony Worldwide Studios fields questions in Sin City; says European PS3s are already in transit; LocoRoco 2 and PS3 rubber-duck game revealed. With the PlayStation 3 supply now steady in North America and Japan and the console's European launch around the corner, people are pondering Sony's next move. Many speculated the electronics giant might tip its hand at the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas. The annual event takes place each February at the sprawling Green Valley Ranch complex, and draws a select group of elite game-industry glitterati together for an extended weekend of schmoozing and boozing. Today, Sony Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison sat in front of a high-powered crowd for an "informal" question and answer session with Newsweek games correspondent N'Gai Croal. GameSpot is on the scene with live updates of what the affable executive has to say.

Sony Pictures making Metal Gear movie

Executive confirms Sony Pictures is working on the live-action adaptation of the seminal stealth-action series. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo last year, Konami revealed that work had begun on a live-action movie based on Metal Gear Solid. The news broke via a pamphlet for Studio Kojima, the Konami-owned development house headed up by Metal Gear series creator Hideo Kojima. "I have received many offers to adapt Metal Gear Solid. It has taken a long time, but we have finally settled on an arrangement," Kojima said in a statement. "False facts aside, a movie project is underway. I have finalized a Class-A contract with a party in Hollywood." For eight months, the identity of the aforementioned "party" was unknown. That changed this week, when Sony Pictures Entertainment vice chairman Yair Landau revealed his studio is developing the project

Analyst: PS3 Won't Have the Impact of PS2 Due to Xbox 360's Early Lead

Research and Markets has published a new report in which the firm claims the PlayStation 3 will have the largest install base by 2010 it won't dominate the market as much as its predecessor did due to the launch delay in Europe and the early lead of the Xbox 360.

Sound & Vision 2006 Editors' Choice Awards: PLAYSTATION 3

And now The Sound & Vision Editors' Choice Awards goes to ... The Playstation 3 for its built-in high-end technology.

PLAYSTATION 3 Upcoming Releases Updated

IGN has updated their chart of big releases for the PS3 in 2007.

http://au.ps3.ign.com/index/release.html?constraint.eq.game.locale=us

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion PS3 Impressions

Bethesda's epic Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was expected to bolster the PlayStation 3's launch lineup last November, already eight months after the game's release on the Xbox 360 and PC. But then the game was pushed into 2007, and now the PS3 port of last year's best RPG is finally ready to see the light of retail shelves in March...right around the same time the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game will be getting the first full expansion pack, Shivering Isles. But based on what Gamespot seen recently of a nearly finished PS3 build of Oblivion, at least the game will end up looking noticeably better for all this waiting.

PS3's Oblivion to fully utilize CELL processor.

A new IGN preview of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion reveals that the PS3 version of the game has been optimized to take advantage of the Cell processor and hardware that the system offers. "The PS3 version of Oblivion isn't a simple port of the game either, although players who have picked up the 360 version will be very familiar with the control scheme. For one thing, the PS3 version has been optimized to take advantage of the Cell processor and hardware that the system offers. As a result, the game runs a lot faster than the 360 build. Entering dungeons or buildings results in a load of 3-5 seconds, compared to the 7-10 seconds or longer for the 360 version of the game. Similarly, the amount of framerate drops or hitches that cropped up in the wilderness as you accessed a new area on the 360 have been substantially reduced on the PS3 version. There is a plan to completely eradicate these issues as the game nears release, as well as fixing a number of bugs that were present in the other builds. Kiss the item duplication glitch goodbye. Visual textures are much sharper in the PS3 version of the game. The visual presentation of Oblivion has also been significantly enhanced. While it was a beautiful title on the 360, far off environmental details often displayed low resolution textures. This has been fixed with new shaders dedicated to rendering the foreground cleanly with sharper details, so rocky landscapes now have craggy appearances instead of smooth, non-distinct surfaces. While there is still a fair amount of pop-in that occurs (which can't be helped due to the size of the world), the draw distance is farther than the 360 version. As a result, screens from the PS3 version should approach those from high end PCs running Oblivion, which is an impressive feat. We'll have more on Oblivion soon, but for now, check out these new screens."

Tekken: DR attacks US PS3s later this month

Downloadable version of Namco Bandai's fighting game to include optimizations for 1080p, playable final boss. Late last year, Namco Bandai Games released Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection as a downloadable PlayStation 3 game in Japan and Hong Kong. The download weighed in at 800MB, cost roughly $16 to download, and made Namco Bandai's long-running franchise the first 3D fighting game on the system, beating out the latest installment from long-time rival Sega's Virtua Fighter series. It appears that Namco Bandai has a chance to beat Sega to the punch (and kick, and elbow strike) in North America as well. Virtua Fighter 5 for the PS3 is currently set for a February 20 release, but Namco Bandai today announced that it is prepping a domestic release of Dark Resurrection for "later this month

flOw Gets Solid Release Date

The PlayStation 3's downloadable high-def zen title gets an official site and a release date. flOw is scheduled to hit the PlayStation Store on February 22nd, 2007. "Soothing and seductive, flOw draws gamers into the evolution of a simple aquatic creature journeying through the surreal abyss. With an embedded design of DDA (dynamic difficulty adjustment), players with differing skill levels can intuitively adjust their game experience and enjoy playing at their own pace. Initially a MFA (Master of Fine Arts) thesis, flOw is a game about piloting an aquatic organism through a surreal biosphere where players consume other organisms, evolve, and advance their organisms into the abyss

PS3 driving Blu-ray movie sales, outpacing HD-DVD

Sony has made certain that recent Nielsen VideoScan sales figures would not go unnoticed, today heralding PlayStation 3 as a driving force behind a growing appetite for Blu-ray movie consumption. According to the Nielson data, during the first two weeks of January, sales of Blu-ray movies outpaced those of HD-DVD movies by a wide margin; in week one, 47.14 HD DVD titles were sold for every 100 Blu-ray titles; in week two, the margin grew to 38.36 HD-DVD titles for every 100 Blu-ray titles. High-Def Digest suggests that, despite HD-DVD's head start, overall sales of the two formats could be equal in a matter of weeks; while Sony is already confident that "Blu-ray has surpassed HD-DVD in cumulative sales."

PS3 & the 360: The race to 65nm

There have always been game consoles that competed directly against each other for sales, market share, and third-party support. Today, the battle is very much between Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3, with Nintendo opting to play a different kind of game with the Wii. As the 360 and PS3 are closely matched in terms of performance and the types of games they play, the winner may be the company that reduces the cost of their platform the fastest."

How a PlayStation speculator misread the market and lost

The 23-year-old stood in line all night and at 7 a.m. the next morning, it paid off. He got his hands on two of the coveted machines, both 60-gig models, one bought legitimately at the store for $659 plus tax, the other acquired on the spot from a scalper, for a steep $1,800. The hard part done, Mr. O'Brien thought he could sit back. He would flip the PlayStation 3s just before Christmas when demand was at its peak and use the profit to buy an engagement ring for his girlfriend -- the one who brought him the clothes and the food, whom he has been dating for seven years and whom he has known since Grade 2. But two months later, the sleek PlayStation 3 units are collecting dust in Mr. O'Brien's closet in Bowmanville, Ont., while his girlfriend is still without a ring, although Mr. O'Brien repeatedly refers to her as his wife before correcting himself each time. He is looking at unloading the systems for as little as $600 each to buyers on the on-line classified service, craigslist.org, which would roughly amount to a $1,360 loss.

UK Gamers Cry Out for 'Core' 20GB PS3

They may now have put their fears of any further PS3 delay to rest, but some UK gamers still have a few special requests for Sony. Following the endless bemoaning of the high price point of PlayStation 3 in the UK - considerably more expensive than in the United States and Japan - there is now something of an outcry for the lower-end 20GB version of the machine to release in the UK market. Sony's launch plans for PS3 were announced last week, but the 20GB 'core' model, which stores one third of the data of the premium version and has fewer media capabilities to enjoy, was nowhere in sight for any of the European plans. In Japan and America, demand for the 20GB model has been reasonably strong, and in many cases a vital way for gamers to get their hands on the machine at a more affordable price. UK players have already started petitioning Sony to make the lower-priced unit available, while shop owners agree that the 20GB version is needed - but say that launching initially with just the premium 60GB model is a wise move.

Sony Working On "ICE" Engine

Word on the street is that Sony is working on a 1st party game engine for 1st/2nd party game studios to use, for their PS3 games. The codename for this engine is "ICE" Engine. Although this article doesn't confirm there's an actual "engine" in development, this IS a confirmation that there is an ICE TEAM headed by the Lead Programmer of Naughty Dog, David Simpson and guided with the help of Mark Cerny of CERNY GAMES. Quote: David Simpson is the Project Manager of the ICE team, a Sony Computer Entertainment first party technology group based at Naughty Dog, specializing in graphics systems and tools for the PlayStation 3. For the last ten years David has been at Sony writing performance oriented graphics systems for the PlayStation family of consoles. Quote: Mark Cerny has been working in game design and technology for 25 years. He designed and programmed 1984's Marble Madness for Atari coin-op, and at Sega he oversaw the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. While president of Universal Studios' game division, he worked in a variety of production and design roles on the Crash Bandicootand Spyro the Dragon series on the original Playstation. In 1998, Mark established Cerny Games as a consultancy, and has since participated in the creation of the Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank series on Playstation 2 and the Playstation 3 launch title Resistance:Fall Of Man. He has also been instrumental in the creation and guidance of the ICE team, a technology group based at Naughty Dog that specializes in graphics systems and tools for the PlayStation 3. In 2004 the IGDA honored Mark with its Lifetime Achievement Award, calling him a "master collaborator" and a "jack of all trades." Quote: Session Description During the runup to launch, Sony Worldwide Studios learned a great deal about creating high performance graphics applications on the Playstation 3. Much attention has already been devoted to shader programming, so this talk focuses instead on the other half of the equation; topics discussed will include the origin and usage of the libgcm API, algorithms for optimal use of the RSX vertex cache, and use of the CELL in tandem with the RSX including necessary synchronization techniques. This material has never been presented before in an open forum. Idea Takeaway The audience members will learn a number of techniques used in SCE 1st party games, with a focus on using the CELL in tandem with the RSX. Intended Audience This session is intended for graphics programmers who already know how to make surfaces bumpy and shiny, and are interested in learning other useful techniques for the PlayStation 3.

Virtua Fighter 5 Leads February Famitsu Scores

Famitsu Magazine, widely considered the most-respected gaming publication in the Pacific (not including Hawaiian Gaming Quarterly, of course), has released a new batch of reviews for upcoming games, with the PlayStation 3 version of Virtua Fighter 5 uppercuts and flying kicks ahead of the pack in this month's issue.

PS3 Pre-Launch Roundtable

Like Arthur's knights the guys at palgn.com.au assemble, to discuss.... the soon to be PAL PS3.

Blu-ray: Messiah of the PS3

The PS3 is facing heavy criticism. Pundits are screaming lower than expected sales, shipping problems, high prices, bad PR, and an underwhelming launch list. Defenders of the console are screaming that the big black console is built and engineered for a bright tomorrow, that prices will go down in time, that the high price is an investment worth making, and that just like the PS2, the games will come. Defenders of Sony's big black console are also saying that the PS3 has Blu-ray. They're saying that Blu-ray is the future, and that it will help support the PS3 until the promised franchises and the awaited titles arrive. The sentiment is that Blu-ray will help the PS3 much the same way DVD helped the PS2...