All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

The GameCube menu music…a ’song’ I’m sure you’re all familiar with. Now it’s time to blow your mind.

People who play as snipers love it. People who are killed by snipers hate them. But regardless of which end of the spectrum you’re currently on, anyone can become an expert at the Zoom-in of Death with this excellent tips provided by UI Manager Steve Harris and Lead Designer of MAG, CJ Heine. But first, a video.

What’s up? This is Steve and it’s important that you know that Snipers are usually the guys supporting the rest of the team by clearing objective areas or preventing the opposing team from reaching their objectives from long range. Being an effective sniper and contributing to your squad is extremely rewarding when it’s done correctly. Here are a few tips to help you become a better MAG Sniper.

Basic Tips

Advanced Tips

What a great way to wrap up our class tips, thanks guys. Of course, we still have more to teach you. Tomorrow and throughout the week, we’ll be closing our MAG tip series with help for the game’s various leadership roles. Come back here tomorrow as we kick things off with Audio Lead Keith Sjoquist and his general overlord tips.

Hey everyone, Happy Monday! Mick Perona here with the “download” on downloadable content for LBP across both the PS3 and PSP! (See what I did there?)

Is your SackPerson looking for that savoir faire? Then look no further SackFolk! Check out the new trailer for DLC we offered up in 2009, and remember, this is just the beginning!

I now present to you, “The LittleBigPlanet 2009 Collection.” Ooh-la-la, so chic, so hip, so…oh you get the point

DLC UPDATES: (New this week!)

White Knight Chronicles Costume Kit for LBP PS3 ($5.99) – Characters from the awesome new RPG for the PS3 have come to LittleBigPlanet! Grab all four White Knight Chronicles character costumes in the pack and save, or choose from your favorites for $1.99 each.

DLC UPDATES: (New last week – Don’t miss these for PSP!)

Wedding Costumes for LBP PSP (FREE) – Get two free costumes and get dressed up for the biggest wedding of the year!

Wedding Theme Pack for LBP PSP ($2.99) – Download a new set of costumes and CREATE materials to create your own LittleBigWedding! Wedding Theme Pack includes two costumes, 14 materials, 15 stickers, one music kit and one background.

Savannah Costume for LBP PSP (FREE) – Get a sneak peek of what’s in the Savannah Theme Pack with this free Lion costume!

Savannah Theme Pack for LBP PSP ($2.99) – Download a new set of goodies to create your own Savannah themed levels. The Savannah Theme Pack includes two costumes, 16 materials, 15 stickers, one music kit, and one background.

DLC UPDATES: (Timed Release – Grab em’ before they’re gone!)

Valentine’s Day Mini-Pack for LBP PS3 ($2.99) - If you missed this last year, now’s your chance to get the Valentine’s Day pack for the PS3. With a special Cupid outfit, 10 love themed stickers, lots of objects and 5 different types of materials, you can make enough levels for all your Valentines this year! LIMITED TIME – Hurry, these items will disappear from the store on 2/25.

Chinese New Year Costumes for LBP PS3 (FREE) – In celebrating the upcoming Chinese New Year, be sure to download this free costume pack, complete with his/her traditional costumes for this special time of year. LIMITED TIME – Hurry these items will disappear on 2/25.

Hi Home Community,

As many of you know, 2009 was a big year for PlayStation Home. The millions of you that use PlayStation Home saw us transform from a 3D virtual world into a true social gaming platform with more than 50 spaces and over 100 games. One of the biggest highlights of the year was the launch of the popular Sodium One space, which has redefined what a social game can be by combining massive action, stunning graphics and social experiences in a way never done before. PlayStation Home has become a leader in the evolution of social games from simple 2D web games to immersive high-definition 3D experiences made possible by the tremendous horsepower of the PlayStation 3.

As we start the new year, we are not slowing down. We are adding new spaces, community events and virtual items each and every week, with many of these updates based directly on your feedback. Last week marked an important milestone in our evolution with a new iteration of the Mall, which was heavily influenced by our community’s request to have a more streamlined shopping experience. The Mall now features stores from some of our closest partners, including Loot from Sony Pictures who brought us all of the awesome Ghostbusters gear, our friends at Lockwood – creators of Sodium, and of course EA Sports, who have been among the strongest supporters of PlayStation Home since the earliest days after launch. One new face to PlayStation Home is LucasArts, who brought both Star Wars and Indiana Jones to their new store in the PlayStation Home Mall. I for one will be rocking the Imperial Stormtrooper outfit for the foreseeable future.

PlayStation Home is based on a “freemium” model, which allows you, our community to play games, meet friends, explore and discover rewards – all for free. In addition, there are opportunities to personalize your experience with virtual items that allow you to stand out from the crowd, or even play your favorite games in PlayStation Home better (thank you Stomper Boots!) Whether you buy virtual items or just play games and hang out, I would like to extend a huge “thank you” for your support from everyone on our team.

With all that said, this is just the beginning of what we have in store for you. Many of our long time community members have been asking for features, fixes and content that we have been secretly hard at work on, and will be rolling out over time. Rest assured that we hear your requests loud and clear (I personally use Home and read the forums daily), and although we can’t deliver everything we’re asked for, we will compliment all of these new features and content with a renewed focus on open dialogue and service. Our Home Community Managers, along with myself, continue to work on addressing your questions regarding our direction for the next year, so stay tuned to the PlayStation Home forums for what is sure to be a lively conversation!

We have an incredible number of new surprises ahead, so if you’re not already a member of the PlayStation Home community, there has never been a better time to jump in and experience all of the fun.

Thank you Home Community. Keep being awesome.

Best,

Jack

It’s been over a month since Darksiders released with near-universal critical praise, and the team at Vigil Studios is still hard at work. On Thursday, Vigil releases a demo for Darksiders. This isn’t your typical demo, however. It packs an unprecedented 90 minutes of gameplay, encompassing the entire first dungeon of the game: the Twilight Cathedral. I had a chance to talk to Vigil’s Creative Director and comic book legend, Joe Madureira (Joe Mad) — along with composers Mike Reagan and Cris Valesco — to get some more info on the demo:

Now that Darksiders has been out for a few weeks, what do you think about the fans’ reactions to the game?

Joe: We are incredibly excited to finally get Darksiders into people’s hands! The response has been fantastic. We already have armies of ravenous fans clamoring for a sequel, and that’s a dream come true for us. For Vigil, the development of Darksiders was almost as epic a journey as War’s is in the game—so of course, we’re excited to finally see it through to its end. We look forward to hearing from even more gamers over the next few months as they check out the demo, and news of the game spreads.

Let’s talk about the demo. What can fans expect from the demo, and where does this take place within the main story?

Joe: In this demo, War has been tasked with retrieving the heart of one of the Destroyer’s chosen. Tiamat, a massive demon queen is not about to give it up without a fight, so you’ll have to pry it from her cold, dead body. Luckily, this is just the sort of thing that the Horsemen of the Apocalypse are good at—and War is probably the toughest of the bunch. Of course at this point, War’s powers have been stripped from him, so he’ll have to use every weapon at his disposal, and locate the ancient artifact called the Cross Blade. Its mastery is vital to navigating the Cathedral, and ultimately bringing down Tiamat. The Cathedral itself is chock full of puzzles and other hazards, and of course, it is home to a host of the Destroyers minions. Be especially wary as you approach the walking pile of cadaverous flesh that is—the Jailer! When you meet him, you’ll see why…

Darksiders is obviously a game with an epic scope. Why choose to focus the demo on the Twilight Cathedral?

Joe: It’s true, there is so much to do, and so much to see in Darksiders, that it was difficult to pick one area to feature. We liked the Cathedral because it’s a self contained chunk of the game that’s fairly early on, so it’s easier to pick up and play. It’s also the first ‘dungeon’ experience in the game, so it’s a good one for players to learn the game’s structure. The dungeon exploration, using keys, solving puzzles, mastering the dungeon’s gear item ( Crossblade ) and of course, introducing tougher enemies and boss battles. It really gives you a taste of the adventure aspect of Darksiders, and hopefully will show gamers just how far from being a typical hack-n-slash Darksiders actually is.

After playing the demo, what do you want fans to know about the rest of the game?

Joe: By the time you beat the demo, you’re going to realize one thing—this is an adventure game! That’s right, you can go back to any area even after you beat it. You’ll want to do this because War is not equipped to find everything his first time through most areas. As War gains new abilities and items, he will be able to unlock areas of the levels previously unattainable. This creates an interesting pace, where combat is carefully balanced with exploration and puzzle solving. It’s not just a button mashing combat drill! That said, I do think it’s important to note that we at Vigil just LOVE to create kick ass enemies. There are some truly cool looking creatures in this game that make for fun and memorable battles! The bosses in particular are a lot of fun and end in a rewarding mess of gore! So what are you waiting for? Check out the demo, and pick up a copy today. YOU MUST OWN THIS GAME PEOPLE!!!!

If you’ve been on Home lately, you may have seen the occasional Angel, Demon, Horseman, or Man-Horse walking around. We wanted to give the denizens of Home a chance show their allegiance to Heaven, Hell, or the Horsemen. We tried to pick some of the more iconic images from the game – including angel wings and demon horns. It’s a real credit to Joe and the rest of the team at Vigil that the characters and costumes look just as cool in the “real-world” Home environment as in the “comic-inspired” game environment. What’s most impressive is that we were able to take some of the in-game models and port them directly into the Home environment.

We recently released War’s armor with the Mask of Shadows. My favorite item, however, is the Ruin horse head mask. It’s at the same time awesome and disturbing. I can’t deny the fact that I was partially inspired by a certain burlap-skinned character from one of my favorite side-scrolling platformers. If you’re a Darksiders fan, or just want to show your good, evil, or creepy side – go check out the Darksiders virtual items!

Lastly, I spoke with composers Mike Reagan and Cris Valesco about the incredible music in Darksiders. You may not know their names, but you definitely know their work – God of War and God of War II being two of their most well-known titles.

What other games have you worked together on?

Mike: This was really the first project that Cris and I truly collaborated and wrote a theme together. Previously, we had both been hired individually to work on the God of War series.

Cris: Mike and I have previously worked on the God of War series together as well as Van Helsing. However, this was the first time that we were actually able to collaborate on actual music. In the past we’ve always just worked on our own music independently. This time we were really able to brainstorm on the Darksiders Main Theme and I think it really shows.

What was your inspiration for the “sound” of Darksiders?

Mike: Spiritual warfare was a key motivator, and we wanted to create a sound that could be heard in complete darkness and convey a haunting experience. The Choir as well as the solo boy soprano sung by Zack Weisberg really added something special to the sound.

Cris: Darksiders clearly has some religious connotations attached to it and we wanted to take advantage of that with the choir. They’re singing in Sanskrit throughout. This language dates back as far as 1500 BC so we thought this would help give the music a sense of weight and age.

What is your favorite track?

Mike: I’m really proud of the Main Theme that Cris and I did together, and the pieces with longer melodies that work really well over the Boss themes as well.

Cris: The Main Theme that Mike and I wrote is probably the stand-out track in the game. It’s definitely my favorite piece. I also really liked the boss music that Mike wrote for the Greaver. Of my own music in the game, I am partial to the final boss music. This track and the Main Theme were actually performed live at the Night In Fantasia ’09 concert in Sydney this last summer too!

Thanks for reading. I hope everyone enjoys the demo!

Do you have what it takes to lead your soldiers into battle? If the answer is yes then today’s MAG Developer Tips post is the one for you. Audio Lead Keith Sjoquist is using our platform here to introduce everyone to the world of combat management, and as always, we’re opening things up with a video:

Hi there, this is Keith from Zipper and today we’re looking at some general MAG leadership tips.

Leadership is important because MAG is just as much a tactical game as it is run-and-gun. A savvy leader can herd a bunch of noobs and steamroll a platoon full of high-level lone wolves more often than not. If you decide to opt in for leadership, that’s great – just make sure you’re ready for the responsibility.

Basic Tips:

Advanced Tips:

Thanks Keith, that’s a good primer. Tomorrow we’ll be back with more specific tips on how to be an effective Squad Leader from Audio Manager, Mary Olson. Check back then.

Hey everyone, Greg Batalucco here to bring you the next installment of MLB 10: The Show posts. This entry will focus on the realism and experience within our stadiums.

Beginning with last year’s version of The Show, we wanted to make the game even more accurate. In MLB 10: The Show, we have taken it further and added more to your gaming experience. New for this year’s edition are real-time players in the dugouts and bullpens, fireworks, rally towels, thundersticks, working digital and analog clocks, and much more. All these realistic enhancements to the game make MLB 10: The Show feel and sound like you are actually at the ballpark. Throughout this post we will focus on the stadium enchantments and how they make The Show come alive!

Real-Time Players in The Dugout and Bullpen
New to this year’s version of The Show is having the dugouts and bullpens full to capacity in real time. What this means is that players will be seen in actual game time sitting on the bench, standing, leaning on the railings and moving around. The players will even react to the action on the field, so if a foul ball comes in the dugout, they will quickly move out of the way. You’ll also see bullpen activity – with pitchers getting up, stretching and starting to loosen up. Managers will be seen giving instruction to the bench players and calling out to the fielders in play. This realism gives you, the user, the element that you are involved in a real-life baseball game.

Stadiums Experiences (Fireworks/HR/splash counters/clocks)
Last year we added quite a bit to the stadium experience, but this year we wanted to make MLB 10 stand out even more. We set out researching how the stadiums looked, finding the little nuances of each stadium. If you’re going to include fireworks, they have to look and sound real. Each fireworks explosion is designed to recreate the actual fireworks display that is seen when the home team hits a homerun or wins the game.

Another area of detail with the stadiums was adding in the famous Home Run Splash Counter in San Francisco. This also includes a special Splash Camera which follows the ball as it splashes into McCovey Cove. Also added to our stadiums are working clocks which show the actual time from game start until finish. There are digital and analog clocks throughout the stadiums, so check out the time as you play the game.

Crowd Detail (Reaching over the rails, thundersticks, rally towels, detail)
This year we added so much more to our crowds and their animations. The crowd in MLB 10 will now react to a ball hit into the stands either on foul balls or home runs. They will also reach over the railings to try and grab a ground ball that is hit into foul territory. Play The Show and you may actually see a fan take a tumble over the wall. Another thing we wanted to spruce up is crowd accessories. We decided to add in thundersticks, rally towels and the ever-present “cowbell” in Tampa. These little touches of realism add up to make MLB 10: The Show a home run!

Final Thoughts
As you can see, we went into the making of MLB 10 asking the question, “What can we do to make this game more realistic?” Our community and fans wanted even more detail and realism. If your favorite team, stadium, or crowd does things a certain way, we want to make sure it’s reflected in The Show. This attention to detail is what makes us stand out. From new fireworks, splash counters, thundersticks and more, we want you to feel the sights and sounds of real live baseball. We appreciate your feedback and will always listen to our fans as we try to make the best game possible. Thanks for your time and we hope you enjoy MLB 10: The Show and the realism we bring to you.

In case you didn’t know, Heavy Rain is out today!

For those of your who haven’t picked up your copy yet, we definitely recommend rushing to your favorite retailer (or mailbox) to get your hands on one of the most anticipated titles of 2010. If you’re still on the fence, be sure to download one of the hottest demos available on the PlayStation Store and see what everyone’s been talking about. Still not sure? Check out the reviews and you’ll see that it’s well worth it!

If you find yourself playing the game and tapping your toes to the music, you can head over to iTunes today to download your copy of the soundtrack, which will also become available for download from the PlayStation Store on March 18.

And we haven’t forgotten our promise to you, the fans. For those of you who prefer it, just follow the link below to download the European packfront image that you can print out and slide into your game case. I’d recommend printing it on an 11 x 17 and cutting along the lines so it fits just right.

Keep an eye out in the coming weeks as well as we unveil additional content through the PlayStation Store for Heavy Rain fans.

Happy gaming!

Wow, what an evening it was last week at the annual Interactive Achievement Awards. UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves received ten Interactive Achievement Awards, including Overall Game of the Year. I was sitting in the audience watching the Naughty Dog team walk up to podium to accept one award after another. By the end of the show, the entire UNCHARTED 2 core team was on the stage with the biggest award in their hands, thanking their incredibly talented team and family members who supported their intense development cycle. AIAS Award, like the Academy Award for movies, is chosen and voted by the professional game developer community. It’s a celebration of creativity in game development and to let the world know who brought the most exceptional talent, passion and love to make a game in the past year. I have been attending this event for many years, but being associated with the game that has taken the highest honor of the year is an incredibly special moment for anyone in the industry. I was as ecstatic last year to see LittleBigPlanet receive the Overall Game of the Year honor, which also garnered a total of eight awards. It is mind boggling to think that we can now count three Overall Game of the Year awards from the academy — UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves in 2009, LittleBigPlanet in 2008 and God of War in 2005. Amazing.

I am fortunate to be part of the great creativity and innovation coming out of our first party studios time and time again. The accolades are so well deserved. Congratulations Evan, Christophe, Amy, Bruce, Richard and all the talented members of Naughty Dog!

Last week’s ceremony was also very special to me as Mark Cerny, my long term friend and business partner, was handed the prestigious Hall of Fame award. The list of past recipients included Shigeru Miyamoto, Will Wright, and John Carmack — legendary game creators that have shaped the game industry today. I have had the great honor and joy to work with Mark since I started in game development in PS one days, across Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Resistance, UNCHARTED, and tech projects on PlayStation 2 and PS3. Mark has helped realize the creative visions of teams behind these great franchises, including producing, designing and programming many of them himself. I would not be doing what I do today if it were not for the great fortune (again) to be able to work with Mark for so many years. Congratulations Mark!

2009 was really a great year for us, not only did we have UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves, we also released Killzone 2, inFAMOUS, flOwer (which also received Casual Game of the Year last week!), Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, PixelJunk Shooter, LittleBigPlanet PSP, Gran Turismo PSP, Patapon 2 and so on. 2010 is already shaping up to be an exciting year as we just released MAG and with Heavy Rain, MLB 10: The Show and God of War III around the corner. We’ve also got ModNation Racers, Gran Turismo 5, and motion controller games that include many unannounced titles, as well as many new PSP and PSN titles hitting throughout this fiscal year.

We certainly have not been immune to the impacts of the economy, but I believe the gaming industry will continue to offer strong growth in the long term. And as far as PlayStation is concerned, I believe we have a truly strong line up in the pipeline, combined with a hardware installed base that is continuing to grow, and an evolving offering of new online features and services. 2010 is looking to be a great year for fans of PlayStation. We’re working hard to keep you entertained and excited with new games and services for many years to come.

And yes, The Last Guardian team is also working hard, too.