GDC 2006: PS3 Roundup

projectmayhem

Phil Harrison gave his speech today... here you go:

1:38 - Phil Harisson Takes the stage.
1:40 - Over 6,000 PS2 titles, with 1 billion sold in total
1:41 - Describes the continued sucess of the Playstation 1
1:41 - Playstation 2 is still key, with games such as God of War 2 in development.
1:42 - David Jaffe, creative director of God of War 2 takes the stage. PS3 software to be shown.
1:43 - PS3 videos will be shown.
1:44 - God of War 2 video shown.
1:45 - God of War 2 looks amazing. Crowd roars.
1:46 - PSP is the fastest growing Sony platform ever
1:46 - RSS feeds on next PSP auto update.
1:47 - PSP eye toy discussed.
1:47 - Sony will push gps and eye toy on the PSP very strongly.
1:47 - Development tools for PSP are now $5,000 making it cheaper to develop.
1:48 - GPS and camera updates to arrive next winter
1:48 - Network update hits this summer.
1:49 - Correction, Camera to arrive in the fall, GPS still winter.
1:50 - Wireless connection with the PSP and PS3 - seamless.
1:50 - Loco Roco arrives this summer.
1:50 - Discussion moves to the PS3.
1:51 - PS3 Demo shown.
1:52 - Full 1080p resolution for both NTSC and PAL
1:53 - World wide launch.
1:53 - Broadband connection required, HDD included, wireless connection capable.
1:54 - Middleware is the key aspect of the PS3 -Agei physx, Havok, Epic, Unreal
1:56 - Final development kits for Developers before E3.
1:57 - 1,000 people on screen each with all ragdoll like physics. Crowd applauds. Known as Ragdoll demo.
1:58 - Car Tech video shown. Physics change when a gun shoots at it. Individual paint chips. Crowd Roars. Tires pop and fall off. Video is not pre-rendered at all.
1:59 - Bluray discussion begins, how it effects the quality of game.
2:00 - Tons of space, incredible animations and level of detail. Improved sound. Improved localization abilities given the extra space available.
2:02 - Warhawk tech demo shown. based off the real game.
2:03 - Crowd applauds, game looks amazing
2:04 - Ambient warfare is a key aspect. Hundred of fighters on a screen at once, think star wars space battles. Waves generated after each frame. Individual clouds rendered.
2:05 - Unlimited draw distance.
2:06 - Huge ships in Warhawk vs many small fighters.
2:07 - E3: full demo of Warhawk will be shown.

Big News
2:08 - Sony's online gaming network. Playstation Network Platform.
2:08 - Four basic principles of network, content, commerce, community, communication.
2:08 - World wide gaming network.
2:08 - Standard services will be entirely free.
2:09 - third party game servers can connect easily.
2:10 - unified login capable as well as matchmaking, video and voice chat. Friends list. numerous shops where games can be bought. download to hdd.
2:11 - Pay for online products on the network.
2:11 - similar to xbox live arcade.
2:11 - Network starts when PS3 launches in november.
2:11 - SDK for network distributed next week.
2:12 - Messages can be sent while in a game. You can email your friends from within a game.
2:12 - YOu can buy tracks for a Formula 1 PS3 game on the network. Buy new vehicles as well.
2:14 - Scott Kirkland of Motor Storm takes the stage.
2:14 - Full graphical effects in Motor Storm, a racing, buggy vehicle type of game.
2:15 - Mud in the game reacts seamlessly with the changes in the environment.
2:16 - Mud drys and can effect one's driving.
2:16 - Suspensions are fully interactive to curves and bumps.
2:17 - Moving on to Motor Bike and an ATV within the game.
2:18 - Amazing physics shown.
2:18 - Solid graphics for Motor Storm, but not mind blowing.
2:19 - Motor Storm will be shown, and possibly playable at e3.
2:19 - Ted Price of Insomniac Games takes the stage.
2:20 - New PS3 title revealed, first person shooter, huge weapons, physics in the game effect those shot and the environments completely.
2:21 - Insomniac developing for the PS3 because of its superior firepower, very exited about Blu Ray. Storage is the key for them. Extremely excited about cell.
2:23 - Ratchet and Clank Video shown. Looks amazing as well.
2:25 - Ratchet and Clank video showcases the game's environment shows robots being made and a ship passing through the world.
2:26 - In the future Sony wants to move away from disk based software distribution to an entirely digital scheme.
2:27 - Packaged games still the main focus, but they really want to push downloadable content. Talk of in game ads and how they could be beg money for publishers.
2:28 - Subscriptions from third parties allowed on Sony's Network. Think MMORPG's.
2:29 - Character customization is a huge focus for the PS3 and Sony's Network.
2:29 - merchandising of games is a heavy focus, as you can put real clothes on your virtual characters.
2:30 - Playstation.co/beyond site is now live. Check it out! You can submit game ideas for them to pick up and develop.
2:31 - Communication is the key to the network's success.
2:32 - Singstar shown for the Playstation 2. Singing game featuring 350 different songs. Example of game you can customize. Users can add images, download songs, and sing with them with full music videos as well. Uses Eye Toy.
2:34 - Singstar is for PS2, but is an example of the future.

steviec

After the conference there was a Q & A session where, among other things, they confirmed that the joypad is being scrapped and a new one will be unveiled at E3.

Biggest news though is official confirmation that the console will be region free!

Mossy Monk

roll on E3. i am getting excited already

LookingFor

I think it's the case that the system itself will not be region-protected, but publishers will be free to implement their own region-locking in software, so don't get too excited.

Reading IGN and Gamspot, the games sound hot. Ratchet & Clank apparently looked amazingly..amazing Pity there doesn't seem to have been any media from it

The online stuff sounds really excellent, like it could truly rival Live! And online multiplayer will be free.

Then the crowd's shown work-in-progress pictures of the network system, with video chat windows overlaid on games - much like the stuff shown at E3, by the sound of it. Emails and so on can be sent without leaving a game, like on Xbox 360. Next up it's online shops within MotorStorm and F1, integrated with the graphical style of those games so that people can download new cars, tracks and so on. There's a lot of Xbox Live esque functionality being shown, including pop-up notification windows.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=63535

Using the mention of community as another segue, Harrison presented several slides that showed the interface of the PSNP. Using the PS3 game Formula 1 as a backdrop, he showed how up to three simultaneous video chat windows could pop up during gameplay via a minimalist, translucent heads-up display (HUD). Later slides showed how a player could send messages, check e-mail, scour friends lists, and send game requests all while in-game--and all using the same translucent HUD architecture.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6146436.html