Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/What's Sony up to? Community websites abound!http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/20/whats-sony-up-to-community-websites-abound/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/20/whats-sony-up-to-community-websites-abound/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/20/whats-sony-up-to-community-websites-abound/#commentsFiled under:

Though Phil "Game 3.0" Harrison may have moved onto green ... err, different pastures, his flock of PlayStation 3 developers haven't forgotten his lessons. After taking a handful of upcoming PlayStation games out for a spin last Friday during Sony's Pre-E3 Judge's Event in LA, I noticed a recurring phrase in my notebook: community website. Think Halo 3 and Bungie.net; a game-specific site chocked full of additional ways to engage the title. It's like ... Web 2.0 plus ... Game 1.0 - wait, we finally got it!
  • LittleBigPlanet - While they're "not decided yet" on exactly how to integrate the game into a community website, if any mechanic seems ripe for such a project, rankings and stats for LBP's user-generated content seem like a sure bet.
  • Killzone 2 - There already is a my.killzone.com site for Killzone: Liberation, but adding "rankings and statistics" for Killzone 2 is the plan.
  • SOCOM: Confrontation - They plan on launching a community site - think "My SOCOM" - on SOCOM.com. There's nothing there now, and MySOCOM.com is taken.
  • Motorstorm: Pacific Rim - The Motorstorm representative wasn't very interested in providing any details, but she told us that they would have a "community website" as well.
  • Resistance 2 - Insomniac has perhaps the most ambitious plans for community content, dedicating an entire development team to the task. They're "overhauling" MyResistance.net, adding things along the lines of "facebook-like features."
Sony obviously thinks gamers want community websites, and the most visible example to date (the aforementioned Bungie.net) is a brilliant extension of an already robust multiplayer game. So, is the PS3's proliferation of community websites enticing to you, web-savvy gamer?

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]]>Game-3.0Christopher Grant2008-05-20T22:30:00+00:00LittleBigPlanet slated for Octoberhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/06/littlebigplanet-slated-for-october/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/06/littlebigplanet-slated-for-october/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/06/littlebigplanet-slated-for-october/#commentsFiled under: ,


Well, that didn't work. Tearing out the May, June, July, August and September pages from our official 2008 Sackboy Calendar has utterly failed to bring us any closer to LittleBigPlanet's newly announced "October" release date. Speaking at Sony's PlayStation Day 2008 event in London, Sony bigwig Kaz Hirai confirmed that the burlap-bouncing, community-powered platformer would be gracing PlayStation 3 systems in that month when people dress up as pirates and vampires. Provided it doesn't slip again, LittleBigPlanet is going to make for quite the treat.

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]]>BreakingNewsGame-3.0lbpLittleBigPlanetMedia-MoleculePlatformerPlaystation-day-2008Ludwig Kietzmann2008-05-06T12:30:00+00:00Joystiq hands-on: Plunder (XBLA/PSN/PC)http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/13/joystiq-hands-on-plunder-xbla-psn-pc/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/13/joystiq-hands-on-plunder-xbla-psn-pc/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/13/joystiq-hands-on-plunder-xbla-psn-pc/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,


Certain Affinity is close to finishing Plunder, a downloadable real-time strategy, multiplayer pirate game. The Capcom-published title will be released in late Spring or early Summer for XBLA, PSN, and PCs. Pricing has yet to be announced.

With inspiration from Settlers of Catan, Certain Affinity decided to create a hex-based game but with a real-time twist. Each player -- up to four on one system and eight online -- uses a pointer to guide their own ship. Teams win by capturing a certain number of towns or holding the majority when time runs out.

I played a few test games on an Xbox setup, tapping the A button to issue movement orders. Much of the rest of the game is automated, with ships attacking towns and enemy pirates when within range. Neutral and enemy towns pelted my boat with canon balls until I pummeled them into submission. If I held the defeated town for a moment, I'd claim it, causing it to attack only opposing boats.

Gallery: Age of Booty (PSN/XBLA/PC)


Plunder's strategy comes from teamwork, simple tactics, and upgrades. When two boats attack a single target, they'll overpower it more quickly. But since since vessels can't overlap, players need to work together to fit them next to targets and box-out enemy ships. And upgrades play a role. At the beginning of the game, each ship gets a limited number of upgrades to its speed, offense, and defense. But certain towns gather resources -- rum, wood, and gold -- that can be swapped for additional upgrades. Those bonuses can make towns stronger against raiders or add better powers to players' ships. Plunder felt largely like a multiplayer games, although a single-player mode introduces players to these basics.

All the Game 3.0-rage, Plunder will also include a map-editor. This intuitive tool sprays islands, towns, and other items over the hex-based worlds like a paint program. After a few minutes, we created a brand new map; Certain Affinity says that this is the same tool as the one used to create the 25 included levels. Instead of a universal upload/download system, gamers will virally pass maps to each other through friend lists. So once you play a new map, it'll automatically be saved to your system.

I liked my brief time with Plunder. It's a simple game, but I think that longer play with seven other people will reveal deeper strategies and techniques. Certain Affinity is exploring other ways for players to win games besides the town-capture mode, but plans to ship the game first with that game type. I'm looking forward to seeing how Plunder's maps, strategies, and game modes evolve after its release.

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]]>capcomcasualcatancertain-affinitygame-3.0hexpiratepiratesplunderpsnsettlers-of-catanxblaZack Stern2008-03-13T13:00:00+00:00Get another glimpse of LittleBigPlanet's level creatorhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/08/get-another-glimpse-of-littlebigplanets-level-creator/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/08/get-another-glimpse-of-littlebigplanets-level-creator/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/08/get-another-glimpse-of-littlebigplanets-level-creator/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Or in this case, its foliage creator. Embedded after the break you'll find a brief CES video demonstration of the PS3's perpetually praised LittleBigPlanet, depicting the elegant interface used to give form to your platforming designs. Though we're already envisioning a deadly sequence of precarious, single-pixel steps suspended above a pit of eternal hellfire in our level, you're perfectly welcome to make a happy little tree and call it a day.

In the interest of being informative, we'll remind you that LittleBigPlanet is only expected to arrive in September. We are not happy about it.

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]]>Game-3.0Game3.0LBPLittleBigPlanetMedia-MoleculeMediaMoleculePlatformerLudwig Kietzmann2008-01-08T18:00:00+00:00