Leipzig-2008 posts (Subscribe to this feed)

Dave Perry's idea of a streaming game service has been a long time in the making, though the fruition of that idea, Gaikai, is less than a year into actual development. According to his latest piece for Develop, the idea for an online service with high-end game (and application) streaming has been germinating for some time in his head, starting with Airline Pilots -- an arcade flight simulator from Sega. "A friend of mine told me that we needed to buy that game, so we paid for it between us, and I stored the game in my garage," Perry explains. He found himself playing the game for hours, wondering if it would be possible to "play a real flight simulator" without having to shell out "thousands upon thousands" for it.

Years later, he found himself evangelizing his theories at Leipzig 2008, where he was approached by two gentlemen (Andrew Gault and Rui Pereira) working on the very technology he spoke about. From that partnership, Gaikai was born. Perry says what separates his company's product from OnLive's is that "it's a service" and as such there is no dictating where it can go -- OnLive is technology dependent. Though we've gotten a video tour of the service and plenty of talk from Mr. Perry about Gaikai so far, we've yet to get our hands on the service, and as such will remain (understandably) skeptical until we see more.

Killzone 2's multiplayer gameplay was shown off behind closed doors at the Leipzig Game Convention this week and we were there to get our hands well and truly on. As is customary for these breakdown sessions, we were given a short presentation by members of the development team.

We were told about the Squad system, which allows players to form 4-man groups mid-game. Doing so will show your squadmates' health bars, allow you a private headset channel and let you use the squad leader as a spawn point, keeping you together constantly. Setting up squads is easily done in the spawn menu. When a player receives a squad invite, they will receive a flashing notification. Accepting or declining takes only a couple of button presses from that point, making sure you're kept in the game at all times.

Guerilla Games also ran through the extensive community features found in the game. Full clan support, featuring 64 players each, 16 vs 16 clan challenges, four separate leaderboards, a mind-boggling array of stats being tracked and a clan currency system. "Valor" is wagered by each clan at the start of inter-clan skirmishes, with the total being awarded to the winner. Earning valor will propel you up the leaderboards and the intention is to host official clan tournaments, made up of 256 clans, with the entire valor pot going to the overall winner.

After watching the Killzone 2 multiplayer trailer, we wondered how much more fun the game's online mode would be without your typical multiplayer douche. Well, now we can find out! The upcoming FPS will, indeed, feature bots. These will be fully customizable difficulty-wise, and can fill in for players either online or offline, allowing any Billy-No-Mates to enjoy a friendly match every once in a while.

Additionally, vehicles are currently only available in the single player mode. Multiplayer vehicles will be patched in after the game is released. Also being patched post-launch is a co-op mode for the story. Whether this will be online or not, we're not entirely certain. Considering the long delay Killzone has suffered enjoyed, we're surprised this won't be included from the get-go. Perhaps we'll have to pay for it, but we're used to that by now, right? Be sure to check out our full Killzone 2 hands-on impressions, coming soon.

Update: Guerrilla has a history of making free DLC with Killzone: Liberation (PSP). It released an Infrastructure multiplayer mode and an extra single-player level months after the game's release.

Warning: This preview includes spoilers for one of the game's bonus levels. Those of you fearing spoilers for the game's main story are welcome to read on.

While Heavy Rain's teaser video is awesome enough, we were lucky enough to be given a demonstration of the game by Quantic Dream's David Cage.

Before showing us any gameplay, Cage reiterated the thought processes behind developing a game like Heavy Rain. It's an adult thriller with a mature, emotionally driven story. "You're not fighting a war. There are no gangsters, knights, princesses or zombies. You're not going to save the world in this game." We're hoping this grounding in reality saves it from the bizarre tangent Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit for those outside the US) took towards the end of the game.

Ubisoft took the opportunity afforded by the Leipzig Games Convention to announce ANNO 1404, the publisher's first ANNO offering after acquiring the popular PC "building-strategy" property and its German publisher in 2007. In ANNO 1404 – scheduled for release worldwide in March 2009 anno domini – "players will get to know the culture and technology of the ancient Orient while learning the tricks of local trade, diplomacy and economy in order to build their own metropolis." We'll see if Ubisoft's international marketing muscle can help the ANNO titles find an audience outside of ol' Europe.

Our biggest problem with Sony's AIBO robotic dog was that, well ... it wasn't fake enough! Though it wasn't able to soil the floor, you could still touch it or (perish the thought!) pick it up. So it's with great interest that we bring you news of EyePet, a "responsive virtual pet who reacts to your every move" brought to you by our friends at SCEE. All you need is a PlayStation Eye camera, a PlayStation 3, and the ability to love.

"EyePet gives you all the lovable benefits and interaction of a real-life pet without tearing up your sofa or making a mess on the rug," says the totally understated press release. With a late 2009 release date, that gives you just enough time to forget all about that real miniature monkey thing you had when you were a kid. Video footage of your new best friend can be found after the break.

Gallery: EyePet

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