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/Joystiq hands-on: Killzone 2 multiplayerhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/25/joystiq-hands-on-killzone-2-multiplayer/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/25/joystiq-hands-on-killzone-2-multiplayer/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/25/joystiq-hands-on-killzone-2-multiplayer/#commentsFiled under: , ,


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.

Gallery: Killzone 2 (Leipzig 2008)


Community features are all very well, but without a game to back it up it's all a bit moot. Thankfully, Killzone 2 is an exceptional multiplayer experience. It's fast paced, frantic and, most importantly, fun. This is aided mostly by the class system, which adds a tremendous amount of depth to the game. You'll start life as a lowly soldier. No special abilities to your name, but you do have the best selection of weapons. Rising through the ranks will reward you with new "badges" (classes) at specific intervals. These have been strategically managed so that they are awarded in order, with those that affect gameplay least being the easiest to obtain.

We played at first as a Helghast scout; a three-eyed hooded assassin. With a sniper rifle. Each class has two abilities: A primary ability that's set in stone (invisibility, in our case) and a secondary ability which can be swapped out for any other class' secondary ability. We stuck with the scout's enemy location tagging. These skills may seem powerful, but they have their limitations. Whilst standing still our invisibility cloak works perfectly, but whilst moving the integrity of the invisibility weakens. Firing a weapon removes it completely and we can only reactivate it if the ability has refreshed, WoW style. All skills have a refresh period like this.


The level we played was pretty vast and, despite playing against Guerilla Games employees in Amsterdam, lag was non-existent. The graphics are indistinguishable from the single player gameplay and the motion blur and (incredibly) pretty explosions are ever-present. We've seen this game a few times now and we're still amazed by how good it looks whenever we get a chance to play. According to our copilot, Guerilla Games' Simon Larouche, the only limitation they have to take into account for multiplayer is destructibility. Physics objects such as locker doors will still exist in multiplayer, but fully destructible walls will not.

Team Deathmatch works via a tug-of-war style system. Each faction has a meter which shows how close they are to winning. The more enemies that are killed, the more your meter fills. Being killed reduces your team's meter, however, so if two opposing factions are equally matched the game could go on for quite a while. You won't mind, though. The class system allows you to mix up your gameplay style after any death, Team Fortress style.

The level was huge and, at first, a bit daunting. There were also a few frustrating moments when we were looking around for enemies for what felt like five minutes only to be shotgunned in the face when we found someone. Despite the lack of headsets, teamwork was prevalent with medics healing the wounded and team mates rushing to help those between a rock and a hard place. There's something about the game which makes you feel more connected to the others on your faction.



An open beta is on the cards, but won't be released until after the Resistance 2 and SOCOM betas, for obvious reasons. The game will not be suffering from any region locking - when you start a match you are the server, so anyone across the world can join. If you're searching for an already set-up online game, then the default is to be shown games in your territory, but you're also given the choice to search worldwide if you wish to.

Killzone 2's multiplayer is more than just a mere bullet point for the back of the box. Considering all the hype has been about the single player for so long, we never expected the multiplayer to be so fleshed out. It remains to be seen if Killzone 2 can trump Resistance 2's 60-player online battles or Call of Duty 4's stranglehold on gamer's multiplayer time, but Guerilla is putting up quite a fight.

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]]>guerilla-gamesjoystiqfeatureskillzone-2leipzig-2008lgc08playstation-3PS3Jem Alexander2008-08-25T11:09:00+00:00Killzone 2 co-op to be patched after launch, bots confirmedhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/22/killzone-2-co-op-to-be-patched-after-launch-bots-confirmed/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/22/killzone-2-co-op-to-be-patched-after-launch-bots-confirmed/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/22/killzone-2-co-op-to-be-patched-after-launch-bots-confirmed/#commentsFiled under: ,

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.

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]]>guerilla-gamesKillzone-2leipzig-2008lgc08playstation-3PS3Jem Alexander2008-08-22T16:00:00+00:00GC 2008: New Killzone 2 footage shows game is 'pre-beta'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/21/gc-2008-new-killzone-2-footage-shows-game-is-pre-beta/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/21/gc-2008-new-killzone-2-footage-shows-game-is-pre-beta/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/21/gc-2008-new-killzone-2-footage-shows-game-is-pre-beta/#commentsFiled under: ,

While not as high quality as the falsified chat multiplayer trailer, the Kizzy Dos (remember, that's our nickname for Killzone 2) footage from Leipzig GC 2008 above does reveal that the game is now in pre-beta. When we last saw the game about a month ago at E3, K2 was rocking a pre-alpha build. We're happy to see the game progressing smoothly, even if we have to wait until February to play the final build. Here's to hoping developer Guerilla Games follows in the footsteps of its peers and opens a public beta for the game.

Gallery: Killzone 2

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]]>alphakillzonekillzone-2kizzykizzy-dosleipzig-08pre-betaRoss Miller2008-08-21T07:30:00+00:00GC 2008: Killzone 2 multiplayer trailer looks good, sounds too realhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/20/gc-2008-killzone-2-multiplayer-trailer-looks-good-sounds-too-r/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/20/gc-2008-killzone-2-multiplayer-trailer-looks-good-sounds-too-r/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/20/gc-2008-killzone-2-multiplayer-trailer-looks-good-sounds-too-r/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Sony, Guerilla - our hats voice headsets are off to you. After all, you tried to deliver the total online play experience with your official Killzone 2 multiplayer trailer at Leipzig. The only problem is ... well, it sounds too much like real mutiplayer. Or maybe someone's polite approximation thereof.

Oh, we like what we see (and say, are those auto-turrets from Aliens?) but the "radio chatter" not only sounds forced - it's totally free of racial slurs and/or comments regarding the sexuality of those playing. Now, how can we expect to take that seriously?

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]]>guerillakillzone-2leipzig-08sonytrailervideoRandy Nelson2008-08-20T22:00:00+00:00GC 2008: Killzone 2 says, 'Hey, look at me!'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/20/gc-2008-killzone-2-says-hey-look-at-me/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/20/gc-2008-killzone-2-says-hey-look-at-me/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/20/gc-2008-killzone-2-says-hey-look-at-me/#commentsFiled under: , ,

killzone 2
click for maximum ogle

Perhaps "pretty" isn't the most appropriate word to describe Killzone 2. But if Guerrilla's shooter keeps showing up to the party looking like this, well, then what choice do we have? We're hot for you, Kizzy*. Three spooky red eyes and all!

(*Yup, official Killzone pet name confirmed.)

Gallery: Killzone 2 (Leipzig 2008)

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]]>guerrillakillzonekillzone-2leipzig-08James Ransom-Wiley2008-08-20T17:15:00+00:00Joystiq E3 hands-on: Killzone 2http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/18/joystiq-e3-hands-on-killzone-2/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/18/joystiq-e3-hands-on-killzone-2/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/18/joystiq-e3-hands-on-killzone-2/#commentsFiled under: ,

killzone 2
How did Killzone come to carry such a burden? I asked myself this as I slogged through an early level in Killzone 2. PlayStation 2 wanted its "Spartan" and the original Killzone was called to task, failing miserably. And then, almost forgotten, Killzone emerged again through a dazzling display of smoke and mirrors at E3 2005. Three years later, we're inching ever closer to Killzone 2's release in February 2009. Now that the smoke is settling we wonder if a true "Halo killer" stands before us.

The E3 2008 demo begins with a beach landing (what else?), and continues with a crawl up into the bowels of a hellish place. This is a gray and lonely world, an industrial city of towering steels and concrete. The views are beautiful though. This is a gorgeous game -- Guerrilla has delivered on that promise. Where Halo offers relief from the horror of its subject matter with rich, 'toonish colors, Killzone plunges your senses deep into the despair and grotesqueness of a world at war. The stark environments are enriched by a distinct art design. There's cinema here. But we're not idly watching, are we?

Gallery: Killzone 2 (E3 2008)

killzone 2
How did Killzone come to carry such a burden? I asked myself this as I slogged through an early level in Killzone 2. PlayStation 2 wanted its "Spartan" and the original Killzone was called to task, failing miserably. And then, almost forgotten, Killzone emerged again through a dazzling display of smoke and mirrors at E3 2005. Three years later, we're inching ever closer to Killzone 2's release in February 2009. Now that the smoke is settling we wonder if a true "Halo killer" stands before us.

The E3 2008 demo begins with a beach landing (what else?), and continues with a crawl up into the bowels of a hellish place. This is a gray and lonely world, an industrial city of towering steels and concrete. The views are beautiful though. This is a gorgeous game -- Guerrilla has delivered on that promise. Where Halo offers relief from the horror of its subject matter with rich, 'toonish colors, Killzone plunges your senses deep into the despair and grotesqueness of a world at war. The stark environments are enriched by a distinct art design. There's cinema here. But we're not idly watching, are we?

Gallery: Killzone 2 (E3 2008)

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]]>E3-2008guerrillahands-onjoystiqfeatureskillzonekillzone-2James Ransom-Wiley2008-07-18T20:20:00+00:00Killzone 2 multiplayer: everything you need to knowhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/16/killzone-2-multiplayer-everything-you-need-to-know/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/16/killzone-2-multiplayer-everything-you-need-to-know/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/16/killzone-2-multiplayer-everything-you-need-to-know/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Guerrilla hosted a Killzone 2 "online" (what else?) multiplayer tutorial at E3 today, detailing the ins and outs of the experience. What we saw borrowed much from recent efforts, including Call of Duty 4, Team Fortress 2, Metal Gear Online, and even Battlefield Bad Company. Player progression is at the core of Killzone's multiplayer, which supports up to 32 players and features 8 maps of varying sizes and 5 missions (game modes).

Player progression is divided into 12 military ranks and 46 ribbons and medals, which, once earned, unlock game features. The key game feature is the badge (think: character class). There are six badges, unlocked through progression (except the default Rifleman), each possessing a primary ability and secondary ability, and linked to certain weapon groups. The badges are:
  • Rifleman: default badge; no special abilities
  • Engineer: erect automated turret (primary); repair skill (secondary)
  • Medic: revive teammates; deploy health packs
  • Scout: cloaking suit; tag enemies with hidden marker (they become revealed on team radar)
  • Assault: heavy armor; sprint boost
  • Tactician: green smoke grenades (they're spawn points!); AI sentry bot (it's the COD4 helicopter but cooler)
  • Saboteur: enemy disguise; proximity-activated C4 charge
Badges can be combined in order to merge two abilities from two different badges, creating a new class. For example, players can create a Medic Engineer possessing revive and repair abilities. (PS3 Fanboy has more on multiplayer classes.)

Gallery: Killzone 2 Online Multiplayer


Clans are another unlockable, with the draw being "valor" points, a sort of team currency. Valor points are wagered before clan matches and tournaments, with the winning team earning the pot. Perennial losers will be able to claw back from broke by entering no-fee tournaments (facing a field of up to 256 clans) ... and, gulp, winning. Less dedicated players have the option to create more casual alliances, squads, which can be formed mid-match via a menu screen, linking up to 4 players (two squads or 8 players form a faction). Squad benefits include the ability to spawn on the heels of the designated squad leader, a private headset channel (accessible even from the grave) and shared HUD data.

Guerrilla is attempting to design a multiplayer game that "inspires" teamwork, and the missions are clearly orientated toward team-play:
  • Assassination
  • Body Count
  • Capture & Hold
  • Search & Destroy
  • Search & Retrieve
Missions can be made "dynamic," combined to create a match with changing objectives. Search & Retrieve morphs into Assassination; a player escaping with the coveted object becomes the target to the opposing team.

Loads of game data will be tracked -- more than 100 stats in all -- across a robust series of leaderboards, which will be integrated into Killzone.com. The site will also include a clan management feature used for tweaking your team's roster or posing challenges to opposing clans. Global servers promise those challenges can be flung overseas for intercontinental warfare.

Killzone 2 multiplayer is doing a lot right, not a lot new. (There are a few tweaks to the formula: a "spawnmap overview" includes a real-time camera capturing the current activity at any given spawn point as you decide where to redeploy.) But the key to success is in the execution. And that's months away.

What else...? Public beta confirmed (again). "Later this year."

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]]>e3-2008guerrillajoystiqfeatureskillzonekillzone-2multiplayerJames Ransom-Wiley2008-07-16T21:15:00+00:00New EGM promises Killzone 2 blowouthttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/20/new-egm-promises-killzone-2-blowout/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/20/new-egm-promises-killzone-2-blowout/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/20/new-egm-promises-killzone-2-blowout/#commentsFiled under: ,

The fine bunch of gaming journos at Electronic Gaming Monthly have themselves quite a cover this month. It's covered in Helghast, and that can only mean one thing: oodles of Killzone 2 coverage.

The game hasn't been seen for over a month now, and, even then, it was a lot of what we'd already seen in video form ... only playable. With E3 just around the corner, EGM is taking the wraps off more of the game, promising to divulge "everything you need to know about PS3's killer app." More killer than Metal Gear Solid 4? We're all ears eyes!

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

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]]>egmguerilla-gamesguerillagameskillzone-2Randy Nelson2008-06-20T04:45:00+00:00Battle of the 'Bams!': Resistance 2 vs. Killzone 2http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/23/battle-of-the-bams-resistance-2-vs-killzone-2/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/23/battle-of-the-bams-resistance-2-vs-killzone-2/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/23/battle-of-the-bams-resistance-2-vs-killzone-2/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Sony has two major FPS offerings on tap for releases in the next nine-odd months, both of which have plenty of similarities - not the least of which are their sci-fi trimmings. But how do they differ from one another ... or stack up against other big titles in the genre? Enter MTV's Multiplayer, who have put together a nice comparative feature on the two games, covering points such as visuals, gameplay, and overall themes. Oh, and the abundance of earth tones, of course.

Is there room on PS3 for two similar first-party titles? We say "yes," and "please make sure they're better than Haze." Read on for Multiplayer's observations, along with some developer insight on Sony's positioning of both first-person battles against creepy creatures and ... Space Nazis.

Gallery: Resistance 2


Gallery: Killzone 2

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]]>fpsguerilla-gamesinsomniackillzone-2resistance-2sonyRandy Nelson2008-05-23T13:55:00+00:00Killzone 2 delay a 'pure management decision'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/21/killzone-2-delay-a-pure-management-decision/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/21/killzone-2-delay-a-pure-management-decision/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/21/killzone-2-delay-a-pure-management-decision/#commentsFiled under: , ,


A statement by Sony PR on the PlayStation Blog clarifies some details about Killzone 2's delay to February 2009 and confirms that the game is also being released in North America that month (previously, that date had only been confirmed for Europe). Sony's Ron Eagle explains that the game was intentionally delayed because the fall release calendar was already full.

Eagle points out that if Killzone 2 was released this fall, it would be the third shooter in the PS3 marketplace (joining SOCOM and Resistance 2) fighting for retail dollars, so the decision was made to push its release into the new year (how'd they decide which to delay -- flip a coin?). Eagle insists that "there is nothing wrong" with Killzone and the so-called delay is a "pure management decision." If holiday 2008 is anything like last year, our wallets are already thankful to the management for the breathing room.

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]]>guerrillaguerrilla-gameskillzonekillzone-2Alexander Sliwinski2008-05-21T13:28:00+00:00See Mirror's Edge in PlayStation Day footage [update]http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/06/see-killzone-2-mirrors-edge-in-playstation-day-footage/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/06/see-killzone-2-mirrors-edge-in-playstation-day-footage/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/06/see-killzone-2-mirrors-edge-in-playstation-day-footage/#commentsFiled under: ,

Update: Videos for Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 have been removed at Sony's request. "This was an internal video to show work in progress and was not ready for distribution." We will post new media when it is available.

If you were furiously pounding F5 to follow along with PS3 Fanboy's live coverage of PlayStation Day 2008, you probably felt a little pang of sadness as our man, Jem Alexander, got to see some new footage from Mirror's Edge, Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 while you had to make do with reading his text second-hand.

Now, you can make amends and see the videos directly from the show for yourself. Oh, and you should know that the audio on the Killzone clip seems to become a little crazy at the end, but we're hoping you still get the idea. You can find Resistance Mirror's Edge after the break right here.

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]]>diceguerrilla-gamesinsomniackillzonekillzone-2mirrors-edgeplaystation-day-2008resistanceresistance-2sceeJustin McElroy2008-05-06T13:00:00+00:00Killzone 2 dated February 2009http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/06/killzone-2-dated-february-2009/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/06/killzone-2-dated-february-2009/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/06/killzone-2-dated-february-2009/#commentsFiled under:

killzone 2
Live from Sony's PlayStation Day 2008 in London, David Reeves has just announced Killzone 2 for February 2009, ending speculation that the game would arrive this fall. (See, Guerrilla said so.) The apocalyptic shooter will be playable later today at the event, so head over to PS3 Fanboy for the hands-on impression and further details.

We're contacting Sony to confirm whether the Feb. '09 date is just for the European release or a worldwide launch. Update: A Sony spokesperson told us they "haven't made any announcements for Killzone 2's release date in North
America" but, perhaps sensing our disappointment, said they'll have "more news for [us] in the next couple of weeks." You'll know when we know, you know?

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]]>breakingnewsguerrilla-gameskillzonekillzone-2playstation-day-2008sceeJames Ransom-Wiley2008-05-06T11:45:00+00:00Guerrilla: Killzone 2 September date isn't 'gospel'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/26/guerrilla-killzone-2-september-date-isnt-gospel/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/26/guerrilla-killzone-2-september-date-isnt-gospel/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/26/guerrilla-killzone-2-september-date-isnt-gospel/#commentsFiled under: ,

killzone 2
Guerrilla Games QA Manager Seb Downie popped into the "KILLZONE DATED!!" thread on the official PlayStation.com Forums to let us know that the developer hasn't sanctioned the release month 'confirmed' by SCEE earlier today. "Sorry folks, as before, please take any release dates, or months with a grain of salt," Downie writes. "If we haven't announced it, it is not gospel."

In other news, we're hearing reports (actually, we're just making them up) that a giant dartboard was discovered in the dumpster behind SCEE headquarters. In place of points: calendar months, and a dart labeled "Top Secret Project: KZONE2" apparently extracted from the "Sept." region. We have yet to confirm claims that the bull's-eye is a likeness of Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and principal leader of the Church of England.

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]]>guerrillaguerrilla-gameskillzone-2sceeJames Ransom-Wiley2008-03-26T22:00:00+00:00Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2 get release window in UKhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/26/killzone-2-littlebigplanet-resistance-2-get-release-window-in/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/26/killzone-2-littlebigplanet-resistance-2-get-release-window-in/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/26/killzone-2-littlebigplanet-resistance-2-get-release-window-in/#commentsFiled under: ,


VideoGamer.com appears to have gotten hold of a Sony UK release schedule for upcoming Sony games, giving us a better idea of when we'll see some of the PS3's biggest titles. According to the release, Killzone 2 and LittleBigPlanet will arrive at some point in September, with Resistance 2 following close behind in November. Sony has confirmed the dates, saying that the info has been "in the public domain for a while now."

The last time we heard that September date being batted around for LBP, it was an unofficial source, so it's nice to get it confirmed. Now, what we don't know is specific dates or how the dates of Killzone 2 and Resistance 2 will stack up with their North American counterparts, but we wouldn't count on them being released much later stateside, promising a very happy autumn for PS3 owners.

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]]>killzone-2lbplittlebigplanetrelease-dateresistance-2rumorJustin McElroy2008-03-26T12:30:00+00:00Counting Rupees: The year of the PS3http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/20/counting-rupees-the-year-of-the-ps3/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/20/counting-rupees-the-year-of-the-ps3/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/20/counting-rupees-the-year-of-the-ps3/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

Apparently, 2008 is the year of the PS3. After what most consider a very shaky first year, the media is abuzz with a comeback for the company that was once king of consoles. EGM's March issue proudly proclaims on its cover that it's "The Revenge of the PS3". EDGE's December issue was entitled "The Empire Strikes Back" and even Joystiq's PS3 Fanboy has given us 10 reasons why the PS3 is back in the swing of things. Some analysts have proclaimed that the PS3 will do at least as well as the 360 in 2008, and others have the PS3 edging out the 360 by 2010 or even the Wii by 2011. Clearly, everyone is pointing to 2008 being a turning point of sorts for the Cell-powered beast. But is it actually true?

Let's focus on, at least initially, Sony's battle against the 360. Certainly, the PS3 has a lot of things going for it. Blu-ray has officially won the next-gen DVD war; upcoming games, such as Metal Gear Solid 4, Killzone 2, and LittleBigPlanet show tremendous potential; and it has seemingly found a price point that people are willing to pay (as they did originally for the 360). In the US, at least so far this year, Sony has managed to outsell the 360 according to January and February NPD figures. But will it be enough?

January's NPD results had the PS3 topping the 360 by 39k, a reversal from the previous month's 400k advantage for the 360, while February showed a 26k advantages over the 360. At this rate, using numbers from VGChartz, the PS3 would need nearly 18 years to overtake the 360 in the US. If this didn't look bad enough, Microsoft also claims that it's had supply shortages for its console early this year. If true, Sony has an even steeper hill to climb assuming Microsoft can work out these "shortages."

Sony has to rely on other opportunities that present themselves this year. Certainly, its Blu-Ray win is one thing that it hopes will generate momentum. Unfortunately, so far, people haven't looked like they're in a hurry to buy the PS3 now that Blu-Ray has won. From January to February, after Warner Bros. effectively ended the format war, the PS3's sales only went up 4%, while 360's sales went up 11%. Perhaps since the format war wasn't officially over yet the news hadn't taken effect yet. It could also take some time before clarity in the HD disc market actually trickles into the console market, particularly if this old survey is still an indication of people's knowledge of the PS3's Blu-Ray capabilities. While the PS3's perception on this has probably improved, Sony also likely realized that it needed to continue to increase awareness of movie-playback capability. The fact that a Spider-Man 3 Blu-Ray was being packaged in with PS3's over the holiday period is certainly an expression of that, as is the "Movie Pack", which comes with 3 movies, that is going to be made available in Europe very soon (and I'm actually surprised something like it isn't going to be marketed in the US as well). Assuming Blu-Ray gains in popularity, it could certainly accelerate the PS3's adoption at least until Blu-ray players hit a mass-market price, after which, most people looking for a way to play Blu-ray movies will probably opt for the standalone player. For this very reason, I'm not confident that the PS3's inclusion of Blu-ray will help it narrow the gap with the 360.

If not Blu-ray, then perhaps the games will help propel Sony into the lead? After all, Halo 3 moved quite a bit of hardware last year, so couldn't MGS4, Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet, and Gran Turismo 5, among others, do the same for the PS3? No doubt, there is a lot of hype behind those titles, but unfortunately for Sony, they're no Halos. Granted, nothing else really is, but they're no Marios, Brawls, or Mario Karts either. Hell, Gears of War sold nearly as many copies as MGS3, MGS3: Subsistence, and Killzone combined at a time when the PS2's base was substantially larger than the 360's currently. As much praise as the MGS series has received, they don't have an extremely wide appeal. LittleBigPlanet, obviously as a new property, is completely untested and it is hard to tell whether it will reach the PS3's current demographic, as it seems more in tune to Nintendo's. Gran Turismo may be, surprisingly, the strongest property here; its last outing selling nearly 9 million copies, but again, with a 100+ million installed base. None of this is to say that PS3 owners shouldn't be celebrating these game releases, but as properties, they have not proven to be "killer apps". Easily, Sony's biggest games from the last generation were the Grand Theft Autos, all of which sold more than 11 million copies each, and whose newest installment is a multi-platform game with exclusive content going to the 360. Despite the strength of its lineup and without an exclusive like GTA, Sony may not have a killer app.

Sony is, for its part though, playing it smart with the properties it has by creating what are likely to be fairly popular and lucrative bundles for both MGS4 and Gran Turismo 5 (in Europe anyway). While I'm sure that MGS4 will sell fairly well by itself to the hardcore PS3 crowd, packaging a well-known exclusive name with a PS3 could help less hardcore fence sitters decide that it's the system they want, particularly in a year with no Halos on its closest competition. Still, while the 360 doesn't have a Halo, it does still have some high-profile games coming out. If Microsoft is able to market exclusive games like Gears of War 2, Fable 2, and Too Human effectively, it may well be able to counter the impact of the PS3's new games, particularly if the games fail to impress as Lair and Heavenly Sword did. Even with positive reviews, there's still no guarantee that they'll sell as well as "killer apps" are expected to, as Ratchet and Clank Future and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune demonstrated. If the games still don't sell well, it's unlikely they'll drastically improve the PS3's sales. Sony's going to need quite a bit of positive buzz around its system and these games if they hope to make up its nearly 7M unit deficit to the 360 in the US. I'm not sure I see it happening by 2010, 2011, or at all.

Which brings us to an interesting possibility: can the PS3 take 3rd place in the US but overtake the 360 in the world market? There may be an opening for Sony here. As we all know, the 360 has sold abysmally in Japan. Sony has already sold about 1.4M more PS3's than Microsoft has 360s, and this trend will probably continue, if not accelerate. If we simply take the average sales of the consoles on a monthly basis from the time of their release, the PS3 would net roughly 5M consoles alone from Japan. In Europe, the PS3 is closing fast and is about 500k consoles behind the 360. Indeed, Sony expects to overtake the 360 in Europe this summer. Projecting in a similar manner as before, surprisingly, the PS3 nets another 5M against the 360 over 3 years from Europe and other PAL regions. The PS3's strength in Europe and Japan could very well offset its weakness in North America, but if the 360 can retain its strength in the US, it will be pretty close in the worldwide numbers. Obviously, over even more time it looks quite possible that the PS3 will surpass the 360's worldwide numbers.

As for catching the Wii like some analysts have suggested? Considering the Wii has so far more than doubled the sales of the PS3 in nearly every region in the same time frame (slightly less than double in Europe), has consistently been selling out at least in the US every month it's been available, and continues to dominate in sales around the world every month, this seems exceedingly hard to believe. Certainly, sales are not static and the Wii could slow down as the PS3 speeds up, but starting almost 12M units down with no real signs that it can outsell the Wii, it would take a serious stumble by Nintendo to lose its lead here. By my calculations, over 3 years, the PS3 would need to net over 300k units per month to catch Nintendo now. We've seen no precedent for this yet, and even with new games coming out for the PS3, it seems unlikely that the momentum would shift so drastically in its direction. I would think that for Sony, just gaining parity with weekly Wii sales would be considered a huge success at this point, let alone surpassing its sales by a few hundred thousand units.

So, is this the "Year of the PS3"? Perhaps as a gamer, as the system seems to have many of the "big exclusives" this year. As far as its sales, things are a bit more mixed. While the PS3 is likely to overtake the 360 in Europe, it still looks unlikely that its situation will change in US, even with the success of Blu-ray and a potentially strong software lineup. Still, the trend in sales worldwide looks like it could settle comfortably in second place. Ironically, before the 360 launched, everyone considered whether a console could succeed on a worldwide scale without succeeding in the all-important Japanese market. To some extent, it looked like the US would be big enough to determine its success. But that was apparently only part of the question. The other part is whether a console that performs marginally in the US can actually compete at the worldwide level (at least for second place). Seemingly, Sony is set to demonstrate that the answer is yes.
As co-editors of A Link To The Future, Geoff and Jeff like to discuss, among many other topics, the business aspects of gaming. Game companies often make decisions that on their face appear baffling, or even infuriating, to many gamers. Yet when you think hard about them from the company's perspective, many other decisions are eminently sensible, or at least appeared to be so based on the conditions at the time those choices were made. Our goal with this column is to start a conversation about just those topics. While neither Geoff nor Jeff are employed in the game industry, they do have professional backgrounds that are relevant to the discussion. More to the point, they don't claim to have all the answers -- but this is a conversation worth having. You can reach them at

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]]>Counting-RupeesGran-TurismoGT5HaloKillzone-2Killzone2LittleBigPlanetMetal-Gear-Solid-4MGS4NPDJeff Engel2008-03-20T21:00:00+00:00Killzone 2 dev admits screenshots 'touched up'http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/10/killzone-2-dev-admits-screenshots-touched-up/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/10/killzone-2-dev-admits-screenshots-touched-up/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/10/killzone-2-dev-admits-screenshots-touched-up/#commentsFiled under: , ,

killzone 2
Even virtual worlds need to visit the powder room before parading in public. The practice of 'touching up' is something our shallow, image-conscious society accepts (heck, we expect it!), so long as the object doesn't stray too far from our idealized imaginations. So when Guerrilla Games rolled out a new batch of Killzone 2 screens, captured from this year's E3 demo, fans noticed the images looked a little too good to be true, drawing obvious connections to Killzone's infamous E3 2005 debut trailer, which substituted actual game content with pre-rendered 'target' video.

Guerrilla QA manager Seb Downie joined the discussion on the PlayStation Forums, admitting, "[The screenshots] are only the tiniest bit touched up ... there was a little bit of colour-correction done and some minor polish, but nothing major." The comparison image above, also posted in the discussion (via PSU), seems to corroborate Downie's admission, revealing sharper colors and deeper contrasts in the 'doctored' screen on the right (effects that seem within the limits of standard display settings; i.e., a television could be capable of displaying both the dull and stylized versions of this scene by tinkering with its display settings). Also, the "original" version of the image is a frame snagged directly from video, so it's subject to a certain amount of blurring that's not necessarily an accurate depiction of gameplay frozen in that instant. In any case, how can a screenshot ever tell the truth? Downie concludes that Killzone 2 simply "looks better in motion."

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]]>guerrillakillzonekillzone-2killzone2James Ransom-Wiley2007-12-10T13:10:00+00:00Killzone 2 dev: Blu-ray is a necessityhttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/17/killzone-2-dev-blu-ray-is-a-necessity/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/17/killzone-2-dev-blu-ray-is-a-necessity/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/17/killzone-2-dev-blu-ray-is-a-necessity/#commentsFiled under: ,

The upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive Killzone 2 could not fit onto a DVD (capacity of dual-layer disc: 8.5 GB), according to the game's producer Steven Ter Heide. In an interview with GamePro, Heide said, "It is not a luxury to have Blu-ray, but rather a necessity, as compression only gets you so far."

He added that the one level shown at E3 took 2GB of space (approx. 24% of a dual-layer DVD), which is unsurprising since he said the same thing during an E3 presentation. Assuming he meant assets exclusive to the level (we're guessing quite a few vehicles and enemies will be seen in multiple levels), that'd make for a rather short game on DVD. Still, it's hard to be convinced by the statement when reusable assets are factored in. The real decider will be the final product; we're hoping Heide's statements indicates a plethora of content when Killzone 2 comes out.

Heide also lauds the Cell processor. We wouldn't expect a Sony developer to join in on the hardware hate-fest, but we're not hearing a lot of other developers at this point standing up for the PS3. Killzone 2 still does not have a release date.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

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]]>blu-raydvdkillzonekillzone-2sonyRoss Miller2007-10-17T17:25:00+00:00