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Gran Turismo 5 By years End - Well Sort Of

Sony and Polyphony Digital announced today Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, a (DEMO) prequel title showcasing the forthcoming Gran Turismo 5 for PLAYSTATION 3, available both on Blu-ray disc and as a download from PLAYSTATION Network  at the end of this year. Gran Turismo on PlayStation is one of the most successful gaming franchises of the last ten years.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue features over 40 stunning cars – including vehicles by Lotus, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Ferrari for you to race on seriously realistic, real-life tracks: including the Eiger Nordwand, the London City Track and Suzuka – all rendered in incredible High Definition graphics. There’s also all-new driving physics for the most lifelike driving experience ever and new, improved opponent artificial intelligence for the toughest race challenge yet.

But that’s not all – for the first time ever in the history of Gran Turismo, you’ll now be able to race online. Up to 16 players will be able to go head-to-head on some of the world’s best racetracks on PLAYSTATION Network – all you need to get racing is a broadband connection and PS3. Once you’re up and revving, Global Online Rankings and the My Garage homepage feature will leave the world in no doubt as to just who is the best at Gran Turismo.

And then there’s the Online Dealership, providing a wealth of information on cars and manufacturers and also Gran Turismo TV – a dedicated online channel available exclusively from PSN and packed with some of the greatest content that Motorsport, car manufacturers and TV has to offer.

Key Features:

• The first ever Gran Turismo title with online racing: drive online against up to 16 other Gran Turismo aces
• Race a total of over 40 stunning, high-performance cars
• Race on seriously realistic, real life tracks including the Eiger Nordwand, the London City Track and Suzuka – then race them in reverse and with alternative routes
• All-new physics engine means true next-generation vehicle handling
• All-new and improved opponent AI for a nail-biting race experience
• Access to Gran Turismo TV : a world of great motoring TV programming online
• Online Dealership: Access to car manufacturers online
• My Garage - a personalised homepage feature with friends, chat and personal game records
• Quick Tune facility allows you to adjust power, tyres, suspension and more
• All in stunning High Definition at 1080p (race: 1080p-60fps, replay: 1080p-30fps)

Gran Turismo 5 – the full title – launches in 2008.

xbox Live to Deliver Music and Movies And Do It Faster

In a shared announcement made Thursday, Microsoft said that Limelight’s knowledge in content delivery network services would boost the Microsoft’s online lineup by helping to deliver music, films and games by way of less congested Internet routes, reported Reuters.

While financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, Limelight, which is already offering similar services to Dream Works, Facebook and MySpace, will also be able to make the most of unnamed Microsoft technologies.

Challenger content delivery company Akamai presently works with Sony and Nintendo to distribute media content across the gaming networks.

Eye of Judgment Simply Rocks, A Hands on Review

Eye of Judgment is a unique card game that works exclusively on the Sony Playstation 3 with the Playstation Eye camera. I got the chance to put my hands on the game at this years GenCon Indy and I must say I was impressed.

Eye of Judgment is played by setting the included Eye and stand, and playing field (3′ x 3′) on a flat surface, calibrating the device to the appropriate lighting, and simply playing cards. All board actions are mirrored on-screen. To summon a creature to the field or cast a magic card, which all costs mana, simply place the card on the desired zone facing the direction of your choice. Each creature has specific attack patterns and range, making facing important.

My question was: “What is stopping players from just looking their decks and picking the best cards to draw?” Well, before playing online, you must register your deck with the game, and during play it has randomly shuffled your cards and instructs you which card to you can play. So while nothing is stopping you looking at all the cards you have, the game knows what you actually have in your hand and keeps you from simply grabbing all the good ones immediately.

You can use the controller for non-summoning, non-casting actions, but it ends up being easier simply to use the cards. The game calculates all stats and figures, indicates when to draw cards, and informs players when they are attempting to perform an illegal move or do not have sufficient mana, all of which is extremely helpful given how many things are being tracked at one time by the game.

Fundamentally Eye of Judgment is about deck-building and strategy. Though the playing field is small and the goal (control five squares out of nine total) is seemingly simple, it can get a tad more involved with all sorts of secondary actions, possessing enemy creatures, dealing with alignment related effects (switching a zone’s alignment to mess with a creature) and so on.

The game offers two different playing modes. The first is the actual battle mode where monsters are summoned into engagement with each other. The second mode is the view mode where you are able to see the various monsters and examine their attributes. You can even conduct mock fight trials to see how they will perform in impending battles.

There will be three ways to play:

• As a single gamer playing against your PS3
• Two players playing against each other in the same room
• Two players playing against each other online

At release, the game will come with the gear needed to play along with a regular 30-card starter set and an eight-card booster pack. Sony, in partnership with Wizards of the Coast, plans to market the game as a full-scale collectible card game. When the game launches October 07, the total set will be comprised of 110 cards. Four months later, a 100-card expansion will be released, adding new rules in addition to the new cards.

Over all I think this is the best implementation of the playstation camera system ever. (I can’t wait to see what comes next for this technology) The card game has to be overall fun game to play or the great graphics and wow factor of the technology gets lost, and it was lots of fun to play. I was more than impressed with the game. Eye of Judgment provides an splendid visual experience that adds another dimension to traditional trading card games. I can’t wait for the release and it WILL be on my list for Christmas this year.

Gen Con: Star Chamber The Harbringer Saga ScreenShots

Star Chamber: The Harbringer Saga

Key features

• Play for Free! Free download access to tutorial single-player campaigns and multiplayer practice games.
• Innovative hybrid game play combines the best features of turn-based strategy and trading card games
• Multiplayer support for up to four players
• Ten races to choose from, each with a unique special ability
• Over 20 single-player scenarios that tell the story of The Harbinger Saga
• Single-player Skirmish Mode allows players to tune their decks against an AI opponent before facing opponents online
• Various tournament formats are offered 24/7, including constructed, sealed deck, and booster draft play

Sony And Sky Join Forces For Video On Demand Service In Uk

SKY and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe today announced the formation of a Joint Venture company to deliver on-demand entertainment content to owners of the PSP (PlayStation Portable) in the UK and Ireland.

The Joint Venture company, with equal Board level representation from SKY and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe will draw on the unrivalled entertainment aggregation expertise and technical leadership of SKY, and the handheld entertainment knowledge and brand power of PlayStation. The company will establish PSP and the new ground breaking video download service as the natural partners for those seeking the ultimate choice of portable entertainment content.

Focusing exclusively on delivering video content to the PSP, the Joint Venture will initially provide a wealth of video and film content to the more than 2.3 million PSP owners in the UK and Ireland. The two companies are already in discussions with entertainment content providers across Europe to facilitate future introduction of the service to European PSP owners.

More information on the service will be announced by SCEE at Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany on Wednesday 22nd August.

Pre-Order EQuinox Magazine And Get Beta Invite!

The first official print magazine entirely dedicated to EverQuest II, its players, creators and community is available for pre-order today! Available for purchase exclusively through the Station Store, EQuinox is 68 pages of glossy, full-color news, interviews, features, columns, previews, fan fiction, original content and in-depth guides to life in EQII, helping you maximize your playing potential. Produced by a dedicated team of writers and designers from within the EQII community and beyond, EQuinox is the only official EQII print magazine and is created in full cooperation with the developers of EQII at Sony Online Entertainment.

Pre-Order EQuinox now for Rise of Kunark Beta invite!
To celebrate the impending release of the EQuinox magazine, SOE is offering, with the valid pre-order of the EQuinox magazine, an invitation* to the beta program for EverQuest II Rise of Kunark–the highly anticipated fourth expansion pack. By pre-ordering the EQuinox magazine, subject to the terms and conditions listed below, you are automatically registered for entry into the beta program and will have the chance to play the expansion before its commercial release. Pre-orders for EQuinox are scheduled to end at 11:59 PM PDT August 8th, 2007**.

EQuinox Features Include
• 68 pages of high quality EQII-dedicated content
• Exclusive developer interviews, content and insider information
• Previews of upcoming events and reviews of the latest events to hit the world of Norrath
• 16 page Artisan section for all your crafting needs
• Original new fan fiction by some of the most passionate writers in the EQII community
• Guild advertising – use the pages of EQuinox to recruit players to your in-game guilds
• Information on community events, updates on contests and future EQII products and services

WHEN: Thursday, July 19th, 2007

WHERE:
To pre-order the magazine simply go to http://www.store.station.sony.com, click on EverQuest II listed under “products by game” in the left hand margin and follow the instructions.

E3 - No Price Cut for UK .. But You Get More Junk

Sony Entertainment UK has confirmed that there will be no price drop for the PS3 in the UK, despite a recent drop of $100 in the US. Instead a new bundle was introduced with two controllers and two free games.

The “Starter Pack” collection will remain at the current price of £425 for the 60GB hard drive version of the console. The collection will include two controllers, instead of just one, and a choice of two first party games. The Starter Pack will be available in the UK about July 18th and in continental Europe by August 1st.

E3 - Unreal Tournament 3 As Exclusive To PlayStation 3 System And PC

Midway Games Inc., Epic Games Inc., and Sony Computer Entertainment America today announced that the highly anticipated and award-winning Unreal Tournament 3 will be exclusive to the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and PC in 2007. Thanks to the open network of the PLAYSTATION 3 system, Unreal Tournament 3 will also be the first game to feature robust user generated content including multiplayer maps, custom game modes and much more. Developed by North Carolina-based, Epic Games Inc., Unreal Tournament 3 is scheduled to be available in November.

The technology behind Unreal Tournament 3, Epic’s world class Unreal Engine 3 will be fully optimized for the PLAYSTATION 3 system allowing game developers to take full advantage of the power and creativity that the engine offers.

“Midway is extremely excited to release Unreal Tournament 3 on the PLAYSTATION 3 system and PC,” said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. “We expect Unreal Tournament 3 to set the bar for what a first-person shooter and next generation game can truly be.”

“We feel very confident that Unreal Tournament 3 will continue to deliver on Epic’s promise to gamers to develop only the highest quality titles using our cutting-edge Unreal Engine 3 technology,” said Mark Rein, vice president and co-founder, Epic Games. “The game takes full advantage of the power of the PLAYSTATION 3 system, and Unreal Tournament 3 will for the first time allow users to create robust user created content, known as “mods”, on the PC version and play them on the PLAYSTATION 3 system. We’re extremely excited about this and we feel this will bring a level of creativity, innovation and replayability not previously seen on home consoles.”

“We expect Unreal Tournament 3 to be one of the most innovative and defining titles of this next generation,” said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America. “We are extremely pleased that gamers will only be able to experience Unreal Tournament 3 on the PLAYSTATION 3 system later this year.”

E3 - Prediction Xbox360 will have a Price Cut Announcement Tonight

Following confirmation of a PlayStation 3 price cut, several industry analysts are indicating they are expecting Microsoft to follow suit, despite the Xbox 360’s sales lead. Analysts are also expecting a price drop on one or more of the Xbox systems, between $50 and $100. Microsoft should be announcing the price drop at their tonight’s E3 Microsoft press conference.

My Prediction is that Microsoft is going to drop the price of the Xbox 360 Elite from $479 to $399, the Premium from $399 to $349 and the Core from $299 to $249.

We Can Only Hope ….. More Info After The E3 Microsoft press conference Ends.

Sony backs down over Resistance: Fall of Man

So. Well. It appears to be over. Sony have apologised for the whole kerfuffle over Resistance: Fall of Man using Manchester Cathedral in their game without permission.

Pretty boring really. A lawyer probably screwed up somewhere, as Sony originally states that they “believed that they had obtained all necessary permission.” Sony says sorry, but won’t remove the game from the shelves (Why should they?), but cannot help but leave a parting shot to the church “We do not accept that there is any connection between contemporary issues of 21st Century Manchester and a work of science fiction in which a fictitious 1950s Britain is under attack by aliens.” I am with Sony on this one. Manchester’s gun problems are a bad things, but this is not even set in the modern day, it is set over 60 years ago. And they are shooting aliens. Aliens. Not parishioners or priests, but aliens. The poor protagonist probably took shelter in the Cathedral (a compliment?) but then was pursued. Ah well. It’s all irrelevant.

I was just looking forward to reading the case name The Church of England v Sony.

Ace out.