By Joseph Tresca
Microsoft introduced project Natal at this years E3 and it has gamers excited about the possibilities for an unprecedented level of interaction. Natal is a piece of hardware that will attach to your Xbox 360 and sit just below your television, which can track your body movement on a 1:1 ratio using two cameras pointed diagonally toward the user. In the world of 3D animation this technique has been used as a cheap form of motion capture, so it is great to see this technology become cheap enough so that the average consumer can experience it in the world of games.
Natal also can record and understand voice commands although the accuracy of this feature has yet to really be determined. It is this voice recognition feature that really has my interest. Imagine if you will a game such as Monkey Island, Space Quest or Kings Quest where you use your voice to ask questions, glean information and solve puzzles. This feature could revitalize the adventure genre if it is all that Microsoft claims it is cracked up to be. In fact the voice features combined with the motion capture could allow for a totally unique adventure game where you physically put the elements together required to solve the puzzle.
What about the RPG genre? With Natal again you could ask non player characters about pertinent information or interact with them to receive quests by simply asking them. When it’s time to battle, can you imagine Natal recognizing certain gestures such as a healing spell or fire ball while also recognizing sword and shield thrusts and parrying?
Natal’s first games should arrive sometime around the holidays in 2010 but until that time, dare to dream about the possibilities.
admin Industry News Microsoft, Motion Capture, motion control, Natal, Wii, Xbox 360
By Joseph Tresca
The iPhone 3G S has been released and it marks a substantial upgrade over the 2G and 3G versions of Apple’s wunderkind super phone. The inclusion of a faster 600 MHZ processor and double the ram with 256 MBs, has some consumers worried about the divide that will be created between applications which will be compatible with the old hardware and newer applications built specifically for, and perhaps more importantly, exclusively for the new 3G S. Aside from that, the new iPhone also supports openGL ES 2.0, which among other things has support for hardware driven programmable 3D Graphics.
Although I’m not yet a 3G S owner and I actually don’t plan to make the upgrade, I’m a big believer in allowing technology to advance beyond what I currently own. I realize that this sentiment isn’t shared by a large majority of iPhone users. iPhone developers will have difficult choices to make as to whether they should support the older API or the newer one. On the one hand it would seem insane to ignore the 40 million existing iPhone customers who purchase millions of applications from the App store each day, but on the other hand the graphic fidelity that ES 2.0 and the upgraded hardware can achieve will allow the iPhone to legitimately compete with Sony and Nintendo’s hand held gaming systems.
With features such as realtime shadows and normal mapping, the iPhone is now the most powerful handheld super phone in existence. And it is certainly more powerful than the Nintendo DS and Sony’s PSP. From a development standpoint the iPhone should be slightly easier to program for with its support of open code standards. Time will tell if Apple can make the iPhone a relevant handheld platform but the potential is very exciting.
admin Industry News 3G S, 3GS, Apple, Gaming, Handheld, iPhone, Touch
By Joseph Tresca
As a 3D Artist, I’m not easily impressed with todays console graphics, so when you read about me exclaiming how graphically good Drake’s Fortune 2 is, take note. I’m not kidding here when I say I wasn’t expecting the game to look this much better than the first iteration.
For starters the amount of texture detail and normal mapping is absolutely staggering. I have this issue where as an industry insider I have a problem seeing games for what they are meant to be. Visually I’ll instantly break down the look of what I’m seeing in a somewhat emotionless manner. With most games I’ll immediately take note of the polygon culling, improper lighting, low sampled shadows or badly drawn specular maps. That is unless the game’s art is intrinsically so beautiful that I see it as the creator intended instead of finding myself distracted by the production work. God of War 3 and Killzone 2 are the only other games I’ve ever perceived as art first and then production later.
So what else stood out? A lot. First and foremost the animation has been given a major upgrade. I feel that Naughty Dog have fully implemented their animation system this time around. Animations blend into one another so seamlessly that you cannot help but be sucked into Drake’s world.
The portion of the game that we played, multiplayer co-operative, worked very well. Three of us teamed together covering all sides as enemies showed a decent intelligence in their attempts to flank us.
I also liked the idea that often one person would need to go in a different direction to unlock or reveal pathways to level progression for the other players. The mini puzzles serve as a reminder that you are playing an adventure game instead of simply a third person action game.
Uncharted 2 will be available exclusively on the PS3 this November. I know after my short time with the game I’ll be picking it up on the day it releases.
admin Previews Adventure, Drake's Fortune 2, Graphics, Sony, Third Person Shooter, Uncharted 2
By Joseph Tresca
The Eyeballistic crew was able to get our hands on the Sony exclusive MAG which pits 256 players vs. each other in a no holds barred FPS frag fest. Though the game is somewhat lacking in the color department, it ran smoothly despite the massive amount of players and targets on screen. Each 16 man team has one squad leader who has the special ability to call in air strikes and mark targets for his squad to destroy.
The controls are very reminiscent of CoD4 and I felt instant comfortable aiming, shooting, running and jumping. Also just like CoD4 you can duck or go prone behind cover which I feel always adds an extra element of strategy to an FPS game. As fate would have it, Eyeballistic’s own William Countiss was assigned as squad leader, ironic given that Bill was a real squad leader in the Army for four years. When we finished playing we both agreed that although the levels are large, the fact that your team has specific objectives, keeps the pandemonium from being too overwhelming. Look for M.A.G. November 2009 on the PS3.
admin Previews
By Joseph Tresca
Let’s be perfectly upfront about this right from the beginning. Dante’s Inferno is God of War 3 with hell demons. You shouldn’t be put off by that though, the game is beautifully detailed and it runs at a blistering 60 frames per second. The animation is fluid and the bosses are huge. Yes there are quick timer events that allow for some gruesome finishing moves. Yes you fight waves and waves of nasty creatures in a very action centered environment but again any comparison between this game and God of War III is really a compliment.
Dante Inferno lets you play Dante, who wields a large scythe as he treks through the nine circles of hell based on the descriptions from the poem of the same name. After viewing a lengthy demonstration of the game’s Gluttony level in action, I’m convinced that this will be a day 1 purchase for me. Giant beastly demons attack on all sides attempting to eat Dante like a meeting of Overeaters Anonymous gone wrong. Each time Dante struck back at the relentless horde, I was dazzled by the fat physics EA has employed which show the blubbery masses jiggle to and fro. Demon babies attack from all sides, screaming demons were immolated and I must admit I loved every moment of the chaos. Mark this one on your calendar for 2010 because if what we saw was any indication of what the final game will look and play like then, wow.
admin Previews
