This is what your local GAME might look like soon enough.

It has been widely reported by the gaming press, including Eurogamer, that the UK’s largest independent video game retailer is in financial difficulties. The firm had a poor 2011, and whilst many had hoped the Christmas season might bring a last minute reprieve it was not to be and sales were down close to 15% compared to the year before. To put this into context, most major high street retailers in the UK experienced a rise in sales compared to twelve months earlier, as Christmas 2010 had been so poor due to excessive snow and ice keeping shoppers away from their town centres.

To be fair GAME have, for a while now, been issuing profit warnings and talking of reducing the number of shops they have over the next one to two years. This of course is taking place at the same time as HMV recently having to reorganise its debts with its lenders. However, HMV have a broader range of products, less stores but larger ones (and hence can sell more and try a greater variety of activities) and have earnestly started moving the business into new areas, albeit some more successfully than others. The firm has invested in live music and venues, and started to transfer space in stores (which was set aside to plastic boxes) to fan related merchandise and technology.

This is not to say that HMV has the answer, but I mention it as a way of demonstrating that specialist music, film and game retailers are having to find new ways and that this is hardly new. Over the last few years we have gone from having, perhaps, 3-5 retailers offering such products per high street to 1-3, with some towns having barely 2. Those two are often HMV and GAME. There is now a serious chance that over the next 2-3 years this will reduce further to one or in some cases none.

The all conquering Amazon. It's taking sales from bookstores, toy stores and of course videogame stores. It's also the perfect platform to migrate from physical product to digital download or stream. Something it is pushing more and more.

Let’s look at the reasons why and what this means for both the games industry as a whole and the consumer. Whilst it would be easy to say it’s down to the increase in downloaded content (legal or illegal), it would not be true for the overall market. For PC, clearly, it has had a huge impact but the average store dedicates very little floor space to PC titles. Meanwhile in console land, whilst you can get a small selection of titles as downloads, most are retail only, or are retail only for a long time before they go onto Xbox Live, for example. Sony has started doing near simultaneous releases for a few titles, but it does not release numbers for the PSN store; though it’s safe to say that if a game is on for significantly more money there than it is priced in shops that it can’t be picking up many sales at present.

So what does the trouble at GAME signify? It could just be that the business expanded too fast and inherited too many shops, with a range of leases and costs which are unsustainable. In other words the business has put itself into the situation it now finds itself and is not systematic of any type of global change. I suspect though that this is not the only reason the firm finds itself in trouble. It expanded rapidly, largely on being the only place which had a good selection of titles and in more recent times in supplying a strong second hand offering.

Both areas are now under attack, from both Supermarkets such as Tesco and due to the online side of the business such as Amazon, Play and many independent ‘warehouse’ only operators using the Amazon/Ebay marketplace. Whilst GAME also has a strong online presence, it’s not actually that easy to use, and doesn’t offer great prices. This is because the focus of the business has remained its stores.

So we have established that most consumers are buying boxed games still, but the market is being redefined by the online retailers and supermarkets. Yet that is not the only factor in play here. We are buying less games. Sure some games are selling in huge numbers, and for more money per purchase, but we are buying less overall.

When discussing market size, services such as PSN, STEAM and others are rarely included in such figures. However, it's clear that if you are a PC gamer, you download, you don't get the box.

The size of the UK market shrunk last year. The UK is not alone. Some people are hoping a new console generation will solve this. I doubt it will in the short term. In the medium to long term it will as people who currently play games continue to, whilst new younger generations join the ranks of hardcore gamers. However at present, there will be no sudden demographic shift where we immediately find new consumers to join our ranks. Such a culture change last took place during the Wii/DS generation and at least 30% of that has since found that smartphones suffice, as they were never hardcore gamers to begin with.

As I’m sure many of you will have noticed the games we buy take longer than ever to complete. Aha, I know what are thinking; Modern Warfare 3. This takes a bus ride to complete. That as we know is the single player experience only. The online is an ongoing all consuming social experience, with more special op operations being added, more multiplayer maps and modes. Even the Elite experience is designed to take up your gaming hours with stat analysis! Yet check out the games sale’s figures. It made more than Black Ops but sold less copies in 2011, as reported by Eurogamer.

So back to the idea of launching new consoles. The Vita is out pretty soon and as it offers an HD experience in your hand it, ironically, will split consumer spending even more. It won’t increase the size of the hardcore market but take purchases away from the PS3, Xbox and WiiU. In case you missed it we are now in the midst of a deep economic slow down, which for some people is starting to look like a depression, or at least a slow and ongoing contraction (which could last up to a decade). Whilst the entertainment sector as a whole is less effected during downturns (as reported by TIME, quoting the ever popular Michael Pachter), as people need escapism and spend less on holidays and other high price ticket items, it’s clear that new consoles and games costing £35 or above are now falling into the luxury area of disposable income for many, bar a few yearly purchases where value is eked out through replay and DLC offered throughout the year.

So less games are being bought, which means less games being traded, which results in less profits on second hand sells for the retailers such as GAME. The more money we spend on AAA titles and then investing in DLC to go with them also means we are more likely to play them to death and not trade them in (compounded by the ‘online pass’ feature meaning second hand copies lack online functionality).

So back to the present. In the short term this has been an awful week for GAME. Whilst they have managed to secure support from publishers and creditors it seems logical that consumers will slowly start to place pre-orders elsewhere in case the inevitable happens soon. Also will you be taking your games there to get reward points? What happens if the company goes down the pan and you haven’t spent those points? The time to redeem could be now, which could actually give the firm a short rebound, but if we don’t take in new games to part-ex against other new titles their business model will dry up. Publishers meanwhile will start to encourage the platform holders to push digital delivery, at decent prices (perhaps) and at the same time as the game launches on the high street. The days where they had to protect their retail distribution is perhaps starting to end.

The loss of GAME or HMV won’t mean the end of retail or a lack of competition for the consumer. We have 3-4 supermarkets in the UK of a decent size. In addition we have a plethora of online retailers all able to sell a product which is not required to be sold on the high street. After all it’s just a box with a disc in it.

The next generation of consoles will offer discs, but ultimately though, game retail will stop being physical and the next generation of consoles will offer all titles as near simultaneous digital copies, at competitive prices, as the publishers will learn a lesson from the (eventual) demise of GAME. Whilst it’s always been in their interests to protect and look after their retail channels, times are a changing and they now must look after themselves and their future distribution partners i.e. the platform holders themselves.

As predicited TVs are now shipping with game streaming software built in. This of course is a threat to everyone in the industry, but is much more of an immediate threat to one trick ponies such as GAME.

Assuming the next generation of consoles also offer a streamed game service in parallel to downloaded content for those with broadband fast enough (it’s safe to assume that a large enough market will exist 5-7 years from now with super fast broadband in many countries), it is clear that there is no hope for businesses such as GAME and HMV. In the UK it could be argued that the decline in the high street retailing of games really started with the demise of Woolworths and Zaavi (which is now online only), but the troubles at GAME have demonstrated that perhaps we have become perilously close to the tipping point which will lead to a fundamental change in the way in which the majority of gamers purchase and access future content.

This image has threatened traditional gaming since around November 2006.

It’s been a year of worry for the traditional gamer. Whilst gaming might seem to be an ever growing past-time, some of the traditional elements which make up the industry have seemed fragile. Publishers have been busy shutting down traditional developers, especially those famed for 3D racers, but beyond too.

We have seen shops such as Gamestop starting to seriously invest in alternative delivery platforms such as their own tablet and streaming services, fearing a fast-arriving dead end to their current business model. Indeed in the UK, where GAME have been less aggressive in moving into new areas of the business, we are witnessing the start of what will be a contraction of its street presence over the next five years. HMV, too, are struggling and are being quite open about the idea that they might not be around in the next 2-5 years in any shape or form.

Alongside this we have seen traditional hardware providers, such as Microsoft and Sony, in effect pour cold water on the idea of an early start to the ‘next generation’ as it is only really now that they are generating real profit dollars from their investment in current hardware and software. Whilst they might feel the urge to produce something new in the face of the soon to be released Wii U, both companies will resist in the knowledge that they have healthy, steadily improving install bases and technology which still won’t look outdated, even compared to the Wii U. I suspect they have noticed that the current generation of hardware is actually perceived to be cutting edge by many consumers today, despite being very behind suped up PCs. Hence there is little demand to bring a new, expensive console solution to the market in these difficult economic times.

Look, look I got some new plastic! But no games or applications to use with it!

Nintendo’s own year has been a difficult one, until the final quarter came around with the upturn witnessed in the holiday season. The launch of the 3DS was undermined by a range of mistakes. A high price, which did not actually put off day one early adoption but which did kill day two, three and further afield purchases. This drop in sales and consumer relevance was then compounded by the device having no actual new software (quality or otherwise) for months after release! It was almost as if Nintendo itself was surprised by the release of the console. One suspects that this observation might be closer to the truth than some might realise. Could it be that Iwata suddenly panicked when he saw the drop off in DS hardware and software sales in late 2010 and early 2011, and thought a hardware launch, which was due for November 2011, should be brought forward? Could it be that he actioned this change of timeline, forgetting that the software development teams couldn’t speed up, pro-rata?

This would explain the lack of software, both in terms of game titles and the also slightly unfinished operating system, which is still having parts of its online functionality added by firmware to this day; but which the software team have admitted were due to be there from day one.

Indeed Nintendo have taken a bashing on behalf of traditional gamers everywhere. Analysts the world over have decided that Nintendo could be the RIM (the makers of Blackberry products) of the games industry. Everyone likes to be the one who can call the end of the world (just ask the Mayans) and analysts are as human as the next guy (really they are) and Nintendo was their punching bag in 2011. The narrative went like this – people are moving from dedicated gaming devices to iPads and smartphones. Why spend £30 on a game, when you can get freeware or £1 software? The logic was sound, but too simple. People will always buy something they want, you just need to give them something they actually want, and come the end of the year Nintendo seemed to be achieving this. The 3DS sales are now running ahead of all predictions and confidence is not only building in the platform, but in the traditional games market in general. What started as a bad story for Nintendo and the industry as a whole has started to evolve into a success story.

Of course the area of growth which has probably received the most headlines, is the continued march of the social and casual gaming market. This encompasses everything from the Just Dance franchise, to the exponential growth of the Farmville type experience. There is no question that the online ‘Sim’ style of gameplay is not only hugely compelling but ideal for multi-platform, cloud play. Users can switch from the PC to their tablets, and in theory continue on the Sony Vita, as many of these games start being released in the platform agnostic HTML5 coding language. Indeed as televisions become ‘smarter’ with their own implementation of Kinect-like experiences, merged with an appstore, we can expect to see continued growth in the use of such genres. For hardcore gamers, this can be seen as a threat, as it potentially pulls funding from the type of projects they would traditionally welcome. Indeed if one looks, as an example, at Disney Interactive, it is moving evermore into this social and casual space and further away from traditional AAA game titles.

Should we as traditional gamers be worried by this? Probably not. Firstly the world is not black and white (even though according to my dad, when he was a boy it used to be – just look at old films back from when he was a youngster he tells me) and hence some of us also play those social games (maybe less so the dance titles). After all they are really very similar to RPGs, but often the character is the ‘farm’ or ‘restaurant’. However it also means that those AAA titles that are released get an increase in funding, and hence we should see an ongoing rise in production values and overall quality. The end of year titles released in 2011 are probably the best evidence for this. The range of software in your local GAME or Gamestop is reducing, but who can dispute the quality of Batman Arkham City, Skyrim, Uncharted 3 and the top shooters, MW3 and BF3?

Let us not forget the great games that have come out on XBLA, PSN, Android/iOS and recently on the 3DS, which is starting to have some quality digital titles. If you are a dedicated gamer, and not just someone who dives in to kill some time, you have never really had it so good.

What will 2012 bring to the story? For sure, we will see the ongoing decline of brick and mortar shops. Boxed product will still exist, and we will probably continue to see the ongoing investment into ‘limited edition’ versions which will help to prolong the life of this boxed product. However for many they will only order via online, postal only services. Shops will simply start to close or become trading and part exchange locations.

Game of the Year 2012?

The year ahead, when it comes to software, is going to be a very exciting year. Max Payne 3, Grand Theft Auto 5, MW3 map packs and BioShock Infinite (have Take 2 already sewn up 2012?) are already in our consciousness. The 3DS has some superb first and third party exclusives arriving in early 2012 too, and the industry will have the US and European launch of the Vita to look forward to.

The Wii U will release. Nintendo will see this as a slow burner, as the Wii at its new price is still selling strongly. However for those wanting to upgrade it could spoil the party for the current levels of PS3 growth and Xbox steady sale projections. Why? Because for those who already have a Wii (and only a Wii) and are considering what to step up to then if the Wii U ticks a number of boxes, it’ll be the natural platform to choose. What are those boxes?

• If the Wii U has the same range of ‘adult’ software as the 360 and PS3 in addition to being 100% backwards compatible with all their Wii content.
• If it allows them to play all the new Mario titles, along with new Nintendo only IP. Expect Nintendo to make a push to position the Wii U as the first console to take MMOs seriously with a controller designed for them.

The ultimate home based tablet and server solution?

If the above happens, then who would not buy the Wii U over one of its HD counterparts? Those of us already with a Wii and 360, or PS3 will probably fail to become early adopters. That’ll be fine by Nintendo though, as once the new inevitable Mario games and Pikmin are released, and once the hardware does eventually drop in price, they know we will still invest.

What Nintendo decides to do with its online provision for the Wii U though is very exciting. Nothing is really known, but all the rumours suggest a very open online service, perhaps with multiple portals such as EA’s Origin and Steam. However, if they could be linked with a single Wii U identity (not a friend code!) it suggests a range of delivery services, offers and perhaps even streaming services being offered through the platform, alongside its own propriety content.

2012 could be Take 2's year, at least when it comes to Metacritic scores. Sales will surely follow.

As the economy continues to stumble, the games industry will clearly find that growth and expansion is stunted by the social and economic factors around them. Yet if any leisure industry will succeed in these tough times, it’ll be ours; and 2012 will be another step forward.

• Format: PSP (PSP Camera required)
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
• Developer: Novarama
• Players: 1-4
• Site: http://uk.playstation.com/psp/games/detail/item392092/Invizimals%E2%84%A2-The-Lost-Tribes/

Imagine: you’ve bought a new CD, one with a generous number of tracks. The first few songs show innovation yet are somehow comfortingly familiar; you like this disc. Before long however things get a little too experimental, and it doesn’t work; it’s just unwelcome noise. Then another good song, another failure; you see a pattern. The biggest problem is that there’s no way to skip straight to the good songs on this CD. Turn this album into a game via the magic of imagination, and you have Invizimals: The Lost Tribes.

Let’s get the story out of the way. As terrible as it is, it’s the least of the game’s worries. I:TL makes a real effort to tell a deep and engaging story, but you’ll wish it didn’t. It’s all live action, with a sprinkle of cheap special effects thrown in. The best thing about it is the impossible-not-to-love Brian Blessed but, for the most part, he’s thrown to the sidelines to make way for actors and actresses you don’t know (and after this, wish you’d never begun to know). The sets, direction, and desperate acting are reminiscent of the nineties fad for FMV games (this is not a good thing). Best of all, these sequences are unskippable. Oh joy!

The basic idea is that you find and capture the eponymous Invizimals (oh, like ‘invisible animals’ – clever!) and then pit them against other Invizimals in fights, like some kind of evil dog trainer. Yes, it does sound rather like… you know, but it differs in various ways. First of all, you have to ‘find’ each one. This is set up as you progress through the story, but doesn’t really work as well as it’s supposed to; while the on-screen characters are babbling about you finding Invizimals in, say, Greece or Thailand, you’ll always be sweeping the PSP camera’s view over your sofa, floor etc. in your search.

Is it just us, or does this one look like Michael Caine? No? Never mind.

In a quite frankly stupid decision (not the last), each Invizimal is ‘hiding’ beneath a particular colour, meaning you’ll usually be scrambling around for objects rather than floors or tables. How many dark purple surfaces do you have in your living room? Worst of all, without 100% perfect light the camera struggles to recognise colours correctly, rendering the whole idea utterly pointless. Once you’ve managed to get the ‘scanner’ to accept a place the Invizimal is hiding, you can get on with the capture.

In theory you’re supposed to place the ‘trap’ (the specially marked piece of card bundled with the game) on the spot the scanner was happy with, but any surface will do. After an overly simple minigame lasting a few seconds, you’ll trigger a video of one of the characters talking to camera, explaining how to capture the Invizimal. There are 150 Invizimals in total, and each has its own minigame you need to complete in order to capture it. It seems odd that there’s no menu allowing you to replay any you’ve already done, but then there are few – if any – good enough for you to want to replay them. Mostly they’re inoffensively forgettable affairs, but some are downright infuriating.

The developers have now and again used the presence of the camera to mimic a gyroscope, which is a great idea – until you try it out, when you immediately realise that it is in fact a really, really stupid idea. You need to tilt the PSP at fairly steep angles to have the game recognise what you’re doing, meaning that it’s very easy to lose sight of the trap – which you will do again, and again, and again. Once you’ve repositioned and centred the system to reactivate the AR imagery, more often than not you’ll be in completely the wrong position (and frame of mind) to tilt quickly enough, and you’ll be another step closer to failure – which means scanning again.

Combat, in ‘club fights’ (essentially optional fights to level grind) and tournaments, is actually great fun. A mix of turn based and real-time combat, stamina bars and delays between activating moves prevent you from spamming attacks while guarding is entirely manual; timing your guard perfectly will reward you with a perfect or near-perfect defence. Each Invizimal has two standard attacks (minor stamina use, average damage), one quick attack (major stamina use, difficult to defend against), and one strong attack (major stamina use, major damage but slow to perform, so easier to defend against). This forces a tactical mindset during matches, especially as there is a kind of ‘rock paper scissors’ effect between certain classifications of Invizimal and certain types of attack.

Once captured, you can name an Invizimal whatever you like. The biggest challenge of the game is resisiting the urge to be rude here.

It’s not usually clear which classification each Invizimal falls into, though this does at least become (fairly) obvious during a fight. Of more concern is levelling your creatures. You’ll need to do at least some grinding, as it’s not long until you come up against your first fight unwinnable with level 1 Invizimals. Though fights are fun enough for grinding to avoid becoming frustrating, it seems almost pointless when you realise there’s usually a ‘boss’ waiting to be captured around the corner, already several levels above most of your horde.

These fights are separated regularly not only by unwelcome movies and occasionally frustrating minigames, but also by virtual jigsaws (each with a time limit) and initially confusing lightbeam redirection puzzles. Some of these are optional; why on Earth others were made compulsory in order to progress is beyond us, especially as they jar horridly with what should be the focus.

You can fight matches locally, a good reason to buy the game if you know other Invizimal fans. Online matches are an option too; but lobbies are few and far between, and packed full of high-level creatures. Not much of an option unless you’ve finished the main quest and/or are up for some serious grinding. In fact, the online aspect sums this game up nicely – there’s fun to be had here, but you’ll have to work for it.

• Format: PSP (PSP Camera required)
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
• Developer: London Studio
• Players: 1
• Site: http://uk.playstation.com/eyepetadventures/

The oft-ignored PSP camera is getting some love from Sony at the tail end of 2011 with two Augmented Reality animal sequels. EyePet Adventures is likely to be the one to catch most people’s proverbial eye, with not only a PSP prequel but also a few PS3 cousins. The idea in Adventures is to meld a virtual pet with a more traditional exploration-based gaming experience; though unfortunately, with one foot in each genre, its legs are spread so far apart it loses its footing and does itself a mischief.

After wading through the poor scripting and acting (which never gets any better) of the semi-animated intro which introduces players to the concept of the EyePet explorer’s club, you can call the eponymous EyePet into your living room, kitchen, stranger’s garden etc. This is achieved via the ‘Magic Card’, a sturdy, um, card marked with the iconic EyePet pawprint. Place the Magic Card on a flat surface (the game insists this should be your floor), point the PSP camera at it from a safe distance, and the game knows where to magic up the AR trickery.

When you load (and, unexpectedly, install) the game for the first time, you can’t actually do very much with your adorable bundle of fluff. You can make him/her/it follow an icon around the floor, take photos as and when you wish of your new friend wandering around the environment, and… that’s about it. This is where the explorer craft comes in. Thanks to the magic of AR, it breaks up through the floor and takes your EyePet down to a surreal world containing creatures such as giant snails, octopodes, and hanging vines ready to ensnare the unwary. If you live in a flatblock and your child starts giving the family downstairs strange looks after playing this game, you know why.

In the foreground is the official Critical Gamer EyePet, Tim. In the background is a graphical glitch.

Despite carrying the ominous name of The Underworld, this is not a place of danger, suspense and fun. It is in fact a place of, well… boredom. You move the craft (piloted by a generic EyePet silhouette) around this environment with the analogue stick or d-pad, collecting EyePet tokens that act as the game’s currency and items suspended in bubbles. You also… no, actually, that’s all you do. Although you unlock and buy upgrades for the craft which let you through previously impassable areas, and there is some basic interaction with objects and creatures now and again, the overly simplistic principle remains the same. Despite this the lack of any kind of map prolongs the agony longer than necessary, meaning many an older family member will be roped in to cover this part of the game.

This screenshot makes things look much more exciting than they are; and you're right, it isn't a very exciting screenshot.

The good news is that you should unlock well over half of the game’s content (including all six AR games) within an hour of play, and you can retreat to the inside of the craft – which acts as a sort of hub – at any time. It is here that you spend collected tokens on craft upgrades (you can buy new colours for it too – woo-hoo!) and clothes for your EyePet. Most interaction – or, more accurately, lack thereof – with your furry friend takes place here too. Want your EyePet to go to sleep? Go to the appropriate area, press triangle, and watch it sleep till you wake it up or quit the game. Want to feed it? Go to the appropriate area, press X, and watch as cookies fall into the food bowl and the EyePet eats them. Want to wash your EyePet? Select the appropriate area, press the triangle button, and watch steam crawl over a shower curtain. Doesn’t that sound like huge fun for your child? In all fairness, young kids will enjoy buying and using the various costumes, colours and styles for the EyePet; but that’s hardly a game in itself with great longevity.

Returning to the Surface (i.e. your floor) after enough time looting the Underworld will allow you to dive into the AR games, each with three levels of difficulty. The obligatory target shoot with moving targets is well done, and the only game that encourages you to move the PSP around for success – and is therefore the game most likely to frustrate young gamers as they find the camera loses its ideal line of sight with the Magic Card, and the play area disappears. Collecting treasure by hopping from raft to raft while tentacles attack isn’t nearly as exciting as it sounds, and digging for treasure on a desert island while scaring away crabs is distinctly ‘meh’. Defending a mini castle from rats while avoiding scaring off the knights who toddle in is a nice idea, but too easy; and herding two types of sheep (white run away from you, black follow you) into pens is well done and again a good idea, but not one that will hold interest for days or even hours.

This is the game that briefly threatens to hold your interest for more than a few minutes.

You can simply have your EyePet wander around the play areas without activating the games. This is a nice touch, and makes for new photo opportunities (you can take pictures at any time during gameplay, including the Underworld, which are saved as jpegs on the memory stick). It’s far from enough to save the game however, which suffers from a chronic lack of content and, most unforgivable of all, a distinct lack of fun and interesting ways to interact with your EyePet. Even the small selection of AR games are less complicated – and fun – than those which come pre-installed, for free, on the 3DS.

• Platform: PSP (also available on other platforms)
  
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
  
• Developer: Virtual Toys
  
• Players: 1 (2 via local multiplayer)
  
• Site: http://uk.playstation.com/psp/games/detail/item395065/Cars-2-The-Video-Game/

The poor old PSP may be on the way out – especially with the industry getting excited at the sight of the shiny new PS Vita on the horizon – but it’s not going to go down without a fight. Cars 2 is the latest multiformat title to help plump up the PSP game library; but what do you get once you scrape off the Disney movie license?

First impressions are good. There’s a quality CG intro to get you in the mood for mildly anthropomorphised automobiles, and the car selection screen reveals a generous selection of over 20 characters from the film (though most need to be unlocked). They all look exactly as they should and, though the voice cast seems to be a mix of original and stand-ins, the mimics do a very good job. Unfortunately, the further the game strays from the superficial Disney presentation, the more it struggles to cling on to the player’s attention.

The structured part of the game is a series of missions from the C.H.R.O.M.E organisation of the film. These missions therefore act as a story mode. We say ‘act as’ rather than ‘make’, as the only attempt to tell a story is via text and stock illustrations on the loading screens between missions (and the looong loading times ensure you’ll have plenty of time to read). In fact, even using the word ‘missions’ is disingenuous; more accurately, what we have here is a series of races.

There are five types of race. Battle Race is, in theory, the main attraction; though only a small portion of the races use this mode. Think Mario Kart and you’ll immediately have the basic idea. Race around the track for X amount of laps against opponents, using weapons randomly assigned from boxes you drive through to slow them down whilst avoiding or jumping over obstacles. You also have a four segment energy bar, filled with separate pickups. You can use each segment for either a speed boost or brief invulnerability to attacks (but not crashes); or save up all four for a longer, faster boost. Several problems conspire to stop this being as fun as it might sound.

Firstly, the isometric 3D perspective used – as opposed to a behind the car and/or cockpit view – can be problematic. It gives the (certainly intentional) impression of toy cars racing round a toy racetrack, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The combination of highly detailed backgrounds and a vaguely cinematic camera that swings round corners proves to be a double edged sword, however. As previously mentioned, there are obstacles; obstacles that force a restart no matter how fast or slow you were travelling when you hit them (thankfully, the spawn points are never more than a few steps back). Some are too tall to be jumped, and the choice of perspective means you sometimes only have a split second to swerve. Worst of all, a few tracks feature foreground details that, on occasion, obscure such obstacles until you’re a nanosecond aware from being a cheerily designed car wreck.

These races only ever feature four cars – including yours. Presumably this, and the young audience in mind for the game, influenced the decision to resurrect the practice of ‘rubberbanding’ that has been all but killed in the games of today. This means that if you fall behind, the other cars will politely slow right down until you catch up. We once deliberately crashed into the same obstacle several times, yet caught up with the race in a matter of seconds (on the highest difficulty). It also means that, no matter how careful you are to avoid crashing and no matter how well you use your boosts, at least one car will magically catch up with you if it looks like you’re in danger of making a decent lead for yourself.

Race is the same setup without weapons, while Against the Clock is basically a checkpoint run. Eliminator knocks out the racer in last place at the end of each lap, and Attack… Attack has the most potential. Here you go round and round the track until time runs out, destroying as many infinitely spawning ‘lemons’ (er, yellow cars) as you can. Each race has bronze, silver and gold trophies to be won (the game also has ‘badges’ in lieu of PSN trophies) and achieving gold in some of the Attack races actually presents a challenge. Although the idea is very simple, it requires more skill than the other modes. You’ll need to keep a close eye on when and where the lemons turn and swerve – to ensure that your attacks don’t miss – as well as watching for turns and obstacles as usual.

There are only 25 ‘missions’ (including the tutorial) and, no matter the chosen difficulty (which can’t be changed) and age of the player, virtually everybody will get through them all in no more than 3-4 hours. The ending encourages you to achieve gold in them all if you haven’t already, but it’s questionable how many will be interested enough. That aside, there is only Free Play – where you choose the mode and track for yourself – and multiplayer. We were unable to test the multiplayer element, being as it is local only. This seems like a real missed opportunity, as online play would have added a whole new – and likely much more attractive – dimension to the experience.

This game only does a few things particularly wrong, but the main problem is that it does nothing particularly right. Things are perhaps best summed up in the way the sixteen tracks have been designed. Visually they’re very well done, with the London areas being a particular highlight. They all feel the same though, sharing the same hazards, basic layouts and game modes. After half a dozen tracks you have, in essence, played the whole game.

• Format:PSP and PS3 Mini
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Tower Studios
• Developer: Vivid Games
• Players: 1
• Site: http://www.tower-studios.co.uk/

Do not dismiss this game because you have not got a PSP or do not use your PSP. Why? It’ll work on the PS3 and up and coming PS Vita. And why is it so important we bring this to your attention? Because this game is great, amazing value, and possibly the first PSN Mini which is a must have. Seriously. We’ll set out the argument below.

As with the IOs version the original metallic palette has been considerably brightened up.

If you recall we have already reviewed this game for iOS devices, and we gave it a ‘safe’ 7/10 score. It was the same great game of Speedball 2 that we could remember, but somehow some of the atmosphere seemed left behind and this was acerbated by a poor man’s compromise between tilt controls and a touch screen virtual joystick. For all the criticism the PSP has received over the years about only having one thumb stick, it is ironic that near the end of its lifecycle it receives a game that was designed for only one thumb stick! This was originally an Amiga game, and that platform utilised joysticks, which mainly only had one fire button and one simple control stick. The PSP is in its element here, and the game equally plays well on the PS3 (more on that later).

Speedball 2 is rugby, handball and Australian Rules Football combined in a future setting. It’s faced paced, and it involves scoring points in multiple ways. Methods of scoring include throwing the ball into the opposition’s goal, bouncing it off mechanisms in the field of play, or just by knocking out opposition players.

The graphics are sharp and the sound is as good as we remember on the Amiga, and seems to have been sharpened up a little; but that might just be psychological. Either way the presentation is excellent, with clear menus and updated graphics for team selection, and the whole package is very high quality.

Updated Menus make the game more accessible and smarter for 2011

The game has no multiplayer mode which is a real let down, but which is a problem with the Mini format, used to get this game to market. Multiplayer Speedball 2 would be amazing over PSN, and perhaps if this Mini does well Sony might be encouraged to request an upgraded PS Vita/PS3 version which is a full PSN release. What the game does offer is a full ten season career mode, a quick match mode and a challenge mode (which is really the career mode broken down into its individual elements). Additionally the game comes with its own form of achievements and trophies encouraging different styles of play.

In our previous review we had discussed the little known fact that there was a version on the GBA. We thought that it was a near perfect conversion of the game. The iOS version seemed a step back from that, but this PSN Mini version is a step in the right direction. We dug out our coveted GBA conversion (which is almost identical to the Amiga in every way) and overall we can say that this is an improvement on the original! The only two remaining issues are the already mentioned lack of multiplayer and that compared to the original, the characters don’t always seemed to be connected to the floor when running. This might simply be an illusion caused by a wider range of colours being used in the newest build; or it’s because the player animations have been tampered with, leaving an undesired effect visible to the player.

We really can’t stop emphasising how this game really suits this gaming platform. It is not just player movement which is far more fluid, but in addition the ability to curve the ball is given extra refinement with the implementation of proper analogue control.

Speedball has always been a great concept, and the original developers, The Bitmap Brothers, struck upon a timeless gem. The iOS version is still very good; but if you have a PSP lying about and/or a PS3 this is a must have download. Most PSN Minis are throwaway titles, but this will keep you coming back and back for a quick fix. The game looks just fine on the PS3 (a higher res build would be lovely, but this will suffice), unlike many Minis which don’t scale that nicely to a large HD screen.

If you want a hard hitting, addictive sports game which gives instant gratification get this now. Heck it’s only £2.49, which is less than the IOs version. Hopefully if enough of us get it Sony will see fit to commission a full PSN release with multiplayer, both local and online.

Part one concentrated on how Sony’s choice of games for the Welcome Back package could, potentially, rescue their profit margin in the long run. Despite this, they still have a long road to travel before they can confidently claim that the PlayStation brand has survived the security breach – particularly in Japan.

Japan was one of the last countries to see online play restored; and at time of writing, Sony’s PlayStation Store service has still not been reactivated there. This is a huge problem for Sony on several levels, and they must be careful when they finally resolve the issue. First and foremost Japan, while relatively small geographically, is a massively important territory in the world of videogames. Floundering there could prove to be disastrous. Not only would they lose face (not to mention money) in one of the world’s most important videogame markets, the publicity this failure would garner worldwide would see them lumbered with a new, no less awkward PR battle to fight.

That said, Sony are defending themselves from a position of strength within Japan itself. Matt, who until recently was living in Japan – and admits that he is speculating to an extent – says:

“There has been a lot of complaining online in Japan about why they are getting such a poor offering of games in comparison to the West. But like most dissent in Japan, it’s a fairly muted protest and is unlikely to make it outside of gaming forums etc.

Japanese people tend not to complain too loudly, but they do expect a certain level of service above and beyond what we look for in the West. In this way, people would expect some sort of offering from Sony as way of an apology, but they aren’t going to riot because they got stuck with Last Guy instead of inFamous.”

To date, nothing extra has been announced in way of compensation for Japanese consumers, despite their extended PSN downtime. What is interesting here is that in Matt’s opinion, the complaining that has already surfaced amongst PS3 owners in Japan regarding their Welcome Back package will remain just that – complaining, and nothing more.

It seems fair to presume that Sony believe this to be the case as well, and so are avoiding spending more on compensation than they deem absolutely necessary. A smart move from a business perspective. Matt goes on to say:

“I think to a certain degree Japanese people look to support their own industry/companies. Sony have long had a reputation in Japan for making goods which break very easily after a set period of time. This urban myth is widely known as the Sony Timer – yet it hasn’t stopped Sony from continuing to be the brand of choice for home electronics in Japan. A company like Microsoft would never survive such failures there.

Just for the record my PS3 packed in after three years on the dot, as did my friend’s, and strangely enough my wife’s Vaio laptop also died after three years!

Sony also operates from a position of strength in Japan. The PSP is the champion of the portables and the 360 is virtually non-existent over there. Sony shares the games market with Nintendo, but it dominates the core gaming audience, and knows it.”

We may be seeing a test of brand loyalty with an entire company’s reputation at stake… but there is reason to believe that it will prove to be not so much a gamble as it is a winning strategy carefully tailored to the region. In addition, while internet hackers are the source of Sony’s current woe, their recent activities have eased the pressure on the PlayStation brand more and more.

Since the infamous PSN security breach, there has been a veritable tidal wave of computer hacks mainly perpetrated by Anonymous and, most of all, by LulzSec. As more and more videogame companies suffered security breaches of one kind or another – Nintendo, Square Enix, Bethesda, Codemasters, Sega and more – it became clear that any accusations of Sony standing alone as open to hackers were entirely unfounded. When the list of victims of hacking and DDoS attacks soon included the CIA, the Spanish police force, The U.S. Senate, SOCA (Serious Organised Crime Agency in the UK) and the IMF (International Monetary Fund), it became much easier for people to view Sony as victims.

When three alleged hackers reportedly responsible for the PSN hack were arrested in Spain, it emerged that at least one of the men was also implicated in cyberattacks on an energy company, two banks, and government websites in eight different countries. If Sony’s nightmare scenario of a second security breach comes to pass, it won’t do nearly so much damage to the PlayStation brand as it would have done within a week of the first. It is now abundantly clear that few, if any, internet services are impervious to such breaches.

By the end of the current fiscal year, we shall see how well Sony have recovered from the security breach. All signs are currently pointing towards the likelihood of the company emerging victorious from the ashes of their pre-April reputation… if they can restore 100% of services in 100% of regions before the death of summer, if the dissent in Japan quickly fades away with the return of the final services, and if they can avoid another major PR headache.

The 3DS false start has caused some to fear the end of dedicated handhelds

Many analysts are claiming the death of the dedicated handheld console way too early. Article after article points out the huge number of smartphone sales and app adoption, and from there leap to the conclusion that this in some way means that there is no future in the dedicated handheld market. I disagree with this position and see that there is room for a strong dedicated handheld offering from the major gaming manufactures. That is not to suggest that I’m blind to the changes taking place in this sector, nor does it mean that I think there will always be a market for dedicated handhelds. I’m open to a world without them eventually, but I would argue it’s way too hard to make that call at present.

So why are ‘experts’ stating that this market is dying? Well clearly there are a ton of smartphones out there, and many are able to play high quality games. However there are five strong reasons why, for the next generation at least, handheld consoles have a role for the serious gamer.

Firstly, if you play games a lot on the move on your phone the batteries cannot cope. This means you’ll find yourself rationing or unable to make phone calls. With their primary purpose being able to make and receive phone calls, it is a major disability when the battery cannot allow such calls to take place. Even emailing a lot can drain the battery on most smartphones, which is why many business people choose to carry a blackberry for email and another phone for calls. Whilst batteries are coming along leaps and bounds, and the CPUs which drive these machines are improving drastically, the extra ‘oomph’ these improvements deliver are fast consumed by the increase in graphical quality and screen fidelity demanded by the consumer, content creator and hardware designer.

Secondly, apart from the Experia Play, all the devices lack credible physical controls. For some forms of games this is not a problem at all, and some have blossomed because of it; but it clearly leaves out a very large number of game genres (especially those adopted by the hardcore) from being experienced in their optimum environment. The hardcore might be a minority term; but it’s a rather large minority who are willing to spend large amounts of money on games and hardware if the content justifies the financial investment (I’ll get onto that in a moment). The hardcore complained about only having one analogue stick on the PSP, so we are hardly excited about having none on the iPhone. Devices that emulate a control stick via the touch screen create a new problem as fast they attempt to solve an existing one. Have you played Street Fighter 4 on the iphone? The controls are not bad, but I can’t for the hell of me see what’s going on as my thumbs are on top of the actual graphics. Now I’m sure some can live with this, but for those that justify this and go out of their way to tell me it’s acceptable, let me pop round to your house when you are watching Avatar in HD and stand in front of your TV wriggling my bottom.

Physical buttons are no fad!

Thirdly, the software ecosystem and dedicated IP offered by the two differing types of devices vary greatly. The smartphone with its app store has allowed a huge amount of content to be generated and sold at amazingly low prices. This is great for the consumer, especially consumers who have never purchased mainstream games before. Additionally, some hardcore gamers also enjoy this content. Apple’s App Store has been good for the genres which were being overlooked on traditional consoles. Additionally, in the case of the latter years of the DS, it has helped make a mockery of the type of software Ubisoft and others were putting out priced at £30 but offering little more than a 79p app. However, this same marketplace is unable to sustain AAA titles, except once in a while. Yes, the iPhone might have its own version of Splinter Cell, but it is a different, cheaper to produce game. Would we have ever seen the iPhone version of Splinter Cell take the lead with regard to design and publishing priority? I can’t imagine such a reality, unless Apple bought Ubisoft and made it an Apple only developer as way of selling more hardware (always a possibility moving forward).

An ecosystem with such low consumer prices cannot offer a return on investment similar to that provided by traditional consoles. Is it easier to make money on the App Store? For sure, in theory, if your app can get noticed. However, is it easy to make hundreds of million of dollars? Not at all.

Will Apple ever own an IP in the world of gaming?

Additionally, Apple do not yet own or publish internally commissioned content. Perhaps one day they might; after all they have bought music software businesses and other developers as a way of capturing other markets. Yet, at present they do not and hence they lack strong IPs, which can drive the sales of hardware. It could be argued that their best IP is the App store itself along with iOS, but that perhaps is not as strong in the long term as Mario, Uncharted, or LittleBigPlanet. An App store can be replicated, but quality IP cannot be (ask Gameloft).

You see, the handheld is to the videogames industry, what the Cinema is to the film industry. The movie industry needs cinema and to an extent huge HDTVs. The experience of seeing a film on such a large screen with amazing sound is unique and consumers love it. Hence movie studios are able to invest in quality IP that makes the most of the cinema experience and justifies the high price of the tickets demanded of consumers. In turn, the dedicated handheld with its physical controls and larger, or double screen viewing experience is a perfect stage for major games such as Ocarina of Time or Uncharted, which would not see the light of day on a smart phone.

Fourth reason; whilst on paper many of the devices can provide superb graphics, many are often behind the curve in contrast to the dedicated consoles. This is because with the case of the PlayStation hardware it launches well ahead of the curve and it’s only near the end of its life that phone based hardware really catches up. It can be argued that this differential is fast reducing, however, as the smartphone has to always be running phone, messaging and other services; in reality, they can never truly throw their full processing weight behind running a game. This is why even the 3DS graphics look great compared to phones, which are technically more powerful – just compare Resident Evil Mercenaries on the 3DS to the ios version.

Fifth, the price of smart phones, or at least the ones that can really rival dedicated handhelds, are very high. If bought out of contract they can cost close to £500 (iPhone) and the iPad price is £400-£600. The iPad is often mentioned as a handheld and even home based console competitor. Let’s remember a PS3 costs around £250 and does so much more – it’s a daft claim to argue they are in the same space in reality. The PS Vita in comparison is looking at being £280 at launch, with the 3DS already selling new for around £170. The argument goes, that the software for the 3DS and PS devices are much more, but see point three above – it’s not a like-for-like comparison and the hardcore market knows and understands this. That’s why they still buy Call of Duty every Christmas for £40 as well as Angry Birds. The hardcore perceive them as two distinct offerings.

It'll do everything you know, like a tablet, except it's aimed at serious gamers...

The 3DS has had a dismal launch but if the price stabilises around £150 by Christmas, then with a strong boxed retail line up and with a good range of £2-£8 content on its excellent eShop there is no reason why this won’t be a platform which performs excellently over the next 3-5 years, appealing to old and young alike.

The PS Vita could end up being the tablet for game lovers. It is clear that for many hardcore gamers the iPad is too large, too expensive and lacks physical inputs. If the Vita also has amazing (and flash enabled) browsing, full media capabilities, perhaps even ebooks, then it could end up being perceived as the gamers tablet of choice. It’s not by chance that Sony have moved away from the small screen format of the PSP Go, and decided on a screen large enough for a quality web experience, but more portable and manageable than that of the iPad. It’s also no surprise that the device might offer compatibility with the Android market, offering the best of both worlds from an app perspective.

Will we still be playing on dedicated handhelds in 15 years? Even I don’t want to look that far ahead, but if gamers still want physical controls, AAA content and as long as there between 50-200 million of them worldwide then this will be enough to justify companies existing to provide a solution to that demand with dedicated hardware. For the immediate future though, expect to see 3DS consoles and PS Vitas on birthday and holiday season gift lists for the next 5 years.

Angry Birds has been a HUGE success. It's no fad, there will be other similar successes, but that doesn't mean that this form of gaming will replace hardcore titles. However, the game can also exist on the 3DS and PS Vita and add value to their entertainment offer.

The disaster, of course, is the major PSN security breach. The triumph… is going to be difficult to evaluate until the end of the current fiscal year. What began as damage limitation could end up as a dramatic reversal of fortunes, due to a combination of smart decisions and pure luck.

First: the damage. When the PlayStation Network was taken down worldwide, that was bad enough; consumers were frustrated, and every minute meant untold dollars worth of lost revenue. A comment that hinted at an ‘outside intrusion’ was posted by an official at the PlayStation Blog, though this comment was swiftly removed. Eventually, it was admitted that Sony had taken PSN down themselves while they investigated what turned out to be the work of a hacker. Sony believed it was possible that user data including names, passwords, addresses, and credit card details had been stolen. Many amongst consumers and media alike were forthright in their anger. Why had so many days passed without this being announced?

Things only got worse for Sony. Dozens of accusations and rumours began circulating; some false, some true, some not fully resolved. It was claimed that user details had been stored as plain text; that they had been encrypted, but not sufficiently; that the hackers only had to get through a basic firewall to access all data; that the hackers had offered to sell the data back to Sony, who had refused; that the credit card details of two million users were up for sale; that Sony only discovered something was wrong when they noticed servers rebooting themselves; and more. Not only was the financial cost mounting up day by day, a huge dent had been kicked into the trust people placed in the PlayStation brand.

Once Sony had admitted the breach however, they quickly adopted a new set of tactics. Flipping from giving little to no information to issuing regular updates, they announced that they had employed outside security companies (and perhaps outside PR companies) to help them address the issue. They regularly assured their customers that the continuing PSN outage was due to their desire to be entirely confident that the system was secure before returning online; and for similar reasons service restoration would be staggered, with online play being one of the first elements to return.

They also announced a planned ‘Welcome Back’ package for customers who had registered PSN accounts active before the network went down. It is here, arguably, that the most important decisions have been made when it comes to potential financial recovery.

It was clear that Sony would have to offer some sort of compensation to its customers, and here it was. The most prominent feature of the package was, for many, the free games (for download); two from a selection of five for the PS3, and two from a selection of four for the PSP. Make no mistake, a lot of thought would have gone into deciding which games were offered. So how and why were these particular games decided upon?

Firstly, let’s look at PS3 game Infamous, which was one of the games on offer in major territories including North America and Europe. A two year old game with a heavily reduced RRP (it is now part of the PS3 ‘Platinum’ range), the profit to be had from retail sales is now significantly less than many other games in the PS3 catalogue. Most agree that it is a very good game however, and the sequel was released very shortly after the launch of the EU and NA ‘Welcome Back’ packages.

By offering this game for free, Sony increase the user base with direct experience of the first game and, therefore, also increase interest in purchasing the (full price) sequel. The mere presence of the game in the ‘Welcome Back’ package increases visibility of the franchise for everybody. They’re clearly doing everything they can to promote Infamous 2; note the time they dedicated to it at E3 2011, despite the game’s release being mere hours away.

The most far-reaching decision is the one to include LittleBigPlanet and LittleBigPlanet PSP in the package (again, for both NA and EU). The reasons above also apply here to an extent. A more recent, full price sequel available for purchase (though LittleBigPlanet 2 has now been discounted heavily by some retail outlets), minimum profit to be had from sales today, increased visibility of the franchise. The potential PR and financial benefits for Sony extend far beyond these issues however where LittleBigPlanet is concerned.

With the official unveiling of Sony’s Vita handheld at E3 came a detailed announcement of a Vita exclusive LittleBigPlanet game. This is a title that fans of the series old and new alike will of course show an interest in; and by default, they will show an interest in the new, full price format (due for release worldwide before the end of the year) as well. With plenty of time for interest to build, there’s a good chance that the Vita will have a larger installed user base by the start of 2012 than it otherwise would have; regardless of the fact that it seems LittleBigPlanet Vita itself will not be released until next year.

Sony may be hoping for a similar knock-on sales effect to become visible much earlier. As previously outlined, it is likely that sales of LittleBigPlanet 2 will see an increase due to the presence of two other games in the franchise in the ‘Welcome Back’ packages of major territories. More owners of this game means more people likely to purchase the upcoming PlayStation Move package for it. Details of this package – particularly enticing for those who enjoy creating – can be found at the blog Rocket Cheetah (a name that stems from the first game in the series), run by MM-picked level creator ‘Chimpanzee’.

While PlayStation Move has certainly not failed at retail, it has not been the runaway success that Sony were perhaps expecting. This Move pack will almost certainly encourage a significant number of people to purchase the peripheral. Not only will PlayStation Move be required for the relevant ‘Create’ features, and to play any official levels made specifically for it, it will also be required to play any user created levels that demand it. It’s important to note that LittleBigPlanet has a huge, thriving community; and a certain proportion are keen to buy anything and everything released for it.

In addition, people who buy PlayStation Move as a result of the upcoming LittleBigPlanet 2 add-on will suddenly find themselves able to consider purchasing a whole range of games that they had previously never given a second glance. The knock-on effect in terms of sales where LittleBigPlanet is concerned could be huge.

Wouldn’t offering LittleBigPlanet spin-off Sackboy’s Prehistoric Moves instead have achieved the same effect? In short, no. With no ‘Create’ mode, no online play and no community levels, this game – while great fun for existing fans of the series – would not work as a good introduction to the LittleBigPlanet franchise. Its inclusion in the ‘Welcome Back’ package would also have worked against Sony. Firstly, because it is a very brief experience and very cheap to buy, it would not be seen as an overly generous gift. Secondly, as it requires PlayStation Move, it is not a game that everybody would be able to immediately play. It would be seen as a transparent ploy to sell the peripheral.

As with LittleBigPlanet, a new entry in the WipEout series was unveiled for Sony’s Vita at E3; as was a new ModNation Racers title. This explains the presence of WipEout HD/Fury (PS3) and ModNation racers (PSP) in the EU and NA ‘Welcome Back’ packages. These last two games have been confirmed for the Japanese package as well (as has LittleBigPlanet PSP); but in Japan, Sony face a completely different – and significantly more challenging – environment…

In part two, coming next week: The battle for Japan; Why Sony should be thanking LulzSec; The likelihood of the PlayStation brand surviving a second PSN security breach; Plenty of time for Sony to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Sony Conference: June 7^th 01:00am GMT

Sony has had a brilliant year! …(*audible cough*). The only thing I predicted for this conference on Twitter was an on-stage suicide. Let’s see if I am correct. It better be good. I stayed up to cover this! Obvious games will be Uncharted 3 and Resistance 3.

• 3D glasses are being handed out to the audience. Oh dear. Things running a little behind as a result. At least I think that’s the reason. Wouldn’t it be fun if the conference was hacked? Someone comes out wearing a V for Vendetta mask they win the internet.
• Still more waiting. Crowd control is apparently to blame. …I don’t know either.
• Here we go. Finally. The command is given to have glasses ready, probably means Uncharted will be opening the show.
• PS3 generic advert begins, NGP seen also and Move. All to terrible dance music. A (presumably) 3D trailer than starts showing a few different games. Very…underwhelming.
• Focus then moves to N4G or whatever they chose to call it briefly before the Move again. This seems like space filler – is this really the start of the conference?
• Jack Tretton takes the stage. About time. He looks a lot more tired than usual. Get on with it, Jack.
• Straight onto PSN outage. Good man. An apology to their third party developers, retail partners and finally consumers. Glad they didn’t try to work around it. I mean it isn’t a genuine apology, it’s a well rehearsed one, but still.
• Too much talking after that about Netflix and such like. CinemaNow access also revealed.
• Jack moves to Uncharted, as expected. Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra take to the stage to display the game. As usual the game looks good. Drake is on a fairly large boat in a storm searching for something. The movement, while obviously trying to imitate the boat moving on choppy waters, seems very strange at times.
• Tension seems to build as he makes his way deeper into the ship. I sense a water themed catastrophe in the near future. He is caught by guards but quickly escapes and accidentally also makes the ship spring a leak. Who’d have figured?
• Water is slowly flooding the area while fighting continues. The ship overturns along with everything else. Platforming gameplay next and decent water effects. Gameplay ends abruptly to applause.
• There’s chat about the multiplayer, the Beta begins June 28^th. They announce a partnership with Subway in the US for some reason. Ends with a full 3D trailer. Release date is November 1^st.
• Jack’s back talking about Insomniac Games and Resistance 3. Marcus Smith is there to demo, wearing a jacket at least two sizes too big for him.
• He is playing in 3D. Shield Drones, shoot the drone to make the enemy vulnerable. Various weapons are shown off, many of them the typical weird variety you expect. The demo then skips ahead to a chase type sequence showing off some action in the background and pretty visuals. Doesn’t last long and cuts off very abruptly.
• Jack moves on to talk about a sharpshooter bundle for R3. Because you all wanted to buy it for $150 with a shooter, camera and Move set up.
• Next he talks about two ‘special collection’s. God of Wars Origins collection, remastered to HD. Same for Ico and Shadow of the Collosses. Playable in 3D.
• “Playstation is the ultimate solution for 3D.”
• He’s talking about pricing now. “Breaking the pricing of 3D.”
• A PS branded 3D display for affordable access to 3D. Interesting dual screen feature no split screen. No idea how that works but it sounds very interesting.
• This Fall people can get active 3D glasses with Resistance 3, HDMI cable for $499 (including the display I think – I hope).
• Now Jack’s wasting space with Move. From 2K Sports a couple of guys come on (complicated names) to give a sneak peak and tedious basketball simulator 2012.
• Does it really say a lot about your previous game if the only accolade it had was having Michael Jordan on the cover?
• Pro cameraman tip: try not to get other on-stage camera men on camera with their mouth hanging open gawking at the person there with them.
• Some NBA person is on stage now. Good point for a toilet break. Go now. I think I’ve heard of that guy actually, but not for good reasons. Must have been found not guilty. Moving on.
• Jack back again chatting about Move and a new title. Two more names I’m not attempting come to the stage to talk about Medieval Moves. Audience told to put on 3D glasses.
• You can slash, throw weapons or use a bow without inventory screens it’s down to the motions preformed. It seems quite responsive, far more so than the Kinect stage demos. You seem to be playing as a child skeleton of some kind. Looked a little interesting, but also aimed at the younger gamers.
• Infamous 2 next…seems a little pointless given it’s released tomorrow but I suppose they know the world is watching and are whoring as much as humanly possible.
• Further down the line there will be player made missions.
• This links Jack well into Little Big Planet and integrating Move to that.
• The next game on display is Starhawk. A trailer plays. No real gameplay but battles are shown using a variety of vehicle types on land and in space.
• Where is Jack going now? Something from 2002. A family friendly series? Oh, Sly Copper I think it was called. Hundreds of people email him about that? Really? Sly Cooper Thieves in Time coming 2012.
• Time for publishing partners. Something from EVE Online creator. A new game called…Durst, I think. PS exclusive. A console shooter directly connected to EVE Online to create one ‘why-brent’ universe (accents are fun).
• Trailer plays. First thought was “This all looks a bit Halo.” Second thought was “This all looks a lot like Halo, with a dash of Modern Warfare.” ISK (EVE currency) comes into play near the end of it. Land battles for EVE basically? Really hard to tell what’s going on. Sleep deprivation may also be to blame. Dust 514 was the name. I have no idea what I just saw.
• Closed Beta at the end of the year.
• Time for another guest, but not before a 2K trailer of Bioshock Infinite. The trailer was entirely in-game footage. Not enough people have done that this year.
• Ken Levine starts chatting about the game. Goes back to an interview he did a while back where he talked badly about Move. I assume by the squirming that he is about to announce Move compatibility. He’s babbling. Get on with it, it’s obvious.
• Yup, Bioshock Infinite will have Move in some capacity.
• From his back pocket he pulls out an NGP (and calls it that). Doesn’t show anything on it and walks off. Thanks, Irrational Games, for an irrational presentation.
• On the same blu-ray, people who buy Infinite get the first Bioshock for free on it.
• Saint’s Row 3 next. Exclusive ‘game mode’ on PS3. Out November 15^th. Implied Move for that as well, but not sure.
• Talks a little about the co-op Kirk/Spock Star Trek game, apparently it will also be Move compatible. There will be an exclusive digital-only prologue to it. Some ‘early’ pre-alpha footage is then shown. Coming 2012.
• EA content is next. Jack reveals three more PS3-exclusive bonuses to certain games. SSX – Mt. Fuji course. Need for Speed The Run – seven additional super cars. Battlefield 3 – Battlefield 1943 on the blu-ray.
• Kazuo Hirai takes the stage. The guy everyone knows and loves. They really gave him the job of announcing THE price we all want to know?
• He chats a little about connectivity and the outage. Good man. Thanks for the fans. Moves onto portable entertainment. Here it comes. Get ready for it.
• Or not. Something called Playstation Suite. For Android Smartphones. Alternate name: Playstation Steam? Hard to tell, not many details given.
• Chatting about the PSP. Then NGP. “Breaks traditional boundaries of entertainment”. Duel touch pads, duel cameras, AR experience. Here it comes for real now. Dip into your pocket.
• The official name is Playstation Vita, to no one’s surprise. “What does Vita mean?” - that all the good names were patented.
• Two analogue sticks. 5” screen. Front and rear touch pad. Six-axis. Front and rear cameras. Eh, never before seen? Did no one buy him a 3DS? 3G and Wi Fi versions. He’s building up to the price here.
• They will be partnering with at&t, to a mixture of boos and strange noises from the crowd. That’s the US though, other territories will follow.
• A feature called ‘Party’ to use voice chat no matter what game they are playing. That sounds familiar. Social connection tool called ‘Near’. That sounds familiar too.
• Scott Rohde takes the stage with him to chat about Vita and show some demos. Mentions advanced technology never seen before on any hand held. Uncharted Golden Abyss follows.
• Visuals are a clear improvement on the PSP. Large screen size doesn’t seem overbearing at all. No specifics given about specification, but they mention real time shadows and other graphic features.
• Can use traditional controls or screen when climbing. Six-axis tilts to make jumps in certain directions when hanging. Touch controls work as do the standard ones.
• ‘Painting edges’ is next, coated numerous climbable sections, like stacking up commands.
• Fairly impressive overall, but we need to see more than Uncharted.
• Next is a “Social Action RPG” compatible with PS3. Called Ruin. Some microphone problems as they come on. Guy speaking sounds nervous. Combat begins, assuming they don’t mess up something here. Looks very Diablo style.
• Other players are rivals. Isn’t describing it well,nerves are getting the better of him. Footage is fairly boring. The player is apparently attacking the lair of a rival. Player stops on Vita and picks up where he left off on PS3.
• Next on stage is Mod Nation Racers. Not exactly interesting. Also: wearing a rugby shirt to a presentation like this gets on my nerves. The player uses his finger to trace a course in seconds. Back touch panel used to make mountains, that’s fairly fun. Touching the front touch panel pushes down the land to make lakes and the like.
• More Vita connectivity with the PS3 being discussed. Titles which play on both, cross-play. Now talking about LBP and it being on Vita. A trailer of it plays. Shows some very creative uses for what Vita can do. Can share costumes with PS3.
• Still no price given yet.
• Publishing partners on Vita now. From Capcom. Street Fighter X Tekken. A very cheerful gentleman from Capcom Japan takes the stage to chat about the game via translator.
• There will be a Vita version of the game. Awkward pause waiting for applause. Audience eventually gives in.
• They also announce that Cole from Infamous will be appearing in it. They then show a video of him in action. Showing it off doesn’t last long, probably because it’s still heavily in development. There were no health bars or a visible GUI.
• Wrapping up Vita now by the sounds of it. Apparently 80 titles are in development. A video of some of them plays before Kaz returns to the stage. Wipeout. Locoroco. Some kind of snooker game. Something that looks like Tenchu. Dynasty Warriors.
• Kaz is back. Here’s the price. Come on. Nope…release date. Holiday season this year. Price! Wi-fi only model $249. 3G model is $299.
• Jack is back, Kaz is gone. Chatting about what’s been seen tonight. Points out Vita launch titles will be amazing. Won’t take much to beat 3DS.
• And that’s it folks. A little underwhelming, I was expecting a big finish of some kind.

Everyone will be talking about PS Vita, the 3D screen and of course the prices of both packages. Game wise there weren’t any real surprises.