The NGP looks promising, but a number of key moves still remain for Sony

Author’s Note: This editorial was published March 18, 2011 and originally appeared on Examiner.com. Clicking on this link will take you to its original location.

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Disclaimer: The below article is an editorial. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Examiner.com.

The debut of Sony’s Next Generation Portable at their PlayStation Meeting event in Japan was very successful in terms of grabbing the attention of gamers everywhere. The NGP itself is a stunning piece of hardware that: corrects a number of issues with the original PSP, packs enough power to pull off visuals that seem comparable to current generation, and possesses a software line-up headlined by some of the PS3′s biggest franchises (namely Uncharted, Killzone, and LittleBigPlanet). Sony has the introductory moves lined up quite well for them, but with the 3DS on the horizon, Sony still has some key announcements yet to be revealed that may ultimately decide the fate of the handheld.

Sony’s competition, the Nintendo 3DS, is the latest console in a lineage of handhelds that have never lost a console war, ever. Nintendo not only has a victory-filled history on their side, but a stellar record of bringing must-have software to their portable consoles as well. Nintendo has already announced a new installment in perhaps the most notable video game franchise of all time, Super Mario, is eventually coming to the 3DS. Some are already convinced that Nintendo will win this handheld console war just as they’ve done in years past.

The war is not yet won, though, and while Nintendo’s line-up is promising, many of those promising titles don’t have release dates yet. Two of the most anticipated titles for the 3DS are new versions of classic Nintendo 64 titles, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time and Star Fox 64. Ocarina is coming out in June and Star Fox 64 has no release date as of this writing, leaving most parts of the remaining year open thus far, with few announced 3DS release dates to be found. Now, Nintendo doesn’t typically reveal much until E3, but with a potential competitor perhaps launching this year and the 3DS having a launch line-up with few standout titles, the Kyoto-based giant is being surprisingly quiet.

Review: LittleBigPlanet 2 is a creative, imaginative success

Author’s Note: This review article was published January 31, 2011 and originally appeared on Examiner.com. Clicking on this link will take you to its original location.

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In 2008, Media Molecule finally released their “Play, Create, Share” platformer known as LittleBigPlanet. LittleBigPlanet, from the moment the game was first shown, captivated audiences with its brilliance and creativity. The ability to create levels and share them with gamers all over the world proved to be a rewarding feature, being that the LittleBigPlanet community populated Media Molecule’s servers with thousands of cool, unique and must-play levels. Now, LittleBigPlanet has a full-fledged sequel that promises new gameplay functionality and game creation. Can the sequel possibly live up to that kind of ambition?

The answer is undoubtedly yes. LittleBigPlanet 2 is one of the most improved sequels of this generation, with aspirations to be something far more than just a platformer with level/game creation, but seemingly a game platform as well. Media Molecule’s improvements to the game they’ve created don’t just enhance the Create Tool, they enhance the core LittleBigPlanet 2 game experience by leaps and bounds, making the game more accessible, dynamic, and fun to play.

Take, for example, LittleBigPlanet 2′s Story Mode. Instead of just passing by funny characters with odd voices and text like you did in the original LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet 2′s story of Craftworld being attacked by the nefarious beast known as the Negativitron comes to life through cutscenes (another addition to the Create Tool). Creators like Larry Da Vinci and Victoria help Sackboy on a fun and funny adventure that will have Sackboy doing a variety of things far beyond jumping, including shooting (with throwbacks with 2D side-scrolling shooters, made possible by game creation tools like the Creatinator), using animal vehicles and more. The levels in Story Mode are well designed, well balanced, and imaginative — the above-mentioned variety keeps the Story Mode feeling fresh and keeps LBP2 gamers on their toes.

Interview: SCE San Diego Studio on ModNation Racers

Author’s Note: This interview article was published January 21, 2011 and originally appeared on Examiner.com. Clicking on this link will take you to its original location.

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In May of last year, SCE San Diego Studio released perhaps the first ever “Play, Create, Share” kart racer in the form of ModNation Racers, where gamers could create, download, and play tracks created by other users. Sony and SCE San Diego Studio were kind enough to grant me an interview with Kyle Zundel, a producer at SCE San Diego Studio who worked on the title. I would like to thank Sony, SCE San Diego Studio, and Kyle Zundel for this opportunity and for their time.

1. Was ModNation Racers always designed with the “Play, Create, Share” philosophy in mind or did that come at a later point?

Kyle Zundel: When we started out we wanted to build a modern kart racer in the Play, Create, Share space. One of the things we wanted to do was make the creation side of things fun and accessible. That was really important to us. We definitely had our fair share of hurdles to overcome early on, but in the end we feel it was a great pairing. Being able to create a track simply by driving is very intuitive and fun.

2. The depth and variety of the MNR community’s creations — especially some of the highest-rated tracks — are quite impressive. How did you set out to build tools that anyone can make these detailed tracks with? Also, did you follow Media Molecule’s “rule” of only building levels with the same tools available to the player?

Zundel: Pretty early on, we decided that we needed to drink our own kool-aid; so yeah, we followed the same rule. It was a lot of work, because we were trying to build tracks at the same time we were building the Track Studio tool set. It would have been a lot easier to cheat but we knew it was going to be the right thing to do for the game in the long run. As the track designers and artists built the early tracks they were constantly pushing the Track Studio tool set to be able to do all of the things they wanted and needed as track designers. The Track Studio evolved way beyond the initial design in order to accommodate everything the designers needed to be able to do. In the end, we were really pleased with the level of accessibility, power and control in the Track Studio and we owe a lot of that to the decision we made to follow “the rule.”

Heavy Rain Interview with David Cage

Author’s Note: This interview article was published July 12, 2010 and originally appeared on Examiner.com. Clicking on this link, this link, and this link will take you to its original location.

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David Cage and his studio, Quantic Dream, gave PlayStation3 owners a thriller like no other in Heavy Rain. David was kind enough to respond to my interview request about Heavy Rain and his thoughts about various issues concerning the game.

1. Are the scenes in Heavy Rain all of the scenes you initially came up with for the game? If not, how did you decide what scenes made it into the final game?

David Cage: Actually, about four scenes were written but not included in the final game. When the game was assembled, these scenes seemed to slow down the pacing, felt redundant or did not bring anything to the storyline. There was for example another scene between Ethan and his son before he disappears. I really wanted to create this strong feeling of love between a father and his son, I wanted the player to feel responsible for Shaun so when he is kidnapped, the player feels emotionally involved. But I decided to cut this scene because the previous scenes were enough to establish this feeling.

In general, very few scenes I write don’t make it to the final game. With interactive drama, given the volume of data that you have to produce, you have limited possibilities to make changes “on the fly” without significantly affecting production.

Also, the game tells a story, which means that you cannot get rid of a “level” the way you would in an action game otherwise the story does not make sense anymore. So the focus on the script is extremely important. If something does not work at this stage, once production has started, there is nothing you can do about it anymore.

But there are always some areas on which you can freely iterate until quite late in the development without affecting production too much. The 3D icons for example were implemented after different iterations, the thought system and other interfaces can usually be tweaked until quite late in the development process.

Review: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP) is a console-caliber MGS in your pocket

Author’s Note: This review article was published June 28, 2010 and originally appeared on Examiner.com. Clicking on this link and this link will take you to its original location.

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Metal Gear Solid is not an easy franchise to bring to handheld gaming systems. Metal Gear Solid games boast powerful visuals that push home consoles to their limits, have plenty of hours of gameplay and make full use of just about every button on a dual analog stick controller, including both of the analog sticks. However, if there’s one team up to the task, that team is Kojima Productions — a point that is proven with Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for PSP, a Metal Gear Solid title that not only is a worthy installment in the MGS series, but a full-fledged console-caliber experience for the MGS fan that fits in his or her pocket.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is the story of Big Boss, whose organization Militaires Sans Frontières (MSF) is called to aid Costa Rica against an overwhelming military invasion from unknown forces. While in Costa Rica, a Big Boss still hesitant to accept the name given to him by his superiors in MGS3: Snake Eater finds what seems to be a strong tie in this mission to his mentor, The Boss. Big Boss — still telling everyone to call him Snake, even Miller (his partner in running MSF) — accepts the mission and plunges into another stealth-based operation.

Peace Walker’s story is well told, mostly using a mix of codec cutscenes that can happen before and after missions, in addition to animated cutscenes worked on by Ashley Wood (Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel). Wood’s animated cutscenes use dramatic comic book-style effects such as loud effects spelled out with colors (BANG!, etc.) and occasional windows to show the emotions of more than one character at a time. Fear not, though, MGS fans — Wood’s cutscenes pack authentic Metal Gear Solid feel and presentation. These cutscenes really do feel like animated versions of MGS cutscenes and have interactive elements to keep you on your toes.

Review: ModNation Racers (PSP) packs plenty of features and kart racing fun

Author’s Note: This review article was published June 22, 2010 and originally appeared on Examiner.com. Clicking on this link and this link will take you to its original location.

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The PlayStation3 version of ModNation Racers has quite a significant amount of features, including online multiplayer and full racer/kart/track creation capabilities. To try to squeeze all of these features into a game on PSP may seem impossible, but SCE San Diego Studio is up to the task. SCE San Diego Studio not only captured the core essence of the ModNation Racers experience, but also has managed to offer functional and accessible creation tools that have depth, in addition to publishing and downloading capabilities. The end result is a meaty kart racer on the PSP that manages to offer a true ModNation Racers experience.

The core of the ModNation Racers experience is an aggressive, fast and fun kart racer that uses weapons and some physical tactics like sideswiping to spice up the action. The PSP version brings that experience over successfully, with an important change in the weapons system. In the PlayStation3 version of MNR, players passed through weapon orbs that provided weapons that could be upgraded twice by passing through weapons orbs again. In ModNation Racers PSP, players pick up weapons of random strength, which cannot be upgraded.

Review: ModNation Racers (PS3) is lightning-paced kart racing fun

Author’s Note: This review article was published June 21, 2010 and originally appeared on Examiner.com. Clicking on this link and this link will take you to its original location.

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ModNation Racers, a PS3 exclusive created by United Front Games, is a somewhat ambitious game. Not only is ModNation Racers in the kart racing genre — one with few standout titles outside of Mario Kart — but it’s also in the “Play, Create, Share” style of video games started by LittleBigPlanet. Kart racers that don’t deliver are ultimately forgotten and trying to come up with level creation tools that can do for kart racing what LittleBigPlanet’s creation tools did for 2D platforming is no easy task. United Front Games came prepared to succeed, though, and came up with a strong final product that is a great kart racer with well-made customization tools.

The core ModNation Racers experience is twelve racers going three laps for some of the most fun and aggressive kart racing I’ve ever seen. This is a game where you can sideswipe your opponent, activate in-level traps to wipe them out, or use a level three power-up to get an advantage over several opponents. ModNation Racers has aggressive A.I. and (when online) human opponents alike — you must not only go fast, but you’ve got to do whatever you can to eliminate the distance between you and first place, which will prove to be a constant battle right up until the very end. This gives ModNation Racers a competitive edge that keeps gamers on the edge of their seats until the very end.

Preview: ModNation Racers (PSP) Hands-On Impressions

Author’s Note: This Impressions/Preview article was published May 4, 2010 and originally appeared on Examiner.com. Clicking on this link and this link will take you to its original location.

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ModNation Racers is Sony’s upcoming kart racer for the PS3 and PSP. SCE San Diego Studios is handling the PSP version of United Front Games’ PS3 title and while I don’t have the PS3 version, what’s present in the PSP version of this racing game is not only very promising, but very robust as well. In addition to regular racing modes, ModNation Racers will have a career mode and full racer, kart and track creation tools as well — not to mention online gameplay for the final version (not available in this build) and a MNR PSP exclusive lap-by-lap elimination race style called Last Kart Standing. Based on what I saw in this build, ModNation Racers could be a game that PSP owners will keep playing over and over again.

The heart and soul of any kart racer is its core gameplay and ModNation Racers’ is good quality — good quality gameplay that’s comparable to Mario Kart. ModNation Racers is reminiscent of Mario Kart in many ways (all positive) — there are crazy power-ups, the tide of the race can turn at any time, the handling of the karts is tight, and the game is more than accessible to all ages.

However, where ModNation Racers takes a welcome split from Mario Kart is in aggressive tactics — whereas bumping into an opponent in Mario Kart might not get you anywhere, ModNation Racers encourages this, sideswiping and “stomping” (landing on an opponent after a jump). However, there’s a catch — these aggressive tactics use up your boost, which you might need later on in this race. ModNation Racers offers a heated racing experience to the end, so using up boost just to take out an opponent might not be such a good idea. These risk/reward tactics add a bit of welcome strategy to MNR and also makes sure that all players can be aggressive in the game without necessarily needing weapons to fight with.

Review: Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)

Author’s Note: This review article was published April 27, 2010 and originally appeared on Examiner.com. Clicking on this link and this link take you to its original location.

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Final Fantasy XIII is the first installment of Final Fantasy to arrive on consoles in years, since Final Fantasy XII for the PlayStation2 back in 2006. Gamers have undoubtedly been anticipating FFXIII’s arrival since it first appeared at E3 2006. So, now that Final Fantasy XIII has finally arrived, how does it fare? Is this installment of Final Fantasy XIII everything gamers hoped it would be?

Final Fantasy XIII is the story of Lightning, Sazh and a group of travelers whose fates become intertwined when they are all branded “Pulse l’Cie” — servants of the world known as Pulse, frequently described as a type of “hell.” Lightning and most of her companions live in Cocoon, a world that hates Pulse. To make matters worse, they’ve been given a vision that they take as meaning that they need to destroy Cocoon — which would be their “Focus” — despite being advised by a former l’Cie that they need to save it. The travelers go off to find the true meaning behind their “Focus.”

Final Fantasy XIII’s story is one that can be very compelling at times, but also, there are moments after the first two chapters that are really sparse on actual story progression in favor of character development. The story of whether or not our l’Cie cast should or will destroy Cocoon is not so much addressed during these times — at least, not as much as Lightning’s cold demeanor towards her sister or Vanille’s need to run away from trouble. The story starts to get back on track around Chapter 8 or 9 and really starts picking up around Chapter 11. Chapters 11 through 13 are quite great plot-wise because of their focus on advancing the story and what the characters are going to do about the path that their Focus has put on them on.

Review: God of War 3 (PS3)

Author’s Note: This review article was published March 29, 2010 and originally appeared on Examiner.com. Clicking on this link and this link will take you to its original location.

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After getting his revenge on Ares and avenging his dethroning as the new God of War, Kratos joins the Titans in the scaling of Mount Olympus to kill Zeus and free Greece from the wrath of the corrupt gods. This is the final story of Kratos’ revenge and the final installment in this arc of the God of War story. God of War 3 has plenty of hype to live up to, not just in story, but gameplay as well. After God of War had two incredible installments on the PlayStation2, can this installment in the God of War franchise do the series justice?

God of War 3 provides a thunderously positive response to this question in the first hour or so of the game, which is one of the most intense opening scenes of a video game I’ve experienced in recent history. Kratos goes toe-to-toe with Poseidon as he tries to kill the titan Gaia, who Kratos is riding as she climbs up Mount Olympus. Kratos is near microscopic as he tries to free her from Poseidon’s Leviathan-like form as the two colossal powers battle.

This is just one example of the insane boss fights that populate God of War 3. There are at least a few here that are best of franchise — so intense, so chaotic and so visceral that they could only happen in God of War. If you’re looking forward to boss fights that make you feel like you did when you first faced off against the Hydra in the first God of War, there’s definitely at least one here that will offer you that caliber of experience.