It's a sobering thought that when the original The Need For Speed came out in 1994 - on the ill-fated 3DO, no less - the original PlayStation wasn't even on shop shelves. The series is now over 14 years old, which makes it one of the oldest racing franchises that's still active today; Only Mario Kart and Ridge Racer are longer in the tooth.
Over the course of the past decade the Need For Speeds have adopted several different styles and forms, but they reached a new level of popularity after the release of Need For Speed Underground. The sequel introduced a free-roaming element and the series never looked back, making its debut on the current crop of consoles with Most Wanted. It is to these instalments, prior to the disappointing ProStreet, that Undercover harks back, with a strong emphasis on criminal goings-on and baiting the police in the manner of the borderline motor-porn that is The Fast and the Furious.
In our upcoming BioShock interview, 2K Marin programmer Jake Etgeton reveals that the PS3 version of BioShock will feature new interactive load screens and graphical enhancements due to the use of Blu-ray and the ability to install data on the PS3 hard drive.
"There are improvements, such as interactive load screens which takes advantage of the increased space on the Blu-ray disc," said Etgeton. "The downloadable Challenge Rooms also offer a slew of new graphical and gameplay content, albeit outside of the fictional universe."
When asked about the PS3 install and how it will affect the game, Etgeton explained, "BioShock PS3 uses a standard one-time 5 GB install. It only takes 10 minutes, and there’s even a fancy movie accompanied by Bing Crosby’s 'You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me' to help pass the time if you’re not off making a tasty, preparatory sandwich."
"Installing to the PS3 hard drive allows us to 'stream' textures and audio faste... More »
Konami is officially looking into the possibility of bringing its hugely successful Metal Gear Solid series to Microsoft's Xbox 360.
For the non-gamers out there, this is a big deal, as Metal Gear Solid has been a definitive series of games, traditionally associated with Sony's PlayStation.
The rumour is back on the agenda, following Konami's Yoshitaka Arai telling Japanese financial news service Morningstar: "The worldwide demand for an Xbox 360 version of MGS4 is quite high, and it is something we are currently looking into."
One of the most interesting features of the third Xbox besides being able to play all of your Xbox 360 titles, and transfer over your gamertag and gamerscore is forward-compatibility.
Backwards-compatibility of course means that a game from the previous generation of systems works on the new systems. An example of this is PlayStation games working on PlayStation 2, or original Xbox games being playable on the Xbox 360 through emulation and software updates.
This is something completely different however. Forward-compatibility means that games made for the Xbox 360 are made even better thanks to the features and hardware of the next Xbox system. This isn’t a side effect of textures being cleaner and upscaled resolution, this is a new animal completely. Imagine playing Gears of War 3 on your Xbox 360 it looks and plays good right?
Well imagine that the year after it comes out you go out to buy the next Xbox and it looks even better, it plays ev... More »
Just over a week ago, we reported on the BioShock Demo's Texture issues.
Today, 2K Elizabeth (2K Community Manager) has reported that the 2K Development Team is working on a patch for BioShock on the PS3 which should fix all of the visual problems.
For now, she confirmed that two fixes are included relating to the Big Daddy Bouncer and Elite Bouncer Textures Appeared Pixelated and White Bars.
To quote: Hey guys,
I have good news from the dev team about a patch for BioShock PS3! They have been working on a patch to address the concerns some of you on the forum have talked about. As work is in progress I do not have a definite date for when this patch will be released as it needs to be tested and clear certification with Sony before it is scheduled and released. I do know this will not be until after the game’s launch,... More »
Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) has teamed up with YouTube™, the world’s most popular online video community allowing millions of people to discover, watch and share originally created videos, to create a PLAYSTATION®-branded channel that delivers exclusive video content to the worldwide PlayStation community.
Press Release: Launching today, October 14, 2008, and available at www.youtube.com/playstation, the PlayStation channel on YouTube will offer fans a place where they can easily access new trailers and game footage, check out interviews with publishers and developers, share user-generated content, participate in PlayStation promotions and contests, and stay connected to the PlayStation experience.
More than 50 pieces of content will be available at launch, including features for SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation, MotorStorm™: Pacific Rift, NBA ’09: The Inside, and the PlayStation®... More »
Kaz Hirai has indicated that he expects PlayStation Home to boost sales of the PS3 this Holiday period. Moreover, he added that he expects the gaming division of Sony to be less affected by the current adverse economic conditions.
To quote: A Sony Corp. executive told the Wall Street Journal this month that the company expects the new online universe 'Home' to boost sales of the Playstation 3 this holiday.
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Chairman and Group CEO Kaz Hirai told the publication that Home, which will allow PS3 owners to mingle in a virtual world, will be available by the end of the year.
Hirai added that he expects the company's game unit to be less affected by current economic conditions.
Sony in Sept. 2007 delayed the Home online service to spring 2008. It subsequently delayed the project to the end of the year.
Sony will sell a new 160GB PS3 bundle in Nov. next to the current 80GB SKU.
ASUSTek has issued a recall of its Eee box PCs sold in Japan as they contained a dangerous virus. The virus makes the computer run slow and download damaging malware programs from the internet.
Asus' PR department noted that the virus entered the machines while they were downloading the Japanese version software to the computer.
To quote: Taiwan's ASUSTek Computer has announced a recall of its Eee Box PCs that were sold in Japan because they contain a virus.
The virus, known as recycled.exe, resides on the D drive of the machine and once opened, the virus will be activated and copy itself to the C drive as well as any other removable or USB drives. Affected by the virus, the running of the computer will become slow and it may download harmful malware programs from the Internet.
Li Yusheng, a representative from ASUS's public relations department, says that the virus entered the computers while they were downloading the Japane... More »
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