Hasta La Gadget!

The development team at Ubisoft have been working on the game Watch Dogs for an unusually long time. This hacker-themed game has been in development for 4.5 years, long enough for the original concept to have gotten so close to real life that its developers have been able to easily consult with a team of real-world security experts at Kaspersky Lab, bringing the game to a place where, at release, it wont be impossible to imagine its action as a real-world situation.

Senior Producer Dominic Guay spoke at a preview of the game this week in San Francisco, letting it be known that the contents could be seen as a warning as much as a normal, every day third-person thriller. Here the player will be working as Pearce, a hacker living in a futuristic Chicago blanketed with a “Smart City” installation that can access essentially any information wirelessly.

What’s more, this new-age Chicago’s smart system doesn’t just work with and control public service systems, it helps police hunt down and capture bad guys. Using systems like the very real SpotShotter, as pointed out by Venture Beat (they also attending this San Francisco preview of the game), the in-game police can track gunshots by triangulating the sounds with city-wide sound recorders.

“The problem is, if you start spying on people in every aspect of their lives, it becomes addictive. hat if you see a woman being mugged in a back alley or a man being extorted? It becomes hard to do nothing.” – Dominic Guay

The game’s hero Pearce will be aiming at and avoiding not only the police, but corrupt 3rd party users and gangs, each of them also taking advantage of the connectedness of the city and its citizens.

Much in the same way Batman is able to hone in on sound signals throughout a city by tapping in to the cellphone signals of its citizens, here too anyone with access will be able to hear all. Batman’s ability to do this appears in the movie The Dark Knight as well as in the video game Batman: Arkham City. In Watch Dogs, this sound system is part of the larger ctOS (City Operating System).

Helping to advance the realism of the game to a point that’s essentially creepy, Kaspersy Lab has been confirmed to be working with the developers of this game in its last phases. Speaking at the game preview this week with Joystiq, Guay made their involvement clear:

“We’re working with Kaspersky Lab, a big security firm. They have really hardcore experts there on hacking. We send them some of our designs and we ask them feedback on it, and it’s interesting to see what gets back. Sometimes they say, ‘Yeah, that’s possible, but change that word,’ or, ‘That’s not the way it works.’” – Dominic Guay

It’s also become clear that this game will not be restricted to your gaming console – it’ll not just be a game you play on Xbox 360, PC, Xbox 720, PlayStation 4, and the rest. Instead you’ll have gameplay expansion available on smartphone systems and on tablets as well. This game will, like the hero of the game, be played on the move, as well.

Expect Watch Dogs to be solidified with detail galore by the time of its final release later this year. At the moment it would appear that Watch Dogs will be set for a November 22nd release date and will be appearing on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC at the start.

Watch Dogs game true-to-life hacking developed with real security pros is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It took several years for Sony’s PlayStation 3 console to finally turn a profit, but the company says that the PlayStation 4 won’t be the same way. Sony CFO Masaru Kato said that the company won’t experience “a major loss” with the PS4 like they did with the previous-generation console, claiming that much of the work has already been done.

Speaking with Eurogamer, Kato says that much of the chip development for the PS4 has already been in place, whereas the PS3 required all-new development processes for the console’s chip. The PS4 will still see a new chip (and development is still happening for that), but Kato says that many existing technologies will be implemented in the PS4, cutting down on R&D costs.

Sony turned its first profitable year since 2008, but its PlayStation division was down during the 12-month period. Sales were down 12.2%, with operating income down a staggering 94% to just $18 million for the year. However, Kato says that income is expected to “increase significantly” for the company, with the PS4′s launch coming later this year.

Operating income is another story, though, as Kato expects it to be stagnant year-over-year due to R&D and marketing costs for the new and upcoming console. However, the PS4 is expected to turn a profit in a shorter amount of time than the PS3, which took several years before the console was finally in the black for Sony.

[via Eurogamer]

Sony PS4 to be more profitable than PS3, company claims is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

PlayStation 4 developers will be able to freeze out the “Share” button on the PS4′s new controller, Sony has revealed, in an attempt to lock down leaks and spoilers for players who haven’t finished yet. “There will be parts of a game that the maker does not want people to be able to see” Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida told 4Gamer, EDGE translates, explaining that the company’s solution was to allow selective blocking of the Share key.

The concept has already been experimented with on the PS Vita, which normally has the ability to take screenshots of gameplay. However, if developers wish, they can temporarily shut that off, meaning final puzzles, battles, or other details of gameplay can be kept more secret.

“For example, on Vita, developers can in certain scenes disable the feature that lets users take a screenshot, and (the Share function) will have a similar mechanism” Yoshido said. “The creator may not want to make video of the final boss sharable, for instance.”

It’s unclear to what extent game developers will be able to limit use of the Share functionality. Gamers are likely to accept the odd moment where the Share button does nothing, but that understanding might pale if the key is locked out for longer periods.

Sharing was, Yoshido explained, something of a serendipitous addition to the PS4. The team had been looking at different ways that gamers could share footage of their play online, and a dedicated button became the most popular solution. “I felt that sharing videos is a really important part of enjoying games” the exec says.

[via Ars Technica]

PS4 Share button subject to game-dev block whims Sony admits is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Even though Sony revealed its PlayStation 4 earlier this year, there are still a lot of questions gamers have regarding the console, one of which is what exactly will it look like. Since Sony isn’t prepared to unveil its PlayStation 4 yet, the company has been slowly but surely releasing additional information regarding its new DualShock 4 controller. A new video published by Sony takes another look at its upcoming controller.

The new video features a number of well-known Sony developers as they describe the DualShock 4, its new features and its overall feel. The developers talk about the DualShock 4′s light bar and its multiple functions, one of which is knowing where the players are at all times, even going as far as changing the position of a split-screen game to adjust to players changing their position. The touchpad, speaker and share button all get their own time during the video which helps in explaining what each does and how developers plan to utilize these features in their games.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Several Nintendo Wii Online Services Shutting Down On June 28, Jurassic Heart Dating Game Lets You Fall In Love With A T-Rex,

When Sony announced the PlayStation 3, many rightfully assumed that the console would be the successor to the PlayStation 3, much like how the PS3 was the successor to the PS2 and so on. However it seems that Sony’s Middle East general manager has a very different view of the console, claiming that the PS4 is not so much a successor to the PS3, but rather an “addition to the family”, likening the console to other devices in the PlayStation family, like the PS Vita, PSP and so on. He went on to state that while the PS4 will provide a completely new gaming experience, it is not a successor to the PS3. It is definitely an interesting take on the console, and it might also be the justification that some PS3 gamers need to convince themselves that buying the PS4 is not necessary. What do you guys think? Is the PS4 an obvious successor to the PS3, or do you agree with the GM’s comments and that it’s more like an “addition to the family”?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Android Key Lime Pie May Include iOS Game Center-Like Multiplayer Features, Nintendo Of America President Praises 3DS, Considers Wii U Launch ‘Slower Than We Hoped’,