Hasta La Gadget!

Don’t go knockin’ Sony for resting on its laurels. The company that has spearheaded the 3D gaming push (NVIDIA notwithstanding) is apparently not even close to finished, with SCEE studio director Mick Hocking taking the time to get our juices flowing in an interview with Develop. The full spill is quite lengthy, and definitely a solid read for those interested, but a few key nuggets jumped out at us. For starters, Mike confessed that Sony has “techniques like holographics for the PS3 that [he thinks] will be very interesting for the future 3D games,” and continued with this: “In regards to that we have some new technology that we’ve shown to developers that uses 3D techniques, it allows two players to play full screen multi-player games but without each being able to see the others view, and they have been massively keen on them.” Of course, such a technique isn’t exactly new — we saw prototypes of the sort in use back at GDC — but bringing them to a market as vast as the PS3 owner pool would definitely be a monumental step. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got a Gran Turismo 5 disc laying here that needs our undivided attention for the time being.. .

Sony working on same-screen 3D multiplayer, holographics for PS3? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rage HD for iOS is a seriously gorgeous game — well worth the $2, if you ask us. Now that he can look up from his monitor, id Software’s technical wizard John Carmack is making the interview rounds — let’s see what we can glean, shall we? On the subject of Rage itself, expect the first patch to add Game Center support as well as some bug fixes / minor tweaks to prettify the game further. And if you picked up the SD version, consider yourself among a more exclusive crowd: sales have been majorly lop-sided in favor of HD. “If it’s that big of a difference,” he told TUAW, “we probably won’t offer the low-end, standard def version [in future games].”

We already know Carmack’s thoughts on the iPhone vs. Nintendo DS / PSP, as they’ve been echoed before once or twice, but here’s one new to us: “You should be able to do something that’s better on an iPad than anything that’s done on the Wii,” according to the John that spoke with Kotaku. That’s all purely theoretical, as it’s really up to the developer as to how much power it takes advantage of, and even with the tablet in question, “we’re nowhere close to maxing out what could be done on an iPad.” Oh, and Android? There’s work being done for the Little Green Platform as well, but via TUAW John, “there’s a lot of things with how the distribution platform works and the diversity of the platforms that you have to target, where things are still much, much nicer on the iOS world.”

As for id’s next foray in the “iOS world,” Joystiq learned that a driving game based in the Rage universe is in the cards, and perhaps something inspired by Quake Arena: “maybe focusing on the lightning gun, and call it ‘Lightning Arena’ or something, that would be a full roam-around FPS game.” When asked about his resemblance to one Kevin Bacon, all reports indicate Carmack vanished behind a green-tinted smoke cloud of 1s and 0s, leaving in his wake a three-foot tall statue of Commander Keen made from old shareware discs.

id’s Carmack talks Rage HD, iPad’s power, and future iOS games originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 21:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rather like Nokia and its market share obsession, Nintendo just can’t seem to stop talking about its hardware sales lead. The company’s US chief, Reggie Fils-Aime, recently dished some NPD data detailing the specific advantage that the Wii has over its competitors in the US since the current console generation launched: Mario’s team has managed to sell 30.4 million units of its hardware, followed by Microsoft’s Xbox 360 at 21.9 million and Sony’s PS3, which lags somewhere far behind with 13.5 million total sales. On the more mobile front, DS sales have ratcheted up to 43.1 million, more than doubling the PSP’s 17.7 million shipments to the US of A. Nothing we haven’t heard before, really, but it’s always good to get a statistical update for the sake of keeping flamewars as informed as possible.

Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime dishes cumulative sales numbers for current console generation originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looking for a pinch of adorable, a taste of augmented reality and a shiny new peripheral for your PSP? Look no further, mate. Sony’s EyePet title is now shipping in the US of A, and a required camera will come bundled in with each UMD. Amazon and friends have it listed for $39.99, and if you’re hoping to avoid the otherwise unavoidable “sold out forever” sign during the final week of December, we’d recommend getting that order in now. Oh, and PSPgo owners need not apply — this one’s too cute for NAND.

Continue reading Sony ships EyePet for PSP, complete with camera

Sony ships EyePet for PSP, complete with camera originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 20:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earnings calls aren’t usually that interesting, and that’s doubly true when trying to listen via official translators. Still, we couldn’t help but give an ear to Sony’s fiscals, and sure enough, someone asked about our (still real) PlayStation Phone leak. We’re not sure who answered since it’s through interpreter, either Executive VP / CFO Masaru Kato or Senior General Manager of Investor Relations Division Gen Tsuchikawa (we’re assuming the former).

Citing the aforementioned device, the curious party asked if such a product would come out of Sony or of Sony Ericsson, and no, it wasn’t a complete denial. Instead, we’re told just how such a device would happen, that a gaming phone would be planned and prototyped under the (recently restructured) Network Services umbrella. We’re also told how SCE’s move to Sony City headquarters now puts them closer to the planning and engineering group, meaning the company “can better incorporate all these capabilities better… so when the timing is right we can probably announce to you the new product we have.” Ericsson is later cited as a resource “on smartphone and for the games devices,” although this might be something peculiar with translation. Again, that’s far from a confirmation, but they’re certainly entertaining the notion in a very, very detailed response.

But that’s not all; there’s also apparently a tablet brewing in the background, one that would obviously fall somewhere in between PC and Sony Ericsson’s efforts. There isn’t much else said, but if you’re up for psychoanalyzing executive commentary, we’ve transcribed and placed the full quote after the break.

Continue reading Sony earnings call entertains PlayStation Phone, reveals tablets are on the radar

Sony earnings call entertains PlayStation Phone, reveals tablets are on the radar originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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