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Tag Archives: Cross Platform

Rumor Mill: Sony to get achievements?

May 14, 2008 – 1:00 pm

Trophy
Ok so Sony wont exactly get achievements, but they are looking at instituting Trophies for PS3 games, most likely you will see these on the first party titles first.

According to our PS3forum industry insider, Sony will be releasing Firmware 2.4 sometime in June around the launch of Metal Gear Solid 4. Also mentioned is that the new Firmware 2.4 will include some of the first PlayStation Trophies. *Note that these will be the 2D trophies found on the XMB and not the 3D trophies coming in Home later this year.

A lot of gamers are looking forward to this feature as you can track what you have done in certain titles, I know for cross platform games the achievements on the Xbox 360 push them over the edge to get the MS version rather than the PS3 version. Couple this with HOME coming later this year and some in game XMB and the PSN is shaping up quite nicely, just hope it isn’t too late for Sony to come roaring back into the race.

[Via PSU]

By Al Zamora | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (5)

Do you trust your game journalists?

May 9, 2008 – 12:00 pm

Trust
There has been some talk over the years about video game journalists and their bias towards certain developer camps or platforms because of the “kickbacks” they may be getting. This includes advertising on their website or even the swag that comes with certain review copies. As all of us here at Loot Ninja are up and coming game journalists, of course not of the same scale as some of the other large video game reviewers out in the world, we do strive to stay unbiased and give you what our thoughts on everything is, positive or negative.

Some believe that is almost impossible to remain objective of a medium if you are presented with gifts form the franchise you are about to review and I have to tend to agree with them a bit. This would be like receiving a bag of money before going to watch Iron Man, this may sway your opinion on the movie just a bit, the movie was fantastic as I sat on this big bag of money to see better. Of course game companies are not stapling checks to the review copies they send but they are sending extras like sunglasses, pimp cups, game systems, I even heard of a review copy that came with a remote controlled car. Some of the swag that is given is very cool, but entirely not necessary.
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By Al Zamora | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (5)

Sony Unveils PhyreEngine for Free Cross-Platform Development

February 21, 2008 – 1:00 pm

PhyreEngine

In what could be one of the biggest quiet announcements of GDC, Sony is making their PhyreEngine free to all developers. In case you don’t know, the PhyreEngine is a graphics optimized for multi-core systems that run on OpenGL or Direct3D.

According the presentation, the package includes full documentation, “70+ samples” and “full source code and artwork” for a few sample game templates. And all that’s required to get your game running on the PS3 is a “simple recompile.” It works with standard tools like Maya & Max exporters as well as Bullet, Havok, and Ageia Physics engines. There’s already a few games on the market using the PhyreEngine cross-platform, including DiRT, fl0w, and GripShift.

So what does this really mean? Well, Sony’s free development tools are aiding the development of games for PC and Xbox 360, as well as their own console. Since a lot of developers have been neglecting PS3, making it easier for them to develop games in a single environment for release on all platforms is a great idea.

More news is expected in the coming days, weeks, and months on PhyreEngine as Sony is dubbing it “the new hotness.”

[via Joystiq]

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , | Comments (0)

Rumor Mill: Halo Wars Coming to PC with Cross-Platform Play

January 30, 2008 – 12:30 pm

halo-wars.jpg

Everyone knows about Halo Wars, the RTS set in the Halo universe being developed for the Xbox 360. Well rumor has it that the game will be coming to PC as well. That’s not all folks, as the rumors say there will be cross platform play between the PC and Xbox 360.

We haven’t seen many cross-platform games. In fact, UNO and Shadowrun are the only two. It looks like Halo Wars might be the third.

I have to see, I see an insane advantage to the PC here. Even though the game is set to use a simplified control scheme, using a keyboard and mouse for RTS games is a big plus over a controller. If the rumors turn out to be true, there better be either keyboard and mouse support for the Xbox 360 or some way to balance the playing field.

We’ll keep you posted on any concrete news that comes out surrounding the game.

[via The Angry Pixel]

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (3)

GameSpy Brings Cross Platform Multiplayer to Unreal Engine 3

August 15, 2007 – 7:19 pm

GameSpy LogoEpic and GameSpy (owned by IGN) today announced a deal where GameSpy’s multiplayer technology will be incorporated into Unreal Engine 3. The deal affects PS3 to PC cross-platform play. Other features being included in the engine are communication tools, competition apps, matchmaking, stat tools, community features, leaderboards, and unannounced new features that may turn up down the line.

The kicker is that GameSpy says this could work for brining cross platform play in a single game to the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. How cool would that be?

GameSpy has the technology to actually connect gamers across virtually any platform for multiplayer play, even Xbox 360 to PS3 to PC. “We’re huge believers in cross-platform play,” said [Todd] Northcutt [GameSpy Technologies Director]. But he said it’s ultimately up to Microsoft and other game companies to realize the dream of total cross-platform gameplay.

I have a tingling feeling that Microsoft will want no part of this. They have their own Games for Windows Live stuff for cross platform play. Hang this one up there with your dream of the next Duke Nukem game dropping this decade.

By Matt Banks | Posted in Loot Ninja | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)