Quote:News is sort of thin now...but lo and behold, I can present to you a beautiful bulletpoint list of current PS3 info from the Japanese conference.

• Worldwide Launch - November 11.
  
• Six million units produced in 2006 alone, a move to stem shortages.
  
• The price will not be less than 50,000 yen ($420 US)
  
• Full backwards compatibility, hi-res and texture filtering for all titles, akin to what the Xbox 360 does.
  
• 60GB HDD standard, loaded with Linux.
  
• Every PS3 game will be on a Blu Ray Disc, in an attempt to prevent piracy.
  
• The online service will be working off of GameSpy technology.
  

More as it comes, and a much better formatted article in the morning.

From Gaming-Age, posted by sonycowboy.

Source: Dow Jones

Quote:14-Mar-06 12:28 ET In Play Sony to delay the release of its PlayStation 3 next-generation video game console - DJ (SNE) 47.48 +0.71: Dow Jones reporting that Sony Computer Entertainment will delay the release of its PlayStation 3 next-generation video game console until early November because the copy protection technology for the Blu-ray Disc has not been finalized, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported in its Wednesday morning edition.

Now, I know that I've asked this before, but golly, I'm going to ask it again.

I want to get a screen shot from an ancient Sierra side-scroller as my background for windows. How do I go about doing this; what button do I push, and where will it go to so that I can find it? Please be specific.

-BARRY

Update Regarding Sadness, NIBRIS Publisher
by Shawn White (03/07/06)


Following its recent announcement of Sadness (working title), NIBRIS Project Mananger Piotr Orlowski responded directly to a number of Revolution Report's inquiries, provided new information concerning the studio's titles, publisher and more.

Regarding Raid over the River, Orlowski mentioned NIBRIS will release the first demo of the game (DS version) at the end of April into the beginning of May. That noted, we reported back in December that NIBRIS had signed a publishing deal for Raid over the River. However, Orlowski clarified the matter today:

Concerning the distributor – the company which was to be our publisher has financial problems and even cancelled its own projects. Therefore currently we do not have any but we are having promising talks with three companies. Of course if there will be any other company interested we will also negotiate – we are really counting on getting a good publisher who will appreciate our ideas and capabilities.

When asked how familiar NIBRIS was with Nintendo consoles, Orlowski responded, "The team of NIBRIS consists of 14 people but we are still recruiting new ones to complete the team. Most of them are people experienced in making PC games. However, thanks to the co-operation with another Polish developer, there are also people very familiar with Dual Screen and GameCube architecture."

"Unfortunately, we do not have the development kit of Revolution yet, but it is going to change soon," he said. "We have many ideas which can only be realized by Revolution."

Concerning the studio's newly announced title Sadness (working title), Orlowski firmly stated that the "project is confidential."
All I can say now is that it is going to be a gothic horror which will scare not with the amount of blood but sheer atmosphere. Imagine a game in which you do not use guns or knives but you will have to protect yourself with the objects you find exploring the ground – a stone, a stick, etc. Some examples of using the controller – you swing a torch with it to scare the rats off, you slit the throat (controller as a piece of glass or a knife); if you want to climb the wall you will have to hook a rope over the piece of a wall sticking out (controller serving as a lasso). And this is only the beginning. The game will be for single player and single player only. For an adult player with strong nerves. Let me mention that the scenario will have associations with narcolepsy, nyctophobia and paranoid schizophrenia.
As a final word, Orlowski noted, "We do not make games for money but for sheer pleasure. We create games which we would like to play but they are missing on the market. Our games are only for Nintendo – only DS and Revolution are the consoles which can realize our visions."

"We agree with Nintendo – that the market needs new ideas, not just larger amount of polygons. Of course it doesn’t mean that we will no pay attention to the graphics – definitely not! However we want the games to provide entertainment in the first place," he said. "Our aim is to make the player feel emotions and feelings We desire real smile, sadness, fear and tears. We believe we are able to achieve this."

from revolution report.com

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Holy shit kids, could it be possible that the Revcon is making developers think of more realistic situations to use the realistic controller set-up? It makes sense, the controller just inherently lends itself to drama. Yunno in RE4 when the Los Churros El Diablo del la Peniso was killed in the lake, and it caught your foot as it dragged you down with an old fashioned rope-trap? Imagine having to litteraly cut the rope, not smack the A button and watch the cut scene. By actually having to cut the rope you present all kinds of dangers, you could end up cutting yourself (decreasing health), you might end up spending all your time cutting the wrong parts of the rope when it's really only one or three loops that are holding everything together... talk about panic.

The revcon is deeper than i imagined; it's making developers in to better story tellers. The way this guy talks about the torch being used to scare off rats immeadiately puts me in the coridoors
of like-Aliens in pitch black as I use the torch to barely illuminate the surrounding structures. The kind of atmosphere that makes you want to turn the lights on and wake up your dog for protection just in case. Playing Silent Hill is one thing, but when the player is asked to litteraly stab or slash at the enemy's throat is going to offer an entirely different emotional spin on killing zombies and monsters. In SH the one thing that always disapointed me was the use of guns, it's fine in RE (RE is more of a 'video game') but SH needs tactile, palpable fear, I like the approach of a 'gun-less' horror game scenario. Imagine having two revcons, with one hand you try to hold the zombies head back to keep it from biting you while you stabd it with the other hand, trying to break in to its neck and sever its connection to the skull. Then when the crack is heard, the zombie goes limp in your hands and its eyes gaze in to yours like a toy, you let it go and it drops to your feet... your hands soaked in blood, you search its body for anything usefull. You find a wallet and, in real time using the revcon, go through it and find that behind a picture of his wife and kids is a security card used for accessing the next area.

The right wing extremists are gonna have a field day with this one. :D

plus, this game sounds awesome, and the developer is taking every step to make sure they get noticed so it sounds pretty big. take in to account all the ass-kissing they gave Nintendo and we may have a second party title on our hands.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?...?id=135406

Quote:<b>MIYAMOTO TO BE KNIGHTED IN FRANCE</b>

Mario and Zelda creator among the developers to be honoured in France's Order of Arts and Letters

If we ran the country we would've dubbed Shigeru Miyamoto 'Sir Shigs' a long time ago, but thankfully it seems that the French are finally catching up to our way of thinking, and the Mario creator is to be honoured at France's Order of Arts and Letters.

French site Gamekult reports that three developers will be named as knights at the ceremony, which takes place on April 13. French culture minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres will bestow the award upon Frederick Raynal (Alone in the Dark, Fade to Black), Michel Ancel (King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, Beyond Good & Evil) and Nintendo demi-god Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario, Zelda).

Apparently recipients of the title are required to have "significantly contributed to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance." Consequently, Mr. Miyamoto joins such greats as James Joyce and Bruce Willis, who have both previously received the French honour.

Here are some new screenshots of Star Trek: Legacy for Xbox 360 and PC.





XBOXIC

It's been over fifteen years since the last Super Mario Bros. game Super Mario Brothers 4: Super Mario World came out in Japan. To put things into perspective that was over half a lifetime ago for me. Now we're finally getting a new Super Mario Bros. aptly named "New Super Mario Bros.". If that doesn't deserve a countdown I don't know what does.

Quote:In a recent interview with Nintendo Power Magazine, Takashi Tezuka--Shigeru Miyamoto's right hand man--revealed some new information regarding the highly anticipated New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS.

In the interview Tezuka is asked who may be returning in the new game:

NP: Will we see any other beloved characters from the Mario universe, such as Yoshi, Toad, etc.? How about Bowser and the Koopalings?

TT: All of the characters you mentioned will show up except for Yoshi (laughs). Because we're trying to get back to the spirit of the original Super Mario Bros., Yoshi doesn't really fit.

This is good news as the Koopalings have been sadly out of action for some time now. Having them join in the fray will be a great plus and will also add to the boss elements of the game.

Tezuka also stated that New Super Mario Bros. will be a sort of throwback to the original NES Super Mario Bros.. Basically he feels that as Mario evolved, the games became more for the hard-core audience. He quickly clarifies that statement by saying, "That's not to say this game isn't for hard-core players, but I want to recapture the spirit of the original Super Mario Bros."

Whether this means that we will get back levels of Bullet Bills flying at us constantly or not is up in the air. But let's hope so!

He touches rather quickly on a few other subjects.

-The story is set in the Mushroom Kingdom.

-There will be no boss battles in two player mode.

-This is not a Wi-Fi compatible game.

-It will not use the microphone in any way.

-Koji Kondo (Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda musical mastermind) will be doing some of the soundtrack while the bulk will go to Asuka Ota who worked on the Yoshi Touch & Go soundtrack.

Near the end Nintendo Power asks if we will be seeing another Mario side scroller on a home console. Tezuka replies with, "The probability is not zero, but no further comment at this point." Then he just laughs.

Not to say that this game isn't going to sell like mad when it comes out anyway, but if you weren't fully decided on your purchase, you should be now.

Source: Nintendo Power Magazine

It would seem some scientists have calculated an alternative explanation for what had previously been called black holes. The major attraction to this explanation? It doesn't violate the current understanding of quantum physics. Essentially, rather than forming a singularity, a colllapsed star forms a sort of shell with a vacuum inside. Now, of course a vacuum doesn't actively suck things into it, otherwise the universe would suck away our atmosphere so very isntantly. Apparently, the shell has a very strong gravitational pull, and the vacuum has some sort of odd property that actually results in antigravity. The thing is, when they modelled a universe sized "dark energy star", it managed to generate as much dark energy as we currently see in the universe today.

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/fund...3.600.html

Readinate it.

http://www.sonofasubmariner.com/

WHYYY?!

"The Revolution may embody a new platform beyond a portable or console, which makes possible a new structure in the network gaming system, changing the ways communities are built and supported. This is the kind of direction we’ve envisioned, and we will challenge ourselves to provide immersive interactive content in response to what Nintendo offers.”

Says Squeenix president Yoichi Wada, which is actually an old quote. Recently on IGN and other sites they ran an article saying that FF:CC is in development for rev (which is true) and that it will be online and released early 2007 and the now famous quote of "online capabilities, magnificent graphics and an intense use of the revolutionary control of the platform." has been pasted everywhere. But squeenix denied it for some reason. Eurogamer has their thoughts as well as this old quote: http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=63131 if you look at their denial closely, they basically say 'We neither confirm nor deny'. Gotta love NDA's and the possibility of getting sued by the company you work for just for opening your mouth.

A new blogger has disected some patents and found a weirdness. Apparently, sitting right in front of our faces, is an audio input device on the Revolution hardware.



definitely give this a read, it's not JUST a mic, the audio processors presented in the patent are capable of real time mixing borrowing from audio files in the game, from external media (hard drive, DS), from the network, and from the player's voice. In THEORY this could be very much like elektroplankton and it could mean that a Revolution game will have an adapting, evolving and completelyunique sound bed for each user depending on what you give the audio input.

if the Revcon actually has a mic on it, we can expect alot of good things, namely we can expect voice chat, voice recognition and the DS's patented 'blowinng the mic' which, if you think about it, would be awesome in a game like Zelda where you have to actually play the ocarina by blowing in to a mouthpiece and using the buttons to play notes, while also swirling the 'ocarina' in certain shapes and directions to cause desired effects. think of a snake charmer, you'll get the idea.

From: http://nrevolutiona.blogspot.com/

Revolution microphone

Hello everyone,


I am starting to enjoy this a lot hahaha. I haven´t made a blog before, it´s like a new baby for me. Please forgive me if I am a bit heavy and egocentric talking about me and the blog hahaha but its about time to pass the initial effect.

Ok so the title is called "Revolution microphone" for something... yes, We had the mic in front of our eyes for all this months. Like in 4 distinct patents we could see in the diagram that there are two types of audio input, and 1 audio output. The output goes to the speakers. The inputs are from 2 distinct sources. The first one comes from a "Mass Storage Access Device" in a type of "streaming audio" towards the Audio/Graphics procesor (red block to yellow block). As we can see in the diagram below this "Mass Sotrage Access Device" are Discs... and the input could be audio effects and soundtrack from the game itself (Disc).



But the other input comes from nowhere (blue block)... This is the text from the patent

Audio codec 122 can receive audio inputs via a buffer 124 and provide them to graphics and audio processor 114 for processing (e.g., mixing with other audio signals the processor generates and/or receives via a streaming audio output of mass storage access device 106).


So it seems that audio comes from other source than the discs so from what type of periferial or inner system can come??? There are not many answers for this. A mic is the most realistic answer. Also mentions a buffer (number 124) from this audio input. The buffer can send the analog audio (voice) through the codec (green block) so it can transforme the analog audio to digital one, so the audio/graphics processor can work with it. An then we can continue to a more detail explanation how this mic could work with Revolution... see the next diagram



The patent says

Audio interface and mixer 1300 interfaces with audio codec 122, and can also mix audio from different sources (e.g., streaming audio from mass storage access device 106, the output of audio DSP 156, and external audio input received via audio codec 122).


This is a representation of the Graphics and audio processor (light blue). We have the memory interface and the audio memory itself (blue and purple blocks). The audio interface and mixer (yellow block) receives input from the streaming audio in and from the codec (red and green block) and also from the Audio DSP (Audio rendering maybe?). So remember that the codec (green) outputs to the speakers, but inputs from this buffer that I think comes from the mic. When the audio from the codec gets to the Graphics and audio processor in a digital signal it can be "interpreted" so maybe audio commands like the DS could be possible for Revolution. It is not so difficult to think a mic can be added cause isn`t a costly feature and can help getting less buttons on the controller, right? A simple command like "shoot" can make 1 less button and it could be possible to plug a mic to the wand through its port.

And the most important fact of all. I think Iwata or Miyamoto commented that a feature of Revolution could be very well receive by women... so let me think if talking is something that women like to do... mmmmmm just thinking.

If this is the ultimate Revolution secret? I don´t know but It could be. OR maybe this 3D display issue can be the ultimate one? I want to believe. That would be discussed in another moment.

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thoughts, reasoning, opinions, etc