Infinite Monkey Theory

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High Velocity Bowling
Hi everyone. This is PJ, and I’m a senior producer at SCEA San Diego. There has been a ton of talk about the origins of High Velocity Bowling since the title was shown at Gamer’s Day in May. We didn’t get a whole lot of coverage during the event, due to all of the other amazing games that were shown, and High Velocity Bowling kind of got grouped with the other PlayStation Network games. It’s a pretty common misconception that High Velocity Bowling is Sony’s “answer” to Wii Sports Bowling. We came up with the idea of using the SIXAXIS controller for bowling on August 23rd, 2006 – I know the exact date because it was my birthday…Eddy Cramm (who is a Sr. Designer on MLB ’07) and I had taken the day off to get a couple rounds of golf in, a rare luxury these days. Out on the course, we talked about using the controller as a bowling interface (we both carry 200+ averages in our current bowling league) and both loved the idea. He sent a text message to our studio director that night and my team (small, but dedicated) started work on it the next day. While we weren’t surprised by the inclusion of bowling in Wii Sports a month later, we knew that we were taking it a step further once that game launched. I know I’m looking forward to the launch of High Velocity Bowling and hope you all like the ladder/progression/unlocking mechanic that we’re going with.

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119 Comments

  • Another nice addiction.
    Seems 1000 times better than Wii bowling :P

  • I really hope this game goes online, because I can’t say how much fun it would be to bowl against friends online.

  • Since when is bowling the litmus test for next gen?

  • @52 this game would be a good online game to play with people and chat. Perfect game for the home atmosphere. I just hope that the game has a lot of characters.

  • @55, I was thinking how this would be cool for home also, going to a bowling alley with friends, and feel like we are really bowling. Well, if it isn’t, I still hope the developers are listening and put voicechat in online play (if there’s online play). I’d even pay a little extra to get good voicechat.

  • it would be cool if you could have the pins blow up when you get a strike ;)

  • ok, your game is cool, w.e To be honest, i probably won’t buy it, unless a review gives it a 8 or higher out of 10. Just for the fact that im not interested in it.
    ANY WAY
    lets get some more ps1 classics please. I would gladly pay 10 bucks for a ps1 game to play on my psp. Hint Hint, ff7, mgs1, warhawk, spyro, any one home!
    comon sony, my psp is broken, and im waiting for a psp ‘ lite’, but if you were to put a few good ps1 classics up, ill go out and buy another psp

  • This game and Pain should be a blast.

  • any games other than midway classic are want on psn please

  • This is the first time hearing about this game and it looks pretty good!

  • This game and PAIN are the 2 PSN games I am truly looking forward too.

  • PAIN is going to be so much fun!

  • I’ve heard just too many times that the SIXAXIS is way more precise that the Wiimote, so i’m looking forward to this game… that is when i have a PS3, also i hope too see good stuff coming E3, like the Sony gamer’s day, it was very cool, or so i read. Keep up the good work!.

  • The game looks and sounds fun..and don’t worry about the Wii Sports knock off claims….people these days seem to have no common send…if people say Sony copied Nintendo with motion sensing and Home….then we know they would say anything…just finish making this and make it better with online leagues and what not….and they as soon as you’re done with that…go make me an arcade Cricket game…lol….no seriously that was a joke.

  • Wii Sports bowling is just a ripoff of real bowling anyway. Originality is overrated. People play games because they’re fun, not because they are original.

  • Man way to to Sony/Playstation Team..Love this idea

  • This looks like fun. the texture of the lanes look incredible. I only hope the media can appreciate the differences between the wii and ps3. they usually tend to overlook these things.
    btw, thanks for the blog!

  • Amazing, simply amazing how you guys spin everything.

  • Who cares if something is similar or not to something else…as long as it is good!

    People in general tend throw hate around such as “rip-off” or “un-innovative”…but it doesn’t really matter since nothing is really innovative, someone was always ahead of you and it should never matter as long as what you do is really good…Otherwise we wouldn’t have evolution in games or life in general.

  • Go Nintendo » Blog Archive » Sony talks High Velocity Bowling/Wii Sports Bowling once again- What are you waiting for?

    […] This would be the second time we’ve heard Sony tell us that High Velocity Bowling isn’t related to Wii Sports Bowling. The blurb comes from Sony’s newly opened official blog… […]

  • Hey PJ, looks like you’re working on a very fun game.Looking forward to see more of it.Concerning the comparison to the Wii bowling game, you’ll always have haters/keyboard warriors around who will take any opportunity to discredit your game for whatever reason they can think of.It’s really a battle you cant win against people like that.

    I hope that when more information and footage will surface people will realize that the only thing in common is the fact that its about bowling, but that the approach to how to play it and the gameplay aspects itself will set it apart from (and hopefully surpass) the Wii game.Besides, its not like Nintendo has a monopoly on bowling anyways :P

    Anyhows, hoping to see some updated news in the near future.Im sure you’re all dedicated to make this a fun game, and basically succeeding in that is the only way to shush the haters.

    Nootje

  • then finish it quick! it looks fun! and please, do not forget the european (italian ^^) users!

  • when can we expect this to be released?

  • this kind of game should be use in home. Just give the game its space on home, people can register or dowload it for a fee but keep it there and I think could a lot more fun playing with people all over the world, but instead of going in to a list of games that are being played or rooms just have a big community setting where people can just walk to each other and say “do you want to get a bitting on HVB” and take it from there

  • High Velocity Bowling i hope u can play online with a rating system so i can be the number bowler on psn

  • High Velocity Bowling i hope u can play online with a rating system so i can be the number 1 bowler on psn

  • Codename Revolution — Nintendo Wii » Blog Archive » Sony: HVB is not our answer to Wii Bowling

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  • Hell yes im excited for this title. One of my fave games at the moment is Super Rub a Dub, another title that makes interesting use of the sixaxis. When I read about High Velocity Bowling during the week Gamers Day was held I was instantly intrigued. The first reason would be my love of bowling, but the second would be just how fun it sounds with the sixaxis. I just hope that when it comes out its really fleshed out unlike Wii Bowling.

  • Sony algera ter criado Bowling e SIXAXIS antes da Nintendo « Guri de Apê

    […] Fonte: PlayStation.Blog […]

  • Avatar photo

    Hey all – thanks a ton for the positive feedback. I know we’re thrilled with the progress and can’t wait to release this into the wild. =)

    Incidentally, the unofficial scorecard:

    Controllers thrown – 3
    TV’s broken – 0
    Guys unintentionally hit in sensitive areas – 13

  • glad to see more titles pushing the motion controls

  • wow this looks tight lol

  • Screenshot looks way better than the trailer on gametrailers. Could you maybe post some more (pretty please) :D?

  • Sony: HVB is not our answer to Wii Bowling - The Nintendo WiFi Community

    […] Sony: HVB is not our answer to Wii Bowling The official Playstation site for the US has recently started its own blog with Sony developers and staff blogging about all things Playstation. Not too long ago, Sony had revealed a new game called ?High Velocity Bowling? that would utilize the Sixaxis controller?s motion-sensing capabilities. Since it was revealed, many gamers began to speak about how the game was Sony?s answer to Wii Bowling. The Senior Producer of HVB had the following to say in the latest Playstation blog post: ?It?s a pretty common misconception that High Velocity Bowling is Sony?s ?answer? to Wii Sports Bowling. We came up with the idea of using the SIXAXIS controller for bowling on August 23rd, 2006?While we weren?t surprised by the inclusion of bowling in Wii Sports a month later, we knew that we were taking it a step further once that game launched.? Full Blog Here: PlayStation.Blog ? Infinite Monkey Theory […]

  • Looking forward to this game! :D

  • Hey, get over the “we can’t copy Wii” attitude already!

    I say go and copy it aggressively! Bring out a package called PS3 Sports, with all these little games on it (all in 1080 HiDef). Bundle it with a SIXAXIS Stick controller that works like the Wii. Sell it like the original EyeToy . . . and show the world how these games are supposed to look on a Next Gen machine.

    Anybody who want to use the controller for their games can do it.

    Watch people print screenshots of PS3 Sports vs Wii Sports and wonder why they were such cheapskates.

  • sonysuc..oops..rocks

    yeah.. shows how cheap sony is…the bowling alley only has 2 lanes.
    Oh, and by the way, sony lost 1.9billion dollars very recently and dropped over 100 jobs.=D
    In Japan Wii and DS are selling 5 times better than the ps3 and psp. The almighty blugay…i mean bluray has no better than 360.
    hmmm… compare Gears of War to Resistance fall of Sony…oops Man! No comparison.
    How can they even hope to stand up to 1) Halo3 2) Super Smash Bros. Brawl 3)Super Mario Galaxy and 4)Metroid Prime 3 Corruption????
    All I have to say is GOOOOO Nintendo and Xbox!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • sonysuc..oops..rocks

    pwned…

  • What I want to know is how are you supposed to hold the controller? Do you hold it with one or two hands? Do you grip the controller like a dumbell?

    Just curious about this because I was completely stoked when I heard Sony was going to come out with a bowling game that would take advantage of the Sixaxis controls.

    But again I’m a little concerned about breaking the controller or even worse the tv. Cause I remember hanging out with a few of my friends have some drinks while playing frantic Wii Bowling. Luckily you could grip it fairly easily and had the safety cord around your wrist.

  • I still can’t get over the averages over 200.
    I used to bowl 5 leagues a week, plus practice and tournaments and my average only got to the 180s. I quit bowling not long after I got hooked on EQ1. o.O

    I put it down to the rubbish lanes here in Australia (some of the techs at the lanes don’t know what an oil pattern is) and the fact that most of our bowling alleys don’t serve beer. :(

    Anyway, I look forward to playing this.

  • Hello PJ!! Thank you for taking the time to chat with the peops on the street. ;) Depending on your tenure with Sony in San Diego, we may have crossed paths. I still have some friends working in your offices and have cut some Dev Tool deals globally for your inhouse developers a few yeas back. (5 )

    I wanted to add my 2 cents to this blog which is essentially a reiteration of FranktheCrank’s post #38….That is, the motion control is everything for this game. Hi Def 1080p, realistic player characters, stats, etc. are all nice features. But if you are unable to capture the essence of how a bowling ball releases from one’s hand properly, the rest really doesn’t matter.

    Granted your game is not final and everything developed so far is subject to change, however an early press review on your game made mention to the 6-axis controller feeling a bit awkward. Not just from the form factor but apparently the button scheme currently used.

    The Wii Sports version combined the form factor of their controller i think pulls this off nicely. Velocity, wrist motion, release point all are blended well with the natural grip of the controller.

    Even if the review I read had it all wrong, I truly hope you focus most of your dev energy figuring out a way to make it feel like we will be rewarded from a consistant bowling throw. Once you have captured that essence…then maybe online and league support before the others do ;)

  • Defenitly looking forward to this one.

    Are there any plans of some how tieing this in to HOME?

    Will there be Sixaxis Wriststraps at some point, because it’d be better to avoid this issue soon than later…I have an HD TV =(

  • Sony Talks High Velocity Bowling/Wii Sports Bowlin » Nintendo Wii Zone

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  • Just want to echo what tjm222 said above. On the Wii, the release feels as if you really are bowling (heck, my grandma who can’t bowl anymore because of the weight of the real ball can be play and loves it). But with the sixasis, how is that going to work out? I mean, they’re not going to make ppl do the kiddie grip where it’s going to be a two handed release I hope. But if it’s a one hand with a forward swing, wouldn’t the controller just fly out?

    I really really hoped that this is not going to be a forced control motion thing where it’s like those ‘batting’ in the baseball game where you push the controller to swing. It’s just not very real at all and seems to be forced into using it.

  • I cannot wait for this game to come out it looks great and I love how you guys are taking a full advantage of the six axis controller.

  • Avatar photo

    @ questions concerning the controller

    I think people will be really surprised at how natural the SIXAXIS feels when used for this game. While its an admittedly different way to hold the controller, we’ve gone through multiple designs and focus tests to make sure its comfortable, playable, and fun.

    Imho, it actually feels more like bowling than Wii Sports because you actually hold onto the controller the same way you would a bowling ball – index & pinky fingers out, middle two fingers holding onto the controller. We’ll be putting a gameplay trailer up on the Playstation Store sometime in the very near future.

  • Tired of Sony » Blog Archive » Sony Wants Credit for Wii Bowling i.e. “We made it first! Mine! Mine!”

    […] source @ the new playstation dev’s whiny blog […]

  • This blog is sweet! Thanks for the info!

  • WHERE DO I COMPLAIN ABOUT THE EMBARASSING LACK OF CONTENT ON THE PLAYSTATION STORE?

    Please someone post something about the lastet store update so that we have a place where we can go to express our frustration

    Thank you

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