Jul This is Michael Shorrock. I’m the Director of 3rd Party Relations at SCEA. As you may have seen this morning/last night on GameHead with Geoff Keighley, we are announcing that a new franchise from Rockstar Games will be exclusive to PS3. As part of our long standing relationship with Rockstar, and the incredible success for both companies with the cultural icon that is Grand Theft Auto, we’ve agreed to the PlayStation exclusive rights of the next great franchise from the Rockstar studios.
Everyone knows to have success in this business you need to look ahead, identifying the talent and titles that are going to give consumers new kinds of gaming experiences that help set the bar for the rest of the industry. Rockstar has a heritage for doing just that. We have had incredible success with the GTA franchise and are happy to continue to offer those titles on our platforms, and even more excited about what’s to come from the current and future relationship between our companies. Rockstar really wanted to make a game that you can truly only do on PS3, harnessing the power of CELL and Blu-ray disc and this deal lets them do just that.. This is really a win-win situation for both companies. As Jack mentioned in the interview with Geoff, this franchise is not LA Noire, but something all new. We agreed with Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive Software that we wouldn’t disclose anything more about the deal or title at this time, so stay tuned, we’ll share more info as soon as we can.
(Average: 4.52 out of 5)
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+ Loucifer on July 29th, 2007 at 6:56 pm said:
@Microdot
“does it make you cry into your master chief pillow case at night while wearing your bill gates underoos?”
LOLOLOL…OMG i almost peed myself…LOL…that [DELETED] is funny!!!
oh and another thing
@joel
“90% of the people that have bought the 360 have shipped it in for repairs”
Any GOOD system wouldnt have 90% of their owners mailing in a system for repairs…so lets be realistic…regardless of sales…MS SUX!!! and so does the 360
202
+ foolio_67 on July 29th, 2007 at 9:33 pm said:
Great news…Rockstar is amazing and I’m sure the game will be great!
203
+ xplosneer on July 29th, 2007 at 10:02 pm said:
How about Sony starts up the Dev thing again and gets Hideo on here with a translator for a MGS4 interview?
Realistically, what’s in store for us this coming week I wonder.
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+ MrGilder on July 30th, 2007 at 2:04 am said:
Nice one! Can’t wait to hear what the franchise will be..
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+ Oddfellow on July 30th, 2007 at 2:49 am said:
Hopefully it will be a title that is massive and not like The Warriors or Red dead Revolver wich was good games but not massive like GTA. I think they gonna come out with a game that blow us all away..But then again it depends on wich studio makes it. Some games like Manhunt(cool and boreing)is not the way to go..It is entertainment and it should have humour and not just violence. I like to be entertained but i don`t like The guinea Pig movies. Make a good game Rockstar and make us proud to own a Ps3.
206
+ Kedaro on July 30th, 2007 at 3:28 am said:
Sony!!! I have a great idea, how about you start a thread with some guidelines for a game, and all of us bloggers contribute ideas/suggestions that you can eventually turn into community polls, for a brand new IP backed by some of your best in house talents, then we will all feel like we’re helping to shape the next gen experience on the ps3. or you could make me a Lead Director, and I’ll sign a contract that my ideas, and visions will bring forth a new age upon gaming that no one can compete with… gauranteed.
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+ TagHeuer on July 30th, 2007 at 4:09 am said:
Good on ya Sony! And good on ya Rockstar! You guys make some killer games.
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+ A Special Mess on July 30th, 2007 at 4:37 am said:
firmware 2.0 please include
1.Using the bluetooth feature of the ps3: it would be cool if i could accesss and store media files from my cellphone to my ps3 (just like any other 2 cellphone transfer) via bluetooth.
— I have a se phone, surely this can be made compat
2. When u play ps/ps2 games, still be on the PSN and on the game display to show at least “Playstation _ Title” anything works good.
3. For FPS games, use the PSP (optional for the user) as the game map, would be bigger and better to see and understand.
4. I would like to organize my media files (music videos photos) my way, you know, by my own made folders and that
5. Add the weather, temperature(in your area), and a cool calendar on the menu or when u press PS button. And of course…the frikin date and hour
—– terrific idea
6. Chat with ur friends even when not in same game (hoping on xmb acces) and acces the web browser while chatting, too, that would be nice
. is it possible for the ps3 to support aim msn and yahoo?
PLEASE give us hdmi and optical sound output in tandom, just look at avforums/ps3 to see how many want this feature
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+ 40cal on July 30th, 2007 at 6:31 am said:
@A Special Mess #240
While I like all of your list. I love #3. The FPS map option on my PSP would be great, I love it.
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+ thechosenfew88 on July 30th, 2007 at 6:54 am said:
To be on subject, great news! Its great to see developers show interest in showing what the PS3 is capable of. And seeing that this “new” franchise will be exclusive to the PS3 makes it even more exciting. I’ve been playing the GTA series since PS1, to the PS2, and then the PSP, and dont’ know about the PS3. Personally, I think it starts getting a little too repetitive playing a game that doesn’t change besides the graphics and some extra added options, like swimming, etc.
I do have a question that is really off topic. Can anyone tell me, that if you buy a Blu-Ray movie that is 1080p, and the T.V. does not support 1080p, but does support, 480p,720p, and 1080i, will the movie be downscaled to 1080i, or to 480p?
211
+ Slick on July 30th, 2007 at 7:48 am said:
@thechosenfew88
It will be displayed in 1080i…your PS3 will select the highest possible output resolution for you TV..even for movies.
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+ thechosenfew88 on July 30th, 2007 at 7:53 am said:
@ Slick
Thanks a lot! Guess I better start my blu-ray collection of movies. That question was holding me back…lol
213
+ Swiss Trev on July 30th, 2007 at 7:53 am said:
hmmm…2 to 2.5 years till release of a new unproven IP, don’t wet your panties just yet….and my money is on development of XBox720 being announced around about then….you heard it here first! ;)
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+ thechosenfew88 on July 30th, 2007 at 7:54 am said:
@Swiss Trev
Why was the new xbox called Xbox 360?
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+ blizzard182 on July 30th, 2007 at 7:57 am said:
@thechosenfew88
I am guessing marketing issue.
If they said there was Xbox 2 it would look like is inferior as the PS3.
Which it is. But well…
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+ thechosenfew88 on July 30th, 2007 at 8:01 am said:
@blizzard182
Sounds reasonable. We need to get better on Resistance by the way to go against those geniuses who play 24/7….lol!
217
+ jlocker on July 30th, 2007 at 8:04 am said:
It is nice to see the PS3 in the number one or two position on Amazon over the last couple of weeks.
Playing Rainbow 6 on the SOE network still like having problems with the voice communications and program crashing when two much information or the bluetooth communications, could be the game could be the network, do not know. It looks like the some investigating to remove any possible of back-end server problems. The game has been great online, just looks like a few things could be check like is it the game or the network?
Everything else has been great, keep the games coming!!
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+ blizzard182 on July 30th, 2007 at 8:07 am said:
@thechosenfew88
LOL!
Yeah, and I need to get a headset. Don´t know if I can wait till warhawk
They have too much time man..
219
+ thechosenfew88 on July 30th, 2007 at 8:07 am said:
@jlocker
Is it me, or does Rainbow Six Vegas looks butt ugly on the PS3? The faces look all blurry and the textures don’t look too great… The game supports 1080i, so thats what I have it running in…
220
+ thechosenfew88 on July 30th, 2007 at 8:09 am said:
@blizzard182
I don’t know if you heard me in that room where like 40 people were playing, I kept talking about how bad I suck..lol. I just need some time to get the hang of it. I barely have time to play besides the weekends.
221
+ blizzard182 on July 30th, 2007 at 8:12 am said:
@chosen
yeah yeah I heard that lol. I could not answer though.
I get up at 7 and go back from work at 7 also sooo…not much time for me either…
college..gym now..my life is gone..
222
+ TwinsDad on July 30th, 2007 at 8:24 am said:
An announcement. It seems to me that it would have been better served to have this annouced along with title information. As it seems now, this announcement seems to only serve the fans that are crying over exclusives.
I’ll bother when the title and actual information is announced.
223
+ Scarecrow on July 30th, 2007 at 8:28 am said:
Killer!
Man, and it really sounds like it’ll be a groundbreaking franchise like GTA was.
Innovation in games is always great. Better yet, they’re specifically focusing on the Cell processor and how the ps3 works to make this game.
It’s a must buy already =D
224
+ Swiss Trev on July 30th, 2007 at 9:22 am said:
@chosenfew88
Basically the logo is a simple, round nexus, and that the console itself has a concave design…360 being the number of degrees in a circle – thus encapsulating both the descriptions above.
No idea what they’re going to call the Xbox360 successor to be honest – except there will be one and launched within the next 3 years. I simply chose the 720 name as it’s 2×360 – kind of like PC’s power doubling every 4 years, there’s a name for that formula but it escapes me for now.
When it arrives you can be sure it’ll at least double the power of PS3 – think of the latest most expensive hardcore PC graphics card currently available and double it’s performance – that’s what you’ll be looking at…hmm, Crysis x2 sounds good to me.
And PS3 will just be getting into its stride at this point giving us only 2nd or 3rd generation games (360 will be on 5th or 6th)
In my opinion it was an error for Sony to try to leapfrog technology as much as it did….heh, just my opinion.
225
+ jlocker on July 30th, 2007 at 9:44 am said:
Yes I am running Rainbow 6 Vegas in 1080i and I think the graphics look very good. If you want a great tv look into the Sony SXRD projections TV’s they have a great chip for doing video processing and the picture is best I have seen and mine is 21 old and the picture is great and I am still on the original bulb and have had zero problems. The new prices are great for these TV’s and I like them better then the LCD flat panels. When the bulb goes I can replace it myself on a LCD panel like a LCD laptop cost bucks to have it fixed.
226
+ awheaten on July 30th, 2007 at 9:57 am said:
@ Swiss Trev
What are you talking about. M$ just came out with Vista only after they released their Xbox360 and from what I hear at the IT shop at work alot of updates are to be desired, so I know dev teams are working on those and not another Xbox prototype. The point at saying that M$ is coming out with another system 4 to 5 years is a bit ambitious when its only been out a year and a half ago.
Remember the 360 don’t really have any games either, out side of Halo and Gears of War, which are ,by the way, all the same genre which therefore limits the console’s (xbox360′s) potential.
Back to my original point. To me all these dev company that are looking at Sony now only shows me that Sony is planning on more price cuts in the near future because I’m sure all the dev companies know that the PS3 is still very expensive, even though more PS3′s have been sold lately. Something has given these company’s like Konami, Namco, and R* alot of confidence in Sony and I don’t think it is the money Sony is giving them either.
227
+ Swiss Trev on July 30th, 2007 at 10:11 am said:
= )
okey dokey – we’ll see eh?
228
+ joel on July 30th, 2007 at 10:15 am said:
Basicly I hope microsoft’s last system is the 360. I dont trust them, nintendo is ok, but microsft killz there console when they release a new one. The only company that stays reliable to all the ps2 psp and ps3 owners is sony. They are the most reliable company, and hopefully peoploe start buying ps3′s and we can move faster.
229
+ roadclimber on July 30th, 2007 at 10:17 am said:
@Swiss Trev
The only way i could see MIcrosoft successfully releasing a new system in 2-3 years would be if they gave it free to all the people they made suffer through the 360.
When did the xbox come out anyway? how long of a life cycle did that one have? I guess it’s possible with improving technology that system generations might be stepped up but take the portables as an example. Newer versions are released which improve upon the basic concept but aren’t significantly different from the original. A lot of console players are at the mercy of the mothers and fathers who buy the consoles and i don’t think they’d like the idea of shelling out another 500$ or more in so little time.
You do raise a good point though. Part of the success of the 360 is its facility to mirror pc code programming. Making it easy to make 360 versions of pc games, and we all know how quickly and greedily pc games demand hardware upgrades. What will happen to the 360 when it can’t meet the system demands of the latest pc favourites?
HOwever, if Sony manages to corner the next gen dvd market simply by including a blu-ray player in their console, then thinking forward will have netted them a ton of cash. They also give the game designers the flexibility of massive storage space for game design. I shudder to think of what will happen when 360 users face their first multi dvd game. Shards of disc flying everywhere.. the horror. :)
230
+ Lp47 on July 30th, 2007 at 10:35 am said:
Some people were bummed out that Sony lost GTA4 exclusitivity. But who cares really when we get a new exclusive franchise from Rockstar. Also LA NOIR looks sweet. Good job Sony for getting this deal. Rockstar delivered the highest rating game last gen. (GTA San Andreas) IGN: 9.9 …. Thankyou very much Sony.
231
+ 40cal on July 30th, 2007 at 11:48 am said:
@ Swiss Trev
Microsoft still has not turned a profit on the first Xbox. So Xbox 720? Not likely, Mr. Gates may have the money to support a non profit organization such as Xbox yet it is more up to Microsoft’s share holders.
Oh and in my opinion it’s called the 360 because it puts us back right where we started. I like few PC games that’s why I choose to game on consoles.
And Microsoft’s next console will need a larger storage medium. So we all know that HDDVD is smaller and not succeeding. Blu-Ray will be the only option at this point, MGS games running off of Blu-Ray puts money in Sony’s pocket.
232
+ dodomasta3000 on July 30th, 2007 at 12:04 pm said:
that’s sweet and all but i have a problem….i have wallpaper to send to my people’s and all but the file’s are to big…there over 2000mb…is anyone going to fix this.
233
+ dodomasta3000 on July 30th, 2007 at 12:07 pm said:
is anyone out there….also sony are there any plan’s of a new rival school’s for the ps3….
234
+ wizardpsp on July 30th, 2007 at 12:29 pm said:
Woohaa That´s great!! Good sony!
235
+ RoAcH2285 on July 30th, 2007 at 12:37 pm said:
Yeah,I was wondering is L.A. Noire going to a PS3
title.Any feedback is appreciated,THANKS>
236
+ Cagalli on July 30th, 2007 at 12:39 pm said:
According to Rockstar’s financial statements, La Noire is only listed for PS3.
237
+ RoAcH2285 on July 30th, 2007 at 1:03 pm said:
By the way who the HELL gets on the PLAYSTATION BLOG and HATES on the PS3.Thats
just retarded,some people need to grow up.
238
+ RoAcH2285 on July 30th, 2007 at 1:04 pm said:
Cool thanks Cagalli.
239
+ thechosenfew88 on July 30th, 2007 at 2:05 pm said:
@40cal
I was waiting for someone to say it. Thats exactly what I thought of when I thought of the Xbox 360′s name. lol
240
+ thechosenfew88 on July 30th, 2007 at 2:15 pm said:
::Off topic::
European PSN will get the GRAW 2 demo this week. Can this be confirmed for the NA PSN as well?
241
+ 40cal on July 30th, 2007 at 2:19 pm said:
GRAW is an awsome game. I really hope we get the DEMO in NA and a better job of porting from the other console.
242
+ Loucifer on July 30th, 2007 at 2:35 pm said:
@thechosenfew88
Where did you hear about GRAW2???…i’d like to see that for myself dude
im highly interested in GRAW
243
+ MrCamo on July 30th, 2007 at 2:39 pm said:
All i can say is that i am glad i got a Playstation 3 when i did. I am able to at least keep up with the history of the updates and featur sets. I am sure that Sony will not dissapoint us with the PS3, given the amount of communication and feedback they are giving us, along with news like this that reminds me who really made a great gaming platform in the first place. Remember the sheer number of titles that were available to the playstation compared to other consoles at the time? Sony goes big and always will. They probably have no ides what they will do, they are probably just trying to figure out what will max out the ps3 and getting ready to begin development with that in mind. Even if the game was an expanded war game or GTA on steroids, it will be a must own.
244
+ Diceburna on July 30th, 2007 at 4:50 pm said:
Nice move Sony…very nice!!!
245
+ thechosenfew88 on July 30th, 2007 at 5:14 pm said:
@ Loucifer
http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2007/07/30/graw-2-demo-coming-to-the-eu-psn-next-week/
So far, it has been confirmed for the European PSN. Demo is coming this week, as the articles say on the update of the article.
246
+ stennex on July 30th, 2007 at 6:17 pm said:
Why is Sony always getting sued. I thought IBM, Toshiba and Sony designed and produce the Cell Chip now Sony is being sued for infringement over the Cell and its parallel processing by a company named Parallel Processing Corporation (PPC). Dang. Yow Sony keep your lawyers alert search for more possible infringements although you probably are doing that now. PS3 must really be very powerful to have so many tech companies claiming stuff.
247
+ AznSniper on July 30th, 2007 at 6:46 pm said:
What is this Sony Event that I’m hearing from GameSpot from August 9-10?
248
+ RatchetFanatic on July 31st, 2007 at 12:22 am said:
Rockstar Games Presents Mini Ping Pong
249
+ Dexter48 on July 31st, 2007 at 9:27 am said:
Got a question :
Are dev compiling their PS3 games in 64 bits since the Cell is a 64 bits CPU?
250
+ Slade on July 31st, 2007 at 10:35 am said:
Although some feel its a big pill to swallow, i think its a good move.The GTA 4 is getting up on years,and some new blood needs to be injected.Although it will be hard seeing how its gonna have hype to live up to.I think they will pull it off.Im glad some third parties arent forgetting where they most of their fame and money from and at the same time appeasing their stockholders.Capcom should take note.Thanks Rockstar and keep them coming!!!