PlayStation.Blog » gdc09

PlayStation.Blog San Francisco Meet-Up Recap

Chris Morell — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:01:29 +0000

For us here at the PlayStation.Blog, the defining moment of GDC was the San Francisco GDC meet-up. Sure, it was great to see our friends in the media and show off a bunch of great PLAYSTATION 3 and PSN games during GDC, but it’s incredibly rewarding to get in touch with our community. And that = you guys.

The first ever San Francisco Blog meet-up took place at the W Hotel last Wednesday evening. Of course, this one was extra special for us simply because it was on our home turf. RSVPs maxed out within a few days, and sure enough, most of you showed up for the festivities.

If you saw this message on the monitor at the W, then you probably found us and the mass amounts of caffeine and sugar provided for the night. My dinner consisted of a coffee and a cookie – delish.

Meet-up guests were greeted with a bad-ass Killzone 2 shirt, compliments of Guerrilla and the Blog. XL size surely means bedtime T for many.

Inside the PlayStation.Blog.Lounge, we had several special activities planned, the first of which got you some hands-on time with PixelJunk Eden Encore and many of the game’s new gardens. After about 25 minutes, we switched it up and handed over the controllers for a little Fat Princess time.

Some familiar faces showed up including our friends from hiphopgamershow.com. You better believe that belt was the celebrity of the night. A little Street Fighter IV even went down, of course.

The infamous trophy shirt that everyone seemed to want a piece of, sported by Jeff and yours truly. You begged and begged for one of these puppies, and now here’s your chance to snag one. The first 25 people to email us at playstationblog.gdc09@gmail.com with their name, address, and size preference (only L and XL are left) will get a shirt (No guarantees that you’ll get the size you asked for, as quantities are very limited). Good luck!

We were lucky enough to have Naughty Dog‘s Arne Meyer drop by, equipped with Uncharted 2 posters and more. Pretty cool, huh?

After raffling off some shirts and even a PSP, we got down to business with a special Resistance: Retribution PSP tournament (we told you to bring your PSP!). After a grueling first few rounds, our winner emerged from the final round, and took home a Metal Gear PS3 bundle. Not too shabby!

Thanks again to everyone for making this Blog meet-up a great success! Hopefully, those of you who made it out had a great time.

This Week on PlayStation.Blog

Chris Morell — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:24:38 +0000

This week, we’re recovering from an action-packed GDC, but don’t think for a second that the Blog is slowing down. This last week of March / beginning of April will be just as news-worthy as ever, so keep your eyes peeled for some great stuff right here. Specifically, here’s what you can expect from the week ahead:

A compete rundown of the San Francisco PlayStation.Blog meet-up, with great pics of all your pretty faces
A sweet new game for PSN
Xi in Home update
A great interview with Noby Noby Boy and Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

God of War Developer Interview #5 – Battle Director Adam Poole Answers Your Questions

Jeff Rubenstein — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:13:15 +0000

Here it is, our 5th and final God of War III developer interview of the week, and my personal favorite. The man with the coolest title in gaming, “Battle Director” talks damage dealing, weapons, and the influence of fighting games on the world of God of War. His descriptions of combos and, well, violence are vivid and fun; so this video is a little longer than the other ones. I don’t think you’ll mind.

If Adam’s descriptions don’t get you salivating for the game, maybe you need to watch the trailer again!

Thanks so much for taking time to watch the videos and meet God of War III’s developers. We’ll have a lot more for you on this game closer to E3.

God of War Developer Interview #4 – Lead Programmer Vassily Filippov Answers Your Questions

Jeff Rubenstein — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:19:03 +0000

We know you’ve got questions about God of War III – the developers have answers. All during this year’s GDC, we’ve been introducing you to the game’s devs, as they explain their contribution to the GoWIII, and what’s going to make the game great. Today, things take a turn for the technical, as Lead Programmer Vassily Filippov talks about how much bigger God of War III is than its predecessors, the power of PS3′s SPUs, and how PS3 Kratos couldn’t even fit on a PS2.

Tomorrow we wrap up our God of War III developer series with the most exciting interview yet – the game’s Combat Director. You won’t want to miss this one!

See how PixelJunk is made! Inside Q-Games’ Kyoto base

Jeff Rubenstein — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:52:15 +0000

Today marks the 3rd and final day of our GDC PlayStation.Blog.Lounge, and we’re very happy to welcome Q-Games President Dylan Cuthbert into the fold. Chances are you’ve already already played one of his company’s titles, PixelJunk Eden, Monsters, or Racers (and read about the upcoming Eden Encore). But who are the people that make such innovative games? And why don’t they wear shoes when they work? Take the tour:

A money shrine! I can’t believe we don’t have any of those here.

GDC 09: Attention Future Developers, Insomniac’s Got Your Back

Mike Acton — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:01:32 +0000

Hello from GDC 09! My name is Mike Acton and I’m the Engine Director at Insomniac Games. Last year at GDC we announced our Nocturnal Initiative and how we were going to use that to share some of the source code and research that happens here at Insomniac Games with the industry as a whole. I’m really pleased to say that over the last year we’ve seen a lot of good responses to that initiative. From individual students, to large studios and publishers, and even companies outside the industry, we’ve seen that people are interested in using what we have offered and contributing back ideas and changes.

Nocturnal is really about giving back to the industry. We know that we’re here because we learned from those that came before us and we have a responsibility to give back in turn. We take that responsibility very seriously and so we’ve worked hard to make sure we’ve added regularly to both our research documentation and source code over the last year. Just about every two weeks we release something new with the hope that we can help someone out there. Even when studios decide not to use our code or research directly, we know that we’ve at least been able to inspire conversation and discussion about our approaches within other studios. And getting people communicating and debating ideas is always a good thing!

Today, we’re adding something that I think is very neat to the Nocturnal code base. We’re very proud of the research we did and the final effect of the water system used in Resistance 2 and as of today both that code and documentation that describes the techniques in detail is available on nocturnal.insomniacgames.com – free to use for any purpose. I can only hope that one of you out there will take that and improve on it! (And you know if you want to share those improvements back with the community in turn, that would be awesome!)

Thanks to everyone in the community that’s checked out the source code on Nocturnal or read our R&D papers and given us feedback. Keep it up!

God of War Developer Interview #3 – Design Director Todd Papy Answers Your Questions

Jeff Rubenstein — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:30:39 +0000

Day 3 of GDC, so here comes our 3rd developer interview from God of War III As it stands, nobody is better at God of War III than Todd Papy. When SCEA Santa Monica first showed the game to the gaming press last month, Todd was behind the controls (and he only died once). In this interview, Todd Papy talks about how to craft the pacing of God of War III, “tanks” and “helicopters” in the game, and just what the heck *is* a Design Director?

How badly do you want to be one of these playtesters?

Fat Princess Interview – SCEA Producers Answer Your Questions

Chris Morell — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:15:05 +0000

It’s day two of the PlayStation.Blog.Lounge at the 2009 Game Developers Conference, and developer Titan Studios is showing off the upcoming PSN game Fat Princess. We know you’ve been asking tons of questions about the game, so Jeff sat down with SCEA Senior Producer Deborah Mars and Associate Producer Matt Morton for some great info on the game that we know you’ve been waiting to hear. Enjoy.

God of War Developer Interview #2 – Art Director Ken Feldman Answers Your Questions

Jeff Rubenstein — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:28:58 +0000

As Game Developer’s Week continues, we bring you the 2nd of our 5-part interview series with the people creating God of War III. Today, Art Director Ken Feldman tells us the mythology behind the story of Kratos, and where they get those gory ideas.

Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic Interview – Producer Joshua Miller Answers Your Questions

Chris Morell — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:10:04 +0000

It’s day one of GDC 2009, and the PlayStation.Blog.Lounge is up and running, hosting media, developers and fans all week long. And right now we’re thrilled that Tarsier Studios is showing off Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic inside the Lounge to some early-bird media. You already know what the game is all about, and we also know you had many specific questions about Fists of Plastic. So Jeff went straight to SCEA Producer Joshua Miller, and he answers all your questions right here. Stay tuned for lots more from the PlayStation.Blog.Lounge throughout the week!