Sunday, July 31, 2011

Vita Receives Full RPG Support From Idea Factory and Compile Heart


Idea Factory and Compile Heart are currently hard at work on the PlayStation 3 exclusive, Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2, but it has now been revealed that they are also planning some titles for the PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS.

In the latest issue of Gemaga, Idea Factory president Shingo Kuwana and Compile Heart president Yoshiaki Satou revealed that they have plans for Sony’s PlayStation Vita and Nintendo’s 3DS. The games are so far along in development that they could be revealed whenever both developers please, says Satou.

Compile Heart and Idea Factory have worked on PS3 games such as Cross Edge, Hyperdimension Neptunia, and Trinity Universe. It will be great to see what they can do with the PS Vita, and maybe we will see some of their previous releases ported to the Vita, especially the upcoming Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2.

Later in the same interview, the two presidents discussed the role of famed Keiji Inafune in Mk2, with the two saying he’s looked at as an influential leader by the game developers as he has “power.” Hopefully that energy will be brought to the Vita with full force.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 is scheduled for release August 18th in Japan, with nothing yet on localization.

505 Games Clarifies Press Release, Vita Fall Release Window “Only Speculative”

Earlier thit week, 505 Games’ press release got quite a bit of attention when it alluded to a fall release for the PlayStation Vita. According to the release, the developer’s upcoming title Supremacy MMA will launch on Sony’s new handheld this fall. Naturally this caused quite a stir as PlayStation fans took this to be confirmation that the PSV will in fact launch by year’s end. However, 505 has released a statement clarifying that the release window ”is only speculative”.


According to Sony, ”at least one” territory will see the console before 2012. There’s little reason to doubt that Japanese gamers will be among the first to get their hands on the shiny new handheld, though a fall 2011 release in other territories is still a possibility. Word has it that the UK will likely see the game early next year, with North American gamers possibly getting it a bit earlier before Christmas.

Naturally, Sony does not comment on rumor and speculation, so it looks like we’ll have to wait until gamescom where we’ll hopefully get a firm release date.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Alleged UK Blockbuster Ad Indicates an October Release for the PS Vita

PlayStation fans were only just teased by rumors stemming from Supremacy MMA s press release, which indicated a fall launch window for the PSV, but the rumor was squashed when 505 Games clarified it as simply speculation. Now, another bit of evidence for a fall release has sprung up in the UK. 

A blockbuster advertisement sent to IGN by one of the site’s readers indicates an October 28th release date for the PlayStation Vita.

Whether or not the ad is actually authentic remains to be seen, but if it is, there is reason to believe that other territories including North America will see the game before 2012. It is worth noting that both models – 3G and Wi-fi only – are included in the listing.

Sony has responded to the rumors by saying that the Vita will see a ”phased global release” this holiday season. Whether or not that timeframe extends into next year has yet to be determined, but considering all the rumors that have been floating around and Sony’s track record for keeping secrets, gamers may just be able to get their hands on the system a bit sooner than expected.

PS Vita in 'tough position' after 3DS price cut, says analysts

Industry analysts have suggested that PlayStation Vita may find itself in a bit of a pickle now that Nintendo has decided to cut the price of the 3DS.

Speaking to IndustryGamers, M2 Research analyst Billy Pidgeon commented, "When Sony announced PS Vita pricing at $249.99, 3DS price had to come down," adding: "PS Vita pricing feels compatible with value now, but unless the economy improves more rapidly, a price cut should come sooner rather than later."

Elsewhere, EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich feels Sony's new pocket brick has been put in a 'tough position' as a result of the price cut, though reckons it can still "thrive" at its planned $249.99 price tag.

"This price cut does put the Vita in a tough position. It all comes down to the content and if the Vita can deliver a library of high quality entertainment products, it should be able to thrive at the $249 price point,” said Divnich.

Lastly, DFC Intelligence’s David Cole reckons Nintendo’s decision to cut costs is an indication that the Japanese giant is ‘feeling the heat’ from PS Vita. "I just looked at [Nintendo's] revised financial forecasts and they are ready to take a hit. They are really being aggressive. It is very unlike Nintendo to be willing to take such a loss.”

"I think what it says is that they really feel the heat from the Sony Vita. I see it as a move to protect their market share and position in handhelds. I would not call it desperation but more a very aggressive defensive action by the market leader to hold on to market position."

PS Vita RAM hasn't been reduced, says report

According to whispers from a ‘Sony Japan source,’ the PlayStation Vita has not been subjected to a reduction in memory capacity.

Despite this, it’s worth pointing out that Sony itself has never officially confirmed whether the handheld would support 512MB or 256MB.

Internet rumblings however suggested that Sony’s new slab was intended to pack 512MB, while rumors doing the rounds recently suggested the memory had been slashed in half.

Furthermore, Novarama’s Dani Sanchez-Crespo commented that any potential reduction in RAM “won’t affect us,” and suggested a cut would be “good for developers.”

PS Vita is due out in at least one major territory by the end of the year. 

Friday, July 29, 2011

Samsung to manufacture PS Vita CPU

According to Andriasang’s translation of a Semiconductor Industry News report, Samsung will supply the PS Vita’s CPU.



The site also reiterates earlier reports that the chip will be produced using a 45 nanometer process, as are those used in the slim models of both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The two electronics companies have a strong working relationship, with a joint LCD manufacturing facility in Korea among other collaborations.

Sony is yet to set a release date for the new handheld, although it’s expected to reach Japan before the end of the year, with international launch to follow.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Supremacy MMA to eventually release on Vita

505 Games and Kung Fu Factory have announced Supremacy MMA will be released on Vita when it hits stores.


The Vita version will come with exclusive content including new fighters, venues and features.

“Supremacy MMA takes MMA where it’s never gone before, with unprecedented brutality and arcade speed, and now it’s headed for another new frontier as the sole MMA game to go to handheld in 2011,” said Ian Howe, President, 505 Games, North America. “The arcade-styled gameplay is perfectly suited for quick handheld sessions, and the game looks amazing on Sony’s hot new tech.”

Supremacy MMA will be released on PS3 and Xbox 360 on September 20 in the US and September 23 in the UK and then onto Vita for Holiday 2011 – if the handheld is out by then.

Alleged PS Vita RAM cut could be “good for developers”

Dani Sánchez-Crespo, CEO of PSP games studio Novarama doesn’t seem to concerned with the rumoured halving of RAM in the Wi-Fi model of PS Vita, because if true, it wouldn’t have any affect on his company’s projects.


Speaking with Develop, Sánchez-Crespo didn’t seem too concerned when asked about the possibility.
“No that won’t affect us,” he said. “It’s actually good for developers to work under constraint. Generally for Vita, we still have a whole lot of headroom in terms of GPU power, CPU power and indeed RAM”.

Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida previously implied that claims of RAM in the non-3G model being halved from 512MB to 256MB – ostensibly to allow it to compete more competitively with the Nintendo 3DS on price – may not have been true.

“Do not believe everything you read on the Internet,” he said.

If Sony has indeed removed RAM purely for price considerations, it won’t have been delighted to hear this morning’s news that Nintendo are slashing the price of the 3DS by around a third in all territories.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Sony 'thinking about' PS Vita Activity feature for PS3

Sony’s hinted that PlayStation Vita’s Activity feature may eventually come to PlayStation 3.

Speaking at the Develop 2011 conference, Sony Europe’s R&D manager Phil Rogers commented, "We're thinking about it,” adding, “Possibly, but if you think of the XMB interface: how do you represent that there?

"But we're thinking about it and it's a feature that a lot of developers and publishers asked for it because it's really useful to keep that whole [game] discussion [going]." 

For those out of the loop, Activity offers a feed of your friends’ game-related achievements, such as telling you the amount of Trophies your mate has earned for a specific title. In addition, it’ll also allow gamers to retweet friends and comment on their accomplishments.
PS Vita's online component is comprised of four key features: LiveArea, Near, Party and, of course, Activity.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

PS Vita playable at gamescom

A Sony PR representative has confirmed to VG247 that members of the public will get their first hands-on opportunity with the company’s shiny, new handheld at gamescom next month.


Looks like you won’t have to wait until the Tokyo Game Show as previously announced. Form an orderly queue.

Details are yet to emerge about the line-up of games that will be available to play on PS Vita but, as ever, as soon as we know, you’ll know.

Gamescom takes place in Cologne, Germany, from August 18-August 21.

Could Disgaea 3 be Launching with the PlayStation Vita?


The PlayStation Vita has a lot of great titles in development, and should have one of the best launch line-ups in gaming history. You might be able to add one more possible game to that strong line-up as Yahoo Japan have listed Disgaea 3: Return as a launch title for the PlayStation Vita.


The article goes on to list several newly announced games such as Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Digimon World Re: Digitze, but Disgaea 3 leaps out above the rest. This could be a port of the PlayStation 3 version of the game, or it could be some kind of spin off. The article has since been edited to exclude the Nippon Ichi Software title, so we will have to wait and see if there was any truth to it.

The original bit from Yahoo Japan can be found below for anyone who can read the language.
日本一ソフトウェア
■PSV
本体と同時発売 魔界戦記ディスガイア3 Return 新規

Sony explains PS Vita’s online features

Sony has unleashed lots of new information regarding Playstation Vita’s online modes Near, Party, LiveArea and Activity.


Near is like the Nintendo 3DS’ SpotPass. It’s “a location-based gifting system”, which allows users to gift each other and find out more about games.

“What Near does is it allows users to discover each other, leave gifts for each other and essentially find out more about games,” said Phil Rogers, SCEE’s research and development boss, at Develop last week.

“You can see where people are in relation to your location, their five most recently played games and also gifts that they’ve registered.

“This is fairly cool because it exposes users to games they might not have heard of and you can see how popular those games are and how people are rating them.

Another interesting feature is that “unlike another platform”, Near’s gifts don’t settle down in one place, following you around as you “go about your daily life”. Near allots you with one 100KB gift box per game. You can store multiple gifts per box but can’t exceed the 100KB data limit imposed.
Rogers went on to illustrate a verbal picture of such a scenario:

“Imagine user A visits locations one to ten through that day, and they get home and sync with the server and it uploads to the Near server your ten locations that you’ve been to.
“User B comes along, does the same thing, but at some point in User B’s day they passed User A’s location five, which means they’re now able to collect gifts that that user’s dropped. That comes into the Near application and then in-game they pick up those gifts.”

Players will be able to specify how many times a gift can be collected, its availability from  your daily locations in terms of relative distance, how long a gift lasts for, access to the gift, and other players chances of finding it. Rare items might only be discovered by one lucky person out of 100 people.
“You could have a rare ship and you could drop that and someone could collect that by using Near.”

Rogers also revealed that gifts can be more than just service-specific items: you can also gift challenges and even in-game gear. He also confirmed that Near will come with a feature which will allow players to write a gift note to your gift-giver in order to thank him.
Rogers then went on to discuss that Party feature of Vita.

Party is “really good for having friends together to discuss games, chat about them and get into them”, Rogers said.

Similar to Xbox Live’s, Vita’s Party is “platform-wide” and allows you and three friends to form a party that sticks together irrespective of what you do on the handheld. “You can chat across games through text and voice,”Rogers revealed.

Rogers put particular emphasis on Vita’s cross-game voice chat feature. “Cross-game voice chat, it’s there and it’s on Vita.”

Rogers explained that you’ll also be able to launch Vita games from within Party and your friend will be able to click and button and join in the action.

“You can have different Party groups for different games or genres,” expanded Rogers. “Maybe you’ve got a first-person shooter group that you can all chat and go into.

“The voice chat part you can override,” he added, “so if in-game you’ve got your own teams for audio then you can override the Party chat and turn that off.”

He concluded by saying that Party is integrated with friends lists but isn’t mandatory and developers can opt out of including it in their games. “Games can choose not to,” said Rogers.
He then went on to explain the LiveArea and Activity features:

“The LiveArea is essentially where you go to launch your PlayStation Vita day,” Rogers quipped.
There are three modes in LiveArea: Index, Live and Game. The top area you’ll see is the content information zone, which is the “landing point for when you start any game on PS Vita”. The communication zone is where you “comment on people’s activities within the game as well as publish your messages”.

Activity is a way for players to discuss progress,” explained Rogers. “The system automatically puts a few activities in there,” he added, such as Trophies and ratings. “That encourages people to then comment similar to Facebook style.”

“Publishers: it’s important not to spam users too much and to use it sensibly.”
Developers and publishers will be able to update LiveArea.

“When you ship the game it’s got the standard LiveArea that you bake into the game card,” said Rogers. But through updates “you can even customise it to the user” by pushing out different data.
Publishers can also “push data to users” by putting images on the LiveArea frontpage as well as announcements on the bottom part of the logo. “It’s a good way to push DLC,” said Rogers. “So there’s new levels out, click, go to the Store.” It’s also a good way to push news about the game. But Rogers offered a word of warning to publishers that “it’s important not to spam users too much and to use it sensibly”.

LiveArea also has location features and allows pubs/devs to track Vita owners “either by GPS on the 3G model or triangulation of mobile phone cells”.

“As well as that we work with Skyhook and they provide wireless access points around to keep a general idea of where you are,” elaborated Rogers. “So even with the Wi-Fi-only SKU you can still have a vague concept of where the user is.”

He concluded by admitting that Sony doesn’t have a concrete idea about the utilization of these features by developers. “We’re generally open to innovation.”

Monday, July 25, 2011

PS Vita publicly available at Tokyo Games Show

Sony Computer Entertainment Japan president Hiroshi Kawano said today the shiny new handheld will take centre stage at the show, which runs from September 15 to 19 in Tokyo.




His comments came on the newly launched PlayStation Vita Community Site, where he also said that questions of the "system's release date, launch line-up, 3G pricing and UMD issues" will be answered along with Tokyo Game Show details.

Marvel Pinball heading to Vita, Wii U, 3DS, more

At Comic-Con the Marvel Interactive team came together to talk about there latest announcements and updates for already released games.

Specifically, Marvel said that the well-regarded pinball game will be brought to a variety of new platforms by the end of 2012, including the PlayStation Vita, 3DS, Wii U, and PC, as well as iOS and Android devices. As for versions of the game that are already out, Zen Studios will be releasing the Marvel Pinball: Vengeance and Virtue add-on pack through Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network this winter. The add-on brings four new tables, one of which will be themed around Ghost Rider.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sony Sets Date and Time for gamescom Press Conference

gamescom is E3′s European counterpart in almost every way. It’s the largest industry trade show in Europe, as E3 is in America. It also is a great venue for major console manufacturers to make massive announcements.



In the past Sony has announced major titles, and more. Even the slimmer, lighter PlayStation 3 and subsequent price drop was announced there back in 2009. That makes the following date and time something you’ll definitely want to mark on your calendars, as this is when Sony is having their annual gamescom press conference.

Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe has set the date for their upcoming gamescom press conference to be:
Tuesday, August 16th at 7:00PM CET. (12:00PM EST, 9:00AM PST)
We expect the show to mainly focus on the PlayStation Vita, but we wouldn’t rule out any surprise PlayStation 3 announcements.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Poison, Steve Fox and Yoshimitsu confirmed for Street Fighter x Tekken

It’s official: Poison, Steve Fox and Yoshimitsu will be playable characters in Street Fighter x Tekken. Capcom revealed the news at Comic-Con this week, and has also released a cinematic trailer, gameplay trailer, and a fews screenshots. Still no exact date, but it’s next year sometime.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Sega's Mystery PS Vita Game Re-appears

A little while back, Sega promised to bring an "extremely innovative and purpose built new IP" to the PlayStation Vita. Other than mentioning it was exclusively built for the PS Vita, there wasn't much more announced.


But now a job listing for a Tools Programmer over at MCV unveils a genre and release window for the game:
...SEGA’s third UK based studio...is focused exclusively on creating high quality, innovative game experiences for both current and future platforms. Their first project, due for late 2012, will be a unique action adventure developed exclusively for the brand new Sony PSVita platform.
Sega has certainly been willing to take risks on new Intellectual Properties on innovative new platforms. Heck, look at MadWorld on Wii. It featured some of the most unique thug-crushing mechanics the system has ever seen. And it sold terribly. Let's hope things pan out a bit better this time around.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

El Shaddai Possibly Spinning Off Onto PS Vita, Wii U


El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is coming ever so close to it’s release this month on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Right now, the game will only be releasing on these two platforms but future spin-offs might branch out to other, newer platforms such as the PlayStation Vita.

Speaking with Destructoid, Ignition director of business development Shabe Bettenhausen stated that the PlayStation Vita and Wii U would be a great place for a spinoff or port.
I think first we’ll probably do more of spin-offs… whether that’s DLC, I think it might be cool to port this to Wii U or Vita maybe.
In the same conversation, Shane revealed that El Shaddai originally featured a female protagonist in early stages of development and that she may be used as the heroine in a future spinoff.
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron releases July 26th for the PS3 and 360.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

LittleBigPlanet Vita studio now a PlayStation exclusive developer

LittleBigPlanet PS Vita developer Double Eleven has signed a PlayStation exclusive development deal with Sony.
Click to view larger image
Formed by former Rockstar Leeds lead engineers in 2010, the UK studio was recently revealed as the architect behind the technology driving LittleBigPlanet on Vita.

Under the terms of the deal, Double Eleven will work on LittleBigPlanet as well as new titles for Sony platforms.

SCE Worldwide Studios Europe senior vice president Michael Denny said: "Double Eleven are one of the most exciting developers to emerge onto the development scene in recent years, their technical expertise makes them a great fit for LittleBigPlanet on PS Vita and we've very pleased with the progress the team have made on this hugely anticipated title.

"For us to become strong partners with Sony at such a crucial stage in our own development underlines the unswerving commitment we have made to the quality of our production," said Double Eleven CEO Lee Hutchinson. "We look forward to a truly exciting new phase in our own development, with the absolute intention to become a world-class studio."

Monday, July 18, 2011

Capcom COO: Monster Hunter Vita Has To Happen

Good news all around

One game made the PSP a success in Japan: Monster Hunter. With series sales in the tens of millions, it proved the system had a lot to offer and became a genuine phenomenon. Capcom would be foolish not to bring the series to Vita of course, and chief operating officer David Reeves knows it.



Speaking to MEGamers, Reeves spoke of the company's plans for Vita support in future, revealing there are four games in development including an unnamed launch title. It won't be Street Fighter X Tekken though; that's due later, along with two other titles, of which Reeves says:
I am sure you can guess what one of them has to be, considering the success in Japan.
Adding further fuel to the hunter's fire, Reeves had this to say too:
I think down the road, you could probably see a Monster Hunter iteration somewhere. Probably on both of them [3DS and Vita].
Tokyo Game Show happens in September. Will we get our first sniff of a Vita Monster Hunter then?

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Kojima dishes on Peace Walker HD, Vita with Sony

Hideo Kojima described to the PS Blog some of the changes his team made to Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker so the PSP title would work on PS3.


“PSP obviously has fewer buttons than the PS3 controller, and it had some limitations when it comes to control,” he said. “Using the DualShock 3, movement of many things improved…as did, of course, [the addition of] rumble support.

“On the PSP, it was also hard to tell some textures apart. Now, rendered in HD, they are are much easier to see. The in-game text is also easier to read.”

Kojima went on to say that “transfarring” will allow players to take their Peace Walker save files from one PSP to another PSP, and that the next step is to take PS2-quality games like MGS 2 and MGS 3to HD and “then to take them to Vita transfarring.”

“My next step is games that will come out for the PS3 from now on, so I can take advantage of this technology with the Vita with content that is exactly the same,” he said. “I hope that cloud service is available now, and it would be ideal for me if transfarring were to serve as a bridge between the two services.”

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Shinobido 2: Tales of the Ninja Has A Branching Story And Multiple Endings

Shinobido 2: Tales of the Ninja Has A Branching Story And Multiple Endings
Tenchu developer Acquire and Spike are reviving the Shinobido series for PlayStation Vita. Their stealth action game, Shinobido 2: Tales of the Ninja, follows Zen, a ninja who was betrayed by the Asuka ninja clan that raised him. Zen sets off on a quest for revenge. Shinobido 2 takes place in Utakata during the Sengoku period where a civil war broke out over a Magic Mirror. Shinobdio 2: Tales of the Ninja has a branching storyline and multiple endings that change depending on the player’s actions.

Spike confirmed Shinobido 2: Tales of the Ninja will be released in Japan, but the PlayStation Vita game does not have a release date. An international release is still to be determined.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Crytek: PS Vita will have 'a hard time' against mobile devices

That's the opinion of Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli, who had a lot of praise for the new Sony handheld but pointed out the battle the platform holder was in for.

"The Vita is an absolutely fantastic platform but it will have a hard time, and it might be too late," he told Develop.

"I love Sony as a company, and we have great relations with them, but the Vita is going to have a hard time against the next generation mobiles and all the tablets.

"There's also the 3DS investing in this market," he continued. "It's going to be a battle, and it will be about content and the platform's ability to receive the content. Streamlined social connectivity will also be very important."

Yerli's views on the Vita are similar to those held by id Software's John Carmack who said that the Vita tech will look "pretty pokey" a year or two after launch.