Cube Posted July 1, 2012 Posted July 1, 2012 Infamous 2 could have been a colossal hit if Sony had bothered to let people know how awesome it is. I love how they explain the pigeons as stunned, even though they fall 10 plus stories.
Diageo Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 After a solid one day playthrough of Uncharted 3 and my frequent plays of Assassin's Creed. I just can't get through Cole's climbing in Infamous 2. It just looks so retarded it alone can put me off the game.
Hero-of-Time Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 Looks like those Gaikai rumours were true. Sony Computer Entertainment to Acquire Gaikai Inc., a Leading Interactive Cloud Gaming Company SCE to Build a Cloud Service Bringing Gaikai's Cloud Based-Streaming Technologies into Its Network Business TOKYO, July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) today announced that it entered into a definitive agreement on June 30, 2012 (Japan Time) to acquire Gaikai Inc., the world's leading interactive cloud-based gaming company, for approximately USD 380 million. Through the acquisition, SCE will establish a new cloud service, ensuring that it continues to provide users with truly innovative and immersive interactive entertainment experiences. "By combining Gaikai's resources including its technological strength and engineering talent with SCE's extensive game platform knowledge and experience, SCE will provide users with unparalleled cloud entertainment experiences," said Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "SCE will deliver a world-class cloud-streaming service that allows users to instantly enjoy a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content anytime, anywhere on a variety of internet-connected devices." "SCE has built an incredible brand with PlayStation and has earned the respect of countless millions of gamers worldwide," said David Perry, CEO of Gaikai Inc. "We're honored to be able to help SCE rapidly harness the power of the interactive cloud and to continue to grow their ecosystem, to empower developers with new capabilities, to dramatically improve the reach of exciting content and to bring breathtaking new experiences to users worldwide." Established in 2008 and headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, Gaikai has developed the highest quality, fastest interactive cloud-streaming platform in the world that enables the streaming of quality games to a wide variety of devices via the internet. With this acquisition, SCE will establish a cloud service and expand its network business by taking full advantage of Gaikai's revolutionary technology and infrastructure including data centers servicing dozens of countries and key partners around the world. The transaction is subject to certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. SCE will continue to aggressively expand a new world of entertainment through the introduction of innovative technologies and the delivery of amazing experiences.
Dcubed Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 (edited) So after all that faffing nonsense and misdirection, the obvious turns out to be true anyway! Welcome to PS4 people! Playstation Plus is about to get a lot more expensive and valuable! http://www.industrygamers.com/news/the-state-of-the-games-industry-consoles-are-in-trouble/ “I think some will have one more cycle and I think others will not,” said Reeves. “I think that will be the big news at E3. That's just my prediction.” “That's a very newsworthy opinion,” said Vorhaus. “Which of the three people are not going to have a next console?” “I'm not going to say which one, but I will predict that there will be one.” It'll start with PS1,2,3 games being made available via the Gaikai cloud (free with PS+ subscription - probably a new tier) and then evolve to PS4. Maybe even erasing the "need" for PS4 hardware altogether! ("You already own our next generation console! No new hardware required!") Perhaps this also explains why the PS4 dev kits are using an x86 processor? (A bloated architecture that isn't fully utilised in a game console) I doubt that this is just a kneejerk reaction to Microsoft's Xbox roadmap document leak. Edited July 2, 2012 by Dcubed
Cube Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 After a solid one day playthrough of Uncharted 3 and my frequent plays of Assassin's Creed. I just can't get through Cole's climbing in Infamous 2. It just looks so retarded it alone can put me off the game. Even if it doesn't look at good, it's much better to play than the climbing in Assassin's Creed. Especially Revelations, with the hookblade.
flameboy Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 The biggest thing they could use Gaikai for right down is demos...just let me hit demo inside the Playstation Store and play rather than download. Also if they are hell bent on keeping Home as a thing have it streaming through their tech rather than downloading each area and then even when you go to an area it takes ages for videos to load up.
Hero-of-Time Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 Digital Foundry have a look at what the Gaikai deal means for Sony. Let's not get completely carried away by what today's news represents, because Sony's decision to acquire Gaikai does not mean the end of console gaming as we know it. PlayStation 4 is still going to be unveiled at next year's E3 and it will almost certainly be in our homes by the end of 2013. Whether we're talking console or cloud, the message is obvious enough though: Sony isn't putting all of its eggs in one basket. What the deal represents is acceptance from a major console platform holder that gaming is fast approaching its own Netflix or iPod moment - the point where convenience and accessibility to content becomes more important than the inevitable hit to fidelity demanded by the underlying technology. We're not there yet, of course, but as Digital Foundry has discussed several times in the past, it's now a matter of when - not if - we will reach the point where the hit to quality ceases to become an issue for the majority of gamers. While the overall level of the experience isn't there yet, even the first-gen cloud products offer some tantalising advantages which Sony would be keen to offers its customers: •Playback hardware: virtually any device with an h.264 decoder chip can run Gaikai, encompassing tablets, smartphones, and Smart TVs. Even current-gen consoles could run cloud games. We've seen World of Warcraft streaming on an Xbox 360 via Gaikai and it looked great. •No need for hardware upgrades: h.264 video compression is here to stay for many years to come, so you'll keep the same decoding devices and Sony will upgrade the Gaikai servers to accommodate the requirements of new games. •No more updates, no more patching: this will be music to the ears of PS3 owners in particular. Lengthy firmware upgrades, patches - all of this is a thing of the past. •Instant access: demos and games would not require lengthy downloads or installs. So when will cloud gaming be ready for showtime as a complete console replacement? The quality of the experience comes down to two specific factors: image integrity and control response. The former is going to require significant increases in bandwidth, because the current 5mbps level needs to rise to 10-15mbps to really solve the artifacting issues that are present in the first-gen cloud systems as they stand right now. But in a world where top-end UK internet connections have leapt from 2mbps to 100mbps in less than a decade, this is only a matter of time. Response will also be improved by better infrastructure, but Gaikai deserves some plaudits for aggressively pursuing new server-side technology that shaves off precious milliseconds in the capture/encode/transmission process in the meantime. Even in its current form, Gaikai at its best attains isolated moments of performance magic that defy belief: this video shows Bulletstorm on the streaming service matching the input latency of the local Xbox 360 version, with Gaikai running on a basic ADSL connection around 40 miles away from the server. This measurement isn't consistent, there's a 'jumpiness' to the experience you don't get on the 360, and of all the games we've tested only Bulletstorm seems to be this responsive, but the fact we are seeing anything like this at all is a phenomenal achievement. At $380m, it could be argued that Sony has secured something of a bargain. Gaikai not only has class-leading image quality for a cloud service, but it also has impressive coverage in both North America and especially Europe, with more localised infrastructure ensuring it commands a significant lead over arch rival OnLive in terms of the all-important latency issue. Gaikai is also noteworthy in that it has created partnerships with key technology providers that should see its quality of service increase significantly going forward. The tie-up with NVIDIA for its GeForce GRID technology is an interesting case in point - image encoding occurs on the GPU, cutting down capture and encoding times significantly, and there are hints in the documentation that decoding time has also been improved too somehow. In the world of cloud technology, every millisecond saved is an enormously important achievement. All of Gaikai's image quality and latency optimisation efforts have been built around PC technology, which in the short term may cause issues for Sony, because cloud servers aim to provide tolerable controller response by running games at twice the frame-rate of a typical console title. Local latency on a 30FPS game (defined by the time taken between button press and the resulting action on-screen) is around 100ms at best, typically dropping to 50-66ms when run at 60FPS. Gaikai and OnLive aim to use that latency "saving" to offset the cost of encoding, transmitting and decoding video. The result is streaming gameplay with ballpark console response levels - in theory, at least. There's nothing to stop Sony simply installing a big bunch of PlayStation 3s in each datacentre, but the result would be highly sub-optimal as there would be no 60FPS vs. 30FPS latency off-setting at all - all the 'cloud stuff' would simply be added to the existing lag. Sony's Remote Play isn't particularly effective for this exact reason, and that's running on a local connection. NVIDIA's take on cloud and how GeForce GRID with Gaikai represents a second-gen technology with vastly improved latency. While the 'Cloud Gen I' metrics seem a touch exaggerated in how bad they are, the 'console plus TV' metrics seem sound and 150ms including display lag for Gaikai would represent an excellent, very playable, experience. That being the case, it would be far better for Sony to make use of the infrastructure that's already there. The obvious first step would be to run a range of back-catalogue PlayStation titles on PC under emulation. Sony already runs PS1 and PSP titles completely under software on PS3 and Vita, while the firm is making big strides in running PS2 titles on PS3 through pure emulation. Gaikai datacentres would provide a lot more horsepower, and in theory we could perhaps see the same 60FPS vs. 30FPS latency offset in action. We discussed this in-depth a while back. While it's unlikely we'll actually see it, these games could also be rendered in HD resolutions too, just as current open-source PC emulators do. Running PS3 titles in the cloud would be far trickier - for Sony's own games at least. Third-party publishers could simply deploy their existing PC versions of multi-platform titles on the Gaikai servers, but quite what the platform holder would do with its first-party titles - designed from the ground up for the PlayStation 3's unique hardware - is a difficult issue to address. Emulating the RSX GPU wouldn't be too challenging - at heart it is very similar to an NVIDIA GeForce 7950GT - but software emulation for the Cell Broadband Engine on current-gen PCs would be a huge technical achievement. The implications of this deal for next-generation PlayStation gaming are also challenging. Gaikai's datacentres are built around Intel CPUs and NVIDIA graphics cores, a situation that is not likely to change bearing in mind how closely the company is associated with these partners. PS4, on the other hand, is hotly rumoured to be using AMD parts for both CPU and GPU, perhaps even integrated into a single processor. This leaves Sony with two different routes to bring PS4 games to the cloud: first, by creating its own datacentre-specific version of the hardware, or alternatively by generating two different versions of each game. The first approach may make more sense for Sony's first-party studios - they can continue to target the strengths of the fixed architecture and rely upon beefed-up datacentre PS4 hardware to provide the 60Hz upgrade they need to bridge the latency gap. The second approach may prove more favourable, however: third-party publishers already create PC versions of their games and adapting them to the Gaikai datacentre standard would be a reasonably low-effort procedure. There'll always be a place for local gaming, even if it does become the preserve of PC only. Modern Warfare 3 running locally offers a 50ms response according to our testing and it's extremely hard to imagine that cloud can ever match that. Embracing the cloud as a cross-platform format does have some limitations, however - upstream bandwidth on home internet connections is typically very low so the inputs sent client-side would be limited. It's difficult to imagine that camera-based games will be able to stream their data up to the servers, for example (something Microsoft must be pondering bearing in mind its Kinect 2 plans). For Sony, this may require some thought about how it would handle any prospective motion control peripheral. Not only that, but there's also the fact that native 60FPS games thrive on precision response - Street Fighter or Call of Duty, for example - simply won't play as well via the cloud, no matter how much infrastructure improves. Multiplayer games could also feature additional latency between players, and won't match the work netcode engineers have done with cutting-edge P2P experiences - like Uncharted 3's multiplayer mode, for example. On the flipside, the nature of the platform does have some inherent advantages over and above the obvious fact that you wouldn't need to buy an expensive console, nor update firmwares/patch games. Cloud servers can locally host hundreds of gigabytes worth of data, and assuming SSD-style hardware, it could access that vast reserve of storage immediately, opening up a wealth of potential for bespoke online-only games. Secondly, cloud servers will almost certainly enjoy highly significant spec advantages over any home console - so the base visuals being encoded could potentially benefit from the likes of extended draw distances, higher-resolution textures etc. With the ink still drying on the documents, it's unlikely that we will see any major changes to Sony's existing console or PlayStation Network service offerings at any time in the immediate future, though current Gaikai demo streaming could be implemented pretty painlessly. Completing the acquisition won't happen overnight either, and coming up with the ways and means in which PlayStation software and datacentre servers can work together is also going to take time. Sony is also going to have to figure out how to handle Gaikai's existing licensees - it's hard to imagine that the company will have much of an interest in handling the cloud streaming services of HDTV rivals Samsung and LG. Suffice to say, it's early days and it's almost certain that the only reason we actually know about this acquisition at all is because of shareholder and regulatory obligations. But Sony and Gaikai have time on their hands. In the UK at least, fibre-optic infrastructure rollout is proceeding apace and this represents the fundamental building block that could turn a cool piece of tech into a viable, PlayStation-quality experience. At the same time, we're almost certainly around 16 months away from the launch of Sony's next-gen console - time will be tight here but hopefully the R&D people will be able to work out how cloud and PS4 can work together in that time period. (Members of Sony's Advanced Technology Group and Sony Santa Monica were seemingly caught by surprise by the announcement this morning, if their tweets are taken at face value.) In our direct head-to-head analysis of OnLive and Gaikai, the newly acquired Sony outfit won out in terms of base image quality (graphical features, settings etc), encoding quality and response, but lost out in terms of overall frame-rates. OnLive is apparently rolling out improved servers, while Gaikai says it can provide 60Hz video. Use the full-screen button for a full 720p comparison. There's also a phenomenal opportunity for fundamental change here. In an era where many are beginning to doubt the sustainability of the £40/$60 boxed retail model, a shift to cloud gameplay could see the introduction of new pricing models: monthly subscriptions, game rentals, even "pay per minute" - Gaikai's current billing strategy for partners using its demo programme. Sony has been very progressive with its PlayStation Plus offering, but it's difficult to make the most of its current subscription offers when they are accompanied by multi-gigabyte downloads, lengthy installs and sometimes even patching. In these respects, Gaikai could change everything. In the meantime, all eyes shift to Microsoft and how it might possibly respond. OnLive was targeted as a potential acquisition target in the recent "Xbox 720" leak, but despite being first out of the blocks, the service came up short in key, quantifiable aspects in a direct Face-Off with Gaikai. At the same time, with some analysts valuing Steve Perlman's outfit at an eye-watering $1.8bn, the Gaikai deal looks like the bargain of the century by comparison.
Diageo Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 Even if it doesn't look at good, it's much better to play than the climbing in Assassin's Creed. Especially Revelations, with the hookblade. That's simply just not true.
flameboy Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 Digital Foundry have a look at what the Gaikai deal means for Sony. This is essentially a reworked version of an article they wrote just before E3.
Cube Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 That's simply just not true. I detest climbing on Assassin's Creed. The lock-on is off so many times, yet works great in InFamous 2. And the hookblade button is the very same button as "jump away from building".
Diageo Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 Climbing is a treat in Assassin's Creed. And never once have I jumped away from the building when trying to use the hookblade. The only time that would happen is if you don't specify any direction in the control stick and jump. Does Infamous 2 even have a lock on?
Cube Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 Yes, it's glorious. It's done in a way that you can still jump in any direction what you want without it feeling automated from the get go, but you slowly "glide" to stuff below you. Jumping between cables/off buildings onto cables/onto specific platforms a treat.
Tales Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 I'm with Diageo. Climbing is way better in AC than Infamous(2).
Daft Posted July 2, 2012 Posted July 2, 2012 Pfffft. Not a chance. When Ezio falls from like a foot he makes an incredulous thud, shit even I'm more fleet-footed than that.
Cube Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 Deus Ex: Human Revolution for PS+ Subscribers. All DLC 50% off. Two more games on the 18th July. Deus Ex has been one of those games I've been on the verge of buying for ages, but got distracted by other games.
Hero-of-Time Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 (edited) EDIT: Sorry Cube, didn't see you posted that already. PS+ owners get Deus Ex for free! It’s our first update to the Instant Game Collection here in SCEE and that brings a new Game of the Month! Congratulations if you’ve already figured out what it is. I can now confirm that from tomorrow until the beginning of August, all our PlayStation Plus subscribers will be able to download Deus Ex: Human Revolution as part of their subscription. If you want to take full advantage of everything Deus Ex: Human Revolution has to offer, there are also three downloadable content packs available: The Explosive Mission pack contains an additional bonus mission, Tong’s Rescue, the Remote-Detonated Explosive Device and the Automatic Unlocking Device. The Explosive Mission and Tactical Enhancement pack contains all of the above, plus the Double-Barrel Shotgun, the Silenced Sniper Rifle and 10,000 extra in-game credits. Finally, The Missing Link pack adds a whole new section of the campaign that covers the events that take place while Adam Jensen is missing for three days during the game. Where did he go and what did he do? You’ll need this pack to find out. I am very pleased to tell you that the above packs are all a whopping 50% off exclusively for PlayStation Plus subscribers for the next two weeks, so grab them early to avoid disappointment and complete your Deus Ex experience. And now, the icing on the cake – if you’ve caught “franchise fever” then you can see where it all began (although since it’s chronologically a sequel that’s not quite right) and grab yourself a copy of the PS2 smash hit Deus Ex, certainly one of the greatest games ever made, also at 50% off. Deus Ex has been one of those games I've been on the verge of buying for ages, but got distracted by other games. Same here. Will give it a try now that its free. Edited July 3, 2012 by Hero-of-Time
Sheikah Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 (edited) Deus Ex is amazing, it's a beast. Enjoy it. Also I would say you have a greater feeling of control over Ezio than Cole and I think this is in part because Cole moves a lot faster trough his environment (running and climbing). You feel more free as Cole though, being able to fall without consequence and glide everywhere. Both have their pros. Edited July 3, 2012 by Sheikah Automerged Doublepost
flameboy Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 Wow that's awesome! I have started it on Onlive but not really got that far.
Hero-of-Time Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 Looks like the FF games are on sale again. Time for me to snap up VI and IX. PSP Final Fantasy (Offer ends 18/7/2012) Was €9.99/£7.99 – Now €4.99/£3.99 Final Fantasy II (Offer ends 18/7/2012) Was €9.99/£7.99 – Now €4.99/£3.99 DISSIDIA 012 [Duodecim] FINAL FANTASY (Offer ends 18/7/2012) Was €19.99/£15.99 – Now €9.99/£7.99 Dissidia Final Fantasy (Offer ends 18/7/2012) Was €17.99/£13.99 – Now €8.99/£7.29 DISSIDIA duodecim prologus (Offer ends 18/7/2012) Was €1.49/£1.19 – Now €0.75/£0.59 FINAL FANTASY Tactics: War of Lions (Offer ends 18/7/2012) Was €9.99/£7.99 – Now €4.99/£3.99 FINAL FANTASY IV: Complete Collection (Offer ends 18/7/2012) Was €19.99/£15.99 – Now €9.99/£7.99 The 3rd Birthday (Offer ends 18/7/2012) Was €19.99/£15.99 – Now €9.99/£7.99 PS1 Final Fantasy IX (Offer ends 18/7/2012) Was €9.99/£7.99 – Now €4.99/£3.99 Final Fantasy V (Offer ends 18/7/2012) Was €9.99/£7.99 – Now €4.99/£3.99 Final Fantasy VI (Offer ends 18/7/2012) Was €9.99/£7.99 – Now €4.99/£3.99 Final Fantasy VII (Offer ends 18/7/2012) Was €9.99/£7.99 – Now €4.99/£3.99 Final Fantasy VIII (Offer ends 18/7/2012) Was €9.99/£7.99 – Now €4.99/£3.99 Front Mission III (Offer ends 18/7/2012) Was €5.99/£4.79 – Now €2.99/£2.39
drahkon Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 Crap, there goes my money again...Since PSOne games will be playable on Vita later this summer I just have to get pretty much every FF Game
Cube Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 I don't like calling it "free". It's more: We get Deus Ex Human Revolution and two more games for £3.33. It's like BBM - a free service for a £5 a month fee.
Hero-of-Time Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 Crap, there goes my money again...Since PSOne games will be playable on Vita later this summer I just have to get pretty much every FF Game I've transferred most of them on to my PSP. Just need VI and IX and then the collection is complete. They are a great bargain though, especially if you have PS+. I mean £4 for a mainline FF game is outstanding.
drahkon Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 I mean £4 for a mainline FF game is outstanding. So the prices are only for PS+ members? I definitely need FFIX (was my first FF game and it's still my favourite) and FFVIII. Front Mission 3 is also good. So I'm told.
Hero-of-Time Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 So the prices are only for PS+ members? I definitely need FFIX (was my first FF game and it's still my favourite) and FFVIII. Front Mission 3 is also good. So I'm told. £7.99 for non PS+ users. £3.99 for PS+ subscribers.
drahkon Posted July 3, 2012 Posted July 3, 2012 £7.99 for non PS+ users. £3.99 for PS+ subscribers. Seems like a good time to subscribe to PS+. Is it really worth it? How many months do I have to pay for?
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