At Leipzig Games Convention 2008, Sony announced the development of an online, massively multiplayer action title for the PS3 and Windows known as The Agency. Is it an arcade shooter? A gritty realistic spy simulation? A Team Fortress 2 multi-operative escapade? The answer, oddly enough, is all of the above.

The Agency HQ, an independent fan site devoted to coverage of the game, recently interviewed some of the developers of Sony Online Entertainment or SOE at Fan Faire 2008. For those familiar with those haunting initials, these are the same folk who helped bring about Everquest, Everquest II, the various (read: never-ending) EQ expansions, The Matrix Online, Champions of Norrath, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, Untold Legends, the upcoming Force Commander (PSP) and Ramayan 3392 (based on the same Virgin Comics property). At least you can’t fault them for lack of quantity.

Almost everything you need to know about The Agency has been discussed — PVP combat, mission structure, the disposal of weapons on the fly, cooperative efforts in several missions and oh-so much more. JonnyG (yes, you read that right, Bollywood) interrogates Steve Kramer, Hal Milton and others in this 90-minute long interview divided into three parts, each discussing a different aspect of the game. Hit the different jumps for details.

Valve has recently announced that with the recent “success” of the Playstation 3, they’re open to re-evaluating their stance on development for the platform (the last Valve PS3 title, a port of The Orange Box, wasn’t handled by the company). To many people following the events of Left 4 Dead, Valve’s upcoming online zombie shooter, this could possibly mean the game’s arrival on the PS3. According to CVG, Valve’s Doug Lombardi was quoted as saying,

“We’re always evaluating what’s happening in the marketplace and certainly something that’s happening in the last couple of months is that Sony’s managed to sell some boxes. So whether or not you like developing for that platform, if they’ve got millions of people connected to that platform and buying their games you have to take it seriously. They’re in the race now, so we’ve got to re-evaluate that for what it is.

Which is fabulous and all, but Lombardi went on to state that the PC is their primary platform, their second being the Xbox 360. Also, in the “slight possibility” of their being a PS3 Left 4 Dead, it had “zero chance” of releasing in 2008 (talk about flipping off millions of potential customers right off the bat). Chalk up another timed release for the gaming cadres. Sadly, it appears Valve is still biased against the PS3, as evidenced by their “50-50 chance” development stand. Not that this is anything new, since Gabe Newell is as fond of Sony’s console as a vegan is of road-kill. Sample a few comments he made on the device in the past few years:

“PS3 is brand new and PS3’s online is kind of scary… It’s always the devil you don’t know that you’re the most scared of.”

“I’d say, even at this late date, they should just cancel it and do a do-over. Just say, ‘This was a horrible disaster and we’re sorry and we’re going to stop selling this and stop trying to convince people to develop for it’. The PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels. I think It’s really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted” [January 15th 2007]

“If Valve were to develop in-house for another format, it would be the Wii.” [February 21st 2008]

by Ravi Sinha

The Games Conference 2008 at Leipzig will be an event to remember… and in true expo disappointment fashion, one to loathe. For every hopeful announcement, there were at least one or two others that went morality hunting.

At least one of the Sony-oriented announcements, concerning the release of several of AAA titles for their console, was undeterred. Hence, in the coming months we can confidently look forward to LittleBigPlanet, Bioshock and Fallout 3 on the PS3 this October. In corelation with the above “evil must balance good” disclosure, Sony underlined quite a few awkward points that we’ve magnified for your benefit. Sony at least put in a decent effort — Microsoft didn’t seem bothered, and Nintendo was just too good to show up this year. Also: Conflicting reports of Mirror’s Edge being a timed exclusive for the PS3.

Click here to continue reading ‘Disappointments of Leipzig GC 2008′

Is the Leipzig Games Conference supposed to be the real E3 of this year? Already so many big announcements have been made, many more than that excuse of a games convention we had this past July that it’s nothing short of embarrassing. The showcase of gameplay from Heavy Rain: The Casting (from the makers of Indigo Prophecy), the dating of LittleBigPlanet, a new XBox 360 controller design… and the show’s not over yet.

Just recently, a number of PS3 hardware announcements were made, one of them being a wireless Blackberry-style key-pad that can be attached to the Six-Axis and Dual-Shock controllers. What’s more, there’ll be about eight versions of this particular keypad on its release in PAL territories this year. SCEE president David Reeves stated his hope of the device’s use for game development in the future (without actually commenting how, but that issue wasn’t raised).

The final big announcement was the release of a limited edition 160GB HDD PS3 to retail for €449 when it launched this Friday in Europe. It would be bundled along with about €70 worth of downloadable content. That Sony has pushed forward the release date for its 160GB PS3 from September 21st to this coming Friday is baffling, to say the least. About a month ago at E3, it announced its 80GB HDD PS3 and while every one was asking what the hell to do with all that space, now this. Does bigger necessarily equal better in Europe?

Of course, Sony has had its share of flak at Leipzig with its announcement of no price cuts for the PS3. Stay tuned for more details as the show progresses, including details about Savage Moon, The Agency and the new PSP 3000.

When Sony released the portable screen attachment for their first Playstation, fans immediately lapped it up. For once, there was a real 3D gaming solution on the go (of course, the PSX’s new, slimmer clam-shaped design wasn’t too shabby either).

Naturally, with the PSP and the DS you’d think that we’re coming even closer to having home console quality titles in her hands. Then, some dude on the Net (referred to as ‘Pirate’ on PS3hax.net) goes ahead and builds this monster. Yes, that is an actual working PS3 in laptop form. It has a 17 inch LCD screen, built-in speakers and headphone jack, custom cooling, and weighs about 15 pounds, less than twice as much as the original XBox (how’s that for broken toes once dropped?). Click here to continue reading ‘PS3 Portable: One Side, PSP’