Gamescom and Beyond...

It's been a few weeks since the last post, but Jon Murphy has updated the Konami Blog.

It's a reflection on the recent Gamescom event and he touches on how fan feedback has changed the game for the better.

“Me again.

A couple of big things to report. First off we've now announced all the fan improvements. I've been dying to tell everyone about all the improvements so it's a relief everything is out in the open!

I've been checking feedback through forums and I think for the first time in a couple of years we've gone beyond expectations. Once again, thanks to everyone who gave the team feedback which influenced development. Long may this process continue.

Code shown at Gamescom seemed to go down well with those who got a game or two. I've seen some discussions since (and a few videos) and certain points have caused concern, particularly keepers. As Seabass said the code was a month old and improvements are still being made. I have to say that from my experience of recent code keepers are much, much more competent. Cheap rebound goals are gone and most handle the ball well. Occasional mistakes are still made, but that's as it should
be - it happens in real life.

For me the other big news is we've finished player photo and video shoots. It's great to see the finish line!

Not long to go now until we release a demo for everyone to test. You'll get a chance to see the new PES for yourselves and make up your minds about how we've reflected what the what fans want.

Cheers,
Jon

Credit : www.pesfan.com

PlayStation 3 Firmware (v3.00) Update Imminent

Just in time for the official launch of the 120 GB PlayStation 3, PS3 Firmware (v3.00) will be available shortly. As detailed during gamescom 09, 3.00 will introduce a number of great features, including “What’s New,” a redesigned status indicator and Friends List, and support for new avatars and dynamic themes.

We look forward to your feedback once the update goes live.

Credit : blog.us.playstation.com

Uncharted 2: gamescom’s Best Console Game!

Just last week, one of our Senior Character Artists, Hanno, and I hopped on a plane to head over toCologne, Germany, to work at Europe’s biggest videogames show, gamescom. It turns out that we absolutely had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

This was the first European show for Hanno and myself, as we had never been to the Leipzig Games Convention in the previous years. We weren’t prepared at all on how huge gamescom was – not only in importance, but in sheer physical size. There were four different halls at the Koelnmesse where games were being shown and EACH hall was about the same size of an airplane hangar. The PlayStation booth was probably one of the biggest booths we’ve ever seen and was split into four main sections representing racing games, family games, social entertainment and an 18+ area.

We were looking forward to going to Germany since we were hand-carrying over something really special with us – a fresh set of Blu-ray disks that would allow anyone at gamescom to have the first hands-on gameplay ever with the single player campaign of UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves! After we got all of our stations setup, we took some photos of the booth and over the next two days had the chance to take even more photos and video to give you an idea of what it was like for us down on the show floor.

We kicked off the week attending the PlayStation press conference, which was filled to capacity and then some, where SCEE President Andrew House introduced a brand new trailer for UNCHARTED 2 which we put together just for gamescom. Then, Hanno and I spent the first two days of the show with a very full slate of back to back interviews with European press and some US press. You can read some of the interviews here.

We also set aside some time for behind-closed-doors meetings with press, which we used to demo a brand new area of the game where Nathan Drake and a Tibetan companion, Tenzin, must work together to explore and overcome a variety of obstacles inside a frozen cave deep in the Himalayan mountains. We caught a few articles about these demos here.

The rest of the days, gamescom was open to the public and hundreds of thousands of people attended to check out all the games being shown. As you can see from the gamescom Flickr page, there were TONS of attendees throughout the public days.

Over the weekend, we were extremely proud to learn that we were awarded the gamescom 2009 Award for Best Console Game! There was some tough competition at the show by some excellent games coming out this year and early next year, so winning this award means a lot to us at Naughty Dog.

Of course, this won’t be the only time we’ll be giving our fans a chance to get hands-on time with our single-player campaign. First, PlayStation Canada is bringing UNCHARTED 2 to the Fan Expo in Toronto, Canada, this weekend and those in attendance will get the chance to get some hands-on time with our game. Then, the following weekend, PlayStation and Naughty Dog will be at the Penny Arcade Expo 2009 in Seattle and we’ll be bringing the single-player campaign code with us as well!

We hope to see you at either show!

Credit : blog.us.playstation.com

Final Fantasy XIV: Gamescom Interview

Many of you have been asking about Final Fantasy XIV since its announcement a few months back at E3. During my Gamescom Cologne stay, Square Enix invited me to a small roundtable discussion (along with some new friends at ZAM) with Final Fantasy XIV producer Hiromichi Tanaka and Sage Sundi. Our 30 minutes flew by, but we definitely got to some good stuff, which you can read in its entirely below.

PlayStation Blog: You recently talked at E3 about how the game closely relates to Final Fantasy XI. How have the monsters and races changed from FF XI to XIV.

Hiromichi Tanaka: Because we’re using a new graphic engine, the graphics are really different from FFXI and you can see more details on both monsters and races. Regarding the races, to encourage people to shift smoothly from FFXI, you will see very similar types of classes. But if you actually make your own character, you’ll be able to select your own colour of hair, skin, eye color, shape of your face, etc. There will be a wide range of variety to customize.

PSB: After E3, you mentioned there might be a way to transfer your name over from FFXI. Is that still planned – are you still working on that? Is there a plan on how you’re going to do it?

Tanaka: It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but we would like to give incentives to the players. First of all, FFXI has 32 worlds, and they may have the same name across different worlds, as I’m sure you know. Each name in each world has to be a unique; there can’t be conflicts with other players. However, when we have FFXIV, we still don’t know how many worlds there’s going to be yet, but players might have the same name if they all move to the same world, so there may be conflicts. So, to avoid that, what we’re trying to do is add a surname to their name, so players can keep their main name, but they can add something else to their surname – that way players with overlapping names can keep their names from FFXI, but they can add something on to it to make it unique.

PSB: You mentioned that the combat system will have less of a team play aspect. Can you elaborate on that, and how it’s different, and how much progress you’ve made in the past few months since it was announced?

Tanaka: For FFXI, the system was job based, so that’s why they had a party to make the most out of each job. This time it’s not going to be a job based system, it’s going to be an Armoury system, so it depends on which weapon you use and you can switch your class. That allows the player to use a different ability or skills. You can also join a party, that doesn’t mean you have to play solo, but it will allow you to play solo as well, because you can fight against monsters and you can change to a healer to heal yourself. So there will be more variety and it depends on what you plan on doing for that day.

PSB: The leveling system was described as not being experienced based. Can you explain exactly what kind of system you’re working on, and if it’s been completely defined?

Tanaka: This time it really depends on the Armoury system. It’s going to depend on how much you use your own equipment and weapons. The more you use it, the more the skill will go up of your class, so that’s the way you will get to higher levels for the class – the skills. You’ll also get abilities. It’s not going to be like if you fight more monsters, you’ll get more level ups, like similar to the experience system. Of course, if you fight against monsters, you will get some skill points, but it will help more if you attend to Guildleves. So that will be a more efficient way to hone your skills and ‘level up’ your character.

PSB: Are they any games that you have been influenced by that have done the online experience particularly well, even if outside of MMOs?

Tanaka: We don’t have any specific title that we’ve been influence by or have done research on, but if we should say one title it would be Final Fantasy XI as we are trying to achieve something different from FFXI. Even though the game worlds may seem and look similar, the game and how we are going to expand it will provide a totally different game experience.

On the other other hand, we listen to the community, and of course they have much experience in MMOs. In that sense, we receive from and keep up with the MMO-based community.

PSB: Are you still planning a spring 2010 beta?

Tanaka: We can’t really say any certain timing, because the launch is planned to release is 2010. So that means in springtime there will probably be something at that point. We are trying to work as soon as possible, so as soon as preparation is done, there could be something earlier than 2010.

Credit : blog.us.playstation.com

PlayStation 3 Firmware (v3.00) Update

Hi everyone, PlayStation 3 (PS3) firmware update (v3.00) adds a number of great new features that we’re excited to share with you. The latest update incorporates changes that improve navigation on your PS3. First, you’ll notice some cosmetic changes to the design of the XMB (Xross Media Bar). We’ve enhanced the look and feel of the XMB so that it’s easier and even more intuitive to use. We’ve also added network improvements and personalization options to help enhance your PS3 experience.

Additional highlights from update 3.00 include:

• “What’s New” – The “Information Board” will be replaced with a “What’s New” section, which allows you to enjoy interactive PlayStation news every time you start the PS3 system. Located under the PlayStation Network icon, “What’s New” displays the latest and greatest game, video, PlayStation Network and PlayStation news and releases, as well as your recently played games, in a sleek, new animated format.
• Status Indicator – In the top right corner we’ve added an indicator bar, which displays your user icon, friend icon, the number of friends you have online and a small message icon to let you know if you have any new messages. The indicator also includes a scrolling ticker that features the latest news from PlayStation Network. In addition, when you press the PS button, the battery life indicator will no longer cover up the clock.
• Friends List – Now your PlayStation Network friends will appear in a slightly redesigned format on your Friends List. Also, messages will now be viewable from each of your friends’ respective profiles.
• PlayStation Store Shortcuts – We’ve added a handy shortcut icon to the PlayStation Store under both the Game and Video categories so you can access the latest content quickly and easily.
• Personalization – Personalize your PS3 with new dynamic custom themes and avatars. Dynamic themes as well as free and premium avatars will be available through PlayStation Store. A dynamic theme takes your screen to a whole new level as it incorporates animated objects into the background.
• Trophies – Showcasing your hard earned trophies just got better. Update 3.00 gives game developers the ability to modify how they display trophies for add-on content. Base and add-on game trophies will continue to be combined into a single list so you can see where you stand in a game as a whole. Within that list, trophies will be broken out into subcategories—base trophies and add-on trophies—that way, you can easily view the percentage of your base game trophy collection, and separately track your trophy progress in add-on packs. Look for this enhancement to be included in upcoming games.

To get a preview of what’s coming in update 3.00, check out the video Here

We’re looking forward to releasing firmware update 3.00 soon. As always, we appreciate your feedback.

Credit : blog.us.playstation.com

Digital Comics Store for PSP Coming in December

Hi Everyone –

You may have heard the recent announcement out of gamescom that digital comics for the PSP are coming to PlayStation Network (for the U.S.). This December, you will be able to purchase and download from over 1000 digital comics on PlayStation Store (on the PSP and Media Go). We’ve partnered with one of the leading comic publishers, Marvel Entertainment, to bring you the biggest names in comics, including Spider-Man, X-Men and the Fantastic Four. Now you are able to view graphic novels for bite-sized entertainment on demand and on the go.

We’ll be adding an additional comics tab to the PlayStation Store for PSP, so you’ll see different storefronts for your PSP games, downloadable movies & TV shows, and for comics. Once you download a comic, you’ll read it through the digital reader for PSP which has an Autoflow feature that lets you zoom in and out and move from frame to frame on each page. It’s really a fantastic way to read and view the comics, because it keeps the integrity of the original print comic.

I’ll be back in December to give you a demo of the new “comic store” and the reader for digital comics and graphic novels.

Credit : blog.us.playstation.com