Jack Tretton on Why Sony Didn’t Show the PS4 Box

Millions of gamers and dozens of game journalists were miffed that Sony didn’t show the actual console during its PlayStation 4 press event. From your comments and Google+ messages, I know that a few of you RPadholics didn’t like the move either. Personally, I think people are making a bigger deal out of the omission than they ought to. Either way, people are definitely talking and thinking about the PlayStation 4.

In an interview with Forbes, Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton addressed the matter:

You know, that’s really interesting. I’ve heard that from multiple reporters and shame on me that I didn’t see that as a big issue. They’ll see it soon enough. I’m real proud of the fact that we’re talking about [launching in] holiday 2013 and we’ve already got a lot of detail out there, and a lot of game play, in February. But I was so focused on the content that when I think of the console I think of what comes through the screen, not the device that it emanates from. I just think there’s a lot of natural curiosity: What’s the controller gonna look like? What’s the box gonna look like? We made a conscious decision that wasn’t going to be a part of the first reveal, but I would look for E3 as a time when you’ll get a good look at it. Or sooner.

Check out the full interview for more details on the PS4 reveal. As a longtime Tretton fan (as much as anyone can be a fan of executives that aren’t Steve Jobs), I thought it was a great read.

What do you think of Tretton’s explanation? Does it make sense to you? Or did Sony make an unforgivable mistake (as seem people on the Internetz seem to think) by not showing the box?

Source

Coffee Talk #569: My Time at GameSpy

As I was drinking my morning coffee, I learned that Ziff Davis is in the process of shutting down 1Up, UGO, and GameSpy. This made me sad. Obviously I feel for everyone at those sites that lost their jobs, as well as the people cut from IGN, but the GameSpy closure is…personal. Although I had numerous problems with the site during my last year there, those first two years were fantastic — definitely the second-best work experience of my life. While the site never became everything it could be, it helped me improve as a profesional, become a better person, and make some great friends. Here are some random thoughts on my time at GameSpy…more

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, NBA trade deadline deals, Batwoman proposing to her girlfriend, or the hotness of Elisha Cuthbert, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As I was drinking my morning coffee, I learned that Ziff Davis is in the process of shutting down 1Up, UGO, and GameSpy. This made me sad. Obviously I feel for everyone at those sites that lost their jobs, as well as the people cut from IGN, but the GameSpy closure is…personal. Although I had numerous problems with the site during my last year there, those first two years were fantastic — definitely the second-best work experience of my life. While the site never became everything it could be, it helped me improve as a profesional, become a better person, and make some great friends. Here are some random thoughts on my time at GameSpy.

Mark Surfas: Let’s start at the top, with the company founder and CEO. He was easily the coolest CEO I’ve ever worked for. He really cared about his company and his employees. Mark created a fun environment, but also expected results. He was very generous to his employees, providing healthy stock options (which resulted in the biggest check I’ve ever received) and medical insurance that was covered 100 percent by the company (does that happen anymore?).

My favorite thing about Mark was that he was accessible and human, despite being really sharp and very successful. One time I went to his office with a small bottle of hair gel and said, “Fix your hair Mark. It looks stupid.” The day he drove to the office in a new Hummer, I marched up to his office and said, “You know that car makes you a dick, right?” When he asked that GameSpy editors wear company polo shirts to press events, he kindly granted me an exception to wear GameSpy-branded Roots hoodies instead. Thankfully, he tolerated my behavior and seemed mildly amused by it.

I’ve told him a few times in recent years, “Thank you for everything at GameSpy, Mark. It was one of the best times of my life. I was too young and too stupid to appreciate everything you did for me.”

John Keefer: GameSpy’s managing editor was a pleasure to work for. I never had a boss that was so selfless. Keefer was all about putting his guys in a position to succeed and selling their results to upper management. At times, Keefer’s generosity was disarming and I didn’t know what to do with it. As I got to know him better, I found that it was genuine — just a remarkable and rare thing. In pro-wrestling terms, he sold for his team the way that Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels sold for their opponents. He made you look damn good.

The Fab Four: The site’s console team consisted of Christian Nutt, Ben Turner, Bryn Williams, and me. It was so much fun managing and working with those cats. We complemented each other’s skills perfectly — just four very different people that worked really well together and had lots of fun outside of the office too. I miss them all, but especially miss who and how we were from 2002-2005 (we’re all better people now, but I miss being that young and dumb). As some of you know, Christian and I ended up being roommates; I don’t see him much these days, but he’s still very dear to me. Ben and I had a little rift, but I still wish him the best. Bryn moved back to Sheffield Manchester and I miss him a ton. Those guys made working hard so much fun.

Ryan: Working with Ryan O’Donnell was tremendously enjoyable and I learned so much from him. He opened my eyes to the possibilities of what video content could be. He changed my perception of video and still influences a lot of the things I try to do today. It’s because of him that I pursued and created the Reset show for Yahoo! Those road trips we had — Japan, WWE events, Nintendo 3DS launch event — were awesome and he was a fantastic traveling companion. My only regret was that I didn’t pick his brain more about shooting and editing. Today I’m somewhat competent at editing and I still suck at shooting. As much as I learned from watching Ryan work, I should have learned more.

The End: Of course, all good things come to an end. Right around the two-year mark of my GameSpy stint, Mark sold the company to IGN. As I mentioned earlier, the stock options made it lucrative for me and it was a smart deal to make. The environment changed dramatically and I wasn’t experienced enough to adjust. IGN was far more business minded; at the time, I had no businesses sense whatsoever and was solely focused on creating fun content. I rolled with the changes at first, but couldn’t deal with the hits that came later. While I maintain that my stance to getting a review score changed and column pulled was correct, I acknowledge that I could have dealt with those things in a more constructive way. Instead, my last year at GameSpy wasn’t nearly as fun or productive as my first two. My heart just wasn’t into it and I failed to adapt. On the plus side, I learned to take my frustrations out on Will Tuttle by throwing things at him and saying that I was doing a Gambit impersonation.

So yeah! GameSpy is going away and will soon join Happy Puppy on the list of dead web sites I’ve put my heart into. While I’m sure memories of the web site will fade, I’ll never forget my time at GameSpy. Thanks to everyone involved with the company for an amazing ride!

Reggie Padilla Surfs With a Vibrato Saxophone

Remember that polycarbonate saxophone from Vibrato Sax that I checked out a NAMM 2013? Here’s a video of my brother, Reggie Padilla, playing one while surfing. Since it’s made from polycarbonate, the saxophone is waterproof, so Reggie thought that he’d combine his passions for music and surfing in one video! I guess that runs in the family. I’ve combined my passions for videogames, consumer electronics, vaping, pro-wrestling, and writing silly things on the Internet to produce this very site. Ha! Continue reading “Reggie Padilla Surfs With a Vibrato Saxophone”

PlayStation 4 Specs

Although consumer electronics are as much about software and services these days, lots of people still go gaga over hardware specs. Here are the specs for the PlayStation 4, as per Sony’s press release.

  • Single-chip custom processor — CPU : x86-64 AMD “Jaguar”, 8 cores, GPU : 1.84 TFLOPS, AMD next-generation Radeon based graphics engine
  • Memory — GDDR5 8GB
  • Hard Disk Drive
  • Built-in Optical Drive (read only), BD 6xCAV, DVD 8xCAV
  • Super-Speed USB (USB 3.0)
  • Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)
  • IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
  • Bluetooth® 2.1 (EDR)
  • AV output
  • HDMI
  • Analog-AV out
  • Digital Output (optical)

Sony PlayStation 4 Launch Event Reactions

Sony just wrapped up its PlayStation 4 launch event and the Internet (mixed) reactions have been fun to read. I want to start my thoughts on the presser by talking about how it ended — new hardware wasn’t shown and price points weren’t announced. A lot of Twitter gamers are pissed about this, but I kind of like what Sony did. In pro-wrestling terms, tonight’s event was an episode of Monday Night Raw; there was no need to send the crowd home happy and it was important to keep fans wanting more. The big announcements will be at E3 2013, which is the videogame business’ WrestleMania; that’s when you make sure the fans go home happy. At the very least, it was a controversial ploy. At best, it’ll have people talking and thinking about the PlayStation 4 for months to come.

Now here are some scattered thoughts based on the notes I took during the press conference. Naturally, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the PlayStation 4 and the games/demos shown when you have a chance.

Our House: The show was led by Sony Computer Entertainment group CEO Andrew House. It was interesting to hear him refer to the PlayStation 4 as a “place” or an entertainment hub, rather than a new piece of hardware. It’s indicative of what today’s consumer electronics have become. They’re not just about hardware. As Apple has shown, people want and will buy an experience fueled by a combination of hardware, software, and services.

The Cerny Method: I was thrilled that Mark Cerny had a prominent role in the show and was announced as the lead system architect for PlayStation 4. I also loved that Cerny acknowledged that the ambitious CELL processor in the PlayStation 3 wasn’t the most developer-friendly and said that the PlayStation 4 architecture will be more accessible: “Our goal was to develop an ecosystem that would facilitate the expression of their ideas.”

Cerny also showed his upcoming game Knack. It’s a platformer featuring a cartoon art style and an adorable — but hugely powerful — robot as the protagonist. A few years ago, he told me that he was working on a new project and I’m thrilled that it has been unveiled. The Twitter reaction to the game was overwhelmingly positive, but keep in mind that most of the people I follow are in the gaming business and many are aware of the awesomely awesomeness that is Mark Cerny.

Having someone like Cerny was really refreshing. He’s crazy smart, but also sincere and real.

Controller: The Dual Shock 4 rumors were on the money. In addition to what was already revealed, the new controller will sport a microphone input for chat, a speaker, and a light bar to easily identify different players. Cerny said that the analog sticks and trigger buttons have been improved and are tighter.

Social: Cerny said that the PS4 will have always-on hardware for video compression and decompression. Gamers can record and share clips through Sony’s new social network. In addition to watching your friends play, “famous” people can share their videogame exploits, allowing for an all-new form of stalking. In addition to accessing the network on a console, gamers can catch up with their gamer friends on the PlayStation Vita, smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Expect a flood of companion apps that extend the gaming experience.

Tech Demos: Visually impressive demos using Unreal Engine 4 and Havok were shown to illustrate the power of the new CPU and GPU. While they were very impressive, it wasn’t surprising. New hardware is supposed to have better graphics and tech demos rarely represent what actual games will be like. I was more interested in the new social features and cloud services (more below).

PlayStation Cloud: Dave Perry took the stage to talk about what Sony’s acquisition of Gaikai would bring to the company’s upcoming cloud services. PlayStation Cloud’s mantra is, “Everything Everywhere.” There are two huge goals for the service. First is to have the majority of every PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3 game available through the cloud. Second is to have every PlayStation 4 game available on the PlayStation Vita through Remote Play.

One of the neat things about PlayStation 4 is background downloading. You’ll be able to start playing a game shortly after the download starts. The early portion of the game hits your system first, while the rest downloads as you play.

Cerny mentioned that the PlayStation 4 will monitor your game choices and pre-download games that it’ll think you like. The recommendation engine will check out what genres you play and what developers you enjoy. This is a nice touch that will help many gamers connect with new games in a more convenient way.

Perry mentioned that developers will be able to find “expert” players on the cloud and grant them special in-game privileges. This caused my Twitter feed to explode with snarky comments about the PlayStation 4 watching you.

I love where Sony is going with digital downloads and streaming. I’m also going to enjoy watching the flame wars about the PS4 not having backwards compatibility with PS3 discs. Flame on!

First-Party Games: Sony trotted out a bunch of first-party games and demos.
Killzone Shadow Fall — While I respect the Killzone series and this demo looked great, it’s not really my thing. I was a little bored.
Driveclub — This is a team-based racing game, which the developer equated with squad-based shooters. My initial thought was to combine the two in a game called Drive-by Club. It looked sweet and team-based driving should make for a fresh racing experience.
inFamous Second Son — Sucker Punch showed a pretty slick demo of its upcoming action game, but I was laughing at my snarky Twitter friends making comparisons to Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure.
The Witness — From the makers of the critically acclaimed Braid comes a bright and colorful puzzle game. While I was charmed by what was shown, the big deal here is that Sony is being very open and friendly to independent developers that want to self-publish. Making a powerful system that millions of people will own accessible is a marvelous thing that should lead to all kinds of creative games hitting the PS4. I love that Sony is continuing down the road it paved with games like Flower, Journey, and The Unfinished Swan.
David Cage — The head of Quantic Dream showed a tech demo of a very detailed and emotive decapitated head. Again, I’m not big on tech demos. As a Quantic Dream mark, I was disappointed that Cage didn’t have something more tangible to show.
Alex Evans — Media Molecule’s co-founder took the stage to show how the PlayStation Move can be used as a 3D modeling tool. My Twitter feed dogged this demo because it involved Move, but I like what was shown here. Giving gamers powerful and easy-to-use tools to make user-created content is a wonderful thing.

Third-Party Games: Sony had several third-party publishing partners show off games and demos too.
Capcom — Yoshinori Ono showed the Panta Rhei engine and a sweet-looking Medieval game called Deep Down (working title). It was pretty impressive, but my Twitter feed flooded with jokes about Deep Down Panty Raid. A few people assumed that this is the next Dragon’s Dogma game.
Square Enix — CTO Yoshihisa Hashimoto showed an impressive tech demo that used the company’s Luminous engine. It would have been way more impressive if the company hadn’t already shown the demo in June 2012. Final Fantasy brand director Shinji Hashimoto promised that a new Final Fantasy game for PlayStation 4 will be announced at E3 2013. My Twitter feed exploded with hate for the old demo and the announcement of a future announcement.
Ubisoft — Yves Guillemot showed a demo of Watch Dogs, which many people are really high on, but I still don’t get. The visuals are cool, but I have yet to see anything that looks fun to play.
Blizzard — Chris Metzen announced that Diablo III is coming to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. It will have full-screen four-player cooperative-play. My Twitter feed’s rage meter redlined, but I have no doubt that this “port” of Diablo III will do huge numbers.
Activision — Eric Hirshberg announced that Bungie’s Destiny will be available for PlayStation, which would have been a far bigger deal if it wasn’t already known three days ago.

Final Thoughts: As far as the games go, I’m really psyched for Knack. I’m also intrigued by inFamous: Second Son and Deep Down. That said, I wasn’t terribly excited for most of the announcements. I also would have liked to have seen more new IPs and less tech demos. Really though, this presser was more about the ecosystem. I love that Sony is using an x86 architecture for PlayStation 4, which will make things much easier for developers. I love that Sony is making a big effort with self-publishing for indie devs. I love that Sony found ways to make the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation Move more interesting. As someone that wants to eradicate all the physical media in his apartment, I’m excited for PlayStation Cloud too.

A lot of people are bagging on this presser for not being “Apple” enough, but I can’t think of another consumer electronics company that pulls off press conferences are well as Apple does. I undertand why people are upset — super upset if they didn’t care for the videogames shown — about not seeing the new box and not hearing about the price, but I also understand why Sony didn’t lay all its cards on the table. While it wasn’t perfect, the PlayStation 4 presser has given me a lot to think about. As a verbal entertainer, I have lots of new material to work with.

Now what’s your story? What did you think of the PlayStation 4 press conference?

Today’s Poll: The Rock’s WWE Championship Belt

On Monday Night Raw, WWE Champion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson unveiled the company’s new title belt. The new WWE Championship has removable side plates, allowing it to be personalized to reflect the champion. The Rock’s version has bulls on the side, since one of his nicknames is “The Brahma Bull.” The center piece has the modern WWE logo, with the word “Champion” on the bottom. Some pro-wrestling fans love the new belt and others hate it. What say you? Kindly take today’s poll and share your thoughts on the new WWE Championship in the comments section.

[poll id=”176″]

As for me, I’m giving it a thumbs down (though I like it better than John Cena’s “spinning” belt). The WWE logo is lame and will likely be redesigned in five years. The bulls are hokey, the modern flourishes look tacky, and there’s nothing “regal” about the belt. My favorite championship belt of all time is the NWA title that Ric Flair held for years. It used a classic design, similar to boxing titles — a globe in the center and flags of different countries around the sides. Part of it was the way Flair sold the belt, often referring to it as “ten pounds of gold.” Similar to how he made his opponent’s moves seem bigger than they were, Flair made the belt seem like a glorious thing. It looked and felt special. The Rock’s belt looks like an art project made by a community college student.

Of course I’m no longer in the demographic targeted by WWE advertisers. It’s entirely possible that younger WWE fans think that the new belt is incredibly cool. And I’m sure thousands of young WWE fans will buy replicas of the belt (especially when John Cena inevitably gets the title again).

Now it’s your turn! Fire away against or in defense of The Rock’s WWE Championship belt (please).

USPS…the Clothing Line?!?

Cliff Claven fans rejoice! Saturday deliver from the United States Postal Service is ending, but official USPS clothing is on the way. This is obvious a clever ploy from a federal agency capitalizing on everyone that’s dreamed of dressing up as postman. The clothing line will be called “Rain Heat & Snow” and made by Wahconah Group. Here’s a clip from the press release:

“This agreement will put the Postal Service on the cutting edge of functional fashion,” said Postal Service Corporate Licensing Manager Steven Mills. “The main focus will be to produce Rain Heat & Snow apparel and accessories using technology to create ‘smart apparel’ — also known as wearable electronics.”

Under the licensing agreement with the Postal Service, Wahconah will initially introduce Rain Heat & Snow apparel and accessories for men with future plans for a women’s line. The goal is to sell this product in premier department and specialty stores.

Hopefully the USPS will be fine with Target and Walmart….

Honestly, I would wear USPS tech-nerd gear, but my fear is that hipsters will also want to wear these threads as a form of ironic fashion. How about you? Any interested in the USPS-licensed Rain Heat & Snow line from Wahconah?

Source

Yet Another GI Joe: Retaliation Trailer

The countdown to GI Joe: Retaliation continues with a new trailer! This time around:

  • There’s more mountain-top ninja-fighting with Snakeyes and Jinx
  • One of the coolest scenes of mass destruction is shown
  • It’s revealed that Zartan is standing in for the POTUS
  • The Rock is still awesome
  • Channing Tatum still sucks
  • Old Bruce Willis is still kinda cool

Continue reading “Yet Another GI Joe: Retaliation Trailer”

Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Trailer

Here’s the latest trailer for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. What makes this video special is that it was cut by Hideo Kojima himself! Normally, legendary videogame designers let their minions assemble trailers, so this is a special treat. Check out the video below and let me know what you think of Kojima’s latest and greatest. Are you itching to play this game?

Continue reading “Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Trailer”

Bungie’s Destiny: The Straight Scoop

Bungie recently unveiled details on its upcoming MMO space-shooter Destiny. There are loads of previews out there full of hyperbolic preview-y text — so much so that several videogame journalists are having preview-event backlash. (I don’t want to get too into the issue. I believe that readers are thoughtful enough to figure things out on their own.) Thankfully, Gamasutra was at the Destiny event to provide a smart and balanced look at the game. I highly recommend reading the sage words of my former coworker and roommate Christian Nutt. Here’s the Cliffs Notes version:

  • Most of Bungie’s resources are being allocated to Destiny
  • The game is way, way early — Christian pointed out that the press didn’t receive screens or videos, only concept art
  • It’s an MMOFPS (Try pronouncing it. It’s almost as fun as duct tape.)
  • It’s for current and next-gen systems
  • It has several mobile and social features — An iOS app mockup was shown, while the social features of the game were heavily harped on

So please give Christian’s article a read when you get a chance. I believe it’s the best Destiny preview out there, even though it wasn’t written for consumers. After that, please let me know what you think about the game. Would you play an MMOFPS? Do you see yourself using the game’s iOS app? Do you think Destiny will reach Halo heights?

Source