After months of rumours circulating the web, Sony's new exclusive is at
last revealed. As expected, it's PlayStation All-Stars Royale, a similar
concept to Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Currently in development by
SuperBot Entertainment, the game consists of PS3's best and most famous
characters, battling it out to the death! Don't just think it's some
kind of outright copy though, SuperBot's president Chan Park made it
clear his development team have been "purpose-built" for the project,
with guys from series such as UFC Undisputed and Mortal Kombat. Sony
aren't just looking for a PS3 equivalent, they want an evolutionary
style of game, in an attempt to take the formula to a whole new next
level.
So what is PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale?
Originally Posted by SuperBot
First
and foremost, it’s a celebration of a storied history of great
characters and rich worlds brought together in one game. And for us,
there’s no better way to celebrate than by creating an experience that
players can sit around one screen and enjoy together. There are probably
a few types of games that can be enjoyed by four players
simultaneously, but for us at SuperBot, a brawler was the obvious choice
for one really good reason: the developers here at SuperBot really like
fighting games. We love playing them and we love making them. With
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, we set out to make an experience
accessible enough for all PlayStation fans to enjoy while also creating
something deep enough for the serious fighting game aficionado. We think
this “accessible yet deep” strategy is the perfect way to bring
PlayStation fans of all stripes together.
Learn more in the video interview:
Sony decided to let SuperBot Entertainment give IGN a sneak preview of
what's instal for us playstation users, allowing them to show-off six of
the game's characters from various different PlayStation exclusives.
Confirmed first party Sony characters include: Kratos (God Of War),
Radec (Killzone) Sly Cooper (Sly Racoon), PaRappa the Rapper, Sweet
Tooth (Twisted Metal), and Fat Princess. Third party characters from
other games have been confirmed to be part of the game, but none of them
have been announced as yet, although Sony has hinted they could go all
the way back to the PS one era. Not sure whether that's a good or bad
thing.
Below Colin Moriarty, IGN PlayStation editor, explains some of the
unique moves and abilities attached to each character revealed.
Originally Posted by Colin Moriarty
Each
character has his or her own combat style, which immediately becomes
evident when you begin playing for yourself. Parappa the Rapper has
strength at close range, where he can use his Chop Chop Master
Onion-learned kung-fu stylings on his opponents. Colonel Radec, on the
other hand, is almost entirely ineffective unless at a distance, relying
on a plethora of Helghan firearms and pieces of technology from afar.
Sweet Tooth's considerable strength complements his brutal fighting
style while Kratos' skill with his arsenal of weapons is obvious. But
the two most interesting characters in this preliminary roster were
undoubtedly Sly Cooper and Fat Princess. Sly Cooper's agility shines
through almost immediately, and he has a special skill that no other
character has. He forfeits his ability to block -- something every other
character can do -- instead going invisible when the L1 button is held
down. This allows him to sneakily slink around and get the jump on other
characters. Fat Princess, on the other hand, relies on her deceptive,
innocent look to get in close and cause the brunt of her damage. She can
even summon forth minions such as the sword-wielding warrior or the
fire-throwing wizard from her self-titled game to briefly supplement her
attacks.
In a game like this, it should come as no surprise that SuperBot
Entertainment wants it to feel accessible. And it most certainly does.
Attacks are mapped to the Square, Triangle and Circle buttons coinciding
with the direction you're pressing on the d-pad or left analog stick,
giving each character an exceptional amount of moves. The right stick
can be used to throw opponents, while the R1 button lets players pick up
items (such as the Hedgehog Grenade from Resistance) in the environment
to use on enemies.
And then there's the most powerful button in the game: R2. By building a
special meter for each character -- a la Street Fighter or Marvel vs.
Capcom -- players can unleash a torrent of special attacks that grow in
power the higher the meter gets. For instance, Sly Cooper's standard
first level attack might be fairly unimpressive, but his second level
attack allows him to bomb enemies from above and can easily kill
everyone on the screen. And if you get to a third level attack, watch
out: Colonel Radec will get into a body-encompassing machinegun from
Killzone 3, while Sweet Tooth turns into a gigantic truck to rain down
destruction on his foes. These attacks spell almost certain death for
everyone else on-screen.
But with accessibility comes inevitable depth, and it quickly becomes
apparent that the more you play, the more nuance you'll be able to
derive from the experience. You'll develop a play style and preferences
for certain characters; as an example, Colonel Radec will be a complete
turnoff if you're not into ranged attacks, while Sly Cooper may just be
too damn fast for you to keep track of. But there is balance, too, and
no one character seems to have an edge over anyone else… at least not in
this small group of six.
Unlike Nintendo's Smash Bros. which only offered levels related to
single franchise, All-Star's stages will feature multiple elements from
different games. For example one set includes Hades from God Of War but
also features the little guys from PSP series Patapon in the
background. A Ratchet & Clank stage features the Hydra from the
first God Of War.There's also a stage from LittleBigPlanet that starts
off empty and fills up as you play, a Buzz! level that asks you
questions as you fight, and Sandover Village from Jak And Daxter.
PlayStation All-Stars is full of options, allowing players to use the
game to its full potential. It can be played locally or online with up
to four players. Of course there's also a single-player campaign, which
has been promised to satisfy solo gamers while supplementing everyone
else's experience. However, the guys over at SuperBot don't believe it's
only about online or only about single-player, but a combo of the two.
They want to achieve a "best of both worlds" experience for PS3 gamers.
Although that being said, a slight focus is in fact being put on the
online play which will feature a robust tournament mode. Players will be
able to compete against each other as well as play cooperatively.
According to SuperBot there are plenty more features, characters, and
levels they want to show us. We can expect a lot to be revealed at E3.
It is said that the rumored Xbox 720 has been fully detailed to some third-parties of Microsoft, and it is also rumored that it will be released around Christmas time of 2013. And yes, to all of you angry about the 360 not having one, it will include a Blu-ray drive!
To simply put it, due to a recent report, the Xbox 720 WILL have a Blu-ray player/drive.
As for today, multiple sources have confirmed that the 720 will have two GPUs, one of the multiple sources state "It's like two PCs taped together."
Results on a list of the final specs are still TBC (to be confirmed), but the graphics cards are rumored to be equal to AMD's 7000 series GPUs, but"not CrossFire or SLI". However, the GPUs aren't structured normally (like a normal dual PC set-up), but the two chips take turns drawing lines for the same object: Xbox 720′s graphics units will be able to work independently, drawing separate items simultaneously. (Put in mind that the Orbis/PS3 will also be supported by AMD software).
Here are a few more bullet/quick details:
There will be “four or six” cores to the Xbox 720 CPU, one of which will be reserved for Kinect and one for the OS.
Xbox 720 will require an always-on internet connection as an anti-piracy measure.
It's also been said that the next generation of Kinect will be built into the device as standard.[/list]
Also, according to a Tweet by the designer of Crytek, that the codename for the Xbox 720 is "Durango".
Adding onto all of this, no there will not be an announcement for the Xbox 720/Durango within the next year, it will be awhile.
Officially informed, Sony's next console, the PS4, should be released in the next couple of months. To be a little more precise though, the console should be releasing in the winter-holiday era of 2013.
However, in working progress, the console has been given the name "Orbis." Not too sure about this, but the name Orbis could be giving a way a clue to Sony's intentions on the PS4. Here's a quote from an article I read pertaining this information:
"It's also a
name loaded with meaning. The word "Orbis" itself, from Latin, means
circle, or ring, or even orbit. Not terribly helpful. Combine it with
the name of Sony's new handheld system, though, and you have the common
term Orbis Vita (or, in strict Latin, Orbis Vitae). Which means "The
circle of life". Could the Vita be playing a very important role in the
development and use of the next PlayStation home console? Maybe!" -Luke Plunkett
Now taking presented information into perspective, you can see how that would work. Taking it into consideration, like past events, work in progress have been given code names. This could be the could name for it, or it could be the final name. Who knows.
Onto the specs. From what's said to be the upcoming PS4, runs on an AMD processor (specifically the AMD Southern Islands GPU). Not to mention, the upcoming system is said to have an insane resolution of 4096x2160. This would result in an extremely, wide, and HD video sensation. As known Youtuber WoodysGamertag suggested, an EyeFinity setup (or multiple monitors) would be quite advantageous seeing as how wide the resolution is said to be set.
For those of you who are curious, this is an EyeFinity setup:
In other news of the "Orbis", backwards compatibility (like the early PS3) is said to be a no-no. Rumors say Sony isn't going to even bother trying with backwards compatibility. On the topic of games, rattling news and rumors say that Sony has no intentions on renewing the previous idea of used games. Not sure exactly how this will work, but Sony is said to be including some type of anti-used game mechanism in the console.
That's all I have for now. If I come across any new information about the upcoming Orbis, I will keep you all informed.
So what do you think about the information presented? Any pros; cons? How about specs? Do you like them?
Originally Posted by SuperBot
