A Look Into Team Fortress 2's Graphics Shaders

Why this art style? How is it achieved? How does it work? Learn from the best!



It looks like more and more developers are looking into the real worlds artistic history, rather than just trying to imitate it. The reception both Bioshock and Team Fortress 2 are getting for their distinct art styles may be a sign of things to come. Maybe it will may even be the new World War 2... maybeee not.

Triple LCD Screen Setup Got You All Wet? Check This Out

While people are cheering and jeering over three LCD screen setups with Forza 2, some folks have decided to take it one step further with a Playstation 3 built right into a BMW M3 chassis for a vehicle simulator (of all things).

Yes the car moves left and right, the whole thing is built around the simulator itself, the only thing the chassis won't do is jump up in the air when the car is airborne or provide the G effects you would expect from driving around a higher performance vehicle.

New Killzone 2 Footage + Details

A nice developer walkthrough showcasing the graphics, presentation with developer commentary about 'making the best first person shooter', from the BBC no less.

Tech-5 Video Walkthrough

Tech 5 is showing off some amazing 3D graphics, up there with the likes of UE3 powered games and Crysis. But whats most surprising is that iD is even planning on hitting the 60fps sweetspot with their latest game, 'RAGE', on both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360!

For those counting down the doom of the Xbox 360 with the new fangled texture streaming, well, if having two DVDs is much worse than one Blu-Ray disc then you have a small victory.

Direct Links:

Engine Exploration
Walk Through Part 1
Walk Through Part 2

Engine Exploration:



Walk Through:

Metal Gear Online

Introducing a new chapter in the Metal Gear saga, a completely stand alone online team oriented multiplayer game.

Like Playing a Pixar Movie

The latest 'Ratchet and Clank' trailer shows the game is departing from guns and moving back to platforming with a distinct change of feel from serious/cartoon to just plain fun. It is every bit the Pixar adventure as it is a great game, from witty dialogue to colourful art style this game has it all.

There is also a nice touch of sentiment, James Westbrook who featured in Extreme Makeover is a boy who was paralyzed in a car crash. He will feature as a playable character in 'Tools of Destruction'.

Embedded/Downloadable HD

For those unsure the trailer is 100% real-time in-engine footage.


*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***



In 'Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction' Ratchet goes back to discover the roots of his species (Lombaxes) as he fights Tachyon the emperor of the Cragmites that had previously fought and lost against the Lombaxes in an ancient war.

Graphically the game speaks for itself, it looks like a Pixar movie tip to tip, from fluid animations to colourful high resolution graphics it could hold its own.



*** END SPOILERS ***

Mark Rein: 'Playstation 3 Only Known Console Thats Gonna Let us Create Mods'

In an interview with Gamespot Mark Rein continues his love affair with the Playstation 3, explaining that Unreal Tournament 3 is running better on the Playstation 3 than Gears of War was on the 360 last year.

Furthermore he said that one of the reasons why Epic was going Playstation 3 exclusive was because of the openness of the Playstation network' and that Unreal Tournament 'is all about mods'.

SIXAXIS controls will be used to control some vehicles which according to Mark Rein will be 'very natural' and even better than analogue controls. Other matters discussed is cross platform multiplayer and downloadable extras (which will mostly be free).

A Game That Really Mysteriously Did Not Show At E3

It was supposed to feature on the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC AND Mac, the big next-gen engine iD has been working on after Doom 3, it could have been the game of show but no one seems to have missed it. Whats surprising is this missing game is actually a mystery, John Carmack said it would be at E3, E3 came and went, no news about it.



This isn't Final Fantasy where TGS is round the corner, this isn't Price of Persia where the developers are working on another title, this isn't GTA IV or Spore where it was announced beforehand it wouldn't show, this isn't Rainbow Six where the last game in the series was only just released, this isn't God of War 3 that is being kept under very tight wraps (to the point it is supposedly 'not in development'), this is iDs big next gen debut, the one John Carmack promised to show us at E3 running on all the high profile platforms, WHERE IS IT!?

Where the hell are you!?

Ah well, Quake Con it is, don't leave us out in the cold Mr. Carmack!

Related Post: John Carmack Shows off New Game Engine - At An Apple Conference!

Unreal Tournament 3 PC Mods Will Run on The Playstation 3

During Sony's E3 conference Mark Rein confirmed that Unreal Tournament 3 on the Playstation 3 will run Unreal Tournament 3 PC mods. This effectively providing the first ever case of true cross platform compatibility between PCs and consoles.

Mark Rein put it quite clearly that "You'll also be able to share mods between the PC and PS3 platforms". He has also said that the open source platform Sony is using makes this possible. This may make it very unlikely the Xbox 360 will have such cross compatibility.

This effectively increases the value of Unreal Tournament 3 on the Playstation 3 above that of the Xbox 360, custom generated content has always been what keeps old games afloat and giving this much power to the community will ensure the longetivity of UT3 on the Playstation 3.

Unfortunately there has been no word on corss platform multiplayer gameplay yet.

UE3 PS3 Exclusivity Fails To Generate Anger From PC Owners

A few years ago, when screenshots of Gears of War were few and prized above all else, and Unreal Tournament 3 was called Unreal Tournament 2007 there was a rumour that the Playstation 3 would launch with Unreal Tournament 2007. That meant that Unreal tournament 2007 would launch on the Playstation 3 well before the PC and that ruffled quite a few feathers.

Now, Sony has nabbed exclusivity to Unreal Tournament 3 for Summer 2007, that is, Unreal Tournament will launch on the Playstation 3 first as a timed exclusive. Cliffy B keeps making the point in the following interview. Most obvious is at 3:00 and I quote 'this holiday season Unreal Tournament 3 will be on the Playstation exclusive'.



Yes, between all the Gears of War PC talk Cliffy repeats severel times that Unreal Tournament 3 will be a Playstation 3 exclusive for the summer of 2007. This may be a sign of things to come, rampant piracy on the PC and lots of fighting over exclusivity by the two big wigs (Microsoft and Sony) means that we may start seeing more PC titles going to console first. If they can get one of the biggest titles on the market to be console exclusive for any period of time then no franchise is safe.

Destroy All Humans: Path of the Furon

The game that poked fun at the 50's got a sequel that poked fun at the 60's now has a sequel poking fun at what else but the 70's. Destroy all Humans will capitalize on 70's stereotypes and an overly zealous alien to deliver on the humor and will be a completely open ended game.

The games protagonist, Krypto (or clone 137) will be retaining most of his abilities from previous games (body snatching, mind reading etc) but will also have new skills. One of the more intersting new moves Krypto will be pulling off is the Temporal Fist technique that will allow him to stop time.

Weapons are all fully upgradable and imaginative as always (Venus Fly Trap anyone?), the game will also support downloadable content. It will be released on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

DS Top Seller in Australia

After Nintendo declared the Wii a winner for reaching 100,000 units sold fastest and being rebuttled by Sony saying that the Playstation 3 has been outselling the Wii since its launch (both proven to be true) it seems that over all Nintendo can say it is the leader in terms of raw sales with the DS, selling well over 29,000 units more than the next biggest seller (the Playstation 2) in between the months of April and June.

This is in sharp contrast to the DS launch figures which placed it well below the PSP and Playstation 3. It would seem that even the Wii may make this dramatic come back if the PSP and DS comparison will apply in home consoles. Despite launching a few months before the Playstation 3 the Wii did outsell the Playstation 3 for the first time last week and this trend my continue.

VIA cnet Australia

PS3 outselling Wii and 360 in Australia

Looks like the $1000 AUD ($800 US) price tag isn't enough to deter Australians. After Nintendo proclaimed the Wii reached 100,000 sales fastest of any console in Australias history Sony has humbly pointed out that the PS3 has been outselling the Wii (save for last week) since its launch. Oh, and it's also being marketted as a Blu-Ray player, not a games console at Harvey Norman.

Launching March 23, 2007 the Playstation 3 has sold 50,000 compared to the Wii launching December 2006 sold 100,000. However last week the Wii did outsell the Wii perhaps indicating the hype behind the Playstation 3 was slowly dying out.

From Sony Australias managnig director Michael Ephraim's mouth

"Since March 23, PS3 has been the number one-selling next-gen console in
Australia, and this is GfK figures. We've now sold 50,000 -- and we're very
excited about the fact that it's being sold in retailers that are gaming
retailers as a gaming device and other things, but as you'll notice it's now
being sold in Harvey Norman consumer electronic stores as a Blu-ray player."

GFK is the Australian equivalent of the NPR*



VIA c|net Australia

Lair - Ground, Sea and Crazy Looking Critters

Shaping up to be the first *real* killer app for the Playstation 3, no need to say how great this game looks.

Lair Screenshots

This game looks incredible, you'd think you're playing a movie in the gigantic worlds the game presents the player with. Even the human models in the game are detailed to the same degree of detail you would expect from FPS titles.

Amazing Detail in Soul Calibur 4

Instead of just going 'boobies!' and pausing the video on 00:27 if you look at the other still shots you'll find there is an incredible amount of detail not centered around the aforementioned excercise balls. The amount of detail is insane, you can see the varnish on the wood and the same varnish wearing off, you can even see individual stitches in the clothes.

Playstation 3 Cracked - Games 'Booting'

Ah, sweet, sweet victory for the homebrew scene (and pirates). Firmware 1.10 and 1.11 have both been cracked allowing the Playstation 3 to boot 'backups' of Blu-Ray titles. SCE naturally loathes whats happening and are planning to go as far as suing people who crack the Playstation 3 firmware.

Dave Karraker of SCE says that "the best we can do as a company is to make our security that much stronger and aggressively pursue legal action against anyone caught trying to use an exploit in an illegal manner".

Of course he didn't mention just what the definition of 'illegal' is in his world. Sony has tried and failed to stop the PSP homebrew scene (and pirates) from cracking the PSP firmware, perhaps it's only a matter of time before Playstation 3 owners will enjoy the same freedoms with their hardware.

Just a point of mention, booting games does not mean playing games, the games boot but they don't play, obviously this is a minor technicality that will eventually be solved.

VIA GamesIndustry

Battle of the Upscalers - Playstation 3 VS Xbox 360

It seems like even upscaling is subject to qualitative differences, the Xbox 360 is clearly cleaning up images wherein the Playstation 3 seems to be bluring out the jagged edges.









Halo 2:





Final Fantasy 12:

Here they are 'stitched together',



Big thanks to Kamalot for this one (see comments).

Star Wars: Forces Unleashed - Behind the Scenes Video

A six minute behind the scenes look at the origins of the ideas and concepts behind 'Forces Unleashed'.

Playstation 3 Upscaler: Before and After

While slightly blurrier the upscaled images all look heaps sharper, God of War 2 seems to benefit most.

Thanks Moe

(VIA Digg comment)