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The PlayStation Recap

Posted by in MAG, PlayStation Games, recap, uncharted 2 on February 13th, 2010

MAG Logo

Courtesy of Jeremy Dunham

UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves banner

Courtesy of Arne Meyer

  • UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves soundtrack in stores – If you like physical media, like that compact disc thing I’ve been hearing about, then you’ll be thrilled to know that Greg Edmonson’s original soundtrack to UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves was released on CD this week. Check the post for a link back here to the PlayStation.blog for streaming previews of 3 previously unreleased tracks. There’s also a link to an online store where you can grab the new tracks via digital download if you already have the soundtrack.
  • Title Update 1.05: Experimental weekend poll results revealed – The first in our short series about the upcoming Title Update 1.05 reveals the poll results of our Experimental Weekend from December 2009. There’s no shortage of debate about the results or what we should do about it, but we provide a little insight of what the poll helped us decide.
  • Title Update 1.05: More details about the upcoming update – The second in our short series about the Upcoming Title Update 1.05 reveals updates to the penalty system we implemented for players who leave a match early, detection and removal of flagrantly AFK players, fixes for the Level and Skill Rank reset and more.
  • Title Update 1.05: IGN’s exclusive reveal of our upcoming DLC – Just when you thought we’d go for a third post in our series about Title Update 1.05… well you’d be partly right. At first we ship you off to IGN to get the details of our new maps, new skins, new Trophies and new Medals. But if you read on, you’ll find out that the Medals will come as part of the Title Update 1.05 release, which we let you know comes out on Monday, February 15.

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Final Fantasy XIII: Your Questions Answered

Posted by in final fantasy, PlayStation Games, PS3 on February 12th, 2010

Earlier in the week, we told you we’d be meeting up with Square Enix to talk Final Fantasy XIII with Producer Yoshinori Kitase and Director Motomu Toriyama, along with the Battle Director Yuji Abe. So all your questions went to the former, which you can read in full form below.

But the FFXIII love fest didn’t end there. With the game less than a month away (March 9!), Jeff and I got to play a nice chunk of the game…enough to get familiar with the battle system to chat all about it with Mr. Abe. In the video, you’ll get an in-depth look into the game’s battle system, which I have to say, once you understand it, it’s quite intense.

PSB: With western RPGs becoming so popular, how were you influenced in Final Fantasy XIII to encompass all audiences? – via DMPrince

Kitase/Toriyama: No games were a direct influence in particular, but we definitely looked at the FPS genre and other Western games to incorporate more speed and increase the pace of gameplay in Final Fantasy XIII. In terms of the FPS genre influence, the story progression of FFXIII is very similar to that (FPS) genre in the sense that different challenges and situations are presented to the character one after the other. That’s how they progress in the storyline.

Of course, there are a lot of North Americans that imported the game. What do you say to those who say the game might be too linear? Does the accusation bother you?

The earlier part of the game was intentionally created to be a linear experience because we wanted to make the experience similar to a movie or drama where players really get to know the characters and what is behind their actions.

And also, since this is a brand new system for FFXIII, we wanted to take the correct steps to make sure players can control that system at will. So it is a surprise that so many people are commenting that the game is linear, but once you get into the area of Pulse in the game , it’s much more of a free world and the battle system really comes to life. And once you have a good idea of how to control it, you can go full force and it should be a completely different experience.

Do you think that the idea of RPGs from the 80s and 90s being wide open is a dated stereotype?

There’s sort of a template to the RPG system, traditionally, where players would go to the town and find out information through text, leave town to fight monsters and then come back to town and buy health and items, etc. FFXIII didn’t really look for some sort of template to follow, but we tried to go out and create and set a new trend for RPGs. So there isn’t really a thought to stick to tradition.

How long would a play-through of the game with missions take?

As far as hours, of gameplay…if you play straight through the story it would be about 60 hours of gameplay. But if you decided to play through all the missions, it would be, well, basically eternity. It could last forever. The enemies in the Pulse area are much stronger, as well, so there’s lots of replay value there.

What is the native video resolution and audio format on the PS3? – via kturcotte

Final Fantasy XIII runs in 720p and Dolby Digital 5.1

Final Fantasy traditionally chooses a song to accompany the game. Why did you go with Leona Lewis in the Western version instead of a traditional Japanese artist? – via ROFLdrg

Previous FF titles brought over the Japanese songs to the Western versions of the game, but we felt that with a song that’s sung in a language that’s understandable to North American or European users, it would bring the game closer to the player and depart from the idea that Final Fantasy is a game that comes from overseas. Overall, it would tighten the relationship between the player and the game, so that’s why we decided to go with an English theme song.

Are they any plans for PlayStation Home integration with FFXIII in North America? – via Jetup

As you know, there’s some activity in the Japanese PlayStation Home but for North American activities, things are still in the planning stages and there’s nothing confirmed at this time.

How does Final Fantasy XIII compare to the First Final Fantasy game that you worked on? – via KazeEternal

(Toriyama): The first FF game I worked on was FFVII, and similar to XIII, it was a title that brought a drastic series as a whole (moving also from the Nintendo platform to PlayStation), the graphics were extremely renewed and different, so there was a huge jump there.

For FFXIII, it’s the first time the series is coming to high-def consoles, and the graphics are so high-quality that you can express very detailed expressions and emotions.

So did you see a lot of the same challenges with FFXIII that you saw with VII?

The challenges were different because with FFVII, the team was in the dark and 3D graphics were so new that they really had to figure things out from scratch. So they got a hold of the 3D technology with VII, and fined tuned it for X, so with XIII, it’s kind of going along the same path. The team already has this knowledge and skill to work on 3D graphics, but of course with XIII things are so much more polished and the level of the CG movies are on par with movies. The team is really looking to inspiration for movies for comparison points for FFXIII. So the challenges were different for both games.

What did you learn from working on your first high-definition FF game? – via Shadow780

One thing that the team, and especially the art team can take from the experience of developing FFXIII to future titles is the CG tech, especially the textures for the characters. For previous gen consoles, the art was essentially drawn and it was more of illustration work. But for FFXIII, a lot of CG tech was involved and getting the art and texture of the skin right was a key component for FFXIII…definitely something that the team will take to future titles.

And of course every developer is really looking to make their characters and worlds look as realistic as possible, but we wanted to go one step behind and evoke emotion through the characters. The shine of the lip or the look of the stockings can evoke a sexual tension. The same goes for the male characters…we want the fans to think they are cool, and they are more than just a game characters.

What was it like working on the PS3 for the first time?

The PS3 is definitely a spectacular machine and the team was really able to realize its visions for the characters and graphics, and at the same time, were able to have big onscreen battles going on. The PS3 hardware was something that really helped envision the game.

I heard there was content removed from the original game? Could it possibly resurface as DLC? – via @ericsavatar

Regarding the DLC content, we feel that the final product is 100% enjoyable…it’s the complete package. So we’re not planning any DLC at this time. In regard to the rumored cut content, we feel it was taken out of context. There are a lot of ideas that are brought to the table, and then the team takes the best ideas out of those, and the final product is polished that way. There was content that were “ideas” that didn’t make the final content, but the team isn’t looking to release that as downloadable content.

In FFXIII, it seems like there’s a movement toward more realistic characters. What’s the direction you’re going with these particular characters?

There is definitely a conscious movement toward depicting emotion and realism for the characters. The team wants to create characters that mature audiences can relate to, as well.

Any news on Agito or Versus?

No set date yet, so you can keep on the lookout for new information. And though we can’t really go into detail, a quick overview of the status of development; 100-200 staff members from FFXIII are now finished with the game, and all the people that have been working on it, they have all this knowledge of PS3 tech (and PSP) and they can bring it to these different teams and the development speed will probably increase.

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Download The Tester Preview Show on PlayStation Network Today

Posted by in PlayStation Community, PlayStation Network, the tester on February 11th, 2010

Hey everyone! The countdown is on – we are just one week away from the premiere of The Tester on PlayStation Network. I have a treat for everyone – a special preview show of The Tester hosted by actor, comedian, hardcore gamer, and The Tester judge Hal Sparks. The show offers a glimpse of what you’ll see on The Tester, and plenty of stuff that you won’t see, including highlights from thousands of the hilarious submission videos we received – and there were some doozies.

Check out a snippet of the preview show below, and download the full preview show on the PlayStation Store and in PlayStation Home Theatre #8 later today.

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Square Enix Talks Final Fantasy XIII + Submit Your Questions

Posted by in Developer Corner, final fantasy, Inside PlayStation, PlayStation Games, PS3, square-enix on February 8th, 2010

Over on the PlayStation.Blog.Europe, Jem Alexander managed to wrangle up a great Q&A with Final Fantasy XIII Producer Yoshinori Kitase and Director Motomu Toriyama. But Europe’s not stealing all the fun – We’re heading up to San Francisco later today to speak with Mr. Kitase and Mr. Toriyama, as well as FFXIII’s Battle Director Yuji Abe for the first time. So now’s the time to get those final questions out there (That’s Final Fantasy XIII only, so please keep your questions on that topic. They won’t be discussing anything Versus- or Agito-related). We’re almost exactly a month out from the game’s release, after all!

I asked for your Final Fantasy XIII interview questions and you responded in earnest. Thanks so much for your many questions — they were far too numerous for me to ask them all, but I hope you agree that I covered all the important ones with the game’s Producer, Yoshinori Kitase, and Director, Motomu Toriyama. Can you believe it’s only four weeks until the game is in our hands? It’s been a long wait, but we’re almost there.

This interview will hopefully give you some insight into the development of the game, and get you interested in the other two Fabula Nova Crystallis games — Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII. As soon as Square Enix is ready to talk more about these titles, you can expect to see something here on PlayStation.Blog.

Final Fantasy XIII

Do you have any plans for Final Fantasy XIII PlayStation Home content?

It is already happening in Japan. There will be costumes for Lightning and Snow, and there’s a personal space as well as chocobo and other character figures. We don’t know at the moment whether this will be brought to Europe.

Will Final Fantasy Versus XIII have any links to Final Fantasy XIII?

Final Fantasy Versus XIII is part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series, but XIII and Versus XIII only share the same basic mythology. The fal’Cie and l’Cie are just a small part of this mythology, but the story and the characters are completely different.

Are there any games within the Fabula Nova Crystallis series that have yet to be announced?

At the moment we are concentrating on releasing Versus XIII and Agito XIII. At the moment we have no other specific plans to release any other titles as a part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series.

What made you decide to make Final Fantasy XIII a series, rather than a standalone title?

If you look back at the Final Fantasy series, at VII for example, this later let to Advent Children and Crisis Core. Also, for FFX, we created FFX-2 after its release. In those cases we obviously released the original title first and then created the sequel. This time we wanted to create several games in the same project from the outset.

Will there be an English demo?

We haven’t decided whether to make a demo available yet.

How much emphasis is placed on story and cutscenes in FFXIII? Do you feel it’s balanced with gameplay, or heavy on either side?

The basic playtime is about 50 to 60 hours, for the main story. Amongst which, the cutscenes make up about 10 hours. So, quite a large amount, with very high quality graphics, of course. So there’s plenty of story and gameplay to enjoy.

What will you be moving on to now that Final Fantasy XIII is finished?

At the moment we are still concentrating on finishing off and promoting the overseas version of Final Fantasy XIII, but many of the team have obviously accumulated a lot of knowledge and experience and they will be moved over to work on Versus and Agito. Personally, we don’t know what we’re going to move on to next.

Final Fantasy XIII

How much sidequest content is there in XIII?

We call them “missions”, rather than “quests”. During the second half of the story, when the characters go down to a place called Pulse, there are many missions available there. In the majority of them the boss of the mission who you have to defeat, is more powerful than the main boss of the story. I’ve already told you that the basic playing time is 50 to 60 hours, but if you want to complete all the missions, the total time is probably twice that or more.

So what are the chances of a CG movie based on FFXIII, like Advent Children?

There are no plans at the moment, but once it is released over here and, if there are some particular characters or features that are received particularly well, then we might make a decision. And of course we need to see how it goes down sales-wise and regarding user reactions, first.

What are your feelings about the current state of the game industry in Japan, compared with the West and what Western games have you been most influenced by?

Some people have been saying that the Japanese game industry is dead, and all that… I dunno. I will say that Final Fantasy XIII is one really epic title for high definition consoles. With this game, we are going to resurrect the whole thing. As for Western games that have influenced us — FPSs mostly. The Call of Duty series, for example.

Final Fantasy XIII

How do you feel about Yoichi Wada’s statement that Final Fantasy XIII will be the last game of its kind for Square Enix?

We don’t know exactly what he meant by that. We don’t really know what he meant by this style of game. If you consider that during Final Fantasy XIII’s development, at peak time the team consisted of over 300 people. It was a huge team, plus it took a several long years to get the game finished. So, if Mr Wada meant that we would never make another Final Fantasy title with the similar number of people, taking as long as FFXIII did, we would agree. Obviously in the future we want to be much more efficient. Having worked on XIII, we feel that we have got much better at making good games for high definition consoles. In the future our teams will be smaller and more effectively run. We suspect that is what Mr Wada meant by his statement.

The God of War HD remake for the PS3 has been very popular in the US and people in Europe are very much looking forward to it. Do you have any interest in creating an HD remake of a PS1 or PS2 Final Fantasy game?

We don’t know the details about the HD remake of God of War. If it’s just a case of attaining high resolution graphics, only, then that wouldn’t be that difficult, but if we were to achieve the same graphical standard as in XIII with a PS1 title, then that would be a huge, huge task. Almost unrealistic. Even with a PS2 title it would be difficult. In the case of God of War, there weren’t really that many characters in the game — the main character and some monsters, maybe ten people or so. That would not be unachievable. As with Final Fantasy titles in the past, like on PS1, even just the main characters amount to around 10 people. Then you have all the NPCs, you’re probably looking at about 200 characters total. All with individual textures for the skin, plus costumes, facial features and everything. That would be a really tricky job.

Will there be any New Game content in Final Fantasy XIII?

When you finish the main quest there are some growth elements of the the characters which will unlock once you’ve defeated the last boss. After this is done, you’ll be easily able to return to Pulse and take part in the many missions available there. There is no way to start the game again with your current character stats, however.

Is there a specific reason why Japanese voices were left out of the game?

For the European version, the facial expressions and lip synchronization are all lined up with the English lines, so the Japanese voices would not match up right. That was the main worry.

People are aware that there is a lot of content that has been cut from the game. Do you have any plans to use this content in the future?

You say “content” but, in reality, it’s more like “ideas”. Maybe a map was a little bit too complex and we felt like the player would get completely lost, so we simplified, or whatever. So this content won’t be coming out separately, as it has been binned.

Will there be a hard drive install available?

There is no installation, the game runs directly from the disc.

Finally, why does Sahz have a Chocobo in his hair?

What happened was, initially we only had a concept of this character being happy and jolly. Nomura designed the character and gave him an afro while, flippantly, drew a small chocobo next to him. As we looked at this, we liked the idea and the chocobo got added into the story. That’s how it happened.

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The PlayStation Recap

Posted by in MAG, PlayStation Games, recap, uncharted 2 on February 6th, 2010

So earlier in the week I rushed out the first 10 minutes of a BioShock 2 interview to make sure it got up well before release, only to discover that there was some…ahem…*mixed* b-roll for the game included. Unfortunately with the game only days away from retail, the team seems to be pretty much finished creating assets, so I got clearance from 2K to capture my own PS3 footage.

To make up for my flop on Wednesday, I spent my entire Friday capturing and editing BioShock 2 single-player footage, which I included in part two of the interview…and you can see it right here. Of course, I couldn’t get any multiplayer video (the game’s not out yet and no one’s playing!), but I believe this is one of the only places you’re going to find PS3 footage pre-release. The interview covers a bunch more of your questions, focusing primarily on multiplayer specifics, once again with 2K Games’ Melissa Miller and Hogarth de la Plante. So if you’re looking for a reason to get excited about next week’s BioShock 2 release, take a gander at the video. I’m already hooked…

MAG Logo

Courtesy of Jeremy Dunham

UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves banner

Courtesy of Arne Meyer

  • UNCHARTED 2 PlayStation Heroes Skin Pack trailer and new renders – Last week, we put together a video revealing all of the skins in the PlayStation Heroes Skin Pack – introducing them all through a subtle narrative with a twist. We also put up some new renders of the characters on the skin pack, but this time on black backgrounds to easily create your own images, if you so choose.

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BioShock 2: Your Questions Answered Part One

Posted by in 2k games, bioshock 2, PlayStation Games, PS3 on February 3rd, 2010

We FINALLY got the invite up to 2K Games Marin to talk to the BioShock 2 team, and what better timing than a week away from the game’s release on Feb. 9. We certainly gathered by your abundance of Tweets that excitement for BioShock 2 is crazy high. So on Monday, I sat down with Senior Producer Melissa Miller and Lead Environment Artist Hogarth de la Plante (with a chillingly lifelike Little Sister standing eerily behind us) who answered a heap of your questions – so many in fact that we had to split the video into two parts.

So today, you’ll see part one that focuses primarily on BioShock 2’s single-player campaign, including details on story development, philosophical influence, plasmids and much more. And head on back tomorrow for part two, which delves deep into the much-anticipated multiplayer mode.

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Aliens vs. Predator: Your Questions Answered

Posted by in aliens vs. predator, PlayStation Games, PS3, rebellion, sega on February 3rd, 2010

Last week we called for your questions (via Twitter) on SEGA’s upcoming PS3 shooter Aliens vs. Predator. And as usual, you delivered some good ones, covering off on all areas off the game’s single and multplayer modes, the special Hunter edition and more. Tim Jones from AvP developer Rebellion was on hand to field as I fired a list full of inquiries.

*And literally as I’m typing this, we just received word that an AvP online multiplayer demo is hitting the PlayStation Store tomorrow! So at around the 6:00 mark in the video when Tim mentions the demo, add your own mental voiceover with Thursday, Feb. 4. The demo will feature Deathmatch mode in the Refinery map, and will allow all three species to battle it out online.

What you probably didn’t know is that earlier in the week, I sat down to a solid two hours of multiplayer inside SEGA HQ, taking a shot at each of three species: human and alien primarily, with a short stint as a Predator. Going in fresh (I hadn’t seen the game in action), I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of actual multiplayer gameplay, but I knew the competitive mode would most likely vary depending on what character I chose. My first instinct was to draw Marine (hard to turn down a gun), but instead I went alien. Feeling overwhelmed by a short controls brief, I quickly settled down and learned some alien-specific moves that turned out to be incredibly devastating, including a lightning-fast lock-on “pounce” maneuver and a deadly stealth attack. It seems you really get the most out of playing as an alien if you stick to the walls and ceilings, and virtually out of other species’ sight.

As a Marine, firepower is your main offense/defense, and a handy sprint helps keep you out of harm’s way. I really enjoyed Alien Infestation, a mode where every player starts as a Marine, and soon after, one randomly selected player becomes an Alien. From there it’s only a matter of time before another Marine is killed by an alien, thus re-spawning as alien. And this continues until there’s one Marine left standing…and then it’s only a matter of time.

I think Rebellion’s done a great job of balancing the multiplayer gameplay, and the sense of Marine claustrophobia is a nice nod to the films. Can’t wait to jump into the single-player campaign when AvP releases on February 16.

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Coming to PSN this Week: Fret Nice

Posted by in fret nice, PlayStation Games, PS3, PSN on February 2nd, 2010

We haven’t covered Tecmo’s Fret Nice on the PlayStation.Blog, and here we are…two days away from launch. So we’re trying something a little different here. Fret Nice is coming to PSN/PS3 this Thursday, so Producer Ray Murakawa and Creator/Designer Mårten Brüggemann provided a back-and-forth interview with all the details you’ll need when it hits later in the week. Hope you like it!

Ray Murakawa (Fret Nice Producer, Tecmo) – Everyone’s going crazy here for the release of Fret Nice. It’s been a treacherous road up to this release date, but everything came together better than expected wouldn’t you say?

Mårten Brüggemann (Creator/Designer of Fret Nice, Pieces Interactive) – Rock On!

RM- To commemorate the band’s new release and to get a bit into the Fret Nice spirit, we’re gonna rock these paper Fret Nice face masks for this interview, cool?

Fret Nice Customization

MB- What?

RM- OK, you get the Hairbänger one and I’m sporting the Maja one. I’m usually the only one around the office wearing this thing so just roll with me on this one. And NO you don’t have a choice. Marvelous. Since we’re now in true character let’s start this blog off with a little background on Fret Nice. A lot of groupies wonder “Music game or not?” Well, Fret Nice is musically endowed, but it’s an action platformer with a cool new mechanic that’s played with a guitar controller or any regular controller. And no- this is NOT a rhythm game! So how did this twisted idea come to be?

MB- The game actually started as a degree thesis project and as that aimed at looking into the concept of adding an unorthodox game controller into an ordinary game genre such as the 2D platformer to see what benefits could be drawn from the new way of controlling the game. Although the game has since evolved to being not so much about the academic side of things, the guitar controller and what it can be used for in its new context has always been the essence of Fret Nice’s design.


MB- You having trouble breathing in this thing?

RM- NO. We’re rolling bro. The game definitely keeps its retro roots, but playing with the guitar controller really takes it somewhere new. It takes patience at first, but once it seeps in, you begin to notice the advantages of being able to pull off quick riffs.

MB- One important point while designing the game around the guitar controller was to never lose the feeling of actually using a guitar for controlling the game and that it, in this case, would be the ideal choice of controller. We in fact wanted the game to be played like a rock song, and from that the attack system of the game, The Riff Combos, are derived.

RM- Riff combos get really intense on some areas of the game. There are some instances in the game where I need that quick strum to rock my way out of a danger zone- You sadistic designer you!

MB- The Riff Combos focus on a part of music playing that is usually non-existent in existing music games. The games that are normally played with the guitar controller or dance mat games have their focus on rhythm based interaction. In Fret Nice we wanted to add the improvisation part of music, and the Riff Combos combined were a perfect way to explore this.

RM- Good point. Fret Nice is not a traditional music game because your success isn’t rhythmically tied to the music, but how well you freak the combination of notes to attack enemies. How about those of us who were born on the wrong end of the musical gene pool?

MB- Fret not, no need for any musical experience as the magic Riff Combos will always play in tonality with the background tracks. The Riff Combos will always blend into the rest of the soundtrack.

RM- That’s fantastic! No musical “skillz” required! Not that I lack in this department… The game still feels good with the regular controller. It’s a slightly different game from that perspective as well.

MB- It’s getting kinda itchy behind this mask man.

RM- I feel nothing. Let’s get back to the game Mårten.

MB- With the console version of Fret Nice one goal was to make the game playable with a normal gamepad as well, to include players that don’t own guitar controllers, or just to make it easier for players to gather enough controllers to play cooperatively with a friend. When playing the game with a gamepad the player also expects the controls of a platformer to behave a specific way, and this also led to some tweaks in how the game was played with a guitar. Both controller types have their advantages over the other, the guitar being tailored for the music-based Riff Combos and the conventional gamepad stemming from the conventions of the platformer, but none of them should totally outdo the other.

RM- We should also mention that not all Guitar Controllers are built the same. You can change the sensitivity of the tilt motion in the game to compensate for some controller mechanics, but if you have a GH Guitar Controller- pull that one out at the top of my list.

Fret Nice Controller 1 Fret Nice Guitar 1

RM- So explain to me the style of these crazy masks we’re wearing. What compels a man to think hipsters chasing furballs would turn out to be a cool game?

MB- The art style of Fret Nice is a greatly stylized version of the real world with a touch of crazy randomness. The presentation of the world and its inhabitants is inspired by traditional cutout animation made out of paper. Fret Nice mixes 2D and 3D in an unconventional way to create a fresh look. Colors are the strongest tool to express the mood in the world and it’s creatures are simplified but very characteristic.

RM- I think that wraps it up for this installment wouldn’t you say? The game is available on PlayStation Network on Feb 4th! Plug in and rock out!!! I can’t tell you how many compliments I get on these masks! The different gear, instruments, hairdos, you know I’ve been growing out a mustache hoping it’ll boost my Fret Nice skillz!

MB- OK, I’m done with this mask thing…

Fret Nice Screenshot 18

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Coming to PSN this Week: Fret Nice

Posted by in Featured Post, fret nice, PlayStation Games, PS3, PSN on February 2nd, 2010

We haven’t covered Tecmo’s Fret Nice on the PlayStation.Blog, and here we are…two days away from launch. So we’re trying something a little different here. Fret Nice is coming to PSN/PS3 this Thursday, so Producer Ray Murakawa and Creator/Designer Mårten Brüggemann provided a back-and-forth interview with all the details you’ll need when it hits later in the week. Hope you like it!

Ray Murakawa (Fret Nice Producer, Tecmo) – Everyone’s going crazy here for the release of Fret Nice. It’s been a treacherous road up to this release date, but everything came together better than expected wouldn’t you say?

Mårten Brüggemann (Creator/Designer of Fret Nice, Pieces Interactive) – Rock On!

RM- To commemorate the band’s new release and to get a bit into the Fret Nice spirit, we’re gonna rock these paper Fret Nice face masks for this interview, cool?

Fret Nice Customization

MB- What?

RM- OK, you get the Hairbänger one and I’m sporting the Maja one. I’m usually the only one around the office wearing this thing so just roll with me on this one. And NO you don’t have a choice. Marvelous. Since we’re now in true character let’s start this blog off with a little background on Fret Nice. A lot of groupies wonder “Music game or not?” Well, Fret Nice is musically endowed, but it’s an action platformer with a cool new mechanic that’s played with a guitar controller or any regular controller. And no- this is NOT a rhythm game! So how did this twisted idea come to be?

MB- The game actually started as a degree thesis project and as that aimed at looking into the concept of adding an unorthodox game controller into an ordinary game genre such as the 2D platformer to see what benefits could be drawn from the new way of controlling the game. Although the game has since evolved to being not so much about the academic side of things, the guitar controller and what it can be used for in its new context has always been the essence of Fret Nice’s design.


MB- You having trouble breathing in this thing?

RM- NO. We’re rolling bro. The game definitely keeps its retro roots, but playing with the guitar controller really takes it somewhere new. It takes patience at first, but once it seeps in, you begin to notice the advantages of being able to pull off quick riffs.

MB- One important point while designing the game around the guitar controller was to never lose the feeling of actually using a guitar for controlling the game and that it, in this case, would be the ideal choice of controller. We in fact wanted the game to be played like a rock song, and from that the attack system of the game, The Riff Combos, are derived.

RM- Riff combos get really intense on some areas of the game. There are some instances in the game where I need that quick strum to rock my way out of a danger zone- You sadistic designer you!

MB- The Riff Combos focus on a part of music playing that is usually non-existent in existing music games. The games that are normally played with the guitar controller or dance mat games have their focus on rhythm based interaction. In Fret Nice we wanted to add the improvisation part of music, and the Riff Combos combined were a perfect way to explore this.

RM- Good point. Fret Nice is not a traditional music game because your success isn’t rhythmically tied to the music, but how well you freak the combination of notes to attack enemies. How about those of us who were born on the wrong end of the musical gene pool?

MB- Fret not, no need for any musical experience as the magic Riff Combos will always play in tonality with the background tracks. The Riff Combos will always blend into the rest of the soundtrack.

RM- That’s fantastic! No musical “skillz” required! Not that I lack in this department… The game still feels good with the regular controller. It’s a slightly different game from that perspective as well.

MB- It’s getting kinda itchy behind this mask man.

RM- I feel nothing. Let’s get back to the game Mårten.

MB- With the console version of Fret Nice one goal was to make the game playable with a normal gamepad as well, to include players that don’t own guitar controllers, or just to make it easier for players to gather enough controllers to play cooperatively with a friend. When playing the game with a gamepad the player also expects the controls of a platformer to behave a specific way, and this also led to some tweaks in how the game was played with a guitar. Both controller types have their advantages over the other, the guitar being tailored for the music-based Riff Combos and the conventional gamepad stemming from the conventions of the platformer, but none of them should totally outdo the other.

RM- We should also mention that not all Guitar Controllers are built the same. You can change the sensitivity of the tilt motion in the game to compensate for some controller mechanics, but if you have a GH Guitar Controller- pull that one out at the top of my list.

Fret Nice Controller 1 Fret Nice Guitar 1

RM- So explain to me the style of these crazy masks we’re wearing. What compels a man to think hipsters chasing furballs would turn out to be a cool game?

MB- The art style of Fret Nice is a greatly stylized version of the real world with a touch of crazy randomness. The presentation of the world and its inhabitants is inspired by traditional cutout animation made out of paper. Fret Nice mixes 2D and 3D in an unconventional way to create a fresh look. Colors are the strongest tool to express the mood in the world and it’s creatures are simplified but very characteristic.

RM- I think that wraps it up for this installment wouldn’t you say? The game is available on PlayStation Network on Feb 4th! Plug in and rock out!!! I can’t tell you how many compliments I get on these masks! The different gear, instruments, hairdos, you know I’ve been growing out a mustache hoping it’ll boost my Fret Nice skillz!

MB- OK, I’m done with this mask thing…

Fret Nice Screenshot 18

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The PlayStation Recap

Posted by in MAG, PlayStation Games, recap, uncharted 2 on January 30th, 2010

MAG Logo

Courtesy of Jeremy Dunham

UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves banner

Courtesy of Arne Meyer

  • UNCHARTED 2 PlayStation Heroes Skin Pack available – Of course, we let you know that the first DLC content for UNCHARTED 2 was available, but to sweeten the deal, we also linked you to a Flickr gallery of character renders we created just for the occasion.
  • UNCHARTED 2 Title Update 1.04 – We released a Title Update to UNCHARTED 2 this week. This Title Update brings some good news to players who were unable to play due to a “error syncing player data” message in multiplayer.
  • Unleashed: The Art of Naughty Dog at the Gnomon Gallery – We’re extremely proud to let you know that nineteen artists from Naughty Dog will have their own group art show! They’ll be displaying a broad variety of their own art, nicely printed and displayed, at the Gnomon Gallery—which is affiliated with the Gnomon School of Visual Effects.

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