PlayStation 3 games

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For a list of PlayStation 3 games, see List of PlayStation 3 games and List of PlayStation Network games.

The PlayStation 3 launched in North America on November 17, 2006 with a total of twelve titles and another three were released before the end of the year.[1] After five days of sales it was confirmed that first person shooter Resistance: Fall of Man from Insomniac Games was the top-selling game, and was heavily praised by numerous video game websites, including GameSpot and IGN, both of whom awarded it with their PlayStation 3 Game of the Year award for 2006.[2][3] Some titles missed the launch window and were delayed until early 2007, such as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, F.E.A.R. and Sonic the Hedgehog. During the Japanese launch, Ridge Racer 7 was the top-selling launch title, while Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire also fared well in sales; both of which were offerings from Namco Bandai. The PlayStation 3 launched in Europe with twenty-four titles, including games that were not offered in the North American and Japanese launch, such as Formula One Championship Edition, MotorStorm and Virtua Fighter 5. Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm have been the most successful titles so far,[4][5] and both games are to receive sequels.[6][7]

Contents

[edit] First and second year games

At E3 2007, Sony was able to show off a number of their upcoming video games for the PlayStation 3, including Heavenly Sword, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, all of which were released in the fourth quarter of 2007. They also showed off a number of titles set for a 2008 release; most notably Killzone 2, the highly-anticipated sequel to the 2004 first person shooter. LittleBigPlanet was also demonstrated during the event and subsequently won the award for 'Most Original' game of the show.[8] A completely new title called InFamous was also presented to the media, expanding on the ever-growing sandbox genre. Several PlayStation Network titles were also on display, including SOCOM: Confrontation and Warhawk, both of which will be released as downloads via the PlayStation Store as well as on Blu-ray Disc.[9][10] It was also revealed that the first-person shooter Haze will be exclusive to the PlayStation 3,[11] and Unreal Tournament 3 would be released ahead of other console versions in time for the holiday season. Perhaps the biggest announcement, however, was that the highly-anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will be released only on the PlayStation 3, amid rumors that the game would appear on other platforms. Two other important exclusive titles to be released by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3, Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a dual installment in the Fabula Nova Crystallis compilation, were shown at TGS 2007 in order to appease the Japanese market.[12]

[edit] Development

The PlayStation 3 is based on open and publicly available application programming interfaces. Sony has selected several technologies and arranged several sublicensing agreements to create an advanced software development kit for developers.

Open standards for OpenGL, matrix algorithms, and scene data are specified by the Khronos Group, and are intended to work with Nvidia's Cg programming language. Scene data are stored with COLLADA v1.4, an open, XML-based file format.[13] Rendering uses PSGL, a modified version of OpenGL ES 1.0 (OpenGL ES 2.0 compliant except for the use of Cg instead of GLSL), with extensions specifically aimed at the PS3.[14] Other specifications include OpenMAX, a collection of fast, cross-platform tools for general "media acceleration", such as matrix calculations, and OpenVG, for hardware-accelerated 2D vector graphics. These specifications have GPL, free for any use, and/or commercial implementations by third parties.

Sublicensed technology includes complete game engines, physics libraries, and special libraries. Engines include Epic's Unreal engine 3.0. Physics libraries include AGEIA's PhysX SDK, NovodeX,[15] and Havok's physics and animation engines.[16] Other tools include Nvidia's Cg 1.5 (a C-like shading language, which HLSL was based upon), SpeedTree RT by Interactive Data Visualization, Inc. (high-quality virtual foliage in real time), and Kynogon's Kynapse 4.0 "large scale A.I."[17]

Sony has considered using IPv6, the next generation of the Internet Protocol.[18]

Some titles, such as Unreal Tournament 3, Genji: Days of the Blade, Ridge Racer 7 and Devil May Cry 4, allow users to install 4–5 GB of game data to the hard drive, which improves load times. In Genji, for example, the cached data reduces load times from 15 seconds to around 4 seconds.[19]

Recently, Sony announced a new tool set that will be free to all developers known as PhyreEngine that will offer highly optimized lightweight libraries for CELL SPUs. These libraries will provide code for animation, compression (expected to greatly improve loading times), and many more features. The package will also provide 'GCM Replay', a powerful RSX profiling tool to allow developers to gain the most out of the PlayStation 3's graphics chip.[20]

[edit] Backward compatibility

See also: List of PS3 backwards incompatible PS2 and Playstation games

Sony stated that every PlayStation and PlayStation 2 game that observes its respective system's TRC (Technical Requirements Checklist) would be playable on PS3 at launch. SCE president Ken Kutaragi asked developers to adhere to the TRC to facilitate compatibility with future PlayStations, stating that the company was having some difficulty getting backward compatibility with games that had not followed the TRCs. Initial NTSC PS3 units include the CPU/rasterizer combination chip used in the slim PS2 (EE+GS) to achieve backward compatibility.[21] The backward compatibility function is region-locked.[22]

Initially, approximately 3% of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 titles had minor compatibility issues, including poor audio, system freezes or controller malfunctions.[23] Popular games reported to have these glitches included Tekken 5 and Gran Turismo 4.[24] Many games had also been reported to have problems with garbled or unreadable text on-screen and generally blurry image quality, but the January 24, 2007 software release, which updated the system to version 1.50, has fully resolved this issue.[25]

[edit] Removal of hardware support

In order to reduce manufacturing costs,[26] the Emotion Engine (EE) is not included in European, Australian and South Korean systems.[27][28] The 80 GB model released in North America also lacks the Emotion Engine (EE) CPU.[29] Software emulation of the Emotion Engine is used in instead and as a result, backward compatibility for PlayStation 2 games is reduced.[26] Backward compatibility is improved periodically through PlayStation 3 System Software updates, however Sony has stated that its focus will eventually shift to developing content exclusively for the PS3.[30][26][31] In the 40 GB model, backwards compatibility with PlayStation 2 titles was omitted completely due to the removal of the PlayStation 2's "Graphics Synthesizer" GPU which omitted all PS2 based hardware from the system;[32] however, compatibility for most PlayStation titles will still be provided through software emulation on the 40GB unit.[33]

On March 20, 2007 Sony released a compatibility list; 1,782 of the 2,451 PS2 games (73%) released in Europe were playable on the European PS3, subsequent system software updates have improved software backwards compatibility and added support for upscaling of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games up to 1080p resolution.[34] Upscaling can improve picture quality in some situations.[35]

A North American title compatibility list is available on Playstation.com. Entering a title will check for known compatibility issues.

The Japanese PlayStation and PlayStation 2 game compatibility database has been updated with system software update version 1.93 in September 2007 and is also available on the official Japanese PlayStation website.[36]

[edit] References

  1. ^ IGN's Official PlayStation 3 FAQ 3 of 4. IGN PlayStation 3 (2007-03-26). Retrieved on 2007-05-02.
  2. ^ GameSpot Staff (2006-12-21). Best Games and Worst Games of 2006 at GameSpot — Best PlayStation 3 Game. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
  3. ^ IGN Staff (2006-12-21). IGN.com presents The Best of 2006 - PlayStation 3: Game of the Year. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
  4. ^ Cathedral row over video game. BBC (2007-06-09). Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
  5. ^ Motorstorm completes hat-trick. Eurogamer (2007-04-05). Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
  6. ^ Evolution Studios (2007). MotorStorm 2 sequel confirmed for PS3, in development at Evolution Studios. [1]. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  7. ^ Insomniac Games (2007). Full Moon Show Podcast. [2]. Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
  8. ^ Best of E3 2007 Winners. Kotaku (July 31, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-12.
  9. ^ SOCOM: Confrontation. IGN PS3 (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  10. ^ Warhawk. IGN PS3 (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  11. ^ Hatfield, Daemon (2007-07-11). Haze now Fully PS3 Exclusive, 360 & PC Dropped. Gamespot. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  12. ^ Gibson, Ellie (2007-07-11). E3: Square Enix's John Yamamoto. GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  13. ^ Hirohiko Niizumi (2005-06-30). COLLADA approved as an open standard. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2006-08-22.
  14. ^ Arnaud, Rémi. PS3 to include parental controls (PDF). Khronos Group. Retrieved on 2006-05-24.
  15. ^ Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. (2005-07-21). "Sony Computer Entertainment Enters Into Strategic Licensing Agreement With AGEIA". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-08-23.
  16. ^ Strategic Licensing Agreement with SCEA. Retrieved on 2006-08-01.
  17. ^ Kynogon (2006-01-25). "Kynogon joins SCEI’s “PLAYSTATION3” Tools & Middleware program" (PDF). Press release. Retrieved on 2006-05-18.
  18. ^ Juniper Networks on IPv6 and MPLS networking in Asia – Part I. DigiTimes Publication. Retrieved on 2005-06-10.
  19. ^ PlayStation 3 Hard Drive Usage Clarified (2006-10-23). Retrieved on 2007-01-25.
  20. ^ Killzone footage used to hype PlayStation Edge (2007-03-07).
  21. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (2006-06-05). Sony Bundles PS2 With PS3. IGN. Retrieved on 2006-06-06.
  22. ^ Yu, James (2006-10-27). PlayStation 3 Backward Compatibility Testing. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
  23. ^ PlayStation 3 Unable to Play Some of Sony’s Earlier Games. Associated Press (2006-11-15). Retrieved on 2006-11-15.
  24. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (2006-11-12). PS3 Backwards Compatibility Issues. IGN PlayStation 3.
  25. ^ Haynes, Jeff (2007-01-24). PS3 Updated to 1.50. IGN PlayStation 3. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  26. ^ a b c Edge Online (2007-02-23). Sony rethinks Euro PS3 backwards compatibility. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
  27. ^ Ellie Gibson (2007-05-21). No plans to bring 80 GB PS3 to Europe, says Sony. Gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
  28. ^ Eda, Rocky; Nikkei Electronics (2006-11-08). Along with Cell, First Generation PS3 Features EE, GS Developed for PS2. Tech-On!. Retrieved on 2007-04-25.
  29. ^ Mark Androvich (2007-07-09). New 80GB PS3 eliminates "emotion engine" chip. Gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
  30. ^ Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (2007-02-23). "Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Announces Hardware Specification of PLAYSTATION3 for Europe". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-04-25.
  31. ^ 72% of PS2 Games Work on EU PS3s. Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
  32. ^ New PLAYSTATION3 Model to Take Holiday Season by Storm. Sony Computer Entertainment (October 5, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
  33. ^ Boyes, Emma (October 5, 2007). UK PS3 drops price, 40GB finally official. GameSpot. CNET. Retrieved on 2007-10-06.
  34. ^ PLAYSTATION 3 System Software updates - Update features (ver 1.80). Sony (2007-05-24). Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
  35. ^ Rob Burman (2007-03-20). PlayStation 3 Upscaling Comparison. IGN. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
  36. ^ SCEJ (2007-08-06). Japanese PlayStation 3 backward compatibility database. (update version 1.00~1.93). Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. Retrieved on 2007-09-18.

[edit] External links