 |
 |
 |
PSX2 in action[03.02.99] » Sony's much anticipated conference produces the first movies demonstrating the PSX 2 hardware. Familiar content, unparalleled quality. At a long-awaited press conference in Tokyo yesterday, Sony Computer Entertainment presented the first movies of their "next-generation PlayStation" in action. Following days of speculation after the announcement of a probable chipset, these movies bolster Sony's previous claims of near-CG graphical prowess. The conference attendees reported being blown-away by the presentation's mix of gameplay-type footage and technology demos. Statements from Sony heralded "a new form of computer entertainment that incorporates music and movies," but the following demos boast largely familiar scenes and characters. Video scenes primarily featured work by Namco and Square, many of which were actually manipulated in real-time by conference speakers. An interesting side note is that developers received the kits necessary to produce these demos only a little over a week ago. This shows that work progressed incredibly quickly, but also that development kits are far from completed, a mere 10-14 months from the announced "Winter '99" Japanese launch date. First movie: The "Namco girl" from the Ridge Racer series appears in each movie, walking towards the camera in her trademark short white dress. After an impressive smile and wink, the video moves to conference footage and a technology demo with feathers. Another familiar face is Charles from the Final Fantasy Movie, who is shown smiling and breaking into multiples of himself. Lastly, there are some extended shots of Castlevania-ish skeletons and a skeletal dragon. Second movie: After some familiar Namco girl footage, the scene shifts to beautiful racing cars in a scene very reminiscent of Gran Turismo. More close-up footage of the FF Movie's Charles then gives way to a Tekken fighting scene, complete with polygonal cheering audience. Early speculation mentioned the Turismo and Tekken demos as examples of backward compatibility, but they are now known to simply demonstrate the ease of porting PSX code. Namco speakers apparently hinted about footage leading to a Tekken sequel, though. A few seconds of Crash leading a bunch of penguins around is tacked on at the end. Third movie: Aside from the obligatory Namco girl and Charles clips, there are a few more Turismo-type cars to see. The real star of this clip, though, is a recreation of a ballroom scene from FFVIII. Rinoa and Squall are alone in the ballroom, and it's a bit darker and less animated than the actual FFVIII sequence, but worth seeing nonetheless.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
