echochrome

The only thing that really impressed me during Sony's E3 press conference was a game called echochrome. Although it has a terrible name that isn't the least bit representative of what the game is, this PSP and PS3 download game looks to be a very unique and interesting puzzle game. Phil Harrison presented the game by saying it would be the game with "the least graphics and the most gameplay you will see during the show." Which is probably true, considering the game's graphics were simple black line drawings on a white background.

The game is played by manipulating your perspective on a series of impossible M. C. Esher style platforms and stairs. There is a little person, drawn to look like a wooden figure drawing model who wanders around the environment like a lemming, and you must help it navigate by moving the camera to connect and align platforms. I look forward to seeing more on this title in the future.

UPDATE: here is the video from the press conference:

Backwards compatability gimped in new PS3s, blog pissed

It happened first in Europe and it finally has made its way to PS3s in America.

The new 80 gig SKU of the PS3 DOES NOT include the "emotion engine" chip and therefore will only play software supported PS2 games. Most of the worthwhile PS2 games cannot play on these new machines so if backwards compatibility is important to you, get a 60 gig unit while you can. Circuit City is having a sale now that includes a second PS3 controller and Sony is having a deal where you can get 5 bad movies on Blu-Ray if you buy a PS3 in July. The fact they are charging more for a unit without such a widely advertised feature is amazing.

Bastards.

First Killzone 2 screen released, better than GDC, worse than teaser

So early this morning the first screenshot of Killzone 2 was released and I'm partially impressed. The lighting is nice and the detail on the model is great, but the shadow on the wall looks pretty crummy from what I can see. Then again, this is all based on a scan from a page in USA today, so who knows what the game really looks like. However, this already looks better than what was described from their GDC showing so perhaps things are looking up