March 7, 2007

Sony’s Phil Harrison delivers a pre-keynote address as GDC swings into full gear
By Michael Lafferty

SCE Worldwide Studios president introduces the concept of Game 3.0

The Game Developers’ Conference kicked off the week in San Francisco’s Moscone Center with a series of tutorials and panels on Monday and Tuesday. The expo portion of the show opened this morning, offering not so much the opportunity to see games as to chat with developers about titles in the offing.

But before the expo portion opened, Sony took center stage with a pre-keynote address to a select cross-section of media at an off-sight location.

Phil Harrison, the president of SCE Worldwide Studios, delivered his keynote, which was also scheduled for Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. PT. But GameZone happened to be at the Tuesday evening event, where Harrison unveiled Sony’s Game 3.0 strategy.

Game 3.0 is characterized as developing and creating for the third age of video games, but Harrison advanced that, drawing parallels to the Web 2.0 characteristics. He began his comments by stating that GDC 2007 is “what we think a very important GDC for our industry.”

But back to Game 3.0. Game 1.0 was all about the disconnected console – people would buy cartridges, load them into machines and play without connecting to other gamers. Game 2.0 was the era of the connected console or PC. But with Game 3.0, “we’re talking about connected devices, dynamic content and active connected communities,” Harrison said.

Expressions key to the concept include social, emergent entertainment, service, creativity, customization, and localization. Two new features highlighted what Sony is striving for with the concept of Game 3.0. The first, which Harrison unveiled, focuses on the PS3 and is called “Home.” In a nutshell, Home – a free download for the PS3, slated to launch in the fall – allows users to create an avatar and explore a real-time virtual community that will include a variety of locations as well as the opportunity to interact with other users in a variety of public and private spaces. The concept will be offered as a free download, and will appear in the cross-media bar on the PS3 console. Part of the interface is a virtual PSP that will help players navigate the spaces available.

With Home, players will have the opportunity to create an avatar, which can be customized through a deep interface and not only in general facial appearance but with clothing as well, and enter through a community central lobby. They will be able to navigate other zones on the World Map, or chat with other players, either through the quick prepared statements, through typed chat or with voice. The program will also enable players to play games, hook up for online multiplayer games, decorate their own apartments, or even view trailers for upcoming theatrical or home movie releases. Each user will be assigned an apartment, which can be used as a gathering place for game clans or a social environment for friends. There is even a Hall of Fame, in which players can show off trophies achieved for accomplishments in PS3 games.

Already in closed beta, the next beta phase will begin in April.

Media Molecule, the team that created Rag-doll Kung-fu, was on hand during Harrison’s keynote to show off another facet of the Game 3.0 concept with their community-based title, LittleBigPlanet.

LittleBigPlanet gives players an avatar made from sack cloth and then enables them to customize and interact with their environments in amazing fashion. The core of the game is creativity, and as players explore, their creative abilities will increase and they will be able to start creating and modifying their environments. It is even possible to create levels or rearrange environments to suit the player. Content can be shared, either with friends or opening it up to the online community. The experience is very personal, and the control scheme allows for an amazing variety of animations. Not only will the game feature offline play, but there is online play available as well.

The program is slated for a demo version in the fall with a full release in 2008.

Game 3.0 is all about integrating users into an active community. And while Harrison did tout the SingStar PS3 version, which will have downloadable songs (for a price through the SingStore), there was also the opportunity to use the EyeToy, or another USB camera to upload player videos to the community for sharing or ranking. And, as Harrison stated, Game 3.0 is not just a Sony focus for the future, but he envisions it as an industry-wide effort to make the most out of the next-generation of console systems and gaming technology.

And Sony is not just holding onto its technology, but through a program called the PlayStation Edge, it plans on taking its developed technology and offering it to developer free of charge. Technology such as RSX profiling tools and the highly optimized libraries will be available to developers, which should elevate the quality of titles produced for the Sony consoles.

Harrison concluded his remarks during the Tuesday event by stating that “in summary, we have a tremendous decade of growth ahead of us.”

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