Video Games

Mark Liu
LOS ANGELES Here's a special little web extra that you're only going to find on CBS2.com and KCAL9.com.

I got a chance to sit down with one of the developers of the new Playstation 3 last week and play four titles from Sony's new video game console. We're putting up all the raw tape we shot during the one-hour demonstration. On the right you'll find five clips (cleverly named "Clip 1" through "Clip 5") where you can see all the great footage of the games we played as well as a look at how the PS3's menu system works.

Web producer Erik Oginski and I sat down with the Sony reps on one of the top floors of the Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood. They had two Playstation 3's set up with a large, Hi-Def Sony flat screen monitor to show us their games. The PS3 we played the games on was the 60 gigabyte "deluxe" variety with the larger hard drive, WiFi capability and memory stick / compact flash slots (it also has the larger $599.99 price tag, versus the 20GB version for only $499.99).

"Clip 1": In this first clip, the Sony rep takes us through the PS3's menu system. The first thing that struck me was the PS3's nearly identical interface to that of the handheld Playstation Portable (PSP). The PS3 shares the PSP's same "drop down" menu system set against a flowing solid color background that's easy to navigate. The next thing the reps demonstrated was the super easy "music import" feature, where you can pop in any of your favorite CDs and the PS3 will cheerfully rip the music right off of them and place it on the hard drive for easy storage and playback. They also demonstrated an HD trailer of the newest James Bond flick, "Casino Royale" (played back from the PS3's internal hard drive). Somehow the conversation strayed into our opinions on whether or not Daniel Craig will make a good Bond..not that anyone actually cares...but the trailer did look great (from a technical perspective). Next was a demonstration of the Blu-Ray version of the Bruce Willis movie "Tears of the Sun". Here's the first place where I felt like I was expecting more. I'm not sure American consumers understand (or will appreciate) the benefits of having a Blu-Ray drive right away. I know that Sony is hanging a lot of the purchase price of the PS3 on the fact that it's Blu-Ray capable, but if American consumers don't understand what that means or how it helps them, will they buy it? The Bruce Willis movie looked great (Blu-Ray discs can hold up to 4.5 hours of high def video if they're double-layered) but I'm not sure if that's enough for consumers to pay the almost 600 dollar price tag for the console. Oh wait, I forgot...it also plays games! :) (For an excellent primer on how Blu-Ray works and why you want one, check out the very easy-to-read article at HowStuffWorks.com).

"Clip 2": The first game we played was Insomniac Games' "Resistance: Fall of Man". Before the game even started, one of the things that I was careful to look for was the load time associated with booting up the game. I'd read on several blogs that there were rumors of very long load times for PS3 games at startup and in between levels. For Resistance, the load time from selecting the game from the PS3's main menu to the title screen boot up was about 10 seconds, and then another 10 seconds from the title screen to "press play". All total, you're looking at about a 20-25 second wait time from popping in the disc to starting the game's first campaign. That's not bad at all. The game itself is a WWII style First-Person Shooter (FPS) game where you control a U.S. Airborne soldier in an alternate history timeline. An evil virus has infected most of Russia and Europe in the early 1950's and turned the population into a mindless band of monsters. It's up to you to parachute in to England and find out how to stop the raging armies of bad guys before they make it to the United States. Fans of Half-Life, Doom3, Halo and other FPS's will love this game. It played as smooth as glass on the PS3's CPU...there was no stuttering or slowdown of any kind whatsoever. The environments were crystal clear and very good looking. Controls were responsive and easy to master. (I'm a mouse and keyboard PC FPS player, so the PS3's SIXAXIS controller felt a little alien in my hands, but Resistance was so easy and fun to play that I was able to make it through the first level of the game no problem.) Resistance's cut-scenes and voice acting were spectacular...I'm looking forward to playing more of this game to find out the story behind the evil virus and how our hero is able to escape from an completely infected England.

"Clip 3": I can guarentee this one is going to be popular with gamers everywhere. NBA 2007 is the latest edition from SCEA that features amazing graphics and use of the SIXAXIS controller's motion sensing "tilt" feature. I'm not too much of a sports-gaming fan myself but I found NBA 07 an enjoyable experience. There are little details that really stood out to me like the detail of the player's uniforms and faces and the incredible variety of ambient animations that were taking place on screen at any given time. Players that are standing around, fans, referees, coaches...they're all doing things individually, and each animation seemed to be different than the next. I didn't see the same motions getting looped over and over again; it looked like each character had their own set of animations that were being performed individually. Taken together, it makes for the appearance of a living, breathing basketball court that's more than just players dancing around the baskets. I only played for a few minutes of the game but passing and shooting the basketball was easy to pick up. I could tell there was a wealth of controls available for micro-managing the team, but I focused mainly on getting the ball down the court and into the basket. Shooting involves pressing and holding a button so that a color-coded "halo" appears around the ball and tells you when to let go. Hold it down too long, the halo is red, a little less, and it's yellow. Just right..and the halo turns green, letting you know that *now* is the time to release the button and shoot! After two missed tries, I began to make baskets with ease using the system. It makes sense and will require practice to perfect, but wasn't the least bit frusterating and conveyed a sense of skill and accomplishment when used right.

"Clip 4": I didn't get a chance to play this one (the Sony rep demonstrated it for me) but it's a neat little game called "Blast Factor". It's one of the games Sony has made available for purchase exclusively at their on-line retail store. Blast Factor is an "Asteroids-type" retro game with 2006 graphics and a 1980's arcade feel. Simple, fun and (according to the Sony reps) much, much cheaper to buy than the 60 dollar boxed games you'll find in your software store. It's perfect for the members of your household that don't want the deep, complicated gameplay of Resistance: Fall of Man, or if you just want a fast fun game that requires almost no cerebral power to play. Just pick up the controller and start blowing stuff up.

"Clip 5": The was by far the most gorgeous game we saw all day. "Genji: Days of the Blade" is a product of the partnership between SCEA and Japanese developer "Game Republic". It's a third-person, katana-slinging adventure with eye-popping graphics and a slick interface. This game has lots of instant gratification built into it. The cut-scenes are typical Japanese 3D anime fare...but on the PS3's graphics processor the visuals look absolutely stunning. I was completely blown away by the photo-realistic intro movie to "Genji"...and there's clearly a lot of depth to the storyline of this game. When I finally got to playing, I discovered that this was by far the easiest game to play of the three I had tested. The main character's motions were fluid and responsive, and the multiple attack buttons all blended well together to allow you to pull off some awesome combo moves.

The Playstation 3 is going to be "available" at retailers everywhere on Friday, November 17th. I say "available" in qoutes because the vast majority of stores (read: all of them) have had their PS3 pre-orders sold out for weeks. The only way you're going to get a PS3 on launch day is either to A) wait in line for hours (possibly days) ahead of time, B) win one in a contest, or C) get very, very lucky and find one at some hole-in-the-wall electronics store that no one knows about. Since B) and C) are extremely unlikely to happen, your best bet is to head over to your buddy's house who DID pre-order his PS3 ahead of time and play it over there while you wait for Sony's next shipment to the United States.

Good luck and happy gaming!

E-mail me at mliu@cbs.com