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UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves

FACT SHEET

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

Developer: Naughty Dog

Genre: Action-Adventure Shooter

Players: Single Player: 1, Coop: 2-3, Competitive: 6-10 players

Platform: PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system

Launch Date: October 13, 2009

Rating: “RP” for Rating Pending

OVERVIEW

UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves is the story of Nathan Drake, a fortune-hunter with a shady reputation and an even shadier past who is lured back into the treacherous world of thieves and mercenary treasure-seekers. The tenth game by premier PLAYSTATION 3 developer Naughty Dog, UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves allows players to take control of Drake and embark on a journey that will push him to his physical, emotional and intellectual limits to discover the real truth behind the lost fleet of Marco Polo and the legendary Himalayan valley of Shambhala.

STORY

In 1292, after spending nearly 20 years in the court of emperor Kublai Khan, Marco Polo departed China with 14 ships filled with over 600 passengers and crew. Eighteen months later, when Marco Polo arrived at his destination, only one ship remained and only 18 passengers survived. Although Marco Polo described every aspect of his adventures in detail, he never revealed what happened to these lost ships, passengers or treasure on board – even on his deathbed.

Drawn in by the potential riches to be found – but most inspired by the intrigue of the historical mystery – Drake embarks on a quest to find the lost fleet. He soon realizes that Marco Polo was hiding a much bigger secret – he had gone on a secret expedition on behalf of the emperor to find the mythical kingdom of Shambhala (otherwise known as Shangri-La) and to recover the legendary Cintamani Stone, the “wish-fulfilling jewel” of Buddhist mythology.  The Stone is described by Marco Polo as a massive raw sapphire – if it truly exists, it would be worth billions of dollars today.

This discovery sets Drake on a new course following Marco Polo’s 700-year-old trail through a diverse range of exotic environments to find out if the lost city of Shambhala, rumored to lie deep in the Himalayas, really exists.  This quest also pits him against a new, more formidable adversary who is after the same artifact – a ruthless, rogue paramilitary leader with a private army and a relentless ambition to recover the stone for himself.

Utilizing the Naughty Dog Engine 2.0 to blend together the art of cinema and gaming, the immersive action and storytelling is brought to life through technology only made possible on the PLAYSTATION 3. Maximizing the CELL processor like no studio has done before as animation, physics, sound, and motion / audio capture combine together to enable gamers to become Nathan Drake and immerse themselves in his extraordinary story as they play.

KEY FEATURES

• An expanded cast of characters who reflect different facets of Drake’s character, including Chloe Frazer, Drake’s current partner and new romantic interest.

• Varied and exotic locations – from lush, green swamps and dense urban environments, all the way to the ice and snow of the Himalayas.

• Unrestricted combat allows players to take an aggressive or stealthy approach to combat.
  • Free-flowing “traversal gunplay” adds a unique vertical element to familiar cover-based third-person shooting mechanics, allowing the player to engage in combat from any position in the environment – even while climbing and hanging.
  • Introduction of new traversal and free-climbing mechanics allow Drake to navigate through the environments more fluidly and naturally.
  • Gunplay and combat enhancements, including an expanded melee system, and a variety of enemy types with advanced AI routines.

• High-quality cinematic presentation of scenes, characters and dialogue, all rendered within the Naughty Dog Engine 2.0.
  • Dramatic in-game events that make the player an active participant in the cinematic experience.
  • Full character interaction with dynamic geometry.

• Utilizes Naughty Dog Engine 2.0 purpose-built for the PLAYSTATION 3; utilizes the PS3 technology to hit a turning point in technology innovation by recreating reality and capturing human emotion.

• No visible loading – a Naughty Dog hallmark – returns along with technology improvements in major game systems such as lighting, shadows, ambient occlusion, animation technology and physics, among many others.

MULTIPLAYER

• Robust party system allows players to remain with their friends in matchmaking and custom matches.
• Custom matches allow players to customize maps and modes which their party wishes to play.
• Currency gained in multiplayer matches can be combined with currency gained in single player missions to unlock additional content and upgrades.
• Character animations and environments taken from single player campaign maintain visual fidelity with no degradation.
• Gameplay and character mechanics identical from the single-player campaign, ensuring user familiarity and same level of quality
• Headset support
• Proprietary Naughty Dog Engine 2.0 network code captures a broad range of gameplay data for statistics reporting on the web and for functionality like Cinema, which allows players to watch replays of matches
• Cutting edge technology such as cloud-based computing allows for scalable online infrastructure to provide optimal player experience

Competitive Multiplayer

• Competitive multiplayer gameplay includes up to 10 players in heroes-versus-villains matches
• Deathmatch: Up to 5 vs. 5 with customizable or pre-set game modes
• Plunder:  Unique style of multiplayer that encourages team work to transport a treasure across terrain horizontally and vertically over obstacles
• Player boosters give players a variety of options to customize their characters to their play style or to provide an advantage over opponents

Co-op Multiplayer

• Up to three players work together in cooperative modes to accomplish set objectives with increasing difficulty and against special enemy characters
• Combo system encourages further teamwork to increase a point total and currency multiplier
• Weapon upgrades let players customize their weapons to their play style or provide an advantage over opponents

# # #

“PlayStation”, “PLAYSTATION” and “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Copy of Uncharted2: Among Thieves Fact Sheet

In a shocking legal decision destined to be enshrined among landmark cases like Brown V. Board of Education and Tom V. Jerry, A judge ruled that banning a gamer from the PlayStation Network is not a violation of the gamer’s First Amendment rights.

Erik Estavillo sued SCEA after he was banned from The PlayStation Network for multiple violations of Sony’s rules while playing Resistance: Fall of Man and posting on Sony’s forums. Estavillo sought $55,000 and an injunction that would keep SCEA from banning any players in any form on the network. According to Estavillo, Sony dealt him pain and suffering, as he is an agoraphobic and the PlayStation Network is his means of social contact. Estavillo also lost the money in his Sony virtual wallet.

Northern District of California District Judge Ronald M. Whyte was unmoved by Estavillo’s entreaties and ruled that there was no First Amendment issue here, before dismissing the case.

Reports that Estavillo stood up in court when the case was dismissed and yelled, “I’m out of order? You’re out of order! This whole damn court is out of order!” are not true at all.

I joke, but this ruling is actually important. Judge Whyte essentially ruled that, unlike malls or “company towns,” gamers don’t have First Amendment rights in virtual space owned by others. It’s not the first time the courts have made this point, but it’s still pretty interesting. Here’s how the judge put it:

Sony’s Network is not similar to a company town. The Network does not serve a substantial portion of a municipality’s functions, but rather serves solely as a forum for people to interact subject to specific contractual terms. Every regulation Sony applies in the Network is confined in scope only to those entertainment services that Sony provides. Although the Network does include “virtual spaces” such as virtual “homes” and a virtual “mall” that are used by a substantial number of users (Pl.’s Reply in Supp. of Opp’n. to Dismiss 1), these “spaces” serve solely to enrich the entertainment services on Sony’s private network. In providing this electronic space that users can voluntarily choose to entertain themselves with, Sony is merely providing a robust commercial product, and is not “performing the full spectrum of municipal powers and [standing] in the shoes of the State.” Hudgens, 424 U.S. at 519 (quoting Lloyd Corp. v. Tanner, 407 U.S. 551, 568-69 (1972)).

On a semi-related note: Estavillo’s suit claims that Sony is much stricter on bans than either Nintendo or Microsoft. If this is true, I say, “Nice job, Sony.” I like that the company is using its power to protect decent people like me from annoyances caused by jackasses, whingers, griefers, nere-do-wells, ruffians, cads, bounders and creeps. Especially the bounders. Eff those guys.

You can read Estavillo’s dismissed complaint here and the full ruling here.

Source: G4tv.com

We’ve finally had a chance to get to know the PSP Go in detail, and here are our thoughts: this isn’t aimed at a clear market, it’s more expensive in every way, and it takes away the choice of gamers. When your older, cheaper hardware is better and more able than your new offering, you need to fire some designers.

By Ben Kuchera

The new, UMD-less PSP Go is an absolute dream for Sony. Since it lacks a way to play games purchased at retail, Sony gets to set the prices for every piece of content bought on the system. Who cares if the store down the street has a game for $10 cheaper? You can only get your games from one place; competition with discounting and used games is gone. Sony will now be selling you every game that goes into the Go’s 16GB of storage, and without the ability to buy or sell used games, Sony now owns every single piece of the market with this system. And without an easy way to switch the battery for hacking purposes, piracy won’t be as easy.

Like we said, the PSP Go is great for Sony. For the rest of us, retailers included, not so much.

We bought our system at retail, and there was no line, no risk of a sellout, and no signage or posters in the store hyping the system. It was the most mellow system launch you’ll find in this business. The unboxing was impressive, and it’s easy to be impressed with how sexy and sleek the PSP Go looks. But now that we’ve had a day or so to play with it, it’s clear that Sony’s new portable is nothing but raw deal after raw deal. The complaints are numerous, the slights against consumers are many, and the hardware is flawed. On top of these issues is a price point that’s so high it seems like a sick joke in the current economy. The PSP is a great system and a strong platform. The PSP Go is a terrible, terrible deal for everyone but Sony.

The Go’s screen is smaller: 3.8″ instead of the 4.3″ of the older PSP models. The resolution remains the same, however, at 480×272. The action when you slide the screen up to reveal the controls is smooth, and that screen is a dream to play games on. There is no argument to be found about aesthetics; on the surface this is one of the best-looking pieces of consumer electronics out there.

You better have small hands
The PSP Go is surprisingly comfortable in your hands when you’re simply holding it, but there’s no getting away from the fact the analog nub is very, very close to the face buttons. When the screen is slid up to reveal the controls, it also rests directly in front of the shoulder buttons, which means you can’t really rest your fingers there. It’s like fighting over the armrest on a plane.

The PSP 3000 allows you to hold the device securely by the sides, but while the PSP Go may look good, the longer you play the more you realize that it’s perched somewhat precariously in your hand. I’m not a big guy, but I found the controls less comfortable than the normal PSP setup. If you’re a big guy with big hands, I strongly suggest you hold one for a gaming session or two before you buy. The analog nub itself is frightfully small; I felt like my thumb was continually going to slide right off.

Here’s a challenge: find a promo shot that shows someone actually playing a game with the analog nub. There’s a reason the images all look like the one I included here; things are way too cramped on the system’s face.

A cumbersome process
For a product that is tethered to digital downloads, the process of getting to the content is oddly annoying. There is still no background downloading, which means that once you begin to download a game, you can’t do anything else until it is finished. While your mileage may vary, I’ve often found that downloading files from Sony on both the PSP and PS3 can be a slow affair; a 1GB file can sometimes take an hour or more to pull down. For instant gratification junkies, that’s no fun… especially when you can’t play another game to pass the time.
Even worse, if you lose your signal or get disconnected, your progress is not saved. It took me a few tries to download the entirety of Gran Turismo on the PSP— for some reason, the hardware lost the connection to my wireless router, and each time I had to begin from scratch. That’s incredibly annoying, especially when the wireless technology inside the system is somewhat stale.

For some reason, Sony went with the positively ancient 802.11b, which is the same as previous models. For $250, that couldn’t have been bumped up to 802.11g? Or even -n? The entire point of the PSP Go hinges on the wireless, digital aspect of the hardware, so why is that hardware so outdated? Why is downloading a game made to be as annoying as possible?

Your old games are worthless
Sony may have promised everyone a program which would allow you to trade in your old UMDs for credit or download tokens or some such, but now that we’re at launch, the company has admitted that their plan to help those of us with large UMD collection… never really existed. If you buy a PSP Go, your UMDs are worthless; there is nothing to be done with them.
It’s somewhat infuriating to see a sticker announcing a voucher for Rock Band: Unplugged that comes with a few free songs and access to the store. So you don’t get the full copy of the game, but you can buy a track or two if you want. The problem is, I have a copy of Rock Band: Unplugged. This is a recent game, released when everyone knew the PSP Go was coming down the line. To continue to play it, I can either keep my old PSP around, or rebuy it. There is no way to verify my copy of the game and receive a download to use it on the PSP Go.

Sony will soon release Blu-ray discs with transfers for a PSP version of the film, so you’re telling me there is no way that physical games could come with codes allowing you to download the game via the PlayStation Network? That way you could have a copy to play or loan to a friend, trade it in when you got bored with it, and Sony could still tie the downloaded copy to hardware or your PlayStation Network account.

The phantom 2GB
When it comes to storage, what it says on the box and what you see as being available rarely line up. The PSP Go is supposed to come with 16GB of internal storage, but when you first turn on your virginal system you’ll find 14GB free for your games, movies, and songs.
How much would a 2GB M2 card cost to make up the difference? Depending on where you shop, $20 to $40. This isn’t false advertising, the hardware does have 16GB of internal memory, but you won’t be able to use all of it. Be aware.

The price
Here’s the number one thing that may take down the system before it’s barely off the ground. The PSP Go is a $250 piece of hardware. That’s $50 less than a PS3, which you can also use as a Blu-ray player. The PSP Go won’t be able to play all those cheap UMD movies that are on the market these days, it won’t work with your old games, and the screen is actually smaller than the existing models of the hardware… yet it’s much more expensive. As we found out, we’re not paying for enhanced wireless capabilities, so where is the value here?

For $200 you can buy a PSP 3000 that comes with a 4GB Pro Duo card, a movie, and a current game; there are a ton of great packages out there with different colors and games for you to choose from. The PSP is a great system, and that’s a pretty good deal. If you don’t need something shiny and new you can pick up a used system for as low as $100 online, and that’s a heck of a bargain as well. Want to take advantage of all those games released on the PlayStation Network? Any existing PSP can do that.

In the middle of a recession, Sony has released the most expensive portable system on the market, and as an added bonus the company seemed to go out of its way to give the finger to existing customers. You can’t even trade in your older system for the newer one to help with the price, because then you can’t play your games.

There are reasons for the pricing, of course. It gives retailers a higher margin so they’ll stock the hardware, and the hinge mechanism is expensive, but none of them are very good ones from the one point of view that counts: the customer’s.

The PSP you have is already a Go
In one sense, Sony has released a service as much as they’ve released a new piece of hardware. From now on, every PSP game will be offered as a digital download as well as a physical release. The thing is, you don’t need a PSP Go to take advantage of this, as every PSP with a memory stick can jump online and download the games directly from the server if you’re interested in digital distribution.

Heck, Pro Duo prices are even reasonable these days; I picked up a 4GB Pro Duo card for my PSP 3000 for $30 on sale, and this was at GameStop. Sony has been sending us download codes for their games to review for the past month or so, which means we’ve been using our PSP 3000 as a digital platform for the same amount of time. It’s a pretty good system, with the ability to download games directly from Sony’s servers or to play existing UMD-based games.
So you don’t need a PSP Go to take advantage of Sony’s digital ecosystem, and in fact, if you upgrade you’re locking yourself into Sony’s pricing structure. Gamers with PSP or PSP 3000 systems can check prices on the digital store as well as a multitude of physical retailers for sales, pre-order bonuses, used games, the works. On the PSP Go you’ll sometimes pay more for your digital copy than you would for a copy of the same game with a UMD, case, and physical instruction manual.

Ultimately, this is the rare case where an old product gives you more freedom, more features, and at a better price. Of course, an older PSP won’t have Bluetooth, and the screen won’t slide to hide the controls, but existing customers can cry themselves to sleep on piles on cheaper games if they become upset.

Everything is proprietary
The PSP 3000 simply works with the cables you have. The hardware has a mini-USB port on the top of the system so you can move files or hook up accessories, and you can connect your PSP to your PS3 using any USB cable. In fact, one USB cable attached to your PS3 will let you both charge your controllers and connect to your PSP to move content.

That was a good thing, so of course it was time to get rid of it.

The PSP Go now uses a proprietary plug, which means no more generic USB cables. Your old chargers won’t work either. In fact, the charging solution is rather tedious: you plug the cable into the PSP, and then into a block of plastic, and then you plug the power cable into the other side of the plastic, and then plug that into the wall.

Let that sink in: the cable you use to charge the hardware comes in three parts. You don’t own a single cable that will work with the PSP Go.

It gets even sillier, however. You can use the Bluetooth capabilities of the system to link a Dual Shock 3 to the system, in order to play with an actual controller. That’s a pretty cool feature, right? The only problem is, without USB you need to connect the controller, and the PSP Go, to a PS3. So to sync the controller to the system you need another system, a USB cable, the proprietary PSP Go cable, and the controller. It’s not exactly the most elegant solution, and in this situation the PS3 works as a $300 adapter.

Again, the reasons for this are obvious: retailers get to sell high-margin replacement cables, and that also benefits Sony. Those who lose out? The gamers.

Getting started is a pain
This is petty, but I love new hardware. I love the look of it, I love the smell of it, I love taking it out of the box for the first time and playing a game. The problem is that the PSP Go doesn’t want you to play with it. In fact, you need to carve out a significant amount of time before you get to the gaming.

On the PSP, Sony requires you to install each update before playing games. After the system was first powered on and connected to our wireless router, we were told that an update was required before we could go online and download a game. So we downloaded the update, which was a speedy affair. After the system rebooted, it told us that, although the system was plugged into a wall socket, the update could not be installed until the batteries were fully charged.

So the system had to charge, and then the update was installed. But then of course you have to download a game, since you can’t use any of your UMD software, and that takes a while. But then the system disconnected from my network randomly because the 802.11b hardware doesn’t handle being walked around my house very well, so I had to start completely over on the download.

All told, it took around three hours to get to playing an actual game. I passed the time by playing Gran Turismo on the PSP 3000. If you buy a PSP Go, I suggest bringing another video game along to keep yourself occupied while you wait for it to allow you to play something.

Now, keep in mind that the update issue exists on the standard PSP, but if a game required the update you always have the choice of putting in an older UMD that doesn’t. You can have the system up and running in minutes. Since you’re locked into using Sony’s servers to get games for the PSP Go, you’ll be forced to get every update they decide to send out, no matter if the game requires it or not, and if your battery isn’t fully charged that could take a while.

Is there anything to like?
Lest you think we’re simply going to bash the system for the entirety of this review, we’ll bring up a few things that are good about the system.

A smaller screen at the same resolution means that the image is brilliant, sharp and clear. The system is obviously smaller, not to mention thinner, so it’s a little more portable. Both the d-pad and the face buttons are much “clickier,” although that’s obviously personal preference. But for our money, the buttons feel great.

The other solid addition is the pause feature, and this is something we hope at some point makes the move to other PSP models. At any point in any game you can hit the PlayStation button, and save the game wherever you are. Then you can play another game, listen to a song, watch a movie, and come back to exactly where you saved when you’re ready to play again. In the middle of a fighting game or mid-turn in a racing game, this is a great way to make up for games that don’t have portable-friendly save systems. You can only have one save on one game at a time, but it’s still a wonderful feature.

In conclusion
It’s hard to pin down who exactly this system is for. People with unlimited gaming budgets? The Go is more expensive than the current PSP offerings, and it gives you fewer options about where you can get your games. Since Sony has stated publicly that the company is going to stick with MSRP for all of its releases, the digital versions of games may be the same price as their retail counterparts, but more likely will be more expensive in many circumstances.

You can’t shop around for the best deal with your games, you’ll never be able to sell a game, and the system is completely locked down when downloading a purchase. The controls are more cramped, and Sony has made sure you can only buy their cables. The wireless standard hasn’t been upgraded, and the system is significantly more expensive than any of its competitors. When you close the system you see a big, beautiful screen you can’t do anything with.
In other words, this system is for people who don’t mind rebuying all their content, never buy used games, and don’t mind paying more for less. If you’re agoraphobic and the idea of driving to a physical store to buy a game is terrifying, this system is for you. So we’re looking for a gamer who is both wealthy and frighteningly antisocial.

The rest of us will stick with our current hardware, thanks. If you sell a system that takes hours of setup, downloading, and charging before you can see what a game looks like on the screen, you have failed pretty spectacularly. I absolutely love my PSP, but this new iteration of the platform is what would happen if a facepalm was turned into a piece of hardware.

The Good

• The screen is beautiful in action
• Clicky, responsive buttons
• Hardware is aesthetically pleasing
• The pause function is great
• Bluetooth headset, to use with your bluetooth headset, PS3 controllers, or to tether to your cell phone
• Sound is strong using the built-in speakers

The Bad

• The system can’t download games while you’re doing other things
• Way too expensive
• Absolutely no way to play any of your existing games
• Controls are cramped
• Smaller screen
• Games tend to be more expensive than retail
• No competition in pricing for games
• No way to sell games you buy
• None of your cables or accessories will work, except for headphones
• Screen is wasted while closed, only shows clock, calendar

The Ugly

• Waiting hours to download a patch, charge your batteries, buy a game, download your game, and then install your game, and then finally… guess what? playing your game!
• Your system can already do what this system claims to do, and better. Minus the bluetooth and the 16GB of internal storage, this is a step back in every way
• If Sony continues this trend, expect a $500 PS3 that doesn’t play Blu-ray discs

Verdict: Skip

Source: ARS Technica.com

If we did a story every time serial console modder Benjamin Heckendorn put the insides of one machine into the outsides of another, we’d never cover anything else. But his latest work, the PlayStation 3 laptop, is too fascinating not to share.

That this device exists and works is testament to the hardware skills of not only Heckendorn, but Sony for getting the PS3 so small that this would make any sense in the first place.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re not going to want to put this thing on top of your lap for a long airplane flight, but you could. Would you be sterile afterwards? Almost certainly. But what’s life without a little risk?

PS3 Slim Laptop [BenHeck, via 1up]

Coming to exclusively Playstation 3 in 2010.