Sony's press conference. Game Head talked to Jack Tretton about some of the highlights of Sony's press conference at E3 2007. This video is basically just chatting and playful banter about the PlayStation 3 and Killzone 2 (with a playful jab at Peter Moore) and the new PSP (the PSP Slim, PSP Lite, PSP Slim & Lite, or whatever "official" name the tech blogs have come up with this week).

There's a short segment showing Kazuo Hirai introducing the new PSP. And the video moves to Tretton quickly mentioning the new PSP's weight, video out (!), and bigger cache memory (making life easier for developers and giving us faster loading times!).

Then there's Killzone 2, the highly anticipated game developed by Guerilla Games with Sony Computer Entertainment as publisher. Sorry, it won't be out for a while. Tretton managed to elude all attempts to pin down a concrete release date. But Tretton added that the PS3 has so many great exclusives and so many great games right now that fans should be able to wait until next year.

Submission wrestling and more in UFC. Then Quinton "Rampage" Jackson shows up at about 3:50 to talk about the awesome UFC game: Ultimate Fighting Championship 2009. At around 4:48 he starts screaming about how he wants to be in Halo (don't we all?). But if you're Quinton Jackson, you can make all the noise you want - nobody's going to stop you (except maybe Wanderlei Silva).

Booze and babes? About 5 minutes into the video they look at the different booths. We thought they said "we got all different booze for different companies" - which would probably have made for a wilder video, but booths are fine - although there are no booth babes in sight.

Super Mario Galaxy and Wii Fit at around 5:45. Call of Duty 4 at around 5:54. And that's about it. We agree with Geoff Heighley (the host). This E3 looks so empty.

 

Get to know how it was like working on one of the most successful games for the PlayStation Portable, Killzone: Liberation, as well as a few tidbits of info about Killzone for the PS3 in this interface designer interview. We get you the facts and only the facts that a Guerrilla Games employee can only be privy to.

Martijn Venrooy began the interview by elaborating on his role as interface designer - that is, making sure that all interactive things such as menus and the HUD are all easy to use, visible and user-friendly. He then details out the interface design process in four easy steps - creation of a functional design, then a visual design to tie things up nicely, coding so that each part of the interface does what it's supposed do, and then animations are finally applied.

When asked about his current projects, Martijn said that he's a bit tied up with Killzone for the PS3: "There’s always an icon which needs be enhanced or some screens that need a design update. There’s enough work to do!" He didn't share anything about the game itself, though, so no joy on extra details.

What he did reveal was the fact that the Guerrilla team was quite overwhelmed by the videogame community's reaction to Killzone: Liberation. His statement, verbatim:

The moment the reviews came in, both from the offline and online media, was one big rush! It doesn’t get much better than big gaming sites like IGN and Gamespot rewarding you with good scores. That gave us a lot of energy. Every day plenty of new reviews came in, most of them enjoyed it. To be honest I’m pretty proud of that. In the end you’re trying to create a game which will be played instead of shelved.

Well, not much info gleaned in this review, but at least we know that Killzone for the PS3 is in very good hands. We also appreciate the fact that today's videogame developers are getting the love they deserve for their masterpieces, no matter what format they come in.

 

Former Producer of Killzone: Liberation and now Test Lead/QA Manager for Guerilla Games Sebastian Downie recently sat down with website Killzone Unit in an interview about the success of Killzone on both handheld and console, and what the PS3 sequel to the PlayStation 2 FPS is all about. We give you the skinny on all things Killzone.

In the interview, Sebastian Downie talks about the difference between Killzone for the PSP and Killzone for the PS2 - one major difference being that the switch from first person to an isometric gameplay view. He explains that the change was necessary to give the game a pick-up-and-play aspect, for those of us who pull out our handhelds during daily commute or while going number two. He also points out that the camera angle gave players a peek of what lies beyond their characters, which in turn allows them to plan ahead in terms of strategy.

When asked if players should look forward to more downloadable patches and content for Liberation, Sebastian replied with a firm no, stating the difficulty of a company running a development team to make free patches month after month - it would drain the company as a whole. Another reason is that the whole team is now preoccupied with developing a PS3 game, there wouldn't be enough manpower to go around.

Finally, when pressed for more info about Killzone for the PS3, Sebastian Downie merely restated what we all already know: that it's going to be an FPS, and there's going to be a Public Beta later in the year. Other than that, he kept mum, and we can't blame him - Killzone 3 for the PS3 is definitely going to be big.

Updates as we get them. In the meantime, you can check out the full interview at the read link below.

Here's something to make all Killzone: Liberation fans happy. It should be remembered that Guerilla Games promised that the video game's official website will go live once the last couple of legal issues have been fixed.

Well, it seems that everything's A-OK already with "www.Killzone.com" scheduled to go live any minutes from now. Aside from this, a free download pack for Killzone: Liberation will also be made available by Sony on May 21.

It can be downloaded via the game's official site and/or from the PlayStation Portable's (PSP) official download service. The pack will contain the following:

• Continuing the storyline (more than 2 hours of gameplay)
• Four new missions with new environments (also playable in co-op)
• New enemies, challenge games, vehicles and boss-fights
• Infrastructure play of all multiplayer maps (max. 6 players)
• 2 new arena's
• 2 player "head-to-head" mode
• Headset support
• Unlock additional content both in-game and on Killzone.com

All good now, eh? We believe so as well. And by the way, if you'd like to know, Sony will also re-release the title on the PSP Platinum range later this month for US$ 34.95. That's a nice discount but we heard that Amazon.com is offering something better.

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Update: Site's online now. You can check it out by clicking here.

If you think you already know everything there is to know about Guerilla Games' Killzone: Liberation, think again. There are some features of the game that are being announced just now and it is something fans have been asking for.

A new multiplayer functionality has just been added to the game. This new feature takes full advantage of the wireless capabilities of our beloved PSP units in two different ways. First, there's a two-player co-op gameplay in the single player mission. And then, one to six players can slug it out over the six multiplayer maps.

You all know about the third person camera. Although some have strong feelings about the shift from FPS to third person, but just think of it as this way: the new camera system gives you the best overview to capture all the intense action. It allows you to make tactical decisions before actually engaging in a firefight.

To those who haven't heard, the Gameshare Mode lets players share demo levels of Liberation with other PSP owners. Lastly, Guerilla Games and SCE mentioned that they are currently beta testing the Infrastructure Mode to possibly add Deathmatch multiplayer.

Sounds good to us. How about to you? We can't wait to see the new features.

Wreaking havoc on the PSP community, the Killzone: Liberation teasers have already been released just a few days prior to its release date. As we speak, some of you might already be infused with the adrenaline rush of playing Guerilla Games' title, but were you able to catch these teaser videos? They were posted by hgmonline a few days ago in YouTube, and it almost got past our eagle eyes. For posterity's sake, we're uploading them here.

Of course, the phrase "wreaking havoc" as used in the first line above might be taken subjectively by a lot of you readers. It can be interpreted in either of two ways: 1) that the teasers are so darn cool that it's causing all the fans to bounce off the walls - hence, the havoc of excitement, or 2) that it has the crappiest acting which can compete with the likes of "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" for its B-movie campiness factor - hence, the havoc of despair.

It's your call how you'd interpret them. But in the meantime, click the "Full Article" link to watch the second video!

When it comes to the action-shooter genre, there's one thing we love to look at: GUNS GUNS GUNS! (Are we too forward?). This GameTrailers preview satisfies our appetite for destruction ammunition - okay, and destruction - with its focus on weapons and shooting controls for Guerilla Games' Killzone: Liberation.

Onto controls first. Square fires, triangle reloads. Circles control grenade throwing, and a handy ballistic path pops up showing where the grenade will land. Circle also controls other explosive devices like mines and C4. X to man turrets and tanks, down on the D-pad to jump out. All in all in our opinion, fair and easy for an isometric shooter like Liberation.

Ah, and guns. There's the standard fare: assault rifles, machine pistols, revolvers, snipers, shotguns, and rocket launchers. And an crossbow that fires explosive-tipped rounds. Oh, this writer agrees with the GT previewer - tons of fun. Bad guy: "Hey, what's this dart sticking out of my body?" BOOM! Dead bad guy. Aside from the two assault rifles and the machine pistol, each weapon can be unlocked by purchase, and by locating hidden objects.

Since you're limited to carrying one weapon at a time, the game allows you to swap them out at supply depots in the game environment. Also, since each weapon is tailor-made for different hostile situations, each supply depot is strategically located so you can swap to the needed gun right before you need it.

Ooh, impaling ticking time bombs into bad guys is more fun than previously thought. This writer is going to be busy doing the Rambo on his fellow QJ staffers. Enjoy the video in the meanwhile. [Screaming and explosions erupt in the background.]

Download: [Killzone: Liberation GameTrailers Preview]

I ended up picking up the original Killzone for the PS2 (owing largely to the phenomenal PS3 trailer at E3 '05) in November last year and was surprised at just how cool the story, art direction, weapons and atmosphere were. It struck me that had the game been given say... six more months of development time to allow the team get the game running smoothly on PS2 hardware, the "Halo-Killer" moniker slapped onto it by various press outlets would have been better deserved. All in all it was a solid experience that was let down by sub-par technology, whether that's on the software or hardware side is not for me to judge, bottom line is the game had potential.

When I head a Killzone game was in the works for PSP I had mixed feelings, more so when it was confirmed the game wasn't going to be a first person shooter, I wasn't certain that Guerrilla had the chops to switch genres fluidly. I needn't have worried though, because if the demo disc that arrived in my mailbox on Saturday afternoon is any indication, the guys in Amersdam know exactly what they're doing.

Just to be clear, this is the same demo that was sent out to many members of the PlayStation Underground the Sony's Gamers Advisory Panel, so I'd love to hear your opinions and thoughts on the demo in the comments below, but here's my two cents.

Read the entire article after the jump!

Killzone was a first person shooter for the PS2. The hype machine dubbed the game "Halo Killer." Upon release on November 2004, a lot of critics didn't think well of Guerrilla Games' FPS. Despite the many underwhelmed reactions, the game did develop a very loyal cult following and became somewhat of a cult-classic.

So why is Guerrilla making the move from FPS to third person overhead shooter in their PSP version?

In an interview with gamingnexus, Killzone: Liberation Game Director Mathijs de Jonge said that what they wanted to do was to change the experience that the players had to go through.

The overhead view actually gave them a lot of inspiration for new gameplay mechanics that they wanted to adopt into the game. After that they put their resources into improving the AI.

On the story part of the game, de Jonge said that the game continues 2 months after the first Killzone. There's this new general in the south named Armin Metrac gathering troops and doing other dastardly things that generals do. You play as Jan Templar and it's your job to take Metrac down.

In answer to critics saying that Liberation looks a lot similar to Metal Gear Solid for the PS1, de Jonge says that even though the camera is overhead, Killzone: Liberation is not a stealth game. It has lots of explosions, vehicles, and guns that the developers want you to use and have fun blowing up things with.

When asked about the PS3 version of Killzone, the Game Director said he's not allowed to give away any juicy info. Awww.

Buy: [Killzone: Liberation]

The latest gameplay videos of Killzone: Liberation takes you to a full-motion video intro sequence that's a complete otherworldly experience. There's a bunch of assault craft and futuristic soldiers clash in a war torn city. The demo has two chapters with four missions each. Each of these missions can take 10 to 30 minutes to finish.

The main menu comes up after the introduction, and you choose among the modes available. Guerilla Games gives us the Share a Game option (which allows you to send a demo of Liberation to nearby PSP systems wireless), the Campaign, and Multiplayer mode. The Multiplayer option is cool, but the game is always fun even without the network support.

Since you get a third person control over the game, the controls are far more focused on the weapons you handle. The motto is "Use them or die". For example, the analog stick moves your character while the face buttons let you throw grenades, reload, and perform context-sensitive actions. Other controls such as the right shoulder button lets you crouch, which improves your aim. Double-tapping the left shoulder button has you roll to evade fire. Shoulder buttons auto-targets destructible items such as barrels and mines.

A rundown of these Killzone: Liberation offerings won't suffice without the videos. So check them out and have fun!

Download [Killzone: Liberation Gameplay Video 1]
Download [Killzone: Liberation Gameplay Video 2]
Download [Killzone: Liberation Gameplay Video 3]
Download [Killzone: Liberation Gameplay Video 4]
Download [Killzone: Liberation Gameplay Video 5]