Sony Is Bringing PlayStation Games To iOS and Android Devices (gizmodo.com) 48
An anonymous reader points us to Bryan Lufkin's report on Gizmodo: A year ago, Nintendo announced its long-overdue plans to bring its games to smartphones. Now, Sony's doing the same thing. You'll soon be able to play original Sony games on your iOS or Android device, the company announced today. Sony is setting up a new business division called ForwardWorks, which will focus on mobile services, bringing 'full-fledged game titles' and Sony's PlayStation characters and intellectual property to handheld smart devices. And it could be happening pretty soon -- the press release says ForwardWorks kicks off operations next month.
I already have them (Score:1)
It's called emulators
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How did this comment get modded up?
At least on the Android side, I'm aware of three emulators for Sony devices. I'm aware of ePSXe, FPse, and PPSSPP. The first two, ePSXe and FPse, are PSX emulators and generally work pretty well. You can generally play games without a copy of the PSX BIOS. The third is PPSSPP, which emulates the PSP. In my experience, games on this emulator are hit and miss. While some games work well, many others do not. Some graphic-intensive games have poor performance, even after turni
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I would never do this. I would certainly never load my kids' Android tablets up with a NES emulator with dozens of games that I loved playing back in the day such as Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past.
Let's hope it's related to their original effort (Score:4, Interesting)
Sony originally did this on the Xperia Play, a little-known gaming smartphone possibly inspired by the Nokia N-Gage. Where other phones might have a sliding keyboard, it has a sliding gamepad with two touch-sensitive circles standing in for analog sticks. A small number of games were released for the Xplay, at a few bucks a piece. All of them run on the same emulator, and simply consist of CD images bundled up with it. A tool PSXperia [github.com] lets you convert your own titles, and the vast majority of games do work with some notably unfortunate exceptions like Wipeout XL. (That's almost as sad as Forgotten Worlds not playing on the Sega Nomad... but uh, I digress.)
Hopefully, they are continuing the strategy of using a general emulator, and even more hopefully, it will be readily hacked to accept other game images... and have link play. Or at least, that they will sell WOXL. Because let's face it, what is really wanted is being able to play WOXL over the internet...
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More than hope it's related to their original effort, let's hope it's related to PS2/PS3 titles.
I don't think there's many Android devices out there with the power to gracefully emulate the PS2, let alone the PS3.
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Emulation is not necessary for Sony original titles - they have the source code, they can do a port.
A port from the PS1 is relatively trivial. By now they can probably do that in their sleep. Yet, they did not when, for example, they wanted to bring these games to the Xperia Play. Why not? Because if the game is not frame-by-frame identical to the original, gamers will shit themselves. A port from the PS2 or PS3 is far from trivial. The consoles have deeply weird hardware for which dramatic optimization had to be done, and big portions of the code has to be ripped out and replaced with something substanti
What consoles do above and beyond (Score:2)
The "PCMR" crowd may need to address what consoles do above and beyond PCs (source [pineight.com]):
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> No mods is supposed to means no cheating in online multiplayer against strangers but yet cheaters still abound
FTFY.
Likewise, the console industry and dumb fanbois remains completely clueless about why PC's kick the ass out of consoles for good reasons:
* Mouse+Keyboard is a superior input combo which blows gamepads out of the water for sub-pixel pefect FPS accuracy with multi-level DPI precision such as the classic Logitech G500s [amazon.com] weighted 10 button mouse.
* Dedicated keyboard makes web surfing fun and tr
Owning a console and a non-gaming PC (Score:2)
Perhaps part of the confusion is whether the alternative to a gaming PC is owning only a console or owning both a console and a hand-me-down PC that doesn't play recent games.
No mods [ins]is supposed to[/ins] means no cheating in online multiplayer against strangers [ins]but yet cheaters still abound[/ins]
FTFY.
I'm out of the loop, but what form of console cheating is still viable long-term other than standbying (interfering with the opposing side's Internet connection)?
Mouse+Keyboard is a superior input combo which blows gamepads out of the water for sub-pixel pefect FPS accuracy
Which has two drawbacks: an unfair accuracy advantage for player 1 compared to players 2, 3, and 4 on the same machine, and the fact that movement is still digital. W, A, S, a
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> Which has two drawbacks: an unfair accuracy advantage for player 1 compared to players 2, 3, and 4 on the same machine
Someone call the Wahbulance. How's that 30 Hz slideshow with 4 players on the same console working out?
> and the fact that movement is still digital. W, A, S, and D aren't pressure-sensitive.
And in *practice* that means jack shit as
1. good players _predict_ their enemy's intended attack direction BEFORE they commit.
2. AIM is FAR more important then STRAFING as any mouse player will
Console BIOS workarounds (Score:2)
I agree with most of your points. If it wasn't obvious, I want to switch all the things to PC, but certain factors have historically held at least part of my gaming on consoles. So I'm looking for solid solutions to those factors.
How's that 30 Hz slideshow with 4 players on the same console working out?
A lot better than one hour of 60 Hz and three hours of 0 Hz while the others take their turns, I guess.
Most emulators are ILLEGAL due to requiring the ROMS of the machine.
Having the console maker or the game's developer provide the emulator, as in the case of Virtual Console or Namco Museum, sidesteps the BIOS legality issue.
But actually, PC-based
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Guarantee of continuing compatibility after update (Score:2)
Android devices pretty much all support bluetooth gamepads
Android system updates have a habit of breaking apps that act as drivers for Bluetooth gamepads. For example, large changes to the Bluetooth stack from Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" to Android 4.2 "Jelly Bean II" broke the Wiimote Controller app permanently [ccpcreations.com], and the app had already been broken on several phone models. The Sixaxis Controller app [google.com] purports to connect connects official Dual Shock 3 controllers to select Android devices. But it requires a rooted phone, has to have a second app just to check its compa [google.com]
Not one but TWO gawker links (Score:2)
Seriously haven't we established already that not only is gawker a disgrace of a website, but its satellite ones as well? Both kotaku and gizmodo themselves have been caught showing poor journalistic integrity and ethics. In fact gizmodo was even banned from E3.
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I would have to say getting banned from marketing events for being too investigative rather than just promoting the marketing line is a good thing rather than a bad thing. As for exposing some jock strap douche making money basically bragging about the size of their ego and their junk for who they really are, tiny on the inside and the outside, well, that is fair too, makes for a healthier society, less focused on junk because that junk is all bullshit, designed to do nothing but sell junk. A whole lot mor
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I would have to say getting banned from marketing events for being too investigative rather than just promoting the marketing line is a good thing rather than a bad thing.
They got banned from CES (which is what I meant to say, not E3) for turning off all of the digital signage they came across. That isn't being investigative, it's just being obnoxious.
The rules are a changing, whether you like it or not and fakers will be exposed no matter how rich or powerful.
I have no idea what you're talking about, but I have a feeling that you're one of those who make up stories about the Bilderberg group. No thanks.
Related to the new AppleTV? (Score:1)
Most playstation games would map poorly to a tablet experience due to the absence of a controller but this isn't true for the new Apple TV now that Apple has opened the APIs up and that supports Bluetooth controllers (though Apple also forces the game to be "playable" using the remote). I wonder if Sony foresees Apple TVs & similar Android devices as being a market large enough to make PS games profitable.
Translation (Score:2)
Now you can pay $19.95 for Crash Bandicoot 1 on your ipad, Sony found a new cash cow.
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Pretty much this ... the new cash cow us just figuring out how to charge for the old cash cow all over again.
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Now you can pay $19.95 for Crash Bandicoot 1 on your ipad, Sony found a new cash cow.
Sony only charged five or six bucks for PS1 games for the Xperia Play, and a user figured out how to swap in your own game images...
Vita? (Score:3)
How many people own a clip-on gamepad? (Score:2)
I think it's time to shop for a good mobile controller.
The problem with doing that is lack of network effects. Until MOGA and other manufacturers of clip-on gamepads start releasing sales figures for clip-on gamepads, developers of well-known games aren't going to feel it worthwhile to their games to mobile platforms whose only other app-usable input device is a flat sheet of glass. This means there won't be a lot of quality games that support "a good mobile controller" unless it can be shown that a lot of people other than you are similarly shopping.
Or when an
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Sad to see the post got downvoted for speaking the facts. Vita isn't doing well, at all, here in the states.
It's happened already (Score:2)
Bring on Wipeout! (Score:2)
PSP style (Score:2)
Since Sony released FF7 on PSN, I keep an old, busted PSP around just to fulfill the occasional Jap RPG craving. If their pricing is reasonable and they find a decent way to update the interfaces to account for the lack of buttons, this could be a very good thing. Although, TBH, I don't really expect them to follow through on either front.
I have a... (Score:2)
Sony tablet S (Android Kitkat) that I bought about 4 years ago or so. It had an emulator app and a PSN store-style app to purchase both original games and classics.
The tablet came with vouchers for two games from the store, and I choose Crash Bandicoot and Jet-Moto.
So yeah, I've already (legally) played PSX games on a tablet. Not sure why this is news again.
No (Score:4, Informative)
They're not putting PlayStation or Nintendo games on these platforms. They're making entirely new games based on existing characters optimized for the platform. You won't be playing Super Mario Bros or Uncharted on your phone.
In a deal with the FBI (Score:1)
Sony will be installing root kits in as many android and apple devices as possible.