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Schafer And PSN/XBLA: A Match Made In Creative Heaven

Industry legend Tim Schafer is known for making unique, charming, and wonderfully appealing titles. …considering his style, wouldn't he be a perfect fit in the world of downloadable digital games?

In talking to Eurogamer , Schafer hinted that his next project might not be a "big monstrosity" like last year's Brutal Legend ; instead, he's "very interested" in the idea of a downloadable experience. When asked about the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live, he replied:

"Those could be a way of getting creative ideas out there without risking $30 million on them. When you risk $30 million on something, publishers want to mitigate their risk. If anything is in your game that might alienate a single customer, they have to take it out. That's something that's really hard to work with."

Then, Schafer said the games his team were currently working on could be categorized as "new and different" but if any of them turn out to be PSN/XBLA games, they won't "look cheap." He says that because they already have the Brutal Legend engine, they can just tweak and alter it for a smaller game. "We can have all the shaders, effects and tech we built for a bigger game in a smaller game," he said.

Based on what we've seen on the PSN already – Flower , echochrome , Wipeout HD , Shatter , Joe Danger , etc. – the service is definitely a haven for originality, and someone like Schafer could really prosper. His games never have had mass market appeal but because they had bigger budgets, they kinda all needed that. This way, they still won't have the aforementioned appeal but they also won't require it, either, and he can really flex his considerable creative muscle.

PlayStation 3: The Only Choice For Hardcore Gamers

Call me whatever you want. Ardently make your case for one of the other platforms. Challenge the definition of "hardcore." I really don't care at this point; I've come to the conclusion that if you're a hardcore gamer, you have no choice but to own a PlayStation 3.

Why? Because I don't associate "hardcore" with time spent, skill or genre. You don't have to play a certain number of hours per week, you don't have to practice endlessly to become the best of the best, and you don't have to play only the deepest RPGs or the most competitive games online. No, in my eyes, the only requirement for the label "hardcore" is you have to love games. You don't stick to any one genre; you simply want to play the best games available, and although we all have our preferences, the quality of our entertainment is all that matters. Brand loyalty is pointless, hostility and massive superiority complexes don't mean anything, and at the end of the day, the hardcore gamer just wants to have fun. He wants the best. Therefore, is it even a question? If we want the best in most every genre, and we want the absolute elite, can we not have a PS3?

Platforming? Not much out there is better than the esteemed Ratchet and Clank franchise. You can be into shooters all you want but they're all sort of blending together these days, and the only games that really stand out seem to be Killzone 2 and – soon – Killzone 3 . In terms of open-world action/adventure games, I dare say both inFamous and (next year) inFamous 2 are better than the likes of Crackdown (and GTA and RDR are multiplats, of course). Action…nothing tops God of War III . Nothing. Action/adventure isn't really a question; Uncharted 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 have that category all sealed up (as good as Gears of War really is). Sports and racing is usually all about multiplats but I think we're all expecting Gran Turismo 5 to outstrip Forza 3 in just about every possible way. And lastly, I ardently believe the PSN has by far the best selection of exclusive downloadables, including Flower , echochrome , Wipeout HD , Joe Danger , Shatter and others.

Yes, if you're "hardcore," you should probably own all three systems. But if you could only have one , I can't imagine any scenario where the 360, Wii or PC is the ideal system for all genres. RPGs remain the only undecided, as most are multiplats and I personally prefer Lost Odyssey to the lacking JRPGs exclusive to the PS3. And of course, it can always be argued that Live is somehow still better than the PSN, but the differences at this point are mostly minimal, and PlayStation Plus makes Live look a good deal less attractive, in my opinion. Even beyond genres, do we get anything like Heavy Rain on any other platform? And in terms of continuing to push the envelope; continuing to excel; continuing to provide gamers with new and improved forms of interactive entertainment, we all know the PS3 has the most potential remaining in the box. That's the way things are.

And by the way, I left 3D and Move/Kinect out of this because I don't have all of that directly in front of me, and I preferred to focus on the games alone for this particular piece.

Sony: The PS3 Will “Store All Types Of 3D Content”

It's not just about 3D games; it's about 3D everything .

In addition to being able to play 3D video games and 3D Blu-Ray movies (the requisite patch for that should drop in September, by the way), Sony wants the PlayStation 3 to handle anything related to 3D, including television shows and even YouTube. Sony Worldwide Studios head of 3D games Mick Hocking told PSU that the PS3 would eventually become your one-stop machine for your 3D entertainment.

"Crucially for us, PlayStation 3 will be able to store all types of 3D content. And we can do this through properly upgrading the Firmware on the platform. So you'll see 3D games in the next 12 months, you'll see Blu-ray movies in 3D, and as soon as the broadcasts start through our PlayTV services, you're going to watch 3D content [via that].

YouTube will be supporting 3D content over the next 12 months as well – and you'll be able to watch that on the PlayStation 3. And as you start taking 3D pictures of your family or 3D camcorder movies, you can play those back on PS3, too."

3D, 3D, 3D. It's gonna be everywhere. Hopefully, by the time it really starts to penetrate the market, those glasses will have dropped in price. The price of 3D-compatible TVs might fall a bit as well, but I wouldn't expect them to fall too far; industry analysts said late last year that HDTV prices had essentially bottomed out, and they appear to be right so far. But hey, everything gets cheaper over time, right? And I'm ready to go…gots my 3D HDTV. …just need something in 3D I want to see/play.

Possible Health Concerns Associated With 3D Viewing

The world is getting all excited about 3D movie viewing and gaming and while it certainly sounds amazing, there may be some potential health risks involved, especially for younger children.

Those of you who plan to purchase the Nintendo 3DS for your kids or have a mind to bring 3D viewing into your home via a 3D HDTV and the PlayStation 3, should probably read this Audioholics article . You can form your own conclusions, but it talks about how humans utilize stereoscopic vision and how continued exposure to 3D video viewing could, theoretically, mess with that ability. Stereoscopic vision begins developing when we first start using our eyes, and most experts agree that it's complete by the time we turn six. That's when the nerves and muscles behind the eye are "fully formed and have learned to work in conjunction with the brain to respond automatically to visual cues that provide seamless depth of vision."

However, you may not know about strabismus:

"Unfortunately there’s a malaise in children that can prevent full stereopsis from developing, called strabismus. This condition is also called lazy-eye but has nothing to do with laziness; it’s an abnormal alignment of the eyes in which the eyes don’t focus on the same object and depth perception is compromised.

There is treatment for strabismus that involves helping a child’s nervous system to learn stereopsis, causing it to eventually become a natural response. But the ability to re-learn has its limitations, and treatment has been met with limited success beyond a certain age."

Recent medical evidence suggests that the nervous system "never stops learning and re-learing" so in other words, it's never too late to treat strabismus…while on the flip side of the coin, it's never too late to contract strabismus. The chances of contracting this illness lessens after the age of seven and – presumably – as we get older, but the risk may still be there. Just something to consider from a health standpoint.

Personally, I have no intention of over-indulging in 3D; I've always believed that might have some sort of backlash, like headaches or something.