Those worried about PSP becoming a dumping ground for PS2 brands may well see a slither of hope in Coded Arms, Konami's forthcoming first-person shooter on which fresh details were released today. Based in an abandoned virtual environment originally constructed to teach humans how to see off an alien invasion, trouble flairs up when the system becomes self-aware and you, as a kick-ass hacker, are sent in to shut it down. Half-Life meets Tron, Terminator and Neuromancer, then.
The press release pads things out a bit:
"The game's virtual landscape is split into three distinct worlds and enjoys a lavish level of detail and lighting effects that show off the power of the Sony system perfectly, while eerie lighting and shadow effects add to the ever-present oppressive atmosphere. Similarly, Coded Arms' computer-devised aliens are equally impressive and range from enhanced soldiers, insect-themed species and robotic adversaries, each of which have certain vulnerabilities to specific weapons that the player can use to their advantage."
Okay so this doesn't sound like a masterwork of original thought, but at least it's not a conversion. And Sony desperately needs more third party developers to follow Konami. If you read my review of PSP in last week's Online section you'll know I have been very impressed by the machine. It's been fun getting to grips with the technology, marveling at the screen quality and rediscovering my love for Ridge Racer. I was being open-minded and generous, I was thinking about PSP's potential and ambition.
Of course, backing a Sony product is frowned upon nowadays. Nintendo is the gamer's champion. Sony is evil. This standpoint is, or at least should be, ridiculous to anyone with so much as a passing knowledge of videogame history. Not so long ago, although admittedly it seems like eons, Nintendo had a stranglehold on the industry, herding publishers into crushingly restrictive cartridge production deals. Backing one corporation over another is a fool's game anyway. This is about the likes of Lumines and Mario 64 DS not faceless mega companies who'd sell an army of grandmothers to please their shareholders.
And yes, DS has some cracking games and it's a great piece of kit. Idiosyncratic, innovative, fun. You'd be daft not to experience it. It will never get the third-party support it deserves, but the four or five triple A titles Nintendo develops every year will probably justify the purchase. PSP is something entirely different, and it is screaming out for original content, or at the very least, content brilliantly re-engineered for its specific strengths. Take a look at the release schedule and that's not what you'll see. Oh lord, do we really have to get excited by the next round of last year's big PS2 sellers? Does anyone really have the energy, the soulless unquestioning acceptance, to go through all that time and time again?
A new console is a blank slate, a newborn baby. The potential is there, but with poor guidance everything just falls apart. A vacuum of hype and mediocrity is waiting to swallow up all the possibilities. Somebody needs to do something incredible.
