160°

Best Uses for User Generated Content

With The Imminent release of InFamous 2, Shayne Copeland of Bitmob looks at ways that User Generated Content can be applied to other game genres.

Focker4204730d ago (Edited 4730d ago )

I want to see a shooter more than anything, where you can create maps using a system similar to modnation racers. As well as a robust character creation system, and a way to create/alter weapons.

With the weapons you would get a certain amount of points to start with and you use these to dole out certain aspects of your gun. Like range, damage, recoil, rate of fire, etc. As well as what attachments you have on it. Those things will cost you your points. You can mold and customize the shape and colors of your gun to whatever you want. And then save and share your weapons so other users can play with them. Similar to modnation racers.

The characters are full customizable with clothing/outfits, colors, hair styles, weight, height, etc. And the weight/ height can affect how your player moves through the environment (such as speed), but can also give your player more/less health. Heavier players can take more damage but are slower, and lighter players are faster but can't take as many hits. And its very adjustable so you can find a perfect balance for how you want to play.

As for maps there can be a voting system, like or dislike. And the highest rated get a permanent spot in like the top 15 rotation. So you can keep playing the best 15. And then there can be a rotation for the best maps of the week. That way there are 2 sections where theres guaranteed to always have nearly full/full rooms. And worst thing if you dont have a full 6 on 6 party it would add a few bots in if desired.

It has great potential but it would be a serious undertaking to get going. But it is a FPS that would have endless appeal because there are constantly new maps, weapons, and customized players. Think of the endless customization with Modnation Racers and LBP, just in a FPS package. It would be groundbreaking if its done right.

MintBerryCrunch4730d ago

this is where PC gaming comes into the debate...having the freedom to mod a game and then share with the rest of the gaming community is one thing that PC's will continue to have over consoles

in game user generated content such as LBP and InFamous 2 now is a start...i believe that Portal 2 lets you create new chambers...baby steps imo...but having the freedom to mess around with a game lays on a very thin line because im sure the big 3 fear hacking/piracy that could come out of it if there are no controls in place to prevent people from abusing the system and the games

BISHOP-BRASIL4730d ago

Yes, modding is something PC will always have over consoles, but although the possibility of modding is great, not everyone is that tech savy to do their own games.

You can call us console players lazy if you want, but I have to admit I love how easy it is to create stuff on Little Big Planet and ModNation Racers, specially since I wasn't pressed to learn AI programming, 3D modelling, animation and other stuff.

The "Play, Create and Share" games aren't just about creativity, they are just as much about accessibility.

Mod is a great "feature" for PC gamers, but most will only enjoy what other people created, instead of ever having the chance to fulfill their own visions... And believe, many of us have creative ideas that we would like to try out on a game.

Obviously you can't so directly compare mods to this, PC's will always have an advantage... When you mod a game you can go as far as make it play nothing like the original, you can make an almost complete original piece out of it. But if you look at LBP2 you'll see that we are no longer simply customizing the basic game as well... And that gap between Modding and Creative tools will get smaller as they improve the games.

blumatt4730d ago (Edited 4730d ago )

Activision needs to implement some Play.Create.Share content for their CoD games. If people could create their own maps and characters and play on them with their friends and upload the maps to the network for others to play and edit, that would be sick!

I want to see Play.Create.Share in more games. It gives us gamers the creative tools we need to express ourselves as well as prevents the need to pay for OVERPRICED dlc map packs. haha

Redempteur4730d ago

you'd think they will waste time on this when they can make you pay for the maps ?

The base of UGC is that the content made by the community fuel more content .. how do you expected them to sell their map packs if someone can ake better and more popular maps ? ( and pc mod community proved that there ae awesome talent out there )

Focker4204730d ago

@Redempteur

They could sell themes like LBP and MNR do. It gives you more textures, landscapes, props, buildings, character outfits, etc. All that belong to a certain theme. Thats how LBP did DLC and it works great.

BISHOP-BRASIL4730d ago

Actually it sound kind of cool! Except maybe for the COD part...

But would love it if we could tune the gameplay too.

My personal set would be no auto aim, no double primaries, no dual wield, no auto regeneration, no airstrikes, no killstreaks, no perks, no stupid long granade and knife throwing... No crap. Kind of hardcore mode, but with even less cheese.

Sony, put San Diego Studios and Media Molecule to work together on it! Order them to make any crap generic shooter as an excuse for the tools set, I don't care.

QuodEratDemonstrandm4730d ago (Edited 4730d ago )

I want to click Agree and Disagree, but since I can't do that, I'll address this comment one paragraph at a time.
By shooters I'm guessing you mean games like Killzone, Crysis, Halo, and CoD. All I can really say here is we want two different things. That, and I'm getting my wish Tuesday: UGC in a Sandbox.

Weapons -- That is a cool idea, and I completely overlooked it. It might not work as well as you'd hope. Some players might create really bada$$ weapons then keep them to themselves. I like the idea of improving certain aspects of the weapons: range, penetration, rate of fire, clip size, recoil, damage... there are probably others. And let me put a shotgun on the barrel of my sniper rifle, then I got you up close and way out.

Characters -- another cool idea, but it might be hampered by the fact that people won't want to publish their created characters. They'll simply build them up and use them in the multiplayer. An attribute system would also work nice in there, with the option to increase your attributes as your character levels.

Maps -- That has worked out really well for Little Big Planet. I don't see why it can't work in another game too.

Conclusion -- I have to agree, LBP did a great job of demonstrating the potential of UGC in a console game. Just about any game would get at least some benefit from including the tools to create your own levels, weapons, vehicles, characters, missions.... the list goes on.

Have an Intelligent Bubble.

210°

Microsoft once tried to nab LittleBigPlanet from Sony after a few drinks

It turns out that many moons ago, Microsoft once had its eye on the Sony published LittleBigPlanet series.

Read Full Story >>
eurogamer.net
XiNatsuDragnel8d ago

Microsoft had a good idea but fumbled it again.

Cacabunga7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

Project Spark idea was decent but they quickly gave up ..
LBP was wonderful

ApocalypseShadow7d ago

Microsoft in a nutshell. Always tried to poach Sony employees, games, 3rd party games and devices like the depth camera that was turned into Kinect but was running on PS2 before Xbox 360. Wouldn't be surprised they wanted LBP. Just like they worked behind the scenes pushing the MLB to bring Sony's baseball game to Xbox instead of making their own.
https://www.playstationlife...

They didn't spend years trying to develop their own baseball game. They wanted Sony's game.

They're scum.

Zachmo1827d ago

Microsoft didn't force MLB on Xbox. MLB gave Sony 2 options either go multiplat or risk losing the license.

Rynxie6d ago

And why do you think MLB said that? I believe Ms approached MLB.

ApocalypseShadow6d ago (Edited 6d ago )

Totally ridiculous comment.

The only exclusivity Sony had was to their own creation of The Show. Microsoft could have paid the MLB for the license just like Sony did and made their own baseball game.

Microsoft instead, groomed MLB for years in trying to poach Sony's game and bring it to Xbox. They're worth 3 TRILLION dollars. You think that's not enough money to make their own baseball game? Don't be delusional.

Microsoft spun it like they always do and told the media that they had to trust Sony with their hardware. After they put Sony in that position of not having a choice. Either go multiplatform or stop making one of their successful games. That's a no win scenario.

And what did Microsoft do? They didn't try to sell the game to the Xbox community. They put it on game pass to hurt Sony. Pushing the idea of why buy games that are $70 when you can play them in their cheap service for $10. It was a dirty tactic.

You fell for the Kool aid drink Microsoft served you instead of spitting it out. Hope it tasted good because you were fooled by Phil and the gang.

6d ago
Hereandthere6d ago

Xbox executive Sara Bond has told Axios that Microsoft spent a number of years trying to get MLB The Show onto Xbox consoles. And when it finally succeeded in breaking off PlayStation’s long-held exclusivity, the company had to “trust” Sony with pre-release Xbox Series X/S consoles.

Bond revealed that MLB The Show “always came up” in conversations between Microsoft and the Major League Baseball organization. “We always said, ‘We love this game. It would be a huge opportunity to bring it to Xbox.'” she recalled. However, when Microsoft’s efforts materialized, it put the company in an awkward situation where it had to send in pre-release consoles to a rival company.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 6d ago
Notellin6d ago

"Microsoft instead, groomed MLB for years in trying to poach Sony's game and bring it to Xbox."

Take a nap, conspiracies are rotting your brain.

6d ago
Hereandthere6d ago

Xbox executive Sara Bond has told Axios that Microsoft spent a number of years trying to get MLB The Show onto Xbox consoles. And when it finally succeeded in breaking off PlayStation’s long-held exclusivity, the company had to “trust” Sony with pre-release Xbox Series X/S consoles.

ApocalypseShadow5d ago

Lying to yourself is unbecoming.

Article link tells you all you need to know in Sarah Bond's own words.

Hereandthere6d ago

They were too cheap/inept/lazy to develop their own mlb game, so they port begged for years and bribed the mlb to make the show multiplatform. Like i said many times, xbox brought nothing to the table their 24 years, ZERO.

ApocalypseShadow5d ago

At least you and others get it. Note drank the Kool aid and asked for seconds thinking it was refreshing.

Most don't even know how it all played out but it's there in black and white for all to see. Microsoft brought it up for years until the MLB forced Sony's hand. It was a win win for Microsoft. Kill one reason to buy a PlayStation or kill the game by dropping it in a cheap service to kill Sony's sales numbers on PlayStation.

OtterX7d ago

"However, Healey said Media Molecule wouldn't have felt right doing that, adding it would have been "morally corrupt"."

Major kudos to Media Molecule for being an upright studio with principles.

Cockney5d ago

They chose well, Sony gave them the backing to pursue their dreams with no restrictions even tho their games especially dreams have very niche appeal. Media molecule and Sony deserve respect for this in an age of risk averse publishing.

RNTody7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

Great, more stories like this please. Show the last of the zombies holding the line what we've been saying for years: Microsoft is anti competition, anti industry and has no interest in making games at all.

But hey, at least there's an Xbox Games Showcase to look forward to, right?

Inverno7d ago

Well considering SONY just killed the series, LBP would've been dead by now either way. Though MM probably wouldn't exist by now either, so I'm glad they stayed with SONY, hopefully they don't get shut down any time soon or ever honestly.

Inverno7d ago

They shut down the servers, that's millions of user created levels gone. That and dead are pretty much the same, it's also been years since 3 and they cancelled HUB soooo.

6d ago
fsfsxii6d ago

They shutdown the servers because no one was playing, no one in the community cared about the user created levels so why keep them up? Wtf you guys would never succeed in running a business.

Inverno6d ago

Yea dood no one was playing so they shut off the servers. Cause people with enough common sense can't just Google why they were actually shut of, right?

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320°

Most Offensive Video Games That Would Never Cut It Today

Times are changing, and these games would have never been made in today's climate.

Read Full Story >>
wealthofgeeks.com
thorstein60d ago (Edited 60d ago )

Every single time someone uses this phrase whether it's music, movies, books, comics, video games, etc it's always the same claim.

The ubiquitous "they" won't allow it to be made. And every decade these claims are made the claimant completely ignores all the "offensive" material that is published when the claim is made.

In ten years, you can write a new article about how you can't make games like Helldivers 2, Resident Evil VIII, Mortal Kombat I, Dragon's Dogma 2, Alan Wake 2 etc etc etc any more.

MrBaskerville59d ago

Yeah, people wouldn't be constantly outraged if there weren't games that people found enraging. The whole SBI discourse shit wouldn't be a thing if all games were inoffensive. A game like Starfield can make a guy froth at his mouth, so there will always be room for a list like this.

0hMyGandhi59d ago

Normally, I'd be inclined to agree with you, but there are massive caveats.
TV shows like Venture Bros, Ren and Stimpy, and Aqua Team wouldn't/couldn't be made today. Hell, Ren and Stimpy was a *children's* show, same thing with Rocko's Modern Life.

It's not for some arbitrary reason, either. It's branding and IP alignment. Companies are far more risk-averse than they were when I was kid in the 90's. Of course, you have companies coming out of the woodwork to hell spur on similar content, but remember: Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon and some incredibly provocative material.

And for movies? it's pretty obvious. American Pie/Wedding Crashers/Eurotrip among many other "raunch coms" have fallen out of style, and are absolutely outside what the modern day film industry is willing to stand by.
Ace Ventura 1 and 2, Dumb and Dumber, Freddy Got Fingered, Rat Race, Harold and Kumar, and Van Wilder follow suit.

Remember: I am not explicitly talking about films put onto streamers. I am talking wide-releases in actual theaters. Same thing goes for games: Carmageddon, Duke Nukem, Manhunt, Six Days In Fallujah (with their original concept), Hatred, and so on and so forth. Of course, I'd be inclined to mention most tactical shooters like Rainbow Six and Joint Ops as well, due to cultural sensitivity regarding *who* you are shooting and why.

And not all of it is bad (obviously). Tastes change, and perspectives change to fit the demographic.
I should add that I'm a lefty, living in L.A. Working in film.

thorstein59d ago

The Boys, Invincible, Jojo Rabbit, Deadpool, Gen V, Last of Us, Banshee... There are plenty of media being made today that people will claim "can't be made today".

Profchaos59d ago

Yeah but if you consider manhunt which was basically a snuff film could you seriously make that game with high than PS2 era graphics.

thorstein58d ago

The Outlast Trials just came out.

But the storyline of Manhunt was that you were executed. But then lived. And if you didn't do as you were told, you'd die. And the people you killed were not innocents.

It was all filmed by a psychopath.

As we speak GTA VI is being finished up for a release. You get to play a Bonnie and Clyde type of protagonist who run up against the law.

Bodycam looks so real.

People are making those games. Articles like this will always exist no matter how incorrect they are, no matter how many times they blame "them" for whatever it is "they" do to prevent "those" games from being made.

Number1TailzFan59d ago

The UK is the biggest junk country pandering to that nonsense as well, with laws against free speech and expression to match. It got so bad even Rowan Atkinson made a video on free speech about it.

Now the UK raises the age rating on harmless films like Mary Poppins, it's just a load of pansy weak ass nonsense.

MrDead59d ago (Edited 59d ago )

The right wing Tories have been in power in the UK for the 14 years you know the ones that are "anti-woke", blame them for your perceptions.

Killer2020UK59d ago (Edited 59d ago )

Are these snowflakes in the room with us now?

This is more faux outrage designed to get hits. The consequences are unfortunately creating hysteria amongst those willing to buy into it and blame "them" or "the left" or "liberals" meanwhile the left are kicking off about genocide, actual real world abhorrent acts. Nobody is campaigning to censor this shit.

Huey_My_D_Long59d ago

Not too mention the fact that some of these game are controversial for you know, underage porn and encouraging rape.

So either the guy just came in to comment snowflakes without reading anything, or he is calling people snowflakes for having a problem with said titles. Crazy how much brain rot someone can have.

banger8860d ago

Dead Island: "The early PC version of the zombie game swapped the playable character Purna’s Gender Wars skill with a prototype name, which shouldn’t be mentioned directly. The skill name made fun of both Purna as a character and feminists."

"Feminist Whore" lmao

gold_drake59d ago

ill add one more to the list.
drakengard 1.

its ridiculous tho, especially since they'd still be able to find their place in alot of places in the world. except america of course ha. and maybe Australia.

ppl are so sensitive these days. ha. but it is what it is.

Barlos59d ago (Edited 59d ago )

They're not offensive.

And we need another Fat Princess. Fantastic little game!

Some people just have no sense of humour if this sort of thing offends them. They need to lighten up and stop taking themselves so seriously.

Deeeeznuuuts59d ago

Would love a new fat princess game 🤟

CantThinkOfAUsername59d ago

Games literally about sexual assault, mass genocide, bombing civilians, and school shooting. None of which is satirical.

isarai59d ago

Actually it's about fat princesses

Huey_My_D_Long59d ago (Edited 59d ago )

Its crazy that people are fixated on Fat princess when clearly the list is going over controversies, and not all of them are equal. Like way worse examples but pretend the entire list is like that.

Show all comments (37)
230°

The inFamous games deserve more love from Sony

The inFamous games are an important part of PlayStation history, but the series is in limbo and playing older entries isn't exactly easy.

Read Full Story >>
theloadout.com
LucasRuinedChildhood89d ago (Edited 89d ago )

Would like remasters of 1 and 2. I enjoyed them much more than Second Son.

1 & 2 had more of an emphasis on climbing and the traversal requires a bit more effort in a good way. It was rewarding. Second Son made climbing mostly obsolete so they put little effort into it. The traversal was just great in inFamous 1 & 2. There's a reason Sunset Overdrive copied and improved upon the induction grind mechanic.

Reminds me of how I felt about the decline of parkour and the well designed tombs (basically Prince Of Persia levels) that we saw in the Assassin's Creed games.

The story and atmosphere were also much better in 1 & 2.

Electricity is just a brilliant superpower for an open world city. It perfectly fits just like webslinging does in New York and it has many applications.

Cacabunga89d ago

For sure.. one of my favorite Sony licenses

Shane Kim89d ago

Loved one and two. I actually liked the story as well.

Minute Man 72189d ago

The standalone DLC was a sweet

jznrpg89d ago (Edited 89d ago )

I enjoyed Second Son but it was too short. The first 2 were great though

-Foxtrot89d ago

Second Son was alright but didn't touch the first two games

It felt short and lacking in comparison

Also I really thought Reggie would have made a better protagonist, someone who is anti-conduit as much as him and ends up becoming one would have been interesting to see. I kind of enjoyed his character throughout the game as his development.

badz14988d ago

why is it right now, the thing I want the most from Sony is to release remasters of inFamous (1,2 & SS), KZ (1,2 & 3), Resistance (RFoM, 2 and 3) and Motorstorm (1,2 & 3)??

The_Hooligan88d ago

All great choices. I would like to add Warhawk/Starhawk to that. The multiplayer in Warhawk was amazing. I am surprised Sony hasn't looked into MAG either. That game was ahead of its time.

Maybe Sony should make an internal studio like Bluepoint games and all they do is remake/remaster these amazing games, even going back to PS1,PS2,PSP, Vita portfolio. And because of the recent articles suggesting cost cutting, budget issues and releasing more games on PC, they could do that with these remakes/remasters. Do a day one on PC and PS5. At the end of the day Sony or any other company is going to do what makes them the most money.

Kiryu199288d ago

Would love a remastered collection on PS5/PC

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 88d ago
kpgs89d ago

Wouldn't the onus be on the consumers? If they bought the Infamous games, then we'd have more games from that series.

KwietStorm_BLM89d ago

Infamous has sold millions of units. People have been asking for more. They aren't interested. Just like people have been asking for more Resistance or even a remaster collection, but insomniac isn't revisiting that either. Likely never getting a new sequel since they're a Marvel studio now.

LucasRuinedChildhood89d ago (Edited 89d ago )

No. Infamous was successful. But after a few entries (which are taking longer to make these days) a lot of Sony studios move on to new IPs. That's not a bad thing at all. They don't need to make inFamous games forever, just like we didn't need new Sly Cooper games forever.

But people would like to be able to easily play them on current hardware which is reasonable. Same for Killzone, Resistance, MGS4, etc. Good games shouldn't be trapped on old hardware. It's good that Bluepoint ported Uncharted 1-3.

kpgs89d ago

I'm not saying it wasn't successful. I enjoyed playing all 3 entries and DLC. But like you said, people move on, studios move on. But I don't think I've heard people asking for more Infamous in a long time.

Profchaos89d ago

The franchise was popular we got quite a few games but Suchet punch wanted to beach out I think that's why we got ghost of Tsushima over infamous 4

Tbh ghost is a fantastic game I'm not complaining about that but I'd love to see infamous handled by another team

jznrpg88d ago

Id take GoT2 over Infamous right now but after GoT2 or maybe 3 if they go trilogy I’d like a new Infamous.

badz14988d ago

that's the problem with Sony that puzzles me A LOT! they have studios specifically specialized in remastering and remaking old games for new gen hardware, but we are getting very few of them. SoTC, Uncharted collections, Demon's Souls Remake, TLoU Part 1...and?? that's it? why aren't they giving their old games new lease of life on the PS5 for the new generations of gamers to enjoy? they clearly have the expertise. for god sake, I can even accept lazy porting like Nintendo are doing for theirs if I have to.

FinalFantasyFanatic88d ago

There are a lot of games that consumers have been asking Playstation for, Playstation won't do it, so a lot of these developers have gone and made it themselves by any means possible such as Kickstarter (e.g. Armed Fantasia, Penny Blood, Ratatan, 100 Heroes, ect...). Developers have even asked if Sony could help them out with porting/remasters some of these older games for Playstation, they said no.

Crows9088d ago (Edited 88d ago )

Um...dude like you say that as if nobody bought them....the devs went on to do ghosts after 3 infamous games....3

People ask for new resistance and new infamous at every moment where it makes sense to mention it.

Having a remake of 1 and 2 would be very welcomed I'm sure.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 88d ago
chicken_in_the_corn89d ago

I would love to see a new game but a feel that would get a response similar to Saints Row.

TravsVoid89d ago (Edited 89d ago )

If they keep any of the characters from the previous games I think it would do fine unlike Saints Row which decided to replace fan favorites with less likable replacements. I wouldn't be surprised if that decision caused a majority of their buyers to be new to the series rather than returning players. I will say though, if Infamous Second Son or the first two Infamous games were remade I would be a day one buyer on PC.

ocelot0789d ago

Loved all 3 of them. I couldn't get on with the vampire spin off though. Wish they didn't move away from cole but I didn't mind the other character.

DefenderOfDoom289d ago

Loved 1 and 2 , would definitely love a new INFAMOUS single player campaign.

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