With an avatar uniquely customized according to each user”s preference, users can explore the 3D community that is Home – a sleek, modern environment featuring spacious common areas; custom spaces dedicated to specific games; and personal apartments. Each user is assigned an apartment in Home where they can invite others to join them as they show off their own style in an area they can personalize themselves with furniture, art and other items – even a different view from their windows. They can also show their personal video, pictures and other digital media content found on their PS3 hard drives in their apartments. Very rich interactive communication with others is achieved through built in text, audio and video chat, along with sophisticated emotional animations for each character.

Sharing continues in the “Hall of Fame,” where users can display new 3D trophies that will be unlocked through in-game milestones for the games they own as well viewing the trophies of other users across the PLAYSTATION Network and for other games they”ve yet to purchase.

“This is a significant step forward in the area of user community services and emergent entertainment experiences,” said Izumi Kawanishi, Corporate Executive and CTO Software, SCEI. “While the 3D graphics demonstrate the power of PS3 and the PLAYSTATION Network, the most impressive feature in Home is the variety of ways in which multiple consumers, as well as our third-party partners, can experience the next generation of communication by interacting and sharing among each other. I feel strongly that this unique blend of community, user-generated content, collaboration and commerce will expand the future of computer entertainment.”

Home will go into a closed beta test this spring with a full launch targeted for later this year. By having a broad range of business partners participate in Home – from 3rd party publishers and developers to brands outside traditional gaming categories – along with a powerful selection of upcoming game software titles for PS3, SCEI will continue to expand the horizons of networked entertainment and vigorously promote PS3 as the next generation computer entertainment platform.

Below are twenty one screenshots illustrating the various aspects of the service.

The LittleBigPlanet experience starts with players learning about their character’s powers to interact physically with the environment. There are obstacles to explore, bits and pieces to collect and puzzles to solve – requiring a combination of brains and collaborative teamwork. As players begin to explore, their creative skills will grow and they will be ready to start creating and modifying their surroundings – the first step to sharing them with the whole community.

Characters have the power to move anything in this glued and stitched-together 3D landscape; they have the power to design, shape and build both objects and entire locations for others to view and play. There’s no complicated level editor; all of these skills can be learned by simply playing the game. Creativity is part of the gameplay experience and playing is part of the creative experience. Players can make their world as open or as secretive to explore as they like. When it’s ready, they can invite anyone within the LittleBigPlanet community to come and explore their patch – or can go and explore everybody else’s.

The game is being created by Media Molecule who were the guys behind Rag Doll Kung-fu. A demo for LittleBigPlanet is slated for release this Fall; the full game is expected early next year.

Below are the first screenshots from the title. More information on the game after the jump.

So, how does it work?

• Play the game, learn the skills and then find your own way to play. There isn’t a set solution to anything – you live LittleBigPlanet however you want to.
  
• Create your own content – customize your character and build your own locations. You have the power to rearrange anything in this unbelievably tactile landscape.
  
• Build, move, create, collaborate – then share content with friends or publicly by inviting the whole world to come and visit your own location on LittleBigPlanet.

• There’s not just one way to play. Players craft their own individual experience
  
• Unlimited possibilities for user-created content – players can customize everything: their characters, the landscape around them and their own patch on LittleBigPlanet
  
• Players discover and win new skills and items to aid them on their creative journey
  
• Initial levels will be provided – endless others will be user-generated on a global scale. LittleBigPlanet will change every day as players contribute their own levels
  
• Online and offline multiplayer modes – play alone, work as a team or get competitive
  
• LittleBigPlanet global community for players to get involved with: includes player comments, rankings and easy communication with new and existing friends

“Through our partnership with Autodesk, we were able to achieve a new level of character animation in DEF JAM: ICON, FIFA Soccer 07 and NBA STREET Homecourt,” said Glenn Entis, EA’s chief visual and technical officer. “Part of the reason EA consistently delivers innovative hit game titles like these is because we rely on extensive internal and external R&D. Autodesk HumanIK middleware allowed efficient porting of game data to the various platforms on which we shipped our games. Autodesk R&D team was highly responsive, quickly providing us with customised builds of the HumanIK solution.”

Built from the HumanIK character technology found in the Maya and MotionBuilder software, Autodesk HumanIK middleware provides an on-target intelligent inverse kinematics (IK) animation system. It lets game developers control the animation of a character’s body and limbs at run-time, resulting in a much higher level of realism in the game. Artists are empowered within the game authoring environment, as HumanIK delivers a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) workflow. This also reduces artists’ reliance on integration programmers, who typically port the game data into the game engine.

Philips also mentioned that it will be working on the development of solutions for open source Second Life client software to enable users to create new real world effects.

The amBX platform lets developers use light, color, heat, sound and air flow in the real world to add life to their game. This is done through various peripherals that range from LED color-controlled lighting to desktop fans, all of which are now available in the market.

We got to see a brief and very early demo build of the game running on Epic’s Unreal Engine 3. The first part of the game showed our player character as he explored Urban Mysteries’s vision of 2052 with gothic and Victorian architecture. We were told that we would even see Zeppelin like blimps in this future that the player can control and even use in combat. The demo got really interesting when we time traveled to the 18th century version of this city. Here we had to use native weapons like a one shot musket to battle an invasion. The game allows the player to either shoot or attack melee style with the musket to take out enemies. At one point in the demo we have to make a choice. Two people are in a burning building but you can only rescue one. You must decide which one to save and then head back up in time to 2052. The final part of the demo showed our character back in his own time line but we saw the future city change right before our eyes (in-game morphing of the level; not a cut scene) to something totally different.

Zeitguys were showing the game at the event to attract publishers. They are considering either an episodic release or an entire conventional game; either way we can expect it in late 2008 or 2009.

To be available starting April 3, the 512 MB Memory Unit will retail for $49.99 in the US (£34.99 in the UK) and will come pre-loaded with Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. The original 64 MB Memory Unit has had its price cut to $29.99 (£22.99 in the UK).

As for Xbox Live Arcade, the increased size limit will give developers flexibility in game design, letting them expand by adding advanced game features. Microsoft also announced that it will showcase the following XBLA games at GDC: Boom Boom Rocket (EA and Bizarre Creations), 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures (Sierra Online and Wanako Games), Eets: Chowdown (Klei Entertainment Inc.), Jetpac Refuelled (Rare Ltd.) and Pinball FX (ZEN Studios Ltd.).

Further details can be read just after the jump.

morpheme consists of two components: morpheme:runtime and morpheme:connect. morpheme:runtime is a run-time engine optimized for PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360TM and PC, and ships with full source code. morpheme:connect is a powerful 3D authoring application that allows animators to graphically author blend trees and transition logic (based on hierarchical finite state machines), modify and edit parameters through sliders (or even game pads), and view the results in real time. morpheme is designed as a flexible and open system and does not require the licensing of any other product. morpheme is also designed to seamlessly integrate with other leading 3D animation software and middleware technologies, such as physics engines.

Unlike euphoria, morpheme is not based on NaturalMotion’s DMS technology. Instead, morpheme was designed to seamlessly complement euphoria (which is available separately through NaturalMotion’s co-development program).

Key features in morpheme:runtime and morpheme:connect are as follows:

morpheme:runtime

• lightweight run-time animation engine
  
• optimized for PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360TM and PC
  
• fully customizable blend nodes
  
• full hierarchical finite state machine
  
• euphoria support
  
• full source code supplied

morpheme:connect

• modern, fully scriptable application
  
• 2D and 3D viewports for authoring and visualization
  
• graphical authoring of transition graphs and blend trees
  
• real-time manipulation through sliders and instrument panel
  
• on-target viewer
  
• support for live game pad control
  
• script support (Lua)
  
• fully extensible through plug-ins
  
• euphoria support

Pricing and Availability

morpheme is available on PLAYSTATION3, Xbox 360 and PC. For additional information on pricing, or to arrange a morpheme evaluation, please visit www.naturalmotion.com/morpheme.htm or contact NaturalMotion via phone (415-867-9679) or email at contact@naturalmotion.com. For additional information on NaturalMotion, euphoria, endorphin or DMS technology, please visit www.naturalmotion.com.

A departure from the traditional online settings of high fantasy, outer space, or military, Global Agenda is set on 22nd century Earth. An invisible war is fought not with armies, but with elite teams of highly trained and well-equipped special agents, where technology is a race, knowledge is power, and everyone has an agenda.

Key Planned Features

• Create, extensively customize, and develop an agent character that is unique within the world. Protect your secret identity through covert activity while increasing your skills and influence.

• Join a player-created agency, compete in a technology race for advanced weaponry, and advance your own agenda.

• Engage in solo, co-op, and team objective-based missions against non-player and other player-created agencies.

• Experience a dynamic world of espionage and intrigue, where in-game events and locations are influenced by the actions of players and agencies.

The developer is attending GDC and will be showing off an in-game video at its booth. A preview of the game can be seen on its website.