In an interview with Electronic Gaming Monthly, Rockstar founder Sam Houser talked about the idea of a Grand Theft Auto-type MMO. He seems to think it is an intriguing idea (and I can’t help but agree), saying “it’s definitely something that we’re very keen to explore.” Not only that, but Houser says it is “very, very doable”:

“I think a subscription-based Grand Theft Auto-type game…is very, very doable and is a very, very compelling proposition.”

However, he does admit there would be definite challenges:

“I think the basic things that you can get away with in a fantasy thing–that fantasy players don’t mind doing–just wouldn’t fly for the kind of mass-market users that we really talk to.”

In response to another question statement from EGM, about the lack of successful massively multiplayer games on consoles, he refers to them as “the Holy Grail,” talking about what he believes would make it work:

“I think if you can combine the vibe and attitude and also the gameplay and the tangibility of the games we make, with some kind of–for want of a better term–MMO subscription model, I think that’s like the golden-goal kind of thing… I think this is a world that really can support it”

However, he wouldn’t want everyone just “running around and firing fucking rocket launchers,” because “having 2,000 people run around a map shooting each other, that’s just not interesting.”

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That’s a pretty sensationalist headline up there, so let me take a step back and say, no there won’t be any Nintendo games on your PS3. There is good news though for those of you who thought your PS2 gaming days were over on your new PS3, after Sony announced that they were pretty much abandoning backwards compatability in hopes of lowering the PS3’s price point a bit more. In an interview with EGM, PlayStation Network director Eric Lempell hints that there are ways that PS2 games may still be playable on the PS3.

When asked if the PS3 was going to offer PS2 games through the Playstation Store, Lempel responded, “We haven’t talked about that yet, but there are possibilities through technology and software emulation to make that possibles.” The problem, from what I can gather, is that you can’t just plug in and play the game on the PS3. Special things would need to be done to make PS2 games work (special things that can’t be done with original Playstation games at all) on the PS3. In the end, we’d be getting charged for a library of games we probably already own and could play for free on any PS3 with backward compatability. I guess something is better than nothing, but at this point this is another place where the massive technological leaps the PS3 took is hindering more than helping.

Sony is having a banner year…for dumb business moves. Seems that Forbes named the company two times on their 101 Dumbest Moments in Business for 2007. Neither are that low on the list, but both are pretty boneheaded.The first, coming in at number 61, is the launch party for God of War II which featured a dead goat and some rumors of entrails eating that turned out to be, obviously, false. I’m not sure the words “dead” and “goat” could ever scream “good marketing idea” so I’ll have to agree with this one. The second award comes in at number 63 and pertains to Sony’s fallout with the Catholic Church over the depiction of Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man. I’m fully on Sony’s side on this one, seeing as they should be able to depict whatever they want in their games. However, going up against the Catholic Church is never good for sales.

It’s not all bad news, thankfully. In a recent interview with IGN SCEA boss Jack Tretton said the days of developers porting over scaled down games from the 360 onto the PS3 are coming to an end some time soon.

Developers are telling us that they are starting to create their games on PS3 first and take advantage of the hardware capabilities and then port down to other platforms so we are seeing tremendous progress from the third party community in terms of what they are able to do with our development kits.

He doesn’t really make mention of what developers or when they’re going to be taking advantage of said development progression but, if its true, then we should be seeing some truly gorgeous games on the PS3 that outstrip any other platform out there graphically. Maybe then Sony can stop picking on goats and the Catholic Church to get their press.

[Via 1up and Kotaku]

There are a lot of ways to describe what games should be like - and mowing the lawn isn’t one I would think of. And I doubt that’s the first thing that came to your mind either - unless you’re Chris Taylor, head of Gas Powered Games. He has a vision for what he believes games should achieve, and it happens to be similar to mowing the lawn:

When I ride the lawnmower I don’t think about steering and cutting grass… I think about life. I think about work. I think about things I have to do. I recharge - charge my batteries up.

When I finish mowing the lawn, I haven’t done a chore - I’m actually ready to take on something. That’s what I think gaming needs to be.

I don’t think that’s quite the best analogy for what he’s trying to say, unless mowing the lawn is the only time when he actually reflects on life and work and the only thing that leaves him feeling accomplished. However, he elaborates further on the meaning of what he said in an interview with PC Gamer UK, and fortunately strays away from his confusing lawn mowing analogies in favor of one about Saturdays:

Do you want your entire Saturday to be laying around or do you want your whole Saturday to be about working, or would you rather a combination of both? You do some chores, you sit, you enjoy. It’s a balance. I’m striving for that in my next designs - a balance of energy output and energy input.

The fact that many people would prefer to just lay around without working aside, it seems like an interesting idea. However, games should be about fun and enjoyment, not about completing a chore. I’m sure he can understand this, and so I’m not sure what he hopes to accomplish while still keeping the game as an enjoyable pastime, not just more work that is only about fun for half of it.

GameInformer’s December issue has some world exclusive information on a video game most of you probably may not know about, Ghostbusters. A while ago, a couple of videos of the game surfaced on the internet, which led various websites to dissmiss as being mere tech demos. GameInformer’s issue preview has confirmed that the Ghostbusters game has nothing to do with those YouTube films.

Fans of the movie, rejoice! It has also been revealed that Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd will be doing the script for the game, as well as providing voices. And yes, there will feature the mighty Bill Murray. For more information on the Ghostbusters video game, check out the newest edition of GameInformer, hitting store store shelves this Friday.

With the launch of OXM Online, the new web home of the Official Xbox Magazine, the site brought along some interesting tidbits about Halo 3. One of these facts focuses on how the multiplayer designers thought that anything larger than 16 players was wrong for the game. The developers maintain the idea that playing on a 16 player team dilutes the player’s personal impact on the match.

“When you have more than eight people on your team, you get into situations where you’re just a face in the crowd,” explains Tyson Green, Halo 3’s multiplayer lead designer. “You don’t really have an impact on things. All of a sudden you win or lose the game and you really had nothing to do with it. There is some payoff — no question, it’s cool to see 16 or 30 players working together in concert — but if our maps were set up performance-wise for 32 players, they’d be a lot less detailed and feel a lot emptier.”

Other information includes how Bungie’s party system should be imitable by any other developer, and how some gamers dreams of piloting a Pelican or dual wielding Energy Swords will just have to wait another day. It’s a great read for fans of the series.

OXM - 7 Things You Didn’t Know About Halo 3

This month’s current Playboy issue is featuring the 4th annual tribute to video game’s hottest vixins. The 4th annual Girls of Gaming issue will include nude character artwork of girls from the games Conan, Conan: Hyborian Adventures, Tabula Rasa, Clive Barker’s Jericho, The Witcher, and Kane and Lynch. Past inductees of the Girls of Gaming have included girls from such games as Blitz: The League, God of War, and Bloodrayne. You can read the issue digitally by downloading the issue from Playboy’s official website for the price of $4.99.