Interactive Narrative: Flow Chart

Here is a flow chart I made to show how my interactive narrative works.

Interactive Narrative: Work in Progress and Flow Chart

These are some examples of the line art I did for each of my panels.

Once I had completed all of the line drawings for my panels, I then began colouring. This was my first time using photoshop for digital painting and I really liked the outcome of my first piece (below) and decided to get rid of the outlines.

I continued this way of colouring (as seen below) unfortunately this way took a lot longer for me to do without the line art and because I had so many screens to colour (around 60) and a looming deadline, I decided I would have to keep the lines and colour quicker in order to finish in time.

Sony Report on Move.Me

This term we were asked to look at Sony PlayStations, Move.Me and the potential of what it can be used for and how. Before beginning this research I decided to look at the history of Sony the company, Sony Computer Entertainment and how they have stood against other video game hardware developers.

The history of Sony the company

Sony’s history can be dated back to 1946 Tokyo, when two men, engineer Masaru Ibuka and physicist Akio Morita, founded the company. Originally named Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Company) Ibuka and Morita made a living repairing radios and manufacturing small numbers of voltmeters in the crippled economy of post war Japan, whilst looking to develop a future in designing and manufacturing new electronics. Ibuka had a desire to create products for everyday life and so their first electronic innovation was an automatic rice cooker. It was a primitive product that often produced undercooked or over cooked rice which meant its success was limited, however it was the start of a long line of innovations. Ibuka and Morita were global thinkers, as it was with the radio transmitters and rice cooker, the pair thought about appealing to the masses and expanding the business in to the US and later Europe. To do this they realised the need for a global brand which crossed cultural and language borders. Due to another company using the name TTK, the company needed a new name, which is when Sony was born. The name Sony derives from the Latin word sonus meaning sound and the English word “sonny-boy” - a term used by Americans in the 1950’s to denote a bright youngster. It was chosen for its simple pronunciation that is the same in any language. Since those early days in Tokyo, Sony has continued to grow across the globe and become the household name that it is today due to innovation and a desire to create everyday use products. 

History of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE)

The origins of Playstation go as far back as 1986, when Sony was working with Nintendo to develop a CD-ROM add-on for the upcoming Super Nintendo console, to be called the Super Disc. Relationships between the two companies soon collapsed when a day after Sony revealed its console, Nintendo announced that it would be breaking its partnership with Sony, opting to go with Phillips instead but using the same technology. An infuriated Sony president, Norio Ohga, then appointed Ken Kutaragi (a Sony executive promoted from his hardware engineering devision) the responsibility of the development of the PlayStation project to rival Nintendo. Sony used the Super Disc technology as the basis for its own PlayStation, then combined a CD/SNES cartridge-playing system. The development of the PlayStation faced a lot of criticism from the video games industry and at a meeting to decide its fate on whether to retain the project or not, Kutaragi had to remind Sony executives of the humiliation they suffered from Nintendo, in order to retain the project.

Sony later went on to establish a new branch company, Sony Computer Entertainment in November 1993 in Tokyo Japan, and after many designs and prototypes Sony Computer Entertainment finally released the PlayStation in December 1994. The PlayStation faced tough competition from Sega’s Saturn and Nintendos Ultra 64, however sales soon sky rocketed and were appearing all over homes in Japan and Europe in 1996. This up rise is sales was largely to do with price reductions and the humorous SAP’s (Society against PlayStation) commercials. Humorous advertising has proved successful throughout the PlayStation years, with the infamous Kevin Butler adverts for the PS3 (PlayStation 3) being popular in today’s video game market. At the start of 1998, worldwide software shipments hit a gargantuan 200 million units and, by the end of the year, hardware production was nearing the magic 50 million mark. Sony Computer Entertainment have gone from strength to strength, from the release of the PlayStation 2 in 2000,the PlayStation 3 in 2006 and with the soon to be released PlayStation Vita.

Other platforms, competition

Since the release of the PlayStation, Sony Computer Entertainment have had tough competition to compete with. From the Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn when PlayStation was first released, to the Xbox, when Microsoft decided to join the hardware development at the turn of the century, to the today, where PS3 is suffering tough competition in the form of Nintendo’s Wii and Xbox’ Kinect and their initiative game play.

Sega Saturn

SCE’s first main competition was Sega, who released their first 32-bit piece of hardware, the Sega Saturn, just eleven days before the PlayStation was released. Sega had been working on the development of the Saturn for over two years, making sure it met the needs of both the eastern and western markets, yet rushed the final specifications so they could release it before Sony. Sony was new to the games industry and therefore Sega already had the upper hand over the PlayStation for its familiarity in the market. This meant that by the end of the year, Sega had sold out of their original 170,000 Saturn’s, whereas some of the original 100,000 PlayStations remained on store shelves. Even though PlayStation was the superior machine in terms of hardware (due to its sophisticated 3D geometric graphics, ability to play full motion videos and external memory cards) it could not beat Sega’s popular titles such as Virtua Fighter. Since Japans release, the Saturn was showing to be more popular, yet Sega still feared the PlayStation because in May 1995, at the first Electronic Entertainment Exhibition (E3), Sega announced that their launch date for Americas release of the Saturn (September 2nd later that year) was actually a decoy to throw off Sony (who had announced they would be releasing the PlayStation 20 days later on 22nd September) and released 30,000 Saturn’s that very day in four retail chains. Fortunately for Sony, this bombshell backfired on Sega as third party companies were not prepared and so had no games to release for the Saturn. Big retail chains that had not been involved were also upset, and some even refused to carry the Saturn or its successor the Dreamcast in its store, allocating this now empty shelf space to the PlayStation. 

N64 and Dreamcast

By 1996, Sony’s PlayStation had new competition in the form of Nintendo’s 64-bit console, the N64. At least 80 percent of the original 300,000 N64s were pre-ordered and the rest sold out on the release date in Japan. A month before the American launch, Nintendo made a last-minute announcement that the N64 would go on sale for just $200, preventing Sony and Sega from planning any competitive price cuts. The PlayStation had become more and more popular and clearly the N64 was selling well (probably due to price cuts, popular titles such as the Legend of Zelda series, and familiar characters such as Mario) yet the Saturn was far behind in third place. To overcome this, in 1997, Sega decided they needed a new console and sought help from Microsoft in the development of this new system named the Dreamcast. This was an immediate hit amongst hardcore gamers and was the first console to embrace online gaming. Sales of the Dreamcast lead it into second place ahead of the N64, however, when Sony announced it would be releasing the PlayStation 2 later that year (2000), sales of the Dreamcast began to stall. 

Xbox

Since aiding with the development of Sega’s Dreamcast, Microsoft had gained insight into the world of designing video game hardware and Bill Gates announced that they would be releasing their own console. Ironically, this announcement led to the death of the Dreamcast as Sega believed the introduction of another console would simply damage sales even more and so Sega stopped production of the Dreamcast in March 2001 and stayed in the video game business as a software developer. Microsoft then released the Xbox in 2001. Nintendo launched the Game Cube three days after the Xbox was released, this new system was Nintendo’s first non cartridge system and all though it was not as powerful as its two competitors, Nintendo was hoping that their stable, familiar faces such as Mario, Zelda and Pokemon would keep their console popular. As was proven in the battle between the Saturn and PlayStation, the superiority of the machine doesn’t hold unless the popularity of the software can match. 

Online Play

In late 2002, the race for online gaming began with the announcement by Microsoft that they would be introducing Xbox Live, a subscription based server that allowed players to compete against each other online. Although Sony’s PS2 was outselling Xbox, they realised they had to enter the world of online gaming as well if they were going to retain their lead, and so Sony released a network adapter that could be attached to the PS2 for online play. In November 2005, Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 and in 2006 Sony launched the PS3, by 2007 the competition between these two systems was high, but Sony had new competition in the form of Nintendo’s new innovative console that appealed to the untouched market of non-gamers, the Wii. After one full month of availability, the Wii seemed to be the favourite of the three systems maybe because of its cheaper price, or pure interest in the unique game play. To this day, a clear lead cannot be seen between these three competitors. The race is on for Microsoft and Sony to release and perfect their own form of unique game play just as Nintendo did with the Wii. 

Move. Me

Sony’s attempt at perfecting their own form of unique game play has been to take their PlayStation Move (which works similar to the Wii, using the PlayStation Eye Camera to track the wands position and internal sensors detect the motions) and create something more than just a game. Sony Computer Entertainment have now released the Move.Me, which is not a game, but a software server application that uses the PlayStation Move Controller as an input device. It is designed for programmers to be inventive and create whatever they can using this with PlayStation 3, PlayStation Eye Camera and a PC. Sony wants to see what can be done with the PlayStation Move.Me and whether it can change the way we traditionally play games.

Practical research and testing

Our university was given a copy of the Move.Me development kit so we could use and experiment with it to gain a better understanding of its capabilities. Once everything was set up, we were all given a chance to use it. As I held the PlayStation Move Wand in my hand, I was reminded of my first time playing Eye Toy: Play, yet this time, it wasn’t just the image from the camera which reacted to and detected movement. The sword onscreen responded well with my movements of the PlayStation Wand, not only detected its location, but its direction as well, unfortunately this was all I could experiment with as it was the only code given. I could see how others with experience in coding etc could create more, but as for myself, there was not much else I could do with it.

Ideas  of application

Something I would like to see done with the Move.Me, is where players can input and record their own moves and motions rather than imitating ones. This could be used in a Dance style game, which have recently become ever popular with Wii’s Just Dance, Xbox Kinects Dance Central and PS3 Moves DanceStar to name a few. This could encourage players to create their own routines, ultimately recording steps or specific moves that could be shared across the PlayStation Network. This would suit professional dancers to beginning learners. This idea could also be used in some games the same way as Nintendo’s Drawn to Life requires the player to create items to use in the game, for example creating personalised weapons or vehicles and other interactive objects.

In conclusion, I feel that Sony have released this product too early; like Nintendo did with the Wii, they should have waited and perfected it. My research has shown me that to show off its true potential, any piece of hardware needs to have a great piece of software too. I can understand their wish to release this software before any competitors release something similar, but first it needs something that really explains what it does and how to use it. If it can be made easier for use, not just coders and programmers, I think this could become a huge well known piece of software that could develop into something similar to the Apple store, or things of that kind, where anyone can create their own applications and games to share with other PlayStation owners.

Contextual Studies: Move.Me

Sony computer entertainment have now released the Move.me, which is not a game, but a software server application that uses the PlayStation move controller as an input device. It is designed for programmers to be inventive and create whatever they can using this with PlayStation 3, PlayStation Eye Camera and a PC. Sony wants to see what can be done with the PS move and whether it can change the way we traditionally play games, in such areas as:
• - Games and tools that support kids' physical fitness and nutrition.
• - Kid-friendly programming interfaces for computer/technology classes or individual learning.
• - Physical therapy and rehabilitation.
• - Sports physiology or fitness training.
• - Music and the creative arts.
• - Augmented reality, 3-D, and other leading-edge technologies.
• - Addressing physically-challenged or special education needs.

Contextual Studies: Competition

Although Sony Computer Entertainment has had such success in the video game industry, it has not always been easy because of competition from other companies within the industry. There have often been races between companies to complete and release the first line of latest technology, the first of which SCE competed in, was to release the first 32-bit console. Unfortunately, Sega released an interesting device called the 32X, a few months before SONYs 32-bit PlayStations release date, which was an ad-on adapter which turned the genesis into a 32-bit console. Fortunately this did not sell well, due to its high price tag and the fact that sega were to release a 32 bit console, the Saturn, within the year anyway. Sega had been working on the development of the Saturn for over two years, wanting to make sure it met the needs of both the Japanese and American market, therefore its release date was pure speculation. Due to SONY however, they rushed the final specifications to release 170,000 Sega Saturns on November 22 1994, just eleven days before the release of the PlayStation. By the end of the year, all of the original 170,000 Saturns had sold out, whereas some of the original 100,000 PlayStations remained on store shelves. Even thought PlayStation was the superior machine in terms of hardware ( due to its sophisticated 3D geometric graphics, ability to play full motion videos and external memory cards) it could not beat Segas popular titles such as Virtua Fighter. The two companies went on to announce the release dates of their consoles in America and Europe in January 1995. Sega would release the Saturn on September 2 (renamed Saturnday) and Sony would release their PlayStation 20 days later on September 22. Sega went on to drop a huge bombshell later that year in May, at the first Electronic Entertainment Exhibition (E3), when they announced that their launch date had been a decoy to throw off Sony. Instead, 30,000 Saturns were released that very day in four retail chains, packed with Virtua Fighter, at the price of $399, $100 more than the PlayStations retail price. Fortunately for Sony, this plan backfired on Sega because third party companies were caught by surprise, so the only games available at launch were those released by Sega. Big retail chains that had not been involved were also upset, and some even refused to carry the Saturn or its successor the Dreamcast in its store, allocating this now empty shelf space to the PlayStation.

By 1996, Sonys PlayStation had new competition in the form of Nintendos 64-bit console, the N64. Nintendo had decided to go against the trend and stuck to using cartridges, even though this caused controversy because cartridges were more expensive and time consuming to produce, yet the company believed the quicker access time would please customers. At least 80 percent of the original 300,000 N64s were pre-ordered and the rest sold out on the release date in Japan. A month before the American launch, Nintendo made a last-minute announcement that the N64 would go on sale for just $200, preventing SONY and Sega from planning and competitive price cuts.

With the PlayStation and N64 fighting for Gold place, it was clear that the Saturn was far behind in third place, so in 1997, Sega decided the company needed a new console. This new system, named Dreamcast, was an immediate hit amongst hardcore gamers  and was the first console to embrace online gaming. The Dreamcast used the Microsoft Windows CE operating system which meant PC game developers could easily convert their existing PC games to the Dreamcast. This gave Microsoft much needed insight to the world of designing video game hardware. Sales of the Dreamcast lead it into second place ahead of the N64, however, when Sony announced it would be releasing the PlayStation 2 later that year (2000) which would be compatible with the original PlayStation, sales of the Dreamcast began to stall. After Microsofts help with the development of the Dreamcast, the company decided to release their own console. This announcement by Bill Gates, just 3 weeks after the PS2’s release in Japan, indirectly led to the death of the Dreamcast as Sega believed the introduction of another console would simply damage sales even more and so Sega stopped production of the Dreamcast in March 2011 and stayed in the video game business as a software developer.

The first American console in nearly a decade was released in 2001 by Microsoft with the system named Xbox. Similar to the PS2, the Xbox could also play DVDs, yet a $30 remote control had to be purchased to do this, whereas the PS2 could use the game controller. This was a move made by Microsoft as a way of avoiding DVD licensing fees if the Xbox had been sold as a DVD player. Nintendo launched the Game Cube three days after the Xbox was released, this new system was Nintendo’s first non cartridge system and all though it was not as powerful as its two competitors, Nintendo was hoping that their stable, familiar faces such as Mario, Zelda and Pokemon would keep their console popular. As was proven in the battle between the Saturn and PlayStation, the superiority of the machine doesn’t hold unless the popularity of the software can match. 

In late 2002, the race for online gaming began with the announcement by Microsoft that they would be introducing Xbox Live, a subscription based server that allowed players to compete against each other online. Although Sonys PS2 was outselling Xbox, they realised they had to enter the world of online gaming as well if they were going to retain their lead, and so Sony released a Network adapter that could be attached to the PS2 for online play. With Nintendo once again in third place, it became speculation that they would abandon the hardware market just as Sega did, however rumours were denied as they began to work on their next system.

Three years later in November 2005, Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 and it sold out completely. However, many people who bought the Xbox 360 were quickly disappointed with preconceived ideas of high definition graphics and backwards compatibility not living up to expectations. By 2007, the competition between Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 was high, with neither being in a clear lead, however Sonys main competition did not come from Microsoft, but Ninetendo, with their release of an innovative console that appealed to the untouched market of non-gamers. The Nintendo Wii.

While Microsoft and Sony were competing for the top spot in console hardware and power, Nintendo knew they had to create something revolutionary that appealed to all gamers. What they delivered was a system that played a lot like the XaviXPORT (a previous console created by a company called SSD Company Limited, it had little success, but ultimately inspired the Wii) with a game called Wii Sports, where players used a wireless controller which acted like sports equipment, such as a bowling ball or baseball bat.

The North American launches of the PS3 and Wii were only a few days apart and both systems were in short supply for the 2006 holiday season. After one full month of availability, Wii seemed to be the favourite of the three systems maybe because of its cheaper price, or pure interest in the unique game play. To this day, a clear lead cannot be seen between these three competitors. The race is on for Microsoft and Sony to release and perfect their own form of unique game play just as Nintendo did with the Wii. 

Contextual Studies: Key Hardware and Software Developments

SONY have developed hundreds of products, many innovative and successful, but I am going to focus on Sony Computer Entertainment and the key hardware and software developments within this branch company

Playstation

The playstation was SONY's first games console and this 32-bit CD based system hit Japan in 1994 and then  Europe in 1995.

April 1998 saw the launch of the next evolution of the PlayStation controller: the Analog Controller – or DualShock as it's known by most. The twin analogue sticks provided scope for superior control in future titles, while the built–in vibration function meant that you could now effectively feel the effects of the action on–screen. By August it was officially declared as the standard controller for the console.

On 2nd March 1999, SCE announced that the research and development on the "next–generation PlayStation" was completed. It was confirmed that the new console would feature a state–of–the–art 128–bit Central Processing Unit – the "Emotion Engine" – at its core. It seemed that the dawn of a new era in gaming was fast approaching. Sure enough, on September 13th, SCEI confirmed that its new home computer entertainment system PlayStation 2 would be launched in 2000, and would feature DVD playback, full compatibility with PlayStation games and USB ports to cater for all manner of accessories.

The dawn of the new millennium was heralded in major style by SCE, as it released not one, but two new consoles into the market. Of course, everybody knew that PlayStation 2 was well on its way, but before we could enjoy the next step in the evolution of gaming we were given an unexpected treat in the tiny form of PS one.

Launched to coincide with the fifth anniversary of PlayStation in Europe, PS one took advantage of the last half–decade's worth of technological advances by cramming the inner workings of a PlayStation into a console comparable in size to a Discman. The totally portable nature of PS one led to the eventual launch of a detachable LCD screen and Car Adaptor.

As for PlayStation 2, the new wonder machine was making tsunami waves in Japan following its release in March, with sales hitting close to 1 million in just two days. North America followed in October, where 500,000 units were shifted in the first weekend alone and when November rolled around, it was Europe's turn.

As sales of Playstation 2 hardware continued to flourish in 2001, the focus was now on whether it had the software necessary to keep the momentum going. Accomplished titles proved that they had, such as Devil May Cry, Grand Theft Auto 3 and Burnout, however, SONY were keen to emphasize that Playstation 2 be the home to the greatest titles. So between April and June 2001, SCE (Sony Computer Entertainment) entered into three exclusivity deals with Disney Interactive, Square and Sega whereby SCE would publish the trios most hotly anticipated titles including Virtua Fighter 4, Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts.

Aside from a deluge of fantastic sequels, 2002 also stood out as a year for extremely strong original titles. Kingdom Hearts memorably combined Square's RPG knowledge with a host of Disney's finest characters; Sega's Rez was an incredibly distinctive marriage of music and shoot 'em up gameplay; Harmonix' Frequency took rhythm action into strange, new directions; Tecmo's Project Zero took survival horror into the realm of photography; and SCEI's Ico was a beautifully crafted tale of a horned boy trying to lead a fragile, ethereal girl to safety in a peril–filled castle.

   

With millions of people now happily playing PlayStation 2 game at home, it seemed only sensible to let them all play against each other without the need to stage a large–scale sleepover. The Network Adaptor, released across Europe between June and October, offered a slightly more practical solution, allowing gamers to connect their PS2 to a broadband connection and play a host of compatible titles against players across the rest of the continent.

The year 2004 saw the Playstation go Portable when the PSP (playstation portable) was revealed.

Despite being slightly larger than your average remote control, PSP was revealed to feature a crystal–clear, high–resolution widescreen, a full controller with both digital and analogue controls, wireless connectivity, slots for USB devices and Sony's Memory Stick storage medium, stereo speakers, and processing power comparable to PS2. Best of all, it was announced that it would play games, music and videos, making it a true multimedia–embracing device.

All of the excitement surrounding PSP didn't mean that PlayStation 2 was ignored, though; as well as enjoying possibly its strongest year of game releases so far, the console received a network–ready redesign that somehow reduced the chassis to around 75% of its original size.

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