Sony Interactive Entertainment

Brief History Of The Company

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. was established in 1993 between Sony Corporation and
Sony Music Entertainment.Toshio Ozawa was appointed the first President with Shigeo
Maruyama and Teruhisa Tokunaka being appointed Deputy President.

In December of 1994 The PlayStation console was launched in the Japanese market for
which it dominated. The iconic , , , symbols of the hand-held controller have become
memorable trademarks of PlayStation. Then in September of 1995 it was launched in North
America and Europe, then on December 1999 just five years after the launch of The
PlayStation 70 million consoles had been shipped worldwide.

The PlayStation 2 was launched in Japan just three months later in March of 2000 along with
the PS One just two months later in July. Both consoles were then released worldwide
before May of 2002.

In 2004 a new version of the PlayStation 2 was released in November along with the PSP
which was released a month later. The PSP was the first handheld entertainment system for
PlayStation and was well received among consumers.

November of 2006 was the release of the third generation of PlayStation console.
Unfortunately, the PlayStation 3 only reached 50 million unit sales worldwide five years later
in 2011. The PlayStation 4 came out on June 2015 around four years later and by November
it had sold 30.2 million systems worldwide.

Structure

Sony is one of the leading manufacturers in video, audio, communications and information
technology products for the professional and consumer markets. As of April 1st 2016 new
organizational structures where implemented within the company:

Andrew House became the new officer in charge of game & network services business.
Andrew led the conference which revealed the PlayStation 4.

Corporate Executive Officers

Andrew House Executive Vice President

Officer in charge of Game & Network Services Business
President and Global CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC
 Platform Technology/Multiplatform

Sony Interactive Entertainment uses many platform technologies to run their games and
keep up with competitors in technology and techniques. PlayStation has four platforms which
games are currently being developed for:

PlayStation 3

PlayStation 4

PlayStation Vita

PlayStation VR

The PlayStation 3 and 4 are home consoles where as the PlayStation Vita is hand held, the
PlayStation VR on the other hand is a virtual reality head set and will be the very first to
release on home consoles.

PlayStation permit third party publishers such as Naughty Dog to produce games for one or
all of the above platforms. Before a publisher can start development some requirements
must be met first:

Step 1: Submit Your Online Application and Register your company.

Step 2: Submit your agreement to become a PlayStation Partner.

Step 3: Start Game Development on PlayStation.

The developer must meet the requirements below first before submitting the application:

Proof of Corporate Entity

Obtain an Employer Tax ID Number

Static IP to access Developer Support Systems

You must be physically located in US, Mexico, Central America, South America or Canada

If successful, the publisher will then get a developer kit allowing them to build their game
around that specific platform to allow for maximum debugging and optimization. However, if
a publisher wants to make a game for multiple platforms there is really only a few ways of
doing this. The first is by using a multiplatform engine and the second is by porting the
game.
A multiplatform game engine will feature platform specific actions so that the work is
completed once, then built for multiple machines. A great example of this is the Fox Engine
that was made by Kojima Productions to create Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. This
was not only released across all current generation platforms, PS4, Xbox One and PC, but it
was also released on the older generation of consoles, the Xbox 360 and the PS3.
The problem is when a game engine is not multiplatform, it will need to be converted in order
to run on the target platform. This is usually done in two segments, the first is that all the
application program interface (API) calls and interfaces need to be redone to match the
intended platform. The second involves debugging and optimizing the games performance.
Commonly direct ports do not perform well, as code will feature platform specific
optimizations that do not apply to the new platform. This method has led to publishers
receiving negativity for allowing poorly optimized ports of a game to go up on sale,
commonly for PCs.

Types of Games

Sony has a diverse range of games produced by its publishers. A great example of a
publisher with a stretching range in genre is Supermassive Games. Creating football games
such as Big Match Striker to party games like Start The Party, Supermassive Games has
targeted a wide range of audiences with its titles. Although what theyre best known for is
their Bafta award winning title Until Dawn. This atmospheric horror with an all out Hollywood
cast has a story line with each decision, even small ones having some consiquense to the
outcome of the story.

Regulatory Bodies/Legal

Age Rating

The age rating is awarded by a boy, often government-funded, which reviews the finished
game and awards a certificate depending on the content of the game much like the process
of a film. So in order to ensure a specific age rating, there are usually a set of guidelines that
need following.

Games must be submitted to the age-rating board for each country that the game is to be
released in. So for releasing any games within the UK the Pan European Game Information
(PEGI) will need to review it first.

TRCs

A Technical Requirements Checklist (TRC) is a list of tests that game must pass before the
platform licence holder will allow the game to be released on their platform. The reason Sony
and many other licence holders impose a strict TRC are as followed:

Protect the brand legally. Some TRCs are in-place for reasons of legality, privacy, or
health and safety.

Promote the brand. If a purchaser knows that a certain level is guaranteed, then a
further purchase is more likely.

A set of TRCs must be met, any failure to do so may result in the game failing the
submission process, which can be a very expensive outcome for the developer and
publisher.
 Analysing Three Computer/Console Games

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Witcher 3 is an open world action role-playing video game developed by CD Projekt
RED. It was announced back in February 2013 and was released worldwide for Microsoft
Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 19th May 2015. The open world was described as
20% bigger than that of Skyrim. Lead Game Designer Damien Monnier claims that doing
everything the game has to offer will take players roughly 200 hours to complete.

Players will play the role of Garelt Of Rivia, a monster hunter known as a witcher, who will
travel the Northern Kingdoms on foot, boat or by horseback with his trusted steed Roach.
With the announcement of the Witcher 3 being Garelts last story has the character in the
third instalment met audiences requirements, not only with fans of the previous titles but of
the serious of fantasy novels by Andrzej Sapkowski of which the games universe is based
round?
Yes, the game has a strong linear story line with plenty of emotional difficulties as players
get invested in the characters they meet along the way, some new, some old from previous
titles that provide a feeling of nostalgia. This main story line is known as the main quest or
objective of the game. However, it is filled with consequential choices, all of which add up to
36 possible endgame states. These are only small variations with in fact just three major
endings adding hours and hours of replay value, especially since the developers added a
new feature that lets the player replay the finished story without losing their hard earned gear
and loot.

New mechanics have been introduced into the game that were not featured in previous titles,
such as the witcher sense which gives Garelt the ability to sense nearby objects, people and
recourses. Combat on horseback and at sea have been introduced along with being able to
swim underwater and use a crossbow adding a new level of game play not seen in previous
titles. Garelt can now also jump, climb and vault over smaller obstacles, creating more
realistic movement and game play.

Like the Witcher 2 CD Projekt RED used their REDengine in creating the Witcher 3, but
version 3 of the engine was used unlike the previous title which as using version 2. The new
version allowed for improved facial and other types of animations. The support of volumetric
effects enabling advanced rendering of clouds, mist, fog, smoke and other such particle
effects were introduced in the new version. It also enabled for advanced ulta-high resolution
textures and mapping, along with dynamic physics and an advanced dialogue mimic system.

With three and a half years of development, I will try and break down the production process
as simple as I possibly can in phases from concept all the way to completion.

Phase 1. Concept

The concept to make a third instalment to the franchise must have been on the minds of the
developers during and after the release of The Witcher 2. For a video games publisher a
game or an idea all ways needs to be in the works due to how long the overall process
takes.
Phase 2. Pre-Production

The pre-production team will work on things such as writing the storyline, creating
storyboards, and putting together a design document detailing the games goals, level
designs, game play mechanics and overall blueprint. Once the storyline is complete the
entire storyboard is pieced together, consisting of sketches, concept art, and annotations
explaining what happens in each section or scene of the game.

Phase 3. Production

Once the pre-production phase is complete and the overall blueprint for the game has been
finalized the game enters the production phase. This is where larger groups of producers,
designers, artists, programmers, voice actors, motion-capture artists, sound and composers
are brought in to start executing the design. Those in production will also work with any
licenses that the game uses and in making sure the companys marketing department knows
the essentials of the title.

Phase 4. Post Production

A game will enter the post-production stage when it is considered feature complete. This is
when an alpha version of the game is created and supplied to the games test department
who will find and report any bugs and major flaws within the game. Once this is complete a
beta version is produced and once again sent to the test department to go through. Only this
time every bug is dealt with regardless of how major or minor it is and is attempted to be
fixed.

When developing a title for console such as Sony or Microsoft, its at this stage where the
testers make sure that the game abides by all of the TRCs as mentioned previously. Once
this is completed a final version of the game is made and, when consoles are concerned, is
sent to the company to get tested and approved for the release on their system.

Below are a few images of locations in Scotland that were used as concept/reference
images for the game.
Telltale: The Walking Dead

Telltales The Walking Dead is an episodic interactive drama graphic adventure video game,
developed and published by Telltale Games. The game was released between April and
November 2012 and is available for Android, IOS, Kindle Fire HDX, Microsoft Windows, Mac
OS X, PlayStation 3, 4 and Vita along with the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The Walking Dead
received critical acclaim, with reviewers giving praise for the harsh emotional tone, the
characters, story and the resemblance to the original comic book. The game received over
80 Game of the Year awards along with many others.

The Walking Dead occurs simultaneously with the events from the original comic book
series, where a zombie apocalypse overwhelms much of society. Much like the comic book
the game focuses more on developing characters and story, and less on the typical action
tropes that tend to feature in other zombie-based games. Played from a third-person
perspective players will play as Lee Everett, as he comes to terms with his situation and
works with a group of survivors to stay alive in the midst a zombie apocalypse.

The majority of the game will require the player to give a response in a limited amount of
time, this can be either a conversation tree that gives Lee multiple options to respond with or
an action that needs to be performed, be it dodging an incoming attack or moving an object.
Often these are significant decisions that affect the games story for better or worse. The AI
characters will even change attitude towards Lee based on the response given, for example
If Lee is in danger they may help, or they may save themselves which might result in a
favourite character dying.

The game consists of five episodes were each one was released roughly two months after
one another. Each episode contains five points where the player must make a significant
decision, choosing from one of two available options. Through Telltales servers, the game
tracks how many players selected which option and lets the player compare their choices to
the rest of the player base. This allows the player to feel a sense of achievement when
getting the outcome they wanted within the story. The game has definitely broken away from
the zombie norm, which I feel may interest a wider audience who are in a need of change.
Much like with the success of the comic books and TV show the game has a very story rich
story containing more dialogue than action game and is very intense emotionally keeping
players on the edge of their seat the whole time.

The production process for The Walking Dead and just Telltale Games in general is very
different and interesting from a normal video game production process. This is because as
mentioned previously the game is in episodes much like a TV series, so when you purchase
the game at release there is only one episode available. Here is a brief breakdown of how
this particular production process is completed.

Phase 1. Concept:

During this time, Telltale Games come up with ideas in prototype form. They then use that
prototype to pitch the idea to the franchise owner, for the case of The Walking Dead it
started out as the Pilot Program zombie prototype, which was then pitched to Skybound who
held the licence for the franchise.
Phase 2. Pre-Production/Production:

Once the license has been secured, a small team is assorted to determine the story for the
entire season, and to begin concept art and basic design. While this is happening another
season will be in process for the same or another franchise, they will be expanding this idea
out with another small team, creating art assets and beginning to design a script.

The season that is ahead of production will then start wrapping up, theyll move some staff
members across to production on the first episode of the newly acquired licensed.

Phase 3. Production:

Once the season for the previous in production game is at the final stages for the final
episode, the newly started production will begin full production with a full team, all focus will
be shifted to that season.

Phase 4. Post Production:

Just like a normal production process this is the stage where the episode is tested before
release, to iron out any bugs or anomalies. Only difference is that art and animation are still
being created right up until release, with code sometimes being implemented the day the
episode is suppose to release.

Telltale's CEO Kevin Bruner stated that

"Telltale's approach to game development is much more like television than most other
game developers. Across all of our series The Walking Dead, Minecraft: Story Mode and
more the development process at Telltale spends a significant amount of time upfront in
the writer's rooms not just with writers, but designers, directors and creative input from all
across the studio. It's not unusual for our games to exist longer on whiteboards and sticky
notes and in scripts than they do in traditional game production. It's incredibly similar to how
TV often spends so much time in preproduction and planning before moving into actually
shooting."
Dark Souls 3

Dark Souls 3 is an third-person action role-playing video game developed by FromSoftware

and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft
Windows on April 12th 2016.

Set in the Kingdom of Lothric, the player is tasked to survive an oncoming apocalypse
brought by the ongoing conflict between the age of fire and those branded with the Dark
Sign as with previous titles of the series. To survive this event the player character must face
the Lords of Cinder, previous heroes who linked the fire, as the cycle of Light and Dark
continues and no matter what you do, darkness will return and repeat itself forever. Lore in
the Dark Souls series has increased the games depth and fans really enjoy it. So of course
when the final instalment to the franchise came about the lore and storyline did not
disappoint fans, with the story referring to the very first game it let fans of the series feel
nostalgic.

Players are equipped with a variety of weapons to fight against enemies with, such as bows,
throwable projectiles, swords, maces, wands and staffs. Shields can be used as a secondary
weapon but are mainly used for deflecting enemies attacks and blocking incoming hits. The
currency in Dark Souls titles are called souls which you acquire from killing enemies, bosses
or from some items, In Dark Souls 3 this is no exception. When you accumulate enough
souls the play is able to buy better items, weapons, upgrades, armour etc. What makes the
Dark Souls series unique is its unforgiving nature when it comes to dying, once dead you
lose all you souls and can only obtain that by finding where you died. This definitely adds a
sense of dread when trying to recover an enormous amount of dropped souls. This one
formula changes the game dramatically and makes it extremely appealing to players looking
for a challenge from the normal hold-your-hand-throughout-the-level game.

Most of the puzzles and NPC are very cryptic in their dialogue so there are dedicated forums
online created by fans to help other players. The community is very active and helpful due to
the complexity of the game, and some would even say the game is impossible to understand
for new players without looking at these forums.

The production process for Dark Souls 3 is that very similar to the standard video game
process like the Witcher 3, only Dark Souls has used the same engine for all 3 games but
has just kept polishing and polishing the same formula that fans love.