US sales of Killzone 2 disappoint at under 1 million units Halo 3 wins...

Further new NPD Group data has revealed lifetime sales to date for Sony's Killzone 2 title in the US, with the game so far selling only 677,000 units.

First released on February 27, the PlayStation 3 exclusive debuted in the February sales chart at number five, with 323,000 units sold. In the March results the game fell only two places to number seven, with 296,000 units sold.

By April though the game had fallen outside of the top 20, but data provided to website Gamasutra reveals that it sold 58,000 units during the month. As result the game's lifetime total to date in the US currently stands at 677,000 units.



On its release Sony proclaimed Killzone 2 to be its fastest-selling title ever in the US, in terms of reaching 500,000 unit sales. Responding to the March NPD chart, Sony also revealed that worldwide sales had passed 1 million units, suggesting sales in PAL territories at the time of around 400,000 units (The game was not released in Japan until April 23).

Although the sales figures are strong by most standards the game is reported to have cost over EUR 40 million to develop. Perhaps most importantly for Sony, the title has failed to drive hardware sales on the PlayStation 3, which have actually dropped year-on-year in the US since the game's release.

Source: GamesIndustry

Second downloadable Killzone 2 Map Pack announced

The next wave of downloadable content for Killzone 2 on PlayStation 3 (PS3) has now been announced. Prepare for a literal blast-from-the-past in the form of the Flash and Thunder Pack: a download from PlayStation Store featuring the Beach Head and Southern Hills maps.

They’re two of the best maps from the original Killzone for PlayStation 2 – now completely remade for PS3, overflowing with brutal combat between the ISA and the merciless Helghast and offering gamers even more ways to play the first-person shooter that everyone’s talking about.

The Beach Head map sees the ISA tasked with defending a coastal stronghold against a Helghast landing force. This rain-lashed and windswept battlefield is limited in size – which means more action, more hand-to-hand combat, plenty of sneaking up on the enemy and melee kills galore. The Southern Hills map sees the ISA attempting to storm a Helghast compound on top of a hill. A mixture of built-up terrain and wide open spaces – perfect for headshot sniper kills – this map is full of hiding places and offers the perfect battlefield for a large-scale game with lots of players.

The Flash and Thunder Pack is the second awesome instalment of downloadable extra content for Killzone 2 on PS3 and will arrive in PlayStation Store on (11th of June 2009).

Killzone 1.24 Patch Details

AI - Bots now skipping disabled/destroyed MGs in warzone when requesting mounted guns.
AI - Do not claim waypoints for the previous character when it’s dead.
AI - Fixes bots getting stuck trying to arm/disarm S&D object when mission is already over.
Campaign - Fix for potential progression bug in Salamun Bridge.
Clan - User name, not users clan displayed in rankings
Clan - Winning 10 Clan Challenges causes the user to become stuck on the medal awards screen.
Controls - Lean & Peak - Zoom hold on and out of ammo it switches between regular/scope view rapidly.
Cosmetic - Blue screen tint which indicates scout cloak is occasionally enabled and will remain indefinitely.
Cosmetic - White squares on the grenade counter merge together when displayed in 1080p
Create Game - “Badge Combination” option does not work properly
Create Game - Online - “clan only” presets apply even after a player leaves a clan
DLC - DLC pack 1 - ’Steel & Titanium’ support DLC - New Loading screens advertising the first DLC pack.
Exploit - Helghan Industries - Player getting out of map fix.
Exploit - Radec Academy - User is able to gain access to the roof when revived in a specific location.
Exploit - Reviving player stuck in wall collision can result in him spawning outside level
Exploit - Salamun Market - One sided wall allows people to be seen and shot from outside where they cant see or fire out
Exploit - Tharsis Depot - Player can get out of the “normal” play area and can get into some sniper/camp spots
Feature - Invite player from friendslist Feature - Join Clan Member list added.
Feature - Join Game - 17-24 players filter.
Feature - MP - Moving while seeing scores after pressing SELECT
Feature - The radar/map now has a larger radius
Feature - Three additional ’Harcore’ Ranks added to the top limits.
Front-end - Add support to display more than 8 maps when creating a game /challenge/tournament
Front-end - Sorting ascending and decending ranks working better in ’Rankings’
Front-end - When in a squad, the Valor Trophy is visible in the Squad Tab, however the users rank is not being displayed on top of it.
Mods - Official tournament to be displayed first followed by custom created tournaments
Mods - Additional functionality made avalable to the in-game moderators.
Network - Server side fix for full games being displayed incorrectly.
Network - User is unable to use the ’Join Clan Member’ tab due to Network Error Code 20002.
Online - File-synching with the Japanese release of Killzone 2 on the 23rd of April.
Sound - Turret placing sound continues when killed.
Stability - Crash when synching gamestate after a full mapcycle
Stability - Hang on a screen with a blank message window just before a message appears.
Stability - Reducing the load on the server related to syncing the buddylist
Stats - If a clan wins 24 Clan Challenges and goes to the result screen, the medal acquisition screen, which normally displays when you win 25 games, will display.
Stats - Number of air-support grenades used by tacticians does not add to the stats of joined user correctly.
Stats - Number of spawn-grenades used by tacticians does not add to the stats of joined user correctly.
Stats - User sometimes does not receive 1000 valor award when winning 10 Clan Challenges.
Text - % character not displayed correctly on the creating game dialogue box after selecting to create game.
Text - If a client receives an invite from a clan which has a ’$’ character in the clan name, the recipient will get kicked
Text - Minor Italian localization fix.
Text - Minor Japanese localization fix.
Tournament - Game decides winner if one of the two teams doesn’t spawn in
Trophies - Fix for Wargod trophy unlocking pre-maturely

Source: PS3Blog

Killzone not such a killer game as Sony would have liked?

Scott Steinberg, Vice President of Product Marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America, recently sat down with GameDaily and chatted about Killzone 2, the latest in a long line of PS3 "killer apps."

According to GameDaily, Steinberg said that Killzone 2 is the "fastest SCEA PS3 title to break the 500,000 unit mark" and that it's the "highest selling SCEA PS3 title for the first 30 days out of launch." Impressive numbers to be sure, but notice the number of qualifiers that Steinberg used:

First of all, Killzone 2 is the fastest selling SCEA published title to reach 500,000 in sales. This means that other third party games, such as Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4, have likely sold faster than Sony's hugely hyped Killzone 2.

Secondly, Steinberg used the number 500,000 as his milestone mark. This implies that Killzone 2 hasn't reached 1 million in sales yet and that it is likely lagging well behind the sales numbers of "killer apps" on the Xbox 360 and Wii.

While the PS3 has slowly built up a respectable number of fantastic games, its sluggish sales numbers (for both consoles and software) still remain solidely in the back of the pack.

This also means the hype machine touting God of War III as "the game that will really put the PS3 over the top" should kick into gear any day now.



Full post here on Gaming target...

Xbox 360 could handle Killzone 2 video game says developer

“Killzone 2 could totally be done” on the Microsoft Xbox 360, says Christian Allen, a games designer who previously worked at Bungie, the company behind the Halo series on the Xbox 360. Killzone 2 is Sony’s best attempt yet to directly rival Halo’s epic first-person shooter success, on the PS3.

While Killzone 2’s visuals have been nearly universally feted as making it the best looking first-person shooter ever, Allen believes this is not down to any superiority in the PS3’s power compared to the Microsoft Xbox 360. Allen told HipHopGamer: “Halo could come to PS3. It really comes down to console exclusivity. The tech differences between the PS3 and the 360 aren’t all that much.”

Allen also believes that developing for the Microsoft Xbox 360 used to be easier, but the differences between the two consoles are now very small. Of course, Killzone 2 will never come to the Xbox 360, in the same way Halo will never go to the PS3 – these exclusive titles are what drive gamers to one console over another. But Allen is not the first developer to admit that underneath it all, the Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 are more alike than they are different.

Source: Electricpig

PlayStation Network - FREE Killzone 2 - 4D demo this Thursday

Sony and Guerilla announce a playble version of Killzone 2 this Thursday in 4D allowing users to control camera angles and see some of the technology in the game.

Watch the Matrix type video here...

Glasgow Scotland (my home town), Axis animation, produced Killzone 2 Intro movie...

Axis is an award winning animation studio, based in Glasgow, Scotland, dedicated to creating the best in animation and visual effects for commercials, broadcast, film and interactive entertainment. Recent credits include BAFTA winning Colin and Cumberland for the BBC, D&AD nominated Codehunters short film for MTV Asia and video game trailers for Colin McRae DiRT, Heavenly Sword, Crysis, Motorstorm Pacific Rift and Killzone.

Watch the trailer...

Axis back in the Killzone

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Guerrilla Games called on Axis yet again to deliver a breathtaking sequence for the next installment of the epic Killzone game franchise. Killzone 2 is set two years after the Helghast assault on Vekta and the ISA are now taking the fight to the enemy’s home world of Helghan.



Directed at Axis by Stuart Aitken this cinematic intro saw Aitken and the Axis team execute one of their most ambitious projects to date. Sony’s Creative Services Group, who had been developing the creative idea and script alongside the team at Guerrilla, initially approached Axis with their ideas. It was then that Aitken became involved with further development being done between the three companies.

The sequence starts with the familiar tones of Brian Cox reprising his role as the Helghan leader Scolar Visari. Echoing the cinematic intro to the first Killzone game, also created by the Axis team, Visari's impassioned speech to the Helghan people provides an emotional backdrop to the entire sequence.

The opening camera pullback soon reveals that Visari is in fact being televised via an ISA news report within ISA command, watched intently by Killzone 2's principle character, Sev. From this initial shot the camera continues in one three minute long unbroken cut, taking the viewer on an epic journey as we follow the ISA invasion fleet departing from their base on Vekta, out into interplanetary space and down into the hostile atmosphere of the planet Helghan.

‘When we were offered the opportunity to work with Sony and Guerrilla again on Killzone we jumped at the chance’ says Axis Executive Producer Richard Scott. ‘We spent a lot of time during the pitch phase exploring different styles and look development for the intro and it was clear to Sony that we were passionate about the project’.

Following the pitch phase and with the decisions made as to the look of the intro, Aitken and his team launched into the pre-production stages working on storyboards and 2d animatics. This process allowed them to plan how the single camera move would work.

‘The storyboarding and development of the 2d animatic was just the start of a long road to getting the camera move to work’ says Aitken. ‘After we had the 2d animatic working in terms of overall framing and timing we moved over to 3d layout where we had to work very hard to get the camera motion to work across the vast distances and changes of scale involved. In one shot we go from a scale where one persons eye fills the entire frame to sweeping past planets alongside tumbling mile long spaceships and back again – this was definitely the most challenging camera move we had ever attempted!’ he continued.

There were other major challenges to be faced by the Axis team. The sequence features some of the studios best character work, especially visible on the Scolar Visari character that bookends the intro at the start and in a final reprise at the end. The fact that he is seen in extreme close up with all the focus on his performance that this entails, meant that the team had to pay a lot of attention, to wrinkles, blemishes, skin shaders and facial deformation to ensure a suitably impressive result.

In addition the sequence features a huge range of complex visual effects including dramatic ship explosions, dense planetary atmospheres filled with storm clouds, battlefield smoke, slow motion ground explosions and gruesome blood splatters. ‘Working in the Killzone world is always a challenge and a pleasure.’ says Axis Producer Debbie Ross. ‘It is so rich in terms of back story and detail. Guerilla always work very hard to establish a distinct look and style that it is important for us to follow – its always clear which direction the look should take.’

The Axis team was supplied with some game assets to work from, which were converted for use within the studios pipeline, including converting the game engine normal maps into true detailed displacements to increase the levels of detail. Axis also had to pay a lot of attention to recreating the visual look of the game, as the player would experience it on the PlayStation 3 platform. However not all the assets required for the intro existed at the time of production so it was down to the Axis modeling team to create models for various characters, locations and vehicles including Visari, the ISA Command base and various the spacecraft.

‘Killzone 2 was being described as one of the best games visually on a console and it was important that we delivered all of that quality and more’ Ross continued.

Axis worked with their motion capture partners Audiomotion to deliver all the character animation and then created additional keyframe animation where required.

This additional animation was accomplished via Axis' in-house rigging setup that allows additive manual edits to be seamlessly layered on top of the underlying motion captured data. All of the facial animation, including that of Scolar Visari, was keyframed and needed complex muscle setup to get a full range of facial movement. The Axis pipeline, which had to deliver to the highest level on all fronts for this project, combines several off the shelf 3d tools with proprietary plug-in additions and scripted stages to transfer data from one package to another.

Assets were processed and created in Modo, Z-brush and Maya, exported to Maya, where they were rigged and animated, then exported to Houdini which was used as the primary 3d application for all the final stages in the project including shading, lighting, rendering and visual effects. All layers where rendered using Mantra, Houdini's own renderer before being composited in Digital Fusion.

Grading and finishing was done on Flame at Scramble in London and the very talented team in-house at Guerrilla Games completed all sound design and music.

‘We have been blown away by the amazing reaction from both the client and the game buying public to this piece of work,’ says Richard Scott. ‘We always look forward to a huge challenge and this project definitely threw a lot of those our way!’

Sony pull 300 Killzone 2 ads after complaints their war themes that look "like Iraq"

The first complaint about the campaign, placed on bus shelters around Toronto, Canada, was from Grade 4/5 teacher Davis Mirza, who emailed Sony Canada.

"My kids, who come from a lot of different countries, who have to experience violence, who basically come here to seek shelter and safety, that's the stuff they don't need to see," said Mirza, noting the game's iconic "menacing head with glowing eyes".

He also said the images of war-torn Helghan look "like Iraq".

"I don't think that when you're in Scarborough, where we're having to deal on a constant basis with violence, that does anything to help promote any kind of community renewal or even responsibility," he added.

Read full post here on CandVGames...

Studio Responsible for all of the animations in Killzone 2

Audiomotion Studios, Europe’s leading Motion Capture specialist and service provider has been responsible for providing all of the Mocap data for one of SONY’s biggest releases for the first quarter of 2009, Killzone 2 FPS for PlayStation3. The game has gone straight in at No1 knocking Halo Wars off the top spot and has become one of the fastest selling Sony games of all time.

Working closely with the world famous Dutch based development studio and SONY owned Guerilla Games, Audiomotion worked on the hugely anticipated Killzone 2 for a period of four years delivering over 5000 in-game animations and utilizing Full Performance Capture for all of the cutscenes.

Mick Morris Managing Director of Audiomotion stated “We are delighted to share in the wonderful success of Killzone 2 with our friends at Guerilla. The team and the game they have delivered are absolutely deserving of the high praise they are receiving. It’s an amazing achievement and we look forward to more groundbreaking collaboration with them in the years to come.”

“Throughout the production of Killzone 2 Audiomotion has proven to be a very reliable and flexible partner. Supporting us creatively and technically. They go above and beyond the call of duty. They are more than just a partner, Audiomotion are a joy to work with” commented Geert Donker Cinematics Producer of Guerilla Games.

Following events and action from the original Killzone for PlayStation 2, Killzone 2 brings players into a highly detailed, ultra-realistic “theatre of war” that truly leverages the processing power of the PS3.

Killzone 2 joins UK video games chart at No1 pips Halo Wars

Chartweek UK video games chart

Week ending 28 February 2009

1 KILLZONE 2 - SONY COMPUTER ENT.
2 HALO WARS - MICROSOFT
3 STREET FIGHTER IV - CAPCOM
4 WII FIT - NINTENDO
5 PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE CURIOUS VILLAGE - NINTENDO
6 SEGA MEGA DRIVE ULTIMATE COLLECTION - SEGA
7 FIFA 09 - EA SPORTS
8 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR - ACTIVISION
9 BEN 10: ALIEN FORCE - D3P
10 MARIO KART WII - NINTENDO
11 SILENT HILL: HOMECOMING - KONAMI
12 WII PLAY - NINTENDO
13 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV - ROCKSTAR
14 DISNEY'S BOLT - DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS
15 CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE - ACTIVISION
16 MARIO & SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES - SEGA
17 GUITAR HERO: WORLD TOUR - REDOCTANE
18 WARHAMMER 40,000: DAWN OF WAR II - THQ
19 - NEED FOR SPEED: UNDERCOVER - EA GAMES
20 F.E.A.R 2: PROJECT ORIGIN WARNER BROS. - INTERACTIVE

Top 14 things to do in Killzone 2 the video game Playstation 3

MTV Multiplayer blog spoke to Killzone 2 producer, Sebasitan Downie at Guerrilla and asked for a top-list of things all Killzone 2 players simply have to do once they get their hands on the game, and Downie was happy to oblige, replying with fourteen activities. One of the proposed ‘Must Do’ items on the list?

“In the slums of Salamun District wait till the Helghast rappel from the dropship before exploding the yellow barrels. It will take them out in one fiery blast and often enough their burning corpses will swing from the rafters above. Killzone 2 is all about the burning corpses.”

1. On the mine-train in Tharsis Refinery, find the hidden Boltgun and nail Helghast soldiers to the tunnel walls. Its rewarding in more ways than one.

2. After playing online, go to www.killzone.com to view the Battle Replay of your game to see how you can improve your performance. Or you can use it to spy on the tactics deployed by a rival clan.

3. Rank up to Sergeant and create a Clan in-game or on www.killzone.com to take part in massive tournaments of up to 256 clans, or challenge rival clans for ‘valor’, the online currency of the game.

4. Keep an eye out for the [GG] Clan when you are online and see if you can take out a developer or two.

5. In the slums of Salamun District wait till the Helghast rappel from the dropship before exploding the yellow barrels. It will take them out in one fiery blast and often enough their burning corpses will swing from the rafters above. Killzone 2 is all about the burning corpses.

6. Upload your single player stats to www.killzone.com to compare them with your friends for bragging rights as well as catch up on the latest news, content and gossip on the forums.

7. In Killzone 2 multiplayer for search-and-destroy and capture-and-hold missions: select the tactician badge with the speed boost secondary ability to take one for the team. Rush the objective and pop a spawn point making it much easier for your team to gain the upper hand.

8. When playing online search-and-retrieve missions: Let your enemies do your work for you! As the saboteur, Ambush the delivery location with C4, don a disguise, and wait for your enemy propaganda carrier to come by. Once he blows up, you only need to carry the propaganda speaker a few short steps to victory!

9. In multiplayer: Look at what weapons your fallen adversaries are carrying! By picking up their weapons you can end up with some deadly combinations of abilities and weapons, such as the heavy armor of an assault trooper with the LMG of a rifleman; or a cloaked scout wielding a shotgun (Devastating at close quarters!)

10. When playing multiplayer, press the PS button and bring up the XMB. You can then listen to custom music from your PS3 to go with your killing sprees. Nothing says “Kill the ISA scum” like the super swinging sounds of Burt Bacharach.

11. In Maelstra barrens, rather than wasting valuable ammunition on the traitorous Helghast, step on them with your Exo-skeleton instead. Much more satisfying and you might even get a trophy for it.

12. In multiplayer try to place your gun turrets and sentry bots near spawn markers to offer defense for spawning re-enforcements. Also try to place sentry bots or turrets near your own ammo crates. In short, think carefully about where you place support items and try to place them next to other support items.

13. Use the shotgun close range on enemy heads to blow them apart like ripe fruit. Also makes a very satisfying squishy noise.

14. To see what the AI is capable of, why not add some bots to your multiplayer games. They will perform most of the abilities human players can and not complain if you team-kill or tea-bag them.

Source: EL33TONLINE/MTV

Microsoft congratulate Sony on Killzone 2 but warn they have something better...

Statement from Microsoft...

We congratulate Sony and Guerrilla Games for their efforts with Killzone 2, however this is only the beginning of a new wave. The current technology employed for certain unannounced Xbox 360 exclusives far surpasses what gamers have seen in any game so far.
Gears of War was the beginning of this technological benchmark when released on the 360 and this lineage will be carried forward in the following months with exclusives that shall stand for a new definition of gaming experience and provide stiff competition for the opposition.

Killzone 2 patch 1.11 stops bot abuse - play fair.

Guerrilla Games have released a patch for Killzone 2 to stop players padding out their game statistics with bot armies.

The patch (1.11) stops bots being added to online games that allow players to increase their experience points by fighting these low-end opponents.

This is just the start as Guerrilla plan a more permanent solution soon.

Killzone 2 PlayStation 3 Exclusive - screenshots and artwork video

Watch the screenshots and artwork video... Click - Read more here link...

Killzone 2 Webgame Command Centre online

Killzone 2 Webgame Command Centre watch the trailer (18+) and register to play here...Search on the right for Killzone for most posts on this game.

Killzone frame rate drops to 20fps - that's low!

Killzone 2 is arguably the most technically impressive game of modern times, but its engine can come under pressure.

By now you must have played the Killzone 2 demo. A perfect showcase for the game, but if you can believe it, it doesn't hold a candle to latter levels. Particle effects and hundreds of dynamic light sources abound; the attention to detail is stunning.

Video at end of post...

The game's engine performs relatively well throughout, with Guerrilla Games already admitting that they use the PlayStation 3's SPU processors to make sure the 30 frames-per-second refresh rate stays intact.

As the game progresses the special effects (usually a description used for movies) go into hyper-drive and it's almost unbelievable that the PlayStation 3 manages to keep up with it.



Full post on Gamezine here...

Killzone 2 - Guerrila boss admits "Some Areas to Improve"

Hermen Hulst is the managing director of Guerrilla Games. He appears to be a refreshingly honest and straightforward chap in an industry rapidly disappearing beneath a mountain of jargon, obfuscation and plain BS. He is also responsible for Killzone 2, the game that could either breathe new life into PlayStation 3 or serve as the first verse in its swansong.

While Internet forums have been befouled with rants about how good or bad the game is, Mr Hulst is more up front. He says, "We've delivered in most areas on the vision we set out. We have pushed the machine hard". However, he also states, "If you analyse down to the nitty gritty, there are some areas to improve."

That is not the kind of statement a company leader makes about a make-or-break product that he is not confident in. He's also upfront about why the game came about, telling the BBC, "Our mission for the title was to build a showcase for the PlayStation 3 hardware. I think we have pushed the machine, so I am hopeful that we can help Sony push hardware units."

Source: Spong

Killzone 2 video game orders pass 1.1 million

Sony has said that pre-orders of PlayStation 3 exclusive Killzone 2 have reached over 1.1 million units in Europe.

President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, David Reeves, revealed the numbers in an interview with The Guardian. The game is released in the UK and Europe February 27 and has been picking up enthusiastic reviews from the specialist games press.

Watch the trailer on my YouTube channel here... please subscribe
Sony is also releasing a PlayStation 3 bundle, which includes a 80GB console and a copy of the game, with Play.com offering a free Killzone 2 theme.

The demo for the game has been released in Europe via the PlayStation Network.