GameSpeak: MotorStorm for PS3

GameCore is a weekly column that focuses on gamers and gaming.

MotorStorm brings the brutal, no-holds barred off-road racing experience in the palm of your hands through the massively powerfull PS3. Dispite the hefty price tag however, loyal Sony fans continue to support their brand. But are their expectations of true next generatation gaming experience being met.

Gamecore's Alberto Araya and Chad Chamberlain had a chance to chat with Evolution Studio's producer Simon Benson to answer that question and more regarding MotorStorm for PS3.

Only the best bits. We focused on making the most of the stuff that makes motorsports great, such as high-speed, seat-of-the-pant racing and spectacular crashes, and then we got rid of all the stuff that takes the edge off motorsports such as restricted vehicles and safety.

That's great news. The PS3 has been noted for its ability to handle particle physics really well. In this off-road racer how does PS3 handle this?

"MotorStorm's" particle engine takes particle technology to the next level. In the past, particle technology was typically focused on delivering the highest volume of particles at the lowest cost, so the particles themselves had to be highly efficient so that thousands of them can be emitted without burdening the CPU with too much work.

The compromises typically made to keep the particles affordable were things like not allowing them to collide with anything in the world. This saves an enormous amount of CPU time, but means that particle physics were limited to simply being affected by gravity and having no further interaction with the gaming world.

However, due to the power of the CELL processor, Evolution Studios have created a particle technology for the "MotorStorm" engine that allows the particles to be fully interactive in the world. This means that each particle of mud or dust — and there are thousands and thousands of them — has an accurate physical mass and volume and can interact with the game world in ways never before seen in a game.

When the mud and dust hits another vehicle, you can see it splatter onto the vehicle's body, meaning that if you tail another racer, your ride is going to get pretty messy. Also, the camera can be hit by the mud and dust, giving a real sensation of actually being in a real world — don't forget your dust mask.

Wow, that is a great step in the development for the future of gaming on the PS3, Simon. Not to mention a great step for Evolution Studios, too. Now would you say that Evolution Studios' experience with other off road racers like "World Rally Championship" has given them an edge in pushing the PS3 to its limits?

I would say that our passion and dedication to pushing the boundaries of photo realistic natural environments has always given us an edge — PlayStation 3 is the tool that we use to allow us to get ever close to our goal. We will always try and push the hardware as much as we possibly could to make the game world that bit more immersive and beautiful. We are impressed with the power and potential of PS3 and believe that it will certainly allow us to continue to deliver ever more amazing visuals and truly immersive gaming environments.

We are glad that you and the team have a passion about "MotorStorm." Was Evolution Studios able to get all their ideas into the game and, if not, should there be a sequel? What would you say they would want to add a second time around?

Being a creatively lead developer, it is typically impossible to get all of our ideas into a title. It can be extremely difficult and painful to exclude features that we know will be great because our games are labor of love and we want to cram as much great stuff as we can into them.

However, we have a very firm philosophy at our studio, and that is, if it can't be implemented to the highest standard in time for launch, then it must not be put into the game. This allows us to avoid adding lots of features that don't have the time to be polished and tuned to perfection, so only the feature that can be truly nurtured and crafted will make it.

The festival in the first title was intended to provide a springboard for features in the future. "MotorStorm" initially only included the core racing element of the festival, but the movies in the GUI show so much more going on. Expect to see more festival events opened up to the player as time goes on — but why wait for a sequel for that?

Wow, man, sounds like you're leading in to the online component. So what downloadable content should we expect from "MS"?

We always want to go the extra mile in everything we do, so when we think about downloadable content, we are keen to avoid just adding more cars and tracks.

Sure, that is a good thing to do, but why not do more while we are at it? So we are really keen to continue to develop "MotorStorm" in the same way that we do when we make the game in the first place.

We see downloadable content as an extension to development time rather than just an opportunity to bolt on some more data. This is great for us as it allows us to get out our massive ideas list and continue to pour them into "MotorStorm," even though it has shipped — we have never been in this position before, as typically once a game ships, you can only continue development by making a sequel.

I think the players will be big winners with this new model of games development as it also allows us to focus on the things that they want while it's still fresh.

Interesting ideas. So, in your opinion, what are some of the key points of interests in this game?

'MotorStorm" is a racing game, but a racing game like no other. Most racing games focus all of their attention on providing a competitive race — after all, that's what racing is all about.

However, "MotorStorm" considers another priority above the racing, and that is entertainment. "MotorStorm" is a game and the primary goal of games is to entertain, so that should come first with competitive racing a close second.

This slight shift in mind set makes "MotorStorm" what it is — a gladiatorial battle to the finish line in a brutal, chaotic race. We make vehicle crashes as spectacular as possible, make the AI not just turn laps, but fight for position with each other and with you. "MotorStorm" is a game for gamers — you don't have to be a petrol head to have fun here.

That is so refreshing to hear: a game whose priority is to enjoy and entertain, and not just win, win, win. Now, Simon, this might be a bit off beat but, with female gamers on the rise, do you suppose this franchise could service both hardcore and casual gamer needs?

I think the "MotorStorm" brand can certainly be utilized to service casual gamers. The whole idea of the "MotorStorm" festival is that it is not just about racing. All manor of other activities take place too, such as side shows, live music, dancing and plenty of partying in fantastic natural environments.

There are many elements of the "MotorStorm" festival that could be the focus of a very successful line of casual games, even with the opportunity of targeting a game specifically at a female audience. After all, everyone loves a good party.

We couldn't have said it better ourselves man. And with that, we're gonna party with "MotorStorm." Thank you very much for your time.
By Alberto Araya and Chad Chamberlain