Working with the PS3

The advent of the next generation has meant our world of pre-rendered CG and the world of the real-time video games have been pushed so much closer together.

The PS3 is capable of such amazing graphic quality that throughout the whole games industry the bar on production values has been raised dramatically. This dramatic step forward in production values has pitted the games industry, and the PS3 as an entertainment format, directly against movies and television in the mainstream.

This is where we have felt a big impact, as those publishing PS3 games want huge marketing awareness for their titles and that is where we step in with the production of trailers and promo’s. This push to the mainstream has also meant that there are more pairs of eyes watching our work.

Our four most successful trailers have had over two million downloads from the game portal gametrailers.com, that’s not counting all the views on places like youtube.com and ifilm.com, the demand for this digital content has really blown us away.

Alongside the PS3’s amazing content there is also the HD quality of the picture. Our first HD projects were produced for video game clients; they led the way.

It has only been recently that our clients in commercials and broadcast have been catching up with that trend. All the same HD rules apply to our work as to the developers.

HD means more detail in models and textures, it means more complex animation, more impressive visual effects and all of this has driven up the quality of the work we produce. If it wasn’t for systems like PS3 who knows how far our clients would have pushed us.

I think the future of digital content delivery on the PS3 via PlayStation Network is also a fantastic opportunity.

Convergence has been an over used word in the media industry for the last ten years but the advent of systems like PS3 and their ability to do more than just play games means that convergence is already happening.

I am excited about the possibilities of creating other types of digital content that keep video game brands front and centre, in-between sequels for example. Why not create a digital comic book or short films that can push the story and characters forward to the point of where the next game picks up.

It allows you to turn the game into an all-encompassing digital experience and really put games in the number one spot for entertainment.