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166-630: Sonic Generations is a 2011 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360 , Windows , and Nintendo 3DS . Produced in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the game follows Sonic and his sidekick Tails as they form an alliance with their past selves and travel through levels from previous Sonic games. It features two gameplay styles: "Classic", which plays from

332-611: A Shadow the Hedgehog -centric side game, Shadow Generations , the story of which occurs parallel to the events of Generations . The remaster includes the Casino Night pinball DLC and features additional content, such as hidden Chao to rescue in each stage and the addition of the Drop Dash ability first seen in Sonic Mania . The game's script was also updated and re-recorded for the remaster. Sonic X Shadow Generations

498-578: A side-scrolling perspective like that of the original Sega Genesis Sonic games, and "Modern", 3D levels similar to those in Sonic Unleashed (2008) and Sonic Colors (2010). Development of Sonic Generations began following the completion of Unleashed . Sonic Team sought to re-imagine the most popular aspects of the franchise in high-definition , and developed the game using the Hedgehog Engine . Each location and many bosses in

664-608: A true 3D platformer is a French computer game called Alpha Waves , created by Christophe de Dinechin and published by Infogrames in 1990 for the Atari ST , Amiga , and IBM PC compatibles . Bug! , released in 1995 for the Saturn , has a more conservative approach. It allows players to move in all directions, but it does not allow movement along more than one axis at once; the player can move orthogonally but not diagonally. Its characters were pre-rendered sprites, much like

830-452: A 1980 arcade release by Universal , is sometimes credited as the first platformer. Another precursor to the genre from 1980 was Nichibutsu 's Crazy Climber , in which the player character scales vertically scrolling skyscrapers. The unreleased 1979 Intellivision game Hard Hat has a similar concept. Donkey Kong , an arcade video game created by Nintendo and released in July 1981,

996-494: A 2009 study by SquareTrade , a warranty provider, found a two-year failure rate of 10% for PlayStation 3s. In September 2009, BBC 's Watchdog television program aired a report investigating the issue, calling it the "yellow light of death" (YLOD). Among the consoles that experienced the failure, they found that it usually occurred 18–24 months after purchase, while the standard Sony warranty covers one year after purchase. After this time period, PlayStation 3 owners can pay Sony

1162-401: A 2D plane are called 2.5D , as they are a blend of 2D and 3D. The first platformers to simulate a 3D perspective and moving camera emerged in the early-mid-1980s. An early example of this was Konami 's Antarctic Adventure , where the player controls a penguin in a forward-scrolling third-person perspective while having to jump over pits and obstacles. Originally released in 1983 for

1328-422: A 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure , for its Dreamcast console. It used a hub structure like Super Mario 64 , but its levels were more linear, fast-paced, and action-oriented. PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 ( PS3 ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). The successor to the PlayStation 2 , it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It

1494-465: A USB keyboard and mouse and a web browser supporting compatible-file download function. Additionally, UPnP media will appear in the respective audio/video/photo categories if a compatible media server or DLNA server is detected on the local network. The Friends menu allows mail with emoticon and attached picture features and video chat which requires an optional PlayStation Eye or EyeToy webcam. The Network menu allows online shopping through

1660-462: A balance between open-ended and guided exploration. Another platform-adventure released that year, Pony Canyon 's Super Pitfall , was critically panned for its vagueness and weak game design. That same year Jaleco released Esper Boukentai , a sequel to Psychic 5 that scrolled in all directions and allowed the player character to make huge multistory jumps to navigate the vertically oriented levels. Telenet Japan also released its own take on

1826-481: A bouncing car that jumps on various platforms such as buildings, clouds, and hills. Jump Bug offered a glimpse of what was to come, with uneven, suspended platforms, levels that scroll horizontally (and in one section, vertically), and differently themed sections, such as a city, the interior of a large pyramid, and underwater. Irem's 1982 arcade game Moon Patrol combines jumping over obstacles and shooting attackers. A month later, Taito released Jungle King ,

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1992-525: A brief burst of episodic platformers where the first was freely distributed and parts 2 and 3 were available for purchase. The abundance of platformers for 16-bit consoles continued late into the generation, with successful games such as Vectorman (1995), Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995), and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995), but the release of new hardware caused players' attention to move away from 2D genres. The Saturn , PlayStation , and Nintendo 64 nevertheless featured

2158-538: A bundled console. The 250 GB model was bundled with the Game of the Year edition of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and released on September 25, 2012; and the 500 GB model was bundled with Assassin's Creed III and released on October 30, 2012. In Japan, the black colored Super Slim model was released on October 4, 2012; and the white colored Super Slim model was released on November 22, 2012. The Super Slim model

2324-436: A certain amount of rings or completing a level with the help of another character . Upon reaching the end of the level, players are given a grade based on their performance, with an "S" rank being the best and a "D" rank the worst. After completing an era, players must defeat two bosses : a "rival" character and a main boss. Defeating each boss gives the player a Chaos Emerald , all seven of which must be collected to confront

2490-494: A complex processor architecture, and lack of quality games, but was praised for its Blu-ray capabilities and "untapped potential". The reception improved over time. The system had a slow start in the market but managed to recover, particularly after the introduction of the Slim model, and managed to sell 87.4 million units to outsell the competing Xbox 360 and become the eighth-bestselling video game console in history . Its successor,

2656-562: A dedicated GPU , believing the Cell microprocessor could handle all graphics processing tasks. However, game developers, including Sony’s ICE team (the central graphics technologies group for its game studios), demonstrated that without a dedicated GPU, the PlayStation 3’s performance would fall short, particularly when compared to the Xbox 360 . This feedback prompted the late-stage addition of

2822-505: A demonstration of how the technology might work if it is implemented in the future. Firmware update 3.30 officially allowed PS3 titles to be played in 3D, requiring a compatible display for use. System software update 3.50 prepared it for 3D films. While the game itself must be programmed to take advantage of the 3D technology, titles may be patched to add in the functionality retroactively. Titles with such patches include Wipeout HD , Pain , and Super Stardust HD . The basic design of

2988-759: A design partner for the console's graphics chip. Sony officially unveiled PlayStation 3 to the public on May 16, 2005, at E3 2005 , along with a boomerang -shaped prototype design of the Sixaxis controller. A functional version of the system was not present there, nor at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2005, although demonstrations (such as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots ) were held at both events on software development kits and comparable personal computer hardware . Video footage based on

3154-439: A first-person POV camera during gameplay; and SM64 Generations , which also features Mario and implements his moves and physics from Super Mario 64 . The console and PC versions of Sonic Generations received "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic . The game was also successful commercially, selling 1.85 million copies worldwide across all platforms by March 31, 2012. The game's presentation

3320-649: A fixed fee for a refurbished console. Sony claimed that, according to its statistics of returned consoles, approximately 0.5% of consoles were reported as showing the YLOD. In response to the televised report, Sony issued a document criticizing the program's accuracy and conclusions; specifically that the faults were evidence of a manufacturing defect. The document also complained that the report had been inappropriate in tone and might damage Sony's brand name. PS3's hardware has also been used to build supercomputers for high-performance computing . Fixstars Solutions sells

3486-411: A form of health, and power-ups such as elemental shields, invincibility, speed shoes, skateboards, or Wisps . Players can also customize each Sonic's abilities, and purchase additional ones at a Skill Shop. The game's main hub is a realm called White Space, in which the player can explore, converse with other characters, and access the game's levels , each of which are derived from a previous entry in

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3652-450: A forward-scrolling effect similar to Sega's 1985 third-person rail shooter Space Harrier . 3-D WorldRunner was an early forward-scrolling pseudo-3D third-person platform-action game where players were free to move in any forward-scrolling direction and could leap over obstacles and chasms. It was notable for being one of the first stereoscopic 3-D games . Square released its sequel, JJ , later that year. The earliest example of

3818-609: A high quality of animation. The 1988 shareware game The Adventures of Captain Comic was one of the first attempts at a Nintendo-style platformer for IBM PC compatibles . It inspired Commander Keen , released by id Software in 1990, which became the first MS-DOS platformer with smooth scrolling graphics. Keen's success resulted in numerous console-styled platformers for MS-DOS compatible operating systems, including Duke Nukem , Duke Nukem II , Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure , and Dark Ages all by Apogee Software . These fueled

3984-598: A home entertainment system akin to supercomputers . It was the first console to use the Blu-ray disc as its primary storage medium, the first to be equipped with an HDMI port, and graphically was the first to be able to output at 1080p (Full HD) resolution. The console launched together with the PlayStation Network online service, and was also the first to be controllable from a handheld console through its Remote Play connectivity. In September 2009,

4150-528: A level in 30 seconds. An emulation of the original 1991 Sonic the Hedgehog game, ported by Backbone Entertainment , can be unlocked in the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. After his previous defeat, Doctor Eggman is left stranded in outer space . A mysterious time-traveling entity known as the Time Eater appears; Eggman, realizing its potential, uses it to go back in time and team up with his past ("Classic") self. The two convert it to

4316-408: A new ability. The concept art, as well as cutscenes and character profiles, can be viewed in a Collection Room, while music can be set to play in any level, mission, or boss. The game also features two forms of online leaderboards: "Ranking Attack", which challenges players to obtain the best time and score on each level, and "30 Second Trial", which challenges players to see how far they can get through

4482-631: A number of successful 2D platformers. The 2D Rayman was a big success on 32-bit consoles. Mega Man 8 and Mega Man X4 helped revitalize interest in Capcom 's Mega Man character . Castlevania: Symphony of the Night revitalized its series and established a new foundation for later Castlevania games. Oddworld and Heart of Darkness kept the subgenre born from Prince of Persia alive. The difficulties of adapting platformer gameplay to three dimensions led some developers to compromise by pairing

4648-684: A price of S$ 799. In the United Arab Emirates , the system retailed for 2499 dirhams on March 23, slightly less than the price in Europe. Sony also hosted a large launch party with singer Shakira performing at the Dubai Autodrome . The PS3 sold 600,000 units in the first two days of its release in Europe. It became the fastest-selling home system in the United Kingdom with 165,000 units sold in two days, and became

4814-441: A quarter and a third of all console games. By 2006, the genre had experienced a decline in sales, representing a 2% market share as compared to 15% in 1998. In spite of this, platformers are still being commercially released every year, including some which have sold millions of copies. A platformer requires the player to maneuver their character across platforms to reach a goal while confronting enemies and avoiding obstacles along

4980-616: A result of this, there were more hardware units sold than there were games. Ridge Racer 7 was the highest selling game on launch day. Soon after its release in Japan, the PS3 was released in North America on November 17, 2006. Reports of violence surrounded the release of the PS3. A customer was shot, campers were robbed at gunpoint, customers were shot in a drive-by shooting with BB guns , and 60 campers fought over 10 systems. The PS3

5146-801: A robot to erase their past defeats from history. The Time Eater proceeds to attack ("Classic") Sonic as he travels through Green Hill at the beginning of the original Sonic the Hedgehog , and interrupts a birthday celebration being held for the present ("Modern") Sonic by his friends, scattering them all through different time portals. Modern Sonic awakens in White Space and rescues Tails after traveling through Green Hill. Modern Sonic and Tails eventually meet their Classic counterparts, and form an alliance to restore their world. The two travel through locations from their past they find in White Space, restoring them to normal. They rescue many of their friends, including Knuckles , Amy , Rouge , Cream , Blaze , and

Sonic Generations - Misplaced Pages Continue

5312-470: A shift in design. Later 3D platformers like Banjo-Kazooie , Spyro the Dragon , and Donkey Kong 64 borrowed its format, and the "collect-a-thon" genre began to form. In order to make this free-roaming model work, developers had to program dynamic, intelligent cameras. A free camera made it harder for players to judge the height and distance of platforms, making jumping puzzles more difficult. Some of

5478-600: A shortage of materials used in the Blu-ray drive. At the Tokyo Game Show on September 22, 2006, Sony announced that it would include an HDMI port on the 20 GB system, but a chrome trim, flash card readers, silver logo and Wi-Fi would not be included. Also, the launch price of the Japanese 20 GB model was reduced by over 20%, and the 60 GB model was announced for an open pricing scheme in Japan. During

5644-406: A side-scrolling action game some platform elements: jumping between vines, jumping or running beneath bouncing boulders. It was quickly re-released as Jungle Hunt because of similarities to Tarzan . The 1982 Apple II game Track Attack includes a scrolling platform level where the character runs and leaps along the top of a moving train. The character is little more than a stick figure , but

5810-412: A similar premise to Generations , featuring both Classic and Modern iterations of Sonic as playable characters, and also uses an updated version of Generations ' game engine. Some journalists initially believed Forces was a sequel to Generations , but Iizuka later clarified that it was a separate game. Years after its release, the game has remained as a strong seller for Sega. On April 10, 2018,

5976-433: A standalone game on September 9, 2024, in anticipation of the then-upcoming release of Sonic X Shadow Generations . However, the game will remain available digitally via bundles that contain multiple Sonic games, likely due to the game’s active modding community on Steam and for preservation purposes. Said mods will also remain unaffected. A pinball minigame based upon Sonic the Hedgehog 2 's Casino Night level

6142-502: A teaser trailer on their Facebook page. The trailer depicted the two variants of Sonic running through Green Hill. It was initially announced for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360; the 3DS and Windows versions were leaked in a Sega Sammy Holdings financial earnings report. The 3DS version was confirmed in an interview with Iizuka that was published in Nintendo Power . A demo version featuring Classic Sonic's version of Green Hill

6308-725: A teenager with a rebellious personality to appeal to gamers who saw the previous generation of consoles as being for kids. The character's speed showed off the hardware capabilities of the Genesis, which had a CPU clock speed approximately double that of the Super NES. Sonic 's perceived rebellious attitude became a model for game mascots. Other companies attempted to duplicate Sega's success with their own brightly colored anthropomorphisms with attitude. These often were characterized by impatience, sarcasm, and frequent quips. A second generation of platformers for computers appeared alongside

6474-467: A third-party OS. On March 22, 2007, SCE and Stanford University released the Folding@home software for PlayStation 3. This program allows PS3 owners to lend the computing power of their consoles to help study the process of protein folding for disease research. In December 2008, a group of hackers used a cluster of 200 PlayStation 3 computers to crack SSL authentication. In November 2010

6640-425: A user's PlayStation Network ID. PlayStation 3 also limits the transfer of copy protected videos downloaded from its store to other machines and states that copy protected video "may not restore correctly" following certain actions after making a backup such as downloading a new copy protected movie. Photo Gallery is an optional application to view, create, and group photos from PS3, which is installed separately from

6806-412: A version of Yellow Dog Linux for PlayStation 3 (originally sold by Terra Soft Solutions). RapidMind produced a stream programming package for PS3, but were acquired by Intel in 2009. Also, on January 3, 2007, Dr. Frank Mueller, Associate Professor of Computer Science at NCSU , clustered 8 PS3s. Mueller commented that the 256 MB of system RAM is a limitation for this particular application and

Sonic Generations - Misplaced Pages Continue

6972-637: Is 20 percent smaller and 25 percent lighter than the Slim model and features a manual sliding disc cover instead of a motorized slot-loading disc cover of the Slim model. The white colored Super Slim model was released in the United States on January 27, 2013, as part of the Instant Game Collection Bundle . The Garnet Red and Azurite Blue colored models were launched in Japan on February 28, 2013. The Garnet Red version

7138-518: Is also built-in on all but one early model. A couple of early models also had a built-in flash card reader (compatible with Memory Stick , SD and CompactFlash ). PlayStation 3 has been produced in various models: the original, the Slim, and the Super Slim. Successive models have added or removed various features, reduced the console's initial purchase price and weight, and increased storage capacity (with exceptions). Numerous accessories for

7304-488: Is central to the genre, though there are exceptions such as Nintendo 's Popeye and Data East 's BurgerTime , both from 1982. In some games, such as Donkey Kong , the trajectory of a jump is fixed, while in others it can be altered mid-air. Falling may cause damage or death. Many platformers contain environmental obstacles which kill the player's character upon contact, such as lava pits or bottomless chasms. The player may be able to collect items and power-ups and give

7470-417: Is considering attempting to retrofit more RAM. Software includes: Fedora Core 5 Linux ppc64, MPICH2, OpenMP v 2.5, GNU Compiler Collection and CellSDK 1.1. As a more cost-effective alternative to conventional supercomputers, the U.S. military has purchased clusters of PS3 units for research purposes. Retail PS3 Slim units cannot be used for supercomputing, because PS3 Slim lacks the ability to boot into

7636-474: Is in a vector game called Major Havoc , which comprises a number of mini-games, including a simple platformer. One of the first raster -based platformers to scroll fluidly in all directions in this manner is 1985's Legend of Kage . In 1985, Enix released the action-adventure platformer Brain Breaker . The following year saw the release of Nintendo's Metroid , which was critically acclaimed for

7802-570: Is now only available to users of original consoles who choose not to update their system software beyond version 3.15 or who have installed third-party, modified and unofficial versions of the firmware instead. The standard PlayStation 3 version of the XrossMediaBar (pronounced "Cross Media Bar" and abbreviated XMB) includes nine categories of options. These are: Users , Settings , Photo , Music , Video , TV/Video Services , Game , Network , PlayStation Network and Friends (similar to

7968-412: Is tested , and if one defective SPE is identified, it is disabled using using laser trimming , allowing the processor to function with seven SPEs. This approach minimizes waste by utilizing processors that would otherwise be discarded. Even in chips without defects, one SPE is still disabled to ensure uniformity. Of the seven active SPEs, six are available for developers, while the seventh is reserved for

8134-465: Is the endless runner , where the main character is always moving forward and the player must dodge or jump to avoid falling or hitting obstacles. Various names were used in the years following the release of the first established game in the genre, Donkey Kong (1981). Shigeru Miyamoto originally called it a "running/jumping/climbing game" while developing it. Miyamoto commonly used the term "athletic game" to refer to Donkey Kong and later games in

8300-625: The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) created a powerful supercomputer by connecting together 1,760 Sony PS3s which include 168 separate graphical processing units and 84 coordinating servers in a parallel array capable of performing 500 trillion floating-point operations per second (500 TFLOPS). As built the Condor Cluster was the 33rd largest supercomputer in the world and would be used to analyze high definition satellite imagery. Sony has included

8466-626: The Atari 2600 , with 256 horizontally connected screens, became one of the best-selling games on the system and was a breakthrough for the genre. Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle was released on the ColecoVision that same year, adding uneven terrain and scrolling pans between static screens. Manic Miner (1983) and its sequel Jet Set Willy (1984) continued this style of multi-screen levels on home computers . Wanted: Monty Mole won

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8632-513: The Cell microprocessor. At the time, Shuhei Yoshida led a group of programmers within this hardware team to explore next-generation game creation. By early 2005, focus within Sony shifted towards developing PS3 launch titles. In September 2004, Sony stated that the PlayStation 3 would utilize Blu-ray and that the console would also play DVDs and CDs, and the following December, Nvidia was announced as

8798-663: The Chaotix , while battling old enemies for the Chaos Emeralds. Both Sonics eventually confront the two doctors, who overpower them using the Time Eater. However, the two Sonics use the Chaos Emeralds to transform into their super forms and defeat the Time Eater, restoring the timeline to normal. Everyone resumes celebrating Modern Sonic's birthday while Classic Sonic and Tails bid farewell and return to their time. Meanwhile, both Classic and Modern Eggman are left trapped in White Space. Development of Sonic Generations began after

8964-683: The MSX computer, it was subsequently ported to various platforms the following year, including an arcade video game version, NES , and ColecoVision . 1986 saw the release of the sequel to forward-scrolling platformer Antarctic Adventure called Penguin Adventure , which was designed by Hideo Kojima . It included more action game elements, a greater variety of levels, RPG elements such as upgrading equipment, and multiple endings . In early 1987, Square released 3-D WorldRunner , designed by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nasir Gebelli . Using

9130-530: The Master System with Alex Kidd in Miracle World . It has horizontal and vertical scrolling levels, the ability to punch enemies and obstacles, and shops for the player to buy power-ups and vehicles. Another Sega series that began that same year is Wonder Boy . The original Wonder Boy in 1986 was inspired more by Pac-Land than Super Mario Bros. , with skateboarding segments that gave

9296-548: The Nintendo 3DS version. Sega considered making the 3DS version a port of the console versions, but instead chose to develop from scratch to make it unique and celebrate Sonic's portable history. A version for the Wii was planned, but was eventually abandoned due to hardware constraints. The game makes use of the Hedgehog Engine , the game engine Sonic Team used for developing Unleashed . To help decide which levels would appear in

9462-631: The Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, became the archetype for the genre. It was bundled with Nintendo systems in North America, Japan, and Europe, and sold over 40 million copies, according to the 1999 Guinness Book of World Records . Its success as a pack-in led many companies to see platformers as vital to their success, and contributed greatly to popularizing the genre during the third and fourth generations of video game consoles. Sega attempted to emulate this success with their Alex Kidd series, which started in 1986 on

9628-580: The PlayStation 4 , was released in November 2013; Sony started discontinuing the PlayStation 3 within two years' time, with shipments of new units ending in most of the world by 2016, and the final units produced until May 29, 2017 in the Japanese market. The PlayStation 3 began development on March 9, 2001 when Ken Kutaragi , then the President of Sony Computer Entertain ment , announced that Sony , Toshiba , and IBM would collaborate on developing

9794-521: The PlayStation Portable media bar). The TV/Video Services category is for services like Netflix and if PlayTV or torne is installed; the first category in this section is "My Channels", which lets users download various streaming services, including Sony's own streaming services Crackle and PlayStation Vue . By default, the What's New section of PlayStation Network is displayed when

9960-581: The PlayStation Store and connectivity to PlayStation Portable via Remote Play. PlayStation 3 console protects certain types of data and uses digital rights management to limit the data's use. Purchased games and content from the PlayStation Network store are governed by PlayStation's Network Digital Rights Management (NDRM). The NDRM allows users to access the data from up to 2 different PlayStation 3's that have been activated using

10126-399: The Slim model of the PlayStation 3 was released; it no longer provided the hardware ability to run PS2 games, but it was lighter and thinner than the original version. A Super Slim redesign was released in late 2012, further refining the console. During its early years, the system received a mixed reception, due to its high price ($ 599 for a 60-gigabyte model, $ 499 for a 20 GB model),

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10292-526: The Tokyo Game Show , Sony announced that a new, slimmer PS3 redesign (CECH-4000) was due for release in late 2012 and that it would be available with either a 250 GB or 500 GB hard drive. Three versions of the Super Slim model were revealed: one with a 500 GB hard drive, a second with a 250 GB hard drive which was not available in PAL regions , and a third with a 12 GB flash storage that

10458-537: The virtual camera , it had to be constrained to stop it from clipping through the environment. In 1994, a small developer called Exact released a game for the X68000 computer called Geograph Seal , which was a 3D first-person shooter game with platforming. Players piloted a frog-like mech that could jump and then double-jump or triple-jump high into the air as the camera panned down to help players line up their landings. In addition to shooting, jumping on enemies

10624-559: The "classic"-style Sonic gameplay using the Hedgehog Engine was also cited as challenging, since the engine was designed for 3D gameplay. The Spin Dash ability was also made quicker to use to help younger players unfamiliar with it. The team faced bigger difficulties developing on the 3DS; Iizuka claimed they were unfamiliar with the system's capabilities and limitations. In contrast to the casual-oriented Colors , Sonic Generations

10790-582: The "classic"-style gameplay to be a successful revival of the 1990s Sonic games and the "modern"-style to be similarly enjoyable, though they offered minor criticism of the former's floaty physics and the latter's reliance on speed. Justin Towell of GamesRadar praised the level design to be among the best, claiming the Chemical Plant level gets "more fun with every play". Bramwell found the 3D levels surprisingly enjoyable. Famitsu favorably compared

10956-599: The 1980 arcade video game Space Panic , which has ladders but not jumping. Donkey Kong , released in 1981, established a template for what were initially called "climbing games". Donkey Kong inspired many clones and games with similar elements, such as Miner 2049er (1982) and Kangaroo (1982), while the Sega arcade game Congo Bongo (1983) adds a third dimension via isometric graphics . Another popular game of that period, Pitfall! (1982), allows moving left and right through series of non-scrolling screens, expanding

11122-563: The 3DS version to be a rushed tie-in with the console version, and agreed that, while not a bad game, it was below the standard of Dimps' previous Sonic games. In 2017, GamesRadar named Sonic Generations the seventh best game of the Sonic series, and USgamer named it the tenth best. Following the reemergence of "Classic" Sonic, Sega would later begin to include him in other modern Sonic games, such as Sonic Dash (2013) and Sonic Runners (2015). The 2017 game Sonic Forces follows

11288-469: The 3DS version, the team opted to use levels from the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS Sonic games rather than the original Game Gear games, wanting to use levels from games of more recent memory. According to Iizuka, one of the hardest parts of developing Generations was adapting 3D levels to 2D, since their "defining" elements and themes were designed to specifically work in 3D. Recreating

11454-468: The Enchanted Castle , which was only modestly successful. That same year, Capcom released Strider in arcades, which scrolled in multiple directions and allowed the player to summon artificial intelligence partners, such as a droid, tiger, and hawk, to help fight enemies. Another Sega release in 1989 was Shadow Dancer , which is a game that also included an AI partner: a dog who followed

11620-540: The Hedgehog . During the Japanese launch, Ridge Racer 7 was the top-selling game, while Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire also fared well in sales, both of which were offerings from Namco Bandai Games . PlayStation 3 launched in Europe with 24 titles, including ones that were not offered in North American and Japanese launches, such as Formula One Championship Edition , MotorStorm and Virtua Fighter 5 . Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm were

11786-636: The Hedgehog : "Classic" or "Modern". Classic Sonic's gameplay is restricted side-scrolling gameplay similar to the original Sonic the Hedgehog games released in the 1990s, and requires him to use moves such as the Spin Dash and the Spin Attack. Modern Sonic's gameplay follows the gameplay style of Sonic Unleashed (2008), and Sonic Colors (2010), featuring an amalgamation of third-person and side-scrolling perspectives and techniques such as boosting and homing attacks. Both Sonics collect rings as

11952-424: The Hedgehog into 3D. Their project, titled Sonic Xtreme , was to have featured a radically different approach for the series, with an exaggerated fisheye camera and multidirectional gameplay reminiscent of Bug! . Due in part to conflicts with Sega Enterprises in Japan and a rushed schedule, the game never made it to market. In the 1990s, platforming games started to shift from pseudo-3D to "true 3D," which gave

12118-616: The Japanese market. Sony have since launched their budget range of PlayStation 3 titles, known as the Greatest Hits range in North America, the Platinum range in Europe and Australia and The Best range in Japan. Among the titles available in the budget range include Resistance: Fall of Man , MotorStorm , Uncharted: Drake's Fortune , Rainbow Six: Vegas , Call of Duty 3 , Assassin's Creed and Ninja Gaiden Sigma . As of October 2009 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of

12284-726: The Netflix streaming service would also be available on PlayStation 3 in the United States. A paid Netflix subscription was required for the service. The service became available in November 2009. Initially users had to use a free Blu-ray disc to access the service; however, in October 2010 the requirement to use a disc to gain access was removed. In April 2010, support for MLB.tv was added, allowing MLB.tv subscribers to watch regular season games live in HD and access new interactive features designed exclusively for PSN. In November 2010, access to

12450-493: The Patriots , Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction , Devil May Cry 4 , Army of Two , Battlefield: Bad Company and Midnight Club: Los Angeles have also joined the list. As of March 31, 2012 , there have been 595 million games sold for PlayStation 3. The best selling PS3 games are Grand Theft Auto V , Gran Turismo 5 , The Last of Us , Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves . The last game released on

12616-438: The PlayStation 3 remained the same across all three major hardware revisions with a black plastic case with a convex top side when placed horizontal, which could also be placed vertical, with the convex on the left side. The original case design had piano black plastic with a Spider-Man -font-inspired logo that PlayStation designer Teiyu Goto stated that "was one of the first elements SCEI president Ken Kutaragi decided on and

12782-626: The PlayStation 3 was Shakedown: Hawaii , on August 20, 2020. In December 2008, the CTO of Blitz Games announced that it would bring stereoscopic 3D gaming and movie viewing to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with its own technology. This was first demonstrated publicly on PS3 using Sony's own technology in January 2009 at the Consumer Electronics Show . Journalists were shown Wipeout HD and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in 3D as

12948-655: The RSX GPU during the console’s development. Physical media games for the PlayStation 3 were sold on Blu-ray discs and the console features a 2× speed drive which is also capable of reading Blu-ray movies, DVDs, and CDs. It was originally available with hard drives of 20 and 60 GB but various sizes up to 500 GB were later made available (see: model comparison ). All PS3 models have user-upgradeable hard drives. The system has Bluetooth 2.0 (with support for up to seven Bluetooth devices), Gigabit Ethernet , USB 2.0 and HDMI 1.4 built in. Wi-Fi networking

13114-405: The United Kingdom press. Examples include referring to the " Super Mario mould" (such as Kato-chan & Ken-chan ) as platform games, and calling Strider a "platform and ladders" game. The genre originated in the early 1980s. Levels in early platform games were confined to a single screen, viewed in profile, and based on climbing between platforms rather than jumping. Space Panic ,

13280-600: The Xbox 360 version was made backward compatible with the Xbox One , and was later extended to the Xbox Series X/S . An update to the Xbox 360 version in November 2021 added support for 4K visuals and an increased frame rate when played on Series X/S. During a PlayStation State of Play livestream on January 31, 2024, Sega announced Sonic X Shadow Generations , a bundle containing a remaster of Generations and

13446-404: The Year". Another term used in the late 1980s to 1990s was "character action games", in reference to games such as Super Mario Bros. , Sonic the Hedgehog , and Bubsy . It was also applied more generally to side-scrolling video games , including run and gun video games such as Gunstar Heroes . Platform game became a common term for the genre by 1989, popularized by its usage in

13612-471: The ability for the operating system , referred to as System Software , to be updated. The updates can be acquired in several ways: The original PlayStation 3 also included the ability to install other operating systems, such as Linux . This was not included in the newer slim models and was removed from all older PlayStation 3 consoles with the release of firmware update 3.21 in April 2010. The functionality

13778-609: The ability to cut videos and add music and captions. Videos can then be rendered and uploaded to video sharing websites such as Facebook and YouTube. In addition to the video service provided by the Sony Entertainment Network , the PlayStation 3 console has access to a variety of third-party video services, dependent on the region: Since June 2009, VidZone has offered a free music video streaming service in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In October 2009, Sony Computer Entertainment and Netflix announced that

13944-488: The ability to zoom into 3D environments and change the angle and perspective of panoramas. It requires system software 3.40 or higher; 3D photos; a 3D HDTV, and an HDMI cable for the 3D images to be viewed properly. A new application was released as part of system software version 3.40 which allows users to edit videos on PlayStation 3 and upload them to the Internet. The software features basic video editing tools including

14110-529: The acrobatics evoke the movement that games such as Prince of Persia would feature. B.C.'s Quest For Tires (1983) put a recognizable character from American comic strips into side-scrolling, jumping gameplay similar to Moon Patrol . The same year, Snokie for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers added uneven terrain to a scrolling platformer. Based on the Saturday morning cartoon rather than

14276-486: The application, along with music and playlists. The software was updated with the release of system software version 3.40 allowing users to upload and browse photos on Facebook and Picasa . PlayMemories is an optional stereoscopic 3D (and also standard) photo viewing application, which is installed from the PlayStation Store at 956 MB. The application is dedicated specifically to 3D photos and features

14442-415: The basis for the non-linear mission structure found in most open-world, multi-mission, sidequest -heavy games. Another Capcom platformer that year was Bionic Commando , which popularized a grappling hook mechanic that has since appeared in dozens of games, including Earthworm Jim and Tomb Raider . Scrolling platformers went portable in the late 1980s with games such as Super Mario Land , and

14608-430: The boss fights to be limited and weak, wishing the game had the special stages seen in previous games. Empire considered the game's weak storyline to be its only problem. Famitsu wrote that the game as a whole successfully delivered the series' traditional high speed and exhilaration. DeVries and Altano determined that Sonic Generations was accessible to everyone and gave it an Editor's Choice Award. Meunier felt that

14774-512: The completion of Sonic Unleashed in 2008, when developer Sonic Team began discussing possible ideas for a twentieth anniversary Sonic game. The console/PC version of the game was directed by Hiroshi Miyamoto, and Yoshinobu Uba was the Lead Game Designer. Producer Takashi Iizuka wanted a game that incorporated the best of Sonic's history, and offered more replay value compared to previous games. The team eventually decided to split

14940-609: The console as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America, along with Super Mario World , while Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis . Sonic showcased a new style of design made possible by a new generation of hardware: large stages that scrolled in all directions, curved hills, loops, and a physics system allowing players to rush through its levels with well-placed jumps and rolls. Sega characterized Sonic as

15106-773: The console have been developed. These accessories include the wireless Sixaxis and DualShock 3 controllers, the Logitech Driving Force GT , the Logitech Cordless Precision Controller , the Blu-ray Disc Remote , the PlayStation Eye camera, and the PlayTV DVB-T tuner/ digital video recorder accessory. At Sony's E3 press conference in 2006, the then-standard wireless Sixaxis controller

15272-550: The console: a 20 GB model and a 60 GB model, priced at US$ 499 (€499) and US$ 599 (€599), respectively. The 60 GB model was to be the only configuration to feature an HDMI port, Wi-Fi internet, flash card readers and a chrome trim with the logo in silver. Both models were announced for a simultaneous worldwide release: November 11, 2006, for Japan and November 17, 2006, for North America and Europe. On September 6, 2006, Sony announced that PAL region PlayStation 3 launch would be delayed until March 2007, because of

15438-518: The console’s operating system . The Cell processor has access to 256 MB of XDR DRAM main memory. Graphics processing is managed by the RSX Reality Synthesizer , designed by Nvidia and paired with 256 MB of GDDR3 video memory. The RSX chip can produce resolutions ranging from standard-definition ( 480i / 576i ) up to high-definition ( 1080p ). Initially, Sony’s hardware development team did not plan to include

15604-421: The criteria of a platformer, and was billed as an action adventure . It used true 3D characters and set pieces, but its environments were rendered using a rigid engine similar to the one used by Wolfenstein 3D , in that it could only render square, flat corridors, rather than suspended platforms that could be jumped between. Sega had tasked their American studio, Sega Technical Institute , with bringing Sonic

15770-419: The earlier Clockwork Knight . The game plays very similarly to 2D platformers, but lets players walk up walls and on ceilings. In 1995, Delphine Software released a 3D sequel to their 2D platformer Flashback . Entitled Fade to Black , it was the first attempt to bring a popular 2D platformer series into 3D. While it retained the puzzle-oriented level design style and step-based control, it did not meet

15936-494: The end of 2006. After the first week of sales it was confirmed that Resistance: Fall of Man from Insomniac Games was the top-selling launch game in North America. The game was heavily praised by numerous video game websites, including GameSpot and IGN , both of whom awarded it their PlayStation 3 Game of the Year award for 2006. Some titles missed the launch window and were delayed until early 2007, such as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion , F.E.A.R. and Sonic

16102-444: The event, Sony showed 27 playable PS3 games running on final hardware. The PlayStation 3 was first released in Japan on November 11, 2006, at 07:00. According to Media Create , 81,639 PS3 systems were sold within 24 hours of its introduction in Japan. There were reports that many of the initial systems were obtained by businessmen who paid mainly Chinese nationals to buy the system without any software to resell on eBay , and, as

16268-573: The fact that there are little difference between the gameplay of classic and modern Sonic, since both are limited to 2D movement. James Newton of Nintendo Life described it as "short and unambitious" and compared it unfavorably to the then-recently released Super Mario 3D Land . Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer agreed, criticizing the handheld game's lack of variety, replay value, and inconsistent design and calling its levels "a pain to explore", though he offered praise for its visuals and recreations of classic Sonic moments. Both DeVries and Turi considered

16434-542: The final boss. In the console version, once the game has been completed, both Sonics can transform into their super forms by collecting 50 rings in a normal level. As Super Sonic, the player is invincible and their speed is greatly increased. However the Sonics lose rings while in this form, and will revert to their standard form when all the rings are gone. Hidden around each act are five Red Star Rings. Collecting these unlocks concept art, music, or, if all five are collected,

16600-521: The first award for Best Platform game in 1984 from Crash magazine. Later that same year, Epyx released Impossible Mission , and Parker Brothers released Montezuma's Revenge , which further expanded on the exploration aspect. The first platformer to use scrolling graphics came years before the genre became popular. Jump Bug is a platform-shooter developed by Alpha Denshi under contract for Hoei/Coreland and released to arcades in 1981, only five months after Donkey Kong . Players control

16766-482: The foreground and background, and the camera panning and curving around corners. Meanwhile, Pandemonium and Klonoa brought the 2.5D style to the PlayStation . In a break from the past, the Nintendo 64 had the fewest side scrolling platformers with only four; Yoshi's Story , Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards , Goemon's Great Adventure , and Mischief Makers —and most met with a tepid response from critics at

16932-470: The game a greater sense of speed than other platformers at the time, while its sequel, Wonder Boy in Monster Land added action-adventure and role-playing elements. Wonder Boy in turn inspired games such as Adventure Island , Dynastic Hero , Popful Mail , and Shantae . One of the first platformers to scroll in all four directions freely and follow the on-screen character's movement

17098-466: The game and manual in limited lenticular box art in a steelbook case, a special booklet containing various Sonic artwork, a documentary disc about the history of Sonic, Sonic Generations: 20 Years of Sonic Music , a limited and individually numbered gold ring, and a figurine of both Classic and Modern Sonic striking a pose on a ring. Sonic Generations was delisted from Steam and the Xbox Store as

17264-479: The game are previously seen in an earlier entry in the series, with the game including numerous other references to past entries. Devil's Details and Dimps helped create the Windows and 3DS versions, respectively. The Windows version is noted for its active modding scene, where a dedicated community creates new gameplay mechanics, levels, and assets for the game. The game received positive reviews from critics and

17430-416: The game combined the best elements of old and new Sonic games well, and concluded that " Sonic Generations doesn't skimp on the speed or the fun". In contrast to the console and PC versions, reviews for the 3DS version were "mixed or average", according to Metacritic, with Jack Devries of IGN stating that "for the first time in a decade, the handheld Sonic is not the best". Several reviewers pointed out

17596-500: The game has continued to make appearances throughout the franchise. A remastered edition, Sonic X Shadow Generations , containing a new side game starring Shadow the Hedgehog , Shadow Generations , was released on October 25, 2024 for the Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 5 , Windows, Xbox One , and Xbox Series X/S . Sonic Generations is a platform game in which players control two variants of Sonic

17762-521: The game's main antagonist. The game features numerous references to past Sonic games, among these being cameo appearances by several obscure characters on posters in City Escape. Fans who attended the "Sonic Boom" or the "Summer of Sonic" fan conventions in June 2011 were able to record a birthday message that appears during the end of the game's credits sequence. Each version of the game also supports

17928-492: The game, Sega polled all their employees and conducted an internet survey about popular Sonic stages, with the levels they found most popular being the ones that were incorporated into the game. One of the main rules Sonic Team made during development was not to use older assets or level designs, and certain levels were given a new visual element to provide a new dynamic, such as the caves in Green Hill. In choosing levels for

18094-461: The game. Several soundtrack albums were released alongside the game. History of the First Stage features music from the first levels of several Sonic franchise games. Sonic Generations: 20 Years of Sonic Music contains several tracks hand-picked by Sonic Team, and was sold with the collector's edition. The complete, three-volume soundtrack, Sonic Generations Original Soundtrack: Blue Blur ,

18260-400: The game. These mods add multiple gameplay changes, such as new player characters and levels. Examples include Unleashed Project , an effort to re-create Sonic Unleashed using Sonic Generations as a base; Super Mario Generations , a mod that replaces Sonic with Mario ; Super Sonic Generations , which expands upon the character's super forms; Sonic Generations First Person Mod , which uses

18426-498: The gameplay from its precursor but traded the frog-like mech for a cartoony rabbit mech called Robbit. The title was successful enough to get two sequels and is remembered for being the first 3D platformer on a console. Rob Fahey of Eurogamer said Jumping Flash was perhaps "one of the most important ancestors of every 3D platformer in the following decade." It holds the record of "First platform videogame in true 3D" according to Guinness World Records . Another early 3D platformer

18592-430: The gameplay into two separate playstyles: one representing the original games and another representing more recent ones. The team chose to develop on the high-definition (HD) PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, wanting the game to re-imagine levels and aspects of previous entries with high-quality graphics. A port for Windows was also made; development was handled by Devil's Details. Dimps assisted with production of

18758-457: The genre continued to maintain its popularity, with many games released for the handheld Game Boy and Game Gear systems. By the time the Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 launched, platformers were the most popular genre in console gaming. There was a particular emphasis on having a flagship platform title exclusive to a system, featuring a mascot character. In 1989, Sega released Alex Kidd in

18924-413: The genre, such as Super Mario Bros. (1985). Donkey Kong spawned other games with a mix of running, jumping, and vertical traversal, a novel genre that did not match the style of games that came before it, leaving journalists and writers to offer their own terms. Computer and Video Games magazine, among others, referred to the genre as "Donkey Kong-type" or "Kong-style" games. "Climbing games"

19090-523: The launch of any other system in Australia". In New Zealand, over 4,800 units were sold in the first week generating "over NZ$ 6.8 million dollars in hardware and software retail sales." On April 27, 2007, it launched in India, with the 60 GB model retailing for ₹ 39,990 (US$ 1000 at the conversion rate at the time). In Mexico, the 20 GB model launched with a price of 10,495 pesos, or US$ 974 at

19256-454: The levels were open and had objectives. Completing objectives earned the player stars, and stars were used to unlock more levels. This approach allowed for more efficient use of large 3D areas and rewarded the player for exploration, but it meant less jumping and more action-adventure . Even so, a handful of boss levels offered more traditional platforming. Until then there was no settled way to make 3D platformers, but Super Mario 64 inspired

19422-450: The logo may have been the motivating force behind the shape of PS3". The PlayStation 3 uses the 64-bit Cell microprocessor , developed jointly by Sony, Toshiba and IBM , as its CPU . The processor consists of a 3.2 GHz PowerPC -based Power Processing Element (PPE) and seven Synergistic Processing Elements (SPEs). To improve manufacturing yields , the chip is initially manufactured with eight SPEs. After production, each chip

19588-451: The main character new abilities for overcoming adversities. Most games of this genre consist of multiple levels of increasing difficulty that may be interleaved by boss encounters, where the character has to defeat a particularly dangerous enemy to progress. Simple logical puzzles to resolve and skill trials to overcome are other common elements in the genre. A modern variant of the platform game, especially significant on mobile platforms,

19754-489: The maze game, Namco's 1984 Pac-Land is a bidirectional, horizontally-scrolling, arcade video game with walking, running, jumping, springboards, power-ups , and a series of unique levels. Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani described the game as "the pioneer of action games with horizontally running background." According to Iwatani, Shigeru Miyamoto described Pac-Land as an influence on the development of Super Mario Bros. . Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. , released for

19920-405: The more linear 3D platformers like Tork: Prehistoric Punk and Wario World used scripted cameras that limited player control. Games with more open environments like Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie used intelligent cameras that followed the player's movements. Still, when the view was obstructed or not facing what the player needed to see, these intelligent cameras needed to be adjusted by

20086-418: The most successful titles of 2007, and both games subsequently received sequels in the form of Resistance 2 and MotorStorm: Pacific Rift . At E3 2007 , Sony was able to show a number of their upcoming video games for PlayStation 3, including Heavenly Sword , Lair , Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction , Warhawk and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune ; all of which were released in

20252-534: The new wave of consoles. In the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s, the Amiga was a strong gaming platform with its custom video hardware and sound hardware . The Atari ST was solidly supported as well. Games like Shadow of the Beast and Turrican showed that computer platformers could rival their console contemporaries. Prince of Persia , originally a late release for the 8-bit Apple II in 1989, featured

20418-507: The option to play in stereoscopic 3D . According to Iizuka, he was the only one who advocated the feature, and it took trial and error before it was implemented. The musical score of Sonic Generations was primarily composed and arranged by Jun Senoue , with contributions by Richard Jacques , Naofumi Hataya , Hideki Naganuma , Kenichi Tokoi, Tomoya Ohtani , Crush 40 , Circuit Freq, and Cash Cash . The soundtrack consists of remixed versions of past tracks, alongside new material written for

20584-408: The platform-action game, Valis , which contained anime -style cut scenes . In 1987, Capcom 's Mega Man introduced non-linear level progression where the player is able to choose the order in which they complete levels. This was a stark contrast to both linear games like Super Mario Bros. and open-world games like Metroid . GamesRadar credits the "level select" feature of Mega Man as

20750-416: The play area. Nintendo 's flagship Super Mario Bros. (1985) was a defining game for the nascent genre, with horizontally scrolling levels and the player controlling a named character—Mario, which became a mascot of the company. The term platform game gained traction in the late 1980s, as did the alternate form platformer . During their peak of popularity, platformers were estimated to comprise between

20916-561: The player around and aid in battle. In 1990, Hudson Soft released Bonk's Adventure , with a protagonist positioned as NEC 's mascot. The following year, Takeru's Cocoron , a late platformer for the Famicom allowed players to build a character from a toy box filled with spare parts. In 1990, the Super Famicom was released in Japan, along with the eagerly anticipated Super Mario World . The following year, Nintendo released

21082-405: The player more control over the character and the camera. To render a 3D environment from any angle the user chose, the graphics hardware had to be sufficiently powerful, and the art and rendering model of the game had to be viewable from every angle. The improvement in graphics technology allowed publishers to make such games but introduced several new issues. For example, if the player could control

21248-993: The player. In the 1990s, RPGs , first-person shooters , and more complex action-adventure games captured significant market share. Even so, the platformer thrived. Tomb Raider became one of the bestselling series on the PlayStation , along with Insomniac Games ' Spyro and Naughty Dog 's Crash Bandicoot , one of the few 3D games to stick with linear levels. Moreover, many of the Nintendo 64 's bestsellers were first- and second-party platformers like Super Mario 64 , Banjo-Kazooie , and Donkey Kong 64 . On Windows and Mac , Pangea Software 's Bugdom series and BioWare 's MDK2 proved successful. Several developers who found success with 3D platformers began experimenting with titles that, despite their cartoon art style, were aimed at adults. Examples include Rare 's Conker's Bad Fur Day , Crystal Dynamics 's Gex: Deep Cover Gecko and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver , and Shiny Entertainment 's Messiah . In 1998, Sega produced

21414-426: The popularity of the competing Nintendo Wii. The Move’s "wand" controllers use internal inertial sensors detect motion while the position of a glowing orb is tracked using a PlayStation Eye or PlayStation Camera . It went on sale in late 2010. According to Ars Technica , the number of PlayStation 3 consoles that have experienced failure is well within the normal failure rates in the consumer electronics industry;

21580-772: The pre-order. On January 24, 2007, Sony announced that PlayStation 3 would go on sale on March 23, 2007, in Europe, Australia, the Middle East , Africa and New Zealand . Its European launch price was €599 (€629 in Ireland, £ 425 in Britain), R 6499 minimum in South Africa, AU$ 999.95 in Australia, NZ$ 1199.95 in New Zealand. On March 7, 2007, the 60 GB PlayStation 3 launched in Singapore with

21746-495: The predicted PlayStation 3 specifications was also shown (notably a Final Fantasy VII tech demo ). The initial prototype shown in May 2005 featured two HDMI ports, three Ethernet ports and six USB ports; however, when the system was shown again a year later at E3 2006 , these were reduced to one HDMI port, one Ethernet port and four USB ports, presumably to cut costs. Two hardware configurations were also announced for

21912-470: The same function and design as Sixaxis, but with vibration capability added. The controller is heavier than the standard Sixaxis controller and capable of vibration forces comparable to DualShock 2. It was released in Japan in November 2007 and rolled out to the rest of the world throughout 2008. During E3 2009 , Sony unveiled a motion controller, the PlayStation Move , partly in response to

22078-509: The second-fastest-selling system in the UK overall, the fastest being the PlayStation Portable . Some British retailers claim that the PS3 was subjected to as many as 20,000 pre-order cancellations, while others cited a "huge demand" for the system. System sales for the following week were down 82%, selling 30,000 units, with a 60% drop in sales of the two most popular titles, MotorStorm and Resistance: Fall of Man . Its UK launch price of £ 425

22244-461: The sense of speed to that of racing games and praised the "nimble" camerawork, describing the overall experience as addictive. Some aspects of the game were criticized, however. Mackey criticized its occasional framerate issues and on-rails sections. Bramwell felt that Generations still suffered from problems present in prior games, and found its controls laggy and criticized certain segments requiring split-second precision. DeVries and Altano found

22410-691: The series. The levels are split into three separate eras: the Classic Era (focusing on levels from games for the Sega Genesis ); the Dreamcast Era (focusing on levels from games for the Dreamcast , PlayStation 2 , GameCube , Xbox ); and the Modern Era (focusing on levels from games for the PlayStation 3 , Wii , Nintendo DS , and Xbox 360 ). Each level consists of two acts (one for each Sonic), and ten additional missions such as collecting

22576-408: The system software at 105 MB. It was introduced in system software version 2.60 and provides a range of tools for sorting through and displaying the system's pictures. The key feature of this application is that it can organize photos into groups according to various criteria. Notable categorizations are colors, ages, or facial expressions of the people in the photos. Slideshows can be viewed with

22742-408: The system starts up. PS3 includes the ability to store various master and secondary user profiles, manage and explore photos with or without a musical slide show , play music and copy audio CD tracks to an attached data storage device , play movies and video files from the hard disk drive, an optical disc (Blu-ray Disc or DVD-Video) or an optional USB mass storage or Flash card, compatibility for

22908-724: The third and fourth quarters of 2007. It also showed off a number of titles that were set for release in 2008 and 2009; most notably Killzone 2 , Infamous , Gran Turismo 5 Prologue , LittleBigPlanet and SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Confrontation . A number of third-party exclusives were also shown, including the highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots , alongside other high-profile third-party titles such as Grand Theft Auto IV , Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare , Assassin's Creed , Devil May Cry 4 and Resident Evil 5 . Two other important titles for PlayStation 3, Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII , were shown at TGS 2007 in order to appease

23074-489: The time. Despite this, Yoshi's Story sold over a million copies in the US, and Mischief Makers rode high on the charts in the months following its release. The term 3D platformer usually refers to games with gameplay in three dimensions and polygonal 3D graphics. Games that have 3D gameplay but 2D graphics are usually included under the umbrella of isometric platformers , while those that have 3D graphics but gameplay on

23240-612: The time. The console was launched in South Korea on June 16, 2007, as a single version equipped with an 80 GB hard drive and IPTV . Following speculation that Sony was working on a 'slim' model, Sony officially announced the PS3 CECH-2000 model on August 18, 2009, at the Sony Gamescom press conference. New features included a slimmer form factor, decreased power consumption, and a quieter cooling system. It

23406-540: The top down perspective, Frogger (1981) as climbing games. In a December 1982 Creative Computing review of the Apple II game Beer Run , the reviewer used a different term: "I'm going to call this a ladder game, as in the 'ladder genre,' which includes Apple Panic and Donkey Kong ." That label was also used by Video Games Player magazine in 1983 when it named the Coleco port of Donkey Kong "Ladder Game of

23572-410: The video and social networking site MUBI was enabled for European, New Zealand, and Australian users; the service integrates elements of social networking with rental or subscription video streaming, allowing users to watch and discuss films with other users. Also in November 2010 the video rental service VUDU , NHL GameCenter Live , and subscription service Hulu Plus launched on PlayStation 3 in

23738-437: The video game industry internationally. The following year, Donkey Kong received a sequel, Donkey Kong Jr. and later Mario Bros. , a platformer with two-player cooperative play . It laid the groundwork for other two-player cooperative games such as Fairyland Story and Bubble Bobble . Beginning in 1982, transitional games emerged with non-scrolling levels spanning multiple screens. David Crane's Pitfall! for

23904-455: The visual flash of 3D with traditional 2D side scrolling gameplay. These games are often referred to as 2.5D. The first such game was Saturn launch title , Clockwork Knight (1994). The game featured levels and boss characters rendered in 3D, but retained 2D gameplay and used pre-rendered 2D sprites for regular characters, similar to Donkey Kong Country . Its sequel improved upon its design, featuring some 3D effects such as hopping between

24070-428: The way. These games are either presented from the side view, using two-dimensional movement, or in 3D with the camera placed either behind the main character or in isometric perspective . Typical platforming gameplay tends to be very dynamic and challenges a player's reflexes, timing, and dexterity with controls. The most common movement options in the genre are walking, running, jumping, attacking, and climbing. Jumping

24236-413: Was Floating Runner , developed by a Japanese company called Xing and released for PlayStation in early 1996, before the release of Super Mario 64 . Floating Runner uses D-pad controls and a behind-the-character camera perspective. In 1996, Nintendo released Super Mario 64 , which is a game that set the standard for 3D platformers. It let the player explore 3D environments with greater freedom than

24402-465: Was a commercial success, selling 1.85 million copies by May 2012. Reviewers found its visuals, audio, and gameplay to be highlights, and called it a good tribute to the franchise. It also received some criticism, mostly for its occasional frame rate and control problems. Reception to the 3DS version was mixed; reviewers criticized its short length and design, and deemed it worse than Dimps' previous Sonic games. The Classic iteration of Sonic introduced in

24568-453: Was a primary way to attack. This was the first true 3D platform-action game with free-roaming environments, but it was never ported to another platform or released outside Japan, so it remains relatively unknown in the West. The following year, Exact released their follow-up to Geograph Seal . An early title for Sony's new PlayStation console, Jumping Flash! , released in April 1995, kept

24734-419: Was a worthy tribute to the Sonic franchise, though he still considered the franchise's previous entry, Sonic Colors , to be better. The gameplay was also positively received; critics praised its level design and replay value. Bob Mackey of 1UP.com appreciated the variation between each level and their challenges and letting the player choose the levels they would like to play. DeVries and Altano considered

24900-477: Was announced. The controller was based on the same basic design as the DualShock 2 controller for the PlayStation 2 but was wireless, lacked vibration capabilities, and had a built-in accelerometer that could detect motion in three directional and three rotational axes (six in total, hence the name Sixaxis). At its press conference at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show , Sony announced the DualShock 3 controller with

25066-695: Was available in PAL regions, and in Canada. The storage of 12 GB model was upgradable with an official standalone 250 GB hard drive, and a vertical stand was also released for the model. In the United Kingdom , the 500 GB model was released on September 28, 2012; and the 12 GB model was released on October 12, 2012. In the United States , the PS3 Super Slim was first released as

25232-406: Was designed to appeal to the series' core audience. While multiple characters from throughout the franchise appear in the game, only Sonic was made playable. The script was written by Sonic Colors writers Ken Pontac and Warren Graff ; according to Pontac, they both had more input in the story and cutscenes compared to Colors . Sonic Team also created a new character: the Time Eater, who serves as

25398-445: Was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November 17, 2006, in North America, and March 23, 2007, in Europe and Australasia. The PlayStation 3 competed primarily against Microsoft 's Xbox 360 and Nintendo 's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles . The PlayStation 3 was developed on the purpose-built Cell processor, co-developed with Toshiba and IBM ; SCE's president Ken Kutaragi envisioned

25564-532: Was found in any previous game in the genre. With this in mind, Nintendo put an analog control stick on its Nintendo 64 controller, a feature that had not been seen since the Vectrex but which has since become standard. The analog stick provided the fine precision needed with a free perspective. In most 2D platformers, the player finished a level by following a path to a certain point, but in Super Mario 64 ,

25730-639: Was higher than its Japanese and American prices, with value-added tax cited as a reason by a staff member. The continental Europe price was €599, while in Ireland it was €629. Over 27,000 units were sold in Australia over the course of the first ten days of sales and nine of the top ten best-selling games, including systems and handheld, of the week were for the PS3; overall, software and hardware sales resulted in A$ 33 million netted for Sony. One analyst called it "a spike in retail spending not previously witnessed at

25896-453: Was released as downloadable content for the Steam version of the game on December 26, 2011. The minigame was included in the collector's edition and offered as a pre-order incentive for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. It was later included by default in Sonic x Shadow Generations . A variety of community-created modifications ("mods") have been created for the Windows version of

26062-489: Was released for the Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 5 , Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows on October 25, 2024. Players who preordered the game received a Modern Sonic skin based on Sonic's 3D model from Sonic Adventure . Additionally, players could obtain a Classic Sonic skin based on Sonic's 3D model in Sonic Jam by signing up for an e-mail newsletter. Platform game The genre started with

26228-453: Was released in North America on March 12, 2013, as part of the God of War: Ascension bundle with 500 GB storage and contained God of War: Ascension as well as the God of War Saga . The Azurite Blue model was released on October 8, 2013, as a GameStop exclusive with 250 GB storage. PlayStation 3 launched in North America with 14 titles, with another three being released before

26394-413: Was released in major territories by September 2009. At the same time, a new logo was introduced for the console to replace the previous " Spider-Man " wordmarks (named due to their use of the same font as the logos of Sony 's then-current Spider-Man films ), with a new "PS3" wordmark evoking the design of the PlayStation 2 wordmark replacing the capitalized PlayStation 3 lettering. In September 2012 at

26560-469: Was released on January 11, 2012, under Sega's Wave Master label. It spans three discs and features 90 total tracks from both versions of the game. Sonic Generations was first revealed in August 2009, when Sega accidentally leaked a press release including information about the game, then under the working title Sonic Anniversary . The company officially revealed the game on April 7, 2011, when they posted

26726-535: Was released on June 23, 2011, the twentieth anniversary of the original Sonic game's release. A second demo, featuring Modern Sonic's Green Hill, was released on October 19, 2011. Demo versions of the game were also playable at E3 2011 and the New York Comic Con . The console versions of Sonic Generations were first released in North America on November 1, 2011, followed by a European release on November 4 and in Japan on December 1. The Windows version

26892-418: Was released on November 3. The 3DS version was released on in North America on November 22, 2011, and in Europe on November 25. The console and 3DS versions were made available for digital download in 2012. An official strategy guide for the game was published by BradyGames . In addition to the standard retail release, a collector's edition for the console version was released in Europe and Australia. It features

27058-484: Was released on the same day in Hong Kong and Taiwan as well. The console was originally planned for a global release through November, but at the start of September the release in Europe and the rest of the world was delayed until March. Since it was a somewhat last-minute delay, some companies had taken deposits for pre-orders, at which Sony informed customers that they were eligible for full refunds or could continue

27224-418: Was the first game to allow players to jump over obstacles and gaps. It is widely considered to be the first platformer. It introduced Mario under the name Jumpman. Donkey Kong was ported to many consoles and computers at the time, notably as the system-selling pack-in game for ColecoVision , and also a handheld version from Coleco in 1982. The game helped cement Nintendo's position as an important name in

27390-540: Was used in Steve Bloom's 1982 book Video Invaders and 1983 magazines Electronic Games (US)—which ran a cover feature called "The Player's Guide to Climbing Games"—and TV Gamer (UK). Bloom defined "climbing games" as titles where the player "must climb from the bottom of the screen to the top while avoiding and/or destroying the obstacles and foes you invariably meet along the way." Under this definition, he listed Space Panic (1980), Donkey Kong , and despite

27556-428: Was well received. Nathan Meunier of GameSpot called the graphics arguably the best of the series, praising the detail put into recreating each level; this statement was echoed by Tim Turi of Game Informer . Jack DeVries and Brian Altano of IGN offered similar praise for the visuals, and described its remixed tracks as "cool" and its sound effects as "spot on". Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer felt Sonic Generations

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