Untold Legends gets Xfired
By
Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor
Online service debuts on the PlayStation 3 with the latest installment in Sony Online Entertainment's adventure series; Xfire for the Wii in the works?
In August, Viacom brass let slip that the conglomerate's latest acquisition, the PC gaming service Xfire, was working on a version of its utilities that would run on the PlayStation 3. A Sony Online Entertainment rep later pegged Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom as the first PS3 game to make use of the service but offered no details about how exactly the launch game would implement Xfire.
Today Xfire confirmed that some of its features would be implemented into Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom, and it spilled the beans on exactly how it would work with Sony's new platform. What's more, the company is licensing its own software development kit for publishers who want to incorporate Xfire features into their PS3 games.
Xfire CEO Mike Cassidy told GameSpot that his company will be providing cross-platform text chat and friends-list features for the game, allowing Dark Kingdom players to see and talk with Xfire-equipped buddies on the PC and PS3. Cassidy said that support for more Xfire features will be added to Dark Kingdom later and that the goal was to have all of them up and running on PS3 games in the future. He said that currently there are "less than 10" PS3 games set to integrate Xfire features.
Although Xfire is an advertising-supported service, Cassidy said PS3 gamers won't be subjected to sales pitches. Despite the lack of ad revenue in the company's presence on Sony's console, Cassidy painted it as a win-win, where Sony Online gets 5 million-plus Xfire users that might see all their friends playing Dark Kingdom online and become interested in it, and Xfire gets an influx of new subscribers, who will be advertised to if and when they decide to use the service on their PCs.
Cassidy said the company's move into the console realm is something its publishing partners and customers have been asking for, and the company has further designs for gaming in the living room.
"We are in talks with one other console maker," Cassidy said, a likely reference to Nintendo, which is set to launch the Wii in the US two days after Sony releases the PS3. The only other console maker of note, Microsoft, has built its own Xbox Live service from the ground up and has announced its own cross-platform plans to integrate it with cell phones and PCs with Live Anywhere.
It bears noting that gamers won't necessarily need to sign up for Xfire to play Dark Kingdom online or chat with other gamers. Sony Online Entertainment producer Andy Sites described it as an "optional service."
"We support the PlayStation Network friends, matchmaking, and messaging service, and we've also integrated Xfire," Sites said. "So you can use both, or you can choose to use Xfire, or just the PlayStation Network. We've integrated them so they work well together."
As for how easily the Xfire service works with the PS3, both camps agreed that everything came together well. Sites said his team implemented the Xfire features themselves with "minimal support" from Cassidy's crew and called it "very easy to integrate."
"It's not technically hard to do," Cassidy said. "We did the whole Dark Kingdom thing in about three and a half weeks, but it was a race. ... The Sony Online engineers worked like crazy and we worked like crazy, but we were able to pull it off."
By
Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor
Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.
95 comments
How about working out all the bugs in the PC version of Xfire first? Man, I wish Xfire had some competition to push them into refining their product. ElectrolightSH: the PC game market may be diminished, but it is far from dead. The PC will always be pushing the tech envelope - and game developers will continue to try and harness the PC's potential.
I don't even know what Xfire is let alone ever using it and I probably won't even use it if I do get a PS3 NEXT YEAR!!!!.
well i hope it works out for sony using thrid party software like xfire. and now i'm for sure gonna wait until sometime next year to buy a PS3. for those who are planning to get one at launch good luck and have fun...
Xfire for the Wii.....now that I would love to see! That is when they start releasing the online games. Who knows what they might do with it though, and I have Xfire running almost 24/7. When my computer is running, so is Xfire. Hope they make the deal with Nintendo! Get PC invites on my Wii and Wii invites on my PC!
Sony has said that their online service will be free, but anybody who thinks they're offering anything even remotely resembling the service level of a Gold Live sub for absolutely nothing is straight dreaming
People who say PC gaming is dying out are complete idiots, We've been hearing it for the longest now and it still hasn't happened. If PC gaming was dying out then why are developers still making High Profile games like Crysis exclusively for the PC. Oh that's right because even they have said PC is the true next-gen. I have nothing against consoles, I enjoy playing games on multiple systems. I simply hate hearing the same ignorant comment for the past decade.
Charlie2688, you are wrong. PC games are a dying breed and yes I am an Xbox 360 fan but more then that I am a console gamer and PC's are no longer superior or wont be for long. My comments for this story: Well I hope that Microsoft will let software developers make software for the 360, I would like to have Xfire on my Xbox. Hopefully people will be able to use mods and homebrew software on their 360's soon, I'm still waiting for Microsoft to deliver on there promise of letting people use mods on the 360.
Bloodhawk_DX: "PC gamers are a slow dying breed of gamer" good joke man Since I see you are a 360 fan I bet you have seen how 360 fans BEG for ports from PC games...aside from begging them from other consoles... you get the picture...
um... demollyon.... are you a pc gamer? because ragging on a perfectly good chat client that shows which games and servers your friends are playing on and allows you to join them seems a little foolish. And IF the sony games fully support Xfire and allow for cross platform gaming then thats great! Oh and with Microsofts LIVE Anywhere.. who really plays games on their phones.... and if its only Microsoft Game studio games that are supported then the glut of good PC games and players are being ignored (for example WOW or CSS)
Good news. It's not the "Xfire is standard" declaration from Sony I was hoping for, but it sounds like they might end up being the defacto standard (which is acceptable). Also, if the second console maker is Nintendo, the possibility of seeing friends on at least three platforms (Windows, PS3, Wii, maybe even the DS and PSP) is very appealing!
LOL Rokkuman09 Xfire is okay I'd prefer to use the PNP which hopefully will be better than Xfire I'll see how this pans out.
NFunspoiler Awesome! I hope the Wii get's this also, so finally we consol gamers can gang up against the elitist PC gamers and kick their asses! Even if Wii didn't have it. PC gamers are a slow dying breed of gamer. They're already losing the few genres that they held exlusively like RTS games and MMORPG's. Xbox Live alone has matched the entertainment value of online gaming. PSN and Wii Online will only add to the momentum.
Awesome! I hope the Wii get's this also, so finally we consol gamers can gang up against the elitist PC gamers and kick their asses!
I'd rather pay for a single good service like XBL than have to choose between a bad free one and a mundane alternative. If Sony doesn't figure this out soon they'll lose the online battle.
Does this mean the PlayStation Network Platform sucks too much to use? Why Xfire at all if the PS3 has its own service?
Why two services "Xfire and PSN? Are there going to be multiple log-ons? Is that why Sony can not demo there on-line gaming? Too many questions :(
When they give me an all-in-one option that lets me talk to and GAME WITH people whether using my console, my PC and my mobile phone, like Live Anywhere, then I'll be impressed. Live Anywhere >>>> mishmash of two companies' products
What sony is tring to do is giving the owner (those with PS3) option to deal with what they like best between the PS Network or Xfire or choose booth. Ppl have difference taste for brand names, and different types of online usage. This is just Sony being smart to keep options open for the consumers and the owners of the PS3. While some ppl are familiar with the Xifre, other aren't and can just learn to use either 2 or incoprate them both on to your system.
I agree, I think trying to implement another service is like admitting you screwed up your own.
To Silverfang6: If you read back in released news, Sony said that Xfire was an OPTION for the developers to use as opposed to PlayStation Network Platform.
LOL Last I checked Sony said they would have a online network that rivals that of Microsoft....but after reading this article don't seem that way. Why would Sony need a seperate online compoent to allow chat with untold. The only thing this is going to do is complicate things more for people. If one of your friends is chatting on Xfire and you are chatting on Sony's online network do you have to switch... why not just do what Microsoft did and make one unified network where everything is right in front of your face.....Sony always got to complicate things from the Hardware to the Software GO Sony lol
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Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom
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