As part of its pre-E3 2011 press conference, Konami has had Hideo Kojima introduce Transfarring, a "gaming lifetsyle" system for improving connectivity between the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation NGP/Vita. By "Transfarring" a save file from a PS3 to PSP with compatible titles, players can take their saves with them and play on the go, continuing from exactly where they left off. The first title announced to utilize the feature is Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, which will be released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 2011. It will be released along with remastered versions of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
Kojima also explained that his plans for Transfarring don't end with the PlayStation Portable. Speaking to Mark MacDonald, Executive Director at 8-4, Ltd, Kojima said that file transfers for PSP-quality titles was only the first step in Konami's plans. The next step involves porting PlayStation 2-quality titles to PSP and PlaySation NGP/Vita, which either system is certainly capable of handling. We've already seen several titles crop up on both PS2 and PSP, including Konami's own Silent Hill: Origins. But wait, there's more! Read on to see the final phase.
The most exciting phase of the Transfarring system is its final one. Kojima expressed hope that, in the future, PS3-level titles will be able to utilize Transfarring to move to the PlayStation NGP/Vita. "Up until now, gamers' lives were divided into playing at home on a console, or on a handheld when out. These styles were completely separated," Kojima said. "Now with Transfarring you'll be able to take the exact game you played on a console and put it on a handheld to continue playing on the go. Then when you get home you transfer the game back to your home console."
I have the fear that it could flop as an entirely undersold gimmick. Even though they didn't have the technology we do now, we've seen similar moves before, after all. Remember Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles? Or even the Dreamcast's VMU? Ultimately it'll be the consumers who decide if this is something they want. If the excitement over the NGP/Vita and Nintendo's 3DS sales are any indication, it could really take off.
Imagine a world where portable games and console games are no longer broken apart. Where the visually stunning Uncharted: Golden Abyss can wow on the big screen as well as the handheld screen. Where a road trip need not interrupt your hunt for the next Metal Gear model. It's an impressive and bold move, one that could conceivably bring handheld gaming out of the "strictly casual" realm, into our homes and hardcore hearts.
So what do you think? Does the Transfarring system sound like something worthwhile to you and your games library?
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SuperKoala
I think it's pretty far from a gimmick. If Konami can get the ball rolling, imagine playing God of War 3 or something like that at home, then you go out and run errands like you normally do. Instead of playing Angry Birds in line, I'm playing God of War 3 everywhere off of my NGP. Then I get home and do the data transfer and boom, it's right where I left off on the NGP and I'm playing more God of War 3. Trips to the DMV just got a lot more easier to swallow.
I think it'll depend on what the transfer time is for it to work and who uses what to adopt the technology.
Endymion_
He meant "Transfarring." Didn't you see the giant stylized logo?
San_Pato
Looks to me like a gimmick to get you to buy the same game twice for psp and ps3. The hardcore MGS players will make some use, but I bet in a couple of years, no one will even remember it. They didn't clarify if you have to buy an additional psp copy or not. Maybe one of you guys saw something I missed. If you only have to buy the ps3 version and you can "Transfar" a copy to the psp too, then it's a neat little gimmick, and I'll probably use it myself once in a while. Not really original, (If you get portal 2 on ps3, then you can download it on pc too). And cloud gaming is nothing new, but it is nice to see developers putting some effort into it.
Game_Wizard
It is certainly an ambitious undertaking to say the least. Now they just need to work on the execution of this new saving system before any sort of judgement can be made.
If it works, this could change the whole way games are set up. Time will tell I suppose.
Tim_1138
Does he mean transferring and it was just a bad translation?
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