[Freebird]

Here's the latest from Dave, just recently posted on the PS main site. Not much new, but we can expect external beta in about 2 weeks.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to 2003!
I'm a bit late with my "first of the year" letter, so let's get started:
8
1) We've been working on lowering the min specs for the game. No guarantees yet, but we should have some nice announcements on that front soon. This is the result of hard work by the programmers and artists to bring framerate in line. It was all optimization work. No artwork has been sacrificed.

2) External Beta is coming soon. We should have more info posted here about it in the next couple of weeks and we'll launch into it soon thereafter. I know a lot of you signed up back in late November and are wondering what is going on. All is well and improving rapidly! We just wanted to ensure that the game was in a state that merited an External test before sending it to you a8ll and we're closing in on that now.

3) We're testing the game every day here (as you can imagine). Each day, we go in and assess gameplay, decide what works and what doesn't, and then brainstorm on what can be done to strengthen the game. It's an ongoing process, but a successful one and we'll continue to do it at least until External Beta (with more infrequent updates during that Beta test). Because of this, there are a lot of tweaks going on in the game at the moment...just don't expect any announcements on those gameplay changes until we're done shaking things out a bit more.

4) I've been reviewing the official forums and fan sites on a daily 8basis for the last month or so now. You folks have had lots of great discussions, and a number of them have given us ideas for gameplay refinements. Please...keep up those great conversations. It's like having a couple extra designers in our pocket and you're doing good things for the game you'll be playing soon by continuing to explore possibilities.

5) Just to counteract all those various rumors of release dates you're seeing on various sites. Sony Online has only made one commitment to anyone. It's the SAME commitment we've made since E3 last year. The end of Q1, 2003 is our scheduled release date. If you hear anything else, then it's just simply not true.

Thanks all.

-- Dave.