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PlayStation Experience panel topics include God of War, Nathan Drake, PlayStation AMA
The PlayStation Experience will host fans of the PlayStation family next month as they try out recently-released and upcoming games, but about 20 panels are also on the agenda for next month's event in Las Vegas. While an exact schedule hasn't been nailed down, a recent PlayStation Blog post has outlined the topics for each confirmed panel. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, voices and animation sources of The Last of Us' respective Joel and Ellie, will be present for a panel on how voice-over and performance capture are integrated into games. Naughty Dog will host two panels, one featuring a video that looks back on the studio's 30 years of existence, the other following the process of character creation (including Nathan Drake's transition to PS4). Santa Monica Studio will offer up a God of War series retrospective, and Sony President Shuhei Yoshida, VP of Publisher Relations Adam Boyes and Software Product Development Head for Sony Worldwide Studios Scott Rohde will also be present for an "Ask Me Anything"-style presentation. A full list of event descriptions can be parsed through on the PS Blog, with additional panels covering N++, Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition, the LittleBigPlanet series and what it's like to work in Japan's gaming industry. If any topics interest you or you just like the idea of playing games before they're released, PlayStation Experience is inviting those 18 and over to Las Vegas for the weekend of December 6. [Image: PlayStation Experience]
Watch The Last of Us: One Night Live, but not the unseen epilogue
If you played The Last of Us and thought "hey this would make a really great stage show" then you're kind of weird. But also perhaps a visionary, since a The Last of Us stage show is exactly what Naughty Dog and Sony put on last night in a special one-off performance. It's of course closer to a table read than a grand Broadway spectacle, but if you like seeing voice actors like Troy Baker (Joel) and Ashley Johnson (Ellie) apply themselves to their roles, it's worth a watch. Also, rather than telling the full plot, the show takes select scenes from various parts of Naughty Dog's horror. In short, it doesn't really explain the story but it sure as heck spoils it, so if you've not played the game, go do that first (it's really good!)
Watch The Last of Us' Ellie reminisce about pushing around another Joel
Sony's pumping out the promos ahead of The Last of Us: Remastered's launch this week, but a new interview between actors Troy Baker (Joel) and Ashley Johnson (Ellie) covers some interesting ground. The best bit is when Johnson talks about recording a heated scene with a different actor going up for the Joel part, giving us a glimpse into how motion-capture can get emotional, and quick. The video also touches on the very enjoyable "alternate" ending - if you've not seen that in full, that footage is waiting for you below the break. The Last of Us: Remastered hits PS4 on July 29 in North America and August 1 in Europe.
The voices of Joel and Ellie to judge The Last of Us fan art competition
Naughty Dog has partnered with t-shirts-and-art-prints online shop We Love Fine for a The Last of Us-inspired fan art competition, and according to a post on the Naughty Dog website, the winner's designs could end up on official The Last of Us merchandise. Artists have until November 11 to submit up to five designs, which will be rated by Last of Us fans. On December 17, the most popular designs will move on to the final round of judging. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who voiced Joel and Ellie, respectively, as well as Creative Director Neil Druckmann and Game Director Bruce Straley will serve as guest judges. The Grand Prize winner will take home up to $2,000, as well as a Post-Pandemic Edition of the game, Season Pass DLC, a Dark Horse artbook, a trade paperback copy of The Last of Us American Dreams, and a signed poster by the dev team. You can check out all the rules for entry, as well as other prizes, on the We Love Fine website.
The Last of Us announcement trailer broken down in making-of video
One of the better surprises of this year's Spike VGAs was not random tea-bagging -- for most, it was the unveiling of Naughty Dog's new IP, The Last of Us. All of that buzz is attributable to the dramatic trailer used to announce the title.Today, Naughty Dog released a behind-the-scenes making-of trailer for the announcement trailer. Within you'll see some of Naughty Dog's famous mo-cap work at play and probably suffer a bit of disappointment when you see Ashley Johnson in a mo-cap suit. Yes, we know you were expecting Ellen Page, but we're pretty sure Juno is totally dead in this post-apocalyptic future anyway.
The Last of Us has been in development for two years
There was quite a lot of buzz surrounding the first new game revealed during the Spike VGAs this weekend, The Last of US. Decidedly void of smarmy characters and international espionage, The Last of Us instead focuses on two survivors trying to make their way across the country after a post-apocalyptic event. And, surprisingly, it's been in development for two years already, Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann revealed on Twitter. Druckmann also revealed the two leads on the game are Troy Baker, the man voicing protagonist Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite, and Ashley Johnson, who is in fact not Ellen Page. Yeah, we were kinda surprised, too. The Last of Us also appears to be a Mature title -- the UK page suggests a PEGI rating of 18, the equivalent of a Mature ESRB rating here in The States, a first for Naughty Dog. Also a first at Naughty Dog: the existence of two separate teams. One team is working on The Last of Us, the other is working on other stuff, according to co-president Christophe Balestra. Finally, the UK page suggests "no network play," which could mean the final game is a local-only affair. Of course, that could change in the lead-up to launch in 2012.
