Joel
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'The Last of Us Part II' is as brutal as it is daring
Early trailers, comments from director Neil Druckmann and an extensive preview last fall confirmed that The Last of Us Part II would be bigger, more violent and more grueling than what came before. Naughty Dog has proven itself to a developer that deserves the benefit of the doubt, and I had few concerns that The Last of Us Part II would succeed on a technical level. As expected, it looks fantastic, showing just how far we’ve come from the PS3 original. Gameplay has been smoothed out and improved upon in many ways, as well. But what I really care about is Ellie and Joel. The Last of Us ended with ambiguity, but nonetheless provided a stunning conclusion to a nuanced and layered story. Druckmann said that developer Naughty Dog didn’t take the decision to continue that story lightly — but after seven years of waiting, the next chapter in Ellie and Joel’s story really needed to deliver.
In ‘The Last of Us Part II,’ Ellie is a lethal loner
"The Wolf" is a force to be reckoned with: She can make her own explosive arrowheads, use her enemies as bullet shields and fell attackers much taller and bigger than her. During the gameplay trailer for The Last of Us: Part II (TLOU2), Ellie is violent, destructive and unhesitant.
The Last of Us developer diary characterizes Joel and Ellie
This developer diary video for The Last of Us shows the game's cast and crew elaborating on protagonists' motivations. Lead Designer Jacob Minkoff notes Ellie's unique perspective in the game, while voice actor Troy Baker reveals how one line from his audition helped shape Joel's character.
Leaderboard: Ninja vs. pirate
Theirs is a rivalry born not from historical conflict but from bored nerds eating cheap pizza and debating hypothetical grudge matches. Well done, nerds -- now the entire world thinks that you can have pirates and you can have ninjas, but you cannot have both without an epic beatdown. Everyone seems to take a side on which is cooler: the roguish pirate or the mysterious ninja. Practically all fantasy MMOs have both represented in some way, whether it be World of Warcraft's Bloodsail Buccaneers or Guild Wars Factions' Assassin. If developers really wanted to inject some life into PvP, they'd make it PvN -- Pirate vs. Ninja. In any case, these two pajama-clad murderers are inseparable from our games, and chances are you've come to a conclusion as to which adds more flavor, panache, and coolness to the setting. I'd like to say that we're going to settle this debate today, but whom am I kidding? It's never going to be settled because people are still bickering about Mike vs. Joel, Picard vs. Kirk, and Big Red vs. Doublemint. Let's just say our piece and then commence with a duel at dawn in the comments, m'kay?
The Last of Us screens put Joel and Ellie in Pittsburgh
How can you tell Naughty Dog is serious about the infectious danger in The Last of Us? Because while Uncharted's Nathan Drake made the half-tuck famous, Last of Us' Joel has apparently gone full untuck in these screenshots over on Game Informer. Not. Kidding. Around. Elsewhere in the screenshots, we can see that part of the game takes place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, so steel yourself for that (sorry). Weapons will break after being used in combat, so part of the challenge in wandering around the lush world is just staying armed. And that girl in the image above is Ellie, a teenager who will be following Joel around for part of his journey. Naughty Dog is working hard on her AI, and says she won't require a lot of micro-management while being escorted. Game Informer promises 20 images of the game in its upcoming issue, but you can head to the website right now to see the other two shots on display. Full untuck, guys!
PSP camera doesn't like sunlight, garlic
Long-time PSP Fanboy reader Joel used the PSP camera to take pictures from his trip to Paris. He seems pleased by the camera's performance, especially considering its budget price. Take a look for yourself in his Flickr photostream. A close-up look at the pictures reveals tons of artifacting and other visual glitches, meaning the camera won't replace a dedicated digital camera.One of the more crucial problems with the camera appears to be how it reacts to sunlight. "I wanted to take a picture of the Eiffel Tower with the sunset. And guess what happened: for one little second, the sun was SO bright my eyes hurt and I had to close them, and the camera went completely black. The sun killed the lens for some time. I watching and taking pictures, all black, until I turned off the PSP completely, and rebooted it, and it was working again. My hypothesis is that the Sun might kill the lenses for a little time if it's too bright."It doesn't come as too surprising that such a cheap camera won't handle the sun's powerful rays. Hopefully, if Sony ever decides to officially release the peripheral in the States, the camera will be able to handle a bit more.
