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'God of War' director's video shows the human side of making games
It's easy to forget that real people create games. For them, the eventual launch is as much terrifying as it is exciting -- they've poured years of their life into a project whose success is far from guaranteed. And if you need an illustration of that point, you just have to ask God of War director Cory Barlog. He posted a video of his reaction to early reviews of the PS4 action blockbuster, and it adds a sorely-needed human element to an industry where developers are often reduced to a list of faceless names in the credits.
Kratos finds his humanity in the new 'God of War'
It was never in question whether God of War would return. The franchise is one of Sony's most successful exclusives of the past decade, and the main trilogy of games were both critically acclaimed and hugely popular. But the conclusion of God of War III seemed to put a pretty definitive end on the series while the relatively lackluster prequel God of War: Ascension that came a few years later showed that Sony had pretty much run out of ways to continue telling the story of its antihero, Kratos. That is, unless developer Santa Monica Studios made a break from the series' past, changed the gameplay, left Greek mythology behind and, most important, showed us a more human side of Kratos than we'd ever seen before. Judging from the preview of the forthcoming God of War that kicked off Sony's E3 event, that's exactly what's happened, and it completely reinvigorated my interest in a series that felt like it had nothing left to say.
Work on Mad Max continues, game still a ways off
It's been seven long months since we last heard an update on Cory Barlog's video game adaptation of Mad Max. Now Barlog, best known for his work on a little thing we like to call God of War II, has posted an update on the project to his blog, though whether or not he had to saw through his own foot to get to the keyboard remains something of a mystery. Barlog's work on the game's story with Mad Max film producer, George Miller, appears nearly done, the pair having "put the final touches on the Mad Max story and game design structure and mechanics." However, Barlog adds that they're "working with some publishers to get a deal locked down so we can start making this bad boy," so don't go expecting to hunt gangs across the dystopian Australian highways anytime soon.
God of War's Cory Barlog leaving SCEA
1UP reports that Cory Barlog shall not pass his SCEA Santa Monica colleagues in the hallway anymore, as he's decided to leave the studio in order to pursue other opportunities, none of which are likely to involve James Lipton. The game director most notably took the reins of the Grecian testosterone epic, God of War II, from David Jaffe (who also recently departed SCEA to form his own studio) and ultimately oversaw one of this year's finest PS2 games.According to a Sony spokesperson, the publisher is grateful for Barlog's "work and creative vision for the critically acclaimed God of War franchise", but is also confident that the remaining team will successfully churn out "epic content with God of War: Chains of Olympus for the PSP and God of War III for PS3." Yes, that's the same God of War III which remains officially unannounced but completely expected. Try not to muck it up, Mr. Barlog's replacement!
God of War to use PSP's full processor speed
God of War: Chains of Olympus creative director, Cory Barlog, has posted a follow-up to his "Inside the Developers Studio" Sony blog debut in order to "add some more of what you're asking for." Apparently, you were asking if Kratos would find his PSP adventure enhanced by the recent lifting of the system's processor speed restriction. Barlog confirms that developer Ready at Dawn will indeed take advantage of the unthrottled CPU, no doubt using it to render an alarming number of snarling mouths, serrated limbs and somewhat pointy breasts -- frequently all on the same creature, if the rest of the God of War series is any indication.Barlog, who notes that he prefers a hands-on approach to game development versus his overseeing role on Chains of Olympus, is currently working on God of War III an unannounced PlayStation 3 project. Industry insiders strongly suggest that it's a survival horror title featuring an undying James Lipton. %Gallery-3184%
God of War dev to find Jack Thompson's "candy coated liberal center"
In an (admittedly disappointing) interview with Cory Barlog on the PlayStation.blog, the developer reveals that the one person he'd love to have play his game would be controversial lawyer, Jack Thompson. "I think after 5 minutes of playing the game that hard crunchy exterior would melt away and reveal his candy coated liberal center."We're sure if Thompson ever played a video game, he would understand that they're not all "murder simulators." Maybe he too could understand why so many people enjoy them. Unfortunately, Barlog doesn't reveal much more. In fact, there appears to be nothing on his plate other than Chains of Olympus for PSP (not that we're complaining).
God of War: Chains of Olympus fully revealed
God of War: Chains of Olympus. You know you want it, and 1UP has the exclusive.preview. There's six pages of beautiful info on quite possibly the most anticipated PSP game of all time."A lot of what we're telling with the later stories is Kratos when he's just really realized he's a puppet of the Gods, really realizing that he's getting screwed over, and [the PSP game will] flesh out when he did have maybe a little bit of faith and when that faith started to crumble a little bit -- when he started to see some cracks in the stories they were telling him," says Chains of Olympus creative director Cory Barlog.We don't want to spoil the rest, so you're going to have to check out 1UP for the rest. Hopefully, we'll see even more of God of War: Chains of Olympus soon enough.
Cory Barlog's role in the handheld God of War
God of War creator David Jaffe has been removing himself more and more from the franchise he created, opting to focus on new titles, like the perpetually delayed Calling All Cars (PS3). In his stead is Cory Barlog, who became director of the PS2 sequel, God of War II. As any player of the game can tell you, the sequel is vastly improved over the original, addressing all the criticisms that the first title faced. The incredible action of God of War II proved that Barlog was a fantastic replacement for Jaffe.However, what's Barlog's involvement with the upcoming PSP iteration, Chains of Olympus? Development is in the capable hands of Ready At Dawn (Daxter), and initial screens and video show almost limitless potential for the title. Although we're excited to see the title develop so well, we're disappointed by Barlog's fairly removed involvement from the title. Speaking to GameDaily, Barlog reveals "I'll be working on it kind of in the way Dave oversaw God of War II, being a sounding board for [developer] Ready at Dawn. My main focus is to try and make sure it's within the God of War universe."
Sony finally confirms God of War PSP
It was a terribly held secret and after the scans of the back of the instruction manual appeared online, there was little doubt God of War was coming to the PSP. Some gamers still had in the back of their heads that the image was a hoax though. Fear not, now there is no doubt. Sony has confirmed God of War is coming to the PSP. At a God of War launch event last night God of War director Cory Barlog said "It is its own story that connects to the overall story. God of War, God of War 2, and then if all the stars align God of War 3 will be the telling of a trilogy. This PSP story will be a further fleshing out." Glad it will fit into the overall story and though I had no doubt, it's good to have confirmation it will be an original game. [ Via 1UP ]
The truth behind David Jaffe's HL
David Jaffe wanted to make gamers cry with his PSP game Heartland. Well when the game was cancelled he accomplished that goal as many gamers faced incredible disappointment at its loss. Just as that wound was starting to heal, 1UP re-opens the wound and pours salt in it by getting details on the game. Of course, no matter how much it hurts, the curiousity factor makes it so we can't ignore the info David Jaffe cleared the air by saying "Heartland was the story of China invading America. It was a first-person-shooter where you played a soldier debating whether to stay and fight for America or go AWOL to meet up with your family. We were trying to put in a lot of gameplay that would evoke emotion. You had sequences where you'd go into homes and your commanding officer would tell you to shoot innocent Chinese-Americans. It was very dark and was meant to cause players to consider what it's like to live in America and be an American today." Sounds like it could be a deeply meaningful game, so why did Jaffe step away from the project? "Hearing myself talk about it now makes me a bit sad (that we didn't finish it). But I wasn't incentivized to make it, in a way I could go to my family and say 'You're not going to see me for 90% of the time, but there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.' There isn't a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, at least the current way the industry is set up." Maybe Cory Barlog can continue this project too?.
God of War II's director says PSP version "definitely a possibility"
Cory Barlog, director of the upcoming God of War II recently spoke with GameDaily BIZ, waxing on about the future of the franchise. When asked if the franchise would ever jump ship to the PSP he had a few interesting things to say: "That would be awesome. I mean, I've been a big proponent of that concept for quite a while. I want it on every possible system you could put it on. I think it's definitely a possibility. It's not something we haven't discussed but it's not something we're actively discussing right now."But does this mean that the Ready at Dawn slip-up was just a mistake? It sounds like Barlog is denying that God of War is currently in development for the our system. We keep on hearing conflicting reports of GoW on the PSP, but hopefully, we'll see what's going on with this hotly anticipated title at next week's GDC.
God of War 2 demo soon
God of War 2 director Cory Barlog, using gentler language than tends his predecessor David Jaffe, has revealed that the game demo is nearly complete. "We are going to be breaking off the demo code pretty soon and tuning the final tuning pass on the demo level so that is pretty damn exciting. It means that those of you who emailed earlier about the demo will soon be holding your sweet copy of the God of War 2 Demo," Barlog wrote on his blog Wednesday.Barlog failed to cite an exact release date or means of distribution for the demo, which will feature a single level. By his own declaration, the entire game will be finished 60 days from now, suggesting a late-March to early-April release window for God of War 2. Our guess: demo in February. Will a version land on PlayStation 3's PlayStation Store?[Via 1UP]
