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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."
God of War PSP images leaked
Looks like someone got their Electronic Gaming Monthly issue early and, as is customary it seems with every month's release, uploaded the juiciest scans online. The June 2007 issue, on sale May 8, has a feature on God of War: Chains of Olympus for PSP and German site consolewars.de has the images in a nice gallery for us to peruse.Chains of Olympus is looking very pretty, though these scenes look similar to what we saw in the trailer. We can't wait to see how the action title translates in the forthcoming demo.[Via PSP Fanboy]
God of War screenshots leaked
Next month's issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly has an exclusive preview of God of War: Chains of Olympus. As is customary on the internet, someone has nabbed an issue early and scanned it for the entire world to see. German site consolewars.de has some juicy images from the game that has our hearts palpitating. Are these graphics really possible on PSP? If so, our wait for the demo disc becomes even more painful.EGM 216 goes on sale May 8th. Expect a lot more coverage in the coming weeks.[Via 1UP]
SCEE apologizes for GoW II party
As many of you have heard, Dailymail.co.uk posted an article last Sunday about a Greek press event for God of War II that was held two months ago. While press events for major games is not unusual, the nature of this one was a little ... controversial.The controversy came from a photo of the party in this month's Official PlayStation Magazine, in which you can see what appears to be a freshly slaughtered goat and a half-naked girl sitting next to it (and some kind of barbarian guy standing behind it).The article also made a number of other claims, significantly increasing the gross-out factor of the story. I won't bother rehashing them now, because everybody already knows them. The reason we didn't run an article about this when it was first released is that we strongly suspected that there were some major pieces of the puzzle missing that we weren't hearing. Not that Sony hasn't made a number of PR stumbles in the past, but Dailymail's synopsis of the party made it sound like an orgy of blood and gore more suitable to the Marques De Sade than a videogame launch party.Turns out, it wasn't quite as it was portrayed. Go ahead and click the continued link to see the cold, hard facts.
PETA talks God of War goat
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) posted in their blog today about the Sony goat incident from the weekend. With quite a bit of temperance for PETA, they apparently got the memo of the aftermath, and didn't make an official public statement (i.e. press release to the planet). Two points to PETA for knowing who Jack Thompson is and saying they've "always sided with the video game industry against the Jack Thompsons of this world who are out to make a name for themselves by blaming gamers for all of society's problems." Of course they close the post by saying, "Sony is evidently recalling the entire 80,000 print run of the PlayStation magazine in which this story featured, though it's frankly a bit late for the victim of the stunt at this stage." Come on, it's PETA, they gotta say that.Joystiq spoke with Daphna Nachminovitch, Director of Domestic Animal and Wildlife Rescue & Information at PETA, and she told us that they received several dozen emails and phone calls about the incident over the weekend as the story broke. She says that the reason PETA didn't make a public statement is because the public was already well aware of the incident and clearly found it objectionable. Nachminovitch says, "It was something so frivolous and idiotic. I think they misread their audience because we've received a lot of statements and it doesn't look like the stunt was helpful to the audience they were trying to promote to for the game ... I know with Sony's reputation it was surprising to see something with this magnitude. Looking at the website [for the game] I don't see the connection. I don't understand how this would appeal to the people who would want this video game."Nachminovitch was glad to see that Sony made a statement so quickly and hopes that they don't do something like this again in the future. She also noticed that there were topless women at the party and jokes, "Shouldn't that have been enough? There's no need to display an animal like that for an audience when topless women are walking around, I'm sure the audience found that far more appealing."
Sony explains God of War's dead goat antics
"Slaughter: Horror at Sony's depraved promotion stunt with decapitated goat" is the sort of headline that sells newspapers -- the UK's Daily Mail in particular(NSFW). Starting with an evocative first word and ending with outright animal cruelty, it's a snappy summation of an event that was probably rife with sexual debauchery, devil worship and inappropriate hobnobbery! And that isn't even a word! Indeed, how could other papers even compete with their silly "facts" and less sensational headlines like "Promotion: Butcher-obtained goat displayed in dramatization while journalists drink soup from china bowls!" Well, we suppose that one is a little bit on the long side.Then again, so is the story revolving around Sony's European God of War II event. It seems somewhere between the Daily Mail's spin and the Official PlayStation Magazine's (now recalled) retelling of the Greek-themed costume party, things... goat a little out of hand. Sony's senior director of corporate communications, Dave Karakker, told Joystiq that the reporter responsible for the OPSM article didn't even bother to attend the event. The basis of his article was the invitational pamphlet, "which employed a degree of hyperbole in order to encourage attendance."Furthermore, the infamous goat was thoroughly dead upon arrival. It was procured from a qualified butcher, was returned after the event and was never allowed to be touched by journalists (no kidding around). The goat was filled with "a meat soup, made to a traditional Greek recipe and served to attendees in china bowls direct from the caterers," leaving claims of "offal" as someone likely mishearing a complaint about the actual taste of the dish. No soup came directly from the goat. "We recognise that the use of a dead goat was in poor taste and fell below the high standards of conduct we set ourselves. We are conducting an enquiry to establish the circumstances behind the event in order to ensure this does not happen again. We also apologise to anyone offended by the article in the OPSM (subscription copies were sent out ahead of street date)." It was undeniably tacky, but hardly the "Phil Harrison bites the head off a chimp and mows down the audience using a Tommy Gun" debacle you may have envisioned before. (They're saving that one for The Getaway 3.)
God of War: Chains of Olympus revealed, free UMD demo offered
Someone over at IslandOfRhodes.org finally got around to tacking the "r" and "us" onto "God of Wa: Chains of Olymp," setting in motion a cataclysmic series of events that has unearthed this trailer and unleashed a mail-order UMD demo (Sony, you know the PSP can like totally do that WiFi thing and download stuff, right?). So, did we mention the demo is only available while supplies last? That means the dude who read this a second ago is already clicking away. What are you waiting for ... a bigger price cut?[Via PSP Fanboy]
God of War: Chains of Olympus - first trailer & UMD demo
Do it. Now. Yes, get a free UMD demo of the newly announced God of War: Chains of Olympus. Hurry! Then, see past the cut for the very first footage of this PSP-exclusive God of War. You will be absolutely stunned by the graphics.
Is the God of War title nearly revealed?
The Island of Rhodes continues to tease us. The countdown has been extended yet again, as more and more of this mysterious God of War title gets revealed. Justin McElroy from Joystiq spent hours trying to get past that silly block-sliding puzzle hidden on the site to unearth God of War: Chains of Olymp--. There's only two days until we find out the truth, and we pray to the Gods that the full revelation will be something PSP fans can truly celebrate.
God of War PSP title nearly revealed
We care about you here at Joystiq, and in a lot of subtle ways that you probably don't always appreciate. Like see that screenshot up above? That says "God of Wa: Chains of Olymp" which we assume is most of the title of the God of War PSP game. It's set to complete its display in a couple of days when we hope it will say God of War: Chains of Olympics 2008: Kratos & Mario & Sonic. But it will probably say God of War: Chains of Olympus, because that's just the way life works.You know what else? We're not going to tell you how we found it. We'll just say it's the latest addition to IslandOfRhodes.org, which has become a veritable cornucopia of GoW secrets, and leave it at that. If you're interested in tracking this title down, we're sure that you can find that sort of info, but you're not getting it from us. Trust us, it's an hour of random clicking that you're just not going to get back, and by keeping it from you, we have given you the gift of an hour of your life. Now go, and please ... pay it forward.[Thanks, Daniel]
Sony explains lack of 'HD' mode in PAL God of War II
The non-PAL folk discovered last week that God of War II was hiding an "HD" version of the game. This was Sony stretching the truth just a bit because even they said, "This is NOT 720p. Its actually 480p with FULL SIZE buffers, in other words 640*448 resolution." Well, this didn't stop the Europeans from getting a bit upset that they weren't getting the same "HD" code, despite their televisions already running in a higher version than this supposed "HD" with a whopping 576i -- um, that's more HD than the non-PAL GoW II "HD" already -- what's the problem, what's going on?This situation needed a glorious explanation by Sony Europe, which basically boiled down to them saying, "It should also be noted that when playing the game on a PS3 via a component of HDMI lead, it runs in true 576p and not just an upscaled version of 576i. The Enhanced Definition (ED) output is forced from the PS2 graphics chip which is why a lot of PS2 games -- not just GoW II -- will look a lot better. By contrast, if you boot up the US GoW II on an NTSC PS3 and switch Progressive Scan mode on, there will be no difference as the emulator is pushing the 480p mode regardless. What this basically means is that the PAL PS3 is giving the best PS2 visuals you will be able to get anywhere!"So, in conclusion, the European God of War II is already more HD than the non-PAL "HD." Hey, wait, we should be the ones pissed! Somebody get Sony on the phone -- we demand more HD from our "HD." We want 576p!
PSP Fanboy Theatre: Volume 15
PSP Fanboy offers the latest and greatest movie and game trailers, formatted for the PSP in this new weekly feature. Check it out every Saturday. PSP owners can download files wirelessly via m.pspfanboy.com.Instructions: Save all movie and thumbnail files to the VIDEO folder. These high resolution 480x272 videos require firmware 3.30 or above. (Note: OE custom firmware will also play these videos.) Manhunt 2Download MP4 (6.8MB) | Download JPG The following videos are featured after the break: Blue Dragon, Gene Simmons - Guitar Hero II Tournament, God of War II: Mythology, Guitar Hero II [360]
Island of Rhodes leads to another countdown
Imagine our horror when we browsed the Island of Rhodes website and saw ... well, nothing. It appeared to be nothing more than a cryptic, and rather useless, Flash website about developing God of War II. Thankfully, we were wrong. darksidez from the GameFAQs forums has discovered a secret area of the website, which reveals a hidden HD mode for God of War II on PS2, and yet another countdown. Is this madness? No ... THIS IS KRATOS!!! It appears that spelling Kratos using the Greek letters on the site leads to a countdown page, with a partially revealed title. We see God of War: Ch ... Could this be the official reveal of the continuously elusive PSP God of War? Let's not get our hopes up too high--we'll unravel this additional mystery in less than two weeks time. [Via Kotaku]
God of War creator would have left Blu-ray out of PS3
It's refreshing these days when someone says what is on their mind, and doesn't pander to the corporate entity that they work for all the time. One voice that certainly isn't afraid of biting the hand that feeds him is David Jaffe, creator of God of War, and Game Director and Designer for Sony in Santa Monica. He pretty much chomps down on that hand with relish.In a Bonus Round video interview with Jaffe on GameTrailers, he says "I probably would have taken the Blu-ray out and sold it for less money." Considering how Sony is really pushing the Blu-ray as one of the main reasons to own a PS3, he's certainly swimming upstream. Jaffe (pictured above with a Nintendo neckstrap *gasp*) is probably the only Sony employee openly questioning the Blu-ray inclusion.
Sony makes price drop official; adds Daxter and Syphon Filter to Greatest Hits
The $30 price drop isn't exclusive to GameStop/EB Games--it's universal. But, that's not where the savings end. Sony has also added two more games to PSP's Greatest Hits lineup: Daxter and Syphon Filter.According to the press release, "We have always been passionate about making great entertainment accessible to everyone, and the new price for PSP, as well as the continued growth of the 'Greatest Hits' library, reflect our ongoing commitment to supporting and expanding the PSP community," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "We are pleased that we are able to engineer savings for the consumer at this stage of PSP's lifecycle, allowing more individuals to experience PSP for the first time. In particular, we have recently seen a steady rise in the number of teens adopting PSP as their primary handheld entertainment system, and we expect the new price will accelerate that trend."Sony also reminds players that the future of PSP is quite bright, especially with the upcoming God of War: "Ready At Dawn couldn't be more pleased with our success bringing Daxter to the PSP platform last year, and now we have another opportunity to blow away expectations of what a developer can accomplish on a portable when Kratos hits the 'small screen' in God of War," said Didier Malenfant, co-founder and president, Ready At Dawn Studios. "PSP is an ideal platform for us to work on because we have a high level of freedom to be creative, and we can deliver gameplay experiences that rival ones you'd get from a computer entertainment system."[Update: According to Engadget, the PSP Entertainment Pack will also receive a $30 cut, from $250 to $220.]
Gamestop sales hit $5.3 billion in 2006
A report on Next Generation lays out Gamestop's financial performance for the fiscal year 2006. Needless to say, the world of game retail is as lucrative as ever, even if Gamestop has been making every effort to diminish it in size for consumers. Full-year sales experienced a surge of 72%, from $3.1 billion to $5.3 billion. Out of that, annual net earnings for the year, ending February 3, rose to an impressive $158.3 million, while operating income went up to $334 million.Furthermore, Gamestop has expressed plans to open between 500 and 550 more stores worldwide. The group is counting on a strong first quarter in 2007, powered by the likes God of War II, the Pokémon franchise and several Xbox 360 titles. With so much economic momentum, don't expect Gamestop to roll over and change their questionable pre-owned game prices or their definition of "new" anytime soon.
Ready at Dawn explains PSP's power; prepares PS2 Daxter?
Ready at Dawn has been getting a lot of attention lately. Their first game, Daxter, is considered one of PSP's best: not only does it feature solid gameplay, but it features truly impressive graphics technology, and completely invisible load times. Obviously, the team has learned new tricks, and has managed to squeeze more power out of our handheld for their upcoming God of War game. According to co-founder Didier Malenfant, Daxter doesn't come close to taking advantage of the system's true capabilities: "[We] made the conscious decision not to push the hardware as far as we could ... mainly because we wanted to ship the game in a timely manner."Obviously, the talented team is unlocking even more of PSP's power in God of War. However, "the biggest frustration right now, in a way, is the limitation on the clock speed. We'd love to run our games at 333Mhz (we do internally just for kicks) because it does make a big difference in how much stuff you can push on the platform."So, how does Ready at Dawn feel about being responsible for two of Sony's biggest franchises? "The truth is," Malenfant explained, "we built Ready At Dawn Studios to create original IP, but ... I don't think anyone here regrets working on two of the world's biggest franchises in the meantime."The future is bright for this Santa Ana-based team. The single most wanted request the team receives, though, is a PS2 version of Daxter. "I think everyone here would love to do it, and it actually wouldn't be that hard because Daxter was never designed as a handheld game, we could even add a few things for the PS2 version."[Via Gamasutra; Thanks, Joe!]
God of War release date revealed?
An anonymous PSP Fanboy reader wrote us to make us hip to the fact that GameStop has given a release date of 11/01/07 to the PSP version of God of War. This listing could be like many GameStop listings and just be a placeholder date, but at the same time it makes a lot of sense for God of War to come out in the fall and we do know it's coming this year. Don't take November 1st off just yet, but also don't plan any big events for that day. It may be Godmergence Day ... or something.
IslandofRhodes.org, elaborate fake or new announcement?
The jury is out if this is brilliant viral marketing or the simple fact that when millions of people play a game they'll eventually find something hidden -- but the timing is a little too convenient. In a video for God of War II (found after the break) a player works their way to a 999,999 hit combination. When reaching the achievement a URL pops onto the screen (0:43 mark in video) for IslandofRhodes.org. The website shows a countdown to April 11 with Kratos' menacing face watching over a burning field.Although we have our crack team of Joystiq video analysts pouring over the video frame by frame trying to figure out if it's a complete hoax, if real, we're going to go with the website has something to do with Kratos' upcoming PSP adventure. Although that would be strange considering whatever the site is, the game it's promoting is rated M. According to the ESRB, they have not yet rated God of War for PSP. So Joystiq nation, does that website show up when you hit 999,999 and what does it all mean?[Thanks Wine]
God of War to go beyond a trilogy?
Holy crap. Having just finished reading this interview (it's about noon, not that it matters), I've got to keep myself from laughing out loud (LOLing, if we may) because I'm in a study... area. Anyway, David Jaffe was interviewed way back during GDC about a number of things, but we're going to concentrate on his talk about God of War and where that franchise will go. But we're also going to make a quick list of our favorite quotes from the interview. Because it's hilarious. Jaffe on Nintendo and the Wii: "I love Nintendo. I can't get my hands on a f***ing Wii." Jaffe on asking Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime for a Wii: "I don't know, it's not like he's carrying them around like Santa Claus..." Jaffe on Microsoft responding to HOME: "I think it's a good attempt at spin. Good for them for trying to spin their way out of a pretty bad situation." Jaffe about missing the rumble feature: "No one would say, "Yeah rumble sucks, nobody cares about it." It's a nice feature... but let's put it this way: when I heard we weren't going to have rumble I wasn't like, "Oh my god we're f***ed." All right, whatever. The meat of the God of War stuff is on the third page of the interview. To summarize, Jaffe explains that he knows exactly where the story of Kratos is going and where it will end, but he thinks it may take two or three more games to tell the tale completely (sales dependent, sure). Also, Sony will probably release some mini-stories to tie up other loose ends. The third title is rumored to be coming to the PS3 (duh), will support 1080p and some nifty SIXAXIS ideas. Good stuff, funny guy. Curses like a sailor. We at PS3Fanboy always respect men of the sea, because they're like pirates and pirates are pleasant and cordial.
