ICO
Latest
Team ICO has a fan in Pan's Labyrinth director
You know you've got an iconic piece of artistry when an Academy Award winning filmmaker has nothing but praise, respect, and admiration to show. "There are only two games I consider masterpieces: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus," said Guillermo del Toro in an interview with Edge magazine. Both titles are creations of SCEJ's Team ICO, who are currently working on an unnamed title.Guillermo, director of the widely acclaimed Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy movies, is himself a gamer since the Pong era. He's even a video game director, having worked with Konami on adapting the Hellboy series ... which unfortunately didn't do too well. With such a prominent figure giving the thumbs up to Team ICO, we're sure they're happy to hear that their hard work is getting noticed outside the realm of gaming. We're also sure, whatever they have in store next would probably be pleasing del Toro -- and us for that matter.
Obvious: Next Team Ico game will be 'really, really good'
We could have told you that, you know. If you don't trust our word, however, how about the one from Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida? He would know, wouldn't he? Allegedly talking to Official PlayStation Magazine (August issue cited on NeoGAF), Yoshida refers to the team that built ICO and Shadow of the Colossus as the "Olympic Team." Why? Well, because it takes 'em four years to finish a game."They haven't released a PS3 title yet - of course not - they'll take four years!" explains Yoshida. "But they have something really, really good on the way." Is it too early to dole out 2009's Game of the Year Award?[Via Eurogamer]
The Joystiq Weekend: August 2 - 3, 2008
Joystiq reader Whetzell sent us in this video he made of animated Ico box art, hand drawn and then put together in after effects. With that concept in mind, we now have a pretty good idea what Duke Nukem Trilogy's box would look like if animated. Check out the highlights for today:JoystiqueryJapanese hardware sales, July 21 - July 27: Expansion editionPS Fanboy Week in Review: 7/28 - 8/03Source: First images from 360 Avatar creator leakedWeekly Webcomic Wrapup has a case of mistaken identityNewsSquare Enix establishes casual gaming brand in JapanParasite Eve follow-up moves onto PSPJapanese Advent Children directors cut includes FFXIII demo, will come in new PS3 bundleRed Faction: Guerilla multiplayer beta video dumpAn altogether new Call of Duty planned for 2009Achievements coming to Diablo III and Starcraft II, linked to Blizzard accountRed Faction: Guerilla beta open on 360 for IGN Insider and FilePlanet subscribersNew North American development studio hiring help for Mythos, Hellgate: LondonPS2 getting sexier with Ar tonelico 2 this DecemberRumors & SpeculationOPM: EA developing Left 4 Dead for PS3 Culture & CommunityDead Space Animated Comic: Issue 4
ICO and Siren creators speaking at Nordic conference
With all the excitement going on with PlayStation Day in Europe, we're going to turn your attention to another conference coming up soon. The Nordic Game 2008 conference. It's a little more technical of a conference, but it's still got some great developers giving speeches. Sony's own Fumito Ueda, creator of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus will be taking part in the "Game Creation and Technology" program. This program focuses on new game niches and continuing to innovate creatively.Other celebrated panelists in the discussion include the creator of Silent Hill and Siren, Keiichiro Toyama, Rock Band's Roby Kay and Ninja Theory co-founder, Tameem Antoniades. We don't really expect any announcements out of these folk, but they might bring something new to the table when giving their presentation. Like whatever direction Ueda is taking with his third game. We'll keep you posted.
ICO G1 satellite successfully launched, DVB-SH headed to America
Just months after Alcatel Lucent and SFR hosted DVB-SH trials across the pond comes word that the mobile TV technology is headed Stateside. ICO Global Communications is donning the party hats and going through buckets upon buckets of ice cream in celebration of a successful satellite launch that will eventually bring those yearned-after mobile television goods to the US, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. The ICO G1 was placed into its initial geosynchronous transfer orbit yesterday afternoon, and now the company is eagerly awaiting certification that the bird is fully operational (and can pass the final FCC milestone) by May 15th. If all goes to plan, Las Vegas, Nevada and Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina will be gifted with ICO mim (mobile interactive media) service trials "later this summer," though a commercial launch isn't slated to occur until "later in 2009." [Via phonemag], image courtesy of WESH]
GDC08: The eight best stories in gaming
Tuesday afternoon four well-known games industry writers and designers got together to discuss the best storytelling gaming has to offer in a panel entitled "Stories Best Played: Deconstructing the Best Interactive Storytelling." Each of the authors brought a pair of games that they viewed as some of the narratively strongest yet made. Prior to the panel all four men played the ten titles, and came prepared to talk about the strengths and merits of each. Panelists Richard Rouse (Paranoid Productions), Steve Meretzky (Blue Fang), Marc Laidlaw (Valve Software), and Ken Rolston (Big Huge Games) offered up, in essence, a 'top eight' list for gamers looking to get more from exposition than explosions. Read on for views from a panel of expert opinions on the likes of Loom, BioShock, Phoenix Wright and the legendary Planescape: Torment.
New artwork depicting third Team ICO game released
Initially coming from Sony's website seeking applicants for Team ICO's new project, and getting spread across the interwebs by TeamICOGamers, we've been teased with a strange piece of CG artwork for what appears to be the next game from Team ICO. What is it? It seems to be a giant hole. With a big chain going down it. It seems we can expect another insanely clever concept from the group that brought us ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. Perhaps the worlds the games take place in will somehow make sense in relation to one another after this new title. Perhaps not. Forgive our giddiness over such an abstract, vague piece of artwork -- but we'll look forward to new information!
Wii Warm Up: A good yarn
Cory Barlog's recent remarks on Super Mario Galaxy's "vapid story" riled quite a few of our readers, with many arguing that Mario games simply don't need much of a narrative hook to be hella fun.That argument certainly has some weight, but we don't want to open that particular debate again today. Instead, we'd like to know how important a good story is to you when it comes to choosing games. Are you more a fan of epic tales (Final Fantasy), do you prefer something a little more subtle (Ico), or couldn't you care less about having a story to wade through? Finally, if you do appreciate a strong narrative like the Beatrix Potter fan above, which Wii games have kept you glued?
Sony exec on Team ICO: 'pretty sure they're doing the sequel'
This less-than-a-confirmation statement from a Sony executive is shaky evidence at best, but fans of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus will grasp at any new information on the team's current project. OPM UK grilled Kaz Hirai and friends for as much as they could, but that's apparently the best they could unearth.Shadow of the Colossus was set in the same mythos as ICO, but played very differently. Whatever Team ICO has ready for PS3 is undoubtedly going to impress -- but couldn't they at least tease us with even the tiniest preview of what they're working on?[Via Joystiq]
ICO or Shadow of the Colossus sequel may be in the works
The rabid fanbase of Team ICO (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus) reportedly sent in "a couple hundreds of e-mails" to Official PlayStation Magazine last month, hoping the outlet could glean some new information on their current project. This month, OPM published one of those letters and provided some promising statements.When asking Kaz Hirai about Team ICO's current happenings, another executive in the room reportedly blurted out "I'm pretty sure they're doing the sequel." No other information was discerned, given that Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are based on, erm, "similar" worlds and art styles, we're interested in what direction Fumitu Ueda and company will take in terms of game play.
Clearwire, ICO hook up for US DVB-H trial
MediaFLO's clearly the overwhelming favorite in the nascent (or is that nonexistent?) US mobile TV market, having already bagged two of the four national carriers while the other two -- Sprint and T-Mobile -- spin their wheels in trials. On the other side of the fence, though, lies DVB-H, the Europe-wide standard that has inexplicably found virtually zero carrier love in States despite broad manufacturer support. Presently, the US' meager DVB-H efforts are represented by Hiwire's trials alone now that Modeo's slipped its mortal coil and gone to that Big HTC Foreseer in the Sky; that could be about to change, though, with ICO and Clearwire announcing that they'll be bringing a DVB-H trials Raleigh, North Carolina and Las Vegas early next year. Two DVB-H supporters is clearly better than one in the effort to better balance the Qualcomm juggernaut here, but we still need a carrier deal or two to lock it all up. Best of luck, fellas.
Harry Potter and the Gallery of Screenshots
We were taken aback by these screens of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. They look fantastic. It could be using prerendered backgrounds to display these artistic views of Hogwarts, but whatever it is, it's working. Whenever Harry is walking around the (strangely empty) building, it's breathtaking, and one of the nicest-looking adventure games we've seen on any platform.And then we see the other screenshots. The combat-- for which you apparently rotate the DS Brain Age style, and the magical minigames. They might be fun, but they don't quite evoke ICO in the same way as the environments do. Oh, well, this is still amazing for an EA licensed game.
Rumor: Team ICO working on not one, but two PS3 games
So Team ICO's working on a new game for the PlayStation 3. Not altogether surprising considering that ICO and Shadow of the Colossus remain two of the most well respected and well received video games on the PlayStation 2. But what if we told you that one internet forum rumor had them working on not one, but two games for Sony's high-def colossus? One is even rumored to be "close to ICO and Shadow of the Colossus in terms of atmosphere and setting."Though we didn't hear anything at Sony's Gamer's Day event, a source deep within Sony's corporate bowels brushed himself off and revealed this exclusive screenshot to us, seen above (note: we're not serious, but we wish we were). Would two more masterpieces from Fumito Ueda's team brighten Sony's spirits (and sales figures)?[Via PS3F]
Rumor: Team Ico might be developing two PS3 titles
There hasn't been a whole lot on the news front about Team Ico's next offering for the PS3, at least until now. The PS3 forums are alive with whispers of not one, but two new games from the team that first brought the critical darling Ico our way, back in 2001. At the recent Motorstorm event in Germany, a source claims to have, "talked to a product manager of Sony PlayStation Germany" who advised, "Team Ico is actually developing two games at once with one being close to Ico and Shadow of the Colossus in terms of atmosphere and setting." The claim is pretty rich, but if it bears fruit, we'll have two more PS3 games to get excited about. No official word on such claims from the Sony front yet, but if we wish hard enough, maybe we'll hear something during E3 in July. [Via hiddenawaygames]
Team Ico making plans for PS3 development
Team Ico wants you! Provided, that is, you're an ace programmer or a crack network engineer (for example) and keen to work on an exciting new PS3 project. There's a recruitment ad to this effect on Sony's Japanese website, while Sony has also bought a double-page spread in the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu to get the word out. So is this confirmation of a PS3 sequel to Wanda, or -- considering the specific requirement for networking staff -- can we expect an altogether different kind of beast? For now, we're just content to stare at the sketches and calculations scrawled by Team Ico staff on Sony's site.
Team Ico definitely plotting something for the PS3
I've got something to admit. I have only just recently beat Ico. It was awesome, especially looking at it as a prequel to Shadow of the Colossus. Or is it a sequel? The two games lace into one another so arbitrarily that they may just be two distinct adventures taking place in the same game-universe. Anyway, the latest Famitsu held an ad for... well... Sony's ad agency. They snagged a two-page spread for a simple job listing. The job? Team Ico is seeking developers... for their PlayStation 3 project.They want programmers and engineers. Lots of technical qualifications, but chances are they wouldn't be too interested in those outside of Japan. Although there are some people (me) who would love to take the translated text and make sure it's not a shoddy translation! You guys can take a look at the online entry form for the multitude of positions at Sony's website if you'd like... but we're more interested in thinking what Team Ico will churn out next. What do you guys think? Another game set in the same or similar world? A story that more clearly relates the other two games to one another? Or something completely new and different? Ready... theorize![Thanks, Sean!]
Ueda: ICO isn't a video game
In this interview with Wired, Fumito Ueda (the creative mind behind ICO and Shadow of the Colossus) talks about the difference between ICO and "conventional" video games. It seems Ueda has tried to distance the product from the negative connotations of the term "video games"; whether that was successfully accomplished rests in the opinions of those who view games negatively.The interview also talks about some of the design decisions behind Shadow of the Colossus--it's an interesting insight into Ueda's creative processes. Update: Warning, the article contains spoilers for Shadow of the Colossus.
Colossi headed for Europe! ICO re-issue coming along.
Sony has announced that the highly praised, though heretofore unavailable, Shadow of the Colossus will be making its way to European PS2s on February 17th. But that's not all folks: the re-issue of the difficult to get ICO will be released on the same date. For all of our European readers who've strained under the frustration of seeing us gloat about these two games, February 17th is a date to mark on the calendar. If there's anyone left in North American who hasn't played this game, make sure to enter our Joyswag giveaway.
