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Insomniac prototyping new 'Fuse experiences'
It would seem Insomniac Games is "just getting started" with Fuse, CEO Ted Price claims in a missive on the company blog. Price says that the team is already working on the next experience in the Fuse world - and he's not talking about DLC. "We've already begun expanding what we've begun with Fuse. Right now as I write this we're taking the core concepts behind Fuse and prototyping new stuff ... stuff that leverages this bizarre alien substance which is at the heart of the game. No, I'm not talking about DLC. I'm talking about new Fuse experiences altogether," Price said. "What's wonderful about creating and owning one's IP is that you can take it any direction you want. And that's what we're going to do. Stay tuned!" Fuse launched earlier this week on Xbox 360 and PS3. It's a co-op arcade shooter published under the EA Partners program. Our time with the game may not have been the most enjoyable, but there's certainly room for improvement there.
Fuse review: Shoot first
Fuse is that bad movie your friends like to sit down and slice apart. It's best played with friends, where teamwork and some interesting weaponry help dull the blunt impact of bad game design, awkward animations and a lack of atmosphere. Without friends, Fuse is nearly intolerable, hampered by inept AI teammates and even thicker enemies. By yourself, every animation quirk and odd design choice frustrates as you wonder who could have seen the same problems and given them the thumbs up.%Gallery-170888%
Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault launches for PS Vita next week
The once-delayed PlayStation Vita version of Insomniac's hybrid tower defense-action game Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault will launch next week as a downloadable PlayStation Network title in North America and Europe. Full Frontal Assault was originally released as a retail and downloadable PlayStation 3 title back in November, boasting cross-play features with a Vita edition that was subsequently hit with a series of delays. Buyers of the retail version of Full Frontal Assault – and its renamed European counterpart Ratchet & Clank: QForce – will be able to download the Vita edition for free starting May 21 in North America and May 22 in Europe by accessing the game's "Disc Benefits" option. Those who purchased Full Frontal Assault's retail edition will also receive an additional bonus after redeeming the PS Vita version when it launches next week. Ratchet Deadlocked HD, an Idol Minds-developed PlayStation 3 port of the fourth PS2 entry in the Ratchet & Clank series, will be available as a free download for Full Frontal Assault buyers when it launches in the PlayStation Store. A release date for Deadlocked HD (also known as Ratchet: Gladiator in Europe) has not been announced.
Fuse demo available May 7
Co-op shooter Fuse will let you take it for a test drive on May 7. Available through Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, the demo supports solo play, four-player co-op (or two player split-screen), allowing a group to try out the four operatives of the Overstrike squad. "When it comes to Fuse, the biggest thing we've noticed when sharing it with others for the first time is that playing is believing," said Insomniac CEO Ted Price. Players can use the LEAP function to jump between the four characters, making it accessible to solo players as well. Fuse is scheduled for retail insertion and home extraction on May 28 and 31 in North America and Europe, respectively.
Fuse reportedly does many things in latest trailer, won't iron wrinkles
Fuse will change the way we go to war, the way we hunt, the way we profit. It will topple governments and show the world vulnerability. However, there's a wrinkle. Fuse does not scotchgard or starch shirts. Prepare to iron May 28.
Ratchet & Clank movie announced, coming to cinemas 2015
Insomniac Games announced a Ratchet & Clank animated film today, and it's coming to cinemas in 2015. The movie has Insomniac partner up with digital media studio Blockade Entertainment and computer animation company Rainmaker Entertainment, who recently produced 3D CGI flick Escape from Planet Earth.A Rainmaker press release from February 2013 indicates their next film, a collaboration with Blockade, entered pre-production in January; production was then scheduled to begin on March 4. Rainmaker notes completion "remains on schedule for third quarter 2014.""One of the biggest questions we've gotten in the last few years is 'When are you going to make a Ratchet & Clank movie?" Insomniac Community Lead James Stevenson wrote on the PlayStation Blog. "The truth is, we've wanted to do a movie for a long time! Ratchet & Clank's action, humor and galaxy-spanning adventures have really been the basis for a fantastic game series, and we think it'd translate perfectly to the big screen."Stevenson also revealed Ratchet & Clank writer T.J. Fixman is scripting the film, while Insomniac also has a "hands-on role" with production and animation.
No online pass for Fuse, demo 'closer to release'
Insomniac Games will present a demo prior to Fuse's launch on May 28, for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 players, the developer has confirmed in an online FAQ. Fuse will support split-screen and online play, lacks micro-transactions and will not ship with an online pass.Originally billed as Overstrike, Fuse was delayed earlier this year before a final launch date of May 28 was settled upon. All pre-orders unlock additional gear for each of the headless four protagonists.
Fuse lights up May 28 in NA, May 31 in EU
Delayed until the second quarter of 2013 last January, Insomniac's Fuse has found itself a couple of new release dates: May 28 for North America, and May 31 for Europe, EA announced.Pre-ordering the game will grant armor and weapons for each of Fuse's four characters, including "Hyperion Prototype Agent Armor Skins, "Hyperion Prototype Agent Weapon Skins," and a "Quickdraw Team Perk" that increases the damage done by one-handed weapons for everyone in your party.
Insomniac files 'Sunset Overdrive' trademark [update]
Insomniac Games, developers of the Ratchet & Clank series and the upcoming Fuse, have filed a trademark and registered a domain for Sunset Overdrive. NeoGAF user Kifimbo noticed the trademark, which is for "computer game software, Entertainment services, namely, providing an on-line computer game."There's also a website registration for sunsetoverdrive.com by Ryan Schneider, who is the marketing director over at Insomniac.We've followed up with the company for comment.Update: "As you can imagine, we're an idea factory and we submit for trademarks pretty regularly," a spokesperson for Insomniac informed Joystiq. "There's nothing to announce, but thanks for checking in on it."No problem, Insomniac. No problem at all.
Oddball world of Fuse: Splicing the Insomniac DNA with Smash TV
Fuse is a difficult game to preview; it's a busy experience with plenty of interconnected systems and a HUD that brims over with symbols, numbers and meters of various sorts. Insomniac's coming shooter thumbs its nose at the current era of clean user interfaces, which attempt to disguise vital information in natural ways, in favor of the bright-as-can-be notices found in old-school arcade games. It's a retro style that, in the face of modern titles, feels decidedly fresh. Further complicating the experience is the ever-present nature of your squad, working together as a foursome set out to destroy enemy lines.The trick with Fuse is that the four-person squad is always present: whether you're playing with friends, computer-controlled bots, or a mixture of the two. Fuse features a "Leap" system, allowing players to jump quickly between each character to command their unique skills. Insomniac says its goal is to give players the opportunity to fill every role."We've built this game from the ground up with that in mind," Insomniac president and CEO Ted Price tells Joystiq. "We wanted to make sure that there are always four characters in the game but you can have just as much fun by yourself, or with one friend, two friends, or three friends. So that's been our design mantra from the very beginning."%Gallery-179118%
Fuse trailer sticks its beak where it don't belong
The leader of Fuse starring squad Overstrike 9, Dalton Brooks, has a blanket set of rules he likes to follow – too bad his set of rules don't apply to alien weaponry and waves of murderous occupant soldiers.
Insurmountable odds in Fuse's wave-based 'Echelon Mode'
Echelon mode in Fuse is what Insomniac CEO Ted Price calls "co-opetitive," a variant on the Gears of War 'Horde' mode. Players must survive twelve waves of increasingly more difficult enemies – the exact configuration of each wave is randomized, though you're always guaranteed two boss battle waves.Price calls Echelon "co-opetitive" because while you're ultimately working together to ensure group survival, the constant money drops – essentially experience points – are something teammates will scramble to grab. With collected cash, players can purchase and upgrade abilities, and progress in Fuse carries across all game modes."Part of our goal here is to make this a friendly game – if you've had experiences in multiplayer games before where you jumped in and had your head blown off in the first couple seconds, we don't want that to happen in Fuse," Insomniac CEO Ted Price told Joystiq. "We want Fuse to be a game where you're actually working with players and competing for cash and status. But it's always a friendly competition."
Resistance Collection invades retail on Dec. 5
The Resistance Collection, a bundle of all three of Insomniac's Resistance games for the PS3 will be available at retail starting on December 5.On top of the three Resistance games, there's some DLC in the package – the Aftermath multiplayer DLC pack, Skin bundle and Wraith skin multiplayer weapon for Resistance 2, plus the Brutality and Survival DLC packs for Resistance 3. All said and done, the Resistance Collection will set you back $39.99. (Or, about 14 Chiktumbs in Chimeran currency.)
Fuse screens head to cooler climes
Insomniac has sent along a group of new screens for Fuse, which you may remember as Overstrike. In the shots below you can see the Overstrike 9 team up close in the tech lab where they initially find the Fuse weapons, and in a new snow-swathed landscape. The game's coming to Xbox 360 and PS3 sometime next March.
Ratchet and Clank: Full Frontal Assault begins Nov. 27 for $20
Ratchet and Clank: Full Frontal Assault will bare all on PSN November 27 for $19.99. The "fun size" adventure, which is similar in scope to Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty, is said to actually have more junk in the trunk than the previous bite-size experiment, according to the PlayStation Blog. It will also be released at retail for the same price.The Ratchet & Clank Collection, HD updates of the first three PS2 games, launched in late August to celebrate the series' 10th Anniversary, occurring next month. We should also probably note that, in case you never played them, the full-blown Ratchet and Clank PS3 adventures, Tools of Destruction and Crack in Time, are both available at retail for about the same price as this amuse-bouche.
Insomniac wants Fuse players to 'take the universe seriously'
Insomniac's Fuse began as Overstrike, a colorful co-op spy game with a humorous flair. Fuse continues the co-op direction of the game, but has shifted its look to a style that tilts more toward realism than fantasy.Some internet reaction has labeled the new style powering Fuse as just another 'standard military shooter,' but Insomniac says it's not totally shunning the game's fantastical elements."We have our underwater bases. We've got missiles and volcanoes. We have a lot of exotic situations but at the same time we want people to take the universe seriously," Insomniac Creative Director Brian Allgeier told Joystiq at the 2012 New York Comic Con.But over-the-top elements still exist in the more mature-looking multiplatform game, as evidenced by the game's weapons and abilities.%Gallery-168274%
Resistance Collection bundles all three PS3 Resistance games for $40
Look, times are tough in America and now, more than ever, game-buying people all over the country are asking themselves "How many space bugs will I get to murder for the money I'm spending?"Sony's and Insomniac's newly announced Resistance Collection for the PS3 has a remarkably high bug-murder-to-cost ratio, packing Resistance: Fall of Man, Resistance 2, Resistance 3 and "the best DLC" for Resistances 2 and 3 into one $39.99 package. The Aftermath Pack and skin bundle for Resistance 2 and the Brutality and Survival packs for Resistance 3 are the only DLC specifically mentioned by name, though whether that represents the full extent of the included content remains uncertain.Release date and various further information will be made available "in the coming weeks," according to the PlayStation Blog. For now, maybe consider saving $20 and just buying the good one.%Gallery-167513%
Ted Price on how Insomniac's Overstrike became Fuse
Last year at E3, Insomniac revealed a brand new IP called Overstrike, complete with a slickly animated trailer featuring four elite spy types using futuristic weapons to take down a robotic bad guy. After that, we didn't hear much about the game at all, save for a few recent rumors that Insomniac was rebranding it as a game called Fuse. It turns out the rumors are indeed true: Insomniac's Fuse is what Overstrike has turned into, and it's a third-person co-op cross-platform shooter that's coming to the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 in March 2013.Joystiq got to play a short demo of the game at Insomniac's Burbank, CA studio last week, and we also talked with president and CEO Ted Price about what's different about the new game, why the change was made, and what it's like developing for Insomniac's first non-Sony console game ever.%Gallery-165036%
Insomniac's 'Fuse' briefs all four members of team Overstrike
Okay Insomniac, now you're just being gratuitous. In the studio's latest bit of Fuse media – a mission briefing taken from the game – all four members of Overstrike's team show up after some gruff discussion about a "contact team." You know, "clean operatives with no ties to government" – sounds familiar, doesn't it?Those four operatives are listed as "Overstrike Team 009." It's sounding more and more like whatever "Fuse" is has at least some ties to Insomniac's Overstrike, a four player co-op shooter first introduced at E3 2011.Company head Ted Price wouldn't admit as much in a recent interview, but he was quick to point us to the official Fuse countdown site when asked about the whereabouts of his studio's new EA Partners game.
Breaking free with your own IP: Insomniac's CEO on what's next (besides Ratchet & Clank)
There's a big craze these days with independent developers, though the idea isn't all that crazy. Developers, as it turns out, like to own the stuff they create – Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac Games is no different. And here's something you might not know about Insomniac: the studio owns virtually none of the iconic characters or worlds it's created. Not Ratchet, not Clank, not the world of Spyro the Dragon. That last one cuts especially deep considering the vast riches Activision's reaped from its Spyro-based Skylanders game. The former two are Sony-owned.With Fuse (which we think used to be Overstrike) and Outernauts, Insomniac is pushing in a new direction. "For us, we're at the point in our growth as a company where we can own our intellectual property," Insomniac president and CEO Ted Price told us in an interview last week. "That's been gratifying for us because, as creators, controlling your own destiny – controlling the IP that you build – is important." Beyond its financial importance, owning IP also means unfortunate spin-offs of properties you created can't be farmed out to other studios (see: Resistance: Burning Skies).It's important to note what Price says about his studio not being able to own its previous projects. When Insomniac started in 1994, it produced only franchises owned by its publishers. Quite literally everything the company created up until Outernauts and Overstrike/Fuse was owned by outside forces. That's why you will assuredly see more Resistance games, despite Insomniac outright stating it won't work on any more (at least any time soon) – Sony owns the IP rights to the Resistance franchise and can do with them as it pleases.
