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Several new Clank videos demand your interest
It's a beautiful day, so why not relax inside your house on a big comfy chair and check out some videos of our buddy Clank in seven videos, courtesy of IGN? The robotic tuxedo-clad warrior has started to cause blips on our radar as the game nears release, not just because of the franchise he is born from but because the more we see of the game, the more interesting and true to the source material's humor it appears. In any case, enjoy the rest of the videos after the jump!
Resistance 2 playable at PlayStation Day
The latest episode of Insomniac's "Full Moon Show" podcast, as well as subsequent posts on NeoGAF, indicate that a playable build of Resistance 2 will be available for press at PlayStation Day. Unfortunately, no video of the game will be made available after the event, leaving you to snack on only a collection of screenshots and hands-on impressions before June 13th. We'll be at the event and will endeavor to bring you those all-important screenies and our own hands on impressions of the game as soon as possible. PlayStation Day occurs on Tuesday, May 6th so be sure to check back here for full coverage of the event.[Thanks Kyle]
Check out the Resistance 2 trailer ... trailer
We were jazzed to see our tipbox lined with messages heralding the release of this "Exclusive Debut Teaser" for the follow-up to the PS3's inaugural first person shooter, Resistance: Fall of Man. However, we must say that after watching this sneak peek, we're left a bit unsatisfied. Don't get us wrong, the twenty seconds-worth of two in-game cinematics flipped a Pavlovian switch in our brains, leaving us salivating for the further adventures of Nathan Hale, but we were left confused by the last few seconds -- is this a trailer for the game; or for the June 13 episode of GameTrailers TV, and its "World Exclusive Gameplay Premiere" for Resistance 2? You be the judge.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Do not resist the tease with Resistance 2 teaser trailer
Most of us here at PS3 Fanboy are quite excited about Resistance 2; however, perhaps we're not as big Insomniacs as all you readers who stayed up watching the special midnight reveal of this teaser trailer. You see what this blogger just did there? While we relished much-needed sleep, many of you have already seen it. But, for all who missed it and are waking up to a beautiful Saturday morn at nearly noon, now's your chance to check it out -- with crusty eyes and all.Our thoughts on the teaser you ask? As far as looks go, it's quite evident that R2 is going to blow the first Resistance right out the water. 19 hours to live Mr. Hale? Interesting. But a June 13 gameplay premiere reveal? Perhaps not the best time, especially with such a huge game coming out the day before ... and the fact it's Friday the 13th![Thanks Leigh B. and everyone who sent this in!]
Own a piece of fake history by bidding on this Chimera skull
Got two and a half grand burning a hole in your pocket and an insatiable love for all things Resistance? Then this Ebay Live auction is for you. A replica of the skull on the game's boxart is up for grabs for those of you wealthy (and geeky) enough. The skull was used in an early TV advert for the game.Auction opens on March 28th at 11am PDT, for those who are interested in bidding (or who, like us, are intrigued to see how much it sells for). As huge fans of Resistance as we are and as cool as this item would be to have floating around the office, $2.5k is a little too rich for our blood. [Thanks Kjetil]
Final Resistance 2 logos revealed, new look at multi-player classes
Over at the PlayStation.Blog, the community relations manager for Insomniac Games posted the final logo designs for Resistance 2 (as seen above). The San Francisco Bay Bridge can be clearly seen on the logo's "A" letter; this is the second appearance for the iconic landmark after initially turning up when the game was first unveiled. It's nice to see the bridge being showcased like this, but when will other American landmarks be revealed? We've known for sometime now that our hero Nathan will be going cross-trekking across the USA, but what other locales will he be going to? Well as long as the next revealed landmark isn't the overused Statue of Liberty, we'll be happy. We've seen that one too many times in most aliens-are-gonna-kill-us type stories.Other than the logos, some concept art was also posted. These art pieces are on two of R2's co-op multiplayer classes: sniper and medic. To check those pics out, head on over to the PlayStation.Blog.
Reistance 2 gets mo-capped
Insomniac's darling FPS is returning later this year. Expect it to be far more involving than the previous effort. Insomniac has mastered the PS3 tech, and will churn out some jaw-dropping visuals and some truly realistic animation. Watch this motion capture video, being used in Insomniac's upcoming FPS. It's silly, yes -- but it's the kind of stuff that needs to be done when making a game. Make sure you watch it in HD, to appreciate everything that's happening across all six of these cameras.
Insomniac considering new IPs, Ratchet sells a million
In an interview with MTV's Multiplayer, Insomniac Games president Ted Price discusses development at the company going into the PS3 era. He says that Ratchet and Clank Future was the "best production experience" after the "hell" of putting together Resistance, elaborating that working with the new PS3 tech and a genre the company hadn't worked in for 10 years was tough. Price confesses that Ratchet recently hit the million sold mark globally, but says the game has a "long tail." He also allays fears that Insomniac will become a Ratchet and Resistance mill, "We'll continue to produce new IP, there's no question about that." As for Resistance 2, players can expect deeper storytelling this time around and a better connection with ... boy, what was his name again?Actually, the last part of the interview is all about Resistance 2. Price reiterates that the 60 player arenas are going to happen and they've been playing them internally, along with the eight-player co-op. Looks like it's going to be showdown between Killzone 2 and Resistance at the end of '08 on PS3.MTV Multiplayer and Ted Price: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Insomniac still interested in new IPs
Not content with creating two million selling franchises in quick succession, Insomniac's president, Ted Price, isn't ruling out any new IPs coming along in the future. When asked about their plans to keep alternating between Resistance and Ratchet in the years to come by MTV's Stephen Totilo, Price responded by saying that Insomniac will "continue to produce new IP, there's no question about that. So that means that pattern won't necessarily continue as you stated."Considering how different Ratchet & Clank and Resistance are, our mind boggles at what else Insomniac have in mind. Price also notes that Insomniac were experiencing consumer fatigue while they were developing a new Ratchet game every year. Now they have two-year cycles, still with one game releasing per year, with multiple franchises. We agree that this keeps the series' fresh and, with Price teasing about new IPs appearing in the future, we're intrigued to see what they're going to come up with next. Having said that, let's keep focused on Resistance 2 for now, shall we? We haven't even seen any gameplay footage yet!
Insomniac chats about the Nocturnal Initiative
Last week at GDC, Insomniac Games surprised the development community by opening a new set of publicly accessible tools they've dubbed the "Nocturnal Initiative." We had a chance to talk with some of the developers at the company about why they started such an intriguing program, and what they expect to deliver with it. The response from readers about the Nocturnal Initiative has been overwhelmingly positive. How has the development community responded?Well, we've talked to other people in the industry, and whenever we bring this up, they get excited. Other people are excited about doing this kind of thing. One of the great things is Ted's openness. It surprised us that we really was like "do it." Not any kind of push back that you'd expect. This isn't the first time Insomniac has reached out to the community at large. How was the response to the R&D page that Insomniac opened a few months ago?We get a lot of feedback about the R&D page, saying "hey, we really appreciate this." I've gotten e-mails from Intel and the industry at large. People are interested in what we have to say.
PS3 Fanboy presents: Insomniac music video, director's commentary
Did you watch the Insomniac recruitment video? Of course you did. (Download a higher-res version here.) Here's an exclusive for PS3 Fanboy readers. Ryan Schneider from Insomniac joins us to give a few behind-the-scenes commentary for the video. Find out a few new tidbits about the development team and get a few more hints about this Resistance 2 game they have going on. What was the inspiration for creating a recruitment music video?Well, when you go to things like GDC, everybody has their typical video. In general, everyone has their recruitment video – it's very "been there, done that." We just wanted to do something different. We wanted to create a video that captures who we really are and this video does. It shows that we take our games very seriously but not ourselves. %Gallery-14695%
GDC08: Insomniac launches Nocturnal developer toolbox
Insomniac Games, developer of Resistance: Fall of Man, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and the upcoming Resistance 2, has today unveiled the Nocturnal Initiative. This project is a collection of developer tools, libraries and code that Insomniac hopes will be used "for addressing common challenges in game development". The initiative was shown off at the Sony PlayStation blogger's lounge at GDC today (photos of which can be seen at the official PlayStation Flickr page). The Nocturnal Initiative is essentially an open-source collection of solutions to problems that can be encountered during video game development. By sharing these solutions across company boundaries Insomniac hopes to "allow studios to focus more on what sets their games apart and less on the basic building blocks necessary to create a modern game." As a result games will be made faster and to a better quality. We're excited to watch this initiative grow and hope to see it make a big impact in the game industry. [Via Joystiq]
GDC08: Insomniac opens up to dev community with Nocturnal
At a GDC press conference, Insomniac Games (responsible for Ratchet & Clank and Resistance: Fall of Man on PS3) has announced a ground breaking initiative to open up their technologies for the development community at large. Through the "Nocturnal Initiative," Insomniac Games is attempting to break the common development practice of keeping technological advances a close-guarded secret. As they noted, "developers spend resources solving problems that have already been solved."A public site (nocturnal.insomniacgames.com) will give developers access to various parts of Insomniac source code. Libraries have already been made available, with more on the way. Through a Wiki-style interface, Insomniac hopes that they will allow everyone to "make better games."The tools available will obviously work on PS3, but because it is a PC-based environment, should work on Xbox 360 as well. Joystiq will be chatting with Insomniac shortly. Stay tuned.[Update: The press release just went out over the wires, if you're into that sorta thing.]
GDC08: Insomniac video hiring call hints at Resistance 2
While this new video hiring call from Insomniac Games showcases the company's kooky side, it also holds a lot of hidden messages pertaining to the upcoming PS3-exclusive Resistance 2. The video is basically a guided tour through Insomniac's Burbank office, and this happens all to the tune of a campy rock ballad. Throughout the video, employees join in on the singing, and in their merriment, they forget that they have secret information on their computer screens. We saw two such screens; one read "twelve new Chimeran enemies" and the other had "0708". The former is quite obvious, but what does "0708" mean? A release date is highly unlikely because we know the game is due out in Autumn. The numbers could be referring to a demo date perhaps?Of course, our speculations could be wrong. It's also possible that there are more Easter eggs hidden in the video, and we just happened to miss a key piece to the puzzle. Maybe you can find even more than we did, so go watch the video already.[Thanks Platano!]
Insomniac likes Sony but impressed with multiplatform sales
The fine folks at Insomniac might not be the most known development team to our readers, but they are certainly one of the most respected independent studios in the video game industry. With classics like the original Spyro, the Ratchet & Clank series and the newly formed franchise Resistance: Fall of Man, Insomniac has been one of the most important second-party teams for Sony in recent years.Insomniac Games, as some may actually be surprised to hear, are not owned by Sony nor are they contractually obligated to the hardware manufacturer and it's PS3 which is a fact that has led to countless bids to purchase the independent powerhouse.Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price has shot down all notions that the studio would be acquired, reiterating that the studio enjoys independence and we've heard that before. In a story on Ars Technica Price noted that even though Insomniac didn't have the "bandwidth" for multiplatform development it was, "impressive to see some of the sales numbers for people who are going cross-platform."Remembering that Insomnia is a wholly owned independent developer, we wonder if we'll be unlocking those precious achievement points with a Lombax anytime soon.
Screenshots: Resistance 2
At least one pesky mutant race is out to make a fashion statement this year, as these first screenshots of Resistance 2 reveal a sporty, new Chimeran bodysuit. Not sacrificing flexibility for durability, the new get-up is suitable for indoor and outdoor activities in various climates – just be mindful of the cooling system. Now, how about some matching shades to cover up those creepy, glowing eyes? And please, can we do something about those beastly choppers![Via PS3 Fanboy] %Gallery-14773%
These Resistance 2 screenshots look predictably awesome
So, you may not have heard, but Resistance 2 was finally announced a couple of weeks ago. Judging by the response we received from you guys, we suspect you'd appreciate seeing any scrap of information on the game that we can find. Well, we wouldn't call these seven screenshots scraps. They show off the Chimera's new look, with their slim-fit suits, as well as a range of environments. Exciting stuff! Go have a look for yourselves, the gallery can be found below. %Gallery-14695%
Full Moon shines again for Insomniac's podcast
If you're reading this site then it's safe to assume several things; you either love Resistance or you love Ratchet & Clank. If you don't fall into one of those categories, then you might be a bit weird. You know, in the head. If you do, however, then we have some good news for you. We've already reported on Resistance 2's announcement via Game Informer and, now that Insomniac are back in the office and busy working, there's also a new episode of the Full Moon Show which went live yesterday.Be sure to take a listen for some Resistance 2 discussion as well as some clearing up of a few common mistakes regarding the game (nothing we've reported was revealed as being false, we're pleased to say). Keep in mind that Resistance 2 is an M-rated game, so the podcast now features a smattering of bad language as a result. The show retains the same format as before, with an "I Want Your Job" segment, an interview segment and, possibly the best part, the "Cynical Englishman" segment.
Ted Price talks, teases Resistance 2
No one is surprised by the announcement of Resistance 2. As the PS3's best selling game, it was simply inevitable. This new interview with Insomniac's Ted Price reveals the team's new direction for the game. Unfortunately, there isn't new footage of the game in action, but he does talk about their focus on networking and what players can experience from a team that's much more experienced on the hardware. Bosses over 100 feet tall are promised. WWII meets Shadow of the Colossus meets aliens. What's not to love?[Thanks, Chris!]
Resistance 2 to feature 60-player online, 8-player co-op, 2 campaigns
As pictured, the February issue of Game Informer blows the lid off Insomniac's Resistance 2, and thanks to a few good-mannered subscribers posting on NeoGAF (please thank your mommies and daddies for teaching you to share) we get a peak inside the cookie jar. And my, what cookies await!The Resistance sequel will apparently feature two separate campaigns, one dedicated to single-player and a second for multiplayer. While the second campaign supports two-player split-screen for local play, once taken online, as many as 8 players can take on the Chimera invasion – or will we be fighting the Cloven this time? But the real treats seem to be stored in the competitive multiplayer modes, as Resistance 2 promises to support up to 60 players online – and not just 30-on-30 chaos. Some multiplayer modes will divide participants into 4- to 8-player squads each with its own virtual lobby. Squads will be tasked with unique objectives, and gameplay will be further diversified through three basic character classes: heavy weaponry, special ops (think: sniper) and medic. Insomniac's even promising an extensive stat-tracking database on MyResistance.net, coupled with faster matchmaking than any game of 2007. Oh snap! You listening to this, Bungie?[Via Evil Avatar]
