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Some details about Naughty Dog and Drake's Fortune
The recently not-so-secret Naughty Dog title for the PS3: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune has come up on the latest issue of Game Informer. Here's what the folks at the NeoGAF forums have discerned from the article. Winter '07 release Single-player, apparently So far, 50 minutes of cinematics (GI said that the game's presentation actually makes the PS3's price not as difficult to understand... or... something. It's impressive, they say) Animation scheme allows for unique ways of doing things -- an example used was for taking cover behind a pillar. There were nine screenshots of Drake hiding behind the same pillar, each time in a completely different stance. The final game is said to have 3,000 animation modifications for doing such actions. SIXAXIS allows for balancing stuff, like crossing a narrow log or whatever Drake will visibly grow tired when running, shown in his running animation and facial features. How neat, I grow visibly tired from running too! Soundtrack, graphics, special effects... all are looking insanely gorgeous. Game Informer sums up the premise and gameplay this way: "It's Die Hard meets Indiana Jones, with gameplay that goes back to Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider and gun segments like Gears of War. Ultimately however, it's a new genre that's unclassifiable at this point." They talked about their hands-on time with the game, too. It sounds like a lot of fun. Probably because I'm biased about exploring ancient ruins. Awesome stuff. Looking forward to this one!
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune images leak, Naughty Dog's latest exposed
Play France went digging into Naughty Dog background modeler Rob Adams' online resume and turned up some new images from the studio's upcoming adventure game, now (unofficially) confirmed to carry the uninspired title Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. A trademark and logo for that name turned up earlier this week and were quickly tied to the Naughty Dog project; an E3 trailer for the game alluded to infamous English navigator Sir Francis Drake's lost treasure. Predictably, Sony has responded with: "We don't comment on rumors and speculation. Nothing has been announced." Not sure this classifies as rumor and speculation any longer...
Naughty Dog's PS3 game revealed, kind of
Naughty Dog has kept a pretty tight lid on its PS3 project, as of yet unnamed. Not anymore. Sort of. Voice actor Robin Atkin Downs has posted an online resume and on it are listed his past and current projects, including: Halo 2, Dirge of Cerberus, and a Naughty Dog project called "Big". This is interesting because Naughty Dog hasn't released any information of a game called "Big" for any platform.So is this title related to the PS3 Caribbean-centric project? After IGN contacted Sony representatives, it was confirmed that at the very least, "Big" is an internal name for the PS3 Naughty Dog project. So it's not an official name, but the boys (and girls) at Naughty Dog believe the game to be... well, sizable. If the name is indicative of their prediction for the game, let's expect some exciting news in the near future. Tokyo Game Show, please.
Developers dish next-gen game prices
We've all heard about the supposed pricing of the next generation of games. Kaz says we're getting off easy when it comes to PS3 games. But what about the developers making these games? Recently, Brian Eddy (Midway Games), Todd Howard (Bethesda Software), and Evan Wells (Naughty Dog) discussed their take, as developers, over the pricing issues on the latest Gamasutra podcast. Evan Wells says that games are still a bargain at $60, claiming that "a small [price] increase is completely warranted" in regard to price. Could Wells' position be tied to Sony's stance on higher game prices, since he is currently the lead designer on Naughty Dog's PS3 title Naughty Dog (c'mon guys, name that thing something else already). Brian Eddy and Todd Howard disagree, saying games are too expensive as is. Eddy says that as game prices go up, gamers "simply can't afford that many games" and this may reduce sales numbers. Howard agrees and adds "I'm a proponent of a $19 price point." With these differences of opinion between developers, do you think that game prices will really affect third-party support on our next-gen consoles? If the games are more expensive, will developers be attracted to the chance to make large amounts of money quickly, or conversely, if they are cheap, will developers tend toward higher sales numbers instead?
