the last of us
Latest
Lego The Last of Us video proves someone needs to make this game
Some properties are a bit too mature for it, but you still know they'd be great for the Lego game treatment. Animator Brian Anderson is a going a long way to proving that, following up his Lego Breaking Bad video with one for gritty PS3 hit The Last of Us. While we're at it, if you've not checked out Anderson's Bluthfighter video, you really should. It's as Ann as the nose on Plain's face that someone should be making these games.
New URLs stoke rumors of Last of Us film adaptation
Few planned film adaptations of video games ever make it off the ground, but new domains registered by Sony indicate that the company is at least working toward a big-screen version of Naughty Dog's apocalyptic hit The Last of Us. GameSpot recently discovered the two domains, TheLastOfUsMovie.net and TheLastOfUs-Movie.com, despite Sony taking pains to obfuscate these sites. Instead of registering the domains through Sony or one of its many subsidiaries, the two URLs were registered by a corporation called MarkMonitor which grabs websites like these for clients who would prefer that their name stay out of the same media spotlight we're now shining at them. That said, it's possible that Sony is acquiring these URLs as a way to protect any future plans it may or may not have to make a Last of Us film. Corporations plan these things long in advance, and there's any number of reasons why a company might want to lock down valuable intellectual property. On the other hand, The Last of Us was one of the best games of 2013, has sold more than three million units in half a year, and generated more critical hyperbole than most publishers could ever hope for. With all that built-in momentum, Sony just needs to find a talented, young lead to play Ellie. Maybe that girl from Juno is available.
Console bundles, Battlefield 4 highlight GameStop's Black Friday preview
GameStop isn't quite ready to reveal its full swath of Black Friday deals, but the company has offered a preview including discounted consoles, cheap recent hits, and a sale on all used games. On Black Friday, if you walk into a GameStop (and aren't crushed by an unruly mob), you'll find a 250GB Xbox 360 with Halo 4 and Tomb Raider priced at $200. Sharing that price tag is a PlayStation 3 bundle which includes a 250GB console as well as copies of Batman: Arkham Origins and The Last of Us. If you already have one of these consoles, GameStop is also offering big discounts on two recent games: Just Dance 4 will be available for $15, while Battlefield 4 will feature a $25 price tag. If you'd prefer something a bit more dated, however, GameStop is also planning a "buy two, get one free" deal on all used games in the store. The discounts listed above are only the highlights of GameStop's Black Friday deals. The retailer has yet to publicly release its ad, though the store does offer a site where interested consumers can sign up to receive the ad just as soon as it's ready to debut. While GameStop will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, the store will reopen on 12:01AM, Black Friday. Most likely this means that you'll need to visit your local store as early as possible to ensure savings, but those who'd rather sleep in can instead sign up to be notified when GameStop issues its forthcoming Cyber Monday ad.
Amazon reveals Black Friday lineup, deals run from November 25 - 29
Now that ThirftyNerd has found Amazon's gaming lineup for its five-day Black Friday Deals Week, you can properly prepare for the dates and times you'll be sprinting through digital checkouts. The sale will run from November 25 - 29, with its first deal launching at 12:10pm Eastern Time. Unfortunately, the prices for each offer have not been shared, but they'll probably all sell out in minutes anyway. Because Black Friday. Amazon's November 25 lineup will include deals on Xbox 360 and PS3 copies of Borderlands 2: Game of the Year Edition, DmC: Devil May Cry and Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition. The Xbox 360 version of LEGO: Lord of the Rings will also be offered. November 26 will bring with it the Nvidia Shield, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate for the Wii U, MLB 13 The Show and 4 GB memory cards for the Vita, and Xbox 360 and PS3 copies of Street Fighter X Tekken. On November 27, PS3 and 360 copies of Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, Dead Space 3 and Remember Me will be available. Vanilla Resident Evil 5 will be up for grabs for Xbox 360 owners, but PS3 users will instead have a shot at Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition. The Xbox 360 version of Red Dead Redemption: Game of the Year Edition will also be offered, as will Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask for the 3DS.
Gaming deals: $200 Batman, The Last of Us PS3 bundle, Xbox One games, Battlefield 4 for PS4 $50
Black Friday is making our wallets cower as it looms in the distance, but why wait until then to start your financial downfall? Kmart is currently offering a 250GB PS3 with The Last of Us and Batman: Arkham Origins for $200. If you've already jumped into the current console generation, Amazon is selling select Xbox One games for $50, including Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes and ... Angry Birds: Star Wars. If you'd prefer to play on the PS4 and are generally optimistic, you can also buy Battlefield 4 for PS4 for $50 and hope that its issues are resolved before it reaches your doorstep. Since we're talking deals, Steam users can pick up Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit and Rage for $4.99 each this weekend, the latter of which can be played for free until 4pm Eastern Time. The ARMA series and most of its DLC can also be had for 80 percent off, meaning you can pick up Steam's ARMA selection for $18.98. Update: Amazon is also offering select games from the PS4 launch lineup for $50 apiece, including Knack, Need for Speed: Rivals, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Madden NFL 25 and FIFA 14. [Thanks, Jack!]
Naughty Dog replica craftsman crowdfunds support in fight against stage two pancreatic cancer
David Vigil is a leathersmith and owner of That Vigilante, where he sells replicas of gear seen in Naughty Dog games. Nathan Drake's belt buckle, holster and wristband from the Uncharted series are all available, as is Joel's backpack from The Last of Us. Vigil is also asking for the community's financial help on GoFundMe as he battles stage two pancreatic cancer. The fundraising campaign's deadline is November 18, with a goal of $47,000. At the time of writing, the amount raised is just shy of $9,500. This is the second time Vigil has faced cancer, and the second time he has turned to crowdfunding for help. Last year, he raised $26,464 on Indiegogo. Vigil is offering up his work as reward incentives as well; for $500, backers will receive one of every product available on That Vigilante. Should funding fail to reach the full $47,000 goal, Vigil will still get to keep whatever funds have been raised.
The Last of Us DLC, 'Left Behind,' coming soon [Update: trailer, early 2014]
During tonight's PlayStation All Access event on Spike, Naughty Dog co-founder Evan Wells revealed a brief teaser trailer for "Left Behind," the upcoming prequel DLC episode for The Last of Us. The DLC will focus on Ellie's life before Joel, when she was palling around with her friend RIley, played by actress Yaani King. Update: The PlayStation Blog confirms Left Behind is a single-player DLC campaign - Naughty Dog's first single-player DLC, amazingly - and that it's due in "early 2014." Left Behind is included in the game's season pass, but Naughty Dogs says, "If you're only interested in the single-player DLC, you can pre-order it starting November 19 on the PlayStation Store for $14.99."
Report: Toys R Us' Black Friday deals cut into current-gen bundles
Toys R Us is apparently joining GameStop in bringing a new $200 250GB PS3 bundle to its Black Friday deals, going by scans of a flyer posted at BFAds.net. Like GameStop, the US retailer's bundle includes Batman: Arkham Origins and five-star offering The Last of Us. On the Xbox 360 front, there's a 4GB system with Kinect that's also priced at $200. That bundles in Kinect Sports Season Two, Kinect Adventures, and an additional freebie in the form of Halo 3. Hopping over to the land of Nintendo, the new Skylanders Swap Force 8GB Wii U bundle (which incidentally features Nintendo Land) is going for $260 - that's a chunky $40 saving. There's also a Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon blue 3DS bundle that's down $20 to $150. It's not just about battles between platform holders, though. Starter packs for Skylanders Swap Force and Disney Infinity are at each other's plastic throats too, both priced $37.49. Then, just to remind us of the extensive current-gen library, Toys R Us is reprising its Buy 1 Get 1 for $1 deal from last year. That deal comprises 150 games as wide ranging as Saints Row 3, Sonic Generations, Halo Wars, Batman: Arkham City, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. If your eye is stuck on this fall's big name games, the retailer also has Buy 1 Get 40 percent off on all the video games. Take that, wallets!
PSA: The Last of Us comic paperback version out now
The Last of Us: American Dreams from Dark Horse Comics is now available for purchase in paperback form. Set a short time before the events of The Last of Us, American Dreams gives fans a chance to learn more about Naughty Dog's fungi-infected world. The comic focuses on Ellie and her friendship with a girl named Riley. Although Riley never appears in the game, the two girls' friendship provides important context for Ellie's behavior. American Dreams is co-written by Faith Erin Hicks and Neil Druckmann, while Hicks also provides the artwork for the comic. If you want to take a sneak peek, you can read the first six pages of the comic on the Dark Horse website.
PSN Tuesday: Halloween sale, Rocksmith 2014 and free Hotline Miami for PS Plus
In addition to the new PlayStation 4 titles up for pre-order, this week's injection of PlayStation Store content brings Rocksmith 2014 Edition, while Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director's Cut and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West Premium Edition remind us what gaming was like many, many (read: two-ish) years ago. PlayStation Plus subscribers get a free copy of Hotline Miami added to their collection, and further discounts on games included in Sony's ongoing Sale of the Dead, which lasts until November 4. Spooky-ooky games marked down by the sale include The Walking Dead, The Last of Us, Resident Evil 4 HD, Dead Rising 2: Off The Record, Dead Island Riptide and a bunch of other festively appropriate software.
PSN chops prices on Walking Dead, Last of Us during Halloween sale
Sony announced an upcoming PlayStation Network sale coinciding with October's spooky festivities, bringing a selection of steep price drops and additional discounts for PlayStation Plus members. During the Sale of the Dead, the first five episodes in Telltale Games' The Walking Dead series can be purchased for just $4.99 ($2.99 for PS Plus members), while an additional $3.49 will get you the newly released sixth episode, 400 Days. Naughty Dog's The Last of Us is reduced to $44.99 ($35.99 for PS Plus), and multiple entries in Capcom's Resident Evil series, including the recent Revelations, get up to a 50 percent price cut. Sony's sale brings additional discounts for lesser-known horror greats like Tecmo's Fatal Frame, the collected Siren: Blood Curse Episodes 1-12, and Sega's The House of the Dead Bundle, which includes HotD 3, 4, and Overkill. May we also suggest checking out Puppeteer at its new sub-$30 price point? It's quite good, and it even has a Halloween-themed level. A full list of price-dropped games is available at the PlayStation blog. The sale kicks off tomorrow, and runs through November 4.
The voices of Joel and Ellie to judge The Last of Us fan art competition
Naughty Dog has partnered with t-shirts-and-art-prints online shop We Love Fine for a The Last of Us-inspired fan art competition, and according to a post on the Naughty Dog website, the winner's designs could end up on official The Last of Us merchandise. Artists have until November 11 to submit up to five designs, which will be rated by Last of Us fans. On December 17, the most popular designs will move on to the final round of judging. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who voiced Joel and Ellie, respectively, as well as Creative Director Neil Druckmann and Game Director Bruce Straley will serve as guest judges. The Grand Prize winner will take home up to $2,000, as well as a Post-Pandemic Edition of the game, Season Pass DLC, a Dark Horse artbook, a trade paperback copy of The Last of Us American Dreams, and a signed poster by the dev team. You can check out all the rules for entry, as well as other prizes, on the We Love Fine website.
Report: Gamestop's Black Friday has exclusive bundles, blue PS3
Gamestop's Black Friday circular has supposedly leaked its thick, viscous deal-goo all over the internet, exposing the retail chain's plans for the most excruciating shopping day of the year – just don't expect any deals on that new PlayStation 4/Xbox One hotness. For everyone staying in this console generation, though, there's some cool stuff going on if you think leaving the house on Black Friday is worth it. You can have your choice of 250-gig PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 for $199.99, the former bundled with The Last of Us and Batman: Arkham Origins, and the latter bundled with Halo 4 and a download code for Tomb Raider. Meanwhile, a Gamestop-exclusive Azure Blue 250-gig PS3/Jak and Daxter Collection bundle can be had for $249.99. For 360 owners, there's also a Gamestop-exclusive Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City boxed set, Dishonored and Splinter Cell: Blacklist at $24.99 each. PlayStation 3 owners can snag Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag for $40 and a year of PlayStation Plus for $29.99. The chain is also running a buy-2-get-1 free promotion on all pre-owned items, provided the free thing you pick out is of equal or lesser value. Gamestop is also granting an additional 30-percent in-store credit on all trade-ins, though whether these two offers stack is unknown. There's a lot of other stuff on sale, so while we check on the trade-in value of a human soul, click all up on this to check out the full 12-page circular for yourself.
The Last of Us gets patched, picks up new DLC
Naughty Dog has released two new additions to The Last of Us: The Abandoned Territories Map Pack and the 1.05 patch. The video above was released as a trailer for the Map Pack, which can now be found on the PlayStation Network Store for $10 (or free, if you already picked up the game's $20 Season Pass). The Pack adds a new DLC playlist to each of the The Last of Us' multiplayer game modes, including those introduced by prior DLC releases. You can find a video overview of the 1.05 patch below, alongside a list of its major changes. This patch deals with minor balance changes on the game's multiplayer side, though newer players will be happy to see that the end result of these fixes should be a more friendly, inviting gameplay experience. If nothing else, fixing that bug that gave winning players awesome weapons while giving losers literal bits of scrap should alleviate a lot of player frustration.
The Last of Us story DLC introduces new character this winter
The first story-based DLC add-on for The Last of Us will feature a new character, Naughty Dog's Eric Monacelli has declared in a post on the PlayStation Blog. Following a lengthy casting phase, this extra chapter, which is due sometime in December or January and part of the Season Pass program, will begin its motion-capture filming sessions next week. "This is an ambitious story with strong ties into the narrative of The Last of Us," Monacelli writes on the PS Blog. There is no mention of whether protagonists Joel or Ellie will make an appearance. Prior to the single-player content, the multiplayer-focused Abandoned Territories Map Pack will arrive on October 15. Four maps in total are included: Suburbs, Bus Depot, Hometown and Bookstore. The third piece of Season Pass content will also be multiplayer-centric and is due within the first half of 2014. The Last of Us Season Pass is priced at $20 – which Naughty Dog says represents a 75 percent savings over picking up all of the DLC piecemeal – and available through PSN and GameStop.
Naughty Dog's alternate ending to The Last of Us
The above video, which details an alternate ending to The Last of Us, was previously only seen by those who attended Naughty Dog's panel at PAX Prime. Through the wonders of the internet, we're all now able to see it – though we stress no one should watch unless they've finished the game. Spoilers abound! Surprisingly, this alternate ending was completely improvised. Aside from one line of direction from creative director Neil Druckmann, the actors came up with everything in the moment. It's an odd sequence, but somehow it totally works!
The Last of Us art prints proudly display the end of humanity
Do you like fungus-infected, zombie-like abominations? How about post-apocalyptic landscapes? Naughty Dog and Europe-based art dealers Cook & Becker have teamed up to make a limited run of high-quality art prints from The Last of Us available to fans of either. Prints range from $130 to $250, while frames add anywhere from $200 to $525. Each print is hand-numbered, signed and includes a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist. Shipments begin on September 19, so if you want to get while the getting's good, check out the full gallery. "Cook & Becker wants to highlight the extraordinary work of artists and designers in the games industry as these are the people shaping our visual culture," said a spokesperson for the art dealer in a company statement. "We are very proud to have been able to create these stunning concept art collector's items with them." If "museum-grade" art prints aren't enough to satisfy your craving for The Last of Us, Naughty Dog has also released their final dev diary for the game, "The Beauty of Abandonment." Be warned, however, that the video does contain spoilers.
The Last of Us developer diary characterizes Joel and Ellie
This developer diary video for The Last of Us shows the game's cast and crew elaborating on protagonists' motivations. Lead Designer Jacob Minkoff notes Ellie's unique perspective in the game, while voice actor Troy Baker reveals how one line from his audition helped shape Joel's character.
Here's a new Last of Us multiplayer mode, please don't hurt us
Inquisitive players of The Last of Us will soon find a free new multiplayer mode in the game, which is in the process of being patched to version 1.03. (See the full list of corrections here.) "Interrogation" mode is a four-on-four competition in which each team strives to take a peek into the opposition's lockbox and pilfer their supplies. This can only be done after the box's location has been determined in light of five successful interrogations. It gets darker: an enemy must be shivved or crippled before they'll spill a piece of information, obtained by pressing triangle near them. With that in mind, remember to update your modern control schemes: X to Jason, Triangle to torture, Square for light attack and Circle to back out of the DLC shop.
Best Buy, FutureShop accepting orders for 12GB PS3 in US and Canada
Looking for a cheap PS3? Good news: a flash-based 12GB PS3 is available starting today. You can order the system online or pick it up in-store through Best Buy, which has the system for $199.99, and in a bundle that includes the system and two games (Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception GOTY Edition and The Last of Us) for $259.98. For our Canadian friends, you can pick up the system via FutureShop. If the low memory won't cut it for you, the new model supports external storage through the system's USB ports.
