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Star Wars 1313 offers a peek into our very pretty future
Star Wars 1313 may be our first look into the next generation of games – at least the next generation according to Microsoft and Sony. LucasArts' internally-developed third-person shooter slash Uncharted-esque third-person action game is the very definition of "early" for a game in development. "We're in pre-production," said Craig Derrick, LucasArts producer, ahead of a PC-based demo.Further pushing that point: the team isn't talking platforms just yet, nor engine, indicating to many that it could be headed to Microsoft and Sony's yet-to-be announced console successors. The demo runs on an Nvidia 680 graphics card, which I'm told is the fabled "Kepler" architecture of the next generation. And the game is gorgeous for it. Both in cutscenes and in gameplay, the graphical detail is near-equal to that of Naughty Dog's latest efforts. Again, the game is in pre-production.Credit's due here to LucasArts' Industrial Light & Magic, as well as Skywalker Sound and LucasFilm Animation, who are assisting on the project – no doubt – but few games look anywhere near this good at this point in production.
10 games added to PS3 Greatest Hits lineup, Sony confirms
Looks like the Walmart ad we posted yesterday actually undersold the number of PS3 games that Sony will soon add to the $30 Greatest Hits collection. The following 10 titles will be decked in red and reduced in price in the U.S. and Canada within the next few weeks: inFAMOUS (Sony Computer Entertainment) God of War Collection (Sony Computer Entertainment) Killzone 2 (Sony Computer Entertainment) LittleBigPlanet Game of the Year (Sony Computer Entertainment) Resistance 2 (Sony Computer Entertainment) Dead Space (Electronic Arts) Fight Night Round 4 (EA Sports) Resident Evil 5 (Capcom) Soulcalibur IV (Namco Bandai Games) UFC 2009 Undisputed (THQ) That's a pretty good assortment of quality titles -- assuming, of course, that this isn't some kind of horribly distasteful April Fools' Day joke.
Rumor: inFAMOUS, LBP GOTY and others joining Greatest Hits
According to a recent Walmart ad dug up by NeoGAF user ghostmind, a whole slew of new PS3 titles will soon be added to the $29.99 Greatest Hits collection. Featured on the ad are five games which will apparently get the red box treatment: LittleBigPlanet: Game of the Year Edition, Killzone 2, inFAMOUS, Resistance 2 and UFC 2009 Undisputed. Actually, according to the flyer, the games are being offered for $29.83. That, dear readers, is the Walmart difference. We've contacted Sony America to find out if the Walmart ad is authentic, but we have no reason to believe it's a mock-up. We mean, all those games are "hits," and they're all pretty "great," right? [Via 1UP]
GDC: How Sucker Punch built inFamous' big city with a small team
Last year's shockingly awesome superhero title inFamous boasted a massive sandbox world known as Empire City -- a playground full of climbable, grindable, shootable objects. It was an impressive environment, made all the more impressive by a startling piece of information revealed by Sucker Punch's Nate Fox during a recent GDC panel: The whole city was created by a team of just 12 artists. Fox explained that this feat was accomplished with the liberal reusing of the game's catalog of environmental assets. For example, there were only two types of cars in the game, differentiated by hue shifts and decals. The map was partitioned into a hexagonal grid -- the inspiration for which came from the popular board game Carcassonne, Fox explained. Edges of each hex were designed to effortlessly fit together, allowing designers to make minor changes to each compartment, and paste the location into another chunk of the city. This might sound like a cheap tactic for a developer to employ, but Fox explained that a developer's time and resources are limited. By swiftly executing the creation of a game's setting, the developers are given more of an opportunity to focus on designing "evil lairs" and other memorable landmarks. Oh, and according to Fox, the industry term for these outstanding structures is "Weenies." Yes, for that reason. Yes, that is wonderful. %Gallery-26262%
PTOM rumor: inFamous 2 coming in 2010
The latest issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine (detailing Crysis 2) has a seemingly innocent feature called "Second to None" in its news section. Promising "the scoop on three hugely anticipated sequels slated for 2010," the magazine details Batman: Arkham Asylum 2, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2, and inFamous 2. Wait, what? If you didn't notice, one of these three games hasn't been officially announced. The magazine speculates that inFamous 2 will "[pick] up a significant time after the first game, offering a reshaped metropolis." A Sony representative shot down the magazine's report though, stating, "we do not comment on rumor or speculation." While Sony remains hush about an inFamous sequel, it seems reasonable to assume that it's only a matter of time before the game comes to fruition. However, the 2010 date pegged by the magazine is likely speculation: The sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum, while announced, hasn't been dated for a release this year. Would both Rocksteady and Sucker Punch be able to turn over sequels to their summer blockbusters just one year after they release? And most importantly, would gamers even want that?
Joystiq's Top 10 of 2009: inFamous
The likelihood that any of us will walk outside one day and -- BAM! -- suddenly have superpowers bestowed upon us is -- let's face it -- pretty much nil. (We say "pretty much," since, well, you never know.) Thankfully, in the realm of video games, such a scenario is commonplace. For the most part, we only ever get to watch as a game's lead character becomes a superhero in a cutscene, or, most commonly, the game is based on a long-established character from another medium, mainly comic books. There are a lot of reasons behind our enjoyment of InFamous, but the fact that the game let us play as an everyman while he gradually became a superhero (or supervilain) gave us a rare chance to fulfill that "what if?" fantasy in the role of a total unknown, much as we'd be. Of course, if the game only let us experience what it would be like to be a guy who could only, oh, levitate paperclips and small rocks, what'd be the point? So InFamous gradually doles out power after power, all based around electricity (with a clever mechanic for recharging oneself), the most basic of which is firing lighting from your hands. The powers not only increase in oomph -- they significantly change how the fictional open-world Empire City, with its distinct districts and demilitarized zone atmosphere, is navigated by players. Cole McGrath boasts parkour and climbing skills that put Assassin Creed II's protagonist Ezio to shame ... and that's before he can electro-grind around the city's railways or, oh, fly. While the game is great at conveying how considerable having such powers in the real world would be -- use too much force and you'll send cars flying into a crowd of innocent bystanders -- it also changes to reflect whether you're choosing to use the powers for good or evil. (Maybe you meant to toss that four-door into the crosswalk.) This introduces some twists in the fairly uneven plot, but, more importantly, changes the powers you command and the way the city's inhabitants react to you. Travel too far down one path and there's no going back. Superhero games that aren't based on comics, movies or TV shows are rare, and we can't imagine another topping this electrifying experience anytime soon. %Gallery-26262% << Back(6) | Comment | 4. Here, there be excellent games >>
inFamous becomes almost-Greatest Hits game, drops to $40
Click to read the inFamous comic. Sucker Punch's superpower game has sold 1.2 million copies, according to a recent update by the PlayStation.Blog. According to Sony's rules, that's enough to make the game a certifiable "Greatest Hits" title. However, a game can't don the ugly budget box art until ten months after the game's original ship date. Until then, inFamous will get an almost-Greatest Hits price for its almost-Greatest Hits status: $39.99, effective immediately. Also, the former GameStop-exclusive power-up Gigawatt Blades will be available for all as a free PSN download, starting December 10 -- a nice freebie for latecomers to the game. Considering Black Friday has already passed, it seems like Sony may have missed the best opportunity to announce a price drop on inFamous. Of course, there might be another motive behind this move: to keep this game on the mind of video game editors (and fans) readying their GOTY lists.
Sucker Punch hiring network programmer, adding online support to next game
Normally, we wouldn't write a story simply stating that a developer's next, unannounced title will include some form of online multiplayer support -- however, based on the cliffhanger ending from InFamous (and the apparent re-casting of Cole MacGrath's voice actor) it would be completely logical to assume that Sucker Punch is working on a sequel to its electrified superhero sim. Therefore, one might also assume that the company's recently posted job listing, which requests the services of a network programmer who has "experience building on-line components of video games," means InFamous 2 will have some form of online mode. We know, we know -- that's a whole lot of assumptions. Still, we're sticking to the old adage of "when you assume, you make an ass of you and me, but sometimes, you can totally predict things before they happen by simply making an educated guess." We'll contact someone over at Sucker Punch to try and help our chances. [Via CVG]
Actor's Twitter hints at inFamous lead recasting
Before a game is really, totally announced, you've got to keep an eye out for little hints that it may be on the way. Take, for instance, the sequel to inFamous that may or may not exist. We already knew developer Sucker Punch was looking to add an artist familiar with the "urban style" that figured prominently in the first inFamous game. Now, actor David Sullivan has tweeted (as spotted by G4) that he's being considered for the role of Cole, which he says is being recast for a sequel. You may know Sullivan from the indie hit Primer, or as the subject of actor Jason Cottle's forthcoming book, Job Stealers I Totally Hate.
What's in a Name: Sucker Punch
We loved inFamous despite its unfortunate capitalization decisions, but since it's considered rude to ask about that sort of thing, we instead grilled the folks at Sucker Punch on how they came up with their studio's name: "The other company founders and I had worked at Microsoft for a decade or so before starting our new company. Having chafed under corporate policies about what constituted an acceptable project code name, we were looking forward to giving the company a name we'd never ever get away with at Microsoft. "We came up with a list of ten or so names, and eventually my lovely and talented wife saw the list. She said (and I quote), 'I don't care what you call the company -- as long as it isn't Sucker Punch.' We figured that the best way to choose a name a 14-year-old boy would think was cool was to choose a name that a lovely and talented 38-year-old woman thought was unacceptable ... so 'Sucker Punch' it was! "After twelve years, I believe I've been forgiven." - Chris Zimmerman, Sucker Punch co-founder and development director Liked this story? Be sure to check out the What's In A Name archives.
Interview: Sucker Punch's Nate Fox on inFamous and inSpiration
If you've been spending a lot of time enjoying the electro-shockery featured in inFamous, you've got the guy pictured above -- and the other 50-odd members of Sucker Punch Productions -- to thank. His name is Nate Fox, game director for inFamous and a writer/designer who has a decade of tenure with the studio. We had a chance to sit down with Nate at E3 to get a post-mortem look at the high voltage superhero sim, and to finally inquire what lies within protagonist Cole's mysterious backpack. So, Nate Fox, how long have you been at Sucker Punch? Nate Fox: I've been at Sucker Punch for over 10 years. When I started, I had a full head of hair. That is not a lie.
Metareview: inFamous (PS3)
We're not going to say inFamous' quality is a big surprise (this is Sucker Punch after all) but it's nice to see someone getting the superhero genre so right. Everyone (including us) has been piling the love on it, and we've taken the liberty of providing with just a slice of the love fest below: 1UP (A-): "It's how InFamous blends all of this -- the platforming, the combat, the powers, the missions, and the Karma -- that makes it an eminently playable and enjoyable experience for me. It's why I've been staying up so late for the past few days." D+PAD (4.5/5): "Yet remarkably, inFamous - as a whole - feels entirely unique. It's perhaps largely due to Sucker Punch's ability in creating an outstanding animation system that subtly adapts to the environment, but also because of the game's suitably atmospheric setting." GamePro (90/100): "Great game, minor faults, a lot of fun to be had, terrible story but the gameplay holds up despite it. Maybe this "sleeping on it" thing has some merit, after all." NZGamer (9.5/10): "Any other games vying for the crown of Game of the Year 2009 pay attention - there's a new kid in town and he means business."
Amazon UK reveals inFamous PS3 bundle
Images of a supposed 80GB PS3 + inFamous bundle have been circulating the video game blogosphere for the past few weeks. Sony has been hesitant to comment on the package, but a recent online retail listing cleared up the confusion -- the bundle is real, and coming to Amazon UK on May 29. Those interested in simultaneously acquiring the shockingly good superhero title and the system on which it runs can grab both for £279.99. We've contacted SCEA to find out if this deal is coming stateside. Consider our fingers crossed.
Joystiq Review: inFamous
Okay, right at the top, let's get this out of the way -- electricity control is a terrible superpower. Sure, it's flashy, and makes for a great video game mechanic, but any crime fighter who could easily be bested by Dry Rubber Shoes Man simply shouldn't be tasked with the vigilant protection of a city and its inhabitants. Despite this obvious weakness, Sucker Punch's open-world action opus, inFamous, has a lot going for it. Rather than tumbling into the pitfalls often visited by sandbox action games (too repetitive, poorly balanced difficulty, no sense of direction, non-existent story), it takes the road less traveled, exhibiting an extraordinary amount of polish and attention to detail. As a result, Sucker Punch has crafted a game that I feel comfortable labeling "the greatest superhero game I've ever played." %Gallery-51349%
Sony teases 'electrifying' inFamous, Uncharted 2 news
Sony has released a most unusual teaser clip (above) via its YouTube PlayStation channel, which indicates some sort of announcement regarding two PS3-exclusives, inFamous and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, will be made on Monday, April 27. The publisher recently held preview events for both titles, the coverage embargoes on which just so happen to lift on -- you guessed it -- April 27. We know what's going on with Nate Drake's new adventure -- and seriously can't wait to tell you on Monday -- but we didn't attend Sucker Punch's open house event. Sony did promise the latter would give a sneak peek at new inFamous content, though. Scrutinizing today's video, we see Cole McGrath, the hero/anti-hero of inFamous crackle with electricity, followed by a promotional shot of Uncharted 2 in which an electrical transformer explodes. Our best, total guesses: either Cole will somehow be a playable character in Uncharted 2 (his powers do "reach into" the game during the video) or inFamous will include a playable demo of Naughty Dog's latest. Either would be "electrifying" announcements in our book. Which one would you like to happen most?
GDC09: inFamous hands-on
Like Naughty Dog before it, Sucker Punch is attempting to transform its success as a cartoonish platformer developer into a mature, (dare we say) realism-based game designer. The leap from Sly Cooper into the open-world inFamous is a giant one, but Sucker Punch's inaugural PS3 effort is shaping up to be one of those games that justifies your shiny, black console. One of the levels on hand at GDC was "Food Drop," as Sucker Punch calls it. Our mission began on Cole McGrath's rooftop shanty retreat where his fat buddy Zeke was lounging on a couch, reading a graphic novel. Cole, hard-working bike messenger and the game's protagonist, is already aware of his electrifying power, but hasn't quite realized the full extent of this "great responsibility." Cue: Zeke wanting to watch television; predicament: the batteries aren't charged. You can guess what happens next ... training! Hold L1 to charge up your inner-electricity, and press L2 to fire it. TV ON! %Gallery-48561%
inFamous' Karma system revealed
Finally, almost two years after the game was unveiled at GDC 2007, Sony has revealed details about inFamous' Karma system -- a key part of the game which we've often intimated could either make or break it. Thankfully, it's looking pretty decent, as you can see from the two videos we have showcasing the feature. The first, which can be found above, gives a few examples of the moral choices you have to make throughout the game. These choices will affect "the way pedestrians react to Cole, the powers he can use and upgrade, Cole's appearance, and even the story." As in Fable, any decision you make will award you either good or bad karma. There are six karmic levels: three bad (Thug, Outlaw and Infamous) and three good (Guardian, Champion and Hero). Each of these levels will contain different skills which can be bought with experience points. Placing points in a Champion skill and then lowering your karma level to Guardian means you will no longer have access to that skill. Cole will change his appearance according to his karma level (again, much like Fable) and depending on whether he's a goody or baddy, his electricity will appear either red or blue. Upgrading your powers in either a good or evil direction will directly affect how they work. Good powers use electrons and are more likely to stun or restrain enemies while bad powers utilize positrons and will kill, maim and destroy. The second video, seen after the break, shows examples of this. Seeing this system in action raises our hopes for inFamous. The game was starting to look very samey, but this added ingredient may be just the spice we've been looking for.
Sony's Steinberg says 2009 lineup is 'relentless, AAA-quality'
Speaking with David Radd at GameDaily, VP of Product Marketing at SCEA, Scott Steinberg, wants you to know that, if you were under the impression Sony had "punched itself out," you're mistaken! Citing Killzone 2 as the beginning of, "a great lineup [that is] relentless and AAA-quality," Steinberg names MLB 09: The Show and this summer's inFamous as two titles that are, "going to arrest the momentum from competitors." That's without mentioning the Heavy Rains and Uncharted 2s of the world, we might add. And though Steinberg's remarks are filled with marketing speak (that's the technical term, folks), we can't help but agree that the company's 2009 lineup seems a lot more fleshed out three months into the year than its competitors. Maybe next week's Game Developer's Conference will change some of that. We'll just have to wait and see.
inFamous launching worldwide in June, demo on the way [update]
You're currently looking at the box art for Sucker Punch's upcoming PS3 exclusive, inFamous. The cover, along with the release date (well -- month, at least), was revealed on the PlayStation Blog today. You'll be stepping into the electrified shoes of Cole McGrath at some point in June. We're not sure inFamous will be as successful as last June's major PS3 exclusive, but players will be able to try this one out before they buy, as a demo has already been confirmed. The game's soundtrack has also been detailed on Music 4 Games. Update: The source link for the soundtrack information has been removed, but the article alleged that the game music would be a collaborative effort between Amon Tobin, Jim Dooley, Mel Wesson, Martin Tilman who, between them, have worked on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Pushing Daisies, Pirates of the Caribbean and Black Hawk Down. The now-removed source added that in order to produce a more urban, gritty sound, the composers will be creating music from "real-life objects and materials found in urban environments." In response to these alleged details, Sony states, "We have not made any official announcements regarding the music in inFamous." (That's right Sony! Stuff the cat right back in that bag.) We'll let you know when the truly infamous soundtrack is ready for your ears -- and eyes.
New inFamous trailer heavy on story, light on gameplay
In this, the latest trailer for body-surfing, open-world action game inFamous, we get a glimpse at more of the story, though a straight up plot remains inFamous-ly absent. What do we know? There's a little girl who's scared, maybe of you, maybe of everything else. There's an explosion and some kick flips. Oh oh, and plenty of electricity. It might not be the most intellectually stimulating game coming from Sony on the horizon but it sure "has the potential to be far more substantial and rewarding" -- at least we thought so back at New York Comic Con.
