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Uncharted Vita postmortem details Sony Bend's struggles with writing a female lead
Writer and Director John Garvin of Sony Bend recently discussed the development of Uncharted: Golden Abyss in a postmortem on Gamasutra. One of the topics covered by Garvin was the distaste focus testers had for the game's lead female character, Marisa Chase."The problem, we discovered, was the writing. In the script, Chase's character was a bit of a smart ass and a little sarcastic," Garvin wrote. The focus group determined that Chase was a "wimp," and that her character upheld a number of gender stereotypes."For gameplay reasons, we constantly put Chase into situations where Drake needed to take action. Call it lazy if you want, but we ended up with a few 'Princess Peach' scenarios," Garvin said. "It seemed that poor Chase was constantly being choked, shot at, knocked out, dragged around and kidnapped. We fixed that, as well as we could, by changing the scenarios to make Chase less of a victim."In the second round of focus testing, Garvin was prompted to consider another change to the character. "What's that old adage? If a man acts forceful he's 'take-charge and aggressive, a real leader' but if a woman acts that way, she's being 'pushy and a bitch' -- an unfair gender stereotype, but one we had to deal with," he wrote. "How? By making her less aggressive and critical."The rest of the postmortem on Uncharted: Golden Abyss is an interesting read, and includes notes about the game's environments and how further focus testing impacted its story and ending.
Uncharted: Fight for Fortune rated in Brazil, Australia, listed as Vita 'casino/card game'
Uncharted: Fight for Fortune is an upcoming casino/cards-based game for Vita, according to listings on Brazilian and Australian ratings boards. The Australian classification lists One Loop Games as the developer, a studio responsible for mobile games God of War: Betrayal and Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile. One Loop also worked on Full Spectrum Warrior and The Saboteur. The Brazilian classification details Uncharted: Fight for Fortune's platform as Vita, and the genre as "casino/card games." However, it may also be coming to PS3, as the Australian board lists it as multi-platform. One Loop's website lists the developer as working on two "secret projects," with one described as the studio's "first big game" as well as being completed.We've reached out to One Loop Games for comment.
Rumor: PowerUp Rewards offers big discounts on Sony PS3 collections
Supposedly GameStop is planning a PowerUp Rewards member-exclusive sale from November 1 through November 14 for select Sony PlayStation 3 collections. Titles rumored to be on the cheap include Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection ($10), Jak and Daxter Collection ($10), Uncharted 1 and 2 ($15), God of War Saga ($20), Infamous 1 and 2 ($15), Killzone Trilogy ($20), the collector's edition of Journey ($15) and Ratchet & Clank Collection ($15). The rumored prices come courtesy of a NeoGAF thread featuring deal-seeking gamers.We called a few local GameStop stores and the employees we talked to said there's no indication on their end a sale is incoming. A few employees mentioned seeing the GAF thread, but had no email correspondence or indication in their system of the promotion. We've followed up with GameStop corporate as well because we totally want this to be a thing. Ico and Shadow of the Colossus for $10? Yeah, we totally back that idea.
New PS3 bundle includes DUST 514 bonus content
Depending on your interest in consoles, you may have heard of the new streamlined PlayStation 3 that was revealed at the Tokyo Game Show. What you may not have heard is that it will come out in a limited edition bundle that includes $30 of bonus digital content for DUST 514. DUST 514 is receiving some publicity because of this bundle, which certainly can't hurt the upcoming release of CCP's MMOFPS. Players who purchase the $270 console bundle will receive a copy of Uncharted 3 and a voucher to use in DUST 514. The voucher will give players content worth "more than $30" of bonus content, although what said content is has not been specified.
Uncharted movie loses director, gains 'National Treasure' writers
Marianne and Cormac Wibberley, the screenwriting duo behind the National Treasure movies (along with Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and the story for Bad Boys II) are signed on to do a rewrite of the Uncharted: Drake's Fortune movie script, which seems just a bit on the nose.The news is from Variety, who also reports that Limitless director Neil Burger is no longer attached to the project, with a new choice pending completion of the script. Hopefully Arad Productions can find a director who's worked on movies about dudes hunting for ancient treasure, because that's apparently the criterion.
Uncharted 3's latest lab is 5-on-5 SMGs, riot shields, and grenades
Naughty Dog has issued an update to Uncharted 3 with a brand new experimental Lab playlist to play around in. The playlist is going back to a 5v5 format, this time giving players a combination of riot shields, uzis, and grenades to carry out to the battlefield. Kickback and boosters are disabled, too, so it sounds like your best strategy is to be vicious: Shoot everything until you get close enough to stab them in the back.With this update, Naughty Dog also fixed an issue with DLC maps not showing up properly in the rotation, and there's a full rundown of what you'll see when on the company blog. The developer also promises a full schedule for upcoming labs and events soon, as well as more news about a new character coming to the game (from a Sony contest) and other updates in the next patch, 1.13.
Uncharted 1 and 2 discover PSN on June 26
Nathan Drake's first two Uncharted adventures will be digitally distributed on the PlayStation Network starting next month. On June 26, both Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Game of the Year Edition will be available in boxless form. Oddly, Sony has announced no price for the digital copies as a set nor individually.On that note, it should be mentioned that the Uncharted Greatest Hits Dual Pack, which includes the first two games in the series, is available at retailers and online for a suggested retail price of $40.%Gallery-90166%
Uncharted series recut into movie form
The Uncharted series is a few dramatic zooms and giant blue people away from being a true Hollywood movie, and now it's one step closer to the silver screen experience. Redditor morphinapg has cut together the cinematic cutscenes from all three Uncharted titles to create three separate feature-length films.Morphinapg used a minimal amount of gameplay to connect the cutscenes, and voila, we have a movie series that anyone – at least 180,000 on YouTube – can enjoy."With these projects I was trying to make movies that would be viewable whether or not you had played the game, or even care about playing video games, so I wanted to make them as close to a real movie as possible," Morphinapg wrote. Watch the first fan-made Uncharted movie above, and the following two here and here.
Watch the actors of Uncharted 3 get their motions captured
How are the character animations of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception so darn lifelike? It's because they're the movements of real human beings, captured through some sort of ... witchcraft. Watch the video above to see this occult practice in action.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception review: Precious moments
If you were to take all the good parts -- you know, "Oh, guys, you have to see this one part," or "Watch! Watch! My favorite part's coming up!" -- of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, and strip away all of the filler, you'd be left with the same game you had when you started. It's not one to play host to unextraordinary moments: Every plane must crash, every truck must flip and every ancient, long hidden civilization must be discovered (and, as a natural result, destroyed). The sequence of events that propels Uncharted 3 from start to finish has clearly been the subject of the same brilliant centrifuge which separated wheat from chaff in the series' previous outings. The moments of thrilling peril which punctuate Uncharted 3's every chapter have been daisy-chained together with exhausting proximity -- they're so close, in fact, that it's sometimes a little difficult to see the thread that ties them all together. %Gallery-130781%
PSA: Uncharted 3's multiplayer available at Subway
As part of Subway and Naughty Dog's remarkably confusing partnership, the Taste for Adventure campaign, purchasing one of Subway's specially-marked 30 ounce soda-pops will earn thirsty sammich-seeking patrons One Free Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Mode. No, for real; buy a drink with Nathan Drake's rugged mug on the side, and you'll be given a PSN code for access to the "full competitive multiplayer experience" through the rest of October. As explained by the above video, participating in the event can earn you exclusive items and abilities like the "foot-long taunt," and multiplayer maps have also be sprinkled with "exclusive Subway items" that reveal additional content. Look, we're not going to pretend this isn't completely ridiculous, but it's also hilarious in a mind-boggling, non-sequitur way. In fact, stuff like this is probably the future of product placement, so don't be surprised when the Hamburglar turns up in SoulCalibur 5. [Thanks, CQ!]
Uncharted 3 trophies are no longer hidden treasure
The months leading up to a big blockbuster release have a natural flow and order to them: First a title is announced, then months (or years) later we see screens, then trailers, eventually a demo or beta, etc. It's a strange, beautiful process, much akin to watching a caterpillar transform itself into a colorful butterfly. Uncharted 3 has entered the final pupal stage of its metamorphosis, the "leaked trophies cocoon." Head on past the break for the full list of daring feats you'll be rewarded for come November 1.
Once upon a time, Uncharted was a Tolkien-inspired fantasy romp
The Uncharted franchise began as a whimsical fantasy story, but that dream was crushed by the cold, hard AK-47 of reality -- Sony pushed a change in direction after seeing the success of "gritty shooters" on Xbox 360 and ordered Uncharted: Drake's Fortune to be more "realistic," Don Poole, a former Naughty Dog environment modeler, told Play. One discarded concept involved a forest with an underground city of antagonists: "It had elements of Tolkien in for sure," Poole said. "Sony kept pushing for a more realistic game in all respects. The market had changed a lot by then. The demographic was older and gritty shooters were really dominating. Sony wanted very much to get into that market share, it pushed all of its developers in this direction." Poole said some of the "old dogs" at Naughty Dog preferred the fantastical style of its previous titles, such as Jak and Daxter and Crash Bandicoot, "but alas, that was a losing battle." Technically we wouldn't call selling 8 million series copies worldwide "losing," but that can be a relative term.
Uncharted 1 and 2 bundle available September 6
Sony has announced a new game bundle that includes Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Game of the Year Edition, a mess of extra content and DLC for Uncharted 3 -- all for 40 bucks. The company is calling it the Uncharted Greatest Hits DualPack, but we've officially dubbed it the PlayStation 3 Post-Price Cut Starter Pack. The Starter Pack comes out next Tuesday, giving new PS3 adopters plenty of time to catch up on all things Uncharted before Drake's third adventure is released this November. This is required playing, new PS3 owners, and it will be on the exam.
Neil Burger hits restart on the Uncharted film
Director Neil Burger just so happened to be promoting the DVD release of his movie Limitless at Comic-Con last weekend, and though most of the folks who spoke with him were from movie media, Joystiq sneaked in to grill Burger about his next project: the in-development Uncharted film. "I'm rewriting the script from scratch, starting like right now -- like we are just starting now," he said. "I love the game, it's great, and I think it's a great start for a movie, because the game is so cinematic," Burger added, before zeroing in on one object of cinematic admiration. "The character Nate in particular I like because he's this ballsy guy that lives by his wits, and who's capable of kind of anything and everything. He's fearless and he doesn't give a damn and he'll go after the thing. I dig that kind of character and it's a great character for a movie." Mark Wahlberg was rumored to be playing Drake under previous director David O. Russell's oversight. Burger suggested that while both Wahlberg and Limitless star Bradley Cooper could probably both pull the role off in their own ways, the decision of who will wear the half-tuck and jeans is still distant. "Once you get to the end of the screenplay," he said, "you see who's available, who seems right, who's a new actor that's just breaking on that's not even on your radar right now." Burger agreed there are plenty of good choices to go around, however: "There's a lot of actors who even look like Nathan Drake from the video game who could do it and who would be great for it, so we'll see." Burger wasn't aware of Nathan Fillion's run at the part, but we'll consider him officially back in the mix anyway.
Neil Burger starting from scratch with Uncharted movie
Let's just move past the first draft of the Uncharted movie, shall we? We'll forget any jabs about a family of justice-dealing art thieves we might have prepared. We've no quarrel with former Uncharted director David O. Russell. We'll even put The Fighter in the ol' Joystiq DVD queue right now. Now, having said that, Neil Burger seems to be on the right track with the new adaptation of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. The director told Collider that he's just signed on to the project, and is rewriting the whole script. Like all the best Burger art, he said it's being made "from scratch." He added that he likes the game's characters, noting that he knows men like Nathan Drake (so do we), "guys that are living in a very different way and who are slightly hustlers or con-men." He also noted that he would pull as many of the big moments from the game as possible, so long as they "work into the film's story." "I just think you have to make the best movie you can," said Burger, "Something like Indiana Jones was updating 1930′s B-movies." Yes, Neil. Yes. [Thanks, Trevor]
Neil Burger is now cooking up the Uncharted movie
Many fans of the Uncharted series flipped when director David O. Russell said he planned to turn the film version of the games into a story about a family of art thieves. Sure, gaming fans having beef with a game movie isn't so rare, but we relished the news that Russell left the project in late May. After what seemed like a major setback, Sony wasted no time playing ketchup: Meat the new writer and director of the Uncharted movie, Neil Burger. Not familiar? Lettuce bring you up to speed: Burger is perhaps best known in the film medium for his work as the director of Limitless, a recent Bradley Cooper picture about a man addicted to a pill that makes him a genius. (The film also starred Patricia Kalember, "Patty" to her friends). It's unknown whether Mark Wahlberg will remain in the starring roll, but, for what it's worth, we think Burger's last leading man would be a fine fit, especially if he mustard up the charisma required to play Drake. Sounds like it could be a well done film to us, we'll grill them on it and let you know what we hear.
Uncharted, Resistance, and Ratchet & Clank bundles out in Europe July 22
SCEE has confirmed an Uncharted collection, for those European PS3 owners looking for a fast-track method of catching up with the Uncharted series. The publisher told CVG that on July 22, it will release a collection containing Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, along with a dynamic theme and an avatar. The same day will see a European release of the Resistance bundle (coming to North America July 5), which packs the first two games in that series and a Resistance 3 skin. Also out on July 22 in Europe: a Ratchet & Clank bundle containing Tools of Destruction and A Crack in Time, with bonus avatars and a Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One dynamic theme. No announcements were made about the Uncharted or Ratchet bundles in North America, but CVG's line of inquiry did begin with the discovery of the Uncharted collection on Best Buy's US website.
Sony NGP soaks up the pre-E3 glitz in official demo videos
With E3 2011 just around the corner, expectations for Nintendo announcements are mighty high, but you can get a glimpse at the heat Sony's packing before another day goes by. The official PlayStation.Blog spat out some footage of the quad-core NGP in action, and it's not just playing last-gen games; rather, there's yet another glimpse at Uncharted, a brand new platformer called Sound Shapes where you build levels with a music sequencer (and which procedurally generates tunes as you play) and a taste of the cross-platform PS3 vs. NGP wireless racing you can expect in Wipeout HD. There's definitely a lot of dual-analog action here, but demonstrators are also taking advantage of that five-inch touchscreen, and Wipeout will apparently use the front-facing camera to beam taunt-filled pictures and video of the victor to the losers in each race.You'll note that Sony's focusing on software over hardware here, and that's not by accident -- the company's careful to state that we're looking at early dev units. "They're the right size, but they don't possess that final PlayStation-quality fit and finish," says the official blog, "What you'll eventually be able to pick up in a store will look a heck of a lot better." Two more vids after the break.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss preview: Drake me out to the small game
There's no better showcase of what the NGP is all about than Uncharted: Golden Abyss. With the NGP, Sony has created something of an uber-machine, so tricked out with bells and whistles, it would be an immense feat of creativity to simply use them all in one game; now, using them with purpose, that's a whole other thing. Before kicking off a demonstration of Golden Abyss in Los Angeles last month, Sony Bend creative director John Garvin wanted to make one thing clear. "Golden Abyss is a brand new Uncharted game," he said. "It's not a port." In case the lack of Naughty Dog involvement makes you nervous, Garvin says, "We've been collaborating and working closely with Amy Hennig, the creative director at Naughty Dog, to make sure that our characters and story are authentic." As far as characters go, we've got series' star Nathan Drake making a return, the role being reprised by omnipresent voiceover artist Nolan North. To capture that performance, Sony Bend is using the same mo-cap and sound studios that Naughty Dog uses for its Uncharted titles and, in the short cinematic I saw, it showed. If there was one area that made it clear that the main Uncharted series still belongs to Naughty Dog, it may be the lack of a number on that title. "It's a standalone story that takes place before Drake's Fortune," Garvin explained. "It's not a prequel, but a standalone story." In other words, it's self-contained.%Gallery-125163%
