PlayStation 3 tentpole Uncharted started out life as a fantasy adventure, according to a former Naughty Dog employee.


Speaking in an interview with NowGamer, Don Poole, who worked as an environment modeler at the studio, revealed that Sony asked for a change of direction to take advantage of the "gritty shooter" boom on the Xbox 360.


"We were talking about a more 'realistic' game in terms of how it was modelled and rendered but the concepts were much more far out. One was a forest world where the antagonists lived underground. It had elements of Tolkien in for sure," he explained.

"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."

"So the big push from Sony, not just at Naughty Dog but at all of Sony's development companies at the time, was to craft games for PlayStation 3 that were much more realistic. The pressure from Xbox's success with gritty shooters was a very real force on our direction at that time."


Apparently the suggestion wasn't met with universal enthusiasm from the studio's staff.


"We had a lot of internal grumbling about the realist bent. More of the old dogs were from the Crash and Jak era and preferred that more whimsical style. But alas, that was a losing battle."

Note to everyone, RE4 is really good.

Not having the Wiimote has brought back the challenge to the game. I forgot that Leon had an unsteady aim, that alone adds to the tension and skill of getting a correct shot. The wiimote removed that, it was so much easier, but at the same time more fun to use.

Kingdom Hearts 3DS

Lots more here

Dylan Cuthbert Starfox guy

On pitching ideas to Nintendo and their unused ideas...



"The problem with Nintendo is that they have so many internal staff that whatever idea you go and show them it's quite likely they've already developed a prototype for that kind of game internally. You're showing something they've already seen. It's weird. Several times in the past I've shown them stuff that I thought was totally new and original and they'll go away, come back and say 'actually we made this prototype last week' and it's the exact same game. But they never finish anything. The vast majority of stuff never makes it out. If you can work like that it's the best way to do it. Throw it all up against a wall and the thing that sticks is the thing you go with. We try and do the same thing with PixelJunk. We've had lots of ideas in the past that we just stopped. We'll find a more interesting idea and go with that instead."

IGN What Nintendo can learn from Catherine

IGN said:

Catherine's puzzling yet sexy trip through the male subconscious is in many ways the furthest thing from a Nintendo game possible. Heavy on plot and stacked with modern gaming sensibilities, it could easily be seen as the very antithesis to the Big N's 2010 retro throwback New Super Mario Bros Wii. But is it really all that different? Or is there a correlation between the old-school, D-pad-centric gameplay of both that's worth investigating?


IGN Nintendo wagers that just because she's a little mature for Mario, that doesn't mean Catherine can't teach the stout plumber a thing or two in the one area he needs help the most. No, not how to score with Peach (get your mind out of the gutter). We're talking about wooing a different sort -- jaded gamers who have already been there and done that, and now want something more.


With the Wii U set to lead the company into the modern era of gaming, it's time Nintendo nabbed a few pearls of wisdom from quite the unlikely source. Below are some simple strategies that helped Atlus to essentially repackage old-school gaming concepts into a successful modern game. Listen up, Nintendo -- we're talking to you.

gamingeek said:

PlayStation 3 tentpole Uncharted started out life as a fantasy adventure, according to a former Naughty Dog employee.



Speaking in an interview with NowGamer, Don Poole, who worked as an environment modeler at the studio, revealed that Sony asked for a change of direction to take advantage of the "gritty shooter" boom on the Xbox 360.



"We were talking about a more 'realistic' game in terms of how it was modelled and rendered but the concepts were much more far out. One was a forest world where the antagonists lived underground. It had elements of Tolkien in for sure," he explained.

"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."

"So the big push from Sony, not just at Naughty Dog but at all of Sony's development companies at the time, was to craft games for PlayStation 3 that were much more realistic. The pressure from Xbox's success with gritty shooters was a very real force on our direction at that time."



Apparently the suggestion wasn't met with universal enthusiasm from the studio's staff.



"We had a lot of internal grumbling about the realist bent. More of the old dogs were from the Crash and Jak era and preferred that more whimsical style. But alas, that was a losing battle."

I don't know if anyone here remembers, but I have been saying for YEARS how it seemed like Sony was blatantly forcing their developers to make more Xbox styled games on the PS3. It was obvious when you're launching with Resistance from Insomniac and have Infamous from Sucker Punch. And now this article confirms it!

NY Times said:

GENEVA (AP) — Scientists at the world's largest physics lab say they have clocked subatomic particles traveling faster than light. If that's true, it would break — if not severely twist — a fundamental pillar of physics.


Nothing is supposed to go faster than light. But scientists say that neutrinos — one of the strangest well-known particles in physics — smashed past the cosmic speed barrier of 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers).


The European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN, says the speeds were detected in a neutrino beam fired from Geneva to a lab 454 miles (730 kilometers) away in Italy.


Baffled scientists are asking others to independently verify the measurements or find other more mundane explanations for the measured speed.

Time travel is going to be real bitches. I am so going to travel back in time and fuck all of your grand-grand-grand parents.

I am error!

Oh! Look! A Bobofish!

*squish!*

Gears 3's multiplayer is still addictive, but I also still suck at it.   I keep forgetting to dodge.

I finished my preorder on Batman today.  So that's Batman and Uncharted paid for and Zelda is left!

All this talk of time and space travel is giving me a stiffy!!

Let's talk manifolds