Uncharted and The Last of Us developer says creating an all-new engine between PS2 and PS3 "caused a lot of turmoil."

Naughty Dog has said it will keep the proprietary engine used on PlayStation 3 titles like Uncharted 3 and The Last of Us for PlayStation 4 development.

The Last of Us game director Bruce Straley said that Naughty Dog intends to avoid the "turmoil" it suffered when creating an entirely new game engine for the PlayStation 3.

"We learned a big lesson coming from PS2 to PS3," said Straley in an interview with Digital Spy. "There was a lot of hype over what [PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360] was going to be. It was all going to be like movies, like a prerendered cutscene-style fidelity."

"That turned out not to be true," he added. "What we're able to do now is pretty damn close, but it took Naughty Dog four games to get there--one of the top developers in the industry with some of the most amazing scientists working in our programming department."

"We scrapped everything at the beginning of Uncharted 1, and we had a perfectly good engine with the Jak & Daxter franchise.

Straley says that Naughty Dog had a "perfectly good" engine powering the Jak & Daxter titles on the PlayStation 2. "We could have started with something there and then built off of it and only changed the pieces and parts as we needed, when we needed," said Straley, adding that the choice to develop a new engine for the original Uncharted "really caused a lot of turmoil."

The team at Naughty Dog "learned our lesson" and so intends to take its current engine to the PlayStation 4. "As we move into development into next-gen, we want to take our current engine, port it immediately over as is, and say, 'OK, we have a great AI system, we have a good rendering system.'"

Naughty Dog intends to improve the engine to make use of the PlayStation 4's next-gen technology, but adds that "only when we hit a wall will we say, 'When do we need to change something? When do we need to scale it?"

"It's one of those things that you learn in development," concluded Straley. "We've gained something from this experience, and now we want to apply it moving into next gen."

Naughty Dog's PlayStation 3-exclusive The Last of Us will be released on June 14.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Joe Madureira says Vigil Games was contemplating Darksiders III four-player co-op and considering Xbox One and PlayStation 4 tech.

The creative director of Darksiders and Darksiders II has spoken about now-defunct developer Vigil Games' vision for Darksiders III.

In an interview with IGN, Vigil Games co-founder and comic artist Joe Madureira said that the studio planned to create a four-player co-op adventure, allowing the entire quartet of Darksiders' Horsemen to be playable. "It's possible we could have pulled it off," he said, adding that he "would have liked to introduce Fury and Strife. I know many fans feel robbed that they never got to play the last two Horsemen."

Madureira also spoke of how the series would have progressed past 2012's Darksiders II. "Story-wise, we tossed around the idea of the Horsemen attacking hell to challenge Lucifer," he said, "and then taking the battle to the Charred Council to regain their freedom. Epic stuff."

"There was also an idea to do a crazy Western-type story, where the Horsemen are mortals after the rebirth of mankind, sort of an alternate future," added Madureira.

"Neither idea got very far," he admitted.

Madureira added that the extra processing power of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 would have benefited the vision of four-player co-op in the series. "The biggest limiter for us was always scope, time, and money," said Madureira.

"I do think that it would be very difficult [on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3] to have four players running around simultaneously and maintain the level of graphic quality we achieved. So [Darksiders III], had we introduced co-op, would have benefited from the power of the next generation of consoles."

GameSpot awarded Darksiders II an 8.5 in its review, saying the game "merges action, exploration, and loot-driven progression into an excellent and sizable adventure."

Nordic Games purchased the Darksiders IP in April, along with the rights to multiple other ex-THQ titles, including Red Faction and MX vs. ATV, for $4.9 million. No buyer was found for Vigil Games during THQ's dissolution.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Japanese company Crim says it intends to "develop a potential El Shaddai business moving forward."

Japanese company Crim, which is headed up by El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron director Takeyasu Sawaki, has bought the rights to the series off the now Disney-owned UTV Ignition.

The original game, inspired by the Jewish religious work The Book of Enoch, was released in 2011. GameSpot awarded the game an 8.0 in its review at the time, saying that it "combines gorgeous artistic design with enticing combat to create a memorable adventure."

News of the purchase (translated via Gematsu), says the sale entails "prequel, sequel, and all other derivative rights of the existing game," suggesting a new title in the series could be in the works.

Crim has also said it "will work with the entertainment industry to develop a potential El Shaddai business moving forward."

A social media title, El Shaddai Social Battle, was announced in 2012 in partnership with GREE.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Sony CEO asserts the PlayStation 4 as primarily a gaming console, but adds that more non-game functionality will be revealed in time.

Following Microsoft's plan to position its upcoming Xbox One as a living room entertainment device, Sony Corporation president and CEO Kazuo "Kaz" Hirai has stressed that the PlayStation 4 is a video game console first. The news came as Hirai spoke at the D11 conference held this week in the US, according to The Verge.

Sony's stance on the PS4 is clear: Gaming comes first.

"The most important thing we need to do is agree and understand that the PS4 is a great video game console that appeals to video gamers. If we miss that part, I don't think we get the initial establishment of the console. That formula has worked for us with all our consoles, including the PS3."

In addition, Hirai said that Sony would reveal more PS4 functions not related to video games. "Providing other non-game content is an area we will reveal and talk about in the coming months, but it's first and foremost a video game console."

Sony Computer Entertainment's E3 press conference will be held on June 10, just before E3 2013 starts.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Sony CEO asserts the PlayStation 4 as primarily a gaming console, but adds that more non-game functionality will be revealed in time.

Following Microsoft's plan to position its upcoming Xbox One as a living room entertainment device, Sony Corporation president and CEO Kazuo "Kaz" Hirai has stressed that the PlayStation 4 is a video game console first. The news came as Hirai spoke at the D11 conference held this week in the US, according to The Verge.

Sony's stance on the PS4 is clear: Gaming comes first.

"The most important thing we need to do is agree and understand that the PS4 is a great video game console that appeals to video gamers. If we miss that part, I don't think we get the initial establishment of the console. That formula has worked for us with all our consoles, including the PS3."

In addition, Hirai said that Sony would reveal more PS4 functions not related to video games. "Providing other non-game content is an area we will reveal and talk about in the coming months, but it's first and foremost a video game console."

Sony Computer Entertainment's E3 press conference will be held on June 10, just before E3 2013 starts.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Major League Gaming teams up with Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment and Turbine Inc to launch Infinite Crisis into the eSports scene.

North American eSports organisation Major League Gaming (MLG) has teamed up with Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment and developer Turbine Inc to introduce Infinite Crisis to the competitive gaming scene.

Infinite Crisis will launch later this year.

An announcement posted on the MLG website reveals details of the partnership, which officially kicks off at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) on June 11 this year. Professional gaming teams Complexity and Curse Academy will compete in an Infinite Crisis tournament live at the event.

Gamers who wish to watch the matches can check out the full schedule on the MLG website. The live stream will be hosted at the MLG and Infinite Crisis sites.

Infinite Crisis is an upcoming free-to-play MOBA game set across the 52 universes of the DC multiverse. Developer Turbine Inc.has revealed steampunk and postapocalyptic-themed stages. The game also features map-specific interactive elements, such as throwing cars or calling down meteor showers.

Infinite Crisis will be available exclusively on PC later this year.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot