Gravity Rush 2: Delayed into January 2017

     Gravity Rush 2 Director Keiichiro Toyama has announced a disappointing delay to the highly anticipated sequel to the PS Vita phenomena- BUT! - we get something wonderful as a courtesy.

"In exchange for the longer wait, we have decided to release the premium DLC planned for the title free of charge."

     That is a great trade off.  The first game's DLC gave us extra missions and costumes and provided a lot of fun additions to the main campaign.  I wouldn't expect any less for the sequel.

     Gravity Rush 2 is set to launch itself to the skies on Jan. 20th, 2017.  This not only allows for a little more work to be done on it, but gives it room for sales because it won't be competing against games like The Last Guardian.

     Source [ Playstation Blog ]

The Last Guardian: Delayed AGAIN?!? Now Releasing Dec. 6th.

     Mere weeks before the game was set to arrive (Oct. 25th), Playstation has announced on their official blog that- surprise, SURPRISE- The Last Guardian is receiving yet another delay.

     SCE Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida himself posted this message:

"Fumito Ueda, gen DESIGN and JAPAN Studio have a wonderful vision for The Last Guardian’s touching, emotional journey of friendship and trust, and we want to deliver the most polished experience possible for our fans who have supported us for so long. A delay is a difficult decision, particularly with this game, but we have encountered more bugs than anticipated while in the final stages of development. To ensure that The Last Guardian delivers on the experience that the game’s creators have envisioned, we need to take the extra time to work on those issues. 

Our development continues to push itself to the fullest and we look forward to revealing new content toward launch. 

We appreciate your continued support."

     Honestly, this is something that is definitely souring my taste for the game.  Announcement after announcement gets followed by disappointment and delay.  Everyone watching the development knows that it began in 2007, was initially announced in 2009, and reintroduced in 2015.  It's getting to the point where the game may not be able to live up to its own hype.
     Team Ico has yet to make a bad game, but this feels like it's going to be too short or too small and might feel like a decade of wasted potential.  Ico and Shadow of the Colossus still stand as two of the most creative and innovative games ever.  Something just feels off about this, and that in itself seems like an ill omen.  Granted, I could be very wrong about this, and The Last Guardian may become the triumphant final installment to the Team Ico saga.

     The Last Guardian's newest expected release date is Dec. 6th.

     For related posts [ The Last Guardian ]

     Source [ PSN BLOG ]

The Last Guardian: Release Date & E3 2016 Trailer!

     After nearly a decade, The Last Guardian has now received a release date.  October 25th, 2016.

     Beautiful.  Just beautiful.

     And it looks like there are now more than one of the Trico beasts out there...

The Last Guardian: Update from Ueda Interview in New Edge Magazine

     It's been a very, very long wait for all of Fumito Ueda's fans since the 2009 announcement of The Last Guardian until today's confirmation that yes, it will indeed hit Playstation 4 this year.  With only a month until E3, this has reinvigorated the hype for us.  Sadly, it isn't all great hype.
     In Edge Magazine's issue 294 issue, Ueda himself says, "Since this is the year we will see the game's release, I do have some worries, but I'm also very excited."

     What concerns me is this new mechanic that has been mentioned.  Their preview mentioned the human boy character using a mirrored shield while Trico (the bird-cat-beast) fires a beam of red lightning from its tail at what you aim the shield towards.  It's stated that it'll be used for puzzle solving mechanics, and presumably as an attack at some point.
     There's just something slightly off-putting about the tail beam.  I get the shield.  Previous games had magic swords, so having some kind of magically imbued shield would be plausible as well.  But the creatures shooting lightning from their tails is something that feels a bit too strange.  I won't judge it yet though, because with Ueda still on board, I'll wait to see how it's handled in game.

     What does keep me highly excited is Trico itself.  As Yorda from Ico was independant and would frustrate players as well as help, Trico has been modeled as its own being, with its own will and wants and desires.  Ueda goes on in the interview to say,

     This creature isn't like the cute pets that exist in other games, or an ally that's really useful. The role of the creature is ambiguous; that's something we wanted to express in the game, and it doesn't always do what you ask it to do. That's one of the themes of The Last Guardian. It's something that's difficult, and completely different. I want to create the next thing - an experience that people have never had before.

     I find it so amazing that we'll be getting a character that will be doing things for itself, and not just what we want it to do.  It'll follow its own nature and do what it wants, and that's a very refreshing take on companion characters.  That's also coming from someone that at times wanted to shove Yorda off a ledge for her stubborn refusal to follow where I needed her to go.  It was a chore just to even convince her to sit on a save couch so I could save the damn game.

     For my related posts [ The Last Guardian ] [ ICO ] [ Shadow of the Colossus ]

     Source [ EDGE Twitter ] & [ IB Times ] via [ Gematsu ]

The Last Guardian: Has Been Officially Re-Introduced and it is Breathtaking (Releasing in 2016)

     Well, Sony kicked off their E3 2015 press conference with The Last Guardian, the spiritual successor to Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, and it was well worth the wait.  The graphics have been cranked up, and the movements and animations are so much better than the last time we saw footage years ago- in 2009.

     The footage looks to be actual in-game footage and it is spectacular.

     The Last Guardian will be shipping in 2016.

The Last Guardian: May be "Re-Introduced" at E3 2015

     The UK paper The Guardian has posted an interesting item in their "Most Anticipated E3 2015 Games" list, it lists long-awaited spiritual successor to Ico and Shadow of the Colossus- The Last Guardian as possibly being shown at E3 next week.


Will The Last Guardian finally make an appearance?

     Obviously, this game has been in development limbo since 2007 and not seen again since E3 2009- so I'll be taking this as rumor until it is actually shown.  There's been only a trickle of official information released over the years and this might amount to nothing... 
     ...though this is written on the site:

"Yes, we know it has been in development hell since 2007, but we have it on very good authority that this will be the year that Team Ico finally presents its follow-up to much loved classics Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. Whether it’ll bear any relation to the game last shown at E3 in 2009 is anyone’s guess."

     Over at Gamnesia, they mention that the author recognized and acknowledged one mistake in the article and corrected it, but left The Last Guardian untouched- so does this author truly have some good intel on the game finally making a reappearance into the world?  And if it does, how different will it be from what we last saw?

     Will Sony and Team Ico finally re-introduce The Last Guardian at E3 2015 next week?

     Source [ The Guardian ]

The Last Guardian: "Still in Development" Sony Reassures Us

     After Monday's news that Sony had apparently abandoned The Last Guardian trademark again some people were worried.  I wrote a small piece about it and figured they were possibly renaming it to avoid the long term negativity tied to the title.  But, as they had previously "abandoned" it and revived it, there really wasn't much to worry about.

Still Holding On

     The continually troubled development period The Last Guardian has suffered has been nerve wracking, but Sony has assured us that it is indeed progressing.  Creator Fumito Ueda has said that his part of the game was done long ago, but the game is currently undergoing something in "completely new conditions."  That may have been a hint towards giving the game a complete overhaul and bringing it to the Playstation 4, being a potential change from the 2009 announcement that it would be for the PS3.  This is insinuated from the wonderful way Sony deflects and dodges comments when asked the console question.
     Personally, I think they might have something much better in store for us.

     Source [ Gamespot ]

The Last Guardian: Sony's Trademark Abandoned... Again

     Today, we get some outwardly sad news about Team Ico's long awaited project The Last Guardian.  As of today Sony has let the trademark lapse and they have decided not renew it.  And if I recall correctly, this happened previously in 2009.

     [ Official Trademark Page ]

     Fortunately for us, Sony has made it very clear on numerous occasions that the game is still in the works- according to Sony Worldwide's President Shuhei Yoshida, with the added comment that it is being "re-engineered" and that they are waiting to "re-introduce" it.  Could the reintroduction include a new working title?  I would definitely think so.  Giving the The Last Guardian a new name might be a good idea because of all the issues it has been suffering of for more than the past 6 years.

     Sony must see something still in this long term investment to keep sinking time and effort into it.  After years and years of perpetual delays, and an official "on hiatus," there must be something really magical in there for it to continue.  We also know that Fumito Ueda is still on board in a way and still tied to his created universe.  Speculation is rampant as both parties seem to be elusive and always deflect comments in secretive ways.  I, for one, am eager to see what eventually becomes of this project.

     For more posts [ The Last Guardian ]

The Last Guardian: Progress: Dec. 11, 2014 News Update

     It's a strange thing to still hold high hopes for The Last Guardian.  The production woes it has had since the original announcement at E3 in 2009 are huge.  In late 2011 both the executive producer (Yoshifusa Hayama) and the Team ICO founder and director Fumito Ueda left the project.  But the game is still progressing.

     Sony's worldwide President Shuhei Yoshida has confirmed many times that the game is still coming.  But it has been the slowest burn possible.  Today we get some decent news that makes the wait much more tolerable.  Well, at least a little bit easier.  I've always said I'd rather wait for a heavily delayed good game, than a rushed pile of crap.

     According to creator Fumito Ueda, The Last Guardian is not only still being developed, we get a curious new statement to explain the long years of delays.  He says that the progress is "under completely new conditions."

     Ueda had this to say to Kotaku Australia:

“Talks with Sony Computer Entertainment on The Last Guardian have been ironed out, and we’re making progress under completely new conditions. I’m also working on some other things that I’ll hopefully be able to show in time if progress is smooth.”

     I can only speculate here, but I've long thought they have been cranking the graphics up as far as possible and porting it to PS4, with perhaps a multiplayer function with the PS Vita.  I've mentioned it in plenty of other posts, I just wish we'd get a little more information.

     Some other posts [ The Last Guardian ]

     Source [  Dengeki PlayStation via Kotaku via IGN ]

Destiny: Review: A One Week After Release Reflection

     It's been a week since Bungie's Destiny launched and while I am fully enjoying it, I have seen that it is very flawed as well.  For all the effort they put into making it a spectacular multiplayer game it suffers greatly in the single player area, and even greater in the story.  It is so close to the hype it gained, but not quite there.  I don't want this post to come off as just an all-out attack on the game.  Destiny has a lot of good merits, it's just lacking on a few very large things that should rightfully be addressed as the game expands its development in the future.  I'll still be enjoying multiplayer with all my friends at the cost of exploring the single player territory.

"I don't even have time to explain why I don't have time to explain."

     First off is the narrative.  The story is full of hollow characters and vague titles such as "The Guardian" or "The Traveler."  There are a whole lot of grey areas, full of grey motives- even the great divide between good and evil are essentially the archetypal Good and Evil.  But not all the way.  What all the characters lack is personality, a fact that is even more noticeable due to the overabundant cliched storytelling.  The line that the "Exo Stranger" character I screencapped all the pics of here says sums up the dialogue and story more perfectly than anything else.  She says, "I don't even have time to explain why I don't have time to explain."  It truly seems like that's what the writers banked on, rushing us through hoping we wouldn't notice how shallow and generic the plot really is.  It isn't engaging enough to matter, and neither my excessive adoration of Bill Nighy nor of Peter Dinklage can make it any better.

     All these beings need more than just the simplest urges- there is no real depth- and it really drags the game down for all the non-competitive players that came in search of the grand space opera story we were hoping for.  Where are all the new takes on the old, time-worn sci fi tropes?  Destiny's sci fi epic has been stripped of any originality and it feels as if the millions they spent on the game went right passed the writers rooms.  Really, it feels an awful lot like the generic fill-in-the-blank science fiction stuff we were reading decades ago.  Destiny is too damn formulaic.
      Where'd all the promised potential go to?  It's like all those long load-time flights back and forth from the Tower are in reality just us actually traversing right on passed the vast gaps in narrative.

Strangely enough, these are my two favorite characters.

     It also seems like there is no depth in gameplay.  It's all the same throughout the entire game.  There's 3 types of weapons- main, heavy and special.  The loot here isn't anywhere near the exceptional variance I was expecting.  Everything feels nearly the same as everything else.  Rarity drops?  In all the time I've played I've found only a single blue weapon worth using. And damn near the same exact green scout rifle like 20 times.  One of my buddies has literally found the same purple scout rifle 3 times in a row. (Ok- nearly the same one- it's variables aren't noteworthy enough to make them different in play.  It isn't like the variance Borderlands 2's arsenal has.)
     Even the enemies of all races are tiered essentially the same, with damn near the same exact movements and weaknesses.  There are grunts, floaters, heavies, sub-bosses and bosses- repeat ad nauseam.
     The locations are brilliantly designed, but when each mission takes you to the same 6 places, it gets old fast.  Oh look, we're on Earth for the 71st time in the same area as all the last 70 times.  Bungie needs to add more worlds.  And why they're at it, put some damn missions on The Reef.  Seriously, two cutscenes and no action?!?  Ridiculous.  It is a waste of a locale.
     The problem with Destiny is actually in the redundancy.  The same locales, the same weapons, and roughly the same characters.  I've heard it said that Destiny is meant to be expanded, well I hope they've planned a LOT of expanding.  Of every thing they've created.  More worlds for missions to occur in, more variety in weapons, make the various races fight with different tactics, and maybe even some more characters to choose from.

     At level 16 with my Warlock I am only now starting to reap any real differential bonuses in the character.  I've noticed that there are a plethora of Hunters out and they seem to be overpowered with their wonderful arc blade ability.  All the pulse rifles are so close to each other that the differences are negligible.
     And while I'm mentioning irritations, in the single player game- it gets to be absolutely infuriating how much enemies hide.  I can look through a sniper scope from the Tower and all the Captains somehow sense it and run for cover on Venus, which is about 160 million miles away.  In multiplayer this isn't a problem, but in single player it forces you into situation where death becomes highly probably and then into replaying a lengthy battle.  It's happened to me on bosses when I got them down to a sliver of health and had to run out from cover only to be one-shotted from boss attack splash damage.  This could be avoided had they made it optional for random players to swing through and assist for the parts you actually need assistance with, but they can't.  Maybe add a loot incentive in there- because I haven't found anything worth the time investment of the hard-to-kill bosses yet.

     Really, this repetitiveness is a huge downfall.  Coming from a purely mechanical viewpoint Destiny is unparalleled.  Bungie can boast with the utmost confidence about their intuitive systems.  The combat is so perfectly done, and the visuals are absolutely amazing, so why did the story get the shaft?  It's true.  The controls are perfectly responsive, frame-rates are so crisp and clean without even the most minimal stutter, and even the menus are outstandingly designed.
     The story is the only thing keeping this from being the first "real" next gen game.  Bungie, there is still a chance to remedy this.  Make it easier for single players to enjoy.  Make matchmaking in the main game easier.  It's far too often I jump over to help a group without invites and then they're gone.  There needs to be an overlap to compensate for this divide- proximity chatting would be the most notably thing to patch and would be an immensely helpful for the situation.  Multiplayer is FUN.  With a group this game is capital letters FUN, but single player is not.  It has a completely different feel- which isn't really fun.

Is that a self-stabilizing knot of spacetime geometry in your pocket,
or are you just happy to see me?

     I won't be writing this game off by any means, I just would like to see some changes to make Destiny a game we can play for the long term.  I haven't even gotten to the horrendous stop-and-go nature of the engram loot- having to halt and drag a stash through those long load times back to the Tower just to find out it is a pile of crap.  It brings the multiplayer fun to a halt pretty quick, as does the communication issue I mentioned above.  I mean I've encountered only a singular public event in all the time I've played, and I couldn't communicate with anyone nearby to call in reinforcements- and even worse- I couldn't communicate with either of the two others actually with me because we weren't in a Fireteam together.  That is a huge hindrance to the fun we could've been having working together.

     For a game that was meant to be a sort of MMO-FPS-RPG, it is missing the mark.  Not by a whole lot.  A fair amount of small tweaks might fix this.  Maybe it was simply Bungie trying to smash together too many things, maybe not, I don't know.  All in all- I think if Bungie can alter a few very important things, Destiny still has a chance to iron out the kinks and draw us in for the long haul.  It honestly feels like we got 60% of the game, and that we may have to pay extra for the last 40%.

     Destiny still has the opportunity to become the dream game it was hyped to be.

Toren: An Intriguing Game of Growth

     Swordtales, an independent developer from Brazil, and publisher Versus Evil have come together to create a wonderful game called Toren.  They are calling it a dark fantasy adventure, and the visuals have taken many cues and inspiration from games like Ico, Journey, and the soon to be released Rime- creating a place of wonder and danger.  Just watch the trailer, this game appears to be much more than what it first appears to be.

     "Toren is a 3D adventure game with beautiful graphics, immersive gameplay, which leads the player through an introspective and captivating journey using the deep concepts like time, religion and mortality.

     Built around an epic poem, the game takes the audience in an torrent of discoveries about the greatest myth of all. 

     A game to be experienced, in which the player will grow and change along with the tower and its heroes."

     Swordtales seem to have struck something amazing here- the progression of time.  The character, Moonchild (Could that be a call back to Bastion's Mother's name in the NeverEnding Story???), even appears to age through the trailer while she is scaling the titular tower, and that sounds amazing.  Think of the ramifications of that small act in game.  Aging and mortality.

     The "timeless world of Toren" might have more meaning than the texts from the site let on- and it draws my attention when the character ages in a timeless place.  Moonchild grows enough to attack a small dragon and that is something to think about.  This game has a lot of potential and I fully look forward to trying it out when it hits PS4.  In fact- this, along with Rime, look to be the perfect filler while we all wait for The Last Guardian's re-introduction.

     Toren will be available on PS4, PC, Mac, and Linux in early 2015.

     Source [ Toren ]

The Last Guardian Update: Big Surprise: Won't be at Tokyo Game Show

     This game should be retitled "The Lost Guardian" due to its inability to seen anywhere despite Sony's repeated assurances that is still on the way.

     Eurogamer questioned Sony Worldwide Studios' Shuhei Yoshida if we might catch a glimpse of this elusive beast at the 2014 TGS.  We of course get a no- but with the extra comments:

     "When we are ready. I cannot confirm any timing because we are waiting for it to be in a state where we are happy that this is the game. We have a certain time frame in our mind, and the team is making great progress, but still not to the point that we can say that, here you go."

     A mere 5 years after being first announced at the 2009 E3, it has been in a perpetual state of delay.  I don't mind because if Sony has enough faith in Team Ico's game, it must be something amazing.

     A part of me hopes they'll incorporate some elements like Journey's multiplayer, or that the world of The Last Guardian will make Shadow of the Colossus' map look like a single room.  In a long shot- if they ported this to the PS Vita, sales would skyrocket for the portable wonder.

     Why all these setbacks?  Yoshida commented on that as well.

     "The technical issues on PS3 and the way it was engineered didn't work.  It worked to some extent, that's why we had a date in mind."

     "That was a mistake," Yoshida admitted, "but at one time it was looking possible. It has been totally re-engineered. They're still working on it. I've been seeing the progress."

     The reason behind all the postponements does make sense as it sounds like they completely rebuilt the game.  While infuriating to have to wait, the next time we see The Last Guardian it may be a whole different game- better graphics, better system, and much more than we originally thought we were going to get.  But can that compete with our expectations?  We shall see.

     Source [ Eurogamer ]

Rime: The 2014 Gamescom Trailer is Truly Wonderful

     Premiering at Sony's Gamescom 2014 Press Conference, Rime looks like a cross between Journey, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Shadow of the Colossus and mixing in the enchanting beauty of a strange island like Myst.

     Rime's official trailer description is “The story of a boy who must use his wits and ingenuity to survive – and ultimately escape from – a mysterious island and a terrible curse.”

     I've been waiting for a full trailer of this game for about a year now (since Sony's 2013 Gamescom Press Conference), and it does not disappoint.  While all of us Team Ico fans wait for Sony's "Re-Introduction" of The Last Guardian we'll be getting Rime instead to ease the interim.
     Rime is a game about a boy stranded on a mysterious island- where discovery happens through exploration and interaction.  Chris Jones, Sony Xdev Studio Europe and developer, gave a nice lengthy description of the game for Sony's Europe Blog:

"Rime is set in a unique ancient world of mystery, intrigue and adventure. Set on a beautiful island, a boy wakes on the shore to find he’s lost, with the only the island and the animals to accompany him.

You guide the boy through the island helping him unlock the puzzles, in the trailer you can see that there are puzzles all around and finding them is just a matter of perspective, (Did you see the fox? Watch the trailer again!)

As well as following the story of the boy, the island is also an integral character in the game, and it will not give up its hidden secrets easily. Who is the boy? Why is the boy here? Why is he alone? Ultimately the game is to find the answers to all of these important questions.

In a beautifully crafted world, you will see stunning vistas as you play through the game and delve deep into the islands true meaning."

     The game's creator, Raúl Rubio Munárriz, further described this world in an interview with Polygon (which also has a very interesting line-"Every time you explore this island or islands you are going to experience it differently." I added the emphasis.):

     "The island itself is a character. The ambition was always that the island would tell the story. It is reacting to your presence. The seagulls and boars react to your presence because you shouldn't be there. You are a trespasser.

     "The island is a paradise, but that does not mean that what you see at the start is the same as what you see at the end. This is not a game about black and white. It is not about good and evil. We are trying to play with what the player takes for granted. This is a puzzle adventure game but that doesn't mean that you are going to enter houses and start gathering stuff. I see this environment, it is beautiful, but something is wrong. Who built this?"

     With an air of mystery and subtlety Rime looks to be an amazing experience.  Alongside games like No Man's Sky, the PS4 lineup keeps getting better and better.

     I suppose with the recent Tomb Raider and Xbox One exclusivity deal it makes me wonder about this game- as Microsoft had declined Tequila Works' Rime, and now Sony is going to reap the quiet majesty that it has become.

The Last Guardian: Amazon Lists Placeholder and Release Date

     I saw this last night, and have been thinking a lot about it.  After being in developmental hell for something like 7 years, Amazon has put up a placeholder site and lists a release date as December 31, 2014.  I know many stores previously had placeholders like Gamestop, but they refunded my money for it long ago, so I take this new one lightly.

     Because there's been so much trouble and a huge lack of any real information about the game I think many gamers have lost hope or have severely reduced expectations for it.  Even Ueda's rare comments about how it's still coming and Sony's assurances haven't really helped either.  If this is shown at E3 and is coming then I'll prepare to fangasm over it.

     Personally, if this is really true, I hope they've fully updated the graphics to be PS4 level quality, a complete overhaul to make use of the new system (which would help explain at least some of the years of delays) and have it be staggeringly beautiful, otherwise we might get a horribly underwhelming release.  No one that's waited this long wants it to be a disappointment, so we can only hope for now.

     Source [ Amazon ]

The Last Guardian: Release Date News: Soon...

     Ever since Team Ico's The Last Guardian was announced in 2009 at the E3 Expo, fans have been kept in the dark about this game.  Rumors abound causing speculation that will it be ported to PS4, or might be officially cancelled.
     Fumito Ueda and Sony have both stated many times that it is "absolutely" still coming, leaving us fans anticipating this game forever without news or pictures.  Any news is sort of good news, even if it would be that it got cancelled- at least we'd know.

     Well, I think that Sony will play their "Re-introduction" card at this year's E3 show.  Famitsu Weekly claims that Sony might be ready to release information "soon."  If I recall correctly they announced upcoming news for The Last Guardian before and failed to deliver anything.  So hopefully we get something, anything really- screens, a new trailer, anything!- but until Sony officially announces something I'll be keeping my hopes low.  The only things we have really gotten info about is the fact it's still in active development and is awaiting the right time to be reintroduced.

     We can only guess at what has become of, or changed with, Team Ico's Last Guardian.  If they can pull off even a part of the magic they had with Ico or Shadow of the Colossus they'll have something great.


     Source [ Famitsu via GameRant ]

The Last Guardian Update: Still Absolutely Being Made

     Since it was first revealed at the 2009 E3 by Team Ico, The Last Guardian has been one of the most highly anticipated games ever.  Due to many delays including team founder Fumito Ueda leaving (but maintaining creative direction of a sort).  

     Now IGN has gotten at another small answer in an interview with Scott Rohde of Sony:

     When asked whether it was still a PlayStation 3 game or if it’s migrated to PlayStation 4, Rohde said that he’s “not going to announce what platform it’s coming on, who’s working on it, who’s involved. But that is still a title that’s absolutely in the mix at Worldwide Studios. That’s the most you’re gonna get.”   

     So- we are getting the most minimal information possible.  Essentially it's something that's already been confirmed by Ueda himself as well as Sony's Shuhei Yoshida saying it was making progress, and we already heard Sony was waiting to to "reintroduce" the game.  But, hey, at least we know it's still on the way.  The likely thing is as many have thought is that the game is being ported to PS4.

     Source [ IGN ]

The Last Guardian: Ueda feels "Terribly Sorry" for the Delays

     Fumito Ueda, the brilliant mind behind Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, had an interesting small interview with Edge magazine.  In it there is a pertinent question about the continually delayed Last Guardian.

Given your impatience, how taxing have the past eight years been on you as a creator? 

Putting aside the short-term output, more than anything I feel terribly sorry that for various reasons I have kept my audience waiting for such a long time.

     And a slightly longer, more informative answer:

How do you keep your team motivated over a production cycle of five years or more? 

Maintaining motivation is all about producing something great. A hobby or alcohol might help to refresh you temporarily, but they won’t motivate creativity. Also, the original staff members on Ico and SOTC are just as fussy over details as I am. I always want to create quickly, and I always want to increase the rate of production. In the case of The Last Guardian, my creative work was mostly finished a long time ago, but the details of when, where and how it will be completed are beyond my control.

     So these answers sound like Sony is holding something back, but for what secretive reasons we don't know.  I also read somewhere that Sony's worldwide president Shuhei Yoshida has mentioned the game was being "re-engineered" and that he has played it.  No mention, however, of what platform (PS3, PS4, or maybe even the Vita???) the game would be released on.
     Considering the fact that Sony is still waiting for the "right time" to "reintroduce" the game, I wonder what has become of the original game we were shown footage of 5 years ago- and how it has grown and changed during the span between.  Surely the magic of his creation won't be lost.


     And this last thing has me very curious indeed:

What are you working on now? 

The Last Guardian and the rest is secret.

     Could he have some more small work already started for the wonder filled universe he created?  Could there be a multiplayer/co-op PS4 to Vita remote play content added to The Last Guardian?



Source [ Edge ]

Playstation Vita: How to Fix the PS Vita's Sales Problem

     I see Sony has a 3 part plan for the problems the PS Vita is suffering...
          ...and I see that they are horribly misunderstanding it's difficulties.
     It might be of note to mention that I've made no efforts to hide how much I love the Vita in previous blog posts, it knocks the 3DS out of the park as a gaming system.  Honestly, it's a tremendous piece of hardware, and the lagging sales could be fixed in a fairly simple manner.

     The issues with the Vita are quite easy to spot-

1. COST!  The cost of the system, and the proprietary memory cards, is absurd.  
2. Games.  Games.  GAMES!  More games.  More exclusivity and original games.
3. Stop pushing the remote play.  We bought a portable system to play it PORTABLY, not to be tethered to a console (I'm looking at you Wii U).  It's a feature, not a selling point.

     Sony is making a bit of headway though, with the announcement of a more cost effective Vita (large price drop) and a slew of indie games.  But if they really want to compete with Nintendo in the handheld systems department- give us things we want.  

     What do we want?

     We want more games.  Everyone that already owns a Vita will tell you the same exact thing- MORE GAMES.  I bought a Vita quite a while back and my only complaint is the game selection.  Sure I've got about a dozen games I really like on it, but where are all the heavy hitters?  The kind that rival Nintendo with the Zelda series.  More games like the exclusive Assassin's Creed: Liberation, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and Gravity Rush.  All three of these were amazing games, and players would like more of them.

  

     We want exclusive games.  Good freakin' lord- can you imagine what a new game that takes place in the world of The Last of Us could do on this system?  A NEW version of Dark Souls, a NEW Borderlands or a NEW Bioshock would cement this portable gaming system as THE system to have. 

     Note that I specifically say "NEW" versions- we don't want more ports of console titles we already own.  We want portable experiences that the other companies and consoles cannot provide.  Less ports and more originals.  Real Triple-A titles that we can play on the go.  Sony, you have an immense potential with the Vita, so why aren't you using it? 

     Hell, new and compact versions of an Elder Scrolls or Fallout could go a long way to boost sales.  Killzone: Mercenary was a great start to the portable first person experience, but we want to see what the Vita is truly capable of.  

     Maybe, if Sony wants to sell some Vitas really, really badly- they could just make The Last Guardian a Vita exclusive.

     How many would get a Vita if it showed off better exclusive games with tons of creative ingenuity?  Make more games for kids and females.  Seriously, just the females portion of the gaming market has to be like a bajillion extra buyers.  Focus on creating games that appeal to their tastes.   And as for the kids- if they could release a Pokemon or Monster Hunter type game?  Instant profits.

     As much as it pains me to say this, there needs to be more grinding JRPGs for the Vita.  Many gamers are clamoring for it- why not listen to the consumers Sony?

     And while we're at it how about a screen capture?  

Sony to "Reintroduce" The Last Guardian

     After years of speculation and getting only the most vague answers, we've been let in on small updates about the future of Team Ico's The Last Guardian.  Supposedly it was going to be released on the PS3, but with the arrival of the PS4 so close and the fading out of PS3 games, many fans are wondering if we should abandon hopes for seeing this title, but...

     Game Informer had asked Shuhei Yoshida about it and here is his reply:

"With the curtain soon to close on the PlayStation 3 generation, is time for fans to give up hope on The Last Guardian ever coming out? 

The team is still there in SCE Japan Studio, [Fumito] Ueda-san is still there, but we are still waiting for the time to reintroduce it."

     So we know for sure that Ueda is still working on it.  We know it's on it's way and with the word "reintroduction" we may be getting a completely overhauled game.  I've mentioned plenty of times how I believe that the graphics may be given a massive increase and it'll probably be ported to the PS4.
     We're only assured that it is still on the way, but will it live up to the years of anticipation and hype?


Source [ Game Informer ]

Sony Promises "News you've been waiting to hear" - Possibly The Last Guardian?

     While I certainly won't be holding my breath over this, Sony revealed they have something big to reveal tomorrow at their pre-TGS conference.  It's said to be a large dose of surprise "beyond our expectation."

     Here's the statement that came with the image above:

 “Finally, it’s coming to #TGS2013. Like before, SCEJA will have a press conference before the game show. I could only say: The news you’ve been waiting for, and the information beyond your expectation will both be revealed officially. So tomorrow, please do watch the live-stream and keep follow @PlayStation! Promise to bring surprise to you!”

     The show can be watched at this link at 7am UK time tomorrow morning.  Note: the original post has been taken down, but GAF member Gskyace had already translated it.


     It seems odd that the post would be already removed, but we can be hopeful anyway.  From earlier news about the Last Guardian we know it's still being worked on and release date news is solely in Sony's hands as stated by Fumito Ueda's own blog post.

"While it’s been a long time coming, THE LAST  GUARDIAN remains under my creative supervision and is still in development by an incredibly talented team. 

I should also mention that details regarding THE LAST  GUARDIAN's release is solely decided by Sony Computer Entertainment, not myself. Please keep an eye out for their official announcement."

     I know it's a long shot- and that The Last Guardian was officially listed on the E3 website earlier this year, but was later removed.  Could this be the announcement we've been waiting 5 years for?
     And if it is- will there be multiplayer options, will it be on PS4 or have PS Vita portability?


Source [ The 6th Axis ]