Live Chat With Hennig & Straley

(click blog entry title to link to announcement)

Playstation Blog announced that tomorrow (June 30) at 2PM Pacific they will be hosting a live Q&A chat with Amy Hennig and Bruce Straley.

I wish I could be there-- I'd love to ask about the release date, as well as that thing I theorized a while back, about the possible significance of labeling Chloe as Nate's "current partner" rather than "new partner"-- but I'll be indisposed. I recommend readers check it out though, and feel free to report back! Hopefully there will be a transcript, which will of course be posted as soon as I'm able.

GTTV Filming Uncharted Episode

(click blog entry to link to Twitter post)

The GTTV episode on Uncharted 2 was filmed today, and will probably include some of the snowy mountain level(s).

Thanks Anonymous!

Columbia Pictures Presents

(click blog entry title to link to article)

Columbia studios picked up the Uncharted movie, which will be written by Kyle Ward and produced by Avi Arad, Charles Roven, Ari Arad and Alex Gartner.

Also, this article totally spoils the twist of the game.

EDIT: Even Wells did a post about it on the Playstation Blog. Popular vote in the comments seems to be for Nolan North as Drake, followed by Nathan Fillion (of Firefly/Serenity fame). Emily Rose is really the only name popping up for Elena.

Amazon's Release Date

I just got an email from Amazon.com regarding my pre-order for Uncharted 2, and they said they now have an estimated delivery date of October 14-- October 22.

Don't know what that means as far as in-store release, but it's a good benchmark date.

Beta Code, Round 2!

Congratulations to the winner of the caption contest, with this gem:



"And so, Chloe learned the hard way that the heavily armed guards protecting the treasure were indeed Nate/Elena fangirls..."

I actually did laugh out loud! Because you know it's totally true.

For the other people who entered, do not despair!
FOR I HAVE OBTAINED ANOTHER BETA CODE!!!

For this one, I have made a fun crossword puzzle for people to do! The first person to email me with all the correct answers, or the person who gets the most correct answers by Thursday at midnight EST, will get the beta code! Send answers to redflame8839@aol.com
I think this goes without saying, but all the answers are related to Uncharted 1, Uncharted 2, or Naughty Dog.

Click on the pictures below to expand them.





Have fun!

Many thanks to Marcus Yam at Tom's Guide who provided me with the second code!

Uncharted 2 @ E3: Still Awesome

(click blog entry title to link to blog)

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves took home “Best of Show,” “Best Console Game,” and “Best Action/Adventure Game” in the Game Critics Awards.

The link above also provides a complete list of the awards Uncharted 2 got from the E3 showing.

Housekeeping

So I'd mentioned a while back that I'd be reporting on a couple things that were pending, and I sort of never did that.

1) I never reported on what it was like to play the multiplayer with Naughty Dog. This is because it didn't frickin' happen. The matching was pathetic that night and basically ignored me all the time, or stuck me with foul-mouthed 12-year-old boys and their 6 cousins screaming into the headset. But I'm sure Naughty Dog was lovely and fun.

2) That book I got.
For now, I'm just going to say to not waste your money on it. I'm about half-way done with it, but by page 5 it took the prize of one of the Top Three shittiest books I've ever encountered. A longer review will follow, because as an English major, I have got quite a few things to say about it, I promise you that.

Also, a couple other things:
-- I have not received the beta code yet, so people are allowed to continue to submit captions if they like.
-- At least 5 whole people read the blog! Well I'll be damned, it's growing in popularity!
-- I've been recently hearing chatter about the release date maybe being in November. Until an official release date is announced, though, I'm going to keep the October 1st date up in the countdown banner because it is less depressing. Only 100 days to go, everyone!

That's all for now.

Behind the Scenes Returns in Uncharted 2!

(click blog entry title to link to Twitter post)

Naughty Dog is in the midst of shooting the Behind the Scenes extras for the game! This was such a cool part of the first game, I'm really glad to see it return.

Caption Contest!

I'm having a caption contest!

So there's a little bit of story behind this here.
I entered a fanfiction contest to win a multiplayer beta key, right? And there's currently only like 4 entries, and 1 of these is a joke entry, and I'm a pretty good writer, and besides there are 5 keys that they are giving away. I expected to have known if I was going to win by tonight at midnight, but they extended the deadline to Sunday night.

Long story short, I'm expecting to come into possession of a multiplayer beta key next week. And I don't actually need it since I've already got one.

So I want to do what the cool kids all do, and hold a contest to give the key to someone worthy! And by that I mean someone who can make me laugh in an Uncharted-related way.

This is a caption contest. I'm re-posting one of the Uncharted 2 screenshots, and you write a funny caption/lines of dialogue/whatever in the comments. The best one/one that makes me lol the most is the winner!

IMPORTANT: The reason I'm putting up the contest now instead of when I actually have the key is because I wanted to have the contest this weekend, since the beta closes a week from Sunday (on June 28) and I want to make sure you have a significant chunk of time to play. I want to have a winner ready so if I do get the key, I can just forward it to you and you're good to go. Hence, now.

***Mind you, it is entirely possible that I might not get the beta key. In that case, you have my heartfelt apology that I couldn't deliver, but hey, nothing lost, right? And you get the joy and satisfaction of knowing you won!

You are allowed to submit multiple entries, but try to keep them in one comment (I'm also kind of using this as a way to find out roughly how many people read this blog regularly! :P )
Also, you MUST include an email address that I can reach you at along with your caption (in the comment), or else I can't give you the beta key!

Here's the image (you can click on it to see it larger):


Best of luck to everyone!

Sort-of New Screenshots

(click the blog entry title to link to the screenshots)

The first two screenshots they have here are actually desktops that you can download at the official Playstation website, but the other three are new, I'm pretty sure, if not very similar to other screenshots we've seen.

They are lovely and shiny, at any rate.

Emily and Claudia Love You!

Second part of the Playstation Blog interviews, with the ladies of Uncharted 2.

Claudia Black is causing me to slightly warm up to Chloe a bit. It's harder to dislike a character when the actor behind them is so friendly and cool.

Yes, Neil, Why DOES Your Game Look So Damn Good?

(click blog entry title to link to transcript of the video interview)

More of the similar.

Have we mentioned that this game takes place two years after Uncharted 1? I think I have. Well, in any case, it takes place two years later.

Please Continue Talking Mr. North <3

Nolan North interview with Playstation Blog at E3.

I don't have to credit Anonymous this time because I found it all on my ownnn.
EDIT: Ok, fine :P Anonymous also found it.

Also I love how the cast is all adorable and bff's.

Multiplayer Demo Available With Game Reserve

(click blog entry title to link to news)

The multiplayer demo (diferent from the beta, which ends on the 28th) will be available from August 19th to September 27th, and you can get access to it by reserving a copy of Uncharted 2 at GameStop.

Uncharted NOT Going to PSP

(click blog entry title to link to news)

Evan Wells has stated that Uncharted will not be going to PSP.

This comes as neither a surprise nor a disappointment to me. Or anyone, probably. The graphics of Uncharted simply need to be seen on a bigger screen from a higher-powered piece of hardware. The end.

Something That Caught My Eye

It's been a while since I've posted any "theories," and after redoing the blog's layout/color scheme I realized that if I'm going to have it listed up there in the site's description, I might as well throw some freaking theories around.

If you click on the blog entry title, it will take you to the official Playstation website for Uncharted 2 (the link on the side takes you to the hub for either 1 or 2, by the way). Looking at the "Features" section, I was struck by something interesting.

The first thing it says is about the "expanded cast of characters, including Chloe Frazer, Drake's current partner and new romantic interest."

...Drake's current partner?
That's a particularly interesting qualification to make.

I've tried to keep most of my recent speculation (in the wake of the E3 trailer) confined to a certain fan community on Livejournal, but I think this is something that can be legitimately pondered here without fear of ridicule for being a total fangirl for straying too much into "personal blog" rather than "professional blog" territory.

Specifying that Chloe is Drake's current partner implies that she might not remain his partner. Whether this is because she betrays him or dies I couldn't begin to guess, but the point here is that I'm getting a particular sense of Chloe and her storyline not necessarily being what it seems. Which of course we all knew, but seeing it written out like that tripped some wires that were until now only vague hopeful suspicions...now they're just slightly less vague and slightly more me thinking that Naughty Dog is stringing us along, like they did with keeping Elena under wraps.

Also, one other thing that no one seems to be talking about, is that Drake is looking for the Chintamani Stone. A sapphire that supposedly grants a wish.
Let me repeat that. IT GRANTS A WISH.
El Dorado turned out to be real, albeit not quite what we expected. Well, dollars to donuts says that the Chintamani Stone is going to make an appearance or two (it's probably going to be not quite what we think, but still).

My question is why has no one made a big to-do about what the implications are for the characters if they suddenly can have A WISH GRANTED!? The storytelling possibilities here are infinite.

Watch Anonymous pull something totally relevant out of the woodwork on it. "Oh, yeah, these guys over here have a whole forum thread about it, didn't you know?" :P

More Praise For Uncharted 2 @ E3!

Uncharted 2 took home Gamespot's E3 Editor's Choice awards in Best Graphics and Best PS3 Game.

Also, PS3 Nation gave Uncharted 2 Game of E3 '09.

Developer Interview in 2 Parts

They're a bit difficult to hear, but it includes the gameplay footage of the Beneath the City level we heard about. Lovely!

Thanks, Anonymous! (Where are you finding all this stuff!?)

Voice Actor Interviews

Video Game - E3 2009 - E3 '09 Live

I could listen to Nolan North's voice all day. No joke. (Also, he says Drake is 28. Good to know.)

Video Games - E3 2009 - E3 '09 Live

Ooh, here's something new we learned: Robin Atkin Downes, the guy who played Navarro in the first game, has been brought back as this guy Tenzin, who is a guide for Drake and beyond that we don't really know anything about him. But Navarro was such a cool and fun bad guy character, so I'm pleased to see that they brought back his actor.

I like that they'll be leaving us with questions about Chloe, and also it's adorable that Emily Rose is like "wow, people are excited to see me!?" now that she's been announced and Naughty Dog is finally letting her come out of hiding.

Thanks again to Mysterious Commenter of Anonymity.

Details on the Beta Patch

(click blog entry title to link to list of patches)

The Beta patch that will be coming out in a few days fixes a number of crucial issues the multiplayer has experienced:

-Grenade explosions now apply damage properly
-Players should no longer get hung up in matchmaking for long periods of time
-Ranks should no longer reset randomly
-Quitting the game will no longer reset the PS3
-Player collision - players should no longer get hung up on each other when moving through the environment
-Player will now be killed if stuck in falling animation for too long
-In Plunder mode, treasures will no longer disappear during matches

An Interesting Book...?

(click blog entry title to link to website)

I found this book while doing a search for information on the Chintamani Stone. The plot has an interesting correlation with that of the backstory for Uncharted 2. Perhaps someone at Naughty Dog read it and thought it was awesome?

I have ordered it, because I have no life, and will definitely review it when it arrives.

Play With the Developers!

(click blog entry title to link to forum post)

There are a couple upcoming dates when a whole bunch of Naughty Dog employees will be playing the multiplayer online! Check out the link for dates and times (they most graciously also included the corresponding dates and times for people who don't live on the West Coast and can't be arsed to do the math...like me :P)

The first one is tonight, 4-6pm PT. Of course you KNOW that they're going to wipe the floor with my ass. Expect a little report on it later.

Upcoming GTTV Focus on Uncharted 2

(click blog entry title to link to Twitter announcement)

Geoff Keighley, host of GTTV, announced on his Twitter that on July 9th there will be a special Uncharted 2 episode.

Also, later this week the Playstation Blog will be having some kind of focus on Uncharted 2 as well, featuring the actors from the game.

Thanks again to the anonymous person who brought this to my attention.

Uncharted 2 is 1-Up's "Best Game of E3"

(click blog entry title to link to full list of winners)

Uncharted 2 took home 1-Up's "E3's Best PS3 Game" and also "Best in Show."
EDIT: It also won G4's "E3 Best PS3 Game" and "Best of the Show."

Duh.

Steve Valentine Blogs About Uncharted 2

(click entry title to link to blog)

Thanks to an anonymous commenter, who directed me to Steve Valentine's blog. Valentine plays Harry Flynn, that random hot British dude we know next-to-nothing about.

According to Valentine's blog, he's not quite done with the voice-over/mo-cap stuff even though he's been working on it for over a year.

Live Broadcast of Multiplayer Beta

(click to link to the broadcast website)

PS3 Vault is doing a live broadcast of the beta on their website. I'm not sure how long they're doing it for, but you can click on the link and check out the broadcast-- I didn't embed it because I wasn't sure how long it would be up and I didn't need to slow down the page with arbitrary broadcasting.

(I just realized that somebody who works for this blog gets paid to play the beta and tape it. Like, for money. Best. Job. Ever.)

More Single-Player Coverage

(click blog entry title to link to write-up)

One more article on the single-player levels we haven't seen. And yes, the camera-man's name is Jeff.

EDIT: Added the IGN write-up too. Best lines are "it's eye-sex to watch Jeff shift his weight onto Drake and swing his left arm lazily as he stumbles through the streets" and "I want you to remember that I've always been against this kangaroo-lovin' hussy and that true love like Drake and Elena's never dies."

Beta Receiving Updates

(click blog entry title to link to the article)

It's poorly translated, but you can get the gist of it (or read the English gist of it here), and it's basically that Naughty Dog is working on fixing bugs in the Beta, especially matching and that "restarts your PS3" thing. They already made the Deathmatch kill limits and the Plunder point limit higher to extend play time.

Cutscenes Rendered In-Game

(click entry title to link to blog)

As has been mentioned before, the cut-scenes from Uncharted 2 are rendered in-game/real time. Just FYI.

More on The Ice Team

(click blog entry title to link to article)

Here's a little more info on Edge Tools and The Ice Team, if you're interested.

Elena and the Escort Mission

(click blog entry title to link to article)

Here's another review of the new level info, and we have it confirmed that the injured party is indeed the cameraman, whose name (according to the Wikipedia page) is Jeff.

Another good read about gameplay we haven't seen yet.

Win an Uncharted 2 Multiplayer Beta Code!

You can win a Beta code either here by doing fill-in-the-blank word jumbles, or here by doing a little photo scavenger hunt on Google.

Hurry though, or all those other rabid Uncharted fans will beat you to the treasure!

Naughty Dog's Secret Development Team

(click blog entry title to link to article)

According to Richard Lemarchand, It would appear that Naughty Dog has an internal developer-- Edge Tools-- that is specifically set aside to refine, "a base set of tools that are utilised[sic] across all games." They're a kind of re-distributor for second-party studios to make sure that ALL PS3 games look and run great, it seems.

This is actually pretty interesting, and of COURSE it would be based out of Naughty Dog, because they are so very wonderful.

Game Blog Reviews of Multiplayer Beta

Review 1 (PushSquare) They point out some nice things I didn't get to mention, particularly the co-op score multipliers.

Review 2 (Amped Gaming) This reviewer shares my preference for the co-op mode.

EDIT: Review 3 (EndSights)

Enjoy.

Oh, and if anyone wants to post their own review of the Beta, or even the trailer, feel free to do so in the comments!

Bruce Straley Talks Hair Physics

(sadly the embed code is broken, click blog entry title to link to video)

LOL

"Beneath the City" Preview

(click blog entry title to link to article)

This article is from an interview/preview thing where Even Wells again shows off the awesomeness of the game by playing through parts of it.

The section discussed here is about an hour of gameplay after the main E3 demo, and is that escort mission we saw in the trailer. The article also discusses some of the Hollywood-esque bits of the gameplay, such as how it now focuses differently on things based on how far away they are like a movie camera does, or like how, you know, your eyes do.

I strongly encourage you to read this one, it's REALLY interesting and informative.

(Another less interesting/detailed account of the level can be found here)

Multiplayer First Impressions

So I've played a couple hours worth of the multiplayer beta (yes, I was one of the ones downloading it at 12:01am :P ) and I made it to level 4, and I've got some mixed feelings about it. Parts of it are quite good, parts aren't really for me but might be good for other players, and some parts are not so good.

My thoughts and observations:

-- It's a bit buggy. Obviously. Not as bad as it could be, but it does need some ironing- animation issues (particularly for Sully), little glitches that catch and immobilize you, weird places that mess with jumping, and a couple of times I've had matches just black out and either end or bring us back to the beginning. According to the forums, one that EVERYONE is having is that trying to quit the Beta restarts your PS3, which happened to me too. This isn't really a judgment against it though, just things to watch out for.

-- The controls ARE a bit different. Grenade launching does not require the SIX-AXIS controls anymore, although you can use them if you want (also if you forget and try to use the non-existent zoom/centered-look by hitting L2 you'll accidentally drop a grenade right in front of yourself- oops!). Melee is simplified to hitting [] twice (instead of [] ∆ [], or [] repeatedly) which may not be the case in the real game...but I'm not counting on it.
Most irritating, though, is that you can no longer press X to flush out from behind cover. It just makes you jump up the wall, which gets REALLY frustrating when there are things like doorways that you can climb up on but not actually go anywhere from. Hitting O just makes you roll to the next cover, or jump out randomly into the street, or maybe just makes you stop taking cover. I'm definitely leaving feedback about that, because as far as controls go it's my biggest issue. (∆ still does all the same stuff-- action button and pick up ammo, treasure, plus propane tanks and riot shields, etc.)

-- Now, I personally am not a huge online multiplayer shooter gamer what-have-you. I prefer single player, or local/in-person multiplayer at the least, and this is my first *real* online gaming experience. So I naturally suck at the deathmatch and capture-the-treasure. I am getting better...but very slowly. For me there's a definite learning curve, but some of the people who have been yammering into their headsets have said that they find it very VERY easy. I imagine it will take me a bit more practice, but if you're seasoned then you might find it pretty easy to level up.

-- Leveling up, or more accurately "increasing your rank" I guess, is controlled by how much cash you earn in matches. Cash is earned mostly by killing people, and secondly by assisting a kill. I don't think you lose any for dying.

-- There are WAY more guns to choose from if you can find them (which obviously means more gun choice in single player), and they handle a bit nicer, particularly the automatics which do not get quite as sporadic on rapid fire. Some of the new ones took time for me to get used to, since I don't play many shooters and I don't know much about guns that I haven't learned from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Example: the FAL shoots three quick, high-powered bullets but takes a bit more time between shots, something that might be standard practice in games but I wouldn't know, and got me killed a couple times as a result.

-- The interface is pretty nice, very user friendly once you poke around a bit. There are lots of tips on the loading screens, and the loading times are fairly short too. You can change your "profile" preferences so that you load as a specific character in deathmatch/plunder (co-op is randomly assigned I think, although it might go by rank, I'm not sure). You are also given a bunch of "bonuses" you can apply to your weapons, things like improved accuracy with automatic guns or pistols, or carrying more ammo, or picking up more ammo, or more bullets per clip. I haven't noticed the difference too much, but that's more because I'm just trying to stay alive more than anything else.

-- There's been roughly 2200 players online at any given time for a while now, and it's usually not too terribly long of a wait to get placed in a match. Respawning feels like it takes forever, ESPECIALLY in co-op, where if you die you get knocked out until the remaining player(s) hit a co-op section and you come back. But until then it is boring. They recommend helping your teammates by telling them where enemies are, and the camera system they have set up for that is cool, but no good without a headset.

-- It seems to me that for the deathmatch, especially the Nepal War Zone, the Hero team has a MUCH more defensible position than the Villain team. Granted that you're supposed to be out there moving around and stuff, and it did get a bit more manageable with practice, but where you're starting seemed to me to be easier to access sneaky locations.

-- Speaking of sneaky locations, none of the places that look good for stuff like sniping and picking people off are 100% secure. There is always some way that someone can sneak up on you or shoot you, which is frustrating in gameplay but in principle is really good since it keeps things fair.

-- And, as always, the graphics and cinematics are lovely. The color palates tend towards one shade though (tan, grey, or blue, depending on the setting), even if there are nice bright bits of color. I think this is standard in all online multiplayer shooters though :P

I need to play more and get lots of practice in, but these are my first impressions. I can already assure you that I prefer the co-op over the competitive, but that's just one person's opinion.

Links to official reviews will follow soon, no doubt.

Some Swamp and Cintamanti Statue Screenshots

(click blog entry title to link to very tiny gallery)

Two beautiful, high-res screenshots of the swamp we saw, as well as one of that HUGE GOLD STATUE that presumably is holding the Cintamanti stone.

E3 Trailer

OH. MY. COD.
NEW TRAILER IS *DROOOOL*

Important points:

--ELENA. IS. BACK. Specifically, being hilarious and awesome ("I'm last year's model." :D ) and apparently THREATENING DRAKE AT GUNPOINT!?!? Could she perhaps be the betrayer that Amy Hennig mentioned in that interview many months ago ("...it's even more intense if you're saving someone you care about who you suspect may have betrayed you.")!? Whatever she's in and I'm happy.

--Sully's back. We knew this, but it's nice to get a confirmation.

--Graphics still looking GORGEOUS.

--Looks like there's some kind of escort mission-- specifically the part where Drake is holding up the guy who's limping towards the end (Sully?).

--I think that weird old guy at the beginning of the trailer is the René Auberjonois character.

--Oh man that train explosion. The combat and settings overall look so ill.

--There is in fact a nice range of locations. I definitely saw a swamp in there. A beautiful, beautiful swamp.

--Chloe and Drake making out or whatever. This was a given. But since we know Elena is in it means DRAMARAMA which makes many fanfic writers gamers who like story and plot happy.

Also, I need to know who this guy is who says "tip the odds back in our favor." He's...quite attractive.

Overall, it's a very squee-worthy trailer. Naughty Dog pretty much just upped all the stakes and while they answered a bunch of little niggling questions, they also opened up a WHOLE big can of worms that probably won't get answered until the actual game releases. They have fully whetted my appetite and achieved what they clearly wanted to do, which is get us even MORE excited and tease us into madness.

Or maybe it's just me.
^_^

E3 Videos

link


link

Daaaaang.

The first video is just a little spotlight on the multiplayer, but they mentioned some new info we didn't get, like the fact that all the characters have the same skills (although new ones can be bought using that "cash" system).

The second is someone's taping of the E3 coverage, and it is of some CRAZY footage from the single-player, which looks completely rip-roaring and fast paced and CHRIST THAT'S A LOT OF BULLETS.

(PS: Multiplayer Beta starts tonight at midnight!)

Last Mintue Homework for the Beta

(click blog entry title to link to Playstation Blog post-- I highly recommend reading it, if you're going to be playing the beta)

Multiplayer Designer Justin Richmond did a nice long post over at Playstation Blog about the multiplayer beta, which of course goes live this Wednesday. He gave a brief run-down of what to expect so you can jump right in on the 3rd, talking about how the co-op and capture-the-flag stuff will be set up. You can play with friends of yours and invite them to join your team, for instance.
He also talked about how ranking works, as well as some basic point scoring info (pistols yield more points than automatics, obvi, since they're harder to use) and some terrain tips (think in 3 dimensions!)

Super excited!!!

Hooray For Me

I just wanted to say that I finished Uncharted: Drake's Fortune on Crushing difficulty today.

This is a BIG DEAL FOR ME.

Anyway. Carry on.

Blu-Ray Helped Naughty Dog Be Awesome

(click blog entry title to link to Variety article)

This piece is kind of a snooze in general; it's basically about how Sony is banking on the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player to excuse the still-obscenely-high price.

BUT there's a tiny little interview with Evan Wells at the end that mentions how Naughty Dog was able to make Uncharted super awesome because Blu-Ray enabled them to make better graphics, cut-scenes, etc. It helped them "not be constrained" by storage space, which is kind of nice to know.

Also, FYI, E3 pretty much started today. Expect lots of imminent news.