Naughty Dog took ques from Epic Games, and made sure they put their stamp on this gaming generation. The gave the PS3, it’s fans, and gaming one heck of a game title with the Uncharted Series. Taking over the reigns of exploration, and adventure right from the callasoused hands of Lara Croft, and Tomb Raider. Giving us summer  blockbuster gaming in a package that was not only beautiful, but a technical marvel pushing the limits, and proving that the PS3 is a beast. Drake thus became a house hold name, and his exploits expanding to the new PS Vita handheld. Needless to say Naughty Dog continued a legacy that could not be denied. Yet, they are hungry, and have more to prove. Enter…Last Of Us. Last Of Us is a clear departure from the exploits of what Drake has to deal with in Uncharted. In fact the premise of the game seems to be more in line with what we are seeing from other developers with zombie games. Except that may be an injustice to what Naughty Dog is attempting with Last Of Us. There is a strong survival element to the game that is a reflection of apocolyptic games where resources are scarce, player’s must work with each other, and there is no clear solution to the threat being faced. Naughty Dog gave USA Today an interesting overview of the title. Creative director Neil Druckmann and game director Bruce Straley offered up some morsels to give us an idea of where they got inspiration with the game. It seems they were inspired by a BBC documentary on Ant fungus, the effects as it zombified ant populations once infected. ”It would be a cool realistic back setting to a zombie movie where this thing jumped species,” said Druckmann. Apparently the fungus is called Cordyceps, and Game Informer has an interesting post on the subject, breaking down the little information on Last Of Us that exists so far http://www.gameinformer.com/games/the_last_of_us. Outside of the information coming out on Last Of Us I’m curious to see how the game will be a departure from other titles that have similar traits as this one. Naughty Dog is pretty good with making action titles. Now they have a game where pacing, and environment have to come together very differently than their past titles.  If their penchant for theme, set pieces, and action are reflected in this new title then gamer’s should be in for a treat. I’m not a fan of the premise of titles like this.  In the hands of Naughty Dog I’ll reserve judgement. Movies like I am Legend, titles like Enslaved, Left for Dead, and other games like Resident Evil have all embraced zombie gaming in ways that felt fresh. So the fact that we know Last Of Us will be third person does not make the game sound like a real departure from what we have played before. Again you have to see it, and play it to be definitive with any observation. Naughty Dog has more than earned that respect. What’s beautiful to me is that they want to continue their great work on the PS3, so for gamer’s that’s great news. New Photos Courtesy of - Official U.K. PlayStation Magazine 1. 2. 3. 4.

Naughty Dog took ques from Epic Games, and made sure they put their stamp on this gaming generation. The gave the PS3, it’s fans, and gaming one heck of a game title with the Uncharted Series. Taking over the reigns of exploration, and adventure right from the callasoused hands of Lara Croft, and Tomb Raider. Giving us summer  blockbuster gaming in a package that was not only beautiful, but a technical marvel pushing the limits, and proving that the PS3 is a beast. Drake thus became a house hold name, and his exploits expanding to the new PS Vita handheld. Needless to say Naughty Dog continued a legacy that could not be denied. Yet, they are hungry, and have more to prove. Enter…Last Of Us.

Last Of Us is a clear departure from the exploits of what Drake has to deal with in Uncharted. In fact the premise of the game seems to be more in line with what we are seeing from other developers with zombie games. Except that may be an injustice to what Naughty Dog is attempting with Last Of Us. There is a strong survival element to the game that is a reflection of apocolyptic games where resources are scarce, player’s must work with each other, and there is no clear solution to the threat being faced. Naughty Dog gave USA Today an interesting overview of the title. Creative director Neil Druckmann and game director Bruce Straley offered up some morsels to give us an idea of where they got inspiration with the game. It seems they were inspired by a BBC documentary on Ant fungus, the effects as it zombified ant populations once infected. ”It would be a cool realistic back setting to a zombie movie where this thing jumped species,” said Druckmann. Apparently the fungus is called Cordyceps, and Game Informer has an interesting post on the subject, breaking down the little information on Last Of Us that exists so far http://www.gameinformer.com/games/the_last_of_us.

Outside of the information coming out on Last Of Us I’m curious to see how the game will be a departure from other titles that have similar traits as this one. Naughty Dog is pretty good with making action titles. Now they have a game where pacing, and environment have to come together very differently than their past titles.  If their penchant for theme, set pieces, and action are reflected in this new title then gamer’s should be in for a treat. I’m not a fan of the premise of titles like this.  In the hands of Naughty Dog I’ll reserve judgement.

Movies like I am Legend, titles like Enslaved, Left for Dead, and other games like Resident Evil have all embraced zombie gaming in ways that felt fresh. So the fact that we know Last Of Us will be third person does not make the game sound like a real departure from what we have played before. Again you have to see it, and play it to be definitive with any observation. Naughty Dog has more than earned that respect. What’s beautiful to me is that they want to continue their great work on the PS3, so for gamer’s that’s great news.

New Photos Courtesy of - Official U.K. PlayStation Magazine

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Dec 14 2011

The Billion Dollar Man

I didn’t need Forbes to tell me that Gabe Newell was worth over a Billion. In fact I assumed this to be true just by the progression of his company Valve, and their contribution to gaming. Forbes apparently went the long route to confirm the Billion dollar man’s existence by excavating the remains of “video game industry insiders, equity analysts, investment bankers, and technology analysts”.  Valve Corporation is worth $3 billion dollars. You have to figure since the creation of Steam the valuation may be off a bit. Since the company makes a mint with it’s Steam service, licensing it’s engines, and it’s own proprietary IP Mr. Newells 50 percent stake could be worth more than a ‘billy’. Game Informer sites figures that estimate “ 70 percent of the downloadable market and features in excess of 1,800 games from more than 50 publishers” is controlled by Steam. Nonetheless outside of estimation’s of Gabe’s wealth places him 854 out of 1,226 billionaires around the world on Forbes list. Placing him among the worlds richest. Yet, he still gets hate,and many times ass hat ridicule from gamer’s. How? Why? Who are they? and When do they leave? The man brought us “Left For Dead” for crying out loud, and some little known game called “Half Life”. In any event, it’s good to see someone who’s dedication, and passion are rewarded. It’s not uncommon in the tech industry over the past decade and half for us to see this. Just that a man like Gabe Newell accomplished such a feet is a great thing to see in a lifetime. I’m inspired.

Original Article

Mar 7 2012