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Evan Wells doesn’t look like he’s old enough to be co-president of Naughty Dog, does he? Even after shepherding Uncharted 2 through development, which has picked up just about every award on the planet, he still maintains his youthful vim and vigor. While we don’t know what his eternal youth secret is, he did give us the inside scoop on the workings at Naughty Dog when we spoke with him at GDC.

Besides letting us know about their new studio and the hectic days just before shipping Uncharted 2, he also talks PlayStation Move development, Jak and Daxter plans (he wants to see one on the PS3), and expanding Uncharted to the PSP. Pause your game and head on through the break for the full interview.

Continue reading Interview: Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells

Interview: Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve lived with an unspoken fear in the back of our minds since the middle of January, when the nominees for the Writers Guild of America video game writing award were first announced. We weren’t sure if we could live in a world where X-Men Origins: Wolverine was decorated over Assassin’s Creed 2 and Uncharted 2 for having the year’s best in-game writing. Fortunately, this fear has been dissuaded: Last night at the WGA awards ceremony, Uncharted 2 writer Amy Hennig took home the prize.

In a way, though, we feel bad for Ms. Hennig. How frustrating must it be to know that you can’t get comfortable in your seat for too long at one of these awards shows? And can you imagine how many acceptance speeches she’s had to write over the past month? The poor thing.

[Thanks, Fintan!]

Uncharted 2 wins Writers Guild of America games writing award originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We sure hope you’ve gone through the rigors of grabbing the Platinum trophy in Uncharted 2 already, because it’s about to get a tad harder to unlock. On February 25, a patch for the multiplayer component of the 2009 Game of the Year[TM] will be released, adding 12 new trophies and 12 in-game medals. You can find a list of both of these unlockables after the jump.

In addition, a batch of Uncharted 1-themed DLC will be simultaneously added to the PSN, giving players access to six character skins from the original title: Original Drake, Elena, Atoq Navarro, Eddie Raja, Gabriel Roman and Javier. There will be two new maps as well: The Flooded Ruins, which takes place in the customs house from the first game, and The Facility, which is based on Uncharted’s submarine dock area. The maps and skins will be bundled together for $5.99, or sold piecemeal for $3.99 and $2.99, respectively.

Continue reading Uncharted 2 getting multiplayer trophies, more DLC Feb. 25

Uncharted 2 getting multiplayer trophies, more DLC Feb. 25 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It may not have charted in the January NPDs, but Uncharted 2 has stealthily beaten sales of the first game in the series, according to PlayStation’s Jack Tretton. We can think of a number of reasons why: Certainly, the growing install base of the PS3 has something to do with franchise’s growing success; and perhaps the addition of multiplayer makes Uncharted 2 a more attractive purchase than the first game; or maybe it’s simply because it’s pretty darn good.

Uncharted 2 sales are “now closing in on three million copies sold worldwide,” according to Tretton. Considering those figures, it’s clear that Sony management should have one directive for developer Naughty Dog: “Make another one, please!”

Uncharted 2 outselling first game, ‘closing in’ on 3 million sold originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A very elegant Uncharted box set will be released in Japan on February 18 for ¥7,980 (about $87). The Uncharted Twin Pack contains both Uncharted 2 and the “PlayStation 3 the Best” Edition of Uncharted, in a lovely gold box that, thankfully, hides Japan’s Uncharted 2 box from view. Along with this announcement comes the reveal of a demo bound for the Japanese PlayStation Store on January 28, plus a bunch of exciting DLC, which we can assume will arrive outside of Japan at some point.

The first content pack will be free and in the Store on January 28 — and it’s kinda weird. It contains multiplayer character models of Resistance 2’s Nathan Hale and a Chimera, InFamous’ Cole (in both “good” and “evil” forms) and Zeke, and Killzone 2’s Tomas Sevchenko and a Helghast soldier. The second DLC pack, dated February 25, adds two maps, one of which is based on the first Uncharted’s “Ruins” area, and multiplayer models of the first game’s Nate, Elena, Atoq Navarro, Eddy Raja, Roman Gabriel, and a mercenary. This pack won’t be free, but no price has been specified. The third DLC pack, available April 15 and also premium, adds a new co-op multiplayer mode, along with four new maps and five new character skins.

Check out the crossover character skins in our gallery below:

New Uncharted 2 DLC, retail twin pack for Japan originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With Sony’s motion controller due later this year, some of you may be thinking ahead. To the future. A future with killer robots, alien overlords and an Uncharted 3 that maybe uses motion controls.

We don’t know about the chances of the first two, sorry, but we do know that Uncharted developers Naughty Dog aren’t too keen on bringing the exotic control setup to their award-winning adventure series.

“We really don’t have any interest in using the motion control to do a third-person action game”, Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells told G4. “If we were going to make a motion controller game, I think we’d want to tackle it from the bottom up and make sure that we were designing the game around the motion control, the way the best Wii games are designed.”

This is something we’ve heard in relation to Microsoft’s competing motion control technology, Project Natal; that while both peripherals were initially shown off supporting existing franchises, it’s making more sense to developers to start from scratch.

Try and come up with a Wii Sports as opposed to a Madden 07, if you will.

Reaction Time: Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells Reflects on Uncharted 2: Among Thieves [G4, via Eurogamer]

Gamasutra has posted an interesting analysis of the treatment of sexuality in Uncharted 2. The article mainly focuses on Chloe, which the author, Tom Cross, describes as “a smart, competent, sexually aware pointedly heterosexual female character.” The article further notes that Chloe, in an unusual turn for most video games, “constantly disagrees with and harries the main male character, sometimes out of self-interest and sometimes out of deeply felt connection and respect.” While Cross notes that Uncharted 2 sticks to common story tropes and character arcs, he acknowledges the “incredible quality of Among Thieves‘ script, story, and acting,” noting that the main cast are “some of the most fun, interesting, inoffensive characters in video games.”

We’re inclined to agree. After all, Uncharted 2 didn’t take Joystiq’s top honors for nothing.

Uncharted 2’s sexual politics examined originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Truth be told, there’s so much info contained in G4’s massive interview with Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells that we couldn’t possibly encapsulate it all in one headline. Naturally, it all focuses on Uncharted 2, which has been raking in awards left and right as 2009 comes to a close. Among other things, Wells discusses the script, which the team actually wrote as the game was being developed. While there was a rough outline at the beginning of production, Wells notes that having a fully fleshed out script can cause trouble if changes have to be made in the middle of development.

Wells also discusses the pacing of the game, which he likens to pulp novels and movies like Indiana Jones. He admits that Uncharted 2’s treasure hunting mechanic can actually slow the pacing. Should Naughty Dog work on another Uncharted — and we get the feeling they just might — Wells says the treasure hunting could be improved, perhaps by making more hidden treasures available only after the first playthrough.

Other topics covered include the complexity of the train level, sales numbers and how far Naughty Dog thinks it can push the PS3 hardware. Uncharted fans should definitely give it a read.

Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells talks writing, pacing of Uncharted 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Truth be told, there’s so much info contained in G4’s massive interview with Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells that we couldn’t possibly encapsulate it all in one headline. Naturally, it all focuses on Uncharted 2, which has been raking in awards left and right as 2009 comes to a close. Among other things, Wells discusses the script, which the team actually wrote as the game was being developed. While there was a rough outline at the beginning of production, Wells notes that having a fully fleshed out script can cause trouble if changes have to be made in the middle of development.

Wells also discusses the pacing of the game, which he likens to pulp novels and movies like Indiana Jones. He admits that Uncharted 2’s treasure hunting mechanic can actually slow the pacing. Should Naughty Dog work on another Uncharted — and we get the feeling they just might — Wells says the treasure hunting could be improved, perhaps by making more hidden treasures available only after the first playthrough.

Other topics covered include the complexity of the train level, sales numbers and how far Naughty Dog thinks it can push the PS3 hardware. Uncharted fans should definitely give it a read.

Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells talks writing, pacing of Uncharted 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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