The Insomniac guys contacted us today to try and clear up the Qore announcement confusion. The team promises to do everything they can to make sure the beta problem runs as smoothly as possible and that it is available in many countries and through many different outlets.

Here's the deal. We are running a Public Beta, and you will have many ways to get in. The best way which will give you the earliest access to the beta will involve a pre-order program that should be announced soon, (for those of you who don't know what pre-ordering is, you essentially reserve your copy with five dollars down, and that five dollars will go towards the price of the game when it releases).

For all of you folks outside of North America are up in arms because Qore is NA only, please don't worry. This is one of many ways to get in, and we plan to make the beta available in all territories, as we need to test all servers and worldwide play.

Further details on how to get into the beta will be forthcoming.

Well that's good to know.

"We've really upped the gore," says Price. It's possible to blow off arms, legs and heads. What's more, new weapons include a 44 Magnum, which fires bullets that you can detonate by remote. So, you could fire a buncha bullets in the wall and then detonate them. It's even possible to detonate those bullets that you've shot into Chimera. Instead of a health bar, when players are shoot, the screen goes reddish like Call of Duty. Should make the game much more immersive.

When asked about cross platform PSP remote play, Price said that was something they would not be addressing now. Maybe later? Maybe not? Who knows! Not me.

If you can cast your minds alllll the way back to March, you'll remember a leaked SCEE release schedule alerted us to the existence of a new Ratchet & Clank game, Ratchet: Quest for Booty, which would most likely be made available on the PlayStation Network. The game - still yet to be announced by Sony, mind - is now a step closer to release after being rated by the USK, Germany's ratings and classification board. Now that we know the Germans see it as a game fit for twelve year-olds, all we need to know is...well, everything else, really.

Booty found, another Ratchet game for the PS3 [Siliconera]

Currently, there are no plans to add trophies to [Resistance] and [Ratchet & Clank]. Right now, our No. 1 focus is finishing [Resistance 2] and making it the best game possible.

Suggesting that, sadly (for you), implementing them takes longer than five minutes, and that Insomniac - like a lot of develolpers, we're sure - have more pressing matters to attend to.

Want more R2? Grab GamePro [PlayStation.Blog]

Spooky Demonic Narrator Guy issues the ominous warning — to, we're assuming, either Resistance: Fall of Man protagonist Nathan Hale or Resistance 2 players — "You think you can resist, but you haven't seen what we're truly capable of." Explosions, flesh eating and gargantuan space ships follow — the kind of stuff you demand from your first person shooters.

Unfortunately, the whole thing's a low-fi affair. Here's to hoping we see it in more glorious resolutions at E3.

Resistance 2 - 2nd Trailer. [YouTube]

The issue teaser also hints at some sort of secret. The adjective "colossal" is used. We're instructed to sit down, it's that serious. What could it be?! Surely there's a countdown clock out there that will provide us with more information!

See GamePro's new Resistance 2 cover, win a beta code [GamePro - thanks, James!]

I thought Gametrailers by now would have chopped up their video into gameplay mcnuggets of Resistance 2, but they haven't and so the only way to see any of that footage is to watch the entire 22 minute episode of GameTrailer TV. Producers are crafty that way, getting you to watch all of a show instead of only the parts you want.

Above is the second chapter of the show (which aired on Spike at 1 am Saturday). In it you can see Nathan Hale stalking around Chicago (having arrived from San Francisco) and filling up half-converted Chimera zombies with lead. Ah, zombies. The TIE Fighters of melee combat ...

After the jump, the other chapters. Chapter 1 covers the game's backstory. Chapter 3 discusses multiplayer, and Chapter 4 goes over the weapons systems. The FPS from Insomniac is slated for a fall release on PS3 only.

Chapter 1: Resistance 2 story

Chapter 3: Multiplayer

Chapter 4: Enemies and weapons

GameTrailers TV: Resistance 2[Gametrailers.com]

Insomniac's Ted Price on Resistance 2 [Eurogamer]

“As a studio, Insomniac Games is known for developing high-quality blockbuster titles and for nurturing a creative and collaborative culture,” said Ted Price, Insomniac’s founder and CEO. “Our goal with the North Carolina studio is to blend our experience and proven track record with the tenacity of a start-up venture. Expanding to Raleigh-Durham also allows us to maintain an ideal size in Burbank while offering an attractive alternative for developers wishing to live on the East Coast.”

The new studio is the first expansion in the company's 14-year history and will operate autonomously from Insomniac's current Burbank location working on current and new IP. Insomniac art director Chad Dezern will head up the new studio.

TOP PLAYSTATION3 VIDEOGAMES DEVELOPER INSOMNIAC GAMES EXPANDS TO NORTH CAROLINA

Creators of “Ratchet & Clank™” and “Resistance: Fall of Man™” Franchises to Open Raleigh-Durham Studio by January 2009

BURBANK, Calif. (June 4, 2008): Insomniac Games, a 28.5-million unit selling independent console videogames developer ranked among the top 10 best small companies to work for nationally and locally, announced today it is opening a North Carolina-based development studio.

The new studio, which will be located in the Raleigh-Durham area, marks the first expansion in Insomniac’s 14-year history. The North Carolina studio will also be known as Insomniac Games, and will focus both on developing current and new intellectual properties. While the new studio will operate largely autonomously from Insomniac’s Burbank group, it will receive administrative support along with shared tools and technology.

“As a studio, Insomniac Games is known for developing high-quality blockbuster titles and for nurturing a creative and collaborative culture,” said Ted Price, Insomniac’s founder and CEO. “Our goal with the North Carolina studio is to blend our experience and proven track record with the tenacity of a start-up venture. Expanding to Raleigh-Durham also allows us to maintain an ideal size in Burbank while offering an attractive alternative for developers wishing to live on the East Coast.”

Chad Dezern, Insomniac’s art director, will serve as the North Carolina studio director while veteran Insomniac gameplay lead Shaun McCabe will assume the role of production director. The two have worked at Insomniac for 10 and five years, respectively. They will continue to help lead production of Resistance 2™, Insomniac’s highly anticipated sequel to the PLAYSTATIONÒ3 (PS3Ô) exclusive Resistance: Fall of Man™, until it launches this fall.

Insomniac’s Raleigh-Durham studio will be operational by January 2009 and is currently seeking employees for a variety of positions. The studio will likely be comprised of 25-30 developers. Job-related questions may be submitted to info@insomniacgames.com.

Thanks, shindokie for the tip!

Chimera Skull from Playstation 3 game TV ad [eBay - thanks, Benj!]

Sure. I think that's possible... I think Killzone demonstrated that it doesn't have to be a first-person shooter. I think Killzone: Liberation was a fantastic game, but a very different game from the original. Anything is possible.

So a new IP is coming from Insomniac in the semi far to far future? Sounds good to us.

Insomniac's Ted Price Talks 'Ratchet' Sales Surprises, New IPs [MTVmultiplayer]

One of the first games expected to shine in one of Home's series of game portals is Insomniac's Resistance: Fall of Man. Resistance is said to provide Home visitors with an interesting room to explore, one that will let PlayStation 3 owners visit unseen areas of the game and tap into bonus content in the form of "intercepted" radio communications between European and U.S. forces.

These hidden transmissions will help to flesh out the Resistance story, giving players a better understanding of the game's conflict. We hear that Home avatars will have free roam of unpopulated levels, not unlike a virtual Resistance museum.

As interesting as these plans are to Resistance fans like us, they're not as impressive as what we've heard about what Home in store for Warhawk and Uncharted. Stay tuned.

What Insomniac has decided to do was to share and distribute their own technology throughout the industry, in turn encouraging others to share their own tech. The Nocturnal Initiative is not, they stress, a game engine. There will be no snarky comments from Mark Rein about Insomniac stepping on Epic's toes as the program is designed to help game development peers avoid rewriting some of the basics.

"Rewriting libraries is a waste of time," said Andy Burke, tools group lead at Insomniac, and the gang on the software side hopes that releasing code into the wild, code that comes with a "liberal" open source license, fosters feedback and may encourage others to share their own work. That can lead to better games, they hope.

The first batch of code is now available at the Nocturnal Initiative web site, in easy to read Wiki format, for developers who are interested in the program. They may be interested to learn that this isn't just something that's been whipped up for good PR, this is code that's being used in production, used in development in titles like Ratchet & Clank Future and Resistance 2.

While the current offerings aren't necessarily specific to the PlayStation 3—PC and Xbox 360 developers may be interested in what's available—that doesn't mean the possibility of PS3 specific libraries are out of the question.

"We don't think there's anything preventing us from offering code specific to the Cell, which is already fairly open as it is," said Insomniac's Mike Acton, but the development team isn't setting anything in stone, it sounds. They certainly have plenty planned, as evidenced by their future release road map. Hopefully, game developers will find something worthwhile within.

Nocturnal Initiative [Insomniac Games]

Thanks, Mike!

And, between my heavy pants of hyperventilation at meeting the brains behind the PSP's best game to date, I was able to sputter out a few questions regarding the direction of the franchise and what sweet features we could expect in the new game.

"Why Clank?" I asked. When Ratchet has been the star of so many successful games before, what's the motive behind firing the star?

Fan demand, she answered, without a pause. "People love the character...beyond that, Ratchet has stuff on PS3..." And it supports what appears to be a new strategy for Insomniac/High Impact Games. Ratchet will push the technical boundaries through big explosions and epic landscapes on the PS3, while Clank will represent the PSP platform with a few less gallons of napalm and a touch more stealth. (Whether or not this platform distinction will continue beyond this title is uncertain. Though, we're guessing if Clank is successful in his solo career, he ain't rejoining the boy band.)

The new PSP style is a tough balance to find, as the last thing developers ever wanted is for Clank to "feel like secondary version of Ratchet." And at the same time, Clank's trademark puzzle-oriented levels could wear on the player over an entire campaign. Spy gadgets are the compromise here between bazookas and bowie knives—boomerang bow ties, for instance—and "Clank Phu" melee compliment Clank's mini bots.

What's this new protagonist mean for porting your old guns from Size Matters to Secret Agent Clank? Not happening, it appears, though small playable Ratchet levels will feature some of your favorite guns of old.

Then again, many of you aren't reading this article to hear about stinky old gun ports anyway. You want to sync your PSPs with your PS3s, unlock new content, be treated as "special" for spending so much money as a company-loyal consumer. But if these cross-platform features exist, Mathieson is playing coy. All she'd offer was the code most of us have heard about from Tools of Destruction that will unlock goodies for PSP owners.

So as for exploiting hot possibilities like the PSP's Wi-Fi connection for a little bow tie boomerang backup on the PS3...it appears to be just another sticky dream for the time being.

UPDATE: A special thanks to Stephen Totilo for tactfully pointing out the game's real title...that I'd incorrectly pasted no less than four times.

Since the story broke, Manchester Cathedral has seen a significant rise in visitor numbers...Teachers tell us that teenagers in particular are interested to see a building which they thought was fictional.

We've actually made it a big focus to include more churches and now synagogues and mosques in Resistance 2.

For instance, did you realize that the single-player campaign is pretty much finished, the game's narration is dead, the 8 person campaign multiplayer will support a class system ala Battlefield 2 and Team Fortress, or that Insomniac is doing their damndest to get 60 players on a map at once? If not, you might want to hit up the link for a full refresher course. Because that and a bottle of Cholula will pretty much set you until fall 2008.

Previews: Resistance 2 [1UP via PS3Blog]

RESISTANCE 2 INTERVIEWS [threespeech]

I've had a pet project I've been working on for years, three of them if my memory is right. It started as a simple idea: You can judge a lot from a person's desk. I bet you could judge just as much from their home entertainment system. So I decided it would be fun to try and track down some pictures from the work desks and home gaming set-ups of the people who work in and cover the video game industry. Simple right? Not so much.

Turns out that many of the people are either too busy or too private to want to participate in such a project. To make matters worse, there's always fear that something sitting on someone's desk, that ends up in a photo, could actually be news worthy. Like a secret project or the next big thing. But I didn't give up and about once a year I'd harass a bunch of game developers for photos. Finally, this year, the harassment paid off.

What started as a trickle of photos turned quickly into the collection of galleries you'll find on the jump: More than 40 different photo galleries from 17 studios, seven publications, two industry movers and shakers and a couple of fun surprises.

You'll get to see the desk of such greats as Sid Meier, Peter Molyneux and Tetsuya Mizuguchi along with plenty of others. Remember you can comment both on the next page and on each individual photo if you click on them.

If I find there is interest, I will try to periodically update this gallery of galleries with more developers, journalists and industry movers and shakers. Have fun.

DEVELOPERS
2K Games

ASTRO Gaming

Buzz Monkey Software

Capcom

Eat, Sleep, Play

Electronic Arts

Firaxis Games

Flying Lab Software

Gearbox Software

Harmonix Music

Incognito Entertainment

Insomniac Games

Kojima Productions

Lionhead Studios

NanaOn-Sha

Naughty Dog

NCSoft

NetDevil

Neversoft Entertainment

Ninja Theory

Pandemic Studios

Petroglyph Games

THQ

Q Entertainment

JOURNALISTS

Blue's News

BoingBoing

EGM

The Escapist

GameLife

Joystiq

Kotaku

MTV

Slashdot Games

VE3D

VH1

INDUSTRY FOLK

MISCELLANIES
I AM 8-BIT

Penny Arcade

Whorecraft

Video Games Live

Check out the GAF thread to see Wollan's complete write-up, or better yet just get your hands on a copy of Game Informer as soon as humanly possible. I've not known their writers to be given to unnecessary hype, so when they end a story with "Resistance 2 will be too epic to dismiss as anything but one of the biggest, boldest, and most high-reaching titles of 2008. It's a game that won't be ignored", I can't help but get just a little excited.

RESISTANCE 2 REVEALED! [NeoGAF - thanks, megadude]

Now the plot thickens! While we've heard nothing official from Sony or Insomniac regarding the title, GameSpot has updated their page with box art. And even the ESRB has jumped on board by adding the title to their database.

While Size Matters may have induced my most heartbreaking gaming moment of 2007, it also gave me the best experience on the PSP this year. And the experience was complete enough to imagine it on a full-blown console.

I'm just curious—the PSP version of Size Matters used a larger Ratchet to make up for screen size. Will Insomniac tweak the perspective? The PS2's beefier processing power should certainly support a wider level view and a smaller protagonist, so I'm guessing that they will. As for the brilliant "size matters" pun, that part might not translate so well.

Gamestop [via siliconera]

On December 18, 2007, Sony filed a trademark for "Resistance 2" in relation to a video game. And while it's not uncommon for companies to go on the trademark defensive, ensuring that another company won't steal the title, we already totally knew that Insomniac is developing Resistance 2. You know, even though we don't at all.

Resistance 2 [trademork]

Champagne fountains are overrated.
And to top if off, there was a special "homage to Burning Man." Ouch. But I have a feeling Master Chief's Spartan armor can handle the Resistance flame war and still manage to sell another bajillion copies before the day is through.

RESISTANCE REINVENTED [threespeech]

While we don't have official word yet—we're waiting to hear back from SCEA—it certainly wouldn't surprise us to see yet another PSP game ported to the PS2. With one-time exclusive PSP titles such as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Twisted Metal: Head On, Tokobot and (allegedly) Silent Hill Origins making the jump, it might just file under fiscally sensible.

Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters [Gamestop via Joystiq]

The amount of action we're able to put on the screen at 60 frames per second really dwarfs what we were able to do a year ago at 30 frames per second...I think we'll see just as big a leap from our second generation engine to our third as we did from the first to second.

I think we're going to continue seeing major leaps each year in what people are able to do with the machine for at least three or four more years.

Level Up Blog: Make or Break

It's been great to have a network that can facilitate the map-pack downloads, demos and trailers for both Resistance: Fall of Man and Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction. The number of users on PSN has been rising steadily and we absolutely plan to support them with more new content coming soon.

D+Pad Nov 2007 [via maxconsole]

The full list of changes in the latest patch is after the jump, courtesy of Insomniac's James Stevenson, a man who simply cannot be faulted for his gaming blog preference.

New Features
- Player with a USB keyboard attached to their Playstation 3 may now take in-game screenshots by pressing the "printscreen" key (multiplayer only). There will be a slight pause as the screenshot is taken. The screenshots will be viewable from the Photo bar of the XMB menu.
- Players may now create a custom game that requires a password for other players to join. When creating a custom game, select the option named "password" and enter the desired password from the on-screen keyboard. Players who are invited into a password protected game by another player already in the game do not need to enter a password to accept the invite. Password protected games will be indicated by a "lock" icon next to the game name in the "Find Game" screen.
- Bullseye Tags may be turned off as a custom game option without turning off the bullseye.
- Carbine 40mm Grenades may be turned off as a custom game option without turning off the carbine.
- There is a new game option named "Send Voice Chat To All". If this is enabled, then all players in the game may hear voice chat sent from any other player in the game, including players on the opposing team and spectators. Squad voice chat will still only be heard by members of the same squad. This option defaults to off.
- The game option "Round balancing" now has a third option available to custom games - "Aggressive". If round balancing is set to aggressive, it will attempt to rebalance the teams every round based on how well the players scored in the previous round to create the most even teams. "Aggressive" round balancing WILL split parties.
- Both Multiplayer and Singleplayer Resistance: Fall of Man now support the rumble feature of the Playstation Dual Shock 3 controller.

Balance Changes
- Range and damage on the Rossmore 236 has been decreased for both primary and secondary fire modes
- Reload time of the LAARK L209 has been increased.
- Projectile speed of the LAARK L209 has been decreased.
- Splash damage radius of the LAARK L209 has been decreased.
- Hedgehog grenade splash damage has been generally increased, although the radius in which it will kill a player in 1 hit has been decreased.
- Frag grenade splash damage radius has been decreased.
- Arc charger fire rate has been increased.
- Arc charger clip size has been reduced.
- Arc charger damage has been decreased for the primary fire and increased for the secondary fire.
- Rate of fire the bullseye tag (secondary fire) has been decreased.

Bug Fixes
- Fixed several possible collision exploits
- The "Elite Soldier" and "Assassin" medals are now obtainable in all ranked gametypes instead of just Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch
- "Defender" ribbons obtained in ranked CTF games will now correctly add to your total stats
- Fixed several issues that could cause party members to drop out of a party
- Various lobby, disconnect, and miscellaneous fixes.

"Ultimately we're trying to create more emotional intimacy," he said. "That's one of the things that movies do really well with the close-up, where you can really see the emotions on the character's face. But in games, so often you're just seeing the action from a wide shot behind the character you're controlling and you don't have that emotional connection. So that's what we're going for."

This is exactly what has always drawn me to the R&C universe. The rich characterization of the previous games have combined with the technology of the PS3 (Ratchet has over 90 joints in his face alone) and an excellent story about a lone Lombax exploring his roots to create a truly engrossing interactive experience. Hit up the link for the full article, which includes Ted Price discussing the joys of poking fun at pop culture in the series and the importance of the title to the PlayStation 3 lineup. A good read, even if they did get the release date wrong.

A New Video Game Hopes Expressive Characters Lead to Emotional Attachment [New York Times]

We'll be honest; the overblown, semi-pretentious nature of Lionhead's Fable 2 production diaries endear their clips a bit closer to our hearts than Insomniac's more straightforward Ratchet & Clank chronicles. But we do love this story about a typically ludicrous game bug that developers had to iron out in Future. Specifically, if you threw the wrench and then jumped, Ratchet's head would spin in 360 degrees, gaining momentum with subsequent wrench/jumps until it created a wagon-wheel effect. Hit the clip about a minute in to hear the story.

So hit the jump for our Frankenreview; this week we did something special and only included reviewers that had "game" or some amalgamation of such in the title. That's for you, Insomniac. Live it up.

GameZone
The new Ratchet & Clank title, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, is every bit as compelling visually as the high-end Hollywood animated features. Take anything from Dreamworks or Pixar, and compare them and you will find that ToD is a visual feast that rivals them. The major difference is, of course, that when you watch one of those films, that is all you are doing ...you are an integral part of the event.
GameDaily
The voice work is up to Insomniac's usual standards, filled with personality and hardly any dead spots...The dialogue is still hilarious, even with the random chatter that plays in the background. On top of this, the music works on a rhythm all its own. The tempo changes constantly depending on what's happening on-screen. What sounds easygoing at first soon bursts with romping energy. It's a terrific soundtrack, one with great unpredictability.
GamingAge
Whether it is a (optionally) motion control-enabled tornado launcher, a kick ass electric whip, or viscous little plasma beast capsules, nearly all the weapons are fun to use and required to be utilized throughout the game.... This is by far Insomniac's best selection of weapons and gadgets yet, although I have to say they are probably a little too good. By spending a few extra minutes exploring the stages and collecting raritanium and bolts, weapons can be upgraded to ridiculously powerful levels, even early on in the game.

GamerNode
Just about every minigame utilizes the Sixaxis controls (unless you count Clank's couple of solo runs). I know what you're thinking: "Sixaxis controls! Oh no!" but in all honesty, they're done well in this game. Nothing really takes you out of the flow; you do things such as control Ratchet as you halo jump from a ship or glide through the air, slide a ball around a circuit to hack electronics a la Bioshock, and cut holes in walls, and all in the midst of gameplay.

GameAlmighty
Whereas earlier installments of the Ratchet and Clank series offered a range of single player and online multiplayer modes, Tools of Destruction hones in on its solo experience with just a story-driven campaign. Dropping multiplayer negatively impacts the game's long-term value; however, focusing purely on the campaign has resulted in a level of quality that easily surpasses any previous iteration.
Yes everyone, it looks like Ratchet & Clank Future is every bit as good as we'd hoped.