Kotaku: Ready At Dawn

Ready At Dawn Is Serious About Dropping The PSP

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:00:44 MDT

Daxter and God of War: Chains of Olympus developer Ready At Dawn was dead serious when it said it was moving on from PSP development. Proof is in the form of the boxing up and shipping out of dozens of PSP development kits and the continued teasing of what's in store after the Japanese release of the PSP version of God of War. With three solid games under its belt, we're appropriately psyched about where the dev is going next.

Ready At Dawn News

Capcom Fuck Clover's Sad Panda Corpse [Updated]

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 01 May 2008 05:00:00 MDT

How does Okami director Hideki Kamiya feel about the Wii port? He's pretty bummed out! The Wii version has cut the staff end credits from the game, which was released in North America earlier this month. The original game was developed by now dissolved Capcom subsidiary Clover and ported by Daxter developer Ready at Dawn. According to Kamiya:

I really don't know what under pretext the credits were cut... What do you all think? I feel dejected, and not only because my own name has been erased from my creation. Of course we have pride in our work and we want to scream "We made this!" from the top of our lungs. But more than that, the fact that they cut the entire staff is utterly deplorable.

The reason for this is that the end credits were a pre-rendered movie that contained the Clover logo, and Capcom says it couldn't use that logo because of legal issues or something. With Clover gone, Kamiya no longer works for Capcom, but heads up his own Osaka-based studio called Platinum Games. Regardless, erasing the names of people who worked years on a game? That's what the kids call "shitty."

Kamiya on Credit [Platinum Games via Canned Dogs Thanks, Sarah!]

Eds Note: Oh! For those who are interested in reading the entire post (in English), Platinum Games has posted the official translation here.

God of War Chains of Olympus Review: Portable Near Perfection

Brian Crecente — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 11:00:09 MDT

God of War: Chains of Olympus is a stunning and portable prequel to the much touted God of War franchise. Taking place ten years before the original God of War, Kratos is delivered to gamers in a title that can be played on the go. While the story-driven gameplay and over-the-top action of previous God of War games made them nearly instant classics, developers Ready at Dawn had to try and encapsulate all of that screen-filling glory on a 4-inch LCD without losing any of the pizazz.

Ready at Dawn certainly achieved their goals, but they didn't do so without a bit of stumbling.

Loved:
Channeling God of War: This pocket-sized God of War is an amazing reproduction of the big screen version. Everything from the epic scope of the backdrop, to over-the-top battles, to the hidden sex mini-games is packed into this excellent title.
Pacing: As with the original, Chains of Olympus keeps you enthralled with a storyline you care about and the perfectly paced blending of battles and puzzle solving.
Graphics: Miniaturized, Kratos is just as much a bad-ass as he was in the original games. The detail of animation is at times awe-inspiring, and the character design at times almost surpasses the first two in the franchise.
Controls: With the exception of a few quick-time boss battle kills, the controls are flawless, allowing you to hammer out 40 to 50-chain attacks on a screen full of enemies.
Weapons: From the Gauntlets of Zeus to Kratos' mainstay Blades of Chaos, the portable God of War comes packed with an amazing selection of boostable weapons, a half dozen all told.
Bonus Material: While the game's five hours or so of campaign play was more than enough to satisfy my God of War bloodlust, it's nice that the game also includes five challenges that unlock silly bonus material, like being able to play as Kratos in a dress, and a God difficulty.
Addictive: Because of the vagaries of early builds and demos, I managed to play through chunks of Chains of Olympus three to four times, and it never got old. In fact, I had a lot of trouble putting it down. It's rare that a game gets its claws into me so deep. Even rarer that it would be on the PSP.

Hated
The Thumbstick: There are a number of big monster, quick time event kills in which you have to do timed swirls with the thumbstick and often it just doesn't register. There's nothing as annoying as failing in a boss battle or creature fight because of the hardware.
Save Points: There are a couple of unforgivable save points in the game. Why on earth would you put a save point right before the unskippable cut-scene that introduces an incredibly hard boss battle?
Story: This prequel to the original God of War has a wonderful, potentially emotional plot marred by disjointed delivery. There are moments in the game that could have truly touched gamers, but felt too forced to work.

God of War: Chains of Olympus delivers more to the Playstation Portable than I thought was possible. The game is nearly flawless in its production value and what minor issues it does have has more to do with the irritating difficulty than any real design flaws. My only disappointment lies in the story, which had such great potential for evocative gaming, but never fully delivers.

Set aside a chunk of one day to sit down and enjoy this experience uninterrupted from beginning to end. If I could only buy one game for the PSP, this would be it.

God of War: Chains of Olympus, developed by Ready at Dawn, published by SCEA, released March 4, for $40. Available on Playstation Portable, played to completion.

Ready At Dawn Moving On To "Other Consoles"

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:20:17 MST

If you want to play God of War: Chains of Olympus, you're going to have to do it on a PSP, because a PlayStation 2 port ain't happenin'. That's what Ready At Dawn says, smashing rumors that it would follow the PSP-to-PS2 precedent set by games like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories and Silent Hill Origins. Seriously, get a PSP already!

The RAD team also says that after a short, post game launching break, they'll be working on new projects that aren't for the PSP, with Chains of Olympus being their "last PSP game." What's next? "Other projects and other ideas on other consoles" is all they'll say. Who wants to make some guesses?

Two Rumors, One Stone [Ready At Dawn]

Okami On Wii Delayed

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:30:00 MST

And here you all were thinking you'd be getting the Wii version of Okami on March 25. You're not. The game's been delayed a smidge, and instead of being ready in March now has an American release date of April 15. No reason was given for the delay, so feel free to come up with your own hair-brained plots involving aspect ratios and brushwork calibration below.
Wii Okami bumped to April 15 [GameSpot]

Ready At Dawn Read-...Prepared For New Franchise

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 02:30:00 MST

Ready At Dawn have already shown they're great at handling other people's properties. Daxter, God of War PSP, the upcoming Okami on Wii...they're a trusty bunch. Only problem is that those are all, well, other people's properties. Nothing new, nothing original! That's something Ready At Dawn are changing, as it's been announced at GDC today that they're working on "new IPs" for "new platforms".
Ready At Dawn's Upcoming Plans [IGN]

Okami Wii Screens, Video

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:00:00 MST

Capcom have loosened the leash holding their Okami Wii assets back, and today have released a ton of screenshots for the upcoming port, along with some video footage. The video, which you can find after the jump, looks as lovely as you'd hope, so you might want to focus on it if the quality of screens leave you a little underwhelmed. Oh, and remember, while there's black bars along the sides in the screenshots, Ready At Dawn told us yesterday that the final, retail build of the game will feature "full" 16:9

Okami On Wii Controls Well, Only "Quasi-16:9" [UPDATE]

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 06:20:00 MST

Last week, Capcom stated on their company store that Okami on Wii would be running at 16:9. Why is this important? Because the PS2 version did not, and if the Wii version did, it'd be a very valid reason for many to go out and buy the same game twice. Turns out that the game doesn't really run at 16:9, however. IGN sat down with it the other day and found it actually sports:

...a quasi-16:9 widescreen mode — we call it "quasi" because it's not full resolution; thin black bars remain on each side of the screen.

Ah well. On the bright side, they report that the use of the Wii Remote for celestial brushwork is like "night and day" compared to the PS2 version, with brushwork becoming faster, more accurate and easier to pull off. And in case you weren't already aware, the port's best feature is related neither to aspect ratio nor gameplay: you can now skip the game's cutscenes, which should make a second playthrough all the more enticing.
Hands-on Okami [IGN]

UPDATE - I'm done with this topic. The build IGN were playing on was, according to Ready At Dawn, an old one, and RaD president Didier Malenfant has promised us that the final, retail build of the game will feature "full 16:9". Case closed. Move along.

God of War PSP Sex Scene Trailer Skips To The Good Part

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:20:05 MST

Here's something you should've seen coming a mile away—a nipple-filled threesome mini-game in Ready At Dawn's PSP title God of War: Chains of Olympus. Outside of a polygonal pair of boobs, don't expect much more than a suggestive candle-as-phallus bobbing about on a crate, occasionally ejaculating hot wax. Suffice it to say, it's not safe for work, if only for the banging and moaning sounds, but mostly for the digital ta-tas.

Two Million Daxters Sold!

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:00:00 MST

It would be safe to call Daxter *the* PSP game. First released in 2006, it's been bundled with the handheld twice: With the Ceramic White unit and the new silver Slim & Lite PSP. Now, developer Ready At Dawn announces that December was one of the game's strongest months and that the game has sold 2 million copies of Daxter worldwide. From Ready At Dawn's website:

Daxter has been an incredible success for us, especially considering it was our very first game as a company.

Congrats!
Over 2 Million Served [Ready At Dawn Studios]

Ready at Dawn's Child's Play Auction

Brian Crecente — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 08:00:12 MST

Ru Weerasuriya, Ready at Dawn co-founder, dropped me a line to let me know that his studio has put two eBay auctions up to hlp raise money for Child's Play.

The studio managed to get their hand on one of the last Daxter PSP Entertainment packs around and then had everyone at Ready at Dawn Studios. As if the cool autographed, hard-t0-find PSP weren't enough, the Ready at Dawn folks are throwing in an autographed piece of original production art from the game.

All proceeds go to Child's Play. Hit up the link for the U.S. auction, and check out Ready at Dawn's other auction if you live in Europe.

Ready at Dawn eBay Auction

New God of War: Chains Of Olympus Screens

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:40:00 MST

The arrival of Sony Computer Entertainment's God of War franchise on the PSP this coming March will finally give fans of the handheld an opportunity to experience sex mini-games and excessive amounts of gore on the go. To keep hype going through the holidays, SCEA has handed out a new batch of screens of God of War: Chains of Olympus, all of which are in our gallery below. They may not have the polished allure of the original set of screens release many moons ago, but developer Ready At Dawn look to do portable justice to Kratos and whomever he'll be slicing from skull to crotch.

Okami Wii "Exact PS2 Port"

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 02:00:49 MDT

So, the Wii is getting a straight up PS2 port with tacked on waggle, and that could be a really great thing or a really not-so great thing. Since Clover Studios is now kaput, studio Ready at Dawn will be handling the migration and even used Clover's original code due to time constraints. Ready at Dawn president Didier Malenfant stressed how committed he and his team are to staying true to the original. Says Malenfant:

The game on Wii is going to be an exact port of the PS2 version and I think that's what fans of the franchise want to see. This game has such a huge following throughout the world that people would probably send us death-threats if we messed it up by trying to add things that don't have their place in the Okami universe. Being huge fans of the franchise ourselves, we made sure that Capcom also wanted to stay true to the original before signing on to do this... To this day the graphics of Okami are some of the most awe-inspiring ever seen in a video-game and I know it sounds cliche but you don't want to fix something that's not broken.

We're not so concerned about Ready at Dawn's ability to port Clover code — Ready at Dawn is a very competent studio. We're worried about the controls. Malenfant assures that Okami and the Wii-mote are a "perfect combination" and feels "absolutely awesome." That's what they're really selling here, playing Okami with the Wii-mote. Is that enough to ensure a purchase?
Okami Port Interview [IGN via Siliconera]

God of War: Chains Of Olympus Having A Ball In March '08

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:20:36 MDT

Gamespot writes today that Ready At Dawn's original Kratos adventure for the PlayStation Portable, in which it's expected he'll stab thousands of things and hopefully engage in a portable threesome, along with some plot-driving something-or-other, is still quite some time off. March 4, 2008 will finally bring about the next chapter in the God of War series with God of War: Chains of Olympus. Despite not having an official date set in stone, it was largely assumed to hit before the end of the year. Seems many asses were made based on that.

PSP owners will have to make do with the UMD demo shipping later this month. More details on that tasty little bonus are available at Gamespot.

Chains of Olympus breaking March 4 [Gamespot]

Ready At Dawn Buys GOW-Modded PSP

Brian Crecente — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:09:22 MDT

Remember that kick-ass God of War-themed Playstation Portable we wrote about last month? The one with the crushed velvet case, the chains, the copper-leafing? Well it finally sold at the end of the month for a whopping $1,725, but that's no surprise, something that beautiful deserves a high asking price.

What is surprising, and more than a bit neat, is that the buyers were none other than Ready at Dawn, the studio currently working on God of War Chains of Olympus for the PSP. How very appropriate. Not only did the RAD folks give a chunk of cash to Child's Play (15 percent of the proceeds went to the charity), but they also decided to fly the PSP-modder out to Southern California to hand deliver the thing and meet the team. While there they let him get a little hands-on time with the upcoming PSP game.

We're passionate people and we like passionate people so we were all super jazzed to meet the guy behind this one-of-a-kind handheld. Of course, getting to see the game in action before anyone else wasn't bad for him either

Now that's what I like to hear from a developer.

PSP Mod Creator Visits RAD [RAD]

Studio Working on Original Title

Brian Crecente — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 08:00:03 MDT

Dan Arey, former creative director of Naughty Dog, has signed up with Ready at Dawn to work on the company's first original, yet to be named, title. Arey was the "lead creative force" behind Jak&Daxter as well as the upcoming PS3 title Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

"It was actually a very easy decision to make," said Dan Arey, "because when I first got the chance to hear about this new property, I immediately knew I had to be a part of it and get a chance to join forces with the incredible talent over at Ready At Dawn Studios®. These guys have taken the time to mature their team, their technology and this new concept. Believe me, this is going to be something special."

With Daxter under their belt and what is shaping up to be a pretty damn hot God of War PSP title, I can't wait to see what sort of original franchise Ready at Dawn is brewing up.

DAN AREY JOINS READY AT DAWN STUDIOS.
SANTA ANA, Calif. - August 3rd, 2007 - Ready At Dawn Studios® today announced that Dan Arey, former Creative Director of the US's premier Playstation team Naughty Dog®, has joined the company to work on a new original intellectual property already in development.
"Getting someone of Dan's caliber is obviously a huge deal for us," said Didier Malenfant, President and co-founder, "having spent the last 4 years slowly putting together the best console development team we've ever had the chance to work with, and Dan being one of the industry's most acclaimed designer and creative talent, this is further proof that we have now become a force to be reckoned with."
Known for his early involvement in the Crash Bandicoot® series at Naughty Dog®, Dan was also the lead creative force behind the Jak&Daxter® franchise as well as, more recently, the Playstation® 3 exclusive title Uncharted™: Drake's Fortune. With over 17 years of experience, Dan has worked with publishers and developers ranging from Electronic Arts, Accolade, Sega of America, Crystal Dynamics, Sony, Pandemic, among others. As a Senior Designer and Creative Director at Naughty Dog-Sony for ten years, he helped develop and design 7 platinum best selling game titles, totaling more than 35 million units sold.
"It was actually a very easy decision to make," said Dan Arey, "because when I first got the chance to hear about this new property, I immediately knew I had to be a part of it and get a chance to join forces with the incredible talent over at Ready At Dawn Studios®. These guys have taken the time to mature their team, their technology and this new concept. Believe me, this is going to be something special."
An early proponent of interactive and convergent media, Dan designed games using film content and stronger narrative techniques as early as 1992 and has been an industry leader in story enhanced gaming for more than a decade. Dan has been a contributor to Game Developer Magazine, Creativity Magazine. and a frequent lecturer at the Game Developers Conference, E3, DICE, SIGGRAPH, and the Writer's Guild of America. He is also an adjunct Professor at USC's School of Cinematic Arts.
Dan Arey will take the title of Creative Director for Ready At Dawn Studios® and is now hard at work, together with Ru Weerasuriya, co-founder and Vice-President of Creative Development, on the company's first original IP, details of which will be announced at a later date.
About Ready At Dawn Studios LLC
Founded in 2003, Ready At Dawn Studios LLC is a creator of cutting-edge console video-games based in Santa Ana, California. In 2006, Ready At Dawn Studios® became an instant sensation by releasing the #1 selling award-winning BAFTA nominated PSP® title "Daxter®". The game has since become part of the exclusive "Greatest Hits" collection and continues to be one of the platform's top sellers over a year after its release. Ready At Dawn Studios® is currently putting the finishing touches to the most anticipated PSP® game of 2007 "God of War®: Chains of Olympus". More information about the company can be found on the company's World Wide Web site, which is located at www.readyatdawn.com.
"Ready At Dawn®" and "Ready At Dawn Studios®" are registered trademarks of Ready At Dawn Studios LLC. All rights reserved. "Crash Bandicoot®" is a property of Universal Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved. "Jak & Daxter®", "Daxter®", "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune™" and "God of War®: Chains of Olympus" are property of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

God of War PSP Using New CPU Speed

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:20:06 MDT

The upcoming PlayStation Portable entry in the God of War franchise, God of War: Chains of Olympus is the first confirmed title to take advantage of the recently unlocked 333 MHz CPU speed for the Sony handheld. Developer Cory Barlog revealed that the hardware improving changes added for developers in the 3.50 firmware are indeed being used by developer Ready At Dawn, which, I'll assume, is partially responsible for the game looking so damn good.

Barlog's first entry on the official PlayStation.Blog hints that we'll be seeing more of the game at E3. Michael McWhertor

Inside the Developers Studio: Follow-up; Cory Barlog [PlayStation.Blog]

UPDATE: Didier Malenfant just contacted us with additional clarification on God of War: Chains of Olympus. Details after the jump.

Didier writes:

Just read your update regarding "GoW: Chains of Olympus" and Cory's comments.

Unfortunately this is completely incorrect and I want to make sure the rumors don't start getting out of control.

EVERYTHING that was shown of "GoW: Chains of Olympus" so far was runing at 222Mhz like everyone else. We are planning on having the final game run at 333Mhz but this likely won't be just to improve the graphics which we think are already pretty awesome.

Cory also makes a joke in his post about 1080p on PSP. This, ironically, is not a joke at all. We ARE able to render the game at 1080p if we want to thanks to a feature of the 2.0 version our engine. It doesn't run in real-time but the results look awesome, even with the assets we built for the regular screen size.

Look for a post shortly on our web site to address out the confusion on the CPU speed issue.

So, while God of War: Chains of Olympus will ultimately take advantage of the improved clock speed, it appears that Ready At Dawn's previously shown work is that much more impressive now.

Thanks for the Barlog-to-Kotaku translation, Didier! I guess what they say about when one assumes is true after all.

God of War PSP A Done Deal?

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 19:40:13 MST

PSP developer Ready At Dawn lists their "Unannounced PSP Title" in a very conspicuous way. When you visit the page dedicated to their unannounced game, a flood of blood red covers the Daxter banner with the words Coming Soon displayed in a very familiar (God of War) typeface. God of War PSP proof? Nah. But it's just convincing enough. Michael McWhertor

God of War nearly confirmed [PSPfanboy]

Ready At Dawn Boss Harps on PSP Devs

lsmith — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 07:41:15 MST

According to Games Industry, the president of Ready At Dawn studios has some harsh words for PSP developers. Didier Malefant said, "There's obviously not as many titles as people would want on the platform, but at the same time, up until now there hasn't been any title that really gives you the same kind of experience you could find on the PS2." On the contrary, I think lots of PSP games give you the same experience you get on the PS2, just lower res, poorer controlling, crappier versions of it. Oh, a cheap shot! Kidding and snark aside, the PSP is starting to grow into its own gaming machine. This year looks to be shaping up decently for it.

PSP devs must stop making excuses, says Ready At Dawn boss [Games Industry]