Uncharted: People Killing, OK, Animal Killing, Not OK

In an interview with SCEE blog Three Speech, Naughty Dog's Evan Wells has been answering a bunch of questions sent in by Three Speech "readers". Most are fairly run-of-the-mill, but one's pretty interesting, if only from a cultural standpoint. The question was, basically, why can't I shoot the fish in the game? The answer:

We had hit reactions and even some death animations for the wildlife in the game but we chose to remove it. It was flagged as a potential issue by the ESRB and it seemed like a small concession to make in order to maintain our "Teen" rating. It may have also affected the rating in Europe.

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY NAUGHTY DOG'S EVAN WELLS: PART ONE [Three Speech, via Game|Life]

Are We Going To Get An Uncharted Movie?

How Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Makes Home Really, Really Cool

While Resistance: Fall of Man's integration with Home should have bonus content fans excited, old school run-and-gun shooter fans should be pretty pumped about what they may be getting with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune's contribution. We hear that the Home portal for Naughty Dog's PlayStation 3 adventure will follow in Resistance's footsteps, allowing Home avatars to explore the game's levels without the threat of being shot at, a nice feature.

But it's the Uncharted mini-game that has us far more pumped.

Zero Punctuation Takes On Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

This week, in between some scathing political commentary, Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw reviews Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for the PS3. Does he like it? Of course not. Can you imagine his reviews happy? We can only pray that divine intervention keeps both love and ecstasy from Yahtzee's grasp, lest we lose Zero Punctuation forever.

Quote of the week: "Saying that an action game's got a vehicle section these days carries about as much weight as saying that it comes in a box."

Zero Punctuation [TheEscapist]

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I'll be playing a very realistic driving in a matter of hours, a sort of Need For Speed Most Wanted recreating using a rented Chevy Impala controller. It should be very, very exciting following the blue line from Vegas to LA. When I finally get home, expect me to unwind with a few rounds of Team Fortress 2, a title I've been chatting about a lot with colleagues and developers and DICE. Demos for Patapon and God of War: Chains of Olympus were stashed in the DICE schwag bag, so I'll be giving those a spin, too. Yeah, I'm late to the party. So what?

Enough reading of this drivel. Make with the comments about your weekend gaming plans, pronto. Anyone going to grab a copy of Professor Layton this Sunday?

New PS3 Bundle Coming To Australia

While this has nothing to do with a larger hard drive, Sony will be offering a new bundle in Australia that includes a 40GB PS3, second Sixaxis controller and one of the following games: Heavenly Sword, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction or NBA 08 all for $799.95. Wow, that's looking a LOT better than the original $1000 PS3 launch price that Luke had to put up with.
New PlayStation 3 bundle confirmed by Sony [PALGN]

First a thing about the name: I didn't pick it. I think it's hilarious, but I'd never name an award after myself, it's obnoxious... and quite funny. Which is what I think the Rocky was going for. There are quite a few closet smart-asses over there. :)

So my annual pick for best video game ran in the Rocky Mountain News today and I picked Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare as the overall winner. The game beat out The Orange Box, Bioshock, Super Mario Galaxy and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

Here's why I decided to pick a war-time first-person shooter sequel over the splendor of a dystopian society, amazing character interaction of Uncharted and innovative design of Galaxy and Orange Box:

Double Fine Productions founder and funny man Tim Schafer isn't so much a fan of Naughty Dog's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune as he is the next-gen thermal shirt that protagonist Nathan Drake wears throughout. The Psychonauts creator compares the PlayStation 3 title's heretofore ignored technological marvel that is a casually dirty, half-tucked shirt to "an unfinished symphony." He heaps praise upon the adventure game's clothing choices and lauds a poly-cotton top that speaks volumes about its wearer.

He writes of Drake's shirt "Jet skiing, swimming, and almost kissing—nothing can dislodge or fully tuck Drake's half-casual shirt. It is draped in a purgatory state, half in, half out, never completely free." A bold and fascinating analysis from a visionary mind that anyone who has even a passing interest in video game fashion should read. Compelling stuff.

Half-tuck is the new Mullett [Double Fine]

Naughty Dog On PS3 In 3 Years

Naughty Dog is surveying the land with its chest stuck out, planning its worldwide conquest following the critically solid launch of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Where will things be in three years, someone asks (a child, maybe). Naughty Dog inhales deeply and ponders the questions. Somewhere off in the distance, wind chimes can be heard.

..., it's anybody's guess. At Naughty Dog, we're pretty sure we should be able to see leaps between games on the PS3 that are even bigger than they were on the PS2.

Me? I'm playing Advance Wars: Days of Ruin and I couldn't be happier to have the opportunity. In fact, I'm playing it right now. I swear. It's paused. Okay, that's a lie. I'm actually taking a break from the soon to be released strategy game while posting from an incredibly pretentious, over-priced coffee shop with a smarmy name. But, I promise, once all this unfortunate blogging is done, it's back to the darker, dust filled world of Days of Ruin for me. I'm also planning for a bit of Omega Five finishing and, apparently, a go at Undertow. Good times.

Your plans? What do you have on your plate for a game-filled weekend?

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Many of you may be in store for a long, long weekend, stretching all the way into a hangover recovery-filled Tuesday. Me? I'll be working my fingers to the nub, tapping away at a keyboard for various reasons, making lots of internet happen. But in the in-between, I'll be taking breaks to play Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Team Fortress 2. I may find some sit-down time to work my way through the Temple of the Ocean King in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, but a week away from my consoles has inspired a good deal of motivation to spend more time with them. I might do a bit of video card shopping and processor overclocking to better the performance of my PC, which whimpers during TF2 sessions.

Other than that, I plan for total maxin' and relaxin', but hit us up with your gaming plans in the comments area, if it pleases you.

PSHome Integration Coming to Uncharted?

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, despite being a late bloomer when compared to Sony's other AAA PS3 offerings, seems to be doing its share of defining the console and exciting the masses. (I say that, of course, with no scientific measurements, but only what I've sensed from the internet. So maybe I'm full of it). Regardless, Naughty Dog's Evan Wells is looking to embed the game even deeper within the platform, integrating it with PlayStation Home as much as they can.

We aren't planning any downloadable content for Uncharted...we are planning to take advantage of whatever kind of integration into Home is possible.

Uncharted getting Home support from Sony? [play]

Uncharted Sequel? Count On It

Naughty Dog's co-president Evan Wells sat down with the gang at ThreeSpeech to chat up the developer's latest creation, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, both parties agreeing that that PlayStation 3 and all things associated with it are awesome. So awesome. But Wells does drop two "no shit?" details on us, that another Jak & Daxter game, built on the Uncharted engine, is "a definite possibility some time in the future." Also quite obvious, another game in the Uncharted franchise. Announce it quickly, so I can finally get off my keister and finish the bloody thing.

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY NAUGHTY DOG'S EVAN WELLS: PART ONE [ThreeSpeech]

From the beginning, Naughty Dog's Uncharted: Drakes Fortune could go either way. We'd seen the Indiana Jones with guns concept before—many times—with a much more fulfilling cup size. And besides, the game's on the PS3, and we all know the difficult platform requires daily goat sacrifices just for the dev kits to load for developers. Ratchet & Clank, Heavenly Sword—anomalies!

But Uncharted ended up being pretty good after all. Hit the jump for our Frankenreview: the full story on Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Well, not the full story. We're not spoiling the game or anything. Or will we...

Uncharted Finds Fortune On iTunes

If you've found yourself taken by the Greg Edmonson composed soundtrack to Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, you can take the game's tunes with you, as the official score is now available via iTunes. It's $9.99 US for the full, 21-track album and comes digital rights management-free as part of the iTunes Plus line. Anyone who hasn't experienced the PlayStation 3 game from developer Naughty Dog, but has enjoyed Edmonson's television work on Firefly or Cop Rock ought to at least give it a preview. It's so adventurey.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune [iTunes via NeoGAF]

What Are You Buying This Week?

It's like our credit cards have been through war after months of onslaught from awesome games. What's with these developers, anyway? Who are they to deliver on their promises and make these new consoles worth a damn? Who are they to take over our minds, reach our hands in our pockets spend a little too much time down there and whip out our bruised bank accounts?

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It's been a banner several weeks for new games and this one is no different. No matter what your taste there is a little something for everyone. Mass effect, Rock Band and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune will be on my holiday play list as I sit in my parents rec room after ingesting too much food. What will you be playing post-turkey time?

Mass Effect (X360)
Space, ho!

Rock Band (PS3, X360)
Rock out with more than just a guitar.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)
Relive every great 80's adventure movie you ever saw.

Unreal Tournament 3 (PC)
Get real with Unreal..3!

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (PC)
It's like a buddy movie with killing.

Ghost Squad (WII)
Fight the war on terror at home on your Wii

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS)
More Final Fantasy... more!!

College Hoops 2K8 (X360, PS3, PS2)
Next-gen college basketball.

Soul Calibur Legends (WII)
The Soul Calibur franchise tries a new style.

Time Crisis 4 (PS3)
Shoot those bad guys up. Now with scrolling.

Link's Crossbow Training (WII)
Test out the Wii Zapper Zelda style!

Circuit City Game Deals