When it comes to the big screen adventure, Arad said the plan is to mix things up a little bit. In the game, the action moves very quickly to the island, but the film will open things up a bit and add some depth before the island adventure.

So, more talking, more sexual tension, less gunplay. Avrad also stresses that Nathan Drake is not just another Indiana Jones clone, saying "Indiana Jones was always a good guy and he relentlessly did the right thing. Drake is a guy who's being hauled over to virtue throughout the game". The story should at least make for a half-decent popcorn flick, but wasn't the main appeal of the game the fact it already felt like a movie?

[The Man Behind Marvel Movie Magic Hopes To Do the Same For Gaming]

Right now the patch is only showing up in PAL territories, though we're certain a North American release can't be too far behind. AHA! Err, UPDATE: Now available in the states!

Uncharted trophies patch released for PAL territories [PSU]

Fortunately, it sounds like some of them are related to shooting people in the face, something I excel at in Uncharted. However, we've been hearing rumors that if you can get Nathan Drake's shirt fully tucked in, it unlocks, like, twenty nude codes. We're confirming.

Uncharted Trophies Q&A [IGN]

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]

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

According to our sources, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune comes to Home armed with a side-scrolling 2D arcade game, described to us as reminiscent of both Contra and Out Of This World. Sounds kind of like Capcom's 2D remake of Bionic Commando in its execution, full of enemies and exploding barrels to shoot.

Sony is apparently pitching features like these to developers to extend the lives of their titles, using strong first and second party development showcases to prove that Home can effectively market outside of traditional means. We hope they take them up on their offer, because we're definitely excited about the prospects.

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]

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?

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:

This solid first-person shooter for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 may not be as innovative as The Orange Box and Super Mario Galaxy. It may not deliver an awe-inspiring glimpse at an eschewed philosophy like BioShock or create the sort of sizzling character interaction found in Uncharted, but, hands down, it is the most thoroughly entertaining video game of the past year.

The single-player story is captivating, set in a present-day Middle East and parts of Russia and comes at the player in a mix of sweeping cinematic set pieces and smart pacing that can easily glue the audience to the game for the entire six- to eight-hour experience.

It's a game that has the sorts of moments usually found only in film, hiding these startling revelations in gamers' blind spots. People you come to care about die. You die, and not in the sort of plastic, ephemeral death found in video games. These deaths are permanent and, at times, evocative.

A deep, seemingly limitless online multiplayer experience also adds quite a bit of life to the title. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare may seem like more of the same, but this title is the realization of a rewarding franchise meeting its complete potential.

Hit the link to check out my winners for the rest of the categories, including a selection of "hot flashes" I managed to sneak into the awards. Feel free to bash me here for not choosing (your selection here) for best (your category here).

Ps. I didn't write the awards' intro, that's one of those smart-asses I was talking about.
Game Gold

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]

..., 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.

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

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.

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]

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

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...

IGN
Uncharted does what few titles manage — it completely immerses you in its experience. From the moment the game begins with a sweeping camera move through the waters off Panama, a rich score and the words of Sir Francis Drake etched on screen, Uncharted will have you hooked. It'll maintain that hold with its story, style and gameplay.
GamerNode
...the characters in Uncharted are awesome. I thought Heavenly Sword was an anomaly, being a game rivaling most films in terms of voice acting and dialog, but Ratchet & Clank and now Uncharted have proven to me that it wasn't. Whether you hate the PS3 or not, you can't deny that a lot of the big titles do a great job in the voice acting and dialog department
TotalPlaystation
For a game that is really quite front-loaded with combat, you would think it could have felt a little more satisfying. Maybe it's a byproduct of this fancy-schmancy animation system that calculates and layers multiple pre-set animations on the fly, but the bullets never seemed to smack home with enough force (excepting the way a shotgun or a desert eagle could send someone flying 10 feet, mind you)...
1UP
Almost all of the handful or so of puzzles require you to crack open old-man Drake's diary for a hit-you-over-the-head solution. Think turning statues to the four compass points or rotating some rotting engravings...
Variety
At first blush it would be easy to compare Nathan Drake, the treasure-hunting star of Sony's new adventure videogame "Uncharted," with "Tomb Raider's" Lara Croft. But Drake leaves Lara in the dust, delivering the Indiana Jones experience better than gamers have ever seen it before...Anybody pick it up yet?

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune [iTunes via NeoGAF]

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!

The Uncharted deal is probably the best one of the lot, but while you're there, you might as well peruse the Wii section as well. Never know what will be lurking around in there plus there's liable to be less screaming children there than in Toys R Us.

Having had the pleasure of playing a fair amount of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune over the last couple of days I can tell you that it's quite a good time. Watching this video might lead you to believe that the whole game is shooting, but it's so much more. They seem to have taken the best bits from some great games and combined them together to create a really fun and entertaining gaming experience. Think Tomb Raider with some Gears of War thrown in, a little Prince of Persia for good measure and a storyline that will have you fondly reminiscing over Raiders of the Lost Ark. All this plus some of the best, if not the best graphics I have seen on the PS3 thus far. Make the jump to check out some of the wall scaling action.

Balestra says that when he learned of the news, he hopped in his car, carefully obeyed the speed limit on the drive back to the office and remedied the situation. Apparently, the values for hate_PAL and hate_JAPAN were both set to TRUE. Oops! It's a simple mistake.

Sure, you're gonna be on the ugly end of another 1.2 GB download, but I think you've whined enough. Enjoy!

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Demo Back on the World Map [PlayStation.blog]

We contacted Sony Computer Entertainment America who confirmed that the US version "does not allow for cross-region play" and that "the Japanese and PAL demo will both be released soon, but we don't have confirmed release dates." Unfortunately, the delay in the non-North American enjoyment of the Naughty Dog adventure can simply be chalked up to Uncharted's release date in its respective territories. Cold comfort, I know.

UPDATE: The official PlayStation.blog has a comment from Uncharted producer Sam Thompson who writes that "we have shared your frustration with the Naughty Dog team and we are going to see what we can do. I will be back tomorrow with an update, but in the meantime I hope you can be patient and bear with us." He adds that "I hope to have good news for you soon."

More free stuff has been uploaded with the release of Themes for the PS3. Sony has added the Pixels, Nature and Classy Pink themes to help spruce up your XMB. But wait, there's more.

Trailers for the aforementioned MotorStorm Devil's Weekend add-on, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw join a pair of new Burnout Paradise clips for this week's game videos. Spots for One Missed Call, Sweeney Todd and the Blu-ray release of Hostel Part II account for this week's Hollywood stuff. PlayStation 3 owners who watch these latest trailers will notice the new "Play" button which will let you watch the videos as they're downloaded to your hard drive. This will be a great feature once the PlayStation Network reaches acceptable speeds!

A handful of wallpapers for Call of Duty 4 bring up the rear.

Sorry, no threepeat for SCEA as this week does not add a new PSone game to the PlayStation Store. Are you really still reading this? Why aren't you actively downloading the Uncharted demo? Seriously, reevaluate your priorities.

If you head over to Sullivan's Stories you will find the ramblings of one of the upcoming PlayStation 3 game's main characters and, more importantly, a link to a Craigslist post showing an old Spanish map.

That's all I know for now, other than the fact that this is supposed to be—supposed to be—one of the hardest ARGs to come down the pipe to date. I just hope there's some sort of pay off at the end. So get to cracking and feel free to use the comments here to discuss your progress... or lack thereof.

Sullivan's Stories

Happy Halloween From Naughty Dog! [PlayStation.blog via 1UP]

But it's impossible to see a clip of Uncharted without getting a little excited, even if blowing up barrels slows the action more than we'd like.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune [gametrailers]

Uncharted gets firm US date [Eurogamer]

In addition to allusions to Gears' brand of "pop and stop" shooting, Uncharted features plenty of platforming. Rock climbing, jumping, rope swinging—much of it controls very well. Occasionally, some ledge traversing feels off or unpolished, but its more likely a product of the game's more organic level design. You won't see block by block levels a la Tomb Raider.

In fact, some levels are so realistic in their design, you might find yourself looking for your next destination with the game's look button (R2). I found myself missing some of the game's hints, such as gates or more heavily lit portions of the map and relying on the helpful look button.

The game has virtually no HUD, relying on other cues, some context sensitive, to replace a traditional HUD. When you take damage, you'll see the screen become desaturated. Despite the protagonist's real world nature, he can magically recover from bullet wounds simply by resting and recharging his imaginary, invisible shields, a la Halo. The only on-screen clutter you'll normally see is your ammunition supply. It's very clean and lends itself to a more cinematic approach.

The action controls well, along with some unique uses of the SIXAXIS. As you may have seen, traversing things like fallen logs will require some balance, aided by the PS3 controller. Throwing grenades, for instance, requires one to aim the weapons throwing arc by tilting the SIXAXIS forward or backward. Some camera issues aside, it works rather well.

At this point, the game feels like a solid blend of action, platforming and puzzle solving. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is very easy on the eyes and may wind up being a graphical showcase for the system. A few minor quibbles about camera control aside, it looks like the game is shaping up to be very solid when it's released for the PS3 this November.

Kikizo spoke with Naughty Dog design lead Richard Lemarchand in an effort to squeeze out more details on the PLAYSTATION 3 exclusive, including talk about SIXAXIS support, trophies for Home and the typical PS3 developer Cell lovefest. Oh, nice new screens, too!

This is looking a lot like some of that "promise" I paid for. "TBA Date" can't come soon enough. Michael McWhertor

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Interview [Kikizo]

Of course, the down side is that five of those are for Sony's own MLB 07: The Show. The other two are for the stunning Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and SOE's port of Championship Sprint, which I can only assume indicates a May 31 release of the arcade racer.

Now, for the Weekly Bitching Update. There are new trailers for Folklore, LittleBigPlanet, Heavenly Sword, Lair and SOCOM Confrontation from Gamers Day that we PLAYSTATION 3 owners would just love to see on the Store, yet they're still not up. They should be. Maybe I'm just bitter about not getting into the Warhawk beta. Michael McWhertor

I've also heard rumors that at least one upcoming PS3 title shown at the recent Sony Gamers Day will get the high definition trailer treatment. Since it's currently unconfirmed and I'd hate to be wrong here, I'll just give you a hint. The game rhymes with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Any guesses? Michael McWhertor

Instead, you'll find Sony Online Entertainment's hi-def port of Midway's Rampage World Tour (five bucks), and a trailer for the arcade classic Joust. That's it.

Hey, Sony, we'd love to see some of this stuff show up on the Store. Really. Can you make that happen? Michael McWhertor