The Last of Us

How We Made The Last of Us‘s Interface Work So Well

Editor’s note: The following is a guest editorial by Naughty Dog UI designer Alexandria Neonakis. If you’re a professional in the video game industry and you’d like to write about some of your experiences, contact [email protected] When I started at Naughty Dog in November of 2012, the studio never had a dedicated UI (user interface)…

The Prettiest Clicker You’ll Ever See

An elegant Lady Clicker from The Last of Us by Josh Summana. Click through for his takes on Link, Smaug, and a futuristic Nightwing: You can buy prints of his work here and watch a video of him painting Lara Croft here Via Insanely Gaming You are now looking at Screenburn, a Kotaku blog dedicated…

In Defense Of Zombie Games

Even in video game terms, this week has been chock full of zombie news. Sony and Microsoft, the dueling juggernauts of the console market, both offered up fresh and appropriately gory details about their respective (and exclusive) open-world games about killing the living dead—H1Z1 and State of Decay. Personally, I’m excited for both games. And…

Dishonored, Last Of Us, And Canabalt Digital Dioramas

These digital dioramas are very cool to rotate and magnify: Canabalt Dishonored The Last of Us You are now looking at Screenburn, a Kotaku blog dedicated to the best gaming images, videos and GIFs online.

Abandoned Malls Look Like Sad, Empty Video Games

There’s a Facebok group called Dead Mall Enthusiasts. It’s a fascinating collection of photos people have taken of abandoned malls across America. There are all kinds of socioloical reasons why that’s interesting, but what’s really got me is how they look like a video game artist’s portfolio come to life. Left 4 Dead. Dead Rising.…

Yes, ​The Last of Us Is Coming to PS4 This Summer

Update, 04/09/14, 02:11 p.m.: Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann tweeted that the studio is targeting a 60 fps framerate for The Last of Us Remastered. Update, 04/09/14, 12:45 p.m.: And here’s a post on the official PlayStation blog with more info on The Last of Us Remastered, which is given a Summer 2014 release window Update,…

If Video Game Covers Were More Honest

Over at Complex Gaming they’re having some fun adding “honest” blurbs to popular game covers, asking “What if games told the truth before you dropped $60?” Honestly, I’d probably buy them for the blurbs alone. For example, I still have not finished The Last of Us — I know, I am a communist for this.…

Sony Announces, Doesn’t Announce The Last of Us For PS4

In the video game industry, big publishers like to stick to strict marketing plans. Unlike, say, the film world, where directors and writers will frequently talk about their goals and future projects, video game companies typically won’t discuss their plans until the PR schedule says it’s okay. This can lead to some ridiculous situations. Take…

Make Your Street Look Like Something Out Of The Last Of Us

Games like The Last of Us, Enslaved and Tokyo Jungle give us glimpses of what life would look like after people have all but disappeared. It’s often beautiful, but unless you live in one of the places shown in those games, it’s not exactly relevant. Urban Jungle, on the other hand, lets you add a…

Ah, So This Is The Guy Who Made One Of Last Year’s Best Jokes

Tal Peleg is senior cinematics animator at Naughty Dog, where he worked on The Last Of Us. If you ever wondered where the wonderful Joel-does-the-Banderas animation came from, well, Tal’s your man. Prior to that, Tal worked at Visceral Games (Dead Space), and also did some stuff for space viking flick Outlander. In his spare…

Ellie and Riley From The Last of Us Get A Lovely Illustrated Tribute

Aw, man. I’m feeling emotions. We got plenty of new insight into Ellie and her friendship with Riley in The Last of Us: Left Behind. This illustration by Pugletz on Deviantartfills in as a nice coda. It’s heartwarming, it’s beautifully drawn, and it will probably make you feel things. (Spoilers for The Last of Us:…

Unnecessary Censorship Makes The Last of Us Much Grosser

“Sorry for ****ing your horse.” This semi-spoilery censored take on The Last of Us, put together by YouTuber NormalDifficulty, is both funny and disgusting. Enjoy.

Sony Is Making A Last of Us Movie

One might wonder: how the hell do you turn a game as cinematic as The Last of Us into a movie? One will keep wondering. Sony’s doing it, working alongside Naughty Dog and Screen Gems to make their PS3 hit into a film. Naughty Dog bosses Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra are teaming up with…

You Should Pay Closer Attention To A Video Game’s Opening Credits

In case you ever wanted to know more about how a video game title sequence was put together, here’s a great interviewwith the three folks most responsible for The Last Of Us’ gross intro. You might think that all those swooshing cells and infection (see below) was done on a computer, but nope. Those are…

Watch Grounded: The Making of The Last of Us Right Here

This is Grounded: Making The Last of Us, an 85-minute documentary that gives us a backstage look at Naughty Dog’s critically-acclaimed PS3 game. (And Kotaku‘s 2013 Game of the Year!) Via Sony, and the film-makers at Area-5, you can watch the whole thing above.

There’s a ’50/50′ Shot The Last Of Us Gets Another Game, Says Creator

It’s difficult to discuss why so many people would not want a sequel toThe Last of Us without getting deep into spoiler territory. Its story has … rather clear boundaries, let’s say. But the game’s creative director said in a Reddit AMA that there’s a 50/50 chance there’ll be another game in the series. Neil…

​How Left Behind Gives New Insight Into The Last of Us‘ Ending

In the end, both The Last of Us and its (fantastic) new downloadable expansion Left Behind had a lot to say about life, loss, and why we fight to survive. But they said those things in slightly different ways. Spoilers follow for both The Last of Us and The Last of Us: Left Behind. The…

Curious how they made The Last of Us? The documentary Grounded: The Making of The Last of Us is now free on Amazon. Apparently it’s pretty good, too!

Video Gaming’s Latest Breakthrough Moment

There are topics that mainstream video games rarely tackle, but lately, the list is getting shorter. It got shorter yet again last week. It happened in a PS3 game, or rather, in an expansion to a PS3 game from last year. It’s something I can’t not talk about. Spoilers for The Last of Us: Left…

The Last of Us: Left Behind: The Kotaku Review

I’ve never played anything quite like The Last of Us: Left Behind Oh, something like it might exist, out there in the hidden corners of videogame-land. I’ve just never seen it. Let’s cut to the chase. My recommendation: Go play it. We can talk spoilers next week. But okay, okay. If you really want a…