Nolan North Says Eight Months of Amy Hennig’s Work Was Thrown Away on Uncharted 4
Nathan Drake voice actor Nolan North has opened up a little on how Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End has changed since the departure of Amy Hennig.Speaking at MetroCon earlier this month, North was asked about what alterations have been made to Uncharted 4 since Hennig, who wrote and directed the first three titles, left Naughty Dog. “We had shot 8 months of her story, and it was all thrown away,” he said.”The Last of Us guys came in, and you have to understand, new producers, new people, they want to do it,” North said. I don’t know what happened exactly. Amy is still a very, very dear friend of mine, and she’s brilliant. But the Last of Us guys were the next team there so they took over, and they just wanted their own flavor.”While Hennig is now working on Star Wars at Electronic Arts, The Last of Us directors Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann are heading up Uncharted 4. And North seems excited about one of the changes Straley and Druckmann have made to the PlayStation 4 game, highlighting the decision to bring Troy Baker on as Nathan Drake’s brother.
“Great move they made with Troy Baker, playing my brother, and they knew that was going to work because Troy and I are friends. He had done Joel, and they knew he and I had good rapport,” North said. “So it’ll be fun.”
Mafia 3 Domains Registered Under Take-Two
Take-Two recently registered a number of domains related to Mafia 3, including Mafia3TheGame.com, MafiaIIITheGame.com, MafiaThree.com, and MafiaThreeTheGame.com.These domains, registered on June 25th, were first found by NeoGAF user ekim on domain tracking site Daily Changes. Most publishers take measures to mask their name on things like domain registrations and trademark applications, but this time the domain’s WhoIs entry was screencapped by GameInformer before all mention of Take-Two Games was removed.
The third installment in the Mafia series was originally revealed as a launch title for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One all the way back in 2012, which obviously never happened. Earlier this year, a Mafia 2 voice actor also teased the possibility of upcoming Mafia news.
Based on the new domain registrations, several fans are anticipating a Mafia 3 reveal at Gamescom, which will take place August 5-9.
Visceral Star Wars Game Reportedly ‘In the Style of Uncharted’
Visceral Games’ upcoming Star Wars title will be “in the style of Uncharted,” according to voice actor Nolan North.During a panel at Metricon 2015 (via NeoGAF), the voice of Nathan Drake shared a few details about the upcoming game, which former Uncharted writer Amy Hennig is working on over at Electronic Arts.”If you’re a big fan of Amy Hennig with her styles of stories, the big thing about her is that she’s gone to EA and is going to reboot a brand new Star Wars franchise in the style of Uncharted and I happen to know a lot about it and it’s gonna be awesome,” North said.We still know very little about Visceral Games’ upcoming Star Wars game, as EA remained tight-lipped about the title during its E3 2015 media briefing. Instead, the publisher decided to shine the spotlight firmly on DICE’s upcoming shooter Star Wars Battlefront.
Why Halo 5: Guardians Microtransactions Aren’t Pay to Win
While gamers will be able to purchase REQ packs with actual money in Halo 5: Guardians, developer 343 Industries has systems in place to prevent the game’s Warzone mode from being a pay-to-win experience.In Q&A on Halo Waypoint, 343i studio head Josh Holmes addressed such concern from the community, confirming that the “deployment of REQ items is limited by the REQ Level and Energy systems that govern the Warzone experience,” while also noting that “each REQ item costs a certain amount of Energy to deploy” and “the amount of energy available to you is limited by your REQ Level.”At the beginning of each match, every player starts at Level 1, so the ability to utilize REQ packs is kept in check, and as such, everyone is on equal footing. Only by accomplishing tasks during the match will players be able to level up and in turn get more energy to deploy REQs.343 Industries has confirmed that it won’t be charging players for multiplayer maps that will be released as post-launch DLC. As such, the studio has opted for a microtransaction route as an alternate revenue stream.
The Elder Scrolls Online Creative Director Joins Gearbox
Paul Sage, the Creative Director of The Elder Scrolls Online, has quit Zenimax to join Borderlands studio Gearbox Software.Zenimax confirmed Sage’s departure on The Elder Scrolls Online’s official forums, stating, “He, along with rest of the team, are very happy with how the game is doing and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.”Lead Content Designer Rich Lambert, who previously worked on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, takes over Sage’s role as Creative Director.Back in January, Gearbox president Randy Pitchford began advertising new jobs for the “next Borderlands team” on Twitter and the official Gearbox website. Sage lists himself as Creative Director at Gearbox Software on LinkedIn, but does not mention a specific project.
Batman: Arkham Origins Developer Working on New Open-World Action IP
The studio behind 2013’s Batman: Arkham Origins, WB Games — Montreal, is hiring for a “new IP project for next generation game platforms.”According to several job listings on the studio’s website, the new project is an open-world action game for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game will likely be developed using Unreal Engine 4, as “familiarity with UE3 engine” is listed under the Technical Director position.The studio most recently worked on LEGO Legends of Chima Online, a free-to-play MMORPG for iOS and Mac.
PlayStation Plus Turns 5 Years Old
Today is the fifth anniversary of PlayStation Plus, but Sony is the one handing out presents.According to the PlayStation Blog, PS Plus users who have been signed up to the service from the very beginning will be receiving a free “limited edition” gift. If you think you’re one of these people, keep checking your emails today. According to Reddit users posting screen shots of their emails, it seems Sony is asking for addresses to send a personal lithograph with a summery of their greatest achievementes.
Fallout 4 Collector’s Edition Pip-Boy Won’t Work With Larger Phones
The much sought-after Fallout 4 Collector’s Edition Pip-Boy will work with regular-sized smart phones, but those with larger models are out of luck.As detailed in a recent Bethesda Blog entry, the foam inserts included with the Pip-Boy casing will fit the iPhone 6, iPhone 5/5S, iPhone 4/4S, Samsung Galaxy 5, and Samsung Galaxy 4. A customizable foam insert will also be included for those who own another model or brand with a similar build.However, any phones larger than those listed – including the iPhone 6+ – won’t fit inside the casing.”As we wanted to stay faithful to the dimensions of the in-game model, any smartphones larger than the models listed will not fit inside the wearable device” the post states. “For these larger devices, our Pip-Boy companion app will still be available.”
The Fallout 4 Pip-Boy edition was available for pre-order for $119.99, but is currently sold out in North America.
Strike Vector EX Will Include Single Player Story Campaign On PS4 & Xbox One
In January last year Strike Vector was released by RageQuit corporation on PC, and the multiplayer aerial combat game got some pretty decent reviews. Now the game is coming to PS4 and Xbox One this autumn with the added suffix of EX bolted on, as it signifies some changes that console players will get. The major addition is that Strike Vector EX will now have a single player story on PS4 and Xbox One, but it doesn’t look like such an update is coming to PC. Or at least there is no mention of such a thing by RageQuit.
Secondly Strike Vector EX won’t put players on completely empty servers, stuck there waiting for a match to start. Instead matches will start with AI bots taking the place of human players, that is until someone else joins to take the bot’s place. There doesn’t seem to be a price yet, though the original does cost £8.99 on Steam, and we’re sure to get a release date soon.
