Archief - [PS4] The Last Guardian

[During a chat last week with Kotaku about his upcoming PlayStation 3 game, developer Fumito Ueda discussed two key, but uncertain, developments regarding his much-loved PlayStation 2 work.

Ueda indicated that he will play some role in the creation of the April-announced Shadow of the Colossus movie. The project would turn into a movie the Ueda-directed 2005 PS2 adventure that featured a boy wandering the plains, hunting quiet lumbering beasts. "It won't be that I'm completely not involved," he said of the film.

The developer shied away from providing details about the planned movie.

The spring announcement of the Hollywood project was received skeptically among gamers scorched by a film industry that has failed to make good movies about games half as subtle and respected as Shadow of the Colossus. Ueda's apparent involvement in the film, if significant enough, could calm some of that concern.

Ueda also provided us a minor update on the future of both Shadow of the Colossus and its predecessor, Ico, on modern video game systems. Both games are considered modern classics and are at least thematically linked to Ueda and Team Ico's next project, The Last Guardian. (Read Ueda talk more about The Last Guardian.) The recent announcement of a slightly-enhanced port of the PS2 God of War games to the PS3 has compelled gamers to buzz about their hope for a similar compilation port of the PS2's Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. The developer wants it to happen too.

"I do have an interest in that," Ueda said during our Friday chat. "Next week, I'll have a meeting [about the possibility] ... But it might not be so easy, because, with both titles we really stretched the limits of the PS2. It's complex. So it's not such an easy transfer to the PS3. But I want to discuss it."

The work of Ueda's team lives on in many discussions about the best video games of the past decade. At TGS, Ueda gave signs that that work may also have a good future on the big screen and on the PS3 as well.

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* The Last Guardian will be similar to Ico
* The game we will not be as confined as in Ico.
* Torico-AI will focus on that moods and reactions to the environment. The game will be based on its relationship with the child to solve puzzles and explore the fortress.
* There will be less fighting sequences in TLG than in ICO
* Torico can apparently eliminate the guards, the child however can’t do that (so he will be playing undercover when he is alone)
* Guards in armor are actually shadows, when their armor glows, they can vanish.
* Ueda is wary not to make the game’s puzzles too difficult however he wants to maintain a good amount of challenge and hence they’re constantly beta-testing to measure the difficulty of puzzles and find the right balance.

* Ueda stated that he’s allowed to achieve things with the PS3 which he couldn’t manage to fulfil due to the tech on offer with PS2.
* Torico’s feathers, butterflies, dust, particles, everything is managed in real time, many great animations were all made by hand.
* Team ICO has sought technical advice from all in-house Sony Studios wherever possible.

* Ueda, does not consider his work as art. It could go much, much further in the concept art but that would make it difficult for some fun and commercial viability of titles. He must find the right balance.
* The game’s original music is not the one presented in the trailer. It’s just a test track being used.
* Ueda didn’t reveal who the Last Guardian is, Torico or the boy. He said we’ll have to find out.

* Ueda would love the game to release on time, however he won’t rush things.
* Ueda has assured that the game will be released by the end of this year, atleast in Japan.

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I announced at last year’s Tokyo Game Show that the release timing of The Last Guardian which is currently being developed would be holiday 2011.

However, to provide more challenging and better quality of content to users and to fulfill First Party Studio’s obligations, I decided to postpone its release timing.

All the members of my production team are working together at a fast pace to develop and release the game in First Party Studio quality.

I sincerely apologize to all the customers who have been waiting for “The Last Guardian” for so long, but I beg for your patience. I will also announce the new release timing at a later time.

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Ico, Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian creator Fumito Ueda has left Sony, Eurogamer understands.

Japanese video game development sources indicated the 41-year-old is working on finishing oft-delayed PlayStation 3 exclusive The Last Guardian in a freelance capacity.

Ueda's departure from Sony internal development studio Team Ico is one of the reasons for the game's protracted development, Eurogamer was told.

Following the completion of the game, Ueda will embark on personal projects.

In September Sony reassured gamers that Team Ico was still "hard at work" on The Last Guardian, despite the high-profile PS3 exclusive missing the Tokyo Game Show.

The previous month SCE Studios president Shuhei Yoshida gave an exasperated-sounding Last Guardian progress update:

"It's been very difficult in terms of seeing the progress: not as fast as we'd been hoping for, and the team has been under big pressure," he said.

Sony told Eurogamer it does not comment on rumour and speculation.

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In a statement received by Gamasutra on Monday, Sony confirmed that while the creator is no longer working as an employee, he is finishing the upcoming The Last Guardian on a contract basis, and is "committed to completing" the project.

Ueda's sudden departure is particularly significant, as The Last Guardian is still in mid-development, and is very much a product of Ueda's creative influence. In addition, Ueda's pedigree of successful games has placed him among Sony's top developers -- making this move a notable loss for the company.

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