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[Pureauthor]

I alternate between feeling sorry for Ueda and wanting to mock him.

I have no confidence whatsoever in this game actually being any good.

 

[RPGCrazied]

This and versus I bet get moved over to next gen.

 

[StuBurns]

This and versus I bet get moved over to next gen.

Moving this makes a tiny bit of sense, moving Versus makes none.

 

[Afrikan]

"Sorry, we forgot how to make a videogame for 7 years".

I'd have "technical difficulties" with taking an entire team out back and shooting them behind the sheds for this sham of a development too. Its what makes us human.

Makes us human? You believe they should all be shot for what reason again?

Im not a game developer, but I can see many scenarios of how game can run into "technical difficulties. Where other publishers might rush a game by making gameplay or visual sacrifices just to make it to the market because they need content out there....Sony is in a position where they can be more patient than usual, just to get the best out of the situation as possible.

 

[Raxus]

At least it lives up to it's name.

 

[Death Dealer]

thought of a great concept, made a good engine and good designs.

yes, ?, ?


Can anyone refresh my memory on the available video footage of this game ? I think I remember a 10 second clip leaked from some game show about 4 years ago ?

That's it ?

Yeah I wonder if this project has ever evolved past a tech demo stage ? Maybe it's only the boy and the creature standing in a castle with rudimentary tricks and no connecting game content.

 

[StuBurns]

yes, ?, ?


Can anyone refresh my memory on the available video footage of this game ? I think I remember a 10 second clip leaked from some game show about 4 years ago ?

That's it ?

Yeah I wonder if this project has ever evolved past a tech demo stage ? Maybe it's only the boy and the creature standing in a castle with rudimentary tricks and no connecting game content.

There have been three official trailers, a leaked trailer, and development footage from interviews.

 

[Dan]

Did Ueda forget to have his team work on an actual engine?

 

[Opiate]

You want to play this game? Fine.

Since 2005/Shadow of the Colossus:
Valve has released:
Half-Life 2: Episode One 2006
Half-Life 2: Episode Two 2007
Portal 2007
Team Fortress 2 2007
Portal 2 2011
Dota 2 2012

Blizzard has released:
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade 2007
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King 2008
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty 2010
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm 2010
Diablo III 2012

I see Team Ico now as nothing more than a resource drain. The ongoing development of this game is paying wages to seemingly incompetent people that could all be saved up for a fucking special indie pub fund, a money hat for an exclusive or two: people that actually make videogames, for which I exchange money for and enjoy, and Sony reaps an actual profit: we all win.

Valve has also released Left 4 Dead 1 and Left 4 Dead 2 in that time span for a total of 8 games (or 7 if you'd like to combine HL ep. 1/2 in to a single "game," which seems fair given their duration).

Blizzard is also soon releasing Heart of the Swarm and Mists of Pandaria (certainly both will be out well before The Last Guardian is), and also maintain all of their games with consistent patches and updates (particularly WoW) which occur even between game launches and expansions. Diablo 3 already has two patches and numerous non-patch updates and has its third most significant patch announced for later this month.

Just to make it clear how different the output between these two companies and Team Ico is.

 

[Afrikan]

I personally think the issue they ran into might have to do with their physics engine, along with their charactor's awareness tech....there might be funky glitches that happen through out the game.

 

[greepoman]

I'm pretty sure, you're not pretty sure, as it started in 2001 at Blizzard North.

It may have started there but blizzard north was shut down in 2005 so who knows how much was carried over. Not to mention the formal Diablo 3 announcement was in mid 2008 so it's not like they've been promising it for 11 years.

 

[Blizzard]

Valve has also released Left 4 Dead 1 and Left 4 Dead 2 in that time span for a total of 8 games (or 7 if you'd like to combine HL ep. 1/2 in to a single "game," which seems fair given their duration).

Blizzard is also soon releasing Heart of the Swarm and Mists of Pandaria (certainly both will be out well before The Last Guardian is), and also maintain all of their games with consistent patches and updates (particularly WoW) which occur even between game launches and expansions. Diablo 3 already has two patches and numerous non-patch updates and has its third most significant patch announced for later this month.

Just to make it clear how different the output between these two companies and Team Ico is.

Valve is also probably pulling in money from Steam, and Blizzard is probably pulling in money from WoW. So it isn't like they have no income between games, to contrast with the resource drain comment.

 

[Kasumi1970]

LOL

 

[jonabbey]

Ueda-san forever. Respect.

 

[olimpia84]

So PS4 launch title then?

 

[StuBurns]

It may have started there but blizzard north was shut down in 2005 so who knows how much was carried over. Not to mention the formal Diablo 3 announcement was in mid 2008 so it's not like they've been promising it for 11 years.

TLG was announced June '09, so if all you care about is the announcement date, it's still less.

 

[RoboPlato]

Jed's may be a genius but he sure sucks at managing a team and development resources. Three generations and only two games released.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Wow. Great post

clarifications

Glad you enjoyed, but lets be fairer since Valve and Blizzard are big companies of many internal teams, and thus lets narrow the lens to graduates fresh from respective universities starting out in game development for the first time in 2005, the release of Shadow of the Colossus.

Graduate #1: Kim Swift
- Kim Swift and co graduate Digipen and release senior project Narbacular Drop [2005].
- Join up with Valve to make Portal [2007] which goes on to massive success
- Portal 2 [2011] releases to wide acclaim (apparently Kim Swift didn't work on this, but her co-Narbacular creators I guess did)
- Kim Swift's next game after leaving Valve is Quantum Conundrum [2012] set to release this summer last I heard.

Graduate #2: Jenova Chen
- Jenova meets Kellee Santiago as a student and creates Cloud [2005]
- For his thesis, Jenova creates a game which in turn came to the PS3 as flOw [2007] and began thatgamecompany.
- Now making games full-time, thatgamecompany's first non-academia developed game for the 3-game Sony deal is Flower [2009]
- Journey [2012] also releases to wide acclaim.
- Kellee leaves the roost, but Jenova and thatgamecompany are developing their new game now away from Sony's bosom, which may infact be multiplatform.

Ueda has given several university talks and lectures since 2005.

 

[StuBurns]

Kim Swift didn't work on Portal 2.

 

[KillGore]

I want it to be PS4 launch title now

 

[Corto]

This is a case study for development hell. The game, if it indeed releases, will never live up to our expectations. Players and press will nitpick it just on spite due to the prolonged and troubled development time. "What?! All this time and it's not a solid 60 FPS? LOL" To downscale it to the Vita at this point would be the kiss of death. PS4 should be the target goal in my opinion, and the sooner Sony communicates that, the better. "Due to the ambition of the whole project, Sony and Ueda decided to release this game on the next generation of Sony home console. This was a difficult decision that ultimately serves the game, the creative vision of its creator and the future players that will enjoy it. Etc etc"

 

[Pie and Beans]

Kim Swift didn't work on Portal 2.

I see. I had started with graduate groups (Narbacular and Cloud) initially before I scaled back to individuals. Have edited, thanks. The point still stands though, and why Team Ico must really be drowning in pure shame these days.

 

[StuBurns]

I see. I had started with graduate groups (Narbacular and Cloud) initially before I scaled back to individuals. Have edited, thanks. The point still stands though, and why Team Ico must really be drowning in pure shame these days.

She did work on L4D 1 and 2 though, so it's not like she wasn't doing resume shinning material in the interim.

 

[Speevy]

We're bashing Team ICO now? Really? There is no Team ICO. Ueda was Team ICO, and when The Last Guardian is finished or cancelled, the studio will be closed, absorbed, or focused on something else entirely.

You're bashing one of the most unique and celebrated studios that gaming has ever seen.

In just two games, they showed us a vision that hasn't even been hinted at before or since.

Valve/Blizzard can release 100 games and they won't replace ICO or Shadow of the Colossus.

 

[televator]

What the hell are they trying to run that causes technical difficulties for like 5 years? Are they making the cell self aware?

 

[patsu]

I think it's okay for Ueda to take his time if he aimed for a high target. I don't really care who has released how many titles. It's irrelevant because the ideas and concepts are different. I would be more sad if they rush it like Lair and other games. Do something different. If it takes time to develop, there's also a chance that it's not easy to replicate.

I am also interested in the team and what they have learned. I am supremely interested in a "Behind the Scene" look at what has transpired.

 

[paskowitz]

So PS4 launch title then?

If it means the game actually comes out, I am ok with this.

 

[Supervlieg]

How hard can it be to implement motion controls

 

[Lord Error]

You want to play this game? Fine.

That's a bizarre comparison, as those two must have multiple teams working on multiple games at the same time. There was more than ten years wait between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3, I don't see why would there be an outrage if a small team developing an ambitious game doesn't make something every 4-5 years on the clock.

 

[cuyahoga]

If we knew a lot more about how much Team Ico were paid salary wise, you'd get a pretty good idea of exactly how fucking insane a money sink this whole thing has been.

From what I understand, there isn't parity among salaries between Japan and America. I imagine this would top out at $35-40 million, which is your high end SCEA/SCEE exclusive.

 

[Pie and Beans]

That's a bizarre comparison, as those two must have multiple teams working on multiple games at the same time. There was more than ten years wait between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3, I don't see why would there be an outrage if a small team developing an ambitious game doesn't make something every 4-5 years on the clock.

I made a fairer sequel line of reasoning above.

From what I understand, there isn't parity among salaries between Japan and America. I imagine this would top out at $35-40 million, which is your high end SCEA/SCEE exclusive.

I like torturing myself with actual numbers though, so I can throw out ridiculous what could have beens like John Carter's budget [400 million?] could have paid for thirteen District 9 [30 million] calibur movies. Its a fun game to play.

 

[Xamdou]

Lmao!

You know damn well Sisko will not be silent about any update on The Last Guardian!

 

[patsu]

Any title comparison is futile until we know what game TLG really is. ^_^

 

[StuBurns]

Any title comparison is futile until we know what game TLG really is. ^_^

It's Ico, but Yorda got the Never Ending Story kibosh put on her.

 

[UrbanRats]

It's Ico, but Yorda got the Never Ending Story kibosh put on her.

Replaying Ico the other day month was really painful, so i hope not.

EDIT: Though i ran through it cause i wanted to play SotC, i have to admit.

 

[Last Hearth]

Cancel the game, release the CGI as an animation movie. Most people just want the story anyway.

 

[sajj316]

I'm convinced it will be a PS4 title

 

[SamuraiX-]

The Last Guardian is going to be a picture. One frame per forever.

Laughed way too hard at this.

The game will either be reduced in quality to all hell and be one of the finals games released on the PS3 or actually get finished within a reasonable timeframe when they readjusted everything to the specs of Sony's next-gen system.

Sad to see. I just hope Trico comes to the realization eventually before the project is scrapped altogether.

 

[Clear]

I'd rather they take 10 years and get it right, than dumping it out the door in a jury-rigged state in order to satiate the impatient.

This was always going to be an extraordinarily ambitious project, and frankly I'm grateful that Sony has stuck with it through all the difficulties. Many other backers wouldn't.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

It must be nice to be Team ICO. So many other developers this generation have been shut down despite being able to deliver games in a timely manner and at a respectable quality. It seems there are at least a few people here, and even some up high at Sony that are willing to wait forever for The Last Guardian to materialize.

 

[StuBurns]

It must be nice to be Team ICO. So many other developers this generation have been shut down despite being able to deliver games in a timely manner and at a respectable quality. It seems there are at least a few people here, and even some up high at Sony that are willing to wait forever for The Last Guardian to materialize.

Sony started Team ICO for the sake of 'art', they're probably in the best situation of any studio in the world. Yes, it must be nice.

 

[Vard]

Sad news to hear. Hope they get it sorted out soon.

 

[SkyMasterson]

I'd be completely fine if they pushed it to the PS4.

Hell Ico was a PS1 game then they switched over to PS2 late in it's development cycle.

At this point it's been so long that I just don't care about it right now.

But if they put it aside for the PS4 launch or launch window, I think they'll generate that excitement again.

Though that sounds too reasonable.

 

[WARP10CK]

It's dead moving on been hyped about this game for too long, if it's released it will suck anyway. Duke Nukem anyone ?

 

[Ra1den]

I'd rather they take 10 years and get it right, than dumping it out the door in a jury-rigged state in order to satiate the impatient.

This was always going to be an extraordinarily ambitious project, and frankly I'm grateful that Sony has stuck with it through all the difficulties. Many other backers wouldn't.

My thoughts exactly. It's not like we don't all have a million other games to catch up with anyway. I'd be fine if every game out there had 10 year dev cycles.

 

[VALIS]

You guys saying it will/it should be a PS4 launch title are out of your minds. The reason why it wasn't mentioned at the biggest gaming event of the year is by all accounts the project is a runaway clusterfuck and probably has a better chance of being scrapped than coming out at all.

PS4 launch title. My goodness.

 

[apana]

Why stop there? Why not 15 year dev cycles, games that span multiple generations?

 

[Ra1den]

Why stop there? Why not 15 year dev cycles, games that span multiple generations?

10 years is where I draw the line.

 

[Lord Error]

You guys saying it will/it should be a PS4 launch title are out of your minds. The reason why it wasn't mentioned at the biggest gaming event of the year is by all accounts the project is a runaway clusterfuck and probably has a better chance of being scrapped than coming out at all.

PS4 launch title. My goodness.

I really don't see why wouldn't they do that, if they are comitted to not scraping it, like it seems that they are. They have practically nothing to lose and everything to gain by moving it to PS4 at this point.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

Horrible horrible management surrounding this game. Inexcusable. No way this game can be profitable, especially if they actually move it to PS4 with a limited install base.