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UC4 Game Director Justin Richmond Leaves ND (And famousmortimer leaves GAF #1393)

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Toparaman

Banned
Honestly I hope this means a new series from ND. Do they really need to go the whole setpiece-blockbuster route again? I thought Last of Us was a step in the right direction, though the gameplay was too repetitive. At least it wasn't a setpiece-fest.

The Order seems to already be accounting for the Hollywood-spectacle game, so it would be interesting to see something with more gameplay depth, but big-budget production values. Why does interesting gameplay have to be limited to indies for yet another generation?
 

StuBurns

Banned
Honestly I hope this means a new series from ND. Do they really need to go the whole setpiece-blockbuster route again? I thought Last of Us was a step in the right direction, though the gameplay was too repetitive. At least it wasn't a setpiece-fest.

The Order seems to already be accounting for the Hollywood-spectacle game, so it would be interesting to see something with more gameplay depth, but big-budget production values. Why does interesting gameplay have to be limited to indies for yet another generation?
Uncharted 4 is not canceled.
 

TechnicPuppet

Nothing! I said nothing!
I hope so because Killzone Shadow Fall is terrible, and Knack wasn't anything special. Finally while inFamous looked pretty, and the core gameplay mechanics were incredible, the mission design was awful. I am still waiting for Sony to bring their A game to PS4.

I haven't played any of them but they are launch games. Things will improve.

Well "AAA" games at least. Indies/digital download only titles will make up for games overall.

It's a good thing IMO since Sony wasted money on a decent number of "AAA" PS3 games that weren't that good. Still wonder where a series like SOCOM would be if Sony put more money into it instead of making new shooter IPs.

Maybe call it experimenting instead of wasting money. I don't like any of their IP except Infamous so I am hoping they shift focus, for example GG are meant to be making a WRPG instead of another shooter.
 

Rezae

Member
Wonder if Sony is just overall tightening their belt and some at ND don't agree with potentially being an UC/TLoU factory for this gen.

Or maybe it's just cliques disrupting the environment.

Or one of about a bazillion other things. Who knows. It's definitely obvious something is going on behind the scenes, not just at ND, but a lot of their studios. That, or we're just making a big deal out of things that have happened all the time in the industry and being a bit sensational about it.
 
who is duckman?

This guy...

2548380-duckman.gif


He works at Naughty Dog.
 

Navy Bean

Member
2 high profile team members leaving certainly doesn't inspire confidence. Sounds like the team is conflicted about the direction of the next game. I personally hope they de-emphasize shooting from the game but that NEVER happens.
 

Dusky

Member
If it's Uncharted rebooted count me in.

Had enough of the pulpy stuff. Bring that back in 6 or 7 years. Right now, I want something cool.

Totally agree. Despite UC2 being one of my favourite games of last gen the Uncharted series needs a new look for me to take interest again.
 
the new I.P fan club
.... they exist
Well OK, I guess I can understand that - thanks :)

While you are joking, there seems to be a lot of truth to the time-to-triangle thing. Something like inFamous: SS, in technical terms, would have been quite unthinkable on PS3 or even 360 only a few months after launch.
No joke. I'm on my second playthrough of Infamous:SS and its still unthinkable at times.
 
It's pretty apparent considering Sony tried to forget about it as fast as possible. No announcements, not even any numbers from the directors as we got with GoW3. Usually means sales were disappointing. It disappeared quickly from the charts as well.
Considering we know the budget is roughly the same as GoW3 I think it's not a stretch to assume they didn't break even if we figure in the marketing costs. Of course I don't have any facts.

I can't for the life of me find the thread about games revenue per game for Europe but I seem to remember than Ascension did well enough.


It's opening week was way way below God of War 3. Don't have the exact figures but it is here on GAF, in the NPD thread for the Ascension opening month. Same goes for its UK opening.

I cannot really quantify way way way below but 600,000+ in the first month in the US for an unnumbered entry is pretty good.

Edit: Got it;

uq3iU7A.jpg


That with first month of sales in the US should be around $70M in revenue for GoW:A.
 

Lemondish

Member
Wonder if Sony is just overall tightening their belt and some at ND don't agree with potentially being an UC/TLoU factory for this gen.

Or maybe it's just cliques disrupting the environment.

Or one of about a bazillion other things. Who knows. It's definitely obvious something is going on behind the scenes, not just at ND, but a lot of their studios. That, or we're just making a big deal out of things that have happened all the time in the industry and being a bit sensational about it.

Naughty Dog just recently commented about how Sony gives them full creative freedom. I don't think they were lying.

It could just be normal business that is being blown way out of proportion.
 
The next person will step up. If the game becomes successful, the person gets another chance. We'll get to know them, and they're either known for great success, or ultimate failure. How do you find talents in the industry? By giving a potential person the chance to step up and show their worth.

I've been saying this the whole time. I just see all of this news as an opportunity for some fresh faces. This industry literally lives and sometimes dies by veterans without ever giving someone new the chance to rise. I want someone else with a fresh idea to come forward and push the boundaries. I'm tired of the same old same old. We always want something new but look to the old to do it. No, we need to find someone more inspiring.
 

Chamber

love on your sleeve
There's so much talent at ND, I'm not really worried about this game. I get the feeling this will be the last UC for awhile though or at least the last handled by Naughty Dog.

A new IP could be even better.

Hopefully they'll at least mix up the formula enough.

A new IP could also be even worse. *mind blown*
 

ClearData

Member
Does anyone recall another, for lack of a better word, bloodletting that occurred at Naughty Dog at the outset of the Playstation 3 generation. I recall an interview with IGN, it may have been in the history of Naughty Dog piece by Colin Moriarty, in which Evan Wells and Christopher Ballestra recalled that they lost several employees during that difficult transition. They seem to have felt that those that stayed on proved their worth to themselves and others.

Now, I am not pretending to compare these two situations, but it does seem like Naughty Dog goes through these periods at the beginning of every generation with talent leaving and new talent emerging. It does hurt to see Justin Richmond and Amy Hennig leaving, but I think they will be fine and Naughty Dog will be fine.

But it would be comforting to hear if Uncharted 4 is doing all right, I must admit. Because both its creative directors are now gone.
 
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