In the first part, we talked about the Asian and European studios Sony. It was the turn of their North American colleagues. There is a place for the real pillar of the industry and the assembly shop, within the walls of which young game artists work. And as a bonus you will find a small story about the main dreamer of our time and his studio.
Naughty Dog
USA, California, Santa Monica
Series Crash Bandicoot | Series JAK and DAXTER | Series Uncharted | The Last of Us
Starting its history in 1984 as Jam Software, the Naughty Dog managed to survive both ups and falling. After a curious but contradictory role -playing game Rings of Power , released under the wing Electronic Arts on Sega Mega Drive , The company was on the verge of bankruptcy. The afloat managed to stay thanks Way of the Warrior , Which for some reason the publishing house Universal Interactive Studios liked. It was a completely trash clone Mortal Kombat. They finished the game literally on the knee. Instead of actors – friends, instead of a studio for recording movements – a room in their home, instead of a blue screen – a wall pasted with newspapers. I had to remove from the corridor through the open door, and the neighbors decided that the guys were taking off homemade porn. Everything went to costumes, even boxes from under McDonald’s Happy Meal. Gathering together the results of their work, the Naughty Dog got a green light on the console 3 Do , and at the same time signed a contract to create three more games.
► If you know who it is, your childhood … let's say, you are on the right site.
At that time, Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin, the founders of the studio, first thought about a three -dimensional platform, and since, according to the vision of the developers, the player was supposed Virgin Games Casino to observe the protagonist mainly from behind, the game gave the code name “The ass of Sonic”. A year later, with a little, the working option was seen in Sony Computer Entertainment. So we got the legendary series Crash Bandicoot.
Sony later lost the rights to the series, but retained a promising studio for herself. And the PlayStation 2 already required a new franchise. Dividing one roof with Insomniac Games (in those days, who still worked on Sony), the developers of Naughty Dog found a common language with colleagues and almost simultaneously launched competing series of platformers: JAK And DAXTER by Naughty Dog and Ratchet & Clank From Insomniac Games. The transition to PlayStation 3 for both companies was held under the flag of "growing up". Insomniac Games switched to a gloomy shooter Resistance , And the Naughty Dog first introduced to the world the adventures of Nathan Drake in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. By the way, in both games of the studio of the main characters they called the same.
► Nathan Drake at Naughty Dog. ► Nathan Hale at Insomniac Games.
It is not at all surprising that in Uncharted The legacy is traced Tomb Raider. For a studio that produced mostly a platformer, growing up and the transition to the adventure genre was quite obvious. Moreover, Lara fading over the years freezed a place in the genre niche. After the first announcement on E3-2006, the playful name “Dude Raider” (dude-executive) was fixed behind the game, but then many could have assumed that the series would not only become a clone, but would really revive the players in the spirit of adventure? Naughty Dog would not have been if they had not squeezed out the maximum from their project. After commercial success and recognition of the press and players, the Tomb Raider series has to be equal to its imitator.
Contrary to tradition, the next generation for the studio will not begin with a new project, but with the continuation of the adventures of Nathan Drake. The young hero is in no hurry to retire, and we are happy about this.
► Relations between Joel and Ellie in the Naughty Dog turned out to be the most difficult.
The last game from the Naughty Dog has not heard of the last game except for the lazy. One of the most significant games of the outgoing year and, quite likely, the entire current generation of consoles is built on a huge world cultural foundation. But even shoveled the mountain of literature and films on post -apocalyptic themes, Neil Drakman, the creative director and screenwriter of the game, decided that there were not enough fantasies to create a realistic world and turned to the sad experience of mankind. Studying the consequences of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, Drakman identified the worst human features that manifested in the face of a disaster. It was the deep preparation that allowed the Naughty Dog to create a genuine history of the destroyed world.
Santa Monica Studio
USA, California, Santa Monica
GOD of War series | Flower | Journey | The Unfinished Swan | Twisted Metal
Like SCE Japan Studio, American unit Santa Monica Studio not only makes games like God of War , But it also helps in the development of other companies and is actively involved in the “incubator” program of Sony, providing promising developers with premises, equipment, advice and the necessary assistance.
Since the foundation in 1999, the portfolio of the company itself has not grown. Developers began with futuristic races Kinetica , then hooked on a gold needle God of War. Contacting the pathos of Kratos and losing the key people who worked on the series, the studio, it seems, decided to change the role and began to recruit specialists this year to work on a still not announced project. Maybe it is for the better. With the departure David Jaffa In a series about the god of war, there is an acute lack of fresh ideas. Most likely, Kratos will return, but for now Santa Monica Studio And it’s really better to take a break.
► Do someone kratos relaxing neck massage! ► With David Jaffa's departure, another favorite favorite of the public remained unattended.
It is difficult to underestimate the contribution of the studio to the development of the industry. Company employees – like NPC in the tavern, which can be hired before a difficult task. Thatgamecompany, for example, under the wing of Sony released amazing Flower and Journey. And having received invaluable work experience and collecting the main industry awards, they are ready for open swimming.
How many more talented newcomers will be revealed in the incubator of the American studio? For them, the trip is just beginning.
► The path to success always lies through steep mountains.
SUCKER PUNCH
USA, Washington, BelVoy
Series Infamous | Series Sly Cooper
If you suddenly felt that you were not doing your own business, it's time to change your job. The creators of the SUCKER PUNCH studio were guided by this simple theory. A small group of renegades left Microsoft with a firm intention to make games. They were not even stopped by the fact that from the whole team, only one person had experience in developing computer entertainment.
The studio took two years to create the first work, and in 1999 a wonderful platformer entered Nintendo 64 Rocket: Robot on Wheels, which has been distinguished quite realistic, even at present, physics. The adventure of a single -wheeled robot was included in the twenty best games for Nintendo 64 according to Nintendo Power magazine, and Sucker Punch was waiting for a rainbow future. In the heyday of platformers, each studio who achieved success in this genre was in sight. And a year later, Sucker Punch worked on a new project, already for the PlayStation 2 console.
[[Videoid_4292]] Watching how cleverly a slide rides along the poles, you understand where the legs of Parkur grow from in infamous.[[/Videoid_4292]]
Series about the adventures of a thief-unit Sly Cooper entered the so -called "platform three" sony. Competition with JAK And DAXTER And Ratchet & Clank Positively affected the quality of the game, but sales were first left to be desired. The studios were quickly cooperated, and gameplay elements began to wander from one series to another. This had their advantages, but sometimes the developers went to nuts from the press. Most of the indigenous accusations fell to the share of Insomniac Games, which was charged with the use of other people's technologies. But there were three excellent series of platformers on the PlayStation 2, and to the release of the next Sucker Punch console, together with the Naughty Dog and Insomniac Games, they decided to change the course and gave the right to develop games in the Sly Cooper series of another company, and they themselves took up a “bad reputation”.
► a whole city that can be saved or completely destroyed.
Over the history of Courier Cola McGrath in infamous The studio worked for three years, and Sony's proposals about additional investments and the attraction of third -party developers refused. Producer Brian Fleming noted that the studios are more comfortable to work in a small composition, and sixty people are enough to develop.
The team, tired of the “thieves” gameplay Sly Cooper, wanted to do something more spacious and liberated. Taking an open city and placing his character into it, Sucker Punch ended Cole inhuman capabilities and allowed them to jump along the roofs of skyscrapers, like a spider-man. Freedom was felt in everything – in means of movement, in choosing a path of passing tasks and, of course, in the eternal confrontation of a bad and good nature in a person.
SUCKER PUNCH seemed to rebel against the system (and some of the developers had managed to participate in the mass protests in Seattle during the 1999 WTO conference) and diverged in earnest. The game turned out to be so large that it was not easy to keep track of the quality of the filling. IN Infamous 2 The team tried to fix the flaws, but new. Perhaps in Infamous: second Son They will be able to surpass themselves. After all, the talent, skills and determination of Sucker Punch are no doubt.
[[Videoid_11175]] AAA-Class postgrand from Sucker Punch.[[/Videoid_11175]]]
David Cage and Magic Compass
Of course, not only internal Sony studios are working on exclusive projects for the console. The list of such partners is long, but there is one among these companies whose leader and ideological inspirer not only creates games, but, following his dream, tries to turn the industry. David de Gruttola, known to us under the pseudonym David Cage, and his QUANTIC Dream studio The second project in a row remains faithful to Sony and themselves.
Cage, like many industry dinosaurs, began with games to classical consoles – Sega and Super Nintendo, but in those days he was engaged in music. And only in 1997, having founded his studio, he took up the design, directorial and scenario work. Probably, after Peter, Moligne David Cage was and remains the main romantic and ideologist in the industry. After the Fahrenheit publication, the studio under his leadership clearly chose the direction in which it is still developing.
► Fahrenheit became a landfill for the studio. David Cage personally invited the player to the studio premises to introduce control.
Interactive cinema – a genre born already crippled. In the first CD consoles, such games were more often rejecting. But Cage did not stop it, and he found a way to combine cinema and game elements. Inspired by the success of the next project of the studio – Heavy Rain, Cage in one of the interviews called on the developers to "tell emotional stories".
But, as practice has shown, not everyone manages to get financial support to work on interactive cinema at the highest level. And although Heavy Rain at one time earned the praise of critics, recognition of the audience and the video reward, for Cage it was not an achievement, but only the first step. Heavy rain has a large audience, Call of Duty has even more, but even this is not enough. The Avatar audience James Cameron is the main goal of the studio, but this Cage did not want to consider the limit.
In his next project, Beyond: Two Souls, he tried to expand the audience. The management was simplified as far as possible, the plot was served in small portions, but the concept of “games for all” was not related to the chosen theme. It is felt that Cage tried to find mechanisms that can hold all family members from the TV, from small to great.
Well, at least for Jody the story is completed, for Quantic Dream the dream is still ahead of ..
► Ellen Page and Willem Defo. We hope that in the game industry there will be more such actors.
And the studio itself, like its founder, is unusual. Quantic Dream is a large landfill, ready to accept everyone who needs services for capturing movement. The experience of developers is only growing over the years, which means that the new masterpiece is coming.
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The history of the main studios of Sony goes to a new round. In the meantime, the flagships are working on new generation games, the platform holder himself looked favorably at indie developers. Sony has launched a large campaign to support beginners, independent, creators, and the first results of this cooperation already showed themselves on PS vita. Perhaps this program will open us new names? Play good games, big and small, follow the news, and together we will see how new legends are created!