Santa Monica Studio Creatives is a series focusing on four unique individuals of our family whose journey to our studio is as inspiring as their creative talents within. While their stories are candid, raw, and anything but normal, their expert crafts and collaboration within our walls hits the heart of what matters most to our studio culture — the team is everything. To learn more about this video series, please visit sms.playstation.com/creatives.
Thinking back on how I decided to work with video games, I can’t really find the specific time when it happened.
I look at this last generation and how they are growing up connected to technology and how my son’s generation is going to grow up even more connected. It’s almost like they’re already born knowing how to use tablets and computers. My son was already playing games with a tablet when he was 9 months.
I remember playing with clay when I was a kid and being amazed by...
Hey, so first up, some news — because once we get talking, I’ll forget the big date: The Magic Circle: Gold Edition is coming to PS4 on May 10th. The Magic Circle is our story-driven puzzler, recently nominated by the IGF for Excellence in Narrative. It’s a dark comedy about a legendary game that has been stuck in development hell for 20 years, and only you can save it. (If you still are patiently waiting for some sequel right now, maybe it’s a bit of a tragedy, too.)
The Magic Circle pokes fun at the many ways that games can go wrong, and offers you the power to solve puzzles like a game creator — by re-designing them. You play the hero of an unfinished fantasy RPG, waiting for your story to begin, and you’re getting sick of it. The fictional development team is in creative deadlock, zipping around the game world and arguing about what to change. So you set out to make the game your own, and release it from the inside… whether they like it or not.
When my friend JD and I first came to California, we had a dream of one day making video games together. Nearly 15 years later, our separate careers in music and video game development converged when I asked him to leave his current studio position and help me start Exploding Tuba Studios.
Finally, we are excited to announce to the world our new character-driven, sci-fi action adventure game, Divide, launching on PS4 later this year.
Making a Game We Wanted to Play
From the outset, my goal was to make a game that told a compelling story about an ordinary person thrust into extraordinary circumstances. This is the foundation of Divide. But we also wanted Divide to be an action story, and that meant combat; mechanics to play and master with risk and reward. We knew we wanted the game to call back to isometric adventure games, and the controls to borrow from dual-stick shooters.
It was important for the controls to be concise and anchor your fingers to the...
Today, a software update to the Super Mario Maker game for the Wii U console adds some additional items, modes and features to the critically acclaimed game.
There is a feeling that I remember from when I was a kid playing video games: the huge, intense satisfaction when I finally beat a level or a boss I had been struggling with for a while. The feeling of learning how to overcome a challenge, with my brain and my thumbs. The combination of understanding and execution felt like a reward in itself.
I remember it from games like Super Punch Out, bosses from Metal Gear Solid, combat in God Hand. There are many games that gave me that feeling, but recently I’ve felt that games try too hard to be “user friendly.” Adaptive difficulty, dynamic checkpoints, in-game tips… Everything is explained and balanced to make sure nobody drops out.
With Furi, we want to give the player an extreme satisfaction when he or she beats a boss. That means he or she will have to sweat a little for it.
Furi is heavily inspired by the Japanese way of making games. It’s not trying to be realistic in its style or animations. It’s fast-paced and requires a lot of...
Hey there PlayStation.Blog readers. This year we’re celebrating 21 years of Worms. Originally launched in 1995, Worms has long been a staple for many gamers. To mark the occasion, I’m here today to let you know that Worms W.M.D will be heading to PS4 later this year! Featuring a fresh, brand new look and gorgeous hand-drawn landscapes.
The first thing I’m thrilled to tell you about in Worms W.M.D is the vehicles! Currently we have a helicopter and a tank in the game that the worms are able to use during battle. When it’s your turn, simply approach a vehicle and hop in to start using it. Take to the skies and rain down bullets on the worms below using the helicopter, or traverse across the landscape in warfare-ready tanks, which will help you get around faster, protect your worms, and fire a barrage of shots.
The next big change for Worms W.M.D is the implementation of brand new buildings....
Bloody. Brutal. And VERY fast. Doom’s multiplayer is not for the faint of heart. Will you be ready to step into the arena when the game launches on May 13 on PS4?
If you purchased Wolfenstein: The New Order on PS4 or PS3, you’ll be able to experience the Doom multiplayer weeks ahead of the game’s May launch date. We’ll be running a closed beta for those eligible between March 31 and April 3. To check eligibility requirements, please visit www.wolfenstein.com/doom. Participants will be able to try out Team Deathmatch and the recently revealed Warpath mode on two maps: Heatwave and Infernal. Be the first to check out never-before-seen weapons, armor sets, taunts and hack modules.
All you have to do to access the closed beta is redeem the beta code you received with your copy of Wolfenstein: The New Order if you have not already done so. Follow the code activation instructions for...
We’ve got a great treat for you as we head into the final weeks of development — today, we are kicking off our five-episode behind-the-scenes series, The Making of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. The video team at PlayStation was given incredible access to our studio, game assets, and many of the people working on Uncharted 4, to craft a compelling series to cap off this final chapter for Nathan Drake.
We’re calling this first episode The Evolution of a Franchise. It’s a great way to kick off this “Making of” series, as we take a brief look how Naughty Dog and the Uncharted series has evolved since Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune made its debut on PS3 in 2007, including the influence of The Last of Us on the team and our development process.
Enough talk, here’s the first episode of The Making of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
The five-episode series is scheduled to be released throughout March and April, so check back to get a behind-the-scenes look at the Making of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s...
This is Marc from Drool with an update on Thumper, our rhythm violence game on PS4. In Thumper, you are a space beetle hurtling towards a maniacal giant head. The gameplay and controls are stripped-down and simple, so it’s easy to pick up and play. We’ve worked hard to make Thumper accessible and fun for both hardcore rhythm gamers and more casual action game fans.
But as you delve deeper into Thumper, it won’t be easy. Our focus on simplicity lets us push the sense of speed and physicality to extremes you’ve never felt in a rhythm game before. Before you know it, you’ll be careening through an onslaught of winding tracks, obstacles, enemies, and bosses. Check out our latest trailer for a glimpse of unrelenting “rhythm hell” from one of our advanced levels. And let us know what you think!
In the trailer, if you look closely, you’ll notice some new gameplay mechanics you’ll need to master. In early levels, your movement is limited to a single high-speed lane. But as the difficulty...
In 2015, Rare Ltd. unveiled our next project, Sea of Thieves. From the get go, we saw a load of excitement from players intrigued by the prospect of being the pirate they want to be in our immersive, shared-world adventure. Since this announcement, we’ve been humbled by the number of people eager to learn more and go hands-on with the game. As such, we’re thrilled to announce an opportunity for these excited fans to be the first people in the world to play Sea of Thieves. Starting today and running until April 26, Rare is hosting a competition to select... See the rest of the story on Xbox Wire
