Ready at Dawn ceases PSP development
by Jason Dobson 
{ Jun 9th 2008 at 11:05PM }
Calling the decision "the end of an era," the move has an air of finality about it, with Ready at Dawn packing up all of its PSP dev kits and sending them back from whence they came. The news echoes comments from Ready at Dawn's Ru Weerasuriya earlier this year, with the Chains of Olympus director noting back in March that "our work on the PSP has come to an end." As for what the devs have in store for us next, your guess is as good as ours, though we've dispatched Joystiq ninjas to the Santa Ana-based studio for more information.
[Via Aeropause]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
FSK405K @ Jun 9th 2008 11:13PM
So you're postulating that one mediocre Wii port (the port was mediocre, not the game) generates more profit than two of the highest-rated PSP games?
Fatass of Sarcasmness @ Jun 9th 2008 11:22PM
The port wasn't bad - only difficulty I had was rolling, and even that becomes easy once you've had time with the game.
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 9th 2008 11:37PM
The port is good. Improved graphics, progressive scan and 16:9 support. And skipable cut-scenes.
The only thing about the controls is the motion gesture that you do with the nunchuck, but is not a really necesary attack.
Everything else is good. You still use analog stick to move the character, and buttons for attacks.
Noshino @ Jun 9th 2008 11:54PM
actually Fernando, there are many problems with the port, you should really read reviews from sources other than Nintendo fansites...
WRE (PSN: WorstReviewEver; Gamertag: HaloKissesBoys; Wii Friend Code: 4204-4590-6106-3583) @ Jun 10th 2008 12:04AM
Come on guys, not only is Okami Wii really fun, the metacrtic rating for the port is like 91%. That's pretty far from mediocre.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 10th 2008 1:56AM
Again, the port was mediocre, not the game. They ported a game with a drawing mechanic to the Wii and couldn't even get that to work well. That's mediocre.
Noshino @ Jun 10th 2008 2:07AM
WRE,
This is topic has already been talked about, here is a summary of some of the problems with it...
IGN
"The nunchuk-mapped dodge move, for instance, feels much worse..."
http://wii.ign.com/articles/865/865958p3.html
1up
"Now, too many of those same actions take more tries than they should; drawing simple horizontal lines can cause headaches..."
http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3167381&p=44
Gamespot
"Standard reflectors, on the other hand, may cause you frustration at first, because you can't string attacks together simply by incessantly flinging your remote forward and back...."
http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/okami/review.html
So yes, I would call that a mediocre port, because in THIS case, the motion sensing and IR pointer capabilities of the Wii should have made the game 10 times better...
Fatass of Sarcasmness @ Jun 10th 2008 7:47AM
And here I thought having owned the game would give me a more validated opinion than those who haven't even touched it and are interpreting 80+ scores as 'mediocre'.
Forgot thats how the internet works.
Enycma @ Jun 10th 2008 8:43AM
I don't have problems drawing a straight line.
If you do a fast short stroke, even if it waves a little, it recognizes it as a straight line. I haven't used the Z button at all...
My problem comes when I draw circles...
nastysquar3d @ Jun 10th 2008 8:58AM
I'm currently playing through Okami Wii and I'm not having any problems with it. I didn't get the "nunchuck dodge" move because everyone said it doesn't work that well. That being said I haven't had any problems with the other motion controls.
As for linking attacks with the reflectors, it's just a rhythm thing. Once you get the rhythm down it's a piece of cake... isn't that why you practice them in the dojo before being able to take advantage of the move?
BeeDizz @ Jun 9th 2008 11:16PM
Something tells me this has more to do with the ease of pirating games on the PSP than a Wii port.
Vidikron (FU) @ Jun 10th 2008 1:40AM
The Wii is pretty easy to pirate as well.
bigsofty @ Jun 10th 2008 7:48AM
Nothing to do with the PSP, just being a boring handheld PS2?
Sora267 @ Jun 10th 2008 3:43PM
No no no, it's not a handheld PS2....
....The PS2 had TWO analogs.
Jtenma @ Jun 9th 2008 11:28PM
maybe this has nothing to do with anything..
RAD had already stated when making GoW that were going to shift all focus toward other un-named projects...they just wanted to prove that they could make a killer psp app, they did.
Don't see what the problem is.
Jacksons @ Jun 9th 2008 11:28PM
A bit of a shame, as Daxter and GoW were both pretty fun games. It should be interesting to see what they can pull off on the...well, whatever platform they decide on.
Cutty @ Jun 10th 2008 8:25AM
Definitely. Ready At Dawn were amongst the top PSP developers, especially with Chains of Olympus. Ah well, maybe we'll see a 360/PS3 title from them now.
Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Jun 9th 2008 11:30PM
What a DAMN shame since both PSP games were FANTASTIC. Sony, you should have absorbed them as a 2nd party studio like Insomniac for example.
Ice @ Jun 9th 2008 11:52PM
Very very sad the PS is DEAD!!! No God of War 2.
Ready at Down no support for PSP
Capcom no more PSP games
Ubisoft no games at all
Tecmo no games
Konami limited support
EA has publically stated less upport
and SONY continues to do nothing
SONY even cancled Grand Turismo themselves for their own PSP.
Noshino @ Jun 10th 2008 12:14AM
actually Konami and Capcom do support the PSP, its pretty much the one selling the most software in Japan if Im not wrong...
But I do agree about Sony doing nothing, hell, even developers have mentioned it, they love the damn hardware (except Itagaki) but that until Sony is cleared about what they want to do with the PSP their support will be limited to none...sad indeed
Aj Collins @ Jun 10th 2008 2:35PM
Rockstar still has 2 confirmed games coming. Sony hasn't canceled GT mobile, they have just put it on hold due to GT5P and GT5 development.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 10th 2008 1:53AM
Gran Turismo mobile might as well be canceled. I doubt it will come out before PSP is replaced by something else.
Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award) @ Jun 10th 2008 9:26AM
Ready At Dawn, when formed, stated they are working on two PSP titles exclusive to the console. This was said a long, long time ago. Ready At Dawn is a small studio formed from Insomniac, Blizzard, and Naughty Dog alumni who wanted to move out of the uber huge productions. They stated multiple times during GOW's development that Chains of Olympus would be their last PSP game as they plan to move onto bigger hardware. This is not a suprise.
Capcom still has PSP games in the pipe and is even working to throw Remote Play into their PSN titles.
Ubisoft was... well hell, when was Ubisoft ever behind PSP? Seriously, I fail to understand how the tactics they used on Wii is a huge fucking crime and "they deserve to suffer" but take those same tactics and apply them to PSP and somehow Ubisoft was a patron saint of the console. Ubisoft was every inch as lazy as EA on PSP and suffered because of it. I could buy their bullshit if their biggest titles on the console we're months old PoP ports and Splinter Cell runoffs.
Tecmo isn't cranking the games out anywhere. I fail to see their inability to launch on PSP as an indication of failure when all other systems remain equally barren of Tecmo releases.
Konami has limited support? Aside from Castlevania and the Metal Gear series (which, incidently, has another chapter coming in the form of Portable Ops 2 and a RUMORED AC!D 3), I don't recall much from Konami on the system either.
EA's strategy on the console is the same as before. Port what we can, don't worry about quality. Is it coincidence that EA managed to ship Madden for two years in a row with a fatal system crashing bug in the MAIN MODE of the fucking game? Meanwhile they were expecting full price for their defective ports. $50 for madden on PSP? Yeah, okay, I'll get right on that. Truth be told, I threw my support behind EA when they actually did unique things on the console like Burnout (I know, it only collected previous stages but so did Ridge Racer and I loved that game so fair's fair) and.. well, Burnout. Nothing else put out on PSP by EA is worth mentioning.
So when most companies are being lazy as fuck on PSP, why is it suddenly Sony's responsibility to fix the situation? Sony is doing what they should, developing games on the console and promoting excellent titles. I'm not saying they were blameless in this issue because that simply isn't true. Everywhere Sony tried to focus PSP, it failed. And so Sony is letting the system do it's own thing which leaves some people unhappy. But if you're NOT finding games to buy on the system, you're NOT looking. For every Ubisoft dropped port on the system, that's shelf space for an Atlus translation. For every EA Sports title that doesn't make it this year, that's a spot for another NIS title.
J.Goodwin @ Jun 9th 2008 11:40PM
Insomniac only acts like they've been absorbed by the Sony borg, they're still a wholly independent company with no investment held by Sony or any other game publisher.
I'm not sure that sending ninjas to kill all the staff of Ready at Dawn is actually the best way to pry their secrets loose. In fact, it might be the best way to ensure that their lips never loose their secrets.
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ Jun 10th 2008 12:30AM
well give them an Oscar cause they are great actors. i have not once seen/heard them complain about anything Sony has done publicly. i mean if their pillow talk is filled with Sony hate at home then whatever but i have never seen anything that suggest they are just acting like they like it at Sony.
(and if they have someone point me to it, i cant see every article on the net)
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 10th 2008 1:38AM
Ted Price's comments are in one of the Insomniac Full Moon Show podcasts. Or just check Kotaku's interview with him (search for Ted Price whipping boy).
Note the comment says that Sony paid Insomniac for the development of Resistance to offset crappy sales of the launch game. But that may not be true, as sales have not been crappy. It's sold a lot of copies now, because Sony did a ton of advertising for them and bundled a lot of copies.
Perhaps Ted Price was not paid off up front on Resistance, but just took the long view, taking a hit on a game that sold a "mere" 2.5 million copies so far knowing Sony would make it up to them in the future with more strong comarketing and bundles for their future games.
Does Sony really have no financial interest in Insomniac? Well, I dunno, as a private company (Insomniac) we have no way to be sure. But neither Sony nor Insomniac has said anything in public to the contrary. (My friend at SCEA told me privately otherwise, but I'm starting to think he's wrong, he has been before.)
Noshino @ Jun 10th 2008 1:57AM
I have also heard about Sony owning shares, but I wasn't never able to confirm that, but then again, I don't think they would make that public as that would go against the whole "Insominiac is independent yet still exclusive to PS consoles thus far" image...
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 9th 2008 11:44PM
Success in bringing Okami to Wii?
Okami has sold like crap on Wii, and it doesn't play all that well either.
4MyFriends @ Jun 10th 2008 12:32AM
Okami actually sold right around what they expected. Okami is just not something that sells well in today's market.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 10th 2008 1:39AM
Whether it was expected or not, it's sold under 100,000 copies it seems. That is crappy.
4MyFriends @ Jun 10th 2008 2:56AM
Like I said, they were expecting to only sell that much. It sold like shit because it's a last gen port of a game that wasn't popular to begin with. At least with RE4Wii it was a port of a game that sold well initially(not to mention having good controls that didn't feel so tacked on, unlike Okami).
sifer2400 @ Jun 9th 2008 11:45PM
AEROPAUSE ROCKS !!!!
ComicShaman @ Jun 9th 2008 11:47PM
Well, given the superb job they did on Chains of Olympus, I don't think we should hold them to this decision if they decide to change their minds down the road.
Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Jun 9th 2008 11:57PM
Sony has become complacent by their success of the PS1/PS2 which has especially led Microsoft to leap ahead and take a big lead, making deals with publishers to get exclusives on their console, etc.
Nintendo probably felt the same way with the N64 and their success of the NES/SNES and Sony managed to leap ahead and take the advantage such as getting FF7 on their console when the previous games were all on Nintendo's systems.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 10th 2008 12:13AM
Sony in general doesn't buy exclusivity like MS has. Why? Because it isn't permanent. Witness BioShock.
Sony develops or co-developers exclusive IPs. If you own the IP, you know it won't end up on a different platform.
I have no idea where you get the idea that MS is doing a great job on exclusives. The general consensus by gaming pundits is that 360 has a fairly bleak future for exclusives right now. Gears being a very notable exception.
4MyFriends @ Jun 10th 2008 12:34AM
Sony doesn't buy exclusives? They develop most of their big name titles?
Are you on drugs or something? Sony has always relied on 3rd party games, and keeping a stranglehold on them via exclusive deals(GTA4, VC, SA comes to mind), to push their systems
Geist @ Jun 10th 2008 1:36AM
Except that I've played all the GTA games on PC. Timed exclusivity is different.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 10th 2008 1:49AM
I did not say Sony developed the games. I said they develop or co-develop the IPs. So they own the IPs.
Sony didn't buy exclusivity for the GTA games. They were exclusive because Sony would give co-marketing for them if they were exclusive, and they figured giving up the miniscule number of sales from Xbox would be more than made up with Sony backing their games with comarketing. They were very right, by the way.
In what world is GTA4 exclusive to Sony? Who is the one on crack here?
Look at the PS3 exclusives Sony has paid for so far:
Ratchet & Clank
Resistance
Lair
Heavenly Sword
Eye of Judgement
GT5P
All of those are Sony owned IPs. They will never appear on another platform.
On PS2, Sony got a lot of "natural" exclusives where the developer didn't feel the need to develop for other platforms, especially when giving Sony a timed exclusive would net valuable comarketing. On PS3, Sony isn't as dominant, so they have relied primarily on exclusives they own the IP for, not bought exclusives (that usually turn into only timed exclusives).
4MyFriends @ Jun 10th 2008 2:57AM
"All of those are Sony owned IPs. They will never appear on another platform."
They are also underwhelming titles, I'm sure I could name a lot of mediocre selling/rated Microsoft only titles as well.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 10th 2008 11:11AM
Ratchet & Clank, Gran Turismo and Resistance are mediocre selling IPs?
Resistance has sold a "mere" 2.5M so far. The other two probably have topped over 10M in total sales.
What's mediocre mean in your world?
Anyway, this isn't a pissing contest about game quality. I was explaining the difference in how Sony and MS are getting exclusives right now.
This method when used by MS produced MS' one truly breakout 3rd party exclusive for 360, Gears of War. So I think even MS probably thinks the method has merit.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 10th 2008 12:11AM
What are you guys talking about? The PSP has been selling like gangbusters lately. Honestly, I don't even like the damn thing (I have turned mine on in over a year), but Sony is supporting it and lately it has been doing well.
4MyFriends @ Jun 10th 2008 12:36AM
It might have been doing "well" in hardware sales, but have you taken a look at the software sales? It's the main reason(coupled with Piracy) why companies are starting to slowly pull away support for the system.
Noshino @ Jun 10th 2008 1:37AM
4MyFriends,
"but have you taken a look at the software sales?"
Yes I have, and unlike you had previously mentioned about its software sales lagging behind others in Japan, well, the PSP has the top spot...
Im starting to believe that you don't even have one...
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jun 10th 2008 1:51AM
I agree the software sales could be better, especially in the US. This will naturally reduce the number of companies willing to spend their own money developing PSP-exclusive titles.
4MyFriends @ Jun 10th 2008 2:58AM
"Yes I have"
You obviously haven't.
PiemanPieman @ Jun 10th 2008 12:31AM
It confuses me why there seems to be this big show of "That's it, we're done. No more PSP ever ever EVER! Even if a gun was held to our heads we wouldn't develop another PSP game."
I mean don't get me wrong, go off and do other things, but couldn't you just say "our next game is going to be on console X"?
4MyFriends @ Jun 10th 2008 12:37AM
It's to send the following message to Sony.
"We're done with your hardware until it becomes profitable"
It's no different than when major retailers were threatening to remove the system from their shelves, it sparked Sony to fix the problem.
Noshino @ Jun 10th 2008 1:27AM
"It's no different than when major retailers were threatening to remove the system from their shelves,"?
I must have missed that memo, but as far as I knew, all they threatened to was to remove UMDs....
"It's to send the following message to Sony.
"We're done with your hardware until it becomes profitable""
what? that doesnt even make sene, Sony was the publisher of both of their games...
And no, RaD mentioned that they wanted to work on the PSP to prove what the system was capable of, from the beginning they always stated that they wanted to work on the consoles...
PiemanPieman
Actually, this article is weeks old, and they mentioned this pretty much because of the requests by fans to make more PSP games, they wanted to work on big projects for the consoles from the beginning...and the PSP games just proved that they can
4MyFriends @ Jun 10th 2008 2:58AM
Try reading what I said before commenting on it please.
PiemanPieman @ Jun 10th 2008 10:28AM
I guess that makes sense in a "stop asking us, okay!" kind of way. Still, I wouldn't think there's anything wrong with working on PSP, but I suppose a small developer really only has the ability to do one project at a time, so they'll probably be really busy with the big stuff from now on and just figure they won't have time to do anymore handheld development.