Joystiq

BioWare was working on a spy game, 'Agent,' in 2009

Jessica Conditt — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:30:00 EST

Way back in the olden days of 2009, BioWare co-founder Trent Oster started work on a new, PS3-exclusive spy game called Agent, which "failed to survive the recession," Oster told Eurogamer. Agent was a mix of Jason Bourne and 007, Oster said, though we detected a hint of Deus Ex in his description as well:

"The concept was to do the other half of GoldenEye," Oster said. "The idea being that James Bond isn't just a gun that walks around the world and shoots people. He's a suave manipulator, he's a talented martial artist, he's a secret agent. We wanted to cross that 007 with Jason Bourne, where he's been modified in some way; you're not sure what, but he's definitely deadly.

"We really wanted to push the acting side, the digital acting. We really wanted to be very high drama, very intense scenes. I always think of the scene in the second Bourne movie where Jason Bourne's choking the guy out with a book and he's right in his face and it's this very intense moment. That was one of the key things we wanted to carry off."

No, Agent didn't have anything to do with the PS3-exclusive game that Rockstar announced in 2009, also dubbed Agent. EA "didn't believe in the concept" for BioWare's game and Agent was sent off on a mission from which it'd never return: counting all the grains of sand on a windy beach. Or just the recycle bin.

BioWare was working on a spy game, 'Agent,' in 2009 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Agent's first art pops up on concept artist's portfolio

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:50:00 EST

(click to embiggen)

Rockstar's PlayStation 3 exclusive, Agent, remains a mystery. The game has yet to be shown off by the GTA developer since its first reveal in 2009, but a concept artist's portfolio, which was recently discovered by GameSpot, seems to show off the game's first visuals.

Former concept artist Leigh Donoghue outed the images on his personal website, which have since been removed. Donoghue is currently employed as an architecture visualization specialist (a concept artist for reality, if you will), though he presumably drew up the concept art for Agent at Rockstar North during his employment there from April 2005 to November 2009 -- an employment which ended just months after Agent's E3 reveal that year. We've reached out to Rockstar and Take-Two for comment, but the fact that the images have been removed, not to mention the fact that Donoghue drew concept art for a variety of other Rockstar projects while employed there, lend plenty of credence to their validity.

Otherwise, the most recent news from Take-Two/Rockstar about Agent is that it's "still in development," alongside the rarely seen Max Payne 3. Perhaps the Agent and Mr. Payne are cavorting around South America together?

[Image credit: GameSpot]

Agent's first art pops up on concept artist's portfolio originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Max Payne 3 and Agent 'still in development'

Justin McElroy — Tue, 24 May 2011 17:43:00 EST

We think we cracked the code of delayed games. You don't really need to worry unless the title of a game can be easily worked into a headline gag about the delay. Madden? Call of Duty? Boring. Those games are destined to come to market on time. But dangle "The Max Payne of a long wait ahead" or "Agent to stay secret for a while longer" in front of Fate and it just can't help itself. If there's one thing the gaming gods love, it's a rib-tickling blog pun.

It goes almost without saying then that in an investor call today Take-Two would say only that Max Payne 3 and Agent are "still in development," declining even to give a calendar year in which either would be released. It's a tough situation, but if Take-Two would just relent and change the names to Dependable Cop 3 and Trustworthy Spy it could all be fixed.

Max Payne 3 and Agent 'still in development' originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 24 May 2011 17:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Divnich makes E3 predictions, expo to be 'inflection point' for game industry

Richard Mitchell — Thu, 13 May 2010 22:00:00 EST

In his latest Divnich Debrief column at IndustryGamers, EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich has made some predictions for E3 2010. Divnich sees this year's expo as a pivotal one for the industry, noting that new technologies like PlayStation Move, Project Natal and the 3DS must make a big splash. Otherwise, says Divnich, we may see industry funding driven toward sectors like MMOs and social gaming. Divnich sees the expo as an "inflection point" in gaming history, saying, "Either E3 2010 acts as a positive catalyst and boosts industry confidence, or it reinforces the negative notions about the long-term viability of traditional gaming."

Divnich makes a few predictions about the show, notably that Rockstar may reveal Grand Theft Auto 5, though it won't announce any hard street date if it does. Divnich believes, however, that you can expect a new teaser for Agent. Nintendo, meanwhile, will announce the official name of the 3DS and announce plans to launch the device in "at least two regions" this November. He also expects the unit will sell 5 million units by March 2011. Furthermore, Nintendo may finally show off its Vitality Sensor in more detail.

Beyond that, the show will likely revolve around Move, Project Natal and the 3DS. "Whatever the outcome or your own personal opinion, one thing is for certain," says Divnich, "E3 2010 is a must attend event for anyone with any vested interest in the video game space."

Divnich makes E3 predictions, expo to be 'inflection point' for game industry originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 13 May 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sony's Dyer emphasizes first-party PS3 strength over third-party exclusives

Ludwig Kietzmann — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:30:00 EST

In a new interview with Industry Gamers, SCEA's senior vice president of publisher relations, Rob Dyer, shared a candid view on platform-exclusive titles -- particularly when they're on that other platform. "Look, we're not going to get the exclusive games," he said. "The Mass Effects, Gears of Wars and Left 4 Deads aren't going to happen nearly as often. But we have our own first-party development and exclusives like Final Fantasy XIV and Agent. Exclusives just aren't as commonplace as they were during the PS2 days. What is going to be the driving force is either exclusive ad campaigns, like the Madden campaign, or exclusive content like we had with Batman."

He went on to contrast Sony's considerable first-party firepower with the "very few" developers at Microsoft Game Studios. "So rather than putting their money behind that, they've been going to Epic or Valve or BioWare to do what they did with Mass Effect, and that's where they throw their dollars." Microsoft's money lobbing appears to have paid off for EA, as the Xbox 360 version of Mass Effect 2 sold 572,000 copies in the U.S. within six days. Did consumers care whether its development was internal, external or bought? (Will they care when the Square Enix-developed Final Fantasy XIV arrives on PS3?)

According to Dyer, the PlayStation 3's growing install base now does "better for our publishing community than 360 does." Since the PlayStation 3's installed base grew by a greater percentage than the Xbox 360's, "particular" titles have taken the lead on Sony's system. Of course, with more PS3 owners leaping into the fray, more of them are buying games which may have already sold in to the larger Xbox 360 crowd in previous installments (think: Guitar Hero). "As our installed base starts catching up and gaining on 360, you're going to see the publisher side much quicker get to par than even if we had the same number of [360 hardware] units," Dyer said.

That's a notable "if" -- if buying trends remain the same, if the 360 doesn't experience its own growth burst -- but it's hard to argue the PS3's improved fortunes in recent times. And who could resist all those exclusives?

[Special Thanks: Michael Pachter]

Sony's Dyer emphasizes first-party PS3 strength over third-party exclusives originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Rockstar's Agent sneaks into 2010 release window

Ben Gilbert — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 11:30:00 EST

Aside from the game's exclusivity to the PlayStation 3 and the logo you see above, we've seen little else about upcoming '70s espionage game Agent. But while answering some fan questions about next month's GTA IV expansion, The Ballad of Gay Tony, on its forums, Rockstar North mentions that it's "working hard on a lineup of PlayStation 3 releases for 2010 ... including Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3, and the PlayStation 3 exclusive AGENT."

The statement goes on to tease "yet to be announced" titles, possibly lending some credence to Michael Pachter's statements on another GTA game in the not- so-distant future. Considering Rockstar's statements were made in response to queries about GTA IV DLC coming to PS3, we wouldn't be surprised if those "yet to be announced" titles are the result of Microsoft's timed-exclusivity expiring.

[Via Superannuation]

Rockstar's Agent sneaks into 2010 release window originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Take-Two: Agent is about espionage, set in the '70s

Jem Alexander — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:30:00 EST

Agent will be "a game about espionage, set in the 1970s" and will be "very, very different" from Grand Theft Auto, according to Take-Two's CEO, Ben Feder, in an interview with Eurogamer. Yeah, it's not much, but at least it's more than a name. He goes on to discuss the success of GTA IV and Chinatown Wars, and gives his refreshing take on the role of censorship in the video game industry.

Feder also discussed exclusivity in the industry today, calling them "relationship and contractual matters," where much information is left undisclosed. With regards to the PS3 exclusivity of Agent, Feder says the company "won't disclose anything beyond what we've already said." Though he does go on to say that "it's important for us to be with Sony, and it's important for Sony, I think, to be with us." As for whether the GTA IV DLC packs will come to the PS3? "We don't talk about that, unfortunately."

Take-Two: Agent is about espionage, set in the '70s originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sony introduces Rockstar's Agent as a PS3 exclusive

Mike Schramm — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:20:00 EST

Sony has landed a big Rockstar exclusive -- they have just announced that the Grand Theft Auto developer is bringing a new IP called Agent to the PS3. Details are still as shrouded in secrecy like so many spies, but we're told the game "will take the player across the globe" to participate in various spy-related activities.

Sony says they expect Agent to have the same effect on their platform as the original GTA3 exclusive did with the PS2, but we'll have to see. They didn't show gameplay or even a cinematic at the press conference, so even though the prospect of a Rockstar-developed PS3 exclusive sounds enticing, we'll probably have to wait quite a while for more.

Sony introduces Rockstar's Agent as a PS3 exclusive originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments