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Uncharted 3 was 'the hardest thing any of us have ever done,' says Hennig

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:20:00 EST

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception creative lead and writer Amy Hennig isn't one to mince words, it would seem. On the latest episode of Geoff Keighley's "Bonus Round," Hennig and a cadre of other Naughty Dog leads speak in great detail about the process of building their latest, most ambitious project yet -- in just two years. "We absolutely killed ourselves on this project. I think this was the hardest thing any of us have ever done," Hennig asserts.

Game director Justin Richmond agrees, breaking down why the project was so hard on their team, beyond the aforementioned time constraint issues. "It's a lot of things. We didn't wanna let ourselves down, we didn't wanna let our fans down. We try to do things that no one's ever done before in a game," he says, referring to the game's massive moving environments and setpieces. It's also a measure of the game being the third entry in an established franchise. "I've worked on two 'third games,'" he says, "And they're always harder ... people expect a certain level of sophistication."

Finally, the most pressure came from the team itself. "We made it even harder on ourselves I think than it had to be, because compared to the previous games, we wanted it [Uncharted 3] to be perfect," Richmond concludes. And, at least from our perspective, the game certainly turned out to be not too shabby. You can find out for yourself right now as the game launches worldwide today.

Uncharted 3 was 'the hardest thing any of us have ever done,' says Hennig originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Uncharted 3 preview: A Drake and Sully story

Mike Schramm — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 06:00:00 EST

As expected, Naughty Dog officially premiered the Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception trailer at the VGAs recently, and a day later at a Hollywood club, the company invited us to come see the very first gameplay demo. We got to see a short, early segment ofthe game featuring Nathan Drake and partner Sully trying to escape from a burning chateau, and Art Director Robh Ruppel and Lead Game Designer Richard Lemarchand spoke with us about how the second sequel in the acclaimed series is new and different from the rest.

The simplest answer is that it takes place in the desert. Creative Director Amy Hennig says that Naughty Dog has challenged themselves to portray "sand in all of its forms," and Uncharted 3 will try to do exactly that, eventually taking its now familiar characters (as well as some new faces) into the Arabian Peninsula. The central chase of the game revolves around explorer T.E. Laurence and his search for an ancient city of Arabian treasure, alternately known as Ubar, Iram of the Pillars, or as it will be called in the game, the Atlantis of the Sands.

But outside of the new setting, Uncharted 3 is set to improve upon Naughty Dog's successful formula in a few other ways as well. Nathan Drake has never been more adept at fighting groups of enemies, more animated and active, or more grounded in his own environments than he is here.

Gallery: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (12/27/10)

Continue reading Uncharted 3 preview: A Drake and Sully story

Uncharted 3 preview: A Drake and Sully story originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Uncharted 2 wins Writers Guild of America games writing award

Griffin McElroy — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:30:00 EST

We've lived with an unspoken fear in the back of our minds since the middle of January, when the nominees for the Writers Guild of America video game writing award were first announced. We weren't sure if we could live in a world where X-Men Origins: Wolverine was decorated over Assassin's Creed 2 and Uncharted 2 for having the year's best in-game writing. Fortunately, this fear has been dissuaded: Last night at the WGA awards ceremony, Uncharted 2 writer Amy Hennig took home the prize.

In a way, though, we feel bad for Ms. Hennig. How frustrating must it be to know that you can't get comfortable in your seat for too long at one of these awards shows? And can you imagine how many acceptance speeches she's had to write over the past month? The poor thing.

[Thanks, Fintan!]

Uncharted 2 wins Writers Guild of America games writing award originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Naughty Dog's Amy Hennig tells the LA Times how she made it

Mike Schramm — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:00:00 EST

[Image Source: LA Times]

The Los Angeles Times' "How I Made It" feature has shined a spotlight on none other than Naughty Dog creative director Amy Hennig, illuminating the secret of how a 45-year-old woman can conquer the gaming industry and nab Joystiq's Game of the Year with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. She started out as a film student back in 1989 and says she had a revelation while working freelance for Atari that gaming "was a more interesting and pioneering medium" than even the movies.

She worked her way up the ladder and took chances when they came along. When the lead designer on the wacky Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City left the project, she stepped up and took the job. And having talent and intelligence can't hurt either -- she says that she puts her whole education into gaming, from English lit to film editing, and while she downplays her place as a woman in gaming ("This is a young enough and progressive enough industry" to avoid most problems with sexism, she says), she does admit that she, erm, moderated the male perspective on breast size with some of her developers. Because somebody's got to, right? Excellent profile of one of gaming's more unlikely stars.

[Thanks, MikeIriye!]

Naughty Dog's Amy Hennig tells the LA Times how she made it originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Uncharted 2 exceeding sales expectations, DLC coming 'before the end' of 2009

Ben Gilbert — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:30:00 EST

With all the resounding critical praise that Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2 has received thus far, it's good to see creative director Amy Hennig speaking up on the possibility of DLC for the game. "We're working on that now ... there will be DLC available before the end of the year," she told IndustryGamers today. Though she's not yet revealing very much on what exactly the content will entail, she did say it may include, "new maps, new characters, things like that ... some of it will be free of charge and some of it will be purchasable."

She wouldn't directly quote sales of the title thus far, but she did allow that the title is "exceeding expectations" and outselling the original game "by many, many times" -- a fact no doubt aided by the PlayStation 3's primary position among consoles on last month's NPDs. Hennig seems to embrace this head-on, referring to the confluence of events that lead to the current success of Uncharted 2 -- a hardware price drop, a handful of games being pushed back, and critical acclaim for the game -- as "serendipity." That doesn't mean the game ends in an expensive ice cream shop, right?

Gallery: Uncharted 2 (8/19/09)

Uncharted 2 exceeding sales expectations, DLC coming 'before the end' of 2009 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Uncharted's Amy Hennig 'thrilled' by Nolan North's newfound success

Andrew Yoon — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:29:00 EST

Chances are, you recognize Nolan North as Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series. However, ever since the debut of the first game in the franchise, North has gone on to play a number of leading men, including the titular Prince of Persia and Jason from Shadow Complex. Uncharted creative director Amy Hennig admits that she's "thrilled to see people recognizing Nolan's talent and to see him getting all of the work that he can get and all of the recognition he can get." However, she tells Bitmob that she's "a little possessive" of North because "we were the ones with Uncharted who tapped into that talent in a way that I don't think anyone had recognized and done yet."

North will undoubtedly continue to find success as the charming "everyday" man (who happens to be gifted with extraordinary acrobatic prowess). Hennig admits that "Nolan's going to get typecast because that is his persona. He's a funny guy and has that easy-going, roguish charm." Yeah, charming -- until he throws you off a cliff.

Uncharted's Amy Hennig 'thrilled' by Nolan North's newfound success originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PAX 2009: Uncharted 2's Nathan Drake catches a train

Kevin Kelly — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST

Naughty Dog has been more than happy to explain to us how complicated it is to have a moving character on a moving surface, like on the floor of a collapsing building or the top of a moving train. But we have no idea how to quantify these things. We play games ... we're not math and physics experts. But if you have a barrel that needs blowing up, or a crate that needs smashing open, we're your guys.

Uncharted 2's creative director Amy Hennig explained that most game levels tend to use a moving background that makes the object your character is standing on appear to be moving, and then augment that with physics. Not so with Nathan Drake. He gets to clamber over fully-modeled train cars and diveroll through actual collapsing buildings. No smoke and mirror tricks for this fortune hunter.

To prove the point, the developer showed us a live demo of the game where Drake hauls himself onto the back of a speeding train while simultaneously fending off baddies on the train, and a heavily-armed helicopter that decides Drake needs to be swatted off. You'll have to fight your way forward towards an RPG if you want to survive. Hint: there's a loud, whining noise before the chopper fires its rockets, and also watch out for low-hanging lights.

All of this takes place on a fully modeled and realized moving train, and it looks gorgeous, but we'll just have to take Naughty Dog's word for it as far as the mega-model railroad set that was design for this. Or, you can see what you think! Check out the new footage just after the break.

Continue reading PAX 2009: Uncharted 2's Nathan Drake catches a train

PAX 2009: Uncharted 2's Nathan Drake catches a train originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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