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Ico developer digs Half-Life 2, interested in making 'first-person games'

by Ben Gilbert { Oct 5th 2009 at 12:28PM }

Though the Japanese aren't exactly known for their love affair with first-person shooters, Team Ico director Fumito Ueda can name at least one that he digs: Half-Life 2. Speaking to G4TV (through a translator), Ueda named the Valve-developed sequel when asked which games he has had an emotional reaction to.

"There was variation in terms [of] locations and also [in] the way of storytelling in the game. Usually, you have to incorporate storytelling with constraints, but the way [Valve] implemented constraints was something different that I enjoyed, compared to other games," observed Ueda. He's even considered making his own first-person game at some point, stating, "I have an interest in making first-person games."

If Ueda's previous development cycle lengths are any indication, we tentatively expect to see a Ueda-developed first-person game by 2025 or so ... at the earliest.

[Image credit: jeriaska]

Sony's Kobayashi: better ICO box art could have boosted sales

by JC Fletcher { Sep 17th 2009 at 2:40PM }

At DICE Summit Asia, Sony Japan Studio VP Yasuhide Kobayashi gave a speech about appealing to a global audience with games, which he identified as increasingly important as the Japanese market contracts. He mentioned The Last Guardian, which was given that particular title to appeal to Western markets.

As an example of Western-focused marketing that didn't work, Kobayashi presented the Japanese and North American boxes for ICO, the game that brought the Last Guardian developers to prominence. "If the packaging was designed differently, we think it would have sold more," he said. "In fact on the internet many people have said that the Japanese version was better." Because it is.

Kobayashi then finished by highlighting what he saw as a different perception of what makes a "new" game in the West and Japan. He said that a "new" game in the US or Europe could be "something similar to something that's come before, because they think it is easier for people to understand."

"But actually we don't like this - it's like you're simulating, following suit, combining two titles into one," he continued. "It seems the definition of a new title is different in the US and Europe to Japan. It means a new genre, that's what we call a new game."

Japan has just as many iterative sequels as anywhere else, but we guess they aren't considered as new?

Ico costumes for LittleBigPlanet revealed

by Jem Alexander { Jun 8th 2009 at 11:15AM }

This week's DLC pack for LittleBigPlanet is, as teased, related to Team Ico's first two games, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. The pack will contain costumes, stickers and sound effects and the Ico costumes have already been revealed, with Shadow of the Colossus costumes being shown off tomorrow. You can see Ico himself in the image above and Yorda after the break. It's slightly disappointing that this pack doesn't include new levels a la the Metal Gear Solid 4 DLC, but we'll still take it. Who knows, maybe one of the stickers will show the Kitty Dragon from the Last Guardian trailer.

Continued →

Ico/LittleBigPlanet mash-up teaser spotted

by Griffin McElroy { May 29th 2009 at 4:45PM }

If you've been swooned by both Team Ico's self-titled adventure/puzzler Ico and Media Molecule's DIY platformer LittleBigPlanet -- and seriously, who hasn't -- you should turn your attention to a recently discovered image depicting Sack-ified versions of Ico and Yorda, running away from an illustrated castle. A Media Molecule logo embedded in the image lends some amount of credence to the picture -- as does a recent tweet from Media Molecule which confirms it is responsibility for the art.

What's the image mean, though? Is it perhaps just a doodle from one of LBP's artists? Is it a tribute to one of Media Molecule's favorite user-made levels? A hint at an upcoming costume pack? Better still, is it foretelling the coming of an Ico theme pack? We'll do our best to squeeze some answers out of Media Molecule at E3.

[Via VG247]

GDC09: Team ICO's new game is 'close to ICO' in essense

by Randy Nelson { Mar 25th 2009 at 5:30PM }

During this morning's GDC 2009 panel on Eastern vs. Western development philosophies, Team ICO head Fumito Ueda was asked -- by Grasshopper Manufacture boss, Goichi "Suda51" Suda -- what the deal is with his crew's next game. You know, the follow-up to Shadow of the Colossus that everyone (even other Japanese devs!) are eager to know anything new about. Ueda couldn't say much, but we found his comments interesting.

After joking (or was he?) that his bosses were in the room listening, Ueda said that his next game -- widely referred to by the nickname "Trico" -- will be "something in-between" ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. "It will be similar to those past games, the essense is close to ICO," he added.

Suda51 then excitedly asked if he'd brought screenshots -- anything -- of or about the game. Ueda laughed slightly and conveyed the non-verbal equivalent of "next!" with his face.

Rumor: Team ICO reveals The Queen, all bow down

by Jason Dobson { Sep 13th 2008 at 9:55PM }

The third project from the "Olympic Team" behind both Shadow of the Colossus and Ico looks like it might make its long anticipated reveal next month at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show. What appears to be a newly launched TGS teaser website calls the game ICO 3 The Queen, adding that Japanese PS3 owners will be able to yank the title off store shelves on October 9, 2009.

Given the name, as well as the site's reuse of the original game's logo, it remains unclear if the title will be any sort of direct follow up to the original Ico or another stand alone project, but whatever the case we cannot wait to find out more once TGS gets underway.

Note: As some have pointed out, the site's validity is suspect, meaning we now wait until next month's TGS to see if in fact the next game from Team ICO will make an appearance or simply break our hearts.

[Thanks pico!]

Team ICO's next game may be shown soon

by Alexander Sliwinski { Aug 28th 2008 at 1:00PM }

It's been a long time coming, but VG247 quotes Sony Worldwide Studio head Shuhei Yoshida as saying Team ICO's next project may be revealed "soon." The anticipated next project by the team behind Shadow of the Colossus and Ico has merely been teased with some nondescript screenshots.

Yoshida tells the site that plans for the Tokyo Game Show have not been finalized -- presumably, the show would be the last major opportunity this year to reveal the project. It's about time this game made its public appearance, don't you think?

Fan's Labyrinth: del Toro approves of Team ICO

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Aug 27th 2008 at 7:20PM }

In an interview with Edge, Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro establishes two very interesting facts:

del Toro, who has been enamored with gaming's charming beeps and boops since the days of Pong, lavishes a considerable amount of praise on Sony's Team ICO. "There are only two games I consider masterpieces," he says. "Ico and Shadow of the Colossus."
The popular filmmaker has excellent taste in games.

Those are far from the only titles he appreciates, however, as he tells Edge that he "absolutely loved BioShock." In addition, he approves of Resident Evil, Devil May Cry and Silent Hill, which he likens in particular to a "Lynch, Polanski or Romero type of horror experience." It seems our only point of disagreement can be found in his "happy" working experience with Konami's Hellboy: The Science of Evil. Nobody's perfect, eh?

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Team ICO has a fan in Pan's Labyrinth director

by Majed Athab { Aug 26th 2008 at 7:30PM }

You know you've got an iconic piece of artistry when an Academy Award winning filmmaker has nothing but praise, respect, and admiration to show. "There are only two games I consider masterpieces: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus," said Guillermo del Toro in an interview with Edge magazine. Both titles are creations of SCEJ's Team ICO, who are currently working on an unnamed title.

Guillermo, director of the widely acclaimed Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy movies, is himself a gamer since the Pong era. He's even a video game director, having worked with Konami on adapting the Hellboy series ... which unfortunately didn't do too well.

With such a prominent figure giving the thumbs up to Team ICO, we're sure they're happy to hear that their hard work is getting noticed outside the realm of gaming. We're also sure, whatever they have in store next would probably be pleasing del Toro -- and us for that matter.

Obvious: Next Team Ico game will be 'really, really good'

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Aug 4th 2008 at 9:30PM }

We could have told you that, you know. If you don't trust our word, however, how about the one from Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida? He would know, wouldn't he? Allegedly talking to Official PlayStation Magazine (August issue cited on NeoGAF), Yoshida refers to the team that built ICO and Shadow of the Colossus as the "Olympic Team." Why? Well, because it takes 'em four years to finish a game.

"They haven't released a PS3 title yet - of course not - they'll take four years!" explains Yoshida. "But they have something really, really good on the way." Is it too early to dole out 2009's Game of the Year Award?

[Via Eurogamer]

The Joystiq Weekend: August 2 - 3, 2008

by Ross Miller { Aug 3rd 2008 at 11:59PM }

Joystiq reader Whetzell sent us in this video he made of animated Ico box art, hand drawn and then put together in after effects. With that concept in mind, we now have a pretty good idea what Duke Nukem Trilogy's box would look like if animated. Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Japanese hardware sales, July 21 - July 27: Expansion edition
PS Fanboy Week in Review: 7/28 - 8/03
Source: First images from 360 Avatar creator leaked
Weekly Webcomic Wrapup has a case of mistaken identity

News
Square Enix establishes casual gaming brand in Japan
Parasite Eve follow-up moves onto PSP
Japanese Advent Children directors cut includes FFXIII demo, will come in new PS3 bundle
Red Faction: Guerilla multiplayer beta video dump
An altogether new Call of Duty planned for 2009
Achievements coming to Diablo III and Starcraft II, linked to Blizzard account
Red Faction: Guerilla beta open on 360 for IGN Insider and FilePlanet subscribers
New North American development studio hiring help for Mythos, Hellgate: London
PS2 getting sexier with Ar tonelico 2 this December

Rumors & Speculation
OPM: EA developing Left 4 Dead for PS3

Culture & Community
Dead Space Animated Comic: Issue 4

ICO and Siren creators speaking at Nordic conference

by Nick Doerr { May 7th 2008 at 12:00AM }

With all the excitement going on with PlayStation Day in Europe, we're going to turn your attention to another conference coming up soon. The Nordic Game 2008 conference. It's a little more technical of a conference, but it's still got some great developers giving speeches. Sony's own Fumito Ueda, creator of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus will be taking part in the "Game Creation and Technology" program. This program focuses on new game niches and continuing to innovate creatively.

Other celebrated panelists in the discussion include the creator of Silent Hill and Siren, Keiichiro Toyama, Rock Band's Roby Kay and Ninja Theory co-founder, Tameem Antoniades. We don't really expect any announcements out of these folk, but they might bring something new to the table when giving their presentation. Like whatever direction Ueda is taking with his third game. We'll keep you posted.

GDC08: The eight best stories in gaming

by Michael Zenke { Feb 21st 2008 at 11:30AM }

Tuesday afternoon four well-known games industry writers and designers got together to discuss the best storytelling gaming has to offer in a panel entitled "Stories Best Played: Deconstructing the Best Interactive Storytelling." Each of the authors brought a pair of games that they viewed as some of the narratively strongest yet made. Prior to the panel all four men played the ten titles, and came prepared to talk about the strengths and merits of each. Panelists Richard Rouse (Paranoid Productions), Steve Meretzky (Blue Fang), Marc Laidlaw (Valve Software), and Ken Rolston (Big Huge Games) offered up, in essence, a 'top eight' list for gamers looking to get more from exposition than explosions.

Read on for views from a panel of expert opinions on the likes of Loom, BioShock, Phoenix Wright and the legendary Planescape: Torment.

Continued →

New artwork depicting third Team ICO game released

by Nick Doerr { Jan 24th 2008 at 3:30PM }

Initially coming from Sony's website seeking applicants for Team ICO's new project, and getting spread across the interwebs by TeamICOGamers, we've been teased with a strange piece of CG artwork for what appears to be the next game from Team ICO. What is it? It seems to be a giant hole. With a big chain going down it. It seems we can expect another insanely clever concept from the group that brought us ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. Perhaps the worlds the games take place in will somehow make sense in relation to one another after this new title. Perhaps not. Forgive our giddiness over such an abstract, vague piece of artwork -- but we'll look forward to new information!

Wii Warm Up: A good yarn

by Chris Greenhough { Jan 6th 2008 at 10:30AM }

Cory Barlog's recent remarks on Super Mario Galaxy's "vapid story" riled quite a few of our readers, with many arguing that Mario games simply don't need much of a narrative hook to be hella fun.

That argument certainly has some weight, but we don't want to open that particular debate again today. Instead, we'd like to know how important a good story is to you when it comes to choosing games. Are you more a fan of epic tales (Final Fantasy), do you prefer something a little more subtle (Ico), or couldn't you care less about having a story to wade through? Finally, if you do appreciate a strong narrative like the Beatrix Potter fan above, which Wii games have kept you glued?