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Rumorong: Ready at Dawn not going Wii-exclusive

A snippet from the latest issue of GamePro claims that Daxter and God of War: Chains of Olympus dev Ready at Dawn has ditched PSP development in favor of producing Wii-only titles. Joystiq contacted RAD (pretty cool acronym, huh?) president Didier Malenfant, who was quick to squash the report (although we can't be sure he didn't thwap it with a Wii remote left over from porting Okami to Nintendo's console).

Malenfant further tells Joystiq that his company "[doesn't] have any Wii titles currently in development." RAD had previously hinted at plans to create games for current-gen consoles after finishing Okami Wii, and just today confirmed that it has two all-new games underway. So, two new games in development, none for Wii ... rumorong!

Ready at Dawn talks abandoning the PSP, piracy and being original


When it comes to developer Ready at Dawn, creating games for the PSP is just so last week. But while the company has closed the book on any PSP aspirations, going so far as to mail its entire stock of dev kits back to Sony, the developer of both Daxter and God of War: Chains of Olympus has played the reason for abandoning PSP development close to its chest.

It's a mystery, but mysteries give us headaches, so we tracked down Ready At Dawn's president, Didier Malenfant, to find out why exactly the studio has turned up its nose at developing for Sony's sexed-up portable. "We feel like we've done everything we wanted to do with the PSP," admitted the exec. "We have new projects on other platforms and we like to focus on one thing at a time."

Even so, Didier championed the state of PSP development, stating matter-of-factly "Good games sell. Who would have thought?"

Continue reading Ready at Dawn talks abandoning the PSP, piracy and being original

Ready at Dawn ceases PSP development


Developer Ready at Dawn has turned its back on Sony's handheld, with a short post on the company's website confirming that the studio is "now officially done with PSP development." Ready at Dawn is best recognized for two of the PSP's more landmark titles, namely Daxter and last year's God of War: Chains of Olympus, though the company's recent success in bringing Capcom's Okami to the Wii may have more than a little to do with the dev's shifting priorities.

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]

Chance meeting at Game Developers Conference led to Okami Wii

Our waggle-loving friends at Nintendo Wii Fanboy had a chance to sit down with Didier Malenfant, Ready at Dawn's president and co-founder, to talk about the developer's port of Okami for Wii (also dubbed "Okam-Wii"). Malenfant talked about, among other parts of the porting process, the origins of the project -- turns out it was a chance meeting with Capcom's Christian Svensson at a Game Developers Conference party. Behold the power of an industry-wide networking opportunity, folks.

Ready at Dawn ready to move away from PSP


Having broken free from the Chains of Olympus and creating another popular portable game with Daxter, Developer Ready at Dawn says it's done making titles for the PSP. Speaking with Next-Gen, GoW: Chains of Olympus' director Ru Weerasuriya expresses that he hopes other developers continue to up the ante on the PSP, but concludes, "As for us, our work on the PSP has come to an end. But who knows, we might come back to it in the future if the right opportunity arises."

Ready at Dawn is currently putting the last touches on its recently "delayed" port of critical darling Okami. Up next for Ready at Dawn is ... well, actually we don't have a clue.

Okami Wii-treats to April 15


Initially "driving towards" a March 25th release,Clover Studios' swan song, Okami, is now set to arrive a few weeks later. Gamespot conveys Capcom's official release date of April 15, allowing Okami a bit of extra breathing room between it and mega-title Brawl.

Capcom didn't give an explanation for the "delay," but it's worth noting that Wii port developer Ready at Dawn just had its hands full getting God of War: Chains of Olympus out the door. So, go ahead and make the Wii version of Okami a Tax Day present to yourself -- you deserve it.

Gallery: Okami (Wii)

GDC08: Okami -- wider is better


Click for full resolution image, in all of its 480p glory.

Ready at Dawn's upcoming Wii port of Okami is gaining some weight. It's wider than its PS2 predecessor, and filled with so many p's. 480 of them, in fact.

Wii owners with progressive cables will definitely want to check out these first direct-feed images from the upcoming port. The PS2 version was already stunning, but having these extra pixels should make it look even more vivid than before. Okami is due out March 25.

Gallery: Okami (Wii)

God of War: Chains of Olympus goes gold


We typically don't do posts when games go gold, but Ready at Dawn's declaration that God of War: Chains of Olympus is ready to print on UMDs has two things going for it. First, GoW: Chains of Olympus is arguably the most high-profile PSP release outside Japan EVAR. Second, well, there are just some awesomely fun photos of the team's celebration after the game was finally done.

Ready at Dawn's jamboree also means that Chains of Olympus should most definitely make its March 4 release date. Don't have a PSP and still need to get your Kratos on? If the rumor mill holds true the game will see its day on the PS2 at some point in the future. Congrats to the team at Ready at Dawn, may your hangovers be kind and gentle.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

Gallery: God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP)

PSP's Daxter sells 2 million copies in 2 years


Developer Ready at Dawn, currently preparing God of War: Chains of Olympus for March 4 release, announced its freshman effort Daxter has sold over two million copies worldwide. Sure, two million sold for a game which released in 2006 isn't an insane sprint in terms of sales, but it's a marathon victory. The game certainly benefited from being bundled with new PSPs last year, but the developer says Daxter saw its best sales in nearly two years during December '07.

Ready at Dawn notes that it can only look forward to GoW: Chains of Olympus doing better than its first project. Considering our experiences with Kratos' handheld adventure so far, there's not too much Ready at Dawn needs to worry about.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

Okami Wii-ports for duty on March 25


You people should be thanking Ready at Dawn for providing you with a means of escape from the unforgiving and surprisingly creative torture we had planned for all Okami skippers. By purchasing the "exact" Wii port of Clover Studios' beautiful swan song when it releases on March 25th (the date Capcom says it's "currently driving towards"), you'll earn yourself a chance at redemption.

And by the time you're actually playing it on March 26th (the intro is a bit on the long side), you'll thank us for pointing you to the best Zelda game in years.

Ready at Dawn drawn to current-gen consoles


With work on God of War: Chains of Olympus coming to an end in March, developer Ready at Dawn is already planning an excursion beyond the PSP's portable realm. In a lengthy interview with 1UP, the studio discusses how easily the Greek-on-the-go got the green light thanks to the hard work put into the well-received Daxter. "The first meeting just went like 'we should make a God of War PSP game' and they were like 'yeah you should.' And that was pretty much it," quipped the game's director, Ru Weerasuriya.

Once Kratos is out of the way, Ready at Dawn hopes to put on a similarly impressive show on that system you currently have chained to your television. "This team is ready to move onto something pretty big, and we've [been] planning it for quite a while, and this team needs to show what they're capable of doing on next-gen or current-gen." Expect to hear more about Something Pretty Big as soon as the team gives Okami its deserved second chance on the Wii.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

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