Commander Fury

Can you believe it’s been 10 years since Destiny first launched on PS3 and PS4? 10 years since players first chose Hunter, Titan, or Warlock and jumped into Bungie’s expansive sci-fi world to build up their fledgling Guardian. I can still vividly remember my first time facing off against a daunting Fallen Walker in the Cosmodrome during the Destiny alpha all those years ago. To celebrate the series’ decade-long run, we asked developers from PlayStation Studios to share their fondest memories playing Destiny and their developer perspective on what makes the game so sticky and satisfying. Play Video With no further ado, happy 10th anniversary, Destiny! “When Destiny first launched, and after I played for a bit, I actually reached out to my old high school friends who live in another town and convinced them to buy a PS4 and immediately join me. We had such a great time that it kickstarted our weekly game night that has been going on since 2014. Destiny was basically the reason why we reconnected and became even better friends. I usually can’t play a game without analyzing the animations. I’ve always been impressed with Destiny’s cinematics and enemy animations. Each faction has always felt very distinct and unique from each other with varied personalities coming through their movement. Bungie’s use of runtime, full-body IK rigs has always been amazing as well.“ – Bruno Velazquez, Game Director, Santa Monica Studio Play Video “I got Destiny two months after release as a birthday present to myself, and it gave me so many moments of joy throughout this past decade, and a fireteam of lifelong friends. But the one moment I will never get over is the opening mission of the Shadowkeep expansion. One of my friends made it out of the Hive’s tunnels first and said: ‘Oh my god, you guys gotta get up here, now.’ I can still remember the awe and horror of turning the corner in the tunnels of the moon and seeing a huge pyramid embedded in the lunar rock, and processing what it meant. One of the best reveals I’ve ever seen done. As a lighting artist, Destiny is a huge inspiration for me, from the beautiful skyboxes to the excellent use of color and silhouette to create interest, focal points, and lead the player throughout fantastical spaces. It’s a dream of mine to work on a game with such freedom of color and atmosphere!“ – Jen Carlin, Lighting Artist, Insomniac Games “Destiny is a game I’ve been playing on and off since September 2014. I begged my aunt to get it for me as an early Christmas gift because even from the early trailers, I knew this game was special. Through high school, college, and my career at PlayStation, it’s always been there. When I enter the Tower, no matter how long of a hiatus it’s been, it feels like coming home. Which of course made it all the more devastating when we lost the first one, and all the more elating when we found it again in the Pale Heart. Destiny has achieved an incredible symbiosis based on the dedication of not just the developers but also the players and community, which allows them to create this intense emotional connection. As a Narrative and Mission designer, the longevity of the story, the depth of the world-building, and the memorability of not just the main campaigns but the seasonal stories have left a profound impression on me that makes me wish I could experience it all over again and hope to emulate in the future of my career.“ – Sam Jordan, Designer, Insomniac Games “My earliest memory of Destiny is running Relic Iron loops on Mars for a friend, but my favorite memory would have to be my raid team beating Nezarac on contest mode after we wiped during the final stand, all thanks to one friend’s insistence on using Osteo Striga. The player expression through buildcrafting is what keeps me constantly interested in Destiny, especially the minutia of how a build can differ from person to person. I love fine-tuning my support builds to help my teammates, whether that’s printing orbs on Arc Hunter, locking down the battlefield on Stasis Warlock, or creating safe havens on Void Titan. Happy 10th anniversary Destiny, you’ve definitely become legend!“ – Matthew Makuch, Senior Technical Designer, Bend Studio Play Video “Each raid has a physical jacket you can buy if you complete it in the first week. My favorite is my first, the Crown of Sorrow jacket. The jacket features a chalice and my gamer tag. I didn’t have a clan, but that was worth trying LFG. At minimum Power, the difficulty got ridiculous. Most hits would put me one shot from death. Eventually, the group kicked me, and I went to bed dispirited and disappointed. The next day, I joined another LFG for one last shot an hour before reset. In the group were speedrunners from Fast who’d set the world record two weeks later. I only realized when they flew across and skipped the whole jumping puzzle! At the final boss, random crystals spawned which required two players to melee them. I was so focused on surviving I’d often miss the spawn, so I heard a constant chorus of “Behind you! Hurry up!” With ten minutes before reset, we wiped on an enrage [an attack that’s unleashed if players take too long] just before we killed the boss. But we rallied and got the kill with only minutes left. In less than 24 hours, I had gone from the lowest to the highest point in my Destiny journey.“ – Jeffrey Lininger, Senior Game Designer, Guerrilla “One of my favourite things about Destiny is that it’s like a social sandbox and a TV show I can’t get enough of rolled into one. Guiding a group of my friends through Vault of Glass, their first raid, was a brilliant experience! My first instinct when I find anything cool is to tell someone about it. So it was so much fun to be able to share one of my all time favourite experiences, take them through each encounter and watch them, well, die over and over but also get excited as they figure out each mechanic and eventually succeed. At the same time, it’s a world that’s so fascinating to explore and delve into. Reading through the Books of Sorrow and the work of the amazing writing team is as impactful to me as exploring the Pale Heart or finally defeating Skolas when we foolishly (or bravely?) tried that week Lightswitch was the modifier. Good times. Telesto is also the Besto.“ – Luke Gillard, Senior Functional Tester, Guerrilla / PlayStation QA Play Video “The most memorable moment for me is the entrance of the Witch Queen expansion as you cannonball (quite literally) through an endless bound of beautiful locations that left me speechless. Destiny 2 is a masterpiece in visual quality and graphical standards; the carefully crafted environments are rich with narrative design and especially to me, the lighting. The artistic lighting since Destiny began has had such a significant influence on the methods that I use to approach lighting in similarly enriched environments. From the use of colour, compositions and implementation to gameplay, the artistic talent of the team truly sets one of the highest standards for our industry and they continually prove that with each new expansion. “ – Daniel Sewell, Senior Lighting Artist, Haven What are your earliest and fondest memories from Destiny’s past 10 years? View the full article

Name: PlayStation - PS5 Technical Presentation hosted by Mark Cerny Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 09/09/2024 Submitter: Commander Fury PS5 Technical Presentation hosted by Mark Cerny PlayStation - PS5 Technical Presentation hosted by Mark Cerny

Join us for a streamed presentation hosted by Mark Cerny, Lead Architect of the PS5 console. The 9-minute Technical Presentation will focus on PS5 and innovations in gaming technology. How to watch The stream will be broadcast in English on the PlayStation YouTube channel September 10 at 8:00am PT / 11:00am ET / 4:00pm BST. Regarding co-streaming and video-on-demand (VOD) Please note that this broadcast may include copyrighted content (e.g. licensed music) that PlayStation does not control. We welcome and celebrate our amazing co-streamers and creators, but licensing agreements outside our control could interfere with co-streams or VOD archives of this broadcast. If you’re planning to save this broadcast as a VOD to create recap videos, or to repost clips or segments from the show, we advise omitting any copyrighted music. View the full article

Name: XBox - Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown | Launch Trailer Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 09/09/2024 Submitter: Commander Fury Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown | Launch Trailer XBox - Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown | Launch Trailer

Name: PlayStation - Vigor Chronicles: Genesis - Launch Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 09/09/2024 Submitter: Commander Fury Vigor Chronicles: Genesis - Launch Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games PlayStation - Vigor Chronicles: Genesis - Launch Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games

Astro Bot made his anticipated return to PS5 with last week’s release of the titular game. Team Asobi, the PlayStation Studio behind Astro’s Playroom, infused the little bot’s big new adventure with enough stages, power-ups, secrets, and fun to make any 3D platforming fan grin. With the game’s launch fresh in our minds, I visited Team Asobi’s studio to interview the development team about the studio’s history, development style, and tribute to 30 years of PlayStation. Let’s delve right into it. Art & Animation: Everything begins with gameplay ideas Left: Jamie Smith, Principal Animation Director, Team Asobi Middle: Sebastian Brueckner, Principal Art Director, Team Asobi Right: Maki Murakami Senior Animator, Team Asobi PlayStation Blog: What do you prioritize the most when creating characters? Jamie Smith: I pay close attention to “playfulness.” When creating animations, we model how children express joy, like jumping up and down with excitement, to elicit jubilant feelings among players. Children are packed with actions and emotions, and we strive to imbue all these essences in our character designs. How do you decide which of these ideas make it into the game? Sebastian Brueckner: First and foremost, everyone must agree that these ideas will enhance the gameplay. We don’t choose ideas solely from the art aspects, but everything begins with the gameplay ideas. As a team, we collectively envision a series of gameplay scenarios and make decisions on the world and its details. For instance, if the gameplay involves ice, we further collaborate on the idea and may suggest the sea as the world setting. Once the details are finalized, the art comes in to refine the world. Maki Murakami: This brainstorming process is particularly palpable in Astro’s new power-ups and enhancement designs. Handy-D is one example. The idea behind this long-armed monkey was to assist Astro in climbing. Then we explored the ideas on how we could make it cuter and agreed on the design for it to be carried on Astro’s back. We create prototypes, then playtest them and refine them together to take the level of fun to eleven. Tech & Programming: New features stem from the passion for delivering new experiences Left: Toshimasa Aoki, Sr Principal Product Manager Right: Masayuki Yamada, Principal Gameplay Programming Lead, Team Asobi Tell us about Team Asobi’s unique modeling techniques. Masayuki Yamada: Gameplay programmers start by creating primitive models based on the specifications provided by the designers and test the gameplay with them. Once we verify the models are indeed fun, the artists step in to elevate the experience. Our team process is different from others in the sense that we first define what makes the gameplay fun and then amplify that aspect of the game even further. As a hardware developer, how do you feel about the DualSense controller transforming into a character and featuring in the game as the Dual Speeder? Toshimasa Aoki: I was genuinely thrilled to see the controller I helped create featured in the game. Before Astro Bot, the controllers received a spotlight only in the User’s Guide. But look at them now, flying around in the game as 3D characters, responding to every move and action. What better way to showcase the hardware than this? Team Asobi’s work is also a great platform to highlight new PlayStation technologies, like PlayStation VR and the DualSense controller. To deliver these new, unique features to players, is there anything your team focuses on? Toshimasa: We introduce new features because we want to create new experiences for our players. Our close collaboration with Team Asobi allows us to test prototypes early in their development. When we see smiles or hear chuckles from the team, it’s a sign that we’ve successfully created something new, and those reactions are a testament to the motivation in our work. A game packed with fun action and 30 years of PlayStation history Nicolas Doucet, Studio Head, Team Asobi What do you think is Team Asobi’s unique strength that sets the studio apart from others? Nicolas Doucet: Our strengths are ideas and speed. Innovation is a key aspect of Sony’s DNA, and achieving innovation requires testing numerous ideas. Ideas and speed are inseparable when it comes to promptly identifying what works. And that’s what Team Asobi excels in. Everyone on the team is always eager, inspired, and motivated to create something new. What kind of experiences do you want players to have when they play Astro Bot? Doucet: For veteran gamers, we hope to bring them the fun of platform action games and a sense of nostalgia, as the title is packed with tributes to PlayStation’s 30 years of history. With cameos like PaRappa, I hope players feel a wave of joy and nostalgia when encountering these familiar faces. I also feel a profound sense of responsibility towards novice players, especially very young gamers about to embark on their first gaming adventure. I vividly remember the first time I played a video game- it was incredibly fun and left a lasting impression on me. If Astro Bot is someone’s first video game and sparks the same joy and excitement that I felt, I would be personally delighted. What are some unique advantages that come with being part of PlayStation Studios? And how do you collaborate with other PlayStation Studios? Doucet: Since this title packs in much of PlayStation history, we worked closely with all the PlayStation Studios. When we shared our concept with the studio directors and game creators, their responses were overwhelmingly positive. Initially, I thought we could only feature around 50 characters out of the 150 characters we wanted to feature. But to our greatest surprise, the studios unanimously agreed to the cameo of all 150 characters. Apart from our PlayStation Studios, we were also lucky to collaborate with third-party publishers. What message do you have for the players who are waiting eagerly for the Astro Bot’s release?Doucet: We’ve spent three years creating Astro Bot for both long-time PlayStation fans and new players, so please take your time and enjoy every nook and cranny of the game. We’ve also hidden many secrets and surprises, so have fun exploring and discovering them all! View the full article

Name: PlayStation - Dead Second - Launch Trailer | PS VR2 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 09/08/2024 Submitter: Commander Fury Dead Second - Launch Trailer | PS VR2 Games PlayStation - Dead Second - Launch Trailer | PS VR2 Games

Name: XBox - Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Open Beta Trailer Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 09/07/2024 Submitter: Commander Fury Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Open Beta Trailer XBox - Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Open Beta Trailer

Name: Now Featuring SFS Kal | urgentfury on #Twitch Category: Urgent Fury Date Added: 09/07/2024 Submitter: Commander Fury Now Featuring SFS Kal | urgentfury on #Twitch Now Featuring SFS Kal | urgentfury on #Twitch

Name: Show'n Off in BO6 Beta | urgentfury on #Twitch Category: Urgent Fury Date Added: 09/07/2024 Submitter: Commander Fury Show'n Off in BO6 Beta | urgentfury on #Twitch Show'n Off in BO6 Beta | urgentfury on #Twitch

Name: XBox - ARK Aberration Ascended + Bob's Tall Tales 2 Trailer Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 09/06/2024 Submitter: Commander Fury ARK Aberration Ascended + Bob's Tall Tales 2 Trailer XBox - ARK Aberration Ascended + Bob's Tall Tales 2 Trailer

Name: PlayStation - ARK Aberration Ascended + Bob's Tall Tales 2 Trailer | PS5 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 09/06/2024 Submitter: Commander Fury ARK Aberration Ascended + Bob's Tall Tales 2 Trailer | PS5 Games PlayStation - ARK Aberration Ascended + Bob's Tall Tales 2 Trailer | PS5 Games

Name: PlayStation - Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Open Beta Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 09/06/2024 Submitter: Commander Fury Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Open Beta Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games PlayStation - Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Open Beta Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games

Name: XBox - Upcoming Games, Updates, and Events | This Week on Xbox Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 09/06/2024 Submitter: Commander Fury Upcoming Games, Updates, and Events | This Week on Xbox XBox - Upcoming Games, Updates, and Events | This Week on Xbox

Name: PlayStation - Ace Attorney Investigations Collection - Launch Trailer | PS4 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 09/06/2024 Submitter: Commander Fury Ace Attorney Investigations Collection - Launch Trailer | PS4 Games PlayStation - Ace Attorney Investigations Collection - Launch Trailer | PS4 Games