Commander Fury

Many years ago I quit a pretty sweet job as creative director on Activision's Spider-Man series in the middle of development on Spider-Man 3. Why did I do such a crazy thing? I'd love to say it was because of the screenplay, but no -- a big part of the reason was that even though I had the highfalutin' title "creative director" I didn't feel like it was my game. Somehow, not enough of my own creative input and ideas were making it into the thing, and I thought that at a small company I could start making games I could call my own again. More...

Are you ready, guys? Because right now it’s <a href="http://xseedgames.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?42-Ragnarok-Odyssey">Ragnarok Odyssey</a> happy hour! Or more like Happy Day, since today we celebrate the release of our precious <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PS Vita</a> title. It’s been a lengthy localization journey, but we’re proud to bring out the Ragnarok Odyssey Standard Edition for $39.99, as well as the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ragnarok-Odyssey-Mercenary-Edition-playstation-vita/dp/B0090WBXR8/ref=pd_sim_vg_1">Mercenary Edition</a>, which includes a meaty monster guide with artwork, a full soundtrack, and 10 randomized collectable monster cards out of over 50 for $49.99. The game itself is the real star of the show, though. Think of it kind of like <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/monster-hunter/">Monster Hunter</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gods_Eater_Burst">Gods Eater</a>, but with more of a Norse mythology twist and a battle system that’s all about knocking your enemies high into the air, then flying up after them and flinging them all over creation before slamming them back down into the hard dirt below. More...

Hey yo hey yo! You may remember me as the designer of<a href="http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/closure-ps3.html?CMP=soc_us__ac_sm_05_21_12">Closure</a>, a game I created with artist Jon Schubbe and musician Chris Rhyne that made its debut on <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/psn/">PSN</a> earlier this year. Since release, our eerie puzzler has received quite a bit of praise from both fans and press. People love the game, and we want to make sure that everyone has a chance to play this game we spent so long working on. So, as a thank you to all who have played it (and haven’t!), and in the spirit of the season, we're launching a special Halloween sale this week! Halloween is a perfect holiday to spend checking out Closure, an eerie puzzle platformer that takes place mostly in darkness, where anything not illuminated simply ceases to exist. More...

The time has come, PlayStation Assassins! We are very pleased to announce that both <a href="http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/assassin-s-creed-iii-ps3.html?CMP=soc_us__ac_sm_05_21_12">Assassin’s Creed III</a> and <a href="http://us.playstation.com/psvita/games-and-media/psv-assassin-s-creed-iii-liberation.html?CMP=soc_us__ac_sm_05_21_12">Assassin’s Creed III Liberation</a> will be available tomorrow on <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps3/">PS3</a> and <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PS Vita</a>, respectively. To celebrate, we’d first like to draw your attention to our Assassin’s Creed III launch trailer, which you can watch below! As an exciting bonus for our PlayStation Assassins, PS3 players will get day-one access to four exclusive missions at no extra cost. The bonus missions cover one of the most dastardly betrayals in American history: the treachery of Benedict Arnold! We don’t want to give too much away, but fortunately we have a trailer that goes over a few key details… More...

This Wednesday, October 29th, we welcome a new Home publisher as well as two new fantastic games to launch this week. If that’s not enough, fans of Terminator 2 will squeeee in delight at some new outfits, Home Tycoon is having a sale, and more! Check out all this starting Wednesday: <strong>1. VEEMEE – Home-Grown Laboratory</strong> VEEMEE welcomes you to the opening of the recently re-discovered Home-Grown Laboratory. HGL was a top-secret facility tasked with creating super solders. Designed for combat in a post-atomic war battlefield, the resulting Creatures were superb fighters. Head to the new HGL Public Space where every player gets five free turns of the combat game, allowing you to try fighting with all four Creatures. More...

We're excited to announce the winners of the official <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/09/19/sack-it-to-me-calling-all-video-directors/">LittleBigPlanet Karting 2012 Video Contest</a>! We had tons of submissions, so we narrowed them down to a final Top Ten that we felt best showcased both the community’s imagination and the overall creativity of the game. We put each entry through a rigorous judging process and they all received thousands of votes, but in the end the winners were clear. Drum roll please… The Grand Prize winner is Todd Doldersum! For anyone who saw Todd's entry, <a href="https://apps.facebook.com/llbpkvideo/contests/294277/voteable_entries/60128841">Fueled By Imagination</a>, you know why it won. It's a great video that truly captures the ethos of <a href="http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/littlebigplanet-karting-ps3.html?CMP=soc_us__ac_sm_05_21_12">LittleBigPlanet Karting</a>, and we’re thrilled that it’ll be running on TV as the official fan-made commercial for the game. More...

October is just about over, but before we say goodbye to this month (which brought Payday: The Heist, NFL Blitz, and King of Fighters XIII free to PS Plus members), we wanted to point out a great new <a href="http://go.channelintelligence.com/c/?nClientId=6553221&nVID=11302&nIID=279359749&nRGID=1864&rsVendorSku=B009APQ9QK&sCT=CI_Amazon_PS3bundlePSplus_blog">PlayStation 3 Bundle only on Amazon.com</a> that includes one year of <a href="http://us.playstation.com/psn/playstation-plus/">PlayStation Plus</a>. If you know anyone who has yet to dive into <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps3/">PlayStation 3</a>, this might be a great item to recommend (or buy them if you’re feeling generous). With a one year membership of PS Plus included, this bundle will keep anyone plenty busy with great games, awesome discounts, and exclusive access to PS3 features throughout that first year with Plus. More...

Happy Halloween week guys and gals – we’ve got a special treat for you all! In our on-going quest to re-create as many of the best pinball tables of all time, we were able to get the licenses needed from Bally and the Mistress of the Dark herself, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvira,_Mistress_of_the_Dark">Elvira</a>! This means Elvira and the Party Monsters will be released in Table Pack 6 tomorrow, and Scared Stiff will be released before too long in Table Pack 7. Elvira has been super cool to work with. She invited us to part of her Macabre Museum at <a href="http://comikazeexpo.com/">Comikaze Expo</a> last month. We got to show off the Party Monsters table right along with a real machine. Some of the guys here on the pinball team got to meet her, and she even came over and played our game for a while. She’s actually pretty good at pinball! More...

<p style="text-align: justify;">On <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps3/">PS3</a> this week, it's a time of civil unrest and political upheaval in the Americas. As a Native American assassin fights to protect his land and his people, he will ignite the flames of a young nation's revolution. Assassin's Creed III takes you back to the American Revolutionary War, but not the one you've read about in history books. On <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/playstation-move/">PS Move</a>, Sports Champions 2 revives favorite features, including the surprisingly deep and challenging single-player Cup Play and the customizable Free Play mode, plus fun arcade Challenge rounds for each event.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">On <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PS Vita</a> and <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/psn/">PSN</a>, you’re a cunning new assassin - Aveline, an assassin of mixed French and African heritage. You must use your skill, instinct and weaponry - including a machete, poison-dart blowpipe, and duelling pistols, to hunt down and eliminate your enemies in Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Also on PS Vita, Need for Speed: Most Wanted is the 19th release in the long-running Need for Speed franchise, and the first for the PlayStation Vita. It hearkens back to the earliest games in the series as players compete in races with police unified against them. Enjoy this week’s <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/the-drop/">The Drop</a>.</p> More...

It was a big week for PSN releases, with the long-awaited arrival of the thought-provoking exclusive The Unfinished Swan, the release of the enormously entertaining Frobisher Says! (Protip: it’s free!) and Orgarhythm for PS Vita, a Sports Champions 2 demo and much more — read on for the week’s top 10 most-viewed stories. It was [...] More...

I just peeked at this week's complete list of new releases (which will publish here in a few hours), and it's doozy. Two great Assassin's Creed titles, a new (and awesome) Need for Speed on both PS3 and PS Vita, the <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/okami-hd/">HD remake</a> of one of my favorite games of all time, and actually a lot more. Forget Halloween, October 30th should be a national holiday this year. Oh, and if you're watching football this afternoon, keep an eye out for the Assassin's Creed III Liberation/PS Vita commercial, which will debut today. <strong>The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of October 22nd, 2012)</strong> <ul> <li><A HREF="http://www.siliconera.com/2012/10/26/zero-escape-virtues-last-reward-director-on-designing-characters/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+siliconera%2FMkOc+%28Siliconera%29&utm_content=Google+Reader" ADD_DATE="1351359423" PRIVATE="0" TAGS="">Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward Director On Designing Characters - Siliconera</A></li> <li><A HREF="http://www.destructoid.com/review-orgarhythm-237260.phtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Destructoid+%28Destructoid%29&utm_content=Google+Reader" ADD_DATE="1351359354" PRIVATE="0" TAGS="">Review: Orgarhythm - Destructoid</A></li> <li><A HREF="http://kotaku.com/5955299/xcom-isnt-a-horror-game-but-it-sure-does-feel-like-one" ADD_DATE="1351359315" PRIVATE="0" TAGS="">XCOM Isn't A Horror Game, But It Sure Does Feel Like One - Kotaku</A></li></ul> More...

Hey fine folks; it’s time for the <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/psn-spotlight/">PSN Community Spotlight</a>. For the unfamiliar, this is where PlayStation gamers tell their unique stories/experiences/thoughts, as submitted to this section in the <a href="http://community.us.playstation.com/t5/PSN-Community-Meets-the-PS-Blog/bd-p/22802">PlayStation Community Forums</a>. Those that make it all the way to the PlayStation Blog will receive a $50 PlayStation Store voucher. Last week we asked for your PlayStation stories, and gamer <a href="http://us.playstation.com/publictrophy/index.htm?onlinename=zixpk">zixpk</a> wrote in to tell us about his first gaming memories (hint: It wasn’t on the PS3). <strong>A Fine First Moment in Gaming</strong> Yes. I know. Another first gaming moment story. More...

A bit of advice for Assassin’s Creed fans: get some sleep this weekend. Come Tuesday, you’ll get to immerse yourself in the Revolutionary mythology of Assassin’s Creed III both at home and on the go. If you’ve been keeping up with our coverage of Aveline de Grandpre’s portable adventure, you’re likely already aware of <a href="http://us.playstation.com/psvita/games-and-media/psv-assassin-s-creed-iii-liberation.html?CMP=soc_us__ac_sm_05_21_12">Assassin’s Creed III Liberation</a>’s open-world gameplay, its crossover with the PS3’s <a href="http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/assassin-s-creed-iii-ps3.html?CMP=soc_us__ac_sm_05_21_12">Assassin’s Creed III</a>, and it’s <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PS Vita</a>-specific features. But showing <em>is</em> better than telling, so have a look at some of Liberation’s (optional) touch controls in action, as AC3L Writer Richard Farreese tells us how the team adapted the series’ new control scheme to PS Vita. Spoiler: they didn’t have to change much. More...

<a href="http://www.nissanusa.com/gtacademyshow/">Nissan GT Academy</a> is back for a second season, seeking to determine which of America’s best Gran Turismo players has what it takes to become a professional racing driver. The first of the six-part episode will air on Spike TV beginning Thursday, November 1st at <strong>11:30pm Pacific Time /10:30pm CET</strong>. The remaining episodes will air at the same time each Thursday night and will be available on the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/nissanusa">Nissan YouTube</a> channel the following Monday. GT Academy will also be screened on <a href="http://www.mtv.com/mtv2/">MTV2</a>, one week after the original airdate on <a href="http://www.spike.com/">SPIKE TV</a>. For a preview, visit <a href="http://www.nissanusa.com/gtacademyshow/">GTAcademy.com</a>. More...

The 10th Anniversary of Ratchet & Clank is coming up next month, and it’s been a lot of fun this year reliving the memories from our original PS2 games in the recently released <a href="http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/ratchet-and-clank-collection-ps3.html?CMP=soc_us__ac_sm_05_21_12">Ratchet & Clank Collection</a>. We also had a blast playing the beta of <a href="<a href="http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/ratchet-clank-full-frontal-assault-ps3.html?CMP=soc_us__ac_sm_05_21_12">">Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault</a> with all of you earlier this fall. Since then, we’ve gotten a flood of e-mails, tweets and Facebook posts asking when you can get back to exploring the battlefield and defending your base in FFA. We’re happy to announce Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault will be available on November 27th on the PlayStation Store and at retail. That’s right, you asked and we listened: Full Frontal Assault will be available as a retail copy for those of you who love physical copies of your games! Both the download and retail versions support cross-buy as well, so your purchase gets you both the game on <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps3/">PS3</a> and a digital copy for <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PlayStation Vita</a>. More...

<del>Making a licensed game is hard</del>. Making a <em>good</em> licensed game is hard. As huge <a href="http://www.fox.com/familyguy/">Family Guy</a> fans, when the opportunity came to make a game based on the hilarious TV show, with <a href="http://www.heavy-iron.com/">Heavy Iron Studios</a> at the helm, it was impossible to pass up. But there was one giant hurdle we had to get over in order to make a good Family Guy game – we don’t work at Fuzzy Door, Seth MacFarlane’s production company, and we aren’t involved in any way with the Family Guy TV show. And it wouldn’t matter how much effort we put into the graphics, or the level design, or the action. If it didn’t <em>feel</em> like Family Guy -- if it wasn’t funny, or if Stewie shouted “Blast!†and it was clear we’d just hired some actor to do a mediocre Stewie impression - fans would hate it. WE would hate it. More...

Next week sees the keenly anticipated release of <a href="http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/need-for-speed-most-wanted-ps3.html?CMP=soc_us__ac_sm_05_21_12">Need for Speed Most Wanted</a>, the latest release from <a href="http://blog.criteriongames.com/">Criterion Games</a> – the legendary UK racing specialist behind the Burnout series and <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/need-for-speed-hot-pursuit/">Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit</a>, the phenomenal 2010 entry in EA’s long-running street racing franchise. That the <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps3/">PlayStation 3</a> version is very, very good should come as no surprise, but somewhat more unexpected is the amount of care the studio has lavished on replicating the experience on <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PlayStation Vita</a>. Producer Matt Webster and his team have squeezed almost the entire experience onto the handheld, and even found room for a little bit of extra content exclusive to the system. More...

This week, the Music Unlimited service features <a href="http://blog.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/2012/10/23/new-releases-on-the-music-unlimited-service-102312/">new releases</a> from <strong>Kendrick Lamar</strong>, <strong>Gary Clark Jr.</strong>, and <strong>Swedish House Mafia</strong> as well as <strong>Lady Antebellum</strong>, <strong>Tony Bennett</strong>, <strong>Colbie Caillat</strong>, and <strong>The Sword</strong>. Also, make sure to check out our latest record label retrospective channel shining the spotlight on <a href="http://blog.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/2012/10/23/new-premium-channel-kill-rock-stars/">Kill Rock Stars</a>. With its roots deep in discovering indie superstars like <strong>Elliott Smith</strong>, <strong>Sleater-kinney</strong> and <strong>The Decemberists</strong>, the label continues to release great albums from a variety of artists, including <strong>Horse Feathers</strong>, <strong>The Thermals</strong> and <strong>Thao & Mirah</strong>. On the video side this week we continue the Halloween celebration with special prices as low as $4.99 on select zombie thrillers like <strong>Dark Shadows</strong>, <strong>Shaun of the Dead</strong>, <strong>Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies</strong>, and <strong>Pet Sematary</strong>. More...

<blockquote><strong>Subscription Links:</strong> <ul><li>Subscribe via <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/official-playstation-blogcast/id483223024?mt=2">iTunes here</a> </li> <li>Subscribe via <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheOfficialPlaystationBlogcast">RSS here</a></li> <li>Download the <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/playstation/48_Episode_048__The_Trumpet_of_the_S.mp3">MP3 here</a> on PS3, PS Vita or PC (Right-Click->Save As)</li></ul></blockquote> With a new <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/psn/">PSN</a> indie innovator fluttering in the wild, we spend today's show discussing <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/the-unfinished-swan/">The Unfinished Swan</a>, how it compares to <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/journey/">Journey</a>, and games with "mystique." I also geek out on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XCOM:_Enemy_Unknown">XCOM: Enemy Unknown</a> (seriously, it's good), Nick talks about his early experiences with <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/dishonored/">Dishonored</a>, and look forward to next week's release of <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/assassins-creed-iii/">Assassin's Creed III</a> (with the PS3-exclusive Benedict Arnold four-mission arc) and <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/assassins-creed-iii-liberation/">Assassin's Creed III: Liberation for PS Vita</a>. More...

Part of <a href="http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/assassin-s-creed-iii-ps3.html?CMP=soc_us__ac_sm_05_21_12">Assassin’s Creed III</a>’s ample appeal lies in its fastidious recreation of Revolutionary War-era America, a time of great uncertainty and even greater promise. Developer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubisoft_Montreal">Ubisoft Montreal</a> has gone to considerable lengths to accurately recreate historic locations across the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, referring to era maps and historians in order to bolster the game’s authenticity. We recently spoke with lead designer Steve Masters and creative director Alex Hutchinson to learn more about the game’s slavish attention to detail in recreating late 18th century colonial America. Enjoy! “In Boston, you’ll see a lot of places you could see today, from the old statehouse to Fenway Market to a pub called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Dragon_Tavern">Green Dragon Tavern</a>. Using maps from the era, we recreated Boston at a 1:3 scale, including a lot of the surrounding countryside with towns like Lexington and Concord.†More...

It's easy to forget that "tactical espionage action" is a relatively recent innovation in the videogame medium, with trailblazers like Metal Gear Solid and Syphon Filter emerging in the late '90s to great acclaim and even greater influence. A more realistic, open-ended philosophy towards combat soon spread through the action genre, permanently impacting the development of artificial intelligence, level design, and narrative -- ultimately paving the way for everything from <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/sly-cooper-thieves-in-time/">Sly Cooper</a> to <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/assassins-creed/">Assassin's Creed</a>. Syphon Filter veered closer to the action-adventure end of this spectrum, though it too left a distinct mark on the genre with its more realistic approach to combat. Enemies ducked for cover behind objects, an array of memorable gadgets gave players more combat choice, and headshots dropped most combatants instantly. Syphon Filter's high-stakes story was also a sign of things to come in videogame design, merging contemporary themes (programmable viruses, shadowy terrorist networks) with a globe-trotting super spy in protagonist Gabe Logan. As part of PlayStation.Blog's ongoing <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/behind-the-classics/">Behind the Classics series</a>, we reached out to <a href="http://www.bendgamestudio.com/">Bend Studio</a> Creative Director <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/author/jgarvin/">John Garvin</a> to learn more about the inspirations for this PSone classic. More...

In terms of things that constitute A BIG DEAL, the arrival of a new <a href="http://www.insomniacgames.com/">Insomniac</a> game is right up there. The California-based studio boasts one of the sturdiest resumes in gaming, with past works including Spyro, Ratchet & Clank and Resistance, and its latest effort - spectacular third-person shooter <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/fuse/">Fuse</a> – looks every bit as distinctive. The set-up is simple – you play as one member of a four-strong squad of special agents, each armed with a high-concept weapon powered by a mysterious alien substance called Fuse. There’s beefy Dalton who wields a weapon that allows him to generate a force field. Naya’s assault rifle generates a mini-vortex which sucks in enemies. Izzy wields a shatter gun that freezes foes on the spot, allowing colleagues to step in and vaporize them. Finally, Jacob sports a crossbow that fires molten projectiles capable of turning the opposition into a pile of ash. More...

The Earth Defense Force is back, and I'm here to tell you what to expect when it lands on <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps-vita/">PS Vita</a> this winter! Earth Defense Force 2017 (“EDF3†in Japan) launched in 2007 as a third-person shooter developed by Sandlot and published by D3Publisher. In Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable for PS Vita, the core of the game (the 3D arcade action and the system features) remain the same as in EDF2017, but by adding many additional features the game feels completely transformed and remastered. These additions include an online co-op mode, new missions, enemies and weapons, and a new playable character in Pale Wing. More...

For the first time ever, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonidas_I">King Leonidas</a> will be brought to life in <a href="http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/god-of-war-ascension-ps3.html?CMP=soc_us__ac_sm_05_21_12">God of War Ascension</a>’s multiplayer as depicted by Gerard Butler in the blockbuster film “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film)">300</a>.†If you pre-order God of War: Ascension standard or collector’s edition at <a href="http://www.gamestop.com/">GameStop</a>, you will receive a voucher code that gives you access to history’s most heroic Spartan. We are very excited to partner with Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment to offer you the chance to play as one of the biggest badasses in Greek history on the God of War: Ascension multiplayer battlefield. More...

We interrupt your regular scheduled blog content with a gentle reminder from Helghast Autarch Scolar Visari: “My people... Sons and daughters of Helghan... Today is a glorious day for our nation. For many years, our history was incomplete – divided, fragmented, and split up over multiple platforms. But on this day, the record of our great struggle is made whole. On this day, <strong><a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/killzone-trilogy/">Killzone Trilogy</a> is released for <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/category/ps3/">PlayStation 3</a>!</strong> Experience the power of the Third Helghast Army in the original Killzone, remastered in majestic HD. Witness the tyranny of the ISA as it attempts to seize Helghan in Killzone 2. More...