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You know what, Uncharted 2? We get it — okay? We get it. You’re awesome. Not only did you win all the awards, now, according to Scott Rohde, VP of product development for SCEA, you’ve sold 3.5 million units, enough to become the fastest-selling first-party game on the PlayStation 3 to date.

Frankly, Mr. “Among Thieves,” we’ve all been talking about it and … well, it’s starting to come off as a little desperate. And, to be honest, we’re a little upset that Joystiq GOTY honors wasn’t good enough for you. There — we said it.

Uncharted 2 sells 3.5 million worldwide with the quickness originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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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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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Chances are, you’ve played Uncharted 2 by now. Wait, you haven’t? Why? Do you not trust us?!

If the lack of a single player demo has turned you off Naughty Dog’s latest adventure, worry no more. A free Uncharted 2 demo is making its way to the PlayStation Store next Thursday, January 28th. In addition, premium DLC will supplement its release for fans that are still making their way through the online leaderboards.

As previously mentioned, the first DLC pack will add Sev and a Helghast soldier from Killzone 2, Nathan Hale and a Chimera from Resistance 2, and Cole (both good and evil variants) and Zeke from inFAMOUS. This first set of DLC will be available for $4.99 in the US.

Uncharted 2 demo, DLC climbs onto PlayStation Store on January 28 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A very elegant Uncharted box set will be released in Japan on February 18 for ¥7,980 (about $87). The Uncharted Twin Pack contains both Uncharted 2 and the “PlayStation 3 the Best” Edition of Uncharted, in a lovely gold box that, thankfully, hides Japan’s Uncharted 2 box from view. Along with this announcement comes the reveal of a demo bound for the Japanese PlayStation Store on January 28, plus a bunch of exciting DLC, which we can assume will arrive outside of Japan at some point.

The first content pack will be free and in the Store on January 28 — and it’s kinda weird. It contains multiplayer character models of Resistance 2’s Nathan Hale and a Chimera, InFamous’ Cole (in both “good” and “evil” forms) and Zeke, and Killzone 2’s Tomas Sevchenko and a Helghast soldier. The second DLC pack, dated February 25, adds two maps, one of which is based on the first Uncharted’s “Ruins” area, and multiplayer models of the first game’s Nate, Elena, Atoq Navarro, Eddy Raja, Roman Gabriel, and a mercenary. This pack won’t be free, but no price has been specified. The third DLC pack, available April 15 and also premium, adds a new co-op multiplayer mode, along with four new maps and five new character skins.

Check out the crossover character skins in our gallery below:

New Uncharted 2 DLC, retail twin pack for Japan originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It may have been a quarter century since Mark Cerny’s groundbreaking arcade game Marble Madness was first developed, but this year the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences will give the influential developer an induction into its Hall of Fame. On February 18 in Las Vegas, Cerny will become the 13th member of the AIAS’ small club — a club that includes development bigwigs like Will Wright and Shigeru Miyamoto, among others.

For those of you who don’t know, Cerny’s been hard at work behind the scenes of some of our favorite games throughout the years. The developer’s had a hand in everything from Sonic 2 through God of War 3, with his influential “Cerny Method” of tenacious development being passed down to modern day big boys like Insomniac’s Ted Price and Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells. “Mark has left an indelible mark on all of the games he’s been a part of, the developers that he’s collaborated with, and most importantly the individuals that he’s worked along-side of,” Wells said in the press release (warning: PDF link). For Cerny’s part, he said he’s “thrilled to accept this award” and humbly offloaded some respect to past colleagues that he’s “had the pleasure to work with over the years.” We’re looking forward to witnessing the “Cerny Method” in action during his acceptance speech, wherein he only allows himself 30 seconds to catch our interest before reevaluating the entire thing.

Marble Madness creator Mark Cerny to be inducted into AIAS Hall of Fame originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 16 Jan 2010 03:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gamasutra has posted an interesting analysis of the treatment of sexuality in Uncharted 2. The article mainly focuses on Chloe, which the author, Tom Cross, describes as “a smart, competent, sexually aware pointedly heterosexual female character.” The article further notes that Chloe, in an unusual turn for most video games, “constantly disagrees with and harries the main male character, sometimes out of self-interest and sometimes out of deeply felt connection and respect.” While Cross notes that Uncharted 2 sticks to common story tropes and character arcs, he acknowledges the “incredible quality of Among Thieves‘ script, story, and acting,” noting that the main cast are “some of the most fun, interesting, inoffensive characters in video games.”

We’re inclined to agree. After all, Uncharted 2 didn’t take Joystiq’s top honors for nothing.

Uncharted 2’s sexual politics examined originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has announced a few additions to the lineup of speakers for next year’s DICE (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) summit in Las Vegas.

Naughty Dog game designer Richard Lemarchand, Zynga chief creative officer Brian Reynolds (previously a designer on Civilization 2 and Alpha Centauri), and Zeebo’s Mike Yuen will speak at the summit. Hopefully Yuen will discuss the hot topic of what the deal with Zeebo is. Jamin Brophy-Warren, editor of the new Kill Screen magazine, will moderate a panel discussion between writer/director/producer Navid Khonsari, Raven Software lead designer Manveer Heir, and Dmitri Williams, and new media professor Dmitri Williams.

Once again, this is DICE, the summit taking place in Las Vegas from February 17-20, 2010. Not the EA-owned developer, in case you were wondering why they were bringing a bunch of speakers in.

DICE 2010 featuring speakers from Naughty Dog, Zeebo originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Click to doughnut-size.

PS3 owners will want to stay home on Black Friday. Why? Naughty Dog is releasing the first downloadable content for Uncharted 2’s multiplayer mode this Friday, November 27. A title update will add “The Fort,” a brand new multiplayer map supposedly based on the “Fortress” chapter of Drake’s Fortune. According to the press release, “The Fort is a long rectangular map with wide open spaces and excellent flank routes.” There’s a shotgun in the center of the map and an RPG in the crypt (the inevitable resting place of people on the wrong end of that weapon). Best of all, this update will be free.

Once the patch goes live at 1PM ET, Naughty Dog will also initiate a Double Cash weekend. Teams will have special skins in competitive matches: Doughnut Drake for the Heroes (pictured above), and Doughnut Lazarevic for the Villains.

See a video after the break.

Continue reading Uncharted 2 gets DLC fort free on Friday, Nov. 27

Uncharted 2 gets DLC fort free on Friday, Nov. 27 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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