The Warp Pipe

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With Jeff and Rey in L.A. for pre-E3 activities, and Nick still wandering the primordial plains of Africa, I preside over today’s somewhat more intimate show. Luckily, I roped in PSN Sr. Community Manager Matthew Harper to share his eye-opening Origin Story, which provides some helpful tips for those of you who have wondered how to break into game development.

We kick off with a late-breaking interview featuring Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley from Naughty Dog, the creative director and game director of upcoming PS3 survival epic The Last of Us. If you’ve wondered how the game will play compared to UNCHARTED, or how Naughty Dog is handling the game’s decidedly mature themes, today’s shows will provide the answers you need.

Then we shift gears for a detailed discussion with Oddworld creator Lorne Lanning and Just Add Water CEO Stewart Gilray. The pair provide insight into the upcoming PS Vita version of Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath HD, discuss how PSN’s indie-minded model has reinvigorated the seminal series, and lay out their plans for world domination.

And as always, we reveal next week’s PSN game lineup, share a selection of new user questions and tips, and provide a head-scratching new Mystery Theme.

Stuff We Talked About

• The Last of Us – new in-game cutscene
• Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD

The Cast

[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game
details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating
descriptions.]

• Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. Special thanks to Astro Gaming headsets for providing audio gear.

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Sony’s PS Store goes the way of Steam with pre-purchase feature.
Sony has added a new pre-loading function to the PlayStation Store that’ll let you download games early that’ll be unlocked on launch date.

Click here to read the full article

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38 Studios was unable to make payroll this week, but is in the process of making the $1.125 million payment that set off the company’s crisis earlier this week. WPRI reports that a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation did confirm that former Red Sox player Curt Schilling’s video game company was unable to pay its employees.

A source tells Joystiq that beyond not making payroll, all temps and contractors were fired this week.

At the same time, Governor Lincom Chafee’s office did state that 38 Studios is in the process of making the overdue payment to the state.

[developing]

38 Studios doesn’t make payroll, paying state instead originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 May 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warheads! Last Tuesday, May 8th, LightBox Interactive and Santa Monica Studio released Starhawk into the wild. Getting here was a real &*#%^# at times, but it sure as hell has been a fun ride! If you’d like to peek behind the curtains look at the final days of Starhawk’s development, check out this video. We shot it a few weeks before release and it’ll give you a nice glimpse into the inner workings of a game developer in crunch mode.

We’ll also be able to tell you more about some great downloadable items soon, including our first free map…Cypress. Stay tuned for details!

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Standing amongst fallen leaves in an unknown forest, a face stares at me from the side of a tree. It’s not a real face, of course, only a mask. Expending considerable effort, I pry the mask from the tree, revealing a hollow behind it. Housed within the hollow is a small pickaxe. Upon grasping the handle, I black out.

I wake up in the middle of a frozen wasteland. Crawling along the hard surface, I clear away some snow with my forearm, exposing the ice underneath. It’s not a wasteland at all; it’s a lake. Beneath the ice is a golden chalice. A noise from behind prompts me to clear away more snow, exposing a horror underneath: A woman is trapped below the ice, and she’s still alive.

The pickaxe still rests in my hand, so I immediately go to work, chipping away as the woman squirms against the surface. My heart pounds as the axe falls again and again, slowly cracking the ice. Finally, the ice gives way – directly beneath me – and I tumble into the chilly abyss, sinking down as I watch the light of sky recede into nothingness. Again, I awake in the forest, the mask in my hand, which I quickly discard.

This is a moment pulled directly from Datura. Did I do something wrong? Something right? I haven’t got a clue.

Continue reading Snapshot: Datura (PS3)

Snapshot: Datura (PS3) originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 May 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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