Call me late to the party, but I’ve been flipping through Ballistic Publishing‘s 272-page opus The Art of God of War III — and I like it. It reads like a cookbook for wannabe creature creators, chronicling God of War III‘s evolving monster designs throughout the game’s extensive development process. The luscious artwork is accompanied by insightful commentary and anecdotes from the game’s visual development artists and the phenoms at Sony Santa Monica Studios.

In addition to pages and pages of unseen concept art and reference sketches, The Art of God of War III showcases a surprising amount of content that didn’t make it into the final version of the game, including several monster designs that were (sadly) left on the cutting-room floor.

Art by Andy Park

Chimera

“This is a creature I initially designed way back during the previous game, God of War II…. I designed the Chimera thinking of the three personalities of the creature: lion, goat, and snake. They are one being, but they have three different brains and therefore, three different personalities. This illustration showcases the creature in all its vicious glory; with three heads vying to be the one that gets to kill the infamous Kratos. It’s a battle against Kratos and its inner self.” — Andy Park, Visual Development Artist, God of War III

Art by Izzy Medrano

Argus

“Definitely the tragedy of the game for the character department….After lots of sketches, including a pretty bad-ass multi-limbed elephant, the final design was a monstrosity covered with eyes meant to look like a very uncomfortable viral outbreak. It was this freakish frog-type thing with no mouth. I imagined that it would make an awful deep rumbling when out of camera, and all you would hear aside from that was the buzz of blood-bloated flies that follow it everywhere it went. I gave him the name Argus to tie in with the hundred-eyed shepherd from the old myths, and it stuck.

After he was modeled and built, he got scrapped because it was felt that he was too alien-looking. So I went back to the drawing board and came up with a hulking monster with one huge arm that also had tons of eyes all over his body in a herpes-like pattern. We even got the tech working so that all the eyes would follow Kratos, but he was scrapped again due to time constraints.” — Izzy Medrano, Visual Development Artist

Art by Andrew Kim and Cecil Kim

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Following our White Knight Chronicles II Q&A a couple of days ago, we caught up with Hiroaki Iwahara, Main Planner at Matrix Corp, to talk about White Knight Chronicles: Origins on PSP.

How does White Knight Chronicles: Origins feed into the wider WKC universe?

10,000 years before the original PS3 game takes place, there was a period of strife known as the Dogma Wars. This struggle is between the Yshrenian Empire who are harnessing the power of the Knights in a bid to conquer the world, and the Athwani Mage Kingdom who are trying to stop them. These events would shape history to come in the White Knight Chronicles saga, and White Knight Chronicles: Origins tells the story of the unsung heroes who lived through this period of unrest, only to be forgotten in the annals of time.

Can you tell us how the characters from the White Knight Chronicles universe fit into the game story?

There are some characters from the PS3 games who appear in our PSP title. For example, right at the start of the game your character will meet a young Eldore during the downfall of Xarmgand. The Black Knight Demian is another recurring character who plays a big role in the PS3 games. You’ll also meet the troll Thaumus who’s using guerrilla tactics to try and halt the Yshrenian onslaught. And, of course, the White Knight, the Dragon Knight and the Moon Maiden all make an appearance.

Can you tell us about the gameplay, specifically how the combat system will work?

In the game your character is a member of a mercenary group called the Mobile Corps. Your base is a train where you will be able to take on quests, choosing a team of soldiers to fight alongside you. The battle system is essentially the same as the PS3 version – you command you character to perform an action from a variety of skills. But we’ve done a lot of tuning with the speed of the battle flow and also tailored the controls to the PSP.

Were you fans of the White Knight Chronicles franchise before working on your game?

Yes, definitely!

Matrix Corp. has worked on quite a few RPGs up to now. In your opinion, what’s special about this one?

It’s got to be the transformation system. It’s really at the heart of the whole game and gives it its character.

We also put a lot of effort into the character creation system to ensure that players can create an avatar that really appeals to them. From a design perspective we’ve tried to keep the feeling of the PS3 version while also throwing in some new ideas.

What’s your favourite moment in the game?

The Unity Attacks are great fun. You can perform these in single player mode, but they’re much more fun when you pull them off with a group of friends!

Can you give us an insight into your personal playing style in the game?

My personal preference is using a red chroma and my weapon of choice is an axe. My tactic is to max-out my attack power by selecting the right skills and buffing my equipment. You might not always land your blows but when you do it really saps your enemy’s HP!

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We love 3D and we love Blu-ray. You love competitions (I hope)- mix them altogether with a suitably humorous, high octane movie and we’re in business.

So to celebrate the launch of The Green Hornet in 3D on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD, we’re giving away some amazing prizes. All you have to do is visit the competition page on eu.playstation.com and answer one very simple question. One winner will get a Sony 3D TV as well as a copy of The Green Hornet on Blu-ray 3D to get you started. One runner up will win a European exclusive copy of The Daily Sentinel newspaper (as featured in the film) and a copy of the film on Blu-ray Disc.

Good luck!

Please note that this competition is open to participants in UK, France, Germany and Spain aged 16 or over. Closing date is 30th May.

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Here at Sucker Punch we’re tired. We’re whipped. Game development is a sprint. You run as hard as you can, then keep running. The problem is the goal line sometimes move mid-race. When you set out to make a game you sort of have an idea of what it’ll ultimately be… but that’s not what it ends up being. You only know what you’ve made once it’s done. Like you guys we experience the game, the real game, for the first time at the end of the road. And it’s exciting. It’s crazy to be playing the game and forget that you made it because you’re busy ducking an RPG rocket. You know that feeling you get when you actually dodge in your seat? Get that all the time. Cole and his friends have stopped being polygons and actors and have become real people. And it’s this reality that makes today’s post cool. Now that we’re so, so close to being done we can finally really talk about the “Big Bad” that pushes the whole story forward.

The Beast is Coming!

What’s the Beast you ask? Like a meteor from outer space it’s a force of destruction too powerful for humanity to contain. At the end of inFamous 1 Cole MacGrath was given a vision that the Beast would arrive into the world and that he alone could stop it. The safety of our species was put on his shoulders. No pressure right? As you might imagine, Cole would do anything in his power to get ready for the fight. He’s desperate to win, to save the lives of his friends and neighbours.

But at the start of inFamous 2 he fails. The Beast arrives and Cole isn’t strong enough. He’s forced to run south to New Marais and prepare for a second, final encounter while his home, Empire City, is swallowed in flames.

Have you ever failed at anything? Ever been dumped or fired or beat up? Ever tried your hardest and still lost? It’s sucks, right? Makes you feel hollowed out, weak. Like you don’t matter. Of course, it’s moments exactly like that which forge you into in a stronger person. I believe that we are defined by our failure more than our successes. Once you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and OVERCOME the thing that beat you, that’s when you really win. That’s when you’ve surpassed your past self. In inFamous 2 you help Cole get there. You guide him through New Marais; searching for new, stronger powers. Along the way you’ll meet potential allies who could help in your fight against the Beast. And you’ll need the help… the monster is moving down the coast, burning the landscape, getting stronger as it centers in on New Marais. Your back is against the wall, with only a few days to prepare for that second chance. Soon it’ll be time to overcome the things that have beaten you in the past. Are you up for it? After all, the Beast is Coming…

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PlayStation Network will undergo routine maintenance today, between 16:00 BST and 00:00 BST. If you wish to play online during the maintenance, please ensure you sign in to PSN before 16:00.

The latest information I have on PlayStation Store is that we are aiming to have it live by the end of May. Contrary to popular rumours, it will not be reopening tomorrow but we will let you know here as soon as the date is confirmed.

We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by this essential maintenance.

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