Sony: The Last Guardian will ship 'when it's absolutely ready'
- Posted June 15th, 2012 at 11:41 EDT by Kyle Prahl
- 15 Comments
Fumito Ueda and Team ICO have given the PlayStation faithful two exclusives that each claim a spot in the pantheon of “Holy crap, this is awesome!” gaming. However, it's been a long time since we've heard news on the company's third project.
The Last Guardian was first revealed at E3 2009, and despite numerous delays and conference no-shows in the time since, Sony is confident that it will, in fact, ship.
Speaking to GameSpot, PlayStation software product development head Scott Rohde discussed the company's stance on releasing new information about the game once known as Trico. “I will not give you a detailed update,” Rohde said when prompted. “That title is going to ship when it's absolutely ready.”
Not exactly encouraging words, but Rohde claims that Sony is treating The Last Guardian with the utmost care and respect. For Sony and Studio Japan, it comes down to making sure the final product reaches its highest potential. According to Rohde, it's all about the fans: “Gamers are first, and the experiences we provide are first. And that's why we're gonna talk about that game when we're ready to talk about it.”
Shadow of the Colossus, as beloved as it is, struggled to exude its majestic glory on PS2 hardware. Therefore, I hope development on The Last Guardian has shifted to prep the game for PlayStation's next generation. I can't think of any better way to give such a long-awaited game its due.
Email
Related Content
Comments
-
honomaru
- 1:43pm EDT - June 15th, 2012
- 1
"Shadow of the Colossus, as beloved as it is, struggled to exude its majestic glory on PS2 hardware." Definitely hind-sight bias. Because Im sure back then you didn't look at Shadow of the Colossus compared to most other last gen games at the time and say to yourself "Hmm, this looks nice but they could do alot better." You're full of crap. Also the game released a year or two before the ps3 launch. Meaning it was ahead enough in development that a complete overhaul in order to launch the game for ps3 would be out of the question unless you wanted to wait another few years (which it would have taken seeing as the ps3 architexture was foreign at the time). And waiting more years for SOTC would mean we'd also most likely have to wait more for TLG as well so that brings us right back to square one anyway.
Stop finding ways to complain about new things and worry people for nothing. The game will be absolutely fine on ps3. And in terms of sales, it will also fare a heII of alot better in this generation than the first few years of the next. So cut it out...
-
-
Beasley2K
- 5:50pm EDT - June 15th, 2012
- 3
What's funny is, even if this game never come out, we'll still have more exclusives than Microsoft. We've already got The Last of Us and Beyond, imagine if The Last Guardian came out next year too. Three (almost certainly) AAA exclusive new IPs in the same year. Wow.
I am disapppointed that The Last Guardian's taken so long to make apeearance, and it would have been nice to have had it by now, but I don't mind waiting. I for one will be getting it regardless, and there are plenty of games available, so I'm not complaining.
-
KyleOnTheRun
- 6:34pm EDT - June 15th, 2012
- 4
@Beasley That's my feeling as well. Imagine what The Last Guardian will be like as a PS4 launch title. It's highest potential and the team's ultimate vision would be realized. People can say what they like, but Shadow of the Colossus would have benefitted from a move to PS3 - framerate, graphics, perhaps an even bigger game! Not that it necessarily NEEDED to
-
honomaru
- 7:19pm EDT - June 15th, 2012
- 5
@4 I guess every developer should either take a vacation the year before each new gen and just wait until the new systems come in to start working again, OR just scrap what they have worked on if it gets too close to the launch of a new system and start from the bottom up with the new engine instead.
Greedy moron.If you're going to sit here basking in awe at "what could've been" then just dont buy the dam game if it comes out this gen and wait until they launch a super HD version next gen. Otherwise learn to respect the hard work, time, and planning it takes to make these games even if they aren't launched using the most God-send cutting edge technology ever. If you're telling me you wont be impressed with Last Guardian if it releases this gen, then I really have nothing left to say to you.
-
iplayonlysony
- 11:25pm EDT - June 15th, 2012
- 6
It's troubling that they are having such a hard time getting this game finished. But I would rather see it come out this gen than have to wait even longer to make it to a PS4. We don't even know when a PS4 is coming out.
-
-
KyleOnTheRun
- 2:33am EDT - June 16th, 2012
- 8
@5 Not respecting the time, effort and planning it takes to make these games is completely antithetical to my stance. It is precisely BECAUSE The Last Guardian has been in development for 6-7 years that the team should be allowed to take all the time they need to truly make the game they want to make. How is rushing it to market with an unfair deadline fair to the team who poured years into the game, only to release something that's not ready?
I never stated in my article that I wish Shadow of the Colossus would've been delayed for PS3, only that it had problems due to hardware limitations. Specifically, low framerate - a gripe you'll see mentioned in many reviews of the time. I'd rather Team ICO release The Last Guardian in a state that sees their true vision realized. If the PS3 is fine for that, great! We all want this game ASAP. But if their vision can only be achieved on a new generation of hardware, so be it. We've waited this long, so why not? Asking for the game early, despite what's best for it, seems like the "greedy" stance to me.
-
Beasley2K
- 8:20am EDT - June 16th, 2012
- 9
@KyleOnTheRun - Regarding #4, I never said I believe we should wait for it to come out on PS4 at all, I agree with honomaru's response. However, with #8, I understand what you're saying, and that does make sense. But what you need to take into consideration is that The Last Guardian was designed as a PS3 game. From the very first concept, the game was designed around the specifications of the PS3, so there shouldn't be any hardware limitations. If their vision can 'only be achieved on a new generation of hardware', they wouldn't have designed it on PS3 in the first place. The fact is, the concept was designed for PS3 hardware, so there shouldn't be any limitations available. Also, as other developers have stated, there is still so much to get out of the hardware, so everything Team Ico wanted, their 'vision', can almost certainly be realised on PS3. I don't think they should push it for PS4 at all, and although your statement on developers pushing for what's best for them to fully realise their vision generally is correct, in this case, I agree with honomaru.
-
KyleOnTheRun
- 10:15am EDT - June 16th, 2012
- 10
@9 Very well-stated. You make a great point that, because the game was first envisioned with PS3 hardware in mind, it should eventually reach that potential on the PS3. That fact, about where and when the game started, is something I'll admit I was overlooking.
It's awesome to see people get passionate about The Last Guardian, and wherever it ends up, I can't wait to play it.
-
JackC |
jack1982cp- 11:31am EDT - June 16th, 2012
- 11
That "treating the title with the utmost care and respect" stuff is good salesamanship, but the reality is that the studio head quit, and they've called in all sorts of people from other studios to try and get the thing finished. That not the sort of development history that anyone could reasonably expect to produce a fantastic game.
-
honomaru
- 4:01pm EDT - June 16th, 2012
- 12
@KyleOnTheRun Well in a sense, though I would much prefer the game released earlier rather than later, an early release is not exactly what I'm advocating. I thought what you were trying to say earlier is that you would've been happier if they just went ahead and made the jump to the new technology rather than release the game in the current gen simply because you would've personally liked to see what the game would look like fully optimized. I am a little bit more at ease after reading your #8 comment because now I dont feel like you're saying SoTC really did have tech issues just to spite me.
My desire (which may sound better in my head) was simply for the dev team to be 100% comfortable with working on the game. If you think about it, both releasing a game early AND releasing it later (for a new platform) are scenarios that can cause a vast amount of pressure to a team. Just because they are given some more time to work on a project, that doesn't mean it's smooth sailing. Working on something for a really long time and going can really crush your spirits. Development heII aint fun man.
If they have already started developing the game for the PS4 unbeknownst to us, then I wish them the best, but if they haven't, far be it from me or you to suggest that they should is all I'm saying. If they do, then it'll be nothing but a favor to the gamers, we're not really entitled to it. They'd charge $60 for the game either way and I wouldn't call this gen's graphics or processing capabilities dated quite yet. -
KyleOnTheRun
- 7:53pm EDT - June 16th, 2012
- 13
@JackC True enough. I have no idea what's going on over there and why so much trouble seems to befall the project, but I hope that some good will come out of it.
@honomaru It's all good, friend :) My personal feelings definitely aren't a self-serving wish to push the game onto PS4 just because I think it would be cool - I apologize if words in this article made it seem that way. I just want what's best for The Last Guardian and Team ICO. SotC could have technically been "better" on PS3, but it's needless thinking: The game is f***ing brilliant just the way it is.
I only meant to say that I sincerely hope a similar fate doesn't befall The Last Guardian. If Team ICO has been constantly updating the game's graphics and style to compete with the latest and greatest on the market, then I'm fearful they may hit a technological "wall", so to speak. I'd much rather see the game this generation - just as long as the final product does the team justice.
-
-
KyleOnTheRun
- 10:37pm EDT - June 16th, 2012
- 15
@14 Totally! I love the conversation. Part of the blame lies in my vague wording, after all :)
This will permanently ban this user and delete all associated comments. This action is irreversible, are you SURE you want to do this?!
