Game Watch: Destiny’s Always-On DRM Scenario, Pixar Artists Form a Game Studio, the Last of Us 12-hour Gameplay Update
For this week, some of the names behind Pixar's projects band together to form their own gaming studio and even pose a potential summer release for their first game. Also, up is The Last of Us gameplay length and a confirmed multiplayer mode.
Not to be left behind despite its still far-off release is Destiny, created to be an always-online game, as developers say their thoughts about how it can manage to avoid a SimCity rehash for their launch.
From the minds of Pixar greats comes Steel Wool Games
Ever wondered what it would be like to play a game that has the atmosphere akin to those well-loved Pixar movies?
The wait and wonder is now over, as five Pixar artists, who have been part of the team behind Brave, Toy Story 3, Mater's Tall Tales, and The Incredibles, have banded together to create the new game studio Steel Wool Games, reports Venture Beat.
The creative minds who will now be releasing their first game, Flyhunter, this summer includes Andrew Dayton, Sequoia Blankenship, Jason Topolski, Joshua Qualtieri, and Jonathan Hoffman.
"We have an internal phrase that we use to describe our style: 'Grimsical.' It's our fundamental principle as a company. We create worlds that are funny and whimsical but dipped in gritty tones," said Andrew Dayton to Edge.
The Last of Us: Multiplayer Mode Only with 12-16 Hours of Gameplay
Get ready for a half day post-apocalyptic face-off as The Last of Us taps 12 to 16 hours of gameplay.
According to Computer and Video Games, the estimated time was the average length, which could vary depending on the player's tactics--whether it's an all-out offensive shoot-out or a more stealth and steady approach.
"If you really want to explore the environment and scavenge, that's going to add more time, too," said Arne Meyer, Naughty Dog community strategist to Computer and Video Games.
DLCentral reports that developer Naughty Dog has already confirmed that The Last of Us will only be a multiplayer game, and that even DLCs to be released afterwards won't expand to single-player modes.
"We're not looking at single-player DLC," said Meyer to DLCentral "It's really simple--we wanted to make sure that we could throw everything that we wanted to into the game and that everything was really at the level of quality that we always want to put in."
The Last of Us will be a PS3 exclusive, slated for release this June.
Bungie's Destiny, an always-on game slated for a SimCity repeat?
Anytime one hears the word "always-on" nowadays brings to mind the disaster that happened during the SimCity launch two weeks ago.
However, developer Bungie seems unfazed by the fact, and is even confident that their always-online mode for Destiny, another equally awaited game deemed to be the likes of Halo, will work just fine.
"This isn't our first rodeo," the developer said to GameSpot. "Bungie is no stranger to anxious mobs of players who rush home after a midnight launch and put our best-laid plans to the test."
In any case, Destiny is slated for release in 2014 to the Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, and possibly even Wii U, the next-gen Xbox, and PS Vita, so Bungie has a lot of time to prepare for backup plans for the worst-case scenario.