Why The World Needs Jak and Daxter 4 (But Is Getting The Last of Us)

WC writes: At the beginning of the year, Naughty Dog, creators of Crash Bandicoot, The Uncharted Series and The Jak and Daxter Series revealed that before they were in the business of making next year’s “The Last of Us”, they were seriously planning a new Jak and Daxter. Having been waiting for a current generation Jak 4 for longer than I’ve been waiting for a Half Life 2 Episode 3 (or Half Life 3 as it better be called now), the news that there might just possibly be a new game got me very, VERY excited. Like Christmas morning when I was 14 (subsequently, the year I got Jak 3 for Christmas).

The child in me died when I realised that we will probably never see this game anytime soon (if even at all), and worse than that, the reasons for this were unbelievably stupid, and arguably what’s wrong with modern gaming, modern films, and pretty much modern everything.

[FinaLXiii]

If there will be a Jak 4 there must be a Crash Bandicoot 4 imo

made my ND of course.

[Nimblest-Assassin]

No... they might happen but ND won't make them

1) ND and Sony doesn't own Crash... activision does
2) In a Last of Us interview... they said they were working on Jak 4, however they didn't feel like it would satisfy them or the fans, especially since they wanted to incorporate what they learned from Uncharted

[WeskerChildReborned]

That's good if they are working on another Jak and Daxter 4. Can't wait to see how it will look on current gen or next gen.

[LarVanian]

Do you happen to know which interview they stated that in?

[Nimblest-Assassin]

@Larvian

It was in their interviews for gameinformer for the last of us

Here is the link http://www.gameinformer.com...

@weskerchild

Sorry to crush your hopes, but they "were" working on one... but then they gave up since they had no idea how to approach it, and that they felt it would not satisfy the fans or themselves

[prototypeknuckles]

naughty dog likes to try new things which is cool and all but i want them to make more platformers, thts the naughty dog that everyone loves.

[NukaCola]

ND's game trilogies are growing up. They did the wacky and silly Crash, then a more serious and wacky Jak which got darker as it went on, then Uncharted and it's more action adventure focus and realism. Now they are working on Last of Us, a dark and very realistic approach to interactive and nonlinear style linear gameplay and story. I think we may see another Jak or Crash, or even Uncharted, but this is the next line of ND masterpieces.

[-Alpha]

It's more of a change in the industry in general.

I think the best place for a Jak/Crash game is the VITA at the moment. Consoles are too focused on grand engines, advertisements, and big budgets to maximize sales, but I can see modest success for a good Jak game on VITA

[dalibor]

And that is why this generation of gaming is limited compared to before one could assume. There were so many different games with all sorts of different genres that were explored compared to now. I still remember getting 100% in the first crash bandicoot game though, that was pretty hard I thought even to this day it's still a good challenge getting all those boxes while avoiding boulders and enemies is no joke.

[SoapShoes]

I'd love one too but at least we still have Ratchet & Sly.

[Smokeeye123]

I actually think Jak 4 would do really well sales wise. Ratchet and Clank got milked and kind of worn out, but Jak 4 would be something fresh.

[majiebeast]

Just let Sanzaru games do it the new Sly cooper game looks really good and stays true to the originals i bet they can do the same for Jak and Daxter.

[KingOptimusOrigin111]

I really want Jak and Daxter game badly. Hopefully Sony bring them back next gen.

[DigitalRaptor]

I agree with the sentiment that we need more platformers, but there's nothing to gain by creating a new game in a series that no longer has much relevance outside of an HD collection that provides you with much nostalgia.

Don't get me wrong, I'd be happy to see a new Jak game, but I'd rather see Naughty Dog create a new platformer and build new characters for us to fall in love with anew. But until then, let them satisfy their artistic vision with The Last of Us, because they are a company that aspire for different things than making your childhood more seem closer than it is.

"running the risk of sounding controversial… haven’t we seen this idea, like, I don’t know, a million times before."

No, not at all. There are many unique elements that are unique to TLoU based upon their ambition to create something new in post apocalyptic fiction and definitely something new for the survival genre.

"Do we really need any more post-apocalyptic science fiction stories?"

Lame way of thinking. I bet people like this guy were saying the same thing about post apocalyptic fiction up until "The Road" came out and astounded critics.

"doesn’t the main female character look exactly like Ellen Page but isn’t- which is really weird considering she is actually the lead in another game expected next year"

No. the new Ellie looks nothing like Ellen Page. keep up with the latest information and you wouldn't have to spread old information like this.

"but it certainly isn’t the most original game of next year"

Perhaps not in its setting and general synopsis, but in gameplay and storytelling it will set another benchmark without a doubt.

"I mean, how many of you think the Last of Us is the most exciting game release of next year??? I bet not that many-"

Lots of people... LOTS!

[dalibor]

The problem is that there can only be so many new ideas. Hence it's not a bad a idea to mix it up a la bring back an old franchise and improve upon it. An example would be that anybody remember the MDK games back in the day? There were only two made and like my avatar only one Einhander game was ever created I wouldn't mind there being another sequel. And I will pitch in Bushido Blade as another example.

[baldulf]

Naughty Dog has two teams now. I hope that for the next gen they would be able to deliver things like Uncharted and The last of us without forgetting about their roots like Crash and Jak.

[dcortz2027]

Jak & Daxter 4 for the PS4? :)

I would love a new J&D game, but I'm fine with getting The Last Of Us which sounds and looks freakin' epic to say the least!

[Cajun Chicken]

I'd love a new Jak and Daxter. But I feel that ND has moved on since then. It would be nice for Ready At Dawn to take over as they made a really solid game with Daxter and just imagine that kind of detail in HD since what they learnt with porting the GoW PSP series.
Wasn't too impressed with how High Impact Games handled The Lost Frontier, still it was nice to have a new Jak game after so long and it did have it's moments.

[GabeTheFatPrincess]

TBH I'm much more impressed by what I've seen from The Last of Us than anything I played from the Jak series. It won Game of Show for a reason! I'd rather Naughty Dog work on new ip's instead of dwelling on their old stuff. So good on them for making the game THEY want to make!

[flavorbabies]

This guy really likes parenthesis and run on sentences.

[MightyPatapon]

I think Naughty Dog's other team should develop Jak 4 exclusively for PS Vita.

Naughty Dog never made a game for the PSP or PS Vita and I think that they could do something really special on Vita.

[rezzah]

They did forget to solve one issue in the series.

(Spoiler)

Crew's Daughter. Rain was it? Anyways she seems to be a bigger problem than Crew. And she got away in the end of JAK X.

[NeoTribe]

Rather have last of us or another uncharted.