150°

How ‘The Last of Us’ changed gaming, strained relationships and spawned an empire

Tracing the history of Naughty Dog's pop culture phenomenon, from the video game's 2013 debut to its adaptation as an HBO series 10 years later.

SullysCigar466d ago

Sounds like the HBO series is doing great. 2nd biggest launch ever and the reviews - whether critics or viewers - are astonishingly positive. I did not see this coming, but I'm glad!

MadLad466d ago (Edited 466d ago )

I was hesitant because I wasn't really sure of the casting, but that went right out the window after the first episode. I watched it with the girlfriend and another friend of mine. Neither have played the game, and the first real scene showcasing Ellie, I looked right at them, chuckled, and said "Yup. That's Ellie".
I'm interested in how they handle the second game's storytelling, and even, potentially, the bridge between them, being, and I'm included here, many didn't like the way the took the story.

Dirty_Lemons466d ago

Couldn't agree more. My doubts about Sarah and Tommy evaporated within about a minute - I think for Tommy it was as soon as I heard him talk.

Another hit in a ridiculous history of hits for HBO.

darthv72466d ago

it will be a while before they get to the events of the 2nd game. They have plans to flesh out the first with this series. Expand on some stuff you only saw in passing while playing. I'd guess there will be at least season 3 is when they would progress into 'part 2' territory.

bloop466d ago

I thought it was good but not crazy on some of the casting. The actress playing Tess just doesn't seem right for the part at all, and I just couldn't warm to Ramsey as Ellie, although she wasn't in the episode for very long so I could change my mind. And are there no spores in the TV show? 🤔 Bit odd changing that up.

shinoff2183466d ago

I think the story in the 2nd is fine. People don't like it that's fine to. Some might be upset cause something happens. Some might claim it's trying to stuff leftist bs (which is kinda bs in its own right) down your throat. Some might not like another thing , but to me and a helluva alot of people 2 was fantastic.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 466d ago
DeathTouch466d ago

@darthv72 They already confirmed the first season is the complete first game.

darthv72466d ago (Edited 466d ago )

They are going to condense over 15-20 hours of game into just roughly 9-10 hours of show??? Yeah I'd rather they spread it out over two seasons with 9 episodes each. Really expand on some of the other stuff to make it more complete. Then take on part 2 with season 3-4.

S2Killinit466d ago (Edited 466d ago )

LOVED. THIS. GAME.

The show looks set to be awesome. Only got to see half of the first episode, but it was great. I was watching with my gf and I tried so hard not to spoil anything for her.

When she saw Joel’s daughter, she was like “is that how her hair looked in the game” I was like… crickets

Stanjara466d ago

You know what? I liked the adaptation.

jznrpg466d ago (Edited 466d ago )

I don’t care for the actor choices of Ellie and Tess. Not a big deal and maybe it is just me . Ellie seemed more like a gentler kid in the game and this girl seems like a killer . The show is well done though and people seem to love it but I prefer the game personally. Tess in the show looks much more worn down than the game. It seems to be a hit as I heard local sports show people talking about on the radio

shinoff2183466d ago

Ellie I felt in the game had progressions. She wasn't all smiles and roses at first if I remember right

lio_convoy466d ago

Do you even know what an empire is? You mean franchise. Didn't bother reading because the author didn't bother getting an education.

220°

Square Enix Declares $140m Loss Amid Game Pipeline Shakeup

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth publisher Square Enix has declared a $140m loss based on a shakeup of its internal development pipeline.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
Furesis4h ago

What are they doing over there? Sounds like they canceled something big. I read a rumor a while back about ff9 remake . Here "Final Fantasy IX has gone through a very challenging development, the game is still in progress but may undergo changes drastic enough that we won't hear about it for a couple of years."
This could be one of the reasons if the rumor is true. That was Silknight i don't know how credible he is but it's something and it would make sense.

-Foxtrot3h ago

I hope IX is still on the cards

Just a straight up remake which they expand a little bit nothing over ambitious

If IX dosent happen then VI and VIII will never be thought of.

TiredGamer1h ago

What are they doing? Sales are falling and the costs are out of control. Big releases need to be absolute sales home runs now, and Final Fantasy sales have stagnated.

Now we know why Square didn’t fall over themselves to remake the original FF7 all these years ago. It certainly wasn’t a license to print money, at least not with what the expectations were. Each of these full on remakes drains an enormous amount of company resources for a razor thin profit margin.

TwoPicklesGood1h ago

Breaking the game up into multiple parts was a mistake IMO.

blackblades15m ago

The loses came from cancelling games nothing else.

shadowT3h ago

Do not miss Final Fantasy 16. Great game!

raWfodog3h ago

I'm waiting for them to release the complete edition bundle, but it's definitely on my list.

PhillyDonJawn2h ago

Wth is going on with the gaming industry?

mandf2h ago

Corporate investors taking everything

TiredGamer1h ago

Not rocket science. Compare sales numbers, development cycles, and budgets to the previous gens. We are all collectively burning up the industry from the inside out. Expectations are ludicrously high now for every release and sales are dropping for even the most prestigious of series.

We used to be satisfied paying $50-60 for a game that took 1/100th the budget and staff to make. Now gamers feel cheated if they have to pay the same for a game that took 100x the budget. We may be reaching the end of the line for this model of gaming.

TiredGamer2h ago

The industry implosion is continuing. Sky high budgets, prolonged development windows, stagnant sales numbers, and falling currency values (inflation) are wreaking havoc on the legacy industry. AAA games will slowly become the rarity.

CS72h ago

Sad. Rebirth was one of my favorite games in a long time. Should have sold more.

CrimsonWing691h ago

Oh I’m with you. What’s worse is they can say, “Well we tried to make this amazing game and spend all this money on, but not enough people showed an interest. So no more of these since we can’t take a hit like that.”

The industry is going to take a dramatic shift. Mark my words on this.

rpvenom44m ago(Edited 44m ago)

I think there is quite a large portion of individuals like myself who held out on buying it on PS5 because I can get it on PC eventually. To be able to mod the game and also have custom graphical settings to my liking

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60°

Here's Everything I Expect From The Witcher 4's Combat

Danish from eXputer: "The Witcher's upcoming sequel needs to overhaul the series' combat system if it wants to make a big splash among gamers."

on_line_forever8h ago

after what we see ( 2015 - 2024 ) in dark souls 3, blood borne , sekiro , dragon's dogma 2 , rise of the Ronin combat they should really careful and bring very good combat in Witcher 4 this time

120°

Square & Bandai Namco Being Honest About Quality Is A Step In The Right Direction

Saad from eXputer: "After suffering from massive financial hits, Square Enix & Bandai Namco appear to be turning over a new leaf but I'm still unconvinced."

Nerdmaster18h ago(Edited 18h ago)

I was talking about games with some Japanese guys here in Japan, and it seems like around here Bandai Namco has a fame of making low-quality games, with the occasional gem.

About Square Enix, I believe they lack the capacity to improve. They should learn with Capcom (although even Capcom still makes some bad mistakes), but I don't think they ever will. They keep chasing whatever is new at the time (blockchain, AI...) to say "we innovate", without considering the public perception and if these things actually improve the games or not. Them releasing too many small games with no advertising also shows a lack of trust in its own products. Even with their biggest games, like turning FF into an action game with XVI and the very divisive plot changes regarding whispers and timelines in VII Remake, shows them trying to attract a new generation of gamers without understanding what made the series so big in the first place.

shinoff218318h ago

I want a true ff7 remake. With thatcsaid I'm way happier with 7 remake then I was with ff16. I'd still prefer turn based but square keep chasing these Lil kids

Snookies1214h ago

Man, it is perfectly fine to prefer turn based. Turn based is amazing. But there's zero reason to call anyone who likes action games "lil kids". Liking one gameplay system over another does not make you more mature in any way.

VersusDMC17h ago

People love the new FF's overall...the problem is the abundance of 7's they release that lose money or make very little like diofield, star ocean divine force, Valkyrie asylum, harvestella, foam stars, etc. Advertising wouldn't have saved those games. Apparently Forespoken had a big Advertising budget but we saw how that went.

shinoff218316h ago(Edited 16h ago)

Star ocean divine force actually sold well from what I've read not ff type numbers but well enough. Was a dope game to.

FinalFantasyFanatic16h ago

Bandai Namco is going to Bandai Namco, I do believe that Square Enix can't change without changing the entire management, they've had these issues for more than a decade and haven't learnt, I have very little faith they can course correct. I'll still buy their better remasters/remakes like Star Ocean 2 though (not FF7R).

Asterphoenix13h ago

Namco is just milking the same Sword Art Online with lack of budget as well as anime IPs that don't go to decent developers like Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia. Namco deserves their losses and no future Dot Hack or Xenosaga remaster :(.

Square allocated lot of their budget on Forspoken was a mistake. Square always had management issues. Star Ocean 2 was a great remake and I found their recent entries of FF(16 and Rebirth) better than 13 and 15.
I think they were better than 360/PS3 generation where Square went really downhill.

CrimsonWing6917h ago

I don’t know why NOW they decide on this, but I guess later is better than never.