Hello, PlayStation Nation! This summer I’m hosting “Conversation with Creators,” a series of roundtable discussions with some of the most incredible and talented game creators on the planet. (I know, it’s a little on the nose, but we all figured you should know exactly what you’re getting into, because we respect your time, and Dragon Age: Inquisition isn’t going to play itself while you try to figure out if you want to watch a new show)
The series is presented by PlayStation Store and the first episode premieres July 7th. Here’s a little preview of what you can expect:
We’ll release new episodes, every Tuesday in the US and Canada, on PlayStation Store. You’ll get them for the low, low price of FREE on your PS3, PS4, and PS Vita. What’s that? You loaned your device to your cousin and she went out of town, locked it in her house, and didn’t give you the key? Don’t worry. If you don’t want to try out those lock-picking skills just yet, we’re also going to make our episodes available on PlayStation’s YouTube channel.
So, I hope you’ll join me and some really interesting people as we talk about games like Destiny, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Uncharted, The Last of Us, God of War and more. I’ve already taped a couple of episodes, and I’ve had some really fascinating conversations about the similarities and differences between videogames and movies, the origins of Destiny, and exactly how The Last Of Us scared the hell out of us all, while simultaneously making us care about Joel and Ellie more than we care for actual people we work with in our real lives. Yes, Mark, I’m looking at you. You are never going to get a spot in my zombie survival compound, Mark.
If you’re interested in hearing about how the games we love were brought to life from ideas to actual worlds we can visit, you’re going to love this show. And if you’re not, that’s okay. I could probably use your help in some Destiny raids, anyway. Seriously, you should see me dance. I’m amazing.Here’s a list of our upcoming episodes and creators:
Episode 1: Bungie – July 7th
Episode 2: Naughty Dog – July 14th
Episode 3: Treyarch – July 21st
Episode 4: Santa Monica Studio – July 28th
Oh, and one more thing! Beginning today, through June 23rd at noon Pacific Time, I’m giving two PlayStation fans an amazing opportunity. Submit that question you’ve been dying to ask of the Treyarch and/or Santa Monica Studio teams in the comments section below and I will select the top question for each studio and ask it during our taping on June 23rd.
Play more games, visit playstationstore.com/creators for more info and I’ll see you on the Internets!
Your pal, Wil Wheaton
You must be joking…right? o.O
I mean…between the failed PS Underground thing…and now this…I miss that cool time when we had Pulse & Qore as “PSN Series”… *sigh*
YouTube FTW!
lol
Also…Wil Wheaton…what the heck happened to you, man? o.O
You were cool once…and now you’re a talk show anchorman? Wesley Crusher has fallen into a black hole…so sad. =(
You should’ve stayed as a support character in The Big Bang Theory…but I guess a paycheck is a paycheck, huh?
I love behind the scenes stuff like this. What a great line up for the first few episodes. Congrats Wil, looking forward to watching!
@ckoerner : Umm…I think you’re a lil’ bit confused there, fella! =P
It’s NOT a “behind the scenes” thing…it’ll be just Wil Wheaton talking with some high-ranking people of the VG industry ABOUT SOME famous video games.
You know…things like:
Wil Wheaton: “So…THE LAST OF US! What a ride, man! How does it feel to have made one of the best things in video game history?”
Naughty Dog’s Big Kahuna: “Well…it was such a joy. And a crazy journey. With Uncharted we set the bar fairly high, and people was expecting certain kind of “gaming experience” that was really hard to surpass. We were all dead afraid of the fans’ reaction.”
WW: “And then…everyone fell in love with Joel & Ellie’s story.”
NDBK: “Yeah…thank God.”
WW: “So what does Naughty Dog has in comparison with other developers to be able to do such an amazing game?”
NDBK: “Well…first and foremost an extraordinary, talented and emotionally-rich group of people…”
etc. etc.
So…no behind the scenes. Just another kinda boring “talk show”. *sigh*
Okay, after reading several replies by @Orpheus_Aeons here on this page, I gotta ask… Are you a disgruntled 12 year old trying (and failing spectacularly) to get on a power trip? A lot of your responces have ranged from ridiculously biased and ill-informed to downright bullying. Do you actually have something intelligent ans constructive to add to the conversation, or are you just trolling and I should just outright skip over any posts with your name? I’m just curious.
This is pretty neat Wil Wheaton. I have a question you can ask every person you talk to from now on:
So, what are you making for Vita? Nothing? Why not? You should. Vita is awesome and while remote play is pretty sweet too, I need some actual games for my Vita. Last of Us spinoff on Vita? Yes please. A Vita only version of COD with like IDK samurais? Yes please. All new God of War specifically for Vita? Double heck yes.
Thanks Wil, good luck with your show.
Sounds good! I love hearing about what developers have to say. I’m a big fan of Naughty Dog (UC2 was my favorite game of all time until UC3 which was my favorite until TLOU (no pressure)) so I’m particularly excited for that conversation. Also looking forward to the Bungie episode as I’m a big Halo and Destiny fan.
Hopefully if it does well we’ll get videos about more studios.
we want PS1 and PS2 backwards compatibility on the PS4.
“You” want it. Dont speak for everyone
well said mixedkidbx
Personally I pray we never see that. I want to move forward not backwards.
So you bought a ps4 to play ps2 games? I agree with MartB. Forward!!!!
It would be nice to have so that I didn’t have to jump back to my PS3 to play them, but BC is not really a necessity. So long as Sony can ensure the PS4 has a steady stream of new content, which they have thus far.
Everyone wants backwards compatibility so they can remember when videogames were about FUN gameplay and creativity and no cliché overrated movies, but don’t worry, after the Xbawks E3 presentation I’m sure Sony got scared s***less and they’re working on it right now.
Actually, Gene, Mr. Yoshida was asked about it after Micro$oft’s reveal and he said that it’s not happening. But you don’t need to hear it from Sony to know that; Adding backwards compatibility would kill PS Now. And I shouldn’t have to draw your awareness to the fact that an incomprehensible amount of time, money and work went into setting it up and goes into maintaining and building upon it. It is a major investment and Sony will have a ways to go before they even begin to break even on it. M$ is making their moves out of desperation because they are being crushed by the competition. The roles weren’t suddenly reversed because the Xbone is going to be able to play old Gears of War and Forza games. And really, one has to wonder if the cost of adding backwards compatibility is worth it, when it makes Xbox 360 remasters absolutely pointless. Think of the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars they gross from a single $40-$60 remaster and how they can never count on that again. Backwards compability is awesome for gamers, but I have a feeling that M$ may be shooting themselves in the foot with this.
I thought Andrew House stated last e3 that we were still waiting on Backward Compatibility? Only there was not going to be PlayStation 3 games playable on the PlayStation 4 except for PlayStation Now. I distinctly remember that.
@PanTheMan16 :
“M$ is making their moves out of desperation because they are being crushed by the competition.”
I’m not surprised to see YOU saying the same dumb thing that all the F-boys have been saying since MS owned Sony at E3. But whatever.
“The roles weren’t suddenly reversed because the Xbone is going to be able to play old Gears of War and Forza games.”
Those are just 2 of the X360’s EXCLUSIVE franchises. 80% of ALL the Last-Gen games were also available for Microsoft’s console. And usually they ran considerably BETTER than on the PS3. =\
So…yet another F-boy Lie.
“one has to wonder if the cost of adding backwards compatibility is worth it, when it makes Xbox 360 remasters absolutely pointless.”
So? Did you bought a Next-Gen console just to be able to play OLD (Remastered) GAMES? That’s the dumbest “BC is bad” excuse I’ve ever heard. And if you think that…then you’re grossly missing the point here. SMH
“Think of the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars they gross from a single $40-$60 remaster and how they can never count on that again.”
If they can get behind some GOOD GAMES…they don’t need to bother themselves with a simple-minded reasoning like that.
@Orpheus_Aeons – You are so incomprehensibly wrong about absolutely everything, I can only assume you’re an Xbox “F-boy” who created a PSN account just to troll.
1) My comment about M$ being crushed by the competition is indisputable fact. PS4 has sold twice as many units as the Xbone. Head over to vgcharz if you aren’t going to take the rest of the world’s word for it. Whether you like the Xbone better or I like the PS4 better is irrelevant.
2) First-party and third-party games get remasters (Halo: MCC and Sleeping Dogs being a couple examples), and M$ is going to take a huge hit on those because many of their customers already own the last-gen versions or can get them far cheaper. Fact.
3) I never said “BC is bad”. In fact, I clearly said “Backwards compatibility is awesome for gamers”. In doing this, M$ is making a foolish gamble in hopes to narrow the sales gap. But here’s the thing: People primarily buy current-gen consoles to play current-gen games. Not many people are going to say “Well, I REALLY wanted a PS4, but if I get an Xbone… I can play last-gen games on it. I guess I’ll get an Xbone”.
@PanTheMan16 : Crap. =(
It’s impossible to argue with your flawless logic.
I see now that you have an uncanny ability to perfectly understand what other people say…how can I reason with such a unique kind of individual? =\
I give up. You win. Your unbiased and perfectly coherent loquacious answers have won this discussion. I will never dare to speak to you again.
Now excuse me while I go cry in the corner. *sigh*
Well now I feel bad. :P
Why US and Canada only? there are other countries in the world, you know that? right?
Yeah…but this is THE AMERICAN BLOG, so… >_>
This might be the american blog, but we also pay PSN the same way all of you do. I understand localizing these things cost money, but that’s not even what we’re asking for. Just make them available. Put a note saying it’s english only. There are millions out there who also speak english besides Canada and US. They have money to fight piracy, but not to make the content available to the legal payers? Come on!
They said it’d be on their YouTube channel as well.
@jrhames
First off all, it’s free. You can access this content without paying for a single thing. So you can’t use, “I’m paying” to demand that the videos are made available on the PSN in other territories.
Most regions have exclusive media that you can not get anywhere else for cultural and LEGAL reasons. SCEE, SCEA, SCEJ, etc. are all part of the SCE Company but act as separate LLC’s and thus are bound by different legal terms. Who knows the reason it may or may not be available elsewhere.
Either way, you can still watch on the official PlayStation YouTube channel. Pretty sure you’ll be able to access that with no problem.
It’s also available on YouTube. Is Youtube region restricted?
@vongruetz : I don’t think so. After all, this is not Powers, so…
@Orpheus_Aeons Did you not notice that little notice by Sony by the bottom of the thread that saimys, “don’t be a jerk”? You keep crossing that line, dude.
@vongruetz YouTube does have region restrictions and blocks videos that are not set to be available outside areas designated by the uploader. So guess that means no real way to know for sure which regions outside the US and Canada will be blocked…
Sounds good Will! Here is my question for Sony Santa Monica. If they could go back and make one change to God of War 3 what would it be?
I like this stuff. Provides great insight into the games and its creators. Helps explain why they did certain things etc. Also provides a nice forum away from the typical PR driven speak which we gamers are bombarded with on a daily basis. Ill be sure to watch this!
Yeah, right. Because I’m sure this will “not” be heavily scripted… >_>
SMH
Wil, I think this is a great idea. I think it’s always fascinating for people to get to hear from the creators what was going on while they were making their games. Finding out what their thinking was when making certain creative decisions. I’m looking forward to this
My one question is, is this only going to be a 4 part series, or are there episodes that have not yet been announced yet? I’m really looking forward to checking it out when it’s live.
On an aside, when have you been able to leave replies to people on the PS Blog? That’s new. Makes me want to comment on snarky comments that have zero to do with this show… but whatever. Let it lie.
a few weeks back when they revised the look of the blog. :)
Yeah, I only try to reply either to give a differing opinion respectfully or to call out someone who conistantly leaves snarky replies so often that it become’s obvious they’re trolling.
Wow, fancy seeing you here, Wil!
This sounds like an interesting series. I like that these types of in-depth interviews can extend beyond the E3 season. There are many stories to tell, after all :-)
As for questions:
For Treyarch: After making so many great games in a single franchise, how do you keep things fresh and interesting for the development teams?
For Santa Monica Studio: When you were developing the first God of War, did you have any idea it would become the huge franchise it is today? And with that information now, is there anything you would go back and do differently?
Huge Fan of your work cant wait to check this out
My questions to devs.
Is it challenging to take on the task of working on a new system?
What’s your fav feature/capabilities about the ps4?
Devs are the driving force in creating new ways gamers play games and have new experiences. What’s something you’re excited about with the ps4 that you couldn’t ever dream possible on other systems.
Interesting concept… but you picked the wrong devs to get me to watch. I’ll probably watch the Naughty Dog one, but… the scope of this is way too limited. Do you want to have an interview with the creator of this shooter, that shooter, or that shooter?
Insomniac, any of the Squenix teams, XSeed, Gust, Atlus, Ubisoft(specifically the team that does the Ubiart stuff), SuperGiant Games, etc.
Well said.
I’m hoping that they selected these developers as a trial run and based on who they could actually get to take time out to do the show. I’m hoping that they continue beyond these devs and do episodes with devs of other genres.
@Treyarch I’m a huge fan of CoD, but I feel the hardcore mode players are being left out or unheard. What can us hardcore players expect to see in BO3 multiplayer? Quick suggestions, Hardcore Team Deathmatch, no respawn timer (if so, at least 5 seconds please), friendly fire off, bullets ricochet off of teamate towards player by preventing trolls and keeping the fun factor.
Congratulations on asking a good question!
For David Vonderhaar:
WIll there be a classic mode for team deathmatch that allows no robotic movements or cyborg weapons?
please, this is the issue of whether I pick up the game or not
“please, this is the issue of whether I pick up the game or not”
LMAO! Then use Twitter, for Christ sake! xD
I like it, great idea; I’ll watch. It’s always nice to get insight into the minds that make the games that become my passion.
This is basically the “Shooter” series. I guess next summer we’ll get some other genre
Why do you have a guy who hates gamers doing a show on a games console interviewing game developers?
Seems a bit daft to me.
I’m lost. Who’s the guy hating gamers again? o.O
With all due respect, you’re mistaken; that’s Wil Wheaton doing the interviewing and hosting. In case you don’t know who that is ,he os an avis gamer and supporter of gaming in any format. He hosts a very popular youtube ahow called Tabletop where he brings guests from various branches of the entertainment industries to play boardgames.
Sounds good … Count me in!
I really hope this dialogue happened.
Wil Wheaton: Hey Luke Smith, your game is awesome! How awesome is your game?
Luke Smith: Scarab Lord, Halo, Detiny, Luke was right!
Garnett Lee, Somewhere in Seattle: Laughs, Poops himself, cries…
I guess I will find out 7/7.
I’m just wondering if Bungie has any plans of adding the cayde-6 collectors content to the pre order edition for players who already have dlc 1 and 2? I’m really looking forward to The Taken King and thank you guys for a great game!
I’ll “sumbit” my question right away! ;)
Here’s my question for Sony Santa Monica…any plans for a ps all stars sequel or a ps4 version of original?
I do have a question for Santa Monica Studio.
I usually don’t like multiplayers games, but I had a lot a fun with God of War Ascension multiplayer. Has this been juged as a success? Can we expect something similar in the future? Either in a new God of War game or a new IP?
Good luck with the show Wil!
It’s always amusing when misspellings get by proofing, even more so when it’s etched in art. In any case, this is great! This is by far what I care most about backend of the games industry. Not the numbers and charts, but the creative process. This is really what’s important, after all, it’s the kind of information that could help aspiring developers and storytellers.
Aside: Awesome job on Titans Grave, Wil!
Will advanced movements be essential in gunfights, or to get round the map easier?
Here’s a question for the Treyarch team, and I’m sure the world wants to know. Are there going to be any of the classic zombie maps remastered in Black Ops 3. HINT: We Want Moon
“and I’m sure the world wants to know”
HA! ROFL! x’D
@Orpheus_Aeons Dude, don’t be a jerk. It even says that right there at the bottom of the page. That comment you made there was most definitely you being a jerk. Just a friendly FYI in case you really are so busy trolling that you forgot how to tell.
Ignoring many of the ignorant comments up above, this sounds like an awesome idea! Wil Wheaton is a fantastic man, with a whole lot of nerd cred. I think he’d serve quite well as a talk show host, but this is not necessarily that. It’s a short show with interviews and such. Why is that a bad thing exactly? I’ll await the answer…But no, it’s not at all a bad thing. If the show is bad, then it’s a bad thing. Playstation Underground videos are good things too. I’m moreso curious to see the difference between. Or we can just judge it beforehand like children. That’s cool too.
Bungie: Do you have any plans to woo new players to Destiny who might feel like they’d be way too far behind starting so long after launch? If so, how would you try to balance this with the long-time faithful who might then feel like their efforts are cheapened? This is an old problem with MMOs, so I’m curious what you guys might have planned.
Bah… The contest’s only for Treyarch/SMS questions, but I’m still curious.
I have no idea why some of the above comments are hating so much on this guy……jeez people can be so negative (especially Orpheus_Aeons)
On the other hand I’ll gladly watch this series as I love hearing how developers bring their ideas to life, the one exception is that i will not watch episode 3, because I don’t care for anything CoD related.
Please Go Back To Xbox CoD you are not wanted here.
Yeah, I doubt that’ll ever happen. LOL
Umm…who am I hating again? <_<
@Orpheus_Aeons Let’s see… So far you’ve hated on Wil Wheaton, Sony, and several of the people that have posted replies here in this very thread.
This is pretty cool now if only we could a new season of the Tester as well.
I dont think that will ever happen due to the amount of hate that season got lol
Right!?! Tester was good, silly fun. Something to wind down to that wasn’t predicated on being offensive to anyone. I enjoyed that show quite a bit.
If they ever resurrect that crappy reality…I want Pulse and Christina Lee back too! =P
What a fantastic idea! I’m really looking forward to this. Thanks Wil Wheaton and Playstation team!
I know Hwil wHeaton will do a good joob
proposed question for Sony Santa Monica: I heard that earlier versions of Unfinished Swan had some adult-leaning humor in it that the Santa Monica production team convinced the developers to remove for a purely kid-friendly marketing play. I’ve also heard stories of Santa Monica lining up engineering help so indie developers can optimize their code to both add new gameplay/rendering features and smoother controls, How often does that kind of thing happen when working with third-party studios? What is another example of where production staff took something “away” from a game? helped add something new by supplementing with technical muscle?
Get off the blog.
Sounds great! Looking forward to the show!
Love stuff like this looking forward to it.
Treyarch found tremendous success with the COD franchise, BO2 is one of the best selling games of all time. How does game design influence the epic-proportion experiences you’ve created? Did you ever imagine the amount of positive response ‘zombies’ generated?
Player experience is the lifeblood of projects developed both externally and in-house at SMS. What makes your games so creative and fun to play? What’s your favorite part of the creation process?
“no/yes CD/compact disc key/lock”
Some of our own PS nation community is negative as hell geez this is a damn good idea! especially for those who are curious about gaming and the inner workings of the industry. Lighten up PS community and open your mind this like a free panel via youtube. Here’s hoping for more content like this for more goodies via this years PSX also! Respect Playstation much respect.
There are two ways to do this kind of thing. A) Actually sit down and have a conversation with the creators, letting them spill the beans on the good, bad, and ugly sides of the industry. OR B) There might be a pre-rehearsed, scripted interview that has no informative value in the least. I am hoping for the prior!
But it will the the latter. >:)
Cool stuff. I’ll be keeping an eye out for them! :)
for naughty dog team. Will there be a Joel DLC for The Last of Us
The PS Blog member questions are only for Episodes 3 and 4 (i.e. Treyarch and Sony Santa Monica).
please fix littlebigplanet karting digital online pass and put it back in the store so digital owners can play online
Is that the reason I can’t play mine online? I figured the servers had been taken down, but is it just the “online pass” has expired? I’ve brought this up before on the blog, and with customer service, and no one had an answer or explanation.
Yes I believe so. The digital version somehow got messed up cause it was working fine in 2013. Karting.lbp.me shows that the servers are still up and after doing some research it seems that people with the physical copy who type the online pass in are able to play online. For a PlayStation exclusive game this really is a shame. People who bought digital shouldn’t be shut out of online features that physical copy owners are able to play.
Hey Will Wheaton, I have a question for Treyarch:
Will the Zombies mode in Black Ops 3 be as future heavy as the base game and multiplayer, or will it be more grounded (pun intended, becuase jetpacks are pretty lame in FPS’), similar to how it played in Black Ops 2?
Hey Wil:
I like that line:
“We’ll release new episodes, every Tuesday in the US and Canada, on PlayStation Store. ”
Several times Canada is left out and I realize many times it’s due to our laws being different than the US, but it’s still nice to be included in this one at least.
Looking forward to seeing more and just wanted to say welcome aboard !
I am not one to try to stir the pot. but I am not one to kiss up to people who are fake.
Wil Wheaton has spent much time trying to fight the good fight for women and equality. and I can respect that up until Wil has been caught not supporting women who don’t go along with some of this ideals. he’s alienated women both in gaming and in table top.
There was a time I looked up to Wil. a time when I didn’t mind supporting his “Wheaton’S Law” because he was right. but even Wil doesn’t live up to his own law and I am sickened by what he has done to women I care about in the name of his own ideals. Wil doesn’t represent me as a gamer nor most of my lady friends and the fact that sony is backing Wil sickens me.
I get that Wil thinks he’s the good guy and he means no malice but he’s perptrated so much malice that I cannot over look.
I thought you were better then this Sony. but sadly you’ve dissapointed me. and reading the board it seems I am not the only one who is dissapointed. and if you are on team wheaton go read feminist articles about how terrible and regressive Last of Us is. for Wil to praise it so highly only proves my point.
I praise the Last of Us too. Most people do. Why? Because most of us don’t look at the game through the eyes of an agenda. It is an incredible game. If it’s only flaws require looking at the game through the lens of an agenda, that’s pretty impressive in my eyes.
Wait, isn’t Wil Wheaton the guy who sees pleasure in constantly trashing gamers that simply don’t agree with him on Twitter? Must be him, since so many in the comments section are wondering why he is host xD Well, not sure what to say about Sony choosing him as host, lol. Hmm, hopefully the series will be good though!
Are there going to be serious, hard questions asked? Or is it going to be light-hearted conversations with softball questions?
The latter..
I have no desire to support someone that insults the gaming community. I definitely won’t support someone that supports ignorance, intellectual dishonesty and moral bankruptcy. Tropes McGee’s arguments and use of games in her arguments is out of context of not only the games’ themselves, but the very medium of video games. In yet Wheaton supports those arguments by supporting her. Only proving he knows nothing about games or the gaming community.
No thank you. Bad move Sony.
Shoo.
You know, you should be spending budget on, like, Videogames, don’t you think?
EVERYONE will talk about more or less the same stuff, glorifyng their works when they have’ve been doing the same over and over again for the past years, and that’s what they will talk about only, and promoting their games. Because it’s obviously just a huge ad mixed with talk show.
I agree. And it’s kinda obvious this is just another huge PR gimmick.
Some people are just too gullible… SMH
Awesome, looking forward to it.
I love stuff like this… I’m hoping to one day work in the film or game industry as a character artist. I would like to know about the creative process that treyarch uses to create their characters and the world they live in? Hopefully my question gets asked but none the less I am looking forward to the show.
“I would like to know about the creative process that treyarch uses to create their characters and the world they live in?”
Are you serious!? o.O
They’ve been doing the same crappy game for the last 7 YEARS! There’s NO “creative process”…it just involves re-hashing and repeating the same crap year after year…and cashing in on all the suckers afterwards. >_>
Treyarch hasn’t done 1 GOOD GAME. Ever. They just struck gold with CoD. Hardly something to be proud of.