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300°

Sony on ex-Naughty Dog Amy Hennig: ‘People Change, Business Changes, Things Change’

Scott Rohde talks to IGN about the departure of one of Naughty Dog's most prolific employees.

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Community3742d ago
MrSwankSinatra3742d ago

You know this really isn't cool. First Sony lays off employees from SSM & cancel a new IP, then Amy Hennig leaves Naughty Dog & then Jack Tretton resigns. What the hell is going on???

mushroomwig3742d ago

'What the hell is going on???'

Like the title says, people change, things change. There is no conspiracy, nothing is "going on".

incredibleMULK3742d ago

yep.

And so it begins.

first, nintendo makes wii u. RIP nintendo.

second, microsoft brings in company squasher phil elop. RIP Xbox

third, sony implodes after a bad electronics run and wasteful spending. RIP Sony

and now rise of the tablets!....aaaaaahh!! no! splat! take cover! splat! oh the humanity!

BX813742d ago

Good point. I don't think they are related but that is a bunch of suck in a small time frame. The gaming industry is pretty resilient so I don't think we will see any hicups because of it.

plaZeHD3742d ago

The dark times have come.

iamnsuperman3742d ago (Edited 3742d ago )

The lay offs at SSM are not a big deal (since they are still hiring). Clearly Sony cancelled a game (for whatever reason. Ips get cancelled quite a lot). Those people would have been specialised for that genre. If they are not making that game/genre of game anymore why have them around? It is sad for them but the gamble didn't work.

Tretton and Amy are more interesting and I would like to know why they left. Army's departure does seem suspicious but Tretton's could be down to wanting more. Yes he was CES of PlayStation but he is still young enough to become CES of somewhere bigger (he isn't going to go any higher is Sony). Leaving on a high is a good thing for him (let's just hope Sony replaces him with someone good)

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3742d ago
-Foxtrot3742d ago (Edited 3742d ago )

The whole thing just seems off with me, NaughtyDog, Sony, hell even Amy herself can out and say things like "Oh no no...nothing happened, everything is fine and dandy" yet she left during development. As I said in another comment if it was near the end of development or when the game went gold I'd understand but NOW....Amy wouldn't just leave a franchise she help create behind and leave during early development, she would of wanted to stay to finish it off or get as much as she could finished.

Hell they are probably still doing mo-cap for this and she's always present during those shoots, so now what...she just drops her script and goes "...DONE" then walks out.

Sorry but it doesn't seem like something she would do....

Then you had NaughtyDog defending Neil and Bruce in another article, why didn't they just come out straight away and defend themselves on their own twitter accounts....why a very well thought out PR speech from the heads of ND if they didn't do anything wrong. Let them tell us. If you were getting slated by some horrible rumors the first thing you would do would be to tell people STRAIGHT AWAY that they are not true, they know if they post something on Twitter gaming sites will report on it and get the world out even more. It's common sense.

I also find funny how Neil is allowed to write the script for the Last of Us film but for Uncharted they couldn't...or maybe didn't want Amy Hennig to write it. Look how many people they have went through with the Uncharted film....why not just ask Amy. I thought it was because they didn't want to hire or couldn't hire people from the studio but since they got the creative director from the Last of Us game why did they not do the same with Uncharted.

I just feel like things aren't what they seem....it's nice to keep an open mind about all this and not just buy in to what you read on the web.

Was she pushed...or was she not? Who knows...

We'll probably never know

PrinceOfAllSaiyans3742d ago

Stop overreacting. Yea losing Amy is a big loss. But like it says people move on. And Amy already finished writing Uncharted 4. She is only a writer not a developer. And Uncharted is in good hands with Niel Druckmann he is behind Uncharted 2, which is the best of all the Uncharted games and he is behind TLOU. Naughty Dog is still the best studio of them all with or without Amy.

-Foxtrot3742d ago (Edited 3742d ago )

How am I over reacting...I mean really I'm just trying to put some thought into it. If you want to blindly go along with anything someone says fair enough but it's the whole point of commenting on here...discussion.

Is it trolling, being immature, personally attacking someone, off topic etc....no it's not. You shouldn't take offence into what someone writes and get all ticked off about it. I would most likely respect your opinion as long as it's fair.

"and Amy already finished writing Uncharted 4. She is only a writer not a developer.

Wow...you really don't know how writing works do you. You don't just write it and it's done, read the interviews or behind the scenes stuff with the mo cap. Amy and the guys say Amy was always re-writing stuff during mo cap shoots and she helped get the characters into a mind set of her vision she wrote down. She helps the games director aswell.

"And Uncharted is in good hands with Niel Druckmann he is behind Uncharted 2 which is the best of all the Uncharted games "

I'm not saying it's not but Neil is quite dark with his writing, he wanted to kill Elena off in Uncharted 2 and you've seen what he can write thanks to the Last of Us. Fantastic writing but I wouldn't want dark themes popping up in Uncharted 4. There was balance with Uncharted 2 because both of them were writing, you have Amy, a light hearted writer then Neil who is more serious with darker tones.

"Naughty Dog is still the best studio of them all with or without Amy"

Uncharted wouldn't be Uncharted without Amy...lets not forget that. Naughty Dog are talented but you can't ignore the amount of hard work she put into it.

EDIT@ Below

How is it ONE SIDED when I'm not believing in either "possible" sides to the story. I've stated I'm not, so why say something like that

It's up in the air in my opinion....don't see why you can't get that, unless your just looking for an argument. Why do people like yourself care more about the users on here then the article.

SoapShoes3742d ago

But all you're doing is being very one-sided with your idea that there's something behind the scenes. Maybe there is but it's just as likely that there is nothing behind the scenes too.

SoapShoes3742d ago (Edited 3742d ago )

"How is it ONE SIDED when I'm not believing in either "possible" sides to the story. I've stated I'm not, so why say something like that "

Well probably the fact you're going into so much depth about how something could have been awry within the company and not at all about any other possible scenario. You can't make a huge post about how you think something went down, starting it off by saying you feel something is off, then wrapping it up with a question stating no one knows and think the last sentence makes you somehow neutral.

Also Naughty Dog is more than just one or two or three people. It's a team, they don't have just one person calling all of the shots. Everyone has input. While Amy did shape Uncharted, your comment about it not being Uncharted without her doesn't sit well. It will have some differences for sure but many series get different directors/writers and still remain true to what they are. Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin left ND shortly after Jak and Daxter but they still continued to make great Jak games and continued on to great series. ND is awesome and Amy is awesome, it's not the end of the world or going to change Uncharted into something it's not.

Salooh3742d ago

I don''t see why people would disagree with this. She's great but if that's he choice it's not really a big effect. They can live without her. Naught dog may even get another great writer. Who knows , sometimes people hate something good for them..

PoSTedUP3742d ago

she may or may not have been pushed. there, done. i wouldnt waste anymore brain power on it. "business changes" and her talent certainly will not go unnoticed.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3742d ago
SoapShoes3742d ago (Edited 3742d ago )

Yeah and you know Amy personally? How do you know what she would do and what circumstances are going on in her life? Stop filling in the gaps you don't know.

-Foxtrot3742d ago (Edited 3742d ago )

It's a DISCUSSION SITE

What are you not getting, stop personally attacking people just because you like it.

I wouldn't attack you for your opinions

Jeez I think people forget the whole point of N4G commenting features is to discuss the article. Instead we get people like you who go OFF TOPIC, calling users instead of the actual article

Honestly man...chill out.

EDIT

Nice sly edit pal...

SoapShoes3742d ago (Edited 3742d ago )

Wasn't a sly edit, it was just fleshing out what I was thinking in more detail. I don't see why you are so upset about me pointing out that there are other things that could have happened and it doesn't necessarily have to be some conspiracy theory where things went down behind the scenes.

-Foxtrot3742d ago

Mate your making your self look silly now....just stop

thehitman3742d ago

I dont know what to make of this situation other than what the article title says. Fox you never know if Amy has an opportunity at another project that she had her sights on and she had to leave for that opportunity now. Maybe she didnt want to do another Uncharted and just wanted to move on? Nobody knows the situation other than her and the people at NaughtyDog.

In the end I dont think it really matters as its obvious NaughtyDog has enough talent to go around. They have 2 franchises now with unrivaled accolades from last generation. You cant say that it was all her doing for Naughty success. They have sooo many people that work to make the games what they are.

Whatever the reason for her leaving lets just hope her the best wishes on her future projects as she has proven she is talented and will probably have more successes in her career. ND will keep being what they are until proven otherwise 1 person wont make or break them.

Chevalier3742d ago

Honestly it's not for us to speculate, it could be any number of things. Things happen in life that are hard to explain, people shouldn't have to defend against baseless accusations. It's not like Neil or anyone can discuss with full disclosure and explain a whole story without other implications or violating someones privacy.

For example you could show up at at my hospital and have blood work done and maybe someone noticed you were jaundiced. Someone who doesn't know you could easily makeup a plausible story and say "Hey I see that guy at my bar all the time always leaves with a different girl, clearly he's sleeping around must of got Hepatitis somewhere." I could be drawing your blood and chat and find out that your in fact gay and just go out with female friends to dance and have a good time and contracted Hep while on vacation from contamination or have an auto immune condition. I can't defend this person or clear up any misunderstanding because I have been told in confidence and it goes against pipeda. Doesn't change the fact that any jerk can makeup some story full of conflict now does it?

-Foxtrot3742d ago

It's not for us to speculate....urmmmmmm yeah it is, thats what people do on sites like this

Why are so many people on here trying to "hush hush" the whole thing....seriously.

Telling me not to waste time or brain power on it, when they are doing the same towards my comment.

jetlian3742d ago (Edited 3742d ago )

she was pushed out they dont like the term pushed! They dont like the pr because its true. Amy was paid to stay silent most likely.

Funny how eveybody talking about it arent the three involved.The three being bruce,amy and neil. Yet sony and ND top 2 yapping about it as closed case

AceBlazer133742d ago (Edited 3742d ago )

Maybe Amy began writing absolute crap so they had to cut her, maybe she had a different direction from the rest of the team, maybe she got bored with uncharted and didn't wanna do a half assed job, maybe she got a better writing job, maybe there is something going on at Sony. There are too many possibilities to bother wondering about it.We have nothing more than the words of the people who were involved so we might as well take it for what it is over such a trivial matter.

Clogmaster3741d ago (Edited 3741d ago )

How come no one is mentioning how the lead gameplay designer left CD Projekt Red before Witcher 3 was finished?

As long as the work is done, then it's fine. Sometimes we need a change of scene.

Chevalier3741d ago

@ Foxtrot

Ultimately do you think you'll actually get the full story? So yeah go ahead and speculate, my point was that more then likely there were many factors and extenuating circumstances. Unless you know everyone involved personally, what exactly do you think you'll gain? At the end of the day your speculation will just end up as is. But be my guest and continue on your path if you think you'll gain enlightenment.

Bottom line is it's just what it is. Like I said if you were in the same position and someone threw out a bunch of baseless accusations to stir something up then let them. If you left for personal reasons then it should remain that way. Your entitled to your opinion and so are everyone else so as I said continue if that's what you wish.

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chrissx3742d ago

Yea its sad,but change is constant in life. We can only hope this change if for the best

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90°

15 Great Games Where Every Minute of the Experience Feels Earned

GB: "We take a look at 15 amazing games that had the perfect length."

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8d ago
coolbeans7d ago

Pretty good list. Botany Manor would be the newest addition that encapsulates that title.

400°

Anyone else not blown away with graphics these days? Me neither

Talal writes: "I'm talking about having that rush of excitement - that feeling you get when you know you've just made a memory for a lifetime."

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OptimusDK10d ago

There are different games. Some have gamplay at it highest priority, some have the story, some have the replay value and choices... There are a lot of different game experiences.

It is laughable that just now graphics does not have anything to do with that experiene. We have had many games of that type over time. This is just the one that have come closest to feel like playing an actual movie. Just look the the Digital foundry walkthrough it is a masterpiece in that perspective and hence wrth trying. But yes do not do it for the gameplay - but that was never the goal of this experience.

GamerRN10d ago

It's because it's on Xbox. When Xbox has amazing graphics, they don't matter. When PlayStation does, it's a game changer!

Lightning7710d ago

Pretty much my thoughts. They were technical marvel's on PS and still are. The moment Xbox puts out a graphically intense game is doesn't matter suddenly.

4 years ago this month would the UE5 tech demo debut with the girl flying (tech demo said it was only possible on PS5 because of the SSD. Glad to finally see it in its glory.

fr0sty10d ago

FFS, gaming journalism has really gone downhill. At least hire people with a basic grasp of grammar... "Me neither" means the exact opposite of what the "author" is trying to say. That's like saying "I could care less"... lol.

S2Killinit10d ago

Maybe because the gameplay being dull allowed it to have the amazing graphics and people are not as impressed by graphics alone anymore? I mean there is a lot of sites saying the story and the gameplay are lackluster. So what are we supposed to enjoy then? Cgi graphics are beautiful but since they arent interactive, they dont impress me as much as they used to. Thats an extreme example, but you get my drift.

Terry_B10d ago

When Playstation (Sony) does it..its usually a great game and not a cinematic experience..or at least something new at the time..like Until Dawn back in 2015.

1Victor9d ago

@gamer:” It's because it's on Xbox. When Xbox has amazing graphics, they don't matter. When PlayStation does, it's a game changer!”

The game looks as good as any other PlayStation game in my eyes why can’t you and the other hardcore Xbox be happy about it and drag PlayStation into every conversation and force PlayStation hardcore to look into the game and find flaw that most games have in one way or another.
@light: “ 4 years ago this month would the UE5 tech demo debut with the girl flying (tech demo said it was only possible on PS5 because of the SSD. ”
Yes at that time it was only possible on PlayStation SSD how ignorant of you to think that after 4 years the technology wouldn’t evolved and move to a industry standard 🤦🏿I wish your mentality wasn’t so naive and narrow to post stuff like that 😩 in a year or 2 a new game will come out that might look better, it’s the nature of the industry.

Now that the distraction is gone I feel that is a good thing that the graphics in games are starting to hit the rooftop and hopefully the developers will put more thoughts into story and gameplay mechanics than just the next shiny oily skin of old.

Reaper22_9d ago

So true. Not surprised by all the negativity. It's a really good game and looks better than any game I've ever seen. GOTY nominee for sure. Like I said before, sony screwed up big time by not purchasing Ninja Theory.

Asplundh9d ago

Pretty much. It's like how the Switch and Steam controller using haptic feedback in their controllers wasn't a big deal but then Sony did it and it was then a "game changer".

fr0sty9d ago

The game runs at as low as 21fps... That isn't much to brag about no matter how good it looks.

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MajorLazer9d ago (Edited 9d ago )

We've had graphical gamechangers before, such as Crysis but those games still had gameplay to compliment it. Hellblade pretty much has none, and only achieved such graphics through being incredibly linear and having very small, closed off environments where very little is happening.

Vx_9d ago (Edited 9d ago )

GFX does not mean anything if the game is boring. It is simple like that and these major companies need to understand this simple concept.

Games are like your lady, she may be beautiful to look at for a while but then it gets boring if her character isn't interesting and fun to be with.

10d ago Replies(7)
Kneetos10d ago

Mario kart 8 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Sonic188110d ago

Horizon forbidden West has great graphics and great gameplay

GamerRN10d ago

Yeah but graphics don't matter, remember?

anast9d ago

@RN

I've been pretty consistent in saying that we need both.

GamerRN8d ago

So until dawn, too human, or whatever those series of games were... Graphic masterpieces it garbage with no gameplay?

VincentVanBro10d ago

I agree and I actually think Forbidden West looks better than Hellblade 2. I easily prefer looking at it at least.

Sonic18819d ago

It does look better in my opinion as well. I don't know why it looks better but there's something about the Decima engine or that guerrilla games is using tricks that we don't know of

Abear219d ago

Can you fly a mount under water in Hellblade 2? I think not! One of the best moments this Gen

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220°

Activision’s new Elsewhere Entertainment studio is working on a new IP

Headquartered in Poland, Elsewhere Entertainment — an all-new internal studio at Activision — is working on a new “narrative-based and genre-defining AAA franchise.” Elsewhere includes developers credited on The Last of Us, Uncharted, Destiny, Cyberpunk, and more. Activision’s new studio announcement comes just a week after its parent company, Microsoft, closed three Bethesda studios. It also follows job postings about a new Activision IP.

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Community18d ago
Sciurus_vulgaris18d ago

The game industry confuses, closing down proven studios only open a new studio?

ThinkThink18d ago

It would certainly be strange if this news came from Bethesda, but Activision is its on monster.

Eonjay18d ago

To be fair, many Activision employees lost their jobs too during the the last few months. So it really is quite odd to see them opening another studio. All I can say is they better not do another mass layoff anytime soon or its just gonna piss everyone off. Studio description reminds me of The Initiative. The only saving grace is that they aren't claiming to be making a AAAA game lol. I guess we will check back in in 5 years to see how everything is going.

XiNatsuDragnel18d ago (Edited 18d ago )

Man what ip are they cooking? /s.

RaidenBlack17d ago

Soldier of Fortune 🤞🏻
Hexen/Heretic?
True Crime?

18d ago Replies(1)
thesoftware73018d ago

Gotta break some eggs to make an omelet.

romulus2318d ago

Tango Gameworks was the omelet, so that statement fails on the face of it.

InUrFoxHole18d ago

Really? What special games did they make 🤔

romulus2318d ago

@InUrFoxHole

Well, xbox was pretty adamant that Hi-Fi Rush was special, journalist and gamers seemed to agree and from my own personal experience I would say it was a great game. They also made Ghostwire: Tokyo, and the Evil Within series.

thesoftware73018d ago (Edited 18d ago )

Yeah, then the head/lead of the company left...

No hope for a good Evil within game, ghost wire was not really successful,and HI-FI alone was not enough to keep an entire studio open.

Eonjay18d ago

@thesoftware730

I think the fact that this 'wasn't enough' is a problem wouldn't you concede?

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romulus2318d ago

Hi-Fi Rush was a great game regardless of who left and according to Aaron Greenberg,

"Hi-Fi RUSH was a break out hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations. We couldn’t be happier with what the team at Tango Gameworks delivered with this surprise release."

So of course they rewarded the team for their accomplishment by firing them. They have studios that have contributed much less that they haven't closed. It is going to be very difficult for any game to be successful when it goes straight to gamepass day one.

Einhander197218d ago (Edited 18d ago )

I think this is just a publicity stunt and that this studio never actually produces a game. Someone at Microsoft was like were getting cooked in the media after they closed these studios and they came up with a plan to create some dummy studio someplace outside of the reach of the English speaking presses reach to distract people.

"Oh hey we're not closing studios we're actually creating studios"

And of course what are they working on... the type of game that gets the most popular public perception a narrative driven story based game... ya know not the thing Activision and Microsoft are known for.

18d ago Replies(2)
Einhander197218d ago

GamingFans6946m ago
They hired a bunch of people and opened a new studio for a publicity stunt?

Yea, they hired people... Who? "Oh, you know, people..." people who worked on TLOU Uncharted and Destiny of course...

It's the same crap they did with The Initiative where they were under fire for buying a bunch of studios and not forming anything except even more sketchy this time. Of course the The Initiative was formed with people mostly poached from PlayStation specifically Naughty Dog, then less than 12 months later almost everyone was back at Sony and The Initiative was rumored to have lost 80% of it's staff and the game they were working on was announced to actually be getting developed by Crystal Dynamics.

Noskypeno18d ago

The way we need to look at these buzzwords is the same that we see when a sports team brings in the best athletes in their position in hopes to bring them to look like a superteam, only to barely win half of their games or lose in the first round of the playoffs. Sometimes superteams work, but when it doesn't it just makes you question how they can't take advantage of their abilities.

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