At last week’s San Diego Comic-Con, I sat down with Academy Award nominee Ellen Page, who’s playing the lead role of Jodie Holmes, and Quantic Dream writer/director David Cage. How did the star of films like Juno and Inception come to work with Quantic Dream in BEYOND: Two Souls? And what does this level of talent mean for the game? Let them tell you:

To see more from BEYOND: Two Souls, and meet some of the game’s other talent (including Kadeem Hardison), catch highlights from the Comic-Con panel here.

If you weren’t around to see the panel, here’s a condensed look…

We had The Last of Us Creative Director, Neil Druckmann, and Game Director, Bruce Straley, discuss various game inspirations and dive deeper into the characters, the plausible science behind the game, and the character acting behind the scenes. Actor Troy Baker (Joel) and actress Ashley Johnson (Ellie) commented on their performance capture experiences and actor W. Earl Brown (There’s Something About Mary, Deadwood) was introduced in a new cinematic as Bill, a new character in the world of The Last of Us.
We had an unbelievable E3 and SDCC shaped up to be equally inspiring and fun. Be on the lookout for some more content from the panel in the coming weeks. We can’t wait to share more of the game as development of The Last of Us progresses!

The top 16 virtual racers will fly to the world-renowned Silverstone racing circuit in the UK to participate in a week-long boot camp in August, which will be televised and aired on Spike TV’s GT Academy television series later this year.

GT Academy North America finalists will be judged and eliminated by an expert panel of racing professionals, based on each competitor’s skills, performance and overall aptitude for the requirements to become a professional racer. The top driver will train under the guidance of professional racing drivers and compete in selected races for a Nissan racing team.

Below are the 33 competitors who participated in the tournament, with the top 16 advancing to the final phase of competition in Silverstone (ranked in order of placement).

Taking one step closer to possibly becoming a part of a professional race car team, these 16 finalists emerged from a pool of over 400,000 racing hopefuls who competed for a top spot through Gran Turismo 5, battled their way through two days of intense racing, and earned a spot as one of the final 16. Congratulations from Sony, Polyphony Digital and Nissan North America to these truly amazing 16 individuals.

Congrats to Patrick Crider and Jeff Stuart for dominating the Racer X Challenge, winning the one-of-a-kind GT Academy 2012 designed – HumanRacing® GT Chassis equipped with the Thrustmaster T500RS wheel and pedal set.

Be sure to follow GT Academy (North America) on Facebook for up-to-date info for the 16 finalists traveling to Silverstone later this year!

As Comic-Con comes to an end, we are pleased to say that PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale made a big splash at the convention and we plan to continue the trend at all of our up-and-coming events. As we get closer to our October 23rd release date, stay tuned for more news and reveals!

On stage we had Ian Dallas, Hokyo Lim, Max Geiger, and me. We showed off some never-before-seen concept art, and talked about how we developed the art style for The Unfinished Swan. We’ve been really quiet throughout development in hopes of preserving the game’s surprises, so it was refreshing to have the chance to speak with fans about our inspirations. Thanks for being patient with us! We’ve got more to reveal soon, so keep in touch with us on Twitter and be sure to comment here!

Today at Comic-Con, the SuperBot team led a lively discussion panel that gave attendees a sneak peek at the development of PlayStation All-Stars. Alongside our very own Chan Park and Omar Kendall, IGN.com’s Greg Miller joined us as a moderator to explore how the team created our super roster of PlayStation characters and environments for the ultimate cross-over brawler. In addition, they discussed alternate costume decisions, some of the different game modes available, and the concept of the “mash-up.” But of course the highlight of the panel was unveiling two new, highly anticipated additions to the roster. We are pleased to announce the inclusion of Jak and Daxter and Cole MacGrath in PlayStation All-Stars!

Initially debuting on PS2 in 2001, Naughty Dog’s Jak and Daxter series has seen critical acclaim and success, spawning multiple titles on PS2, PS3, and PSP. Fans have enjoyed Jak and Daxter’s signature style and varied gameplay, so we considered them prime candidates for our game. Jak and Daxter are beastly on the Battle Royale battlefield; they’ve definitely been my go-to pair lately here at the studio!

Players familiar with Jak and Daxter’s arsenal will immediately recognize some of the weaponry utilized in PlayStation All-Stars including the Blaster, Needle Lazer, Gyro Burster, and Mass Inverter. When the going gets tough, Jak has the ability to unleash the powers of both Dark and Light Jak to even the playing field, as seen in Jak II and Jak 3 respectively. Daxter even lends a hand in Jak’s melee attacks.

Representing the PlayStation franchise inFAMOUS from Sucker Punch Studios, Cole MacGrath proves to be an unlikely hero with extraordinary powers, so it made perfect sense to us for him to be in the ring alongside some of PlayStation’s heaviest hitters.

Cole takes advantage of a wide array of abilities in inFAMOUS, an experience we hoped to emulate when incorporating him into the game. He is a well-rounded fighter who is effective at both close and long range combat, and is highly mobile as well. Players can command both his electrokinesis and cryokinesis, using these powers to assault opponents from a safe distance or propel himself towards the action. With these abilities, Cole proves to be a formidable adversary for the rest of the PlayStation All-Stars cast!

We’re always excited to share new information about the game, so we hope you’ve enjoyed the reveals so far. We still have lots more to unveil before our October 23, 2012 launch date so don’t forget to pre-order your copy and you’ll be hearing from us again soon. Until next time!

We first showed this video during our San Diego Comic Con panel. If you listen carefully at the onset of the video you’ll hear the sounds of Infected hunting for Joel and Ellie. The pair manages to escape into the house of some guy in a gas mask. But are they safe?

The masked man is a new character named Bill. Bill knows Joel somehow and he owes Joel a favor. What for? Well, we’re not talking about that yet but you’ll definitely be hearing more about Bill and what makes him tick in the months rolling up to launch. For starters, we also revealed that Bill is voiced by accomplished Hollywood actor W. Earl Brown, who has appeared in numerous movies including Vanilla Sky, Scream, There’s Something About Mary and the upcoming movie The Lone Ranger. He also played Dan Dority in the acclaimed HBO series, Deadwood. There will be much more information to come.

It was a joy to talk with fans at SDCC about our mocap and performance process and to go behind the scenes on The Last of Us. Get ready for us to fire out more notes from the workshop as development progresses.

We’re always looking for ways to deliver PlayStation gamers the entertainment you crave. Hot off the presses from Comic-Con is news that we will be the exclusive launch partner for VIZ Media’s Neon Alley – a 24-hour anime channel – to PlayStation Network in Fall 2012. Neon Alley will be a subscription-based service available to all PS3 owners in the U.S. and Canada for $6.99 per month. Neon Alley will include a mix of action, adventure, science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, and horror anime, all uncut and dubbed in English, and presented in HD (when available), including include blockbuster anime titles like Naruto Shippuden, Inuyasha: The Final Act, and Death Note, as well as new titles such as Tiger & Bunny, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc, Zetman, Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, plus original content that provides news and behind-the-scenes access for anime and manga fans.

That’s not all, though. It was recently unveiled that the Crunchyroll App will be coming to PSN, streaming directly from your PS3 console. Current subscribers will be able to log in with their existing account to access all the benefits, including streaming the episodes of popular anime shows such as Naruto Shippuden, Shugo Chara, Hunter X Hunter, Sket Dance, and Korean drama shows like Dr. Jing, Jumong, The King 2 Hearts and more. And if you’re not a member yet – you can also sign up for a 30-day free trial directly from your PS3. The packages include Anime membership (all anime titles and simulcasts for $6.95 per month), Drama membership (all drama titles and simulcasts for $6.95 per month), or All-Access membership (all titles and simulcasts for $11.95 per month).

So that’s it – great anime content will be streaming directly to your PS3 soon! What are your thoughts on a dedicated anime channel on PSN? Share your feedback with us in the comments below.

Greetings! Yesterday was my first time at San Diego Comic-Con and I was amazed at the people I saw! What costumes! It’s great to see so many people embracing their passion.

After such an amazing E3, I was lucky enough to come here to speak to some incredible supporters of the game in a panel hosted by IGN’s Greg Miller. Joining me was the lovely and talented Ellen Page, who we are very lucky to have playing BEYOND‘s main character, Jodie Holmes. We had a great discussion about how we are combining the latest in performance capture technology and amazing acting talent in the hopes of creating a truly unique and emotional experience for all of you to enjoy. We were also happy to reveal additional talented cast members, Kadeem Hardison and Eric Winter, experienced actors who you may have seen both on TV and film.

Please enjoy a recap of our Comic-Con panel above. And on behalf of the team at Quantic Dream, thank you so much for your support so far. We are hard at work and look forward to sharing more about BEYOND soon.

‘Til then… Adieu!

When I learned that Capcom would be showing Okami HD at their booth, all of those attractions quickly dropped in importance; I knew where my Comic-Con would kick off.

Mere seconds after the doors of the San Diego Convention Center opened for business, Capcom’s Tristan Corbett handed me a PlayStation Move motion controller and I beheld Japanese sun goddess-turned-canine Amaterasu in full HD glory for the first time.

Not all HD remakes are created equal, but Hexa Drive’s effort clearly isn’t just a soulless re-processing. With the PS3’s hardware muscle to play with, they’re working to improve draw distance and load times over the PS2 original. The cel-shaded visuals up-rez quite nicely, with the game’s iconic bold, black outline strokes popping off the HD display. All cutscenes have been fully recreated, and areas of the game that the team felt weren’t up to snuff were re-textured by hand. It looks stunning.

Corbett informed me that this is the first HD remake that Capcom will release outside of Japan featuring full 1080p HD. That high-end resolution, coupled with the new 16:9 aspect ratio, help Okami’s insane level of visual intricacy stand out significantly more than on the PS2. The game lavishes layers upon layers of visual effects: while approaching a seaside cave, I noticed violet mist pouring forth from a foul portal as wind visibly blows off the sea. Bold lines express the speed of dog deity at a canter, as vibrant flora spring forth from the soil underneath her life-giving paws.

The team even lets you play with filter effects in this version; opt for “Heavy,” and the sky appears to have been painted on a rough scroll, making things pop with a timeless, storybook look. It’s may be clichéd to say, but I can’t help but think that Okami HD is a more pure expression of the vision that Clover Studio had when they created the game in 2006.

Okami HD’s enhanced visuals only represent half of the new package. This PS3 exclusive also supports PlayStation Move controls, with a Navigation Controller. Those that struggled with the thumbstick when painting with Amaterasu’s Celestial Brush may find salvation in motion control – hold the T-button to bring up the canvas, then and press the Move to deploy ink as you sketch with Ammy’s paint power. After a few tries, I was rejuvenating dying cherry blossoms with tight circles and power slashing through guarding enemies via a well-placed horizontal line. Of course, Dualshock 3 controls are supported, and control just as you may remember.

I tried to sneak a peek at the PSN Trophy list, but Capcom had not yet implemented them into this build of Okami HD. Fortunately, Corbett promised to share the final Trophy list here on PlayStation.Blog, and it’s been confirmed that there will be a Platinum up for grabs.

Okami HD is coming exclusively to PSN this fall for $19.99. Got any questions? We’ll aim to address them in a future post.