From the beginning, our goal was to create a great UNCHARTED game. We wanted to give players, including ourselves, more of what they love, but with the PS Vita’s unique spin. The cinematic experience, the gunplay and weapons, the compelling story and characters, the mystery and treasure hunting based on real history, the puzzles, the platforming, and of course, the colorful and detailed imagery… it’s all there. But it’s on a gorgeous five-inch screen that you can take with you.

If you’ve been following all the pre-release news, then you know that UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss also has a ton of collectibles — more than 300, in fact. We wanted to not only give the game some replayability with some additional exploration, but also to tell more backstory, which we do through the items you collect, locations you photograph, and other puzzles you solve. All of these are tied to Trophies that can be earned. We didn’t forget the gamer who prefers gunplay, either: one of the collectible types in UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss are the Bounties. These drop randomly from fallen enemies throughout the game and represent things that might have been found in the area you’re fighting in: old Spanish playing cards, gold and silver coins, and so forth. Many of these items are scarce, and some are really rare. You’re not going to collect all these on a single playthrough!

But we’re not cruel. To make it a little easier to collect all the Bounties, we created The Black Market. This is a near application that allows you select a Bounty type from your collection and send a request out to the Black Market. If any other PS Vita players out there (in the area where you made the request) have a Bounty that you’re missing, the Black Market will send you a copy of their Bounty, even the rarest collectibles. We even created a sixth Bounty type that you can obtain only through near: if you send a request to the Black Market and no one has what you need, the Black Market will send you a carved Fetish for you troubles. While the five bounties are tied to Trophies, the Fetishes are not… so you don’t have to use near to achieve Platinum. But for those of you who want to try a little Black Market trading, take your PS Vita with you!

PS Vita’s launch is right around the corner. We can’t wait!

Today the Jak and Daxter Collection launches exclusively on PS3. Now, over a decade since the Jak and Daxter series originally premiered on PS2, I’m so proud to see the legacy of Naughty Dog’s work brought together for the first time ever on one Blu-ray Disc.

The Jak and Daxter Collection brings some of your favorite J&D adventures — Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II and Jak 3 — to life like never before. Mass Media has re-mastered each installment of the collection to feature 720p high definition visuals and stereoscopic 3D support. The Jak and Daxter Collection also features over 100 trophies (including 3 platinum) for you to hunt down while you play through all three titles.

In addition to picking up the Jak and Daxter Collection at your local game retailer, you’ll be able to download the title via PSN. Starting today, the Jak and Daxter Collection will be available on the PlayStation Store for $39.99. You can also choose to download any of the installments from the collection separately for $14.99.

Be sure to grab the Jak and Daxter Collection today for a chance to experience the full evolution of the franchise. You’re in for some funny and wild adventures — enjoy!

Coming in today’s PlayStation Store update to Uncharted 3 is the Fort Co-Op adventure DLC. Did some of you guess that from our screenshot hint? Fort Co-Op Adventure will mark the first time in the series you’ll be able to play co-op as the UNCHARTED villains with Zoran Lazarević, Eddy Raja, Harry Flynn joining forces in a tale that further explores the mystery behind the Janus head statue from the on-disc co-op adventure. Check out a preview of that adventure here:

Worried you’re becoming an easy target because you’re always playing as Elena, Desert Drake, or Chloe? We have some new skins for you to try. Also available today, February 7th, are the Rogues Skin Pack 1 and Rogues Skin Pack 2 as well as everybody’s favorite the skins, the Doughnut Skin Pack.

If you’re itching for some competitive action on February 21st you can download the Plaza, Temple, Train Wreck, and Village maps in the Flashback Map Pack 2 DLC. Your favorite maps return with all-new dynamic lighting effects, cutting-edge particle effects and a bevy of other fresh technical polish. The lighting on every map has been completely redone. This map pack provides a good look at what kind of technical and gameplay shine we can put on Uncharted 3 multiplayer maps.

If you want to buy all this content standalone here’s a handy pricing breakdown:

• February 7, 2012 -Fort Co-Op Adventure: $5.99
• February 7, 2012 –Doughnut Skin Pack: $1.99
• February 7, 2012 –Rogues Skin Pack 1: $2.99
• February 7, 2012 – Rogues Skin Pack 2: $2.99
• February 21, 2012 – Flashback Map Pack 2: $9.99

If you’re game for becoming a member or already a member all this content will be available free to you as part of the Fortune Hunters’ Club. If not, you can become a member today by purchasing the FHC from the PS Store. It’s a fantastic deal at $24.99.

As a FHC member you’ll save over 60% on the 14 packs of Uncharted 3 DLC. Current members and any new membership purchased will receive all currently available and any upcoming DLC packs for Uncharted 3. The exclusive Fortune Hunters’ Club theme will let you know when new Uncharted 3 DLC hits right from the XMB of your PS3.

The full lowdown on what big DLC is coming after this batch of February awesomeness will follow in a future blog update. We have some very cool surprises for you. Here’s a hint:

Uncharted 3 heavy metal mode? A tie-in with The Misfits Fiend Club? Nope, but we’ll have details on exactly what this symbol means in just a little over a month. Remember to be sure to be on the lookout for some brand new, Uncharted 3 renditions of your favorite maps in the middle of the month! For now, see you in your new skins and in the Fort!

At the studio, we were ushered past numerous awards for blockbuster series like Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, and UNCHARTED, but it was inside Naughty Dog’s impressive movie theater-style presentation room that we got to see and discuss what we came there for. On day one, Director Bruce Straley and Creative Director Neil Druckmann talked about their vision for the game while co-presidents Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra discussed their decision to double the staff and create an entirely separate team from the UNCHARTED crew.

Before long they fired up an amazing live gameplay demo showcasing the combat, stealth, and presentation style and offering a glimpse at the evolving character relationship between protagonists Joel and Ellie. The team offered frank and open responses to all of our questions and only really held back on heavy spoilers and elements that weren’t 100 percent nailed down yet. They were also gracious enough to play through the whole fascinating demo again (and we didn’t even have to beg that much).

On day two, we conducted several on-camera interviews and rounded up loads of online content that will roll out throughout the entire month of February. So be sure to head over to gameinformer.com to see our full front and back panoramic cover image and keep coming back for more The Last of Us throughout the days ahead. In fact, you don’t have to wait long. At 4:00PM Central Time today, we’re exclusively debuting the first three in-game screenshots of The Last of Us. We’ll see you there!

Each game has been fully remastered to feature 720p HD visuals and stereoscopic 3D functionality, and one of the coolest new additions to the titles in Jak and Daxter Collection is the introduction of Trophy support.

When the series debuted on PS2 over 10 years ago, we didn’t have Trophies. For our jump to PS3, Mass Media crafted custom Trophies for you to earn for all three titles in the collection. The team at Mass Media has created intricate Trophies, each featuring a unique variation on a design theme based around its mission type. There are over 100 to collect including three Platinum Trophies, so you completionists will have hours of Trophy-hunting fun to look forward to.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the Trophies that will be up for grabs:

Pedal to the Metal	Destroy Metal Kor at Nest	Gold
Purple Pain	Navigate the Purple Precursor Rings	Bronze
The Super Orberator	Collect 2000 Precursor Orbs	Gold
Testosterone	Pass the Tests of Manhood	Silver
Just the Artifacts Ma’am	Find 3 Artifacts in Mountain Temple	Bronze
What’s That Smell?	Escort Men Through Sewers	Bronze
The Beast Beater	Destroy Metal Head Beasts	Bronze
Gate Crasher Masher	Defend Spargus’ Front Gate	Bronze

Be sure to track them all down when Jak and Daxter Collection launches on PS3 this February 7th. Happy hunting!

First off, today we’ll be releasing four maps we teased a couple of weeks after the UNCHARTED 3 launch.

You’ll be getting the Cave, Fort, Lost City, and Sanctuary maps in this download pack. Dynamic lighting effects, new particle effects and a slew of technical changes have been made to these maps. The lighting was reworked from scratch. New textures and weather effects are apparent and freshly decorate all maps. We poured hours of development time into these maps to make them be really fun in the UNCHARTED 3 multiplayer ecosystem. This map pack is a taste of how far we can go to remix some of your favorite maps into a completely new UNCHARTED 3 gameplay experience.

If you’re a member of the Fortune Hunters’ Club these maps will be available free to you. If not, you can gain access today by purchasing the FHC from the PS Store. It’s a fantastic deal at $24.99.

Initially, the Fortune Hunters’ Club offered a total savings of 45% off the seven multiplayer packs (three character skin packs, four map packs) that will be released for UNCHARTED 3. We’ve kicked this deal up a few notches and are now offering 14 total packs, 7 new packs that we will be revealing as the year progresses! As a FHC member the savings for these 14 packs will be over 60%! Current membership and any new membership purchased will include all currently available and any upcoming DLC packs for UNCHARTED 3 as well as an exclusive Fortune Hunters’ Club theme that will let you know when new UNCHARTED 3 DLC hits right from the XMB of your PS3.

Besides the fun new maps you’ll be playing on today, we wanted to tell you about some future hits of DLC. We have three new character skins packs coming at you next. The Rogues Pack 1 and Rogues Pack 2 will let you play as some of the major thugs and minor characters from UNCHARTED 3. Donut Pack 1 will giant-size some of your favorite UNCHARTED 3 heroes and villains.

Details on how and when the three new skin packs will be available, and what DLC is coming after that, will follow in our next blog update. We have a lot more DLC coming at you. To whet your appetite, here’s a hint to as what it may be:

Any guesses to why Lazarević is holding half a Janus head?

As you see we are currently hard at work on completely new DLC for your UNCHARTED 3 online adventure. As soon as all the content is fully baked, tested through QA and we have locked release dates you’ll be the first to know. For now, let’s explore some new maps together. See you online!

As you can see from our holiday card we’ve welcomed Joel and Ellie from The Last of Us into our cast of characters to play among with Drake, Sully, Elena, Chloe, and our UNCHARTED personalities. The year has brought about tremendous change as Naughty Dog has grown into a two team studio for the first time in our 25 year history. This shift is terrifically exciting as it signals an expanded talent pool in which we can share ideas, know-how, and techniques. As future projects evolve, we will continue to strive to maintain our high Naughty Dog standards and always endeavor to do whatever it takes to raise the bar for gaming.

2011 was a grand adventure as we shipped Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception in November to widespread critical acclaim. We are grateful of all the recognition we’ve received for the title, ramping up at E3, continuing throughout development and into post-launch with some pretty awesome accolades from numerous media sources. Currently we’re working on some fresh DLC for UNCHARTED 3 and we will be sharing complete details about what you’ll be getting and what’s in store for all members of the Fortune Hunters’ Club in the New Year. Be sure to check back on the PlayStation blog for details within the first few months of 2012.

The studio also has been teaming with high fives and buzzing with energy via the hype caused by the announcement of The Last of Us at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards. If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, be sure to check it out as every frame hints at the kind of gameplay features and atmosphere you can expect to see in the full game:

Apart from all the activities around our big new game reveal, some of the Dogs have been on well-deserved breaks for the past couple of weeks, either taking some personal time off or spending time with the friends and families who we didn’t see much of during the development of UNCHARTED 3.

Co-President Christophe Balestra is currently taking his first vacation in 10 years (!) while Co-President Evan Wells is heading up to Portland to spend time with family. Amy Hennig, Creative Director on UNCHARTED 3, is spending time with family as well. Bruce Straley, Game Director of The Last of Us, intends to catch up on Shadow of the Colossus, Skyrim, and Rage over the holiday break. Neil Druckmann, Creative Director on The Last of Us, has similar intentions as he’s looking forward to playing Skyrim and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Justin Richmond, Game Director on UNCHARTED 3, plans to play Skyrim, hang out with family and make a special trip to an awesome Pirate-themed restaurant. So if pirates crop up in the brand new UNCHARTED 3 DLC that’s coming out down the road, maybe we can all point at Justin’s pirate-themed restaurant visit as the wellspring for that content…or maybe not.

Over the holidays Arne Meyer will be trying to make a dent his gaming backlog. Me? I’ll be hanging with family, making homemade pasta, and will be consumed with trying to sneak away to watch recently released movies like Hugo, Sherlock Holmes 2, and Moneyball.

So what are your plans for the holidays?

All told the most important and critical part of our year is seeing, learning, and hearing how you are experiencing our games. Your responses and reactions are what keep us going and we can’t express how much your support helps to make our year fun and our work enjoyable. Thank you. We hope you feel our games do the same for you and your year.

Happy Holidays!

As soon as Zachary Levi walked off stage and the lights came up (I think the credits were still rolling!) we grabbed Naughty Dog co-presidents Christophe Balestra and Evan Wells to ask them about their next title.

You surely haven’t heard the last of The Last of Us; stay tuned to the PlayStation.Blog for more.

Videos have been flying around all week about a new PS3 exclusive called The Last of Us. It was revealed at this year’s VGAs and we’re very excited to confirm that The Last of Us is developed by Naughty Dog Inc, the creators behind the UNCHARTED, Jak and Daxter, and Crash Bandicoot series. Neil Druckmann, Creative director and Bruce Straley, Game Director chime in below to divulge what The Last of Us is all about.

The Last of Us is a genre-defining experience that blends survival and action elements to tell a character driven tale about a modern plague decimating mankind. Nature encroaches upon civilization, forcing remaining survivors to kill for food, weapons and whatever they can find. Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a brave young teenage girl who is wise beyond her years, must work together to survive their journey across what remains of the United States.

We hope this teaser trailer has whet your appetite. We’re excited we can finally begin to peel back the curtain on The Last of Us and discuss how we’ve been working as a two team studio. For further information about The Last of Us, the PlayStation.Blog will be the first place to hear about this exciting new title from some of the industry’s most talented game designers.

It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years since Jak and Daxter found their way onto PlayStation 2 and into the gaming world. We are delighted at the place the franchise has found amongst the gaming community and the mark it has left on the platformer genre in particular. Given that we’re so close to the 10th anniversary, looking back at some of the work that went into making those awesome games seems to be in order. It’s amazing to recall just how the development of the Jak and Daxter franchise has progressed and just how far we’ve come.

With each outing in the Jak and Daxter series, we set out to create a game that offered the player a new experience that built on the previous game. As you go from Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy to Jak 3, the story will connect across the titles as the gameplay and technical aspects of the games and the tools used to create them evolved. From being on foot in Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy to the hoverboard and morph gun in Jak II to the dune buggies in Jak 3, new gameplay ideas were always in play and being fleshed out and amped up. On the technical side, for instance, Jak 3 featured a new terrain renderer that included bump-mapping, which is now a commonplace element in rendering terrain. Cloth dynamics and rag-doll physics, also standard features in many modern games, were new developments by the time that Jak 3 was released in 2004.

All in all, the evolution of the franchise was a long, fun and winding road, and we are delighted to be able to share it with the current console generation. With the Jak and Daxter Collection, we’re bringing the first three installments of the original PS2 series to PS3 on one Blu-ray disc. Mass Media has been working closely with our team at Naughty Dog to remaster Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II and Jak 3 for the collection. Each title will now offer refined 720p High Definition visuals, smoother gameplay animation, full stereoscopic 3D functionality and trophy support.

Looking back at the old code and comparing it to this newly minted code is pretty amazing. Our beloved Jak and Daxter franchise and its colorful cast of characters looks, and still plays, truly awesome. The technology and the development work that went into making The Jak and Daxter Collection is remarkable. We’re looking forward to hearing your thoughts and stories once you get your hands on the collection.

For those of you who are longtime fans, get ready to experience the Jak and Daxter you love in a fresh new light. If you’re new to the franchise, be ready to get hungry for more eco.