March 16, 2009March 16, 2009

Secret Agent Clank Coming to PS2

Hi there, My name is Glen Egan, I am the President of Sanzaru Games, a San Mateo, CA based independent video-game studio. We are just putting the finishing touches on Secret Agent Clank for the PlayStation 2. The debonair spy will be bringing his unique brand of Clank-fu to the PlayStation 2 on May 26, 2009 and I just wanted to use this brief post to tell everyone a little bit about our studio and the game.

Seven of us started Sanzaru Games in January 2007 with a mission to bring together a group of talented individuals to share a common vision to develop fun to play, visually stunning and technically spectacular console games. Over the last couple of years the team has grown to nearly 30 and will continue to expand as more talented and experienced developers are drawn to the studio. The name Sanzaru refers to the famous 3 wise monkeys – the founding philosophy for Sanzaru Games is that great games are a function of good design, beautiful, clear visuals and a strong technology base to deliver these. Should any one of these three pillars be missing then the game will suffer.

We are all huge fans of the Ratchet and Clank series of games and when Sony talked to us about helping bring Secret Agent Clank to the PlayStation 2 we jumped at the opportunity. Insomniac has created one of the most awesome and enduring console game experiences ever and it has been an honor to help add to the series!

High Impact Games put together an awesome game and we wanted to make sure that all the great gameplay moments from Secret Agent Clank were preserved from the original PSP title. We have therefore focused a great deal of our time and energy on rebuilding all the levels, characters and effects to take advantage of the additional power of the PlayStation 2. Here are a few screenshots to give you an idea of the visual changes.

Also given the different controller we wanted to bring back the lock-strafe camera mode seen in previous games, since a lot of us have enjoyed using it to great effect to blow stuff up over the years! We hope you all have as much fun playing the game as we have had making it, and we look forward to working with Sony to bring you more action, adventure and blowing-stuff-up good times in the future!

Cheers,

Glen

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64 Comments

2 Author Replies

SPARDA
March 16, 2009 at 1:40 pm PDT

very cool. Thanks for the update
LAWLZORZ
March 16, 2009 at 1:46 pm PDT

nice! it’s good to see the ps2 is still getting support. :)
katsuo7171
March 16, 2009 at 1:50 pm PDT

Cool but IDK if my PS2 will still work considering the amount of dust it has collected in my basement archives. :|
Thrasher20
March 16, 2009 at 1:53 pm PDT

Do not hassle the PS2 I tell ya! That little big system if still going strong! Glad you guys are still supporting it!
Homer-BY
March 16, 2009 at 1:54 pm PDT

Great,will be waiting

Sorry for offtop,but i want to ask about Portable Id, Russia and Europe allready have such portable id with Trophies
http://mypsn.eu.playstation.com/psn/profile/Rozanos.png -Example

When American PSN will get this?
RGS-14
March 16, 2009 at 1:55 pm PDT

I would really like to see PS2 games download able in the PSN store and support trophies.
LokeSTL
March 16, 2009 at 1:58 pm PDT

Sony should kill the PS2 already!! Also, Sony should add PS2 BC back to the PS3. This should have been a PSN release if anything. Trophies would have made this game that much sweeter.
supersaiyan500
March 16, 2009 at 1:58 pm PDT

Damn it!! I knew I should have waited for Secret Agent Clank for PS2 rather than buyin it for PSP.( Oh, by the way, PS2 still PWNS!!!!!!!!!!!)
GenuineClamBaker
March 16, 2009 at 2:01 pm PDT

Seems strange that Sony keeps undermining the PSP by porting all of its games over to the PS2. If the PSP doesn’t have any unique games, there’s no incentive for people to buy it.
Arcturian
March 16, 2009 at 2:04 pm PDT

Like many here, I think it’d be cooler if it was a PSN download with those oh-so-shiny trophies, but this is still great news. Do want.
lakaiHIGH
March 16, 2009 at 2:05 pm PDT

i think its great that you guys are bringing this to our beloved PS2’s but i gotta tell you its time to kill this thing off. its been on the market for over 10 years now and now is the time for PS3. you should have offered this game up on PSN or something. the PS2 has had its run and PS3 needs stuff like this. which brings me to my question – will this be the last year for PS2 software or are you guys gonna keep it alive through 2010?

thanks,
Lh
peevmyster
March 16, 2009 at 2:07 pm PDT

Sorry, i sold my PS2 when I got a PS3
BlindMango
March 16, 2009 at 2:20 pm PDT

I don’t care for the PS2 idea but I do think it was the best game that came out for the PSP last year… I’m glad Sony is finally stepping it up with PSP games this year. Kudos Sony!
KSPRAYDAD
March 16, 2009 at 2:22 pm PDT

Wow…who is downbidding!

Great to see SONY giving a new studio a crack at the best selling console of all time…from little acorns big things shall grow.

Question to Glen Eagan…can you confirm that this PS2 title will be compatible with the 80GB PS3 that uses hardware/software emulation…some games on this system have ‘issues’ so I’m hoping that you’ve made it compatible.

Thanks, cheers and good luck to your team.

5/5
- Glen Egan
  March 16, 2009 at 4:02 pm PDT
  
  Hi there,
  
  Thanks for the well wishes. Our PS2 engine follows all the compatibility guidelines so we believe it should run fine in emulation.
  Cheers,
  
  G
rcffan13
March 16, 2009 at 2:24 pm PDT

I hope this does good. I heard bad things about the Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters port.
evildude683
March 16, 2009 at 2:24 pm PDT

Cool..I’ll go get my PS2 from the closet….I hope he still ok, tho..

When are we gonna get the cuboid Add-on Sony?!
Curtisio
March 16, 2009 at 2:27 pm PDT

Sony still has the PS2 because it sells well during these bad econimic times. Sony wouldn’t have a chance to make money if they killed the PS2 now with the XBox 360 so low in price.
Cruiser970
March 16, 2009 at 2:27 pm PDT

˙oƃɐ ɹɐǝʎ ɐ ɹǝʌo 3sd ʎɯ ʇoƃ ı ǝɔuıs 2sd ʎɯ pǝɥɔnoʇ ʇ,uǝʌɐɥ ʎןןɐnʇɔɐ ı ʇnq ‘sǝɯɐƃ ƃuıʌıǝɔǝɹ ןןıʇs sı 2sd ǝɥʇ ʇɐɥʇ ǝɯosǝʍɐ s,ʇı
- Jeff Rubenstein
  March 16, 2009 at 11:31 pm PDT
  
  hey! how\’d you do that?
Blkant
March 16, 2009 at 2:33 pm PDT

Great… The last thing we need is more support on the PS2 when, if you haven’t realized, the pour PS3 is failing. Joy, looks like my hard earned money might have been miss spent on the PS3…..
achmetha
March 16, 2009 at 2:34 pm PDT

awesome!
is there any hope of getting god of war chains of olympus on ps2 as well?
had it for psp, and loved the game. had to sell it and my psp to make tuition though :(
Jim777
March 16, 2009 at 2:37 pm PDT

Why do you guys keep taking the PSP ratchet and clanks and putting them on the ps2????
Ftwrthtx
March 16, 2009 at 2:38 pm PDT

I loved the game on my PSP
crazypeng1
March 16, 2009 at 2:45 pm PDT

No offense to sanzuru games, but i hate that you’re doing this. leave psp games alooone. the platform needs exclusives, even if this ones been out for a year or something. point is that if you keep doing this, of course the ps2 is about to pull the plug soon, but people won’t buy the next ratchet and clank adventure on the psp if they expect you guys to do this. leave psp games on its system, its best that way. when a game ever comes out multiplat, i think if i want hand held or console. its nice to have the hand held, but the console usually has extra touches and extra levels, allowing more game play for the same price. this tactic bothers me. take a hint from nintendo, or other people within sony for that fact, and develop separate games of the same franchise, and ONLY do that. if Chains of Olympus came to the ps2, I’d be pissed, same if birth by sleep did that, or if loco roco 1/2 did that, or any other psp exclusive. LEAVE PSP EXCLUSIVES ALONE SO PEOPLE CAN BUY THEM, if i didn’t make myself clear the first time.
justin456789
March 16, 2009 at 2:50 pm PDT

Guys stop porting PSP games to the ps2. You should just put them on the PSN for the PSP.
waffman11
March 16, 2009 at 2:53 pm PDT

I love my PS2, but if Sony isn’t going to make any original titles for it, unless they’re going to make a collection, they should just take it off of the life support it’s on from these ports. It’s just painful.
Loved the original game, though.
Vergil3690
March 16, 2009 at 2:55 pm PDT

@ 18:

No one cares if you can use flipped font. Please stop being an idiot.

on another note, I bet this port is going to be broken compared to the PSP version…
ManaKnight
March 16, 2009 at 3:13 pm PDT

While I love the game on PSP, I do not plan to buy it on PS2 and I’m not too happy about seeing this ported to PS2 (because people have more excuse to claim PSP has no good games which aren’t on console, which is false).
Stahlhammer89
March 16, 2009 at 3:25 pm PDT

@Homer-BY

I was able to sign into playstation.co.uk with my american psn account and then make a psnid thing, here check out mine
http://mypsn.eu.playstation.com/psn/profile/Stahlhammer89.png

only bad thing is it shows the stupid Union jack for my country :S
Trioptical
March 16, 2009 at 3:26 pm PDT

No where on this blog do I feel more ignored than the MGO posts. I’m sure people agree.

Of course, with PSN integration, Konami wouldn’t be able to charge for extra character slots anymore.
Trioptical
March 16, 2009 at 3:27 pm PDT

Hmm.. sorry, wrong post.
lowhonor
March 16, 2009 at 3:45 pm PDT

this is such a bad decision…why undermine the psp by continuously porting its games to the ps2?

if resistance: retribution gets ported sony is just continuing to make horrible decisions regarding the psp
CrystalX3D
March 16, 2009 at 4:05 pm PDT

I honestly doubt that at this stage in the game people are really holding out on buying a psp because a handful of games are coming out a year later on the ps2. The psp has been out long enough I don’t really see this making a huge impact on whether or not people go out and buy one. Either they already own a psp, or they’ve decided they’re not getting one at all. If a small developer wants to use a ps2 port as a stepping stone to bigger and better things, who am I to deny them?
whiskey_14
March 16, 2009 at 4:19 pm PDT

good luck!

You guy’s should feel honored to work with a cool dude like Clank!
tearsofash
March 16, 2009 at 4:20 pm PDT

In Japan, every major PSP release has a PSN release as well. It would be cool if major PS2 games [such as these Ratchet-based games, or Silent Hill, or Twisted Metal] should also have PSN counterparts.

It would give new PS3 users a chance to play these games, but people like me with a 60gb launch unit could still buy a hard copy.
yellowdart46
March 16, 2009 at 4:23 pm PDT

@Homer-BY

I can answer your question. If you visit playfire.com you will see that they are working with sony to make a portable trophy card that will update automatically unlike the manual one playfire has created.
ROLO_ONFIRE
March 16, 2009 at 4:24 pm PDT

Great, hopefully it’ll work with the B/C 80GB PS3
NBCraftsman
March 16, 2009 at 5:28 pm PDT

Alloha, “Glen”…

Thanks for the great news regarding *Secret Agent Clank* it will be great fun to play it on the PS2.

I do have some questions:

Q1.] Will the game have a “Headphone Audio Mode” that will simulate the near-field listening characteristics that are similar to playing the original PSP game with headphones on?

Q2.] What screen resolution is the game being built to (possibly 480p)?

Q3.] Will there be screen aspect ratio controls to switch between 4:3 and 16:9?

Q4.] Will there be X & Y axis screen re-sizing and screen centering controls?

I am very excited about this game, thanks for the update and “Good~Luck” with the release.

peace.
[-NBCraftsman]
- Glen Egan
  March 17, 2009 at 2:50 pm PDT
  
  Hi there,
  
  Thanks for the post, answers below:
  
  Q1) No, the audio mix will be for TV viewing.
  Q2) We are rendering at 480i.
  Q3) Yes
  Q4) No
  
  Cheers,
  
  Glen
TonicBH
March 16, 2009 at 5:37 pm PDT

Why oh why would they do this? I thought Sony would realize by now that porting PSP titles to the PS2 negates the reason of owning the damn handheld!

I bet it’ll be a good port, but I’m not interested.
Psycho_Eddie
March 16, 2009 at 5:53 pm PDT

whoa Dewd….!

You totally meant to say PS3; right?
Carl-G
March 16, 2009 at 5:55 pm PDT

Clank is CUTE ;)
ThreeLeggedFreak
March 16, 2009 at 6:12 pm PDT

Heh this is why the PSP is still struggling, PSP games should not be ported to the PS2, but I guess it’s easy money….
jwspiker
March 16, 2009 at 6:53 pm PDT

my 60 gig ps3 died, so i had to get a non BC ps3, would be nice if sony would add BC to it!, though my save games were lost, oh well.
hvy20
March 16, 2009 at 7:05 pm PDT

what is a ps2?

(sarcasm)
markstew
March 16, 2009 at 7:10 pm PDT

jwspiker u could get your PS3 fixed ;)
Zezzler
March 16, 2009 at 7:30 pm PDT

only good Ratchet and(/or) Clank games are made from insomniac.
BlackIceJoe
March 16, 2009 at 7:31 pm PDT

After bringing out Secret Agent Clank is there any chance the fine folks over at Sanzaru Games
might make a PSP game. Maybe a new IP. I never heard of this company before so I want to wish you the best of luck. I hope the porting of SAC goes smoothly and the game sells well to help make your company grow.
BlackIceJoe
March 16, 2009 at 7:33 pm PDT

I also want to add the monkey emblem for Sanzaru Games looks really Awesome.
JuanDHexen
March 16, 2009 at 7:36 pm PDT

A lot of the people in this post are so cruel.There are more people right now using the ps2 than the ps3, so I’ll bet anything that this game will do very very well.great job Sanzaru Games and I will be picking it up.
DustyBlue
March 16, 2009 at 8:45 pm PDT

Just like with Size Matters… I think it’s interesting how you can have all of the Ratchet & Clank (except Future) games on the PS2, or have the 2 on the PSP. But what would L2 and R2 buttons do on the PS2 versions? Nothing?
JoeDuke4
March 16, 2009 at 9:55 pm PDT

Cool. Wish you guys luck. Hopefully we’ll see your own creations soon on ps3. haha