FPS General

Earlier today, the screenshot above - click to expand - surfaced online. The image is taken from a section of The Last of Us, Naughty Dog's upcoming third-person adventure game due out in June of this year.

As you may notice, on the billboard that The Last of Us protagonist Joel is standing next to, it reads:

ALL RESIDENTS OF AMHERST COUNTY AND ALL OUTLYING AREAS ARE REQUIRED TO EVACUATE BY:

[8:00PM 10/17/13]

The thing that is catching the attention of folks in the PlayStation community is the incredibly specific date of October 17th, 2013. Is this just an arbitrary date that Naughty Dog chose to include? Not bloody likely in our opinion.

Here are two things that we think Naughty Dog may be teasing with this date.

Check out the latest developer diary from the folks at Naughty Dog as they take another in-depth look at their upcoming third-person survival game The Last of Us. This was one of our most anticipated games of 2013, and nothing has changed - we're just as excited to finally get a look at the game as we were at the start of the year.

Take a look at the video and visit our Last of Us hub for more information on the game.

Pre-ordered God of War: Ascension yet? We’re pleased to announce #TheLastofUs demo, accessible early via GOW will be available May 31, 2013.

— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) March 8, 2013

Quick note this morning that Naughty Dog has announced that players who purchase God of War: Ascension will receive exclusive early access to the demo for The Last of Us. This demo will be available on May 31st.

We're unsure at this time when the demo will be available for people who do not pick up God of War but the game itself is scheduled to launch on June 14th, so presumably the demo will launch shortly after the May 31st exclusivity date for God of War purchasers.

There's a bit of confusion currently as other information had given early April as a release date for the demo, so stick with us while we follow the story as it develop. Doubtless the May 31st date is set in stone as the official Naughty Dog Twitter account has announced it themselves, as you can see above.

Amid rumors and speculation that Naughty Dog would be pushing back The Last of Us, the team has taken to the PlayStation Blog to confirm that they would, indeed, be pushing The Last of Us back to June. 

Said Naughty Dog Creative Director Neil Druckmann: 

The Last of Us is an ambitious project. In many ways it may be Naughty Dog’s most ambitious project to date – brand new universe and cast of characters, brand new tech, brand new genre, not to mention it’s easily the longest campaign Naughty Dog has ever made.

As we entered the final phase of development for The Last of Us, we came to realize just how massive Joel and Ellie’s journey is. But instead of cutting corners or compromising our vision, we came to the tough decision that the game deserved a few extra weeks to ensure every detail of The Last of Us was up to Naughty Dog’s internal high standards.

...

The extra wait will be very short and your patience will be rewarded. Update your calendars. You won’t even have to change seasons. The Last of Us will be available June 14th, 2013.

As far as we're concerned, Naughty Dog can take all the time they need. The Last of Us looks amazing and we'll be there on opening night, giving them our money.

Source: PS Blog

Over on GameTrailers, Geoff Keighley had the chance to get some time playing the full demo of The Last of Us - the same demo that will be available later this year, we believe - and they've put together a 10 minute gameplay video for our enjoyment.

In the video, which you can find below, Keighley is joined by Naughty Dog's Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann to discuss the game and show off some brand new gameplay from the demo. As they discuss in the video, The Last of Us has a very different feel from Naughty Dog's previous third-person series Uncharted. We haven't had a chance to play the demo, unfortunately, but you can see in the gameplay trailers that the game is much more tactical when compared to Uncharted. Players have to choose if they want to try and go quietly and pick off their enemies one by one or maybe make a bit of noise and gun them down in a hail of bullets. In Uncharted, Nathan Drake was more than a little reckless and while that made for some of our absolute favorite third-person shooters, it will be nice to see the pace slow down a bit.

Naughty Dog has said that they will be releasing a demo for The Last of Us but they're keeping quiet on a specific release date for that. As this was one of our most-anticipated shooters of 2013, you can imagine that we're excited to get our hands on the game.

Check out the new gameplay video below and visit http://thelastofus.com/ for more information on the game.

Naughty Dog has revealed that folks who pick up a copy of God of War: Ascension on March 12th will receive access to a chapter from The Last of Us. This will be the earliest that anyone can get access to the upcoming demo of The Last of Us.

How it works is simple. When you pick up a copy of God of War: Ascension in March, there will be a menu option for 'The Last of Us'. Just go into that menu and they'll spell out exactly how you can get early access to the demo as soon as it becomes available later this year. The Last of Us doesn't ship until May of this year, and there's no word yet as to when the demo will be playable. We're also not sure what the demo will entail, outside of the fact that it will contain access to a chapter from the game. Needless to say, more information will be forthcoming!

Make sure you stay connected with FPS General on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates on The Last of Us, including future updates on the demo and how you can get access to it!

Naughty Dog has released some information on the special editions of The Last of Us, available this May 7th, 2013. To start with, the standard edition of the game will be available for $59.99, but that's no fun. We want in-game bonuses, Naughty Dog, we want collectible statues and trinkets for our desks!

Enter the Collector's Editions:

Survival Edition

The first collector's edition available is the Survival Edition and comes bundled with in-game DLC and The Art of The Last of Us, published by Dark Horse. The full contents include:

• Full size hardcover artbook by Dark Horse - Over 170 pages
• Steelbook edition of the game
• The Last of Us - American Dreams #1 Comic (Variant Cover)
• Sights and Sounds DLC pack (Voucher Download)
• Official Game Soundtrack
• PS3 Dynamic Theme
• PSN Avatars: Winter Joel and Ellie
• Naughty Dog Sticker sheet

The Survival Edition is going to be available for $79.99. The Art of The Last of Us will be available separately from Dark Horse (price at $39.99) and can be found at your local comic books store or major retailers like Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.

Keep reading for information on the Post-Pandemic Collector's Edition of The Last of Us!

Naughty Dog has revealed some background information and character details on Tess, who you may have seen in the recently released story trailer for The Last of Us.

Tess is a street-smart survivor who has partnered up with the player-character Joel. In a brand new post on the PlayStation blog, Naughty Dog community strategist Eric Monacelli has revealed a little bit more about Tess, saying:

A hardened survivor living in one of the last remaining quarantine zones, Tess operates in the black market of a city under martial law. Partners with Joel, they have become known within the criminal underworld for their ruthlessness. Street smart and confident, Tess is a savvy strategist and negotiator. Her ability to generate intelligent plans to secure the contraband for their trade is second to none.

Tess and Joel subscribe to the same dog-eat-dog philosophy. They survive by being willing to do what others can’t or won’t. Her trust in and loyalty towards Joel runs deep. However, secretly, she questions whether Joel shares the same emotions that she feels for him.

We're looking forward to seeing the story progress between Joel and Tess, and learning where Ellie fits into the mix. The Last of Us is set to ship on May 7th, 2013 so be sure to visit http://thelastofus.com/ to learn more.

Take a look at Tess' Cinematic Progress Trailer below, as well as a new screenshot from The Last of Us.

Naughty Dog has confirmed that The Last of Us, their upcoming third-person shooter exclusive to PlayStation 3, will be shipping on May 7th, 2013.

Alongside that announcement, the team has touched on multiplayer a ltitle bit and has released the Spike TV Video Game Awards trailer that television audiences saw over the weekend. The trailer can be viewed above, but let's talk about multiplayer a little bit. This is something that Naughty Dog has been quiet about for a long time, and that still holds, but they have spoken a little bit about it.

Naughty Dog's Community Strategist, Arne Meyer, has taken to the PlayStation Blog to talk with fans about the upcoming game as well as dispel fears that multiplayer would simply be 'tacked on' to promote sales.

"We don’t approach MP in any of our games as tacked on. And we also always have separate teams working on the different components so that we can maintain full focus on making SP and MP up to our standards...we have faith that our MP will stand on it’s own. If we felt like it would be tacked on, we wouldn’t have added it. We want all our game experiences to be of the highest quality and that’s what we work extremely hard to deliver.

MP has never taken away resources from the SP game in any of our games, always separate teams, separate resources. The folks working on the single player campaign always have the resources and support to complete that portion of the game to the vision they planned for."

As for the actual content and what shape The Last of Us multiplayer will take on, we're still left in the dark...for now. With the calendar turning over a new year (fingers crossed) in a few weeks, doubtless Naughty Dog will start revealing more and more about The Last of Us and its various game modes and nuances.

Check out http://thelastofus.com/ to stay connected to Naughty Dog's upcoming third-person shooter, The Last of Us!

Source: MP1st

Naughty Dog has teamed up with Dark Horse comics to release a four-part comic book series, telling Ellie's back story from The Last of Us. The Last of Us: American Dreams is being penned by Last of Us writer Neil Druckmann alongside Faith Erin Hicks, who will serve as co-writer and artist.

Ellie, one of two primary protagonists in The Last Of Us, has never known a world outside the post-pandemic environment in the game. Being shuffled between orphanages, Ellie has resigned herself to the fact that ultimately she will be forced into military service or left to fend for herself. That is, until she meets an older girl who is determined to carve a separate path in the world.

The Last of Us: American Dreams tells Ellie's story and looks like a must for players (like us) who are more than eagerly awaiting Naughty Dogs upcoming game.

American Dreams will be a four-part comic series, with the first issue debuting in Spring of 2013. Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to The Last of Us hitting shelves.

Naughty Dog is on hand in San Diego, CA for the San Diego Comic-Con and they brought The Last of Us with them!

Debuting at the event earlier this week, Naughty Dog has released a brand new cinematic from their upcoming third-person shooter/survival game The Last of Us. As of yet, we've really just met Joel and Ellie when it comes to characters. This trailer, however, introduces us to a new one by the name of Bill who has met Joel in the past, although we don't know how the two know each other just yet. 

Bill looks like he's going to be an important character, and Naughty Dog has promised to unveil more on him in the coming months. To begin with, however, they've announced that he is voiced by W. Earl Brown, who you may know from the HBO series Deadwood.