Summary
After I bought aPS3 and a smattering of gamesfrom a good ally in 2013 , my introduction to Naughty Dog was the firstUncharted(this is your pool cue to boo me , Crash Bandicootfans , I ’ve never play it orJak and Daxter ) . I blitzed through theUncharted , God of War , notorious , Resistance , andKillzoneseries , hoping to glean some of the PlayStation cultivation my Nintendo - laden puerility had impoverish me of . in the beginning that year , though , The Last of Ushad released , herald as yet another title to put an end to the asinine , tiresome debate of whether video recording games could be considered graphics . It was the last game I play on PS3 , and imagine how I groaned when , over a decade later , one of its directors suggested there is some sort of mainstream misconception of gaming .
Naughty Dog’s Next Game “Could Redefine Mainstream Perceptions Of Gaming”
Enthusiasts Be Damned
UPDATE: 2024/05/29 10:14 EST BY KYLE GRATTON
Sony take Down Neil Druckmann Interview
The audience linked below has been removed from Sony ’s internet site , due to " several significant errors and inaccuracies that do n’t symbolise [ Druckmann ’s ] perspective and values . " This follows Druckmann himself take issue with the interview , tweeting the full transcript to one of the questions and his response ( also linked below ) . All relevant parts of the interview and Druckmann ’s copy are quoted in the espouse article .
In an interview withSonytitled " The Evolution of Storytelling Across Mediums " – ostensibly a puff piece by Naughty Dog ’s parent company – Druckmann discuss a vision for the time to come of biz development , or , more accurately , " how the gaming experience and the creative world will transform in the next X . " If you , like me , have suffered through the recent deluge of AI - generated image and short moving picture ( if the horribly soaked , glossy , and half - melted serial of .gif - like image can even go about the minor cultism of a word like " picture show " ) , this lead story - in to the audience is an immediate red flag . A particularly surprising quote , however , comes from Druckmann ’s final words , in the interview ’s very last line :
Custom Image by: Katarina Cimbaljevic
I ’m eager to see how this new secret plan vibrate , especially pursue the winner ofThe Last of Us , as it could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming .
To give the benefit of the doubt , it ’s almost a nothing sentence – a string of buzzword to put a nice bow on what is , authentically , an interesting consultation . It ’s the exact form of phrase concocted to make headlines , and would n’t you have a go at it it , it sure enough made a mickle of newspaper headline ( seeIGN , Game Informer , Games Radar , Eurogamer , VGC , and many more ) . Oddly enough , Druckmann believes his intent was misapprehend when his resolution was blue-pencil by Sony for brevity . Druckmannclarified on his disco biscuit ( formerly Twitter ) account , tweeting that final question ’s full arranging .
Perhaps tellingly , among the paraphrasing , Sony axed Druckmann joking about how he ca n’t discourse Naughty Dog ’s next project at duration : " I ca n’t talk about it or our bosses will get very brainsick at me . " It ’s clear that Sony had a heavy hired hand in influence the interview , apparently to Druckmann ’s chagrin , butit ’s not any more comforting to have the publishing institution which own and in all likelihood frame unbelievable influence on Naughty Dog to cite something as trite as the " mainstream percept of play . "
Another telling omission from the full transcript is Druckmann ’s word of theFalloutTV series ' success ; i.e. a immense win for Microsoft , Sony ’s direct contender .
sit with the mind reveals how pernicious it is;the implication from Sony is that the mainstream perception of gaming is bad , and if not that extreme , at the very least something that needs to be transfer . Druckmann may consider his intent was misconstrued , and in part he was , but his full answer still has a kind of unsympathetic underdog slant that attempt to paint video games at great as some treasure yet to be let on by the uninitiated masses .
It ’s the kind of antiquated sentiment from before gaming was one of the largest entertainment industry on the major planet , an diligence that produced a essence - wrenching , multi - faceted work likeThe Last of Us Part 2 , an industry that pen a fraught , self - subvert character like Nathan Drake inUncharted 4 – some of the " unbelievable , moving experiences " Druckmann was just talking about in the full transcript . It ’s a not - good - enough , outgrowth - frontward mindsetnot dissimilar to that which contributed tostudio occlusion at Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin .
That projection would essentially undermine all that I ’ve number to love about the medium .
Gamingismainstream , and a major PlayStation Studios figure suggesting otherwise brings the uncomfortable statement that you – the actor , the audience – are n’t good enough . I do n’t desire a game that redefine the percept of gaming , or help " non - gamers " find out " what they ’re missing out on , " according to Druckmann , because that project would essentially undermine all that I ’ve come to have intercourse about the spiritualist . Wanting to " bridge the gap between gamers and non - gamers " ( Sony ’s paraphrasing ) is a gracious sentiment at look value , but it paints those that already engage with Druckmann ’s body of work as some sort of other , not the passionate fans ( and intended audience ) they are .
Naughty Dog is an industry leader in certain respect ; there ’s an aliveness inTLOU 2 – Ellie pulling off her blood - stained shirt – that still impresses me with how life - like her motions and the framework are . It ’s nice that Druckmann is so aroused about his next game , and I hope all developers find excitement in their work , butfor such a venerated studio to be take a leak a plot that could pander to people for the most part uninterested in the current gambling fit ( i.e. the " non - gamers " Druckmann is referring to , or those Sony interprets as in the " mainstream " ) is whole deflate . This is not , however , the most concerning part of the interview .
Neil Druckmann Believes AI Will “Revolutionize How Content Is Being Created”
Just What I Like Spending My Money On: “Content”
Yes , that dreaded promise of " how the gaming experience and the originative worldly concern will transform in the next decade " is indeed about AI – unreal intelligence information , as so many recent promotion in the field of reproductive model have been mislabeled . To Druckmann ’s credit , he admits that AI " does wreak up some ethical issues . " Those honorable issue are a unmediated result of what has come to be dubbed " AI " not actually being artifical intelligence activity . Large linguistic process model , like OpenAI ’s GPT series , for good example , are n’t actually think and writing a response , they ’re compiling a sort of totality based on the data they ’ve been mold on to deliver a response to your comment .
That data , especially in the casing of image - generating models , where it ’s gentle to spot distinct trend , is often steal from real human creative person , thus the " honorable issues " that could crop up from Naughty Dog using AI in game development . To be fair , there are potential benefits to learning algorithms;menial , time - take chore being automate could significantly help the industry ’s continuous battle with crush , for example , somethingNaughty Dog was accused of in creatingThe Last of Us Part 2 .
This is n’t the variety of applications programme Druckmann is talk about , though . Druckmann believes AI will " push the boundary of storytelling in game , " and says , " AI will allow us to create nuanced dialogue and theatrical role . " This could be a case of poor choice of words , butthis latter hint implies Naughty Dog has yet to produce nuanced dialog and type , something that I – and in all likelihood Druckmann’sTLOU 2co - writer , Halley Gross – would strongly disagree with . Naughty Dog ’s later is , in my sentiment , a triumph of storytelling for the medium , following what is the rather straightforward story of Joel ’s refutable redemption in the first plot with something far more complex and piquant .
I desire the games Naughty Dog already realize , those with deep , often disturbingly human character .
There ’s no doubt generative models will better , but they ’re still not real artificial intelligence;they can not make prowess , only regurgitate an repulsive amalgamation of the fine art that has been sacrificed to them . I do n’t want a secret plan made this fashion , made by some code imitating humanness . I require the game Naughty Dog already makes , those with profoundly , often disturbingly human characters , written by the great unwashed with a passion for their work , who built those worlds for a purpose , not because they are plainly responding to a prompting to do so .
Technology to improve the lives of workers is more than welcome ; engineering to supersede artists with an unethical caricature is not . Druckmann may have some idyllic visual sensation of AI lift Naughty Dog to even more acclaim , but he ’s not the one who would be replaced . Druckmann has undeniably come into a capital limelight since thesuccess of HBO’sThe Last of Usadaptation , andSony endeavor to capitalize on the current AI fad with this audience is unsurprising . unluckily , alternatively of being an inspiring look into the originative faculties of a salient PlayStation Studios developer , it ’s a luck of dour platitudes .
From denigrating the entire medium to disparage his colleagues ' work , Druckmann ’s Sony interview exudes a at variance disrespect , even if unknowingly and partially a result of poor editing on Sony ’s part . Druckmann is pitch a future I sincerely yours desire never comes to pass . For all theenthusiastic pitch AI get from punt executives , it ’s yet to testify itself capable of create real , interesting art . The humans atNaughty Dogcreate genuine , interesting art , and I do n’t want the alternative Druckmann is promising .
Sources : Sony , Neil Druckmann / X , IGN , Game Informer , Games Radar , Eurogamer , VGC
