Hello everyone, my name is Kazuhiko Aoki, and I was the event designer for Final Fantasy IX. I was responsible for bringing the characters of the game to life, as well as the different scenarios players would experience.

In honour of Final Fantasy IX’s release on PlayStation Now, I thought I’d share some of my personal memories of the game’s development.

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Starting out

I was assigned to the Final Fantasy IX team from the very beginning. I’d previously worked on Final Fantasy III, IV and VII, so I was no stranger to working on the series, but one thing in particular was going to be different this time: the game was going to be made in Hawaii.

That was a big move for me – I wondered what the development environment would be like over there, for example.

However, I didn’t start working on Final Fantasy IX right away. Right before development was due to begin, Hironobu Sakaguchi, the director of the game (and original creator of the Final Fantasy series!), asked me: “How about you make Chocobo’s Dungeon 2?”

As a result, I ended up taking the development staff for that game to Hawaii with me and we made Chocobo’s Dungeon 2 there as well. Maybe some of you played it on the original PlayStation!

Once that game was complete, I joined the Final Fantasy IX team and we started working on the game together. 

Looking back while moving forwards

From the very beginning, Mr. Sakaguchi said that he wanted Final Fantasy IX to be a return to our roots. Final Fantasy VII and VIII had been set in science-fiction-inspired worlds, and we wanted to go back to the fantasy style established in the earlier Final Fantasy games.

This did cause us a few issues, however. For example, we’d built up a lot of experience depicting taller characters with the two previous games, but in order to best support the fantasy atmosphere of Final Fantasy IX, we needed more stylised designs.

That meant we couldn’t rely on the techniques we’d learned – we had to essential

The world of Horizon is inhabited by highly advanced machines — technologically advanced robots that have become Earth’s dominant species. They come in all shapes and sizes, based on various life forms that existed throughout history, such as dinosaurs, prehistoric mammals, and birds. Awe-inspiring yet ferocious, they pose a serious threat throughout Aloy’s mission.

Spoiler Alert: Please note this article contains some spoilers for Horizon Zero Dawn and its storyline.

Some of the machines encountered during the events of Horizon Zero Dawn will also be present in the upcoming sequel, Horizon Forbidden West. The Watcher, for example: resembling a small theropod, these machines often patrol larger herds and scan for potential threats. Or the Snapmaw: lethal, crocodile-like beasts which were originally created to purify water and went feral as a consequence of the Derangement.

The Forbidden West is also filled with new dangers… in the Horizon Forbidden West gameplay trailer, Aloy meets a few of them, such as the fast and agile Clawstrider and the deadly mammoth-like Tremortusk. Of course there will be many more machines to fight, mount, or run from, so Aloy – and you – should be prepared for any circumstance in these forsaken lands.

Awe-inspiring metal beasts

Principal Machine Designer Blake Politeski has been with Guerrilla since the first machines were concepted at the start of Horizon Zero Dawn. Together with Asset Art Lead Maxim Fleury, their teams (among others) have been working on some great additions for the upcoming sequel.

“We’re getting to explore a new area within the world of Horizon,” begins Blake. “It was interesting to figure out what type of machines would live in different ecological zones, and how they would interact with each other, their environment, and of course humans. Machines are the so-called caretakers of this world, so how they perform their roles and what the player can do to use these behaviors to their advantage was always interesting to consider.

“During Horizon Zero Dawn’s development, we had a ton of ideas — of course not everything could make it into the first game, but now with Horizon Forbidden West we’ve been able to match some exciting ideas that previously weren’t feasible with new and interesting concepts!”

Maxim elaborates: “Blake’s team provides us with a design document that describes the general look of the machine, what type of (interactive) parts it has, and what sort of attacks it can do. There’s some top-level drawings to explain the document further, but then the real visual design moves to the Robot and Weapon Asset team.

The Shivering Isles return

Those familiar with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion will get a kick out of Saints & Seducers with the return of The Shivering Isles, Sheogorath’s Daedric Realm. In this creation’s main story, a devious mage aims to weaken the barrier between the Isles and Tamriel itself, risking immense chaos for the continent. 

As you play, you’ll uncover armor, weapons and even side quests referring to Sheogorath’s otherworldly domain. “The Shivering Isles holds a special place in my heart,” Lee reminisces. “This creation is packed full of nostalgia.”

Gear, gear, gear

Speaking of weapons and armor, Saints & Seducers is chock full of new items to collect, including new artifacts, pets, armor, weapons and alchemy ingredients. “Enjoy heavy armor?  Like to use a bow?  Prefer to conjure allies?  Are potions and poisons your weapons of choice?  This creation has it all covered,” says Lee. “There really is something for everyone.”

Concept of a Madness Battleaxe – Find enough elusive Madness Ore and you can craft one of the strongest weapons in the game for yourself.

More than a quest

“The creation isn’t confined to its main quest, there are plenty of secrets to discover,” Lee adds. Even after completing the main storyline of Saints & Seducers, players have plenty to do from smithing side quests to everything offered in Rare Curios, a bonus creation that comes as part of Saints & Seducers. With Rare Curios, players can obtain special items from all over Tamriel via Khajiit caravans, including ingredients to craft all-new potions and poisons. 

New threats to encounter

Skyrim’s roving bandits and ferocious wildlife are fine enough foes when traversing the wilds, but why not spice it up? Saints & Seducers features new enemies to fight, including Corrupted Spriggans and juvenile Elytra Nymphs. Don’t let their smaller size fool you, those Nymphs can sometimes be just as deadly as their fully grown counterparts!

We’re super excited to announce you’ll be able to don your time travelling shoes on January 27, 2022. Get ready to take a step back (and forward) in time as you attempt to prevent the collapse of civilization. 

Unite a generation through music. Take the stage in 1969 and give the performance of a lifetime. 

An epic PlayStation VR time travel adventure game, Wanderer takes you back through the ages to reshape the course of history. Playing as Asher Neumann, you find yourself in an alternate, apocalyptic timeline where the search begins for your grandfather’s lost apartment and the mysterious artifacts that are hidden within. 

With the announcement of our imminent release and retail pack (yes, you’ll be able to hold Wanderer with real hands) we wanted to share a few new areas and mechanics that offer unique in-game challenges and discoveries. 

Black holes 

Time travel within Wanderer is anchored in the concept of black holes and singularities, and harnessing these to manipulate time and space. Learn what it takes to manipulate time to help you in your quest to reset the clock.

Temporal transporter

Harnessing these black holes will need some management. Learn how to operate and programme the mysterious time transporter – the more you progress and time jump, the closer you’ll come to understanding the transporter, and, more importantly, how to use it.

The future’s looking a bit grey

Messing with time can lead to multiple versions of the future. See Boston 2061 in a new light, with a modern, futuristic setting that’s designed with all the modcons one could dream of or is this the nightmare you were warned against? 

One aspect I’m particularly proud of is the all-new Chaos Theory mode. Here you’ll take charge as you revisit pivotal moments from the Jurassic World film franchise in a series of ’what if’ scenarios. The rich lore of the Jurassic World Universe provided such amazing inspiration for Chaos Theory mode. We wanted a way for players to rediscover and reimagine their favourite movie moments. By focusing on each of the five films, and one particular, cornerstone moment within those films, we’re able to include iconic characters, stories, and locations that we then work into different challenges.

Whether realising John Hammond’s dream of an operational Jurassic Park, showcasing a T. rex in the San Diego Amphitheatre, or building and running a new Jurassic World park, control events like never before in the Jurassic World franchise.

There are five levels in total. The first takes place where it all began: Jurassic Park. Here you’ll bring John Hammond’s original vision to life. Taking place on Isla Nublar, you’ll endeavour to avoid the disasters we see in the film and welcome in the park’s first guests. Authenticity is key, so we’ve made sure to include all the era-specific Jurassic Park Buildings, such as the iconic visitor centre, as well as that famous entrance gate, alongside all of the familiar dinosaurs you remember.

In the Jurassic Park 3 level, you’ll work with Simon Masrani to rescue the dinosaurs that will birth Jurassic World. This one takes place on Isla Sorna and involves you locating, monitoring, and releasing dinosaurs. One of those dinosaurs is the ferocious Spinosaurus, a towering carnivore that gave a T-rex trouble in the film. From this scenario’s beautiful tropical environment, you may even spot the iconic aviary nestled in the distant valley, it captures the feel and excitement of Jurassic Park 3.

The last Chaos Theory mission I want to expand on is our homage to Jurassic World. This level see’s you picking up where you left off with Simon Masrani, to create the Jurassic World, working alongside another iconic character Dr. Wu (voiced by BD Wong) to see if you can avoid the mistakes of the past. You’ll be responsible for creating iconic landmarks and moments such as the Innovation Centre, Mosasaur’s lagoon, Gyrosphere Tour, and even create a one-of-a-kind hybrid dinosaur: the Indominus Rex.

Research for Chaos Theory was a lot of fun since it mainly involved us watching every movie in the series many, many times in order to dig out details we thought were fun or interesting. For example, when we were recreating the San Diego Amphitheater in game, we h

Hi everybody, how have you all been doing? Over the past few months, we have been delighted to receive messages from fans around the world telling us how much you have been enjoying Astro’s Playroom. What particularly stuck out were comments regarding Astro’s look, so we figured it would be nice to get arty and share with you a couple of drawing tips from three artists who worked on the game. We hope you find this fun, and it inspires you 😊

But first, let’s quickly explain where Astro came from. To find his roots, we need to time-travel back to 2013 when Team Asobi was just formed and started working on The Playroom, a collection of augmented reality experiences that came preloaded on PlayStation 4. One of those experiences saw a dozen of small, funny robots living inside the DualShock 4 controller that would come out to play with you on your living room floor. These tiny guys nicknamed “AR Bots” would go on to become the origin of all the bot-like characters appearing in subsequent games. To be truthful, while designing the original bots, we had constraints and focused on getting an impactful look while keeping the shape and design as simple as possible. We aimed to strike a balance between cuteness and coolness, something that would reflect the Sony legacy of product design. And after a few tests, voila! The AR Bots were a thing. It was love at first sight.

“The AR Bots as originally found in The Playroom for PS4”

The bots then returned in The PlayroomVR (2016); a collection of multiplayer party games available as an introduction to PS VR. One of those games was Robot Rescue, a single-stage 3D platformer featuring a heroic bot going on an adventure looking for his lost comrades. Our robotic hero (he had no name yet) came complete with a jetpack, hover boots, a holographic scarf and that iconic blue livery pattern that would later define the Astro look.

“Original artwork from Robot Rescue”

Astro then took centre-stage in 2018 in his very own PS VR game Astro Bot: Rescue Mission to great acclaim and later returned to become your guide into the amazing world of PS5 and DualSense wireless controller in Astro’s Playroom (2020).

Today, we’d like to pick your creative curiosity and share with you a few tips on how to draw Astro, directly from the hand of three members from Team Asobi: Toshihiko Nakai (concept artist), Miho Kinebuchi and Mayu Kawaguchi (3D artists). Each member had a go at drawing Astro using their very own style and have shared some of their thoughts on what makes Astro a special character. Enjoy watching and reading!

Toshihiko Nakai (Team Asobi – Concept Artist)

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Finch debuts this Friday on Apple TV+, so I caught up with director Miguel Sapochnik to learn more about what makes this Tom Hanks sci-fi tale tick.

What is it about the end of civilization that people find so fascinating?

I would say, one of the best things to write is the beginning or the end of something. In the middle is always a mess. And I feel like a movie about the beginning of mankind or humankind… it’s been done, right? 

So now, we are definitely fixated with our own demise. It’s an interesting moment for us all, and I think probably reflected by [the character] Finch. Finch is starting to look back on everything that he’s done and wondering…what did he actually achieve? Was it worth it? It’s a point of reflection.

I definitely feel like movie storytelling right now is our point of reflection, where we have to look at ourselves and wonder about the choices that we made and figure out whether we’re prepared to make the changes that need to happen in order for us to continue to survive.

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Do you think Finch is an optimistic, hopeful story, despite being focused on the end of humanity?

I do, actually. At the same time, I feared my own personality might overindulge itself with the dark side of nature and I feel like something definitely came out of it.

I showed [Finch] to a couple of friends after I’d finished it. When you’ve just finished a movie, you’ve lost all perspective as to what it is that you’ve really made. And I showed it with full expectation of them to smile politely and say, “interesting” or something like that. And they laughed. A lot. All the way through it. And then they cried at the end…and they said that it was lovely. And I felt I’d never had that experience before.

All Finch has left is a dog and a robot. I wanted to start with the dog — what do you think it represents? How does that play out in the story set amidst the end of days? 

One of the turns that I always liked in the script is that you meet this guy, [and] he’s building a robot to look after his dog. So he really likes this dog. That’s his focus of attention. He doesn’t like humans. He’s obviously had bad experiences with humans….And then gradually, this story unfolds and you realise that the dog is the survivor of a traumatic event he experienced when he was younger, right

What do ghostbusting and game development have in common? More than you’d think, it turns out. But there’s one thing that comes to mind above all else: teamwork. Available to play in Dreams from today until February 28, 2022, Ghostbusters: Afterlife in Dreams is the result of an 18-week-long collaboration between Media Molecule, Sony Pictures, and the Dreams community.  

After being contacted via social media, Impy-award winning community creators **Guillaume Chevrier** (aka [SlurmMacKenzie] and **Alfred Nilsson** (aka [byvsen]) soon found themselves in meetings with Mm’s Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives, Gemma Abdeen, to discuss an opportunity. 

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“Like, what is this?” Nilsson found himself thinking. “This could be literally anything. Then when Gem told me what the project was and what I would be doing, I got really excited and hopped on.” Chevrier nods. “Same for me. I think it was the first call with Gem where she told me it was a Ghostbusters project, and I was really excited.”  

Chevrier would be working on gameplay design, and Nilsson on animations. A short brief had already been put together by Mm and Sony Pictures. The game would have to last 60 seconds, as the cast of Sony Pictures’ Ghostbusters: Afterlife would be setting their own scores that fans could try to beat.  

Chevrier laid down the basics of the controls, including creating a version of the iconic Ghostbusters proton beam that the player could fire in first-person view, and set up much of the underlying Logic for the destructive environments. Media Molecule lead designer Richard Franke then came aboard to direct and help the team make some of the game-defining decisions (as well as do a bit of environment modelling, which Mm’s Dreams specialist Martin Nebelong would polish with lighting and effects). 

“We asked ourselves, ‘What is the core experience of being a Ghostbusters team member?’” Franke says. “To me, that felt like the most important thing: we need to make the player feel like a member of the Ghostbusters team. Before you do anything else, you’ve got to get that catching of the ghosts to feel right.”  

The first version that Chevrier had been working on featured fast and furious ghostbusting. “You could really quickly catch the ghosts,” he