PlayStation LifeStyle » Resistance

Fall of Resistance

Sebastian Moss — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:59:35 +0000

The first Resistance released alongside the PS3 with a bang, becoming the platform’s first game to pass a million sales, and gaining an instant fanbase. Five years on, and developer Insomniac Games have announced that they won’t be making any more games in the franchise. What went wrong?

The first we saw of Resistance was at E3 2005, where the game was debuted as “I-8″ (Insomniac’s eighth title) as a WWII-inspired alternate history FPS where aliens have overrun Europe. At GDC 2006, it was renamed Resistance: Fall of Man, with Insomniac CEO Ted Price speaking about the advantages of the PlayStation 3 and Blu-ray. When it released on November 11th 2006, the game benefited from the otherwise rather lackluster slew of launch titles, with only a couple of notable titles ushering in Sony’s most powerful console yet. A subsequent drought in high profile releases caused by several delays also helped push the well-reviewed Resistance to success, helping the game become the first PS3 game to sell a million, and eventually selling an estimated 4 million copies.

Two years and several map packs later, and Fall of Man still had a healthy online userbase, but fans wanted more, and Insomniac promised to deliver. On January 11th 2008, Sony revealed the ambitious Resistance 2, announcing that it would include incredibly large 60 player matches and an entirely separate eight player co-op campaign. But when the game releases in November a lot of fans were put off by how different the game was from the original game. While it was still a great game, many thought the online was just too different, the campaign didn’t quite match up and some felt the weapon balancing was off. Despite that, the strong brand name helped the game sell over 3 million copies.

Before the release of the next Insomniac Resistance, Sony Bend tried their hand at a PSP one. 2009′s Retribution was third person and suffered like all PSP games from the lack of a second analog stick. However, it was still seen as one of the handheld’s better titles and is thought to have sold between 800,000 to 900,000 copies – something that is actually quite successful for a PSP game.

After the feedback they received from 2, Insomniac took note of what people thought of the game, spending a whole extra year on Resistance 3, presumably meaning that the game had increased development costs. Again, the game was well received by critics, and this time by most of the fans that played it. Yet Resistance 3 only sold 180,000 copies in the US the month it launched, becoming the 7th best selling game – a significant drop-off compared to Resistance 2‘s 385,000 first month total. It’s now thought to have sold less than a million units.

But why was the game fail to match the success of it’s console predecessors? Resistance 3 was the first to include the controversial PSN Pass that charges $10 for used game purchasers to go online, and has been cited as some for the reason for the drop in success. But that’s a rather unlikely reason for such a huge drop in sales – the average consumer doesn’t know what the pass is, and the average gamer doesn’t care enough to boycott the game. Another reason was fan feedback to Resistance 2 – a lot of people were put off by the game and didn’t want to return to the franchise. But several games have returned from a weak predecessor with the right marketing, so let’s take a look at the game’s US marketing:

Unfortunately, as much as we love Kevin Butler, the focus of that advert isn’t Resistance 3, it’s the Move sharpshooter – which meant that Sony was trying to convince consumers to spend much more to get the full package, limiting the number of potential customers.

Timing was also a problem for the game, with R3 having released last September, alongside the more successful Dead Island and only one month before the much more heavily marketed and hyped shooter Battlefield 3. BF3 went on to be EA’s fastest selling game ever, and sold 8 million by the end of November. Christmas’ other FPS, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, became the fastest selling entertainment product to reach a billion dollars worth of sales. In short, the game went up against the fiercest FPS competition in history.

Call of Duty has also had a profound effect on the market, with millions of FPS fans becoming used to picking the annual series up every year to fill their FPS craving. Any other contenders had to spend huge amounts to convince gamers to also buy their game.

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One also released only one month later, meaning that fans of the developer who only bought a few games were forced to choose.

We asked Insomniac about their thoughts on the subject, but were told the company was not doing any interviews about the matter. Ted Price released a video discussing the fact that they have left the franchise, saying that they felt Resistance had “reached its logical conclusion in terms of the story [they] want to tell”. A fair response, but the fact the the third game had a new protagonist could suggest the developer – which has made eight Ratchet & Clank games – had plans to continue with Joseph Capelli. When we asked Insomniac about their future, James Stevenson, Marketing Lead for Insomniac Games replied:

We aren’t in a position to comment much more than what Ted did today, and to say we’re excited to be working on Overstrike and our Facebook game.

Luckily for Resistance fans, Nihilistic will be releasing Burning Skies for the Vita later this year. But with the franchise’s support clearly waning, its best days are behind it, and it’s unknown if we will see another game after the Vita release.

Were you a fan of the Resistance series. Share your best moments in the comments below.

Resistance Series Still Has More Stories to Tell

Josh Lewis — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 08:24:18 +0000

After three long years of extended development, the latest installment of Insomniac Games PS3 exclusive first person shooter series is finally in shops this week. Resistance 3 tells the story of Joe Capelli, as he makes one final stand to fend off the Chimera invasion of earth. Although Resistance 3 doesn’t end on a cliffhanger and brings closure to the trilogy, writer Jon Paquette feels that there are more potential stories to be told in the Resistance universe.

Speaking in regards to the Resistance 3 ending Paquette told CVG:

At the end of this game it feels like a satisfying ending. I wanted to make sure that when you finished this game there were no cliff-hangers to make you wonder what’s going to happen next. It was really important to me to make it feel like the end of the saga. At the same time it was also important to make sure it felt like part of the saga. The story of Nathan Hale and Joe Capelli spans three games, but at the end of this it feels like that’s one complete story.

Paquette also feels that although Resistance 3 ends the current story arc, there is potential for the franchise to continue:

The franchise is really strong and I think the universe is great to play in. You saw the reveal of Burning Skies [for PS Vita] over at Gamescom and that’s just one example of another game that could be made on a different piece of hardware, with a different main character but in the same universe. I think it’s still fertile ground.

Insomniac has stated that they are not currently planning to develop Resistance 4. It will be interesting to see how a potentially different development team will flesh out the story line. Resistance 3 is available in stores now, and be sure to check out our review if you’re thinking about buying it.

Resistance: Burning Skies Detailed at gamescom

Tyler Minarik — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:05:17 +0000

At the press conference at gamescom today the full title for the PS Vita’s Resistance game was revealed, as well as a first look at gameplay and details on new features.

The demo for Resistance: Burning Skies was set in New York, just before the events of Resistance 2, when the Chimera invade America. Players will control Tom Riley, who is helping defend the Ellis Island research facility, where research on ways to fight off the Chimera is vital to human survival.

Tom Riley’s weapon of choice to begin with is the fire axe, a melee weapon which makes sense for the character, who used to be a firefighter. The axe is available at all times, and can be selected via regular buttons on the Vita, or a virtual button that displays as an icon on the right hand side of the screen. A few other weapons were shown off, like the iconic bullseye, which still uses rapid fire to its advantage. However, the secondary fire now differs, not only in what it is, but the execution as well. Players will now be able to drag their finger across the screen to indicate what enemies to hit, causing homing rockets to launch for the kill. The carbine also showed up a moment later, which made use of this feature where a quick tap of the screen launches a grenade at the desired location.

Burning Skies will also utilize a new automated cover system. It doesn’t lock your character into place, but approaching any cover object will cause the character to automatically move into position and seek protection. While in cover another use of screen tapping was shown off, with throwing grenades. Similar to the fire axe, a virtual button will appear on the right hand side of the screen. Pressing on it, then dragging and dropping across the screen causes the grenade to be cooked during the drag, and thrown at the location dropped. Finally, a brief glance at the Chimeran chaingun was shown off, which unloads a storm of projectiles at the ever prevalent enemies in Resistance. After mowing down a group of Chimerans and a larger one burrowing into a water tower the demo ended, but those few minutes showed a promising FPS for the Vita.

Capcom Introduces the Chimera, a Three-Way Hybrid Beast

Paulmichael Contreras — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 05:44:43 +0000

Dragon’s Dogma was first announced by Capcom back in April. Billed as a “new, epic action franchise,” information and screenshots have been released at a fairly steady pace. Some new screenshots have recently surfaced, and they showcase the Chimera as it will exist in the world of Dragon’s Dogma. We’ve got screens of the beast in action after the jump.

If you’re unaware of why this enemy has the same name as those in the world of Resistance, it’s because the word chimera is actually much older than that game (or any game, for that matter). The term comes from Greek mythology, and this creature was a hybrid child from monsters Typhon and Echidna. Capcom’s representation is actually pretty accurate compared to the original form of the monster – part lion and goat, with a snake for a tail. In Dragon’s Dogma, the Chimera will attack you in a variety of ways. The snake and lion apparently behave as you’d expect, attempting to bite and slash at you respectively. But the goat will supposedly have magic skills, so it will be interesting to see where Capcom takes this legendary creature. Take a look at some action shots in the gallery below.

Dragon’s Dogma is currently slated for a March 27th release date.

[Via]

Bundle up With Uncharted Collection This July, Get Extra Goodies

Cameron Teague — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:48:12 +0000

For those gamers out there who for some reason haven’t played the first two Uncharted games but want to get caught up on the story before Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception releases, you will have a great opportunity to do just that at a cheaper price. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have officially confirmed that the Uncharted Collection will be releasing next month on the PlayStation 3, after we spotted it at E3 earlier this month.

In the bundle, gamers will receive Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, along with goodies for the upcoming Drake’s Deception in the form of a dynamic PS3 theme and an avatar.

This is not the only collection to release on July 22nd, with the Resistance Dual Pack dropping the same day that includes the first two games and an exclusive Resistance 3 skin. There will also be a Ratchet & Clank Bundle featuring Tools of Destruction & A Crack in Time. This pack will include 4 avatars and an exclusive Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One dynamic theme. On top of that there will be the technically unconfirmed PSP bundles we saw at E3.

July 22nd has cemented itself as the best day to get caught up on three of the best series on the PlayStation 3.

Resistance 3 Dated in Europe, Pre-Order Bonuses Announced

Paulmichael Contreras — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:02:36 +0000

Official reveals of Resistance 3 have been trickling our way since late September. With a US release date already pinned down, Europe is next to announce when the game will be available. Pre-order bonuses have also been detailed, and everything is available to read about after the break.

As detailed on the official EU PS Blog, those of you in the UK and Ireland can expect to be fighting the Chimera in all their gruesome forms on 9th September. The rest of the PAL region will receive the game a bit earlier, on the 7th of September. Pre-order goodies have also been announced, and where you can get them varies depending on your region and which retailer you purchase from:

SRPA Black Ops skin: Once a common sight in the war against the Chimera, this special SRPA Black Ops multiplayer skin lets you return to the battlefield as one of the most mysterious and deadly soldiers from Resistance 2 and Resistance: Fall of Man.
Infected Nathan Hale skin: By skipping his viral inhibitor treatment throughout Resistance 2, Nathan Hale fell victim to the deadly Chimera virus. Now you can resurrect the fallen hero with this special multiplayer character skin.
Air Fuel grenade: Equip Joseph Capelli with an explosive advantage as he embarks on his journey across America. This exclusive grenade releases a cloud of highly flammable vapour, creating a huge blast when ignited – perfect for taking out hordes of Chimera in tight urban spaces.
Special multiplayer title: “Sentinel”: Pledge your allegiance to the elite unit of the SRPA – the Sentinels – with this multiplayer title, exclusive to pre-order customers.
Multiplayer booster: Get an early advantage on the multiplayer battlefield by starting the fight at level 5 – and gain access to a range of character and weapon customisation options.
Chimera tooth necklace: Show your support for the resistance by wearing Joseph Capelli’s Chimera tooth necklace.

A special edition of the game has also been announced for the region, pictured above (and in more detail in the gallery below). It contains a steelbook case, voucher for all the pre-order bonuses in the list above, and a Blu-Ray disc that has a “vinyl effect” on its top mimicking old-fashioned records common to the era in which the game takes place.

Finally, a “Survivor Edition” (pictured below) has also been announced. It contains all of the following:

Canvas satchel: Capelli’s rugged and reliable satchel, ideal for long journeys across the ravaged American landscape.
Chimera firing range target: Know your enemy; perfect your aim or take out your frustrations on this life-size Chimera target poster.
“Fight for Freedom” toy soldiers: Play out the battle on a small scale with these toy soldiers depicting Joseph Capelli and Chimera fighters.
Joseph Capelli’s Journal: Read Capelli’s notes on the journey ahead of him, the enemies he’ll face and the weapons he’ll use – and start writing your own story as you fight the Chimera.
SRPA hip flask: Keep the cold at bay or give yourself the courage to fight on with this standard issue SRPA soldier’s hip flask.
SRPA playing cards: Pass the time between battles with this deck of SRPA soldier’s playing cards.

Prices for the special and survivor editions were not given, but we will update you as soon as these are revealed.

Resistance 3 is now set to release on September 6th/7th/9th in North America, Europe and the UK/Ireland respectively.

Powerful Resistance Bundle Set For Summer Release

Mitchell Sellar — Tue, 24 May 2011 08:22:30 +0000

After last week’s reveal of the box art for Resistance 3, the game’s release date of September 6th became a date circled on the calendar of many PlayStation 3 owners. In anticipation of this release for the PS3 exclusive Resistance series, the developer has announced a Greatest Hits Bundle packaging the first two games together.

An insert within the Battle: Los Angeles Blu-Ray – releasing June 14th, 2011 – announces that a Greatest Hits release containing both Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance 2 will hit store shelves this summer with a MSRP of $39.99. The Blu-Ray insert also states that the bundle includes $10 worth of bonus content and an exclusive Resistance 3 skin. The Battle: Los Angeles Blu-Ray disc itself contains a demo of Resistance 3 playable on the PlayStation 3 console.

Resistance: Fall of Man released in North America on November 17th, 2006 and featured Sgt. Nathan Hale battling against a seemingly alien invasion in an alternate history of 1951. Resistance 2 continued Nathan Hale’s fight against the invading force as he headed from Britain to the United States and released on November 4th, 2008. Resistance 3‘s plot directly follows that of the first two games, taking place four years after the conclusion of the second game, so players still yet to play either game will now have a timely opportunity to play catch up and wage war on the Chimeran forces.

Resistance 3 Box Art Revealed, Aims To Try Something New

Sebastian Moss — Thu, 19 May 2011 02:29:24 +0000

If you speak to most analysts, technology gurus or media providers, they’ll agree on one thing – digital distribution is the future. No going out to buy a game, no paying an unnecessary retailer and no messy game boxes. But Insomniac Games have proved just why a large group of people want boxes to stay, after unveiling the Resistance 3 box art.

Partnering with Olly Moss, “a talented British artist”, Insomniac revealed the North American and European box art on the PlayStation Blog. A Chimeran Skull with the New York skyline shown as its teeth with a red background is rather different from the general “man posing with a gun” style of most first person shooters.

The Resistance developers “worked closely with Olly” to ensure that their idea of a Chimera-occupied 1957 was correctly portrayed. In an alternate version of the art, Joesph Capelli’s journey across the ravaged US to New York City is shown:

Insomniac were keen to emphasise that in Resistance 3 the army and SRPA have been destroyed, and that the game focuses on what is left of mankind desperately trying to to survive.

What do you think of the different style of box art? Should more games experiment with different art styles, or do you prefer the usual look of title’s cases?

Resistance 3 Demo Announced, To Be Bundled With Battle: LA Blu-Ray

Sebastian Moss — Tue, 03 May 2011 00:34:39 +0000

Sony Picture Entertainment’s high-budget alien movie, Battle: Los Angeles, and Sony Computer Entertainment’s high-budget alien shooter, Resistance 3, have always had a close relationship, with Insomniac’s FPS originally spotted in a billboard during Battle: LA‘s production. After teasing big news for today, the developer has now revealed a Resistance demo, which will be included on the movie’s Blu-Ray.

Every copy of the film’s Blu-Ray (at least in the US) will have a copy of the Resistance 3 demo installed, which will be around half-hour an long and be based on the already-shown boat level. There is no word on when the demo will release on the PlayStation Network, but Battle: Los Angeles will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on June 14. Sony previously did a rather similar move when they bundled a God of War III demo with District 9.

Will you be buying the Blu-Ray to get your hands on the demo? Or is it not worth buying an entire movie for a demo?

[Source]

Insomniac Teases New Resistance 3 Information Breakout Tonight

Jonathan Leack — Mon, 02 May 2011 20:03:24 +0000

Resistance: Fall of Man was the first glimmering sign of hope for Sony when the PlayStation 3 debuted at $599 U.S dollars. Years later, FPS fans are excited to see what the third installment will bring, hoping to stray from the repetition of purchasing Call of Duty during the holiday season every year. We don’t know much about what Resistance 3 will offer, but hopefully the new details revealed tonight will be reason to start getting antsy.

In anticipation of Resistance 3‘s release later this year, Insomniac Games is prepping some new information to share tonight. Via Facebook, Insomniac posted the following:

If you’re a fan of Resistance 3, we will be announcing some fun news tonight on @G4TV’s @XPlay that should get you excited!

The last we saw of Insomniac, impressive new screenshots were shown alongside a particularly lengthy trailer. If you’re as excited as we are about Resistance 3, then set your watches for primetime tonight. We’ll fill you in on the details in case you miss it.

The PS3′s Biggest Developers are Passing their Property for the NGP

Corey Schwanz — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:47:44 +0000

Sony’s incredible new handheld gaming device, codenamed NGP, has an unbelievable lineup of games on the way. But some of the biggest titles aren’t coming from the expected developers.

It didn’t seem possible, but the NGP is capable of running some unbelievable stuff. We’ve seen footage of a Killzone, Resistance, and even an Uncharted game. Uncharted in your pocket? It’s all surreal. But what’s this? Naughty Dog won’t be handling Uncharted, and Insomniac won’t be handling Resistance. A Game Informer preview revealed that the NGP Uncharted game is being developed by Orgeon-based Bend Studio, owned by Sony Computer Entertainment. Bend is mostly known for the well-received Resistance: Retribution, and the Syphon Filter franchise.

Ironically, Bend Studio won’t be handling the next portable Resistance title. Insomniac Games will passing the Resistance torch to Nihilistic Software. Now if that name sounds familiar, it should. PlayStation Move Heroes, the upcoming crossover title of the PS2′s platformers, is currently being developed by Nihilistic. They have experience on the PS3, so the NGP shouldn’t be that much different.

Nihilistic Software recognised that they have big shoes to fill, but are confident that they can meet expectations, tweeting:

We are working hard to deliver an experience worthy of #Resistance & the #NGP platform!

These new developers are certainly capable of the the burden placed before them, and it shows where the focus goes. Naughty Dog and Insomniac are solely focused on Uncharted 3 and Resistance 3 respectively, so their resources won’t be split between a console title and a completely new portable platform.

NGP Montage For Uncharted, Killzone, Resistance and More

Sebastian Moss — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:42:11 +0000

You might not have heard, but the third-party support for the NPG is immense. But in true Sony style, their first-party support is even more incredible, with games such as Uncharted, Killzone and Resistance all coming to the portable. To showcase some of their upcoming games, Sony has created a montage video with snippets from the games.

It’s off-screen footage and slightly blurry, so we’ll update the article as soon as a higher res video is found, but the trailer aptly showcases the onslaught of titles set to launch on the NGP:

Are you excited for any of the games shown? Let us know in the comments below.

Resistance 3 Goes to War with PS3 Theme

Anthony Severino — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 18:58:57 +0000

Last night, we alerted you to exclusive Resistance 3 content that would be revealed when Insomniac’s Facebook page hit a certain number of likes. Screenshots have already been released, and now, a theme for the PS3 has been released as well.

Just as promised, Insomniac Games has unleashed a Resistance 3 PS3 theme for our enjoyment.

Instructions:

Download the zip file HERE
Unzip file
Copy the whole “PS3″ folder over to a USB drive (must be FAT32 format, thumb drives work best)
Plug USB drive into PS3
Go to Settings->Theme Settings->Theme->Install
The PS3 should recognize the USB drive and find the theme called “Resistance 3 Facebook Exclusive”
Click on it to install
Go back to Settings->Theme Settings->Theme and select “Resistance 3 Facebook Exclusive” and click Apply

*Note: This theme uses multiple background images that auto load. You can keep applying the theme to see them all.

Like Insomniac Games, See Exclusive Resistance 3 Content

Anthony Severino — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 23:31:39 +0000

We know there’s a very good chance that if you’re reading PlayStation LifeStyle, then you already like Insomniac Games. And why not? They’re responsible for the Resistance and Ratchet and Clank franchises – both of which are PlayStation staples. But did you ever think that liking them would get you a look at exclusive content?

Right now if you visit Insomniac’s Facebook page, you’ll be greeted by an “exclusive content” tab that brings you to a massive Resistance 3 banner telling you to “Like” the page to “for exclusive content”. Some art has been revealed thus far, but once they hit 18,000 likes, another exclusive Resistance 3 pic will be unveiled, and another at 19,000 likes. At 20K likes, they’re revealing a PS3 Resistance 3 theme.

At the time of this writing, they’re at 17,491 likes. Help us keep on pushing so we can hurry up and see more pics! Click here to visit the page, and get to liking!

Resistance 3 Won’t Be the Last and Definitely Not the Least

Jonathan Leack — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:54:51 +0000

The original Resistance was one of the first blockbuster titles on the PlayStation 3 platform, and rightfully so. Now that a third addition to the series is upon us, many have been wondering if it’ll be the last. According to Insomniac, it won’t.

Game Informer‘s latest issue reveals that the Resistance series will continue beyond the third installment. Resistance developer Insomniac revealed the following in the November issue:

“Resistance 3 is a story within the Resistance universe that can be expanded upon. Doors will be shut, but they won’t be slammed”

Some gaming developers feel obligated to end as a trilogy on the third installment. For Resistance fans this is surely great news, but the question is will the new hero Joseph Capelli live to see the fourth addition to the Resistance series? Thankfully, we’ll know soon enough as Resistance 3 releases next year.