Ueda Provides Details On The Last Guardian

Originally known as Project Trico, The Last Guardian by Fumito Ueda shares similar style and thematic elements with beloved previous Team Ico titles Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. And that's about all we really knew about the game, at least until Sony's press events at Tokyo Game Show. The team launched a new trailer during Sony's press conference and unveiled a release date after having gone dark with the project for several expos, but of course still kept details light. Afterward a Team Ico panel was held in a QA format with Ueda where he spilled the following details on this highly anticipated title.

• Why keep the project quiet for so long? Ueda says both Ico and Shadow had R&D and developers working on the game at the same time, which wasn't the best idea at the time . This time the team went ahead and performed R&D first and then proceeded with game development, thus it took a while before the team was able to show something substantial to the public. Ueda is now confident with how polished the product is and is ready to go into full production crunch mode. What we've seen so far is still very early in development.
• Ueda then clarifies rumors that spread across the internet that suggests that like its predecessors, The Last Guardian will have a sad ending. Ueda says it's open ended and we will eventually figure it out.
• The Trico is the "bird cat" creature. If you've seen the trailer, you'll notice the creature has more character to it than when we last saw it. The Trico and the boy character will initially have an unfriendly relationship and will form a bond as the story progresses. However, the Trico may not always follow orders in the same way animals do in real life. Emotional attachment will play a huge role.
• When designing the Trico character, they wanted to focus on function and how the character moves in relation to game environments, which was part of the lengthy R&D process. In the past artists had to redesign environments to fit specific characters, and with improved technology, they are now able to create dynamic characters that can adjust to specific level design.
• While the Ico/Shadow collection will feature 3D support, the team is still unsure whether The Last Guardian will support 3D.
• There's a possibility that The Last Guardian will have some sort of connection to Ico and Shadow. Still too early to tell.
• Crazy fun fact: The Last Guardian was originally supposed to have a small female lead, however Ueda felt the little girl wouldn't have as good of a grip as a boy to climb the massive Trico. He also mentioned that girls wear skirts...
• The Last Guardian has a projected release date of holiday 2011 and we're hoping the team sticks to it! Ueda says the team will do their best to make the date.