By Derrik J. Lang, Entertainment Writer
SANTA MONICA, Calif. --The creators of "Uncharted 4" –much like cliff-diving, treasure-hunting series protagonist Nathan Drake–aren't afraid to take a few risks.
With the release of "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" on April 26, directors Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley are ending the smart-alecky fortune hunter's story at the peak of the franchise's popularity. Since the release of the original "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" in 2007, publisher Sony has sold more than 21 million copies of the "Uncharted" series.
"It's time," said Druckmann during a recent visit to developer Naughty Dog's offices. "Sometimes, a character just lets you know it's time to move on. For me, that was part of the intrigue of coming back to this world. You never see something successful in the industry end. It usually just fizzles out."
After working on the first pair of "Uncharted" games and the apocalyptic saga "The Last of Us," Druckmann and Straley were brought onto "Uncharted 4" after "Uncharted 3" directors Amy Hennig and Justin Richmond departed the studio. Druckmann said the game's story changed "100 percent" when they took over the project, the first new "Uncharted" installment for the PlayStation 4.
"This is the biggest, most ambitious 'Uncharted' – let alone game – that Naughty Dog has ever endeavored to take on," said Straley. "We want to do this justice. We want it to be a mind-blowing, eye-popping, sweaty-palms adventure. Everybody is bleeding out of their eye sockets to make it come together. We want to make sure Drake is sent off properly."
"Uncharted 4" finds Drake (played by Nolan North) retired from his continent-hopping career until his thought-to-be-dead brother Sam (Troy Baker) shows up seeking his help. Their reunion puts Drake's relationship with journalist Elena Fisher (Emily Rose) in jeopardy. ("If you're done lying to me, then you should stop lying to yourself," she cautions him in the game's most recent trailer.) For the developers, the introduction of Drake's long-lost brother provided them with a unique storytelling opportunity.
"It's a way for us to get into Drake's past," said Druckmann. "This is someone who knows things about Nathan Drake that no one else knows. We're flashing back to when the two brothers were young. They haven't seen each other for 15 years. It's a way for us to lure Nate back into the world of adventure. As they go further, we'll explore their differences."
The daring decree to conclude Drake's tale isn't the only bold choice made by the Naughty Dog team. The creators also controversially cast a white actress to portray a black villain in "Uncharted 4."
On-screen, Drake's adversary Nadine Ross looks like a black South African private military contractor. However, she's portrayed in the real world with a vocal- and motion-capture performance by Caucasian actress Laura Bailey, who worked with a dialect coach on a South African accent and was cast before developers finalized the character's look.
"The easy thing to do at that point to avoid any controversy would've been to say, 'Let's make her white,'" said Druckmann. "No one would've questioned it or knew there was another option. Instead, we moved forward with the concept for this really strong character of color that you don't see often in a game with this person we already cast who was great in this role."
Druckmann said "it just felt right" when Bailey's performance and the designers' visuals were merged together on-screen. Conversely, Druckmann said they also cast a black actor to portray a white character before his appearance was locked down, although he declined to specify the actor or role.
"It probably won't be revealed until the game is out," he said.
The release of "Uncharted 4" will mark the end of a rollicking journey that began over eight years ago when Druckmann and Straley worked on the first "Uncharted" entry. As soon as "Uncharted 4" is shipped, Druckmann has his own adventure planned.
"I promised my daughter I would take her to Disneyland," he said. "That's what I'm going to do."
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More