You - actually most people in the thread - are taking his words in the wrong context IMHO.

He's clearly talking about cinematic/narrative/character experience.  Not some never seen before setting or even some never played before gameplay.

He means they think they're going to delivery characterisation and narrative that is deeper and different than anything else in the industry - and given almost all games have shallow, weak characterisation the bar they need to jump isn't that high.  In fact arguably the bar this gen for those elements has been set by ND themselves.

Going by the tailer I'd guess a mix of gameplay styles from Lead 4 Dead in terms of infected and fast moving threat combined with a The Road style level of melancholia and despair (albeit with more green).  Given in narrative terms that's tough for characters they're either going to really have to make the two leads come to life or find a way to have them interact with others over a series of vignettes I'd imagine.

I hope ND will accomplish this, but I fear they will go the Uncharted-route of making the game extremely linear to accomplish it. It's still early days of course, but I'll remain unexcited until I see that ND can deliver high quality story telling without locking the player into a very strict path.

Ashley tweeted she's doing the mo-cap as well herself, so that's awesome if true! :)

That's probably true and the price to pay.  No open world has come close to handling narrative (and I include RDR, GTA, Skyrim and others in that statement).  Open world means loss of narrative flow and character cohesion (although I do think there are ways this could be improved) at the moment.

My expectation would be somewhat open, freeform encoutners along a structured narrative.

Which suits me.  I love narrative in books/films and while I wouldn't want it in all games I do want it in some and ND are among few developers able to deliver at the moment in this area.

If I had to guess I'd figure on something like that from the final shots of the clip.  I'm guessing a mix of claustrophobic interior stuff mixed with larger open spaces where you pick how you're going to proceed.  If I had to guess a bit further I'm expecting a mix of stealth, combat, melee (and no doubt some platforming although I expect a much more dangerous, nervy approach vs Uncharted) with a focus on conservation of ammo/resources with a fairly grim, downbeat tone and a narrative the evaluates the price of survival vs the loss of ethical behavour both at the personal level of the characters and the larger background of the world environment.

Definitely, and I would not expect this game to have an open world, as there is something inbetween sandbox games and 100% linear games.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is the example I like to use the most. The narrative was very exciting, and I never felt like it lost its impact if I strayed from the beaten path to explore for a bit. But once the story was over, I still had a game with an environment full of little things to discover. The gameplay was also open in a way that really empowered the player to play his or her own way, while still being closed off in many areas.

I've simply grown a bit tired of the old rollercoaster model. It's fun every once in a while, but it doesn't really bring me into the game that much anymore.

I hope ND will try to marry a strong narrative to a more open gameplay, such that the game leaves the player more in control of what is going on in the story and in the game compared to in Uncharted.

umm no? the game has been in development for 2 years

Yeah,and Dead Island can't really be called a success..It's sold decent,but not anywhere near where most of us hoped it would.

This game will stomp on Dead Island,simply because it's made by Naughty Dog.

i know it's a bit early to say since we haven't seen any gameplay but how much do you reckon this will sell? I'm guessing 2-3mil LT cuz of the genre

Waaay too early to tell.But it sure looks like they will market the hell out of it.