Uncharted, one of the most recognized series on PlayStation platforms (if not the most recognized), started development as a ‘fantasy’ title, according to former Naughty Dog employee Don Poole.
That is, until Sony stepped in and pointed the game in its current direction, influenced by the success of Xbox 360′s “gritty shooters,” which Sony needed to compete with.
“We were talking about a more ‘realistic’ game in terms of how it was modeled and rendered but the concepts were much more far out. One was a forest world where the antagonists lived underground,” explained Poole to issue 209 of Play Magazine (via NowGamer).
“It had elements of Tolkien in for sure. Sony kept pushing for a more realistic game in all respects. The market had changed a lot by then. The demographic was older and gritty shooters were really dominating. Sony wanted very much to get into that market share, it pushed all of its developers in this direction.
“So the big push from Sony, not just at Naughty Dog but at all of Sony’s development companies at the time, was to craft games for PlayStation 3 that were much more realistic. The pressure from Xbox’s success with gritty shooters was a very real force on our direction at that time.”
The switch to realism wasn’t immediately favored by the Naughty Dog team, however, who are known for crafting more eccentric titles like Jak and Crash Bandicoot.
“We had a lot of internal grumbling about the realist bent. More of the old dogs were from the Crash and Jak era and preferred that more whimsical style. But alas, that was a losing battle.”
