News
19 CommentsTed Price on Insomniac Games' independence, experimentation and indie inspiration
By Samit Sarkar on Apr 27, 2013 04.27.13
Insomniac Games released Resistance: Fall of Man at the launch of the PlayStation 3 in November 2006. Six and a half years later, the independent studio is about to launch another new intellectual property, Fuse, which is set to be released May 28 on PS3 and another new console — at least, a console that's new to the company — Xbox 360. In the interim, much has changed within Insomniac and within the video game industry. At the dawn of the current console generation, the industry was mostly console-centric, and it didn't appear as if that was going to change. But the rise of new platforms and distribution methods, coupled with a longer-than-usual console cycle, has made the future uncertain. "It's hard for people in any industry to accept change, especially when you've been...
News
2 CommentsOuternauts' 'biggest content update' adds a sector, planets, beasts and arenas
By Dave Tach on Apr 25, 2013 04.25.13
The "biggest content update" to date for Outernauts added a new sector, planets, beasts and battle arenas to Insomniac Games' browser-based action role-playing game, according to an overview posted on Insomniac's website. The update brought the Final Frontier, a "space-time altering mess of a chapter" that is now the game's most difficult sector, new planets, "radically altered" versions of existing planets, new roaming beasts to capture and train and more arena challenges, where players can win more prizes. The update also officially makes the game's previous energy system obsolete. Outernauts, Insomniac's first multiplatform game, is available on Facebook and Kongregate. For more on the game, how it was built and what it means about Insomiac's future, be sure to read Polygon's...
Feature
7 CommentsDesign by Osmosis: The Story of Outernauts
By Dave Tach on Feb 19, 2013 02.19.13
Insomniac had never quite been about making casual games. Its roster wasn't filled with inscrutable or complex titles meant for the most hardcore gamers, but it hadn't churned out massively popular casual games like FarmVille, either. No matter. If the industry Hastings had spent his career working in was changing, he had to figure out how Insomniac could adapt. That's why he and Ted Price, founder and chief executive officer at Insomniac Games, sat down and started to connect the dots to perhaps take the studio in a different direction. What emerged, after years of self teaching, experimentation and a partnership with a publisher well-versed in the new social sphere, was a game called Outernauts. You can see Insomniac's influences in the quirky character design, the tongue-in-cheek...
How Insomniac made a real game on Facebook with 'Outernauts'
By Dave Tach on Sep 02, 2012 09.02.12
Insomniac Games is a studio known for console games. Since it was founded in 1994, the studio has made a name for itself with console mainstays Spyro the Dragon, Resistance, and Ratchet & Clank franchises. But about two and a half years ago, Brian Hastings, Insomniac's chief creative officer, who had, among other things, dreamed up the Ratchet & Clank games, realized that there was opportunity to bring a "real game" to Facebook. At PAX Prime 2012, Insomniac held a panel to tell attendees how they came from idea to concept, what they learned, and what the future holds. He was enticed by the prospect of hundred of millions of connected users, but he had no love for the games. He began to play everything that was available, and though the FarmVilles didn't impress him, he saw opportunity...
Insomniac's Pokemon-esque 'Outernauts' goes into open beta on Facebook
By Griffin McElroy on Jul 20, 2012 07.20.12
Outernauts, Insomniac Games' Pokemon-esque monster collecting freemium role-playing game, has entered its open beta testing phase on Facebook. The title places you in the airtight boots of a titular Outernaut, who's tasked with discovering and exploring uncharted planets across the universe, and enslaving the wildlife therein. Okay, it's not quite that serious: Much like Nintendo and Game Freak's monster-training opus, Outernauts sees you finding, battling, capturing and training monsters in a purely scientific manner. You do so by weakening those creatures using elemental attacks and using "Gravity Orbs" to contain them — again, awfully similar to the tried-and-true Pokemon routine. Of course, Pokemon fans have a long time to wait until Black Version 2 and White Version 2 find their...
E3 2012: The Rest
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Jun 01, 2012 06.01.12
It's not all guns and fists out there, as the spread of genres this year can attest. Downloadable titles, Facebook games, sims, and strategy titles are in abundance at this year's E3. Sony Pub Fund darling and PlayStation Network exclusive Papo & Yo stands out with its deeply personal roots alongside Portal designer Kim Swift's charming puzzler Quantum Conundrum. Rumor has it new Nintendo games will be sneaking onto the show floor, many of them announced at last year's E3, such as Luigi's Mansion 2. This year at E3, we'll be sorting all of our news and previews from the event into easily consumable genre streams. This round-up of expected games kicks off our miscellany stream. Of course, you'll still be able to follow our coverage of the big press conferences, show floor spectacles and...
Insomniac Games explains why Facebook is the place for its new 'hardcore' RPG Outernauts
By Michael McWhertor on May 09, 2012 05.09.12
The game makers at Burbank-based studio Insomniac Games are best known for bringing Ratchet & Clank and Resistance games to Sony's PlayStation consoles. Now they're embracing an all-new platform, social games on Facebook, with Outernauts. Insomniac and publisher EA promise "a deep story with real RPG strategy" with Outernauts, but reaction to the game's official announcement today has been mixed. Why would a developer with the pedigree of Insomniac slum it with Facebook games? That's the territory of FarmVille, CityVille, Words With Friends – the casual diversions serious gamers tend to sneer at. Insomniac Games' Rowan Belden-Clifford explains. "We chose to develop for Facebook because we wanted to challenge ourselves to reach a broader audience with our games while delivering some of...
'Outernauts' is a new Facebook game from the folks behind Resistance and Ratchet & Clank
By Brian Crecente on May 09, 2012 05.09.12
The developers behind Resistance and Ratchet & Clank plan to release an adventure role-playing game to Facebook this summer called Outernauts, Electronic Arts announced today. The game has players capturing and training exotic alien beasts as they work to uncover some ancient riddle and battle with pirates and evil corporations. Also, there's a galaxy to control. In the game, players will explore planets, harvest loot and fight asynchronously with or against other players. This will be the first social game from Insomniac Games. "We see a huge opportunity to reach an entirely different audience of gamers through Facebook," Ted Price, President and Founder of Insomniac Games said in a prepared statement. "As we have demonstrated for nearly twenty years in the console games space, we're...
