11w ago - Sony Blog Manager Fred Dutton has shared a God of War: Ascension PS3 Q & A update below today which takes Kratos to the next level.

To quote: With God of War: Ascension's launch just a few days away now, we sat down with the game's Lead Combat Designer Jason McDonald and Lead Game Designer Mark Simon to find out how they've kept the formula fresh six games into the series, and what challenges the addition of multiplayer presented to the team.

We'll have more insight from Game Director Todd Papy next week before Santa Monica's lean, mean new actioner hits the shelves on March 12th. In the meantime, over to Mark and Jason...

PlayStation.Blog: How difficult is it retro-fitting a prequel story onto the existing God of War trilogy?

Mark Simon: It's kinda nice actually. At the end of God of War 3 Kratos is completely rage-filled. His sole-focus has been figured out. With Ascension, we can go back to a different time period before he was this character.

He has a wider range and you can explain things about him that you didn't know before. You get to find out what turned him into the guy that he is - what makes him snap, and why is it that breaking a bond with a god like Ares does this.

PSB: If I was to plot Kratos' anger on a graph,...

15w ago - Sony Senior Product Marketing Manager Anthony Caiazzo has posted up a video today announcing that God of War: Ascension brings Kratos and his Spartan Army to life.

Below are the details, to quote: By now, I'm sure you've caught the God of War: Ascension "From Ashes" live action trailer we debuted last Friday, and if you haven't, you need to go watch it right now!

You may have even caught the 60-second version air during the online live stream of the Super Bowl this past Sunday.

This trailer has been a labor of love for all of us here, and based on the comments and feedback on YouTube and elsewhere, all of the effort was well worth it. I'm very excited to share with you a couple of behind-the-scenes videos that show a glimpse of what went into bringing the world of Kratos to life.

Kratos is not an easy man to replicate in the flesh. This first video shows how we transformed our talented, and extremely buff, actor Brandon White, into the legendary Spartan General. A lot of work went into making sure his tattoo, armor, costume and ash make-up looked just right.

Add this to an amazing performance, and the Ghost of Sparta is no longer just an angry, rage filled monster, but a full embodiment of the humanity of...

41w ago - SuperBot Entertainment Lead Combat Designer Paul Edwards has posted up some Kratos and Radec strategy videos today for the upcoming PlayStation All-Stars video game.

Below are the details, to quote: I'm responsible for bringing everyone's favorite Spartan warrior, Kratos from God of War, into our world of ultimate crossover fighting with PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

SuperBot Entertainment was incubated within Sony Santa Monica Studio, and their feedback and involvement ensured Kratos' transition from his game to ours was smooth.

One of the biggest challenges was taking this immensely powerful god-killing character from a single-player game and try to balance that design within a multiplayer fighting game.





To get you a better feel for Kratos' combat strategies ahead of the public beta later this fall, we've enlisted SuperBot's Game Director Omar Kendall and PlayStation.Blog's Sid Shuman to give you a breakdown of Kratos!

We wanted to pay proper homage to Kratos, so the approach we took was to have his playstyle reflect some of the most iconic weapons in God of War, such as the Blades of Chaos and Apollo's Bow. And we wanted his Supers...

109w ago - Sony's Senior Social Media Specialist Sid Shuman has posted up a video today offering PlayStation 3 tips on how to dominate with Kratos in the new Mortal Kombat on PS3.

To quote: If you watch our recent video Q&A with Ed Boon and Stig Asmussen, then you know that NetherRealm Studios and Sony Santa Monica Studios collaborated closely to ensure that God of War's ultra-violent antihero was faithfully recreated for his highly anticipated (and PS3-exclusive) Mortal Kombat debut.

Now that the shrink wrap is off the game, my hands-on play sessions have yielded some powerful tactics. First, a few observations:

Kratos is a tactician, not a brawler. Kratos' style combos aren't particularly fast or powerful, so wading into combat while mashing buttons won't get you results worthy of the God of War. An effective Kratos player must demonstrate equal parts finesse and animal cunning.





The Helios Head gets results. Like Scorpion's spear or Sub-Zero's ice blast, the Helios Head is Kratos' go-to special attack. You'll learn to love it for several reasons: the blast boasts impressive range, stuns on impact, and shuts down jumping attackers. More importantly, it can chain a fast, weaker opening combo into a mortal monstrosity,...

113w ago - Sony's Senior Social Media Specialist Sid Shuman has posted up a video today where Ed Boon and Stig entertain Kratos vs Mortal Kombat on PS3.

To quote: The first time we saw him we thought, 'Oh my God, what a great Mortal Kombat character he would make.'

Ed Boon is very excited. The Mortal Kombat creative director and co-creator can finally spill his guts regarding one of the most anticipated video-game crossovers of all time: Kratos' exclusive guest appearance in the PS3 version of Mortal Kombat.

"We kind of felt it was meant to happen," he says. "We think we've done Kratos justice."

Ed Boon and God of War III director Stig Asmussen don't remember who made the first phone call, but both recall the Kratos crossover talks starting early in Mortal Kombat's development cycle. "I remember somebody saying, ''hey, there might be this possibility of Kratos appearing in Mortal Kombat,'" Stig remembers.

"I said, ' You gotta be kidding me, we gotta make this happen! Let's get on the phone.'" Describing himself as a "huge God of War fan," Boon was all too eager to work out the details and spark a larger collaborative effort between both studios.





Capturing "the real Kratos"...