NICO (aka ICO 2)

[SeraphSword]

Just read an article in Game Informer saying this might be out as early as the end of this year. Anyone else excited about that, or am I the only one who played ICO?

[Aerythes]

I think you have a friend in I.was.ink >:D

[Spacey]

I hope my dreams don't get shattered. If this is true, I think i'd be more excited to get this than Half-Life 2. ICO was pure genius and if they follow the tried and true method of not fixing whats not broken, then NICO should be gold as well. They better not ship anything less than perfect or blood will flow through the streets.

[Aerythes]

I just thought of something. Since "Ico" is the name of the lead in the first game, if they follow tradition, then the name of the second lead should be "Nico". A girl?? This time, it's a gal pulling a pale and strange boy around? :0

[SeraphSword]

I just thought of something. Since "Ico" is the name of the lead in the first game, if they follow tradition, then the name of the second lead should be "Nico". A girl?? This time, it's a gal pulling a pale and strange boy around? :0

LOL.
If I recall correctly, the rumors of a sequel initially started when the developers put out an ad to recruit, and used a picture with 2 or 3 kids with horns. So maybe there's multiple ICOs running around.

[Sammy]

If it's half as good as the first, it will kick major ass!

ICO is still, imho, PS2's best visuals.

From what I've heard, The horses moreso play the 'princess' role this time. And it's rumored they're actually controlable on occasion.
This image was actually done about 3 months after the first game came out over here... who knows what they're up to now.
http://www.tokyopia.com/media/scans/ico-wide.jpg

[I.was.ink]

HORRAY FOR NICO!

Im a huge ico fan. I just recently bought the game( I always played my friends copy until now) and I love every moment of it. I even bought the players guide cuz I want to examine every little detail of that game. One of my goals is to create my own icoesque world. There's something soooo beautiful about the ico universe, its sooo quiet its beautiful. Anyways.....Im damn excited about the game and I hope they do the first Ico justice! :D

btw, did you guys know that besides using the swords, theres this hidden puzzle where you get a mase? It's pretty rad...cuz enemies are a synchy to kill once you get it.

ink

[Sammy]

I haven't been able to find a copy for import... but in the Japanese version of ICO a 2nd player can control the princess, there are translations for the princess, and after the credits both the characters eat some watermellons on the beach : D

I hope the 2nd one follows the 'less is more' philosophy... Ico was so convincing with atmosphere, story, character, environment, etc. 'cause they didn't over-do it to the point of obserdity like most games do.

[michael bolenski]

ico is one of my all time favorite games. It's sad that the only people who bought it . are the ones Im replying to.

[I.was.ink]

hey sammy, do you have any other hard to find ICO pics? That one you showed us looks great! <3

ink

[Sammy]

Here's the kick-ass cover of the Japanese version... it completely spooges on the face of the crappy US cover-art...

If we only had taste over here in the states :er:

http://coco.raceme.org/videogames/ico/images/ico_cover.jpg

if only I could read Japanese I could enjoy the ICO.net (http://www.i-c-o.net)

[Sammy]

OOOOOOOO COOOL!

http://66.197.215.89/~sammyha/onlineforums/icomap.jpg

best damn environment of any game... That castle was more of a character than most games can hope to acheive with their leading 'heroes'.

[I.was.ink]

OOOOOOOO COOOL!

best damn environment of any game... That castle was more of a character than most games can hope to acheive with their leading 'heroes'.


you said it sammy! Thx for the pics! :D

[Sammy]

OH HELLS YEA!!!

http://66.197.215.89/~sammyha/onlineforums/wanda-and-colossus-20040910051758143.jpg

more here:
Wanda and Colossus (http://ps2.ign.com/articles/546/546753p1.html)

Apparently new levels pose themselves as new giant creatures you have to defeate... puzzles involve crawling up the creatures, and when weakspots are struck the giants' anatomy can change altering the 'mazes'
I'd like to see how they work the horse into this, 'cause apparently there's HUGE fields to traverse.

[Aerythes]

So it's not an ICO seuqel after all. (No more Yorda, boohoo :grandpa: )
But the giant "robots" are pretty cool, heh

David (with horse) vs Goliath
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/Aerythes/wanda-and-colossus-20040910052641531.jpg

[Sammy]

I will indeed miss Yorda, our little vision in white with 'take advantage of me' wirtten all the fuck over her...

but the horsey is a good freeby tho! and can probobly make longer jumps.

[tyboogie]

ingenuity is fuN! cant wait for this game

ty

[Sammy]

Holy shit!
Check out the new screens and videos!

I haven't seen art direction this good since Panzer Dragoon..

http://media.ps2.ign.com/media/490/490849/imgs_1.html?ui=gamefinder

[RETEP]

i am a huge fan of ico. and this game looks like a worthy successor of the masterpiece ico (if it is a sequal). those trailers were beautiful sammy, so serene :confident
thanks for the link

[davi]

i think i'll buy ico this week
i only played the demo disc of it along time ago.

[nardfrog]

nico isnt ico two, just very similar. thats what i read anyway.

[Scubasteve]

I hope you guys don't mind me pasting a little Ico fan art here.

And I thought I was the only one that loved this game. I still break it out and play it every once in a while...


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/Sc00ba/Steves/ICOFLATW-text.jpg

[Sammy]

*bump*

This game is shaping up more and more as the real deal.

The official name, as far as European release goes, is "Shadow of the Colossus" --- Pretty ok in my book, I don't know how well "Wanda and Colossus" would've gone.

The new GameInformer has a great article on one of the battles --- as we know now, each level is an actual boss fight with the 'colossus' offering its share of puzzels ... all this interaction, as you depend on your horse NPC.

Very inspiring, the level of scale is insane ... The creatures are so pretty, it's gonna be sad to take 'em down :[
Hopefully their next title will give you the chance to care and nurture one, rather than going straight for it's jugular. :nerd:
http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/underatedgames/wanda1.jpg

http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/underatedgames/wanda2.jpg


http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/underatedgames/wanda3.jpg

[Sammy]

Also guys,

here's an alternate printout cover art for your copies of 'ICO' ... you know... to cover up that terrible terrible clip-art bad NorthAmerican cover :x :x :x

found it on google a while back, printed it out and it fits nicely, it's no longer online so I'll attach it.
Download whilst ya can!! : P
\/ \/ \/
...less is more... (http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/underatedgames/ico-jp-cover.jpg)

[I.was.ink]

Allright Sammy!
Thx for the update. I always look forward to them.:)
-ink

[oracrest]

Hey, notice how that giant Grass stone dog thing has one horn intact, one horn broken? Remind you of anyone?

EDIT: err, nevermind, just looking at the game art, and the little boy from Ico has two horns. I always thought it was one broken. Oh well. I thought they might be making a nod to the first game there for a sec.

[oracrest]

man, I just played through Ico again for the second time. It was a while since I played it last, so all the puzzles were a little tricky cause i had to resolve them. I forgot just how delicious this game is. If anyone reading this hasn't played it yet, and you like games, this is one of the best for ps2 no doubt. It sucks that it has attained only "cult" status, cause to the average gamer who hasnt yet played, "cult" usually means "not good, but not bad" It manages to capture things in games that others simply fail in. A solid dichotomy between the characters, and subtlties that really give each character a lot of, well, character. At the price, its probably the best ps2 game you can buy in my opinion.

Im also glad that they chose to do shadow of the collosus rather than an Ico 2. Ico seems like one of those games that works best as a standalone piece of art. Collosus looks to be shaping up to be something just as innovative in it's own right.

Heh, the middle schooler in me had to surface for a giggle at little parts like this. Accidents the designers never concieved of:
http://www.modelforge.com/misc/icofun02.jpg
http://www.modelforge.com/misc/icofun03.jpg
http://www.modelforge.com/misc/icofun04.jpg

[Sammy]

LOL /\ /\ /\

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO YORDA?! OUR VISION IN WHITE!



I'm happy to that there isn't a direct sequel to ICO, it's something that just needed to be a unique experience.
But I do hope that Colossus, takes place in the ICO universe and ties many of the concept together ... even if it is blurry nods at the first game.

[oracrest]

Fumito Ueda. Hes the designer of ICO. Heres some interesting interviews I found online with him:

http://www.kikizo.com/viewer/vidview_games_fast.asp?games/ico2_videointerview/kikizo_scei_ico2_interview_956kbps.wmv
http://www.teamps2.com/teamps2/ip_ico_fumito.html
http://terror.snm-hgkz.ch/mirrors/www.thegia.com/mirror/features/f010831.html

[Sammy]

/\ /\ /\

really awesome and really inspiring...

I like the concept of a buncha guys puting together what they think is awesome -- what they know is awesome and not thinking to much about how well it will sell.

They're really depending on cult-audiences like us to keep it up and running'

[Sammy]

http://games.kikizo.com/features/shadowofthecolossus_interview_march05.asp

Trailer 3 is the new one -- looks good :P

[bRyaN]

Any US date in sight?

[SeraphSword]

Any US date in sight?

GameSpy says Sept. 30th.

[Sammy]

Hit stream for free in link (http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/adventure/wandaandthecolossus/preview_6123309.html?gcst=shadowcol_di_ps22_042905 .asx&tag=gs_hp_flashtop_media)

Download the intro .... My.God. this game just looks stunning --- It's all in realtime too.

It's shaping up to be the most epic game I've ever seen ... I can't belive that there are 16 different Colossuss creatures throughout the adventure...

E3 can't come soon enough.

[Hybridstar]

Im lost for words, literally. Ico was one of the most memorable and fulfilling games ive ever played, its atmopshere, stylisation and above all its sense of scale. The scale has been pushed even further here and its looks fabulous, and what a stunning soundtrack. I want it, NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sammy]

Back from E3:

'Shadow of Collosus' was, in my opinion, THE best game demoed playable at E3 ---- hands down...

I think I went back a good 10 times to play it --- simply amazing, and they're putting the demo together for a pre-order to take home in a few months.

a very good thing to was the lines and crowds of people that were in awe of it --- other people outside of ICO inthusiests loved what they were seeing.

there's some polish that needs to be made in the realtime intro, like some clipping - and the framerate is about on par with ICO (30fps -- but should be more for such an action based game)

But the drama in the art direction was all there --- riding on the horse in the huge open landscape was breathtaking as the camera would zoom down towards the horses left side (rather than a traditional boring gameplay angle) ---- when you hold your sword in the air, a beam is reflected from the sun and aids you in the direction towards the collosus.

The collosus demoed was said to be 'medium sized' --- and there were many many options in climbing him. I tried a few times to crawl up his arm from his weapon after he would slamm it into the ground.

[0kelvin]

Thanks for the report! That's great to hear.

Man, I can't wait!



0kelvin

[one2hit]

ICO is one of my all time favorite games. The way they managed to tell the story with little or no dialog was great. The game was going sweet until about 3/4ths of the way where you think you're going to escape but the queen stomps on your shit and you fall down into the caves...that's when it gets awesome! man...you get that sword and you face off with the queen...that last boss battle was one of the most conservered and tasteful game battles I've ever played. Wasn't flashy, wasn't complex, it wasn't even violent, if she turned you to stone it was over. hehe, I really wish I could play wanda, but I no longer has a PS2....or tv :\

[Conchobhar]

http://www.yukihime.com/board/wandausbox.jpg

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. I haven't played Ico, yet. I plan to before Colossus comes out, because it looks so gorgeous.

[Scubasteve]

Dang, what happened On2hit? You get robbed or something. I'm looking forward to this title more then any other for the Ps2. I love Ico and its the only linear game I ever pick up and play periodically. ITs brillant. Its good to hear that Wanda is getting alot of attention, hopefully these guys will get the kudos they deserve this time around. I think the lighting played a big part in the look and feel of Ico, does Wanda have a simlar lighting effect. It looked like it did, I was also wondering if the textures were hi-res this time around, they were low last time. Not a huge issue, but was wondering.