A lot of us God of War series fans will chew up whatever Cory Barlog news we can get hold of. It's just so hard not to be curious about what the master game maker is up to these days. In his latest interview with N'Gai Croal, Barlog seems ready to give us details on what his next project is. Read the full article and find out more about what the future holds for God of War 2's main man.

For some people, leaving a company is an opportunity to start anew and pursue certain things that had been relegated to the backseat for some time.

Such is the case with the God of War series game director Cory Barlog, who has some interesting plans for himself now that he has both the time and the freedom with which to carry them out. Find out more about where Barlog intends to go from here after the jump.

We all want to know what happens to Kratos next, and it seems that we're going to find out with God of War III on the Sony PlayStation 3. That's right, the existence of a next-gen sequel to the massively-popular series has been confirmed, but with a small hitch: Cory Barlog, the game director of God of War II, is leaving Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA). Does this mean that the sequel won't be as epic as its predecessors? We hope not.

Find out all the details in the full article.

If you're one of those wondering when the demo for one of the most highly-anticipated PSP titles of this generation,God of War: Chains of Olympus is coming out, then you'll be happy to know that the demo itself has recently gone gold. And the discs containing sweet, sweet God of War portable gaming joy are already en route to our mailboxes. Huzzah!

This news comes directly from Cory Barlog, Creative Director over for the game, through a post in the PlayStation US Blog. His entry, verbatim:

What is up God of War fans? Sorry for the long hiatus but things have been crazy here at Casa De Kratos…much to do. I thought I would come out of my somewhat self imposed media coma to let everyone know that the PSP demo discs are freaking done baby!!!

As I type these words, legions of carrier Harpies are being dispatched to deliver the sweet UMD goodness that is God of War: Chains of Olympus – Special edition: Battle of Attica Demo Disc…otherwise know as GOW: COO –SE:BoADD. Good god…that is a freaking mouthful, even typing this abbreviated version makes me tired.

God of War: Chains of Olympus – Special edition: Battle of Attica Demo Disc, FTW!Good things come to those who wait, and it's certainly the case for the oodles of PSP owners eagerly anticipating to step into Kratos' shoes once more. Updates as we get them!

 

And so be it. From the developers that foretold the "Future of the PSP," God of War: Chains of Olympus will be taking full advantage of the extra processing power they can squeeze out of the PSP, opening up an avenue for more high-powered games on Sony's handheld.

Previously, Ready at Dawn hoped that Sony would "bump up the CPU clock to 333 MHz" while giving them enough tools and engines to drown themselves in. Creating great games has been Ready at Dawn's specialty. From Daxter to Chains of Olympus, they've had toyed long enough on the PSP to know how it works, how to open up new opportunities and how to deliver incomparable graphics on a small, 16:9 profiled screen. Ready at Dawn Studios' Cory Barlog blogged:

Every time I see a new build I am more amazed with what we’re able to pull off with the PSP. I mean, 1080p on the PSP...who would have freaking thought??? Ok so that is wholly untrue, it does look amazing. I feel confident in saying that we (and when I say we, I mean Ready at Dawn since they are doing the bulk of the work) are nailing the look and feel of God of War for the PSP. If everything goes according to plan then this will be a must-have game in your PSP library.

Affirming what he previously stated, perhaps Chains of Olympus would definitely "melt Thompson's hard crunchy exterior" after a good five minutes of game time. Although these developments say a lot about what they've got prepared for the PSP version of God of War, Barlog claims that fans better wait for the game's unfolding at the upcoming E3 event.

The official PlayStation Blog has this series known as "Inside the Developers Studio". Basically, it's a Q&A portion featuring different developers and their upcoming video games. The series began today with Ready At Dawn's creative director Cory Barlog and the upcoming PSP title God of War: Chains of Olympus.

To be honest with you, we find the interview a bit disappointing as no new details were revealed. Not that we're complaining, but we're really looking forward to this especially with all the rumors concerning a PS3 version of God of War.

Barlog started things off by sharing that the Chains of Olympus is going to be the lone title they will display at E3. Speaking of which, the creative director shared that prior to this year's event, he has previously attended a total of seven E3 gatherings before.

Due to the change in format, he is considering this one as his seventh-and-a-half appearance. Barlog shared that aside from his own game, he is looking forward to seeing Bioshock! (PC and 360).

Quite interestingly, when asked to give one person he'd like to play Chains of Olympus for one hour, Cory Barlog answered, "Jack Thompson. I think after five minutes of playing the game, that hard crunchy exterior would melt away and reveal his candy coated liberal center".

A few days ago, a couple of mysterious job listings appeared for Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) teasing would-be applicants to join the coveted God of War development team. Last we look, Chains of Olympus is still with Ready at Dawn so I can't help but speculate that these slots are for the yet-to-be-confirmed PlayStation 3 version.

However, Cory Barlog immediately shoot down this speculation on a post he made in his blog. The game director argued that he would be one of the first people to know and tell about God of War 3, if the title indeed goes into development. He posted,

I would have to say that there isn't much truth to any of that. That is really the first I have heard of that. If we do get started on a God of War for PS3, you can be sure I will be screaming about it from the mountain tops the first chance I am allowed.

Concerning upcoming PSP-exclusive God of War: Chains of Olympus, Cory Barlog assured fans that development in general is going along nicely. The brilliant director wrote,

We have finished the story and gameplay outline as well as the rough level design overview. That is a huge freaking relief to have that all worked out... I also got to see some cool mechanics that have been in the prototype pipe for the last few weeks. Always good to see things that you can actually play with this early on.

Well, what more can we say but kudos to Mr. Barlog on the PSP version and that we still have our fingers crossed that Kratos will make it to the next-gen stage, soon.

This here is another video interview from the creators of God of War: Chains of Olympus. Now, it seems like this interview was conducted in the same venue as the one immediately preceding this. But although this is from the same event - Sony Gamers Day - we still don't mind hearing some more stuff from the brains behind Chains of Olympus, right?

Anyhow, this one has Cory Barlog in it, doing a solo round for this interview. Here he talks about the storyline of God of War for the PlayStation Portable, and the brilliant creative team behind it. He talked about the transitions they had to go through, coming from the PlayStation 2 to the PSP, and the certain adjustments in technology that they used.

Again, there's no denying that hint of pride in his face as he talks about his baby. As for us, we're just glad for all these updates on the game. At least we won't have to solve puzzles or go through some obstacle course just to get word on the action.

God of War: Chains of Olympus from Ready At Dawn is set around ten years prior to the original God of War. The Chains of Olympus subtitle is probably a most apt description because Kratos served the gods directly and didn't fight them during these times. It's really interesting to know why he eventually abandoned them.

Anyway, the video below is an interview with RAD Co-founder and GoW: Chains of Olympus director Ru Weerasuriya and creative director Cory Barlog. It was conducted during Sony Gamers' Day 07 and it is evident that the two are really excited about the project. They even said that they took some time off Daxter just to play God of War.

Plug in your headsets now and watch the full interview below. We are sure that you will get a lot of interesting stuff from the duo. God of War: Chains of Olympus is scheduled to be released sometime around the end of 2007.

 

The first (because we wish there'll be more) PSP title of the God of War franchise, God of War: Chains of Olympus is primarily developed by the folks at Ready at Dawn, with Cory Barlog at the helm as creative director.

Now before we go into details about the game, there are two things you need to know: First, the game is set before the first game and it's supposed to feature the 10 years in which Kratos wasn't fighting against the Gods. Second, they're really trying to give you the God of War that you loved on the PS2. With those two in mind, on to the stuff that the good mister Barlog said to those 1UP people.

On power level: Since this is set before the first game Barlog reassures that they're not going to try to stiff the player when it comes to power level. Of course, they're not going to put the player in a position where they're buffed up at the start as that leaves no room for progression.

On scope: Barlog reassures that this isn't a re-visioning. He reassures that this will be an epic expansion of the God of War universe on the PSP and not a "Paper Mario to Mario."

On online/Wi-Fi stuff: This is strictly a single player game, so no multiplayer shenanigans people. Interestingly though, Barlog didn't outright deny that it won't use features like Wi-Fi or GPS, instead when asked he said that they're not "ready" to talk about it right now. Hmmm. Curious.

The story and the setting: Cory noted that he felt a bit bummed that in God of War 2, people know where the story was headed before they got there, so this time they're a bit more protective of the story. However, this doesn't mean that we won't be seeing any hints and teasers in the near future. They reassure that they will be sharing some info on some enemies and some bosses.

On controls: in light of the fact that the PSP has a few missing buttons compared to the PS2 controller, Barlog reassures that they're trying to playtest the scheme they've got right now as much as they can. Control is something they're very cautious about.

On the snazzy stuff: They really can't reveal if stuff like rolls, Icarus Wings, the Pegasus, or even which specific magics and weapons will be in the new game. He does hint though that they're working on evading, and weapon and magic switching, so we've got a vague idea of what's definitely in.

For the complete interview, feel free to head to the 1UP article thorugh our "VIA" link below. Oh, and you can get an extra screen and some sweet artwork by clicking on "Full Article."