By John Walker on August 23rd, 2012 at 10:00 am.
It’s one of the most anticipated blog posts in internet history. Now, in a one-part series, get an inside look at the creation of a blog post about a making of trailer for Assassin’s Creed III. Inside the process that’s behind one of the most exciting articles ever written. Inside the technical breakthroughs that made it all possible. And inside the mind of John Walker, one of the greatest games journalists ever to have lived.
“I just sit in front of the keyboard, and the genius falls out.”
This is, Inside A Post About Assassin’s Creed III.
Thursday morning, 9.25am, legendary games journalist John Walker looks at the schedule and sees there’s a space that needs filling at 10am. But what to do?
“Guys, there’s a space that needs filling at 10am. But what to do?”
The team scrambles into action. “I dunno, have you checked the email?” mumbles Jim Rossignol, carefully concealing his panic. “Sorry, what?” says Adam Smith, abandoning his extreme concentration and lifting his head from his desk. Alec Meer stirs, as Nathan sits thousands of miles away, knowing something is wrong. The team is in full action.
“The 10am slot is an incredibly pivotal time for gaming websites,” explains game blog historian, Simon Underpreach. “Making a mistake here can leave a site in dire straits until 10.30.”
“The right man for this is definitely John Walker,” says former RPS staff writer Kieron Gillen. “No one could do a better job than him – he’s the best in the business, and the only man we can trust to put up a video in the morning. And he’s an amazing healer.”
“The fascinating thing for me,” explains Walker, “is that I just paste the embed code and it all happens.”
“Then,” contributes Professor Anthony Stretchtree of Middlesupperborough University, “Walker just blends into the background.”
23/08/2012 at 10:06 Lazaruso says:
I don’t know why or how but I feel insulted by this article that you forced me to read.
*curls up in a ball and cries*
23/08/2012 at 10:07 oWn4g3 says:
I wish John was hidden in the last photo as some kind of easter egg. Instead you give us a random AC3 screenshot :/
23/08/2012 at 12:05 westyfield says:
Isn’t that him just over Altair’s right shoulder?
23/08/2012 at 10:10 methodology says:
something naughty is going on at 1:18 of the video
23/08/2012 at 10:11 John Walker says:
My best theory is that he’s sticking his middle fingers up at his own game.
23/08/2012 at 10:29 kregg says:
I’d say they’ve censored a game controller because Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo has forbidden them from showing them the controller.
In the Indie Game: The Movie commentary, Tommy mentions he had to hide the Wii controller behind his PC/Xbox(?) because Nintendo wouldn’t allow the controller to be seen.
I can’t remember how this is enforced though, and I can be completely wrong about this :/
23/08/2012 at 19:00 Adventurous Putty says:
Clearly his fists are giant penises.
23/08/2012 at 10:10 lordcooper says:
Best cosplay ever!
23/08/2012 at 10:34 McDan says:
It’s a cosplay? It looked so good I thought it was an actual outfit for the new guy.
23/08/2012 at 10:11 fishmitten says:
We need a teaser trailer for this blog post.
23/08/2012 at 10:20 TNG says:
Before that we need an announcement for the announcement of the teaser trailer for this blog post… That would happen at the end of a countdown starting at an arbitrary time.
23/08/2012 at 10:28 RaveTurned says:
Maybe fishmitten’s comment is the seed of the prelude to the ARG leading to the arbitrary countdown for the announcement for the announcement of the teaser trailer for the *next* exclusive behind-the-scenes RPS blog post.
23/08/2012 at 10:14 RaveTurned says:
This post is RPS Gold. Or at least well polished brass.
23/08/2012 at 10:37 McDan says:
Definetely Brass, it’s more RPS than gold. Also this is truly one if the bests posts for a long time, other sites can keep their seriousness and other rubbish, I’ll stay with the (only mostly) awful jokes and amazing people of RPS.
23/08/2012 at 12:33 Ross Angus says:
Amen.
23/08/2012 at 10:16 onebitbeyond says:
I’m presuming that this is a response to the Polygon documentary?
http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/8/21/3245100/polygon-press-reset-teaser-trailer
Inspired, if so.
23/08/2012 at 10:17 John Walker says:
It’s not! It’s really not. Just the video I was posting.
23/08/2012 at 11:41 Caiman says:
I’d say it was the best possible response to how ridiculous that video actually sounds.
23/08/2012 at 12:08 mondomau says:
Good grief. And the way the loyal fanbase descend on those that question the monumental narcissism displayed is terrifying.
23/08/2012 at 12:56 woodsey says:
Worse, I checked some of the writers’ Twitter feeds to see their reaction to all the uh… interest, and it was pretty much ‘Hater’s Gonna Hate’. So that’s a good precedent being set.
Still, I might have to watch just to know why someone is taking (as the trailer paints it) the ultra-dangerous move of moving house when they’re writing for a website and could just stay where they’re living.
23/08/2012 at 10:17 Matt-R says:
Ahh third screenshot shows they’ve made the character blend in better with the world I see, silly white eagle robe was silly.
23/08/2012 at 10:25 Nemon says:
I loved wars back then when everyone waited for their turn.
23/08/2012 at 10:31 oWn4g3 says:
Not everyone!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAHTKyVJv8k
23/08/2012 at 10:26 DanPryce says:
What goes through the mind of a man contemplating commenting on an RPS article? This shocking interview with Dan Pryce reveals how he decided to show the world his reaction to the Inside Assassin’s Creed III Episode 1 video.
“The hardest part is suppressing your kneejerk reaction” Pryce says, furrowing his brow and scratching the back of his neck. He’s a man who’s clearly lashed out with one before. “My instant impression of the video is an overwhelming apathy. I’ve played a few Assassin’s Creed games before, sure, but they’ve never been my favourites. Why do I care?”
You would think that not caring about the game would preclude the posting of a comment on the video, but Pryce insists that relevance is not the restriction it once was. “In the past you’d get chastised for being off-topic, but on RPS almost anything goes. Why, as long as you can make even the most tenuous of links to something, you can usually get away with making any kind of comment you like. I could easily respond with a pun – I was toying with something along the lines of “I’ll be watching this like a tomahawk” – but I think I’m going to go with a meta-narrative parody of the original post.
Time will tell if the post goes down in RPS history as one of the most incisive things ever written, or as a huge waste of time.
23/08/2012 at 10:30 RaveTurned says:
TL;DR ;)
23/08/2012 at 11:38 noom says:
This comment by Dan Pryce has re-defined posting as we know it. Who knows where his future commentary will take us?
Tomorrow is happening today.
23/08/2012 at 11:41 hamburger_cheesedoodle says:
Maybe the hivemind isn’t showing you any love, but I think this is just fabulous. ^___________________^
23/08/2012 at 13:04 DrScuttles says:
Dan Pryce is a new kind of commenter, built on new commenting, backed by a new kind of commentary. Its writer hopes that the new words driving it will turn web commentary on its ear. Its backers, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, hope their comment threads will wake up the web to the possibilities of passionate voices creating quality comments. Its readers, some of the most accomplished pun threaders working in the medium, hope it will broaden the possibilities for video game media opining, bringing new eyes and attention to an industry on the cusp of a revolution.
More than that, though, they all simply hope it will work.
23/08/2012 at 10:26 Miltrivd says:
I’m glad RPS, by John’s miraculous hand, tried has hard as possible to make the article as silly as the video.
23/08/2012 at 10:26 kregg says:
But John !!! DId you defeat the Russians???!?!
I am amaze !
23/08/2012 at 10:36 Shantara says:
I liked the part where you posted embed video.
23/08/2012 at 10:51 Milky1985 says:
I’m just impressed they showed something other than a redcoat getting killed in a trailer.
Admittidly 3 of them compared to the 100 or so redcoats dying but its getting closer to the grey area they promised :P
(I know its all for marketing to teh american audience, since you can’t have americans being killed unless they are rogue generals or special ops squads, but it does specifically say UK version of the trailer so that shouldn’t matter ! And before you shout “brits were the bad guys” , yes the brits were kinda dicks back in those times. History is writen by the victors but ubi have said its a grey area story and in ass creed lore certain founding fathers ARE the bad guys. Ubisoft would never lie about anythign would they, i mean they are always truthful on release dates and drm/piracy numbers!)
23/08/2012 at 17:36 dsch says:
NURNHHH redcoat freedom king tyranny—OMG taxation without representation—we gonna have a HOUSE dedicated to REPRESENTATION—oh yeah we didn’t think our rhetoric about tyranny is going to give nutters the excuse to bear arms. Also we don’t like your tea.
23/08/2012 at 10:55 Tom Walker says:
I have to say, the Ubisoft researchers have really dropped the ball on this one. American traders didn’t start wearing khakis and bright blue blankets on their heads until around the time of the civil war.
23/08/2012 at 11:12 marbled says:
I can’t wait for the “Making a Masterpiece” video about the creation of an RPS post that hasn’t been released yet.
23/08/2012 at 11:15 Keymonk says:
Well, that was certainly a modest video.
23/08/2012 at 12:01 Screamer says:
Ja well, best of luck to them, but calling it a “Masterpiece” already seems a bit presumptuous :/
23/08/2012 at 11:15 Donkeyfumbler says:
I’m confused.
That video looks like a mockumentary, it sounds like a mockumentary but I have a horrible feeling the people making it actually didn’t do it as a joke. I watched it expecting someone to pop up at any point and say ‘Nah, only jesting – no-one takes a game this seriously – just imagine how far up your own arse you’d have to be to do that!’ but no-one does.
God help us all.
23/08/2012 at 13:22 Skyhigh says:
Always remember: “If George Washington would have had Connor on his team, he would not have needed many other people.”
23/08/2012 at 11:25 mechabuddha says:
I’m sorry, Ubisoft, but I had to stop watching this fairly quickly. The title of the episode, “Making a Masterpiece,” well, speaks for itself. This was immediately followed by a guy talking about how people don’t realize how difficult it is to make a game with the “level of quality and scope that we have.” With a clip of deer mysteriously hovering over snow while running. I don’t hate Assassin’s Creed, and I am looking forward to when it is released. But this video is a little silly.
23/08/2012 at 12:00 MeestaNob says:
I demand an Article of Investigative Journalism +2 about the blurry hands at 1:18.
THE PUBLIC MUST KNOW.
23/08/2012 at 12:51 tigershuffle says:
Thank you. The Internet is poorly at work so I’m usin telephonicular device. Saved me reading The Daily Mash for lunchtime giggles :)
23/08/2012 at 13:12 Bluerps says:
I’m not particularly interested in the game, but this article made me laugh. :)
23/08/2012 at 13:12 sonofsanta says:
That dressing gown looks very comfy. Warm and fluffy, but light and airy at the same time. Like it’d keep you warm in winter and cool in summer.
Having never seen such a glorious garment available for purchase before, I can only assume they are a kind of writer’s uniform made available upon the publication of your first professional work.
23/08/2012 at 13:30 TsunamiWombat says:
I think it’s a snuggie
23/08/2012 at 13:17 Skyhigh says:
Assassin’s Creed III: Now with the legendary DeathWalker.
23/08/2012 at 14:05 Skabooga says:
Well, this is one way of getting me to read trailer posts.
23/08/2012 at 17:18 WantOn says:
I love you John Walker. In a manly ‘grr’ way.
Between this post and the review of Expendables 2 the other day, are many of the reasons why I keep coming back here.
PS Please keep reviewing shit games; you were amazing at it back in the days of PCG and still are.
23/08/2012 at 18:23 geldonyetich says:
“I was there when it happened.” reflected RPS frequenter Geldon, “It was incredible, like, I don’t know, watching someone give birth or something.”
He paused. “But men don’t give birth…”
His eyes widened as he said again, in awe, “Incredible.”
He drummed his fingers on his desk for a moment and added, “I think there was a Ubisoft video, too.”
23/08/2012 at 18:57 lihai says:
http://is.gd/PFQQs4
23/08/2012 at 19:05 aurens says:
i do not approve. such a light-hearted and irreverent take on one of the most important events in world history is not appropriate. the sacrifices those people made for what they believe in deserve sanctity.
i mean come on, this is assassin’s creed 3 for god’s sake. show some respect!