LADYDRAGON.COM - Ratchet & Clank

Wednesday May 01, 2002

Ratchet & Clank(TM) Revolutionizes the Action-Platform Genre Sony Computer Entertainment America Unveils Groundbreaking Title Developed Exclusively for the PlayStation(R)2 Computer Entertainment System

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced today the winter 2002 release of Ratchet & Clank(TM), an innovative action-platform game created exclusively for the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system. Developed by Insomniac Games, the creators of the highly acclaimed and best-selling Spyro the Dragon(TM) series, Ratchet & Clank reinvents the action category, blending action-platform, exploration, adventure, puzzle-solving, strategy and racing genres, and fuses these elements into a creatively original, sci-fi fantasy.

Delivering exhilarating gameplay mechanics, unique character designs, enormous environments, where it is possible to blow up everything that stands in your way, brilliant graphics, an engaging storyline and an arsenal of the coolest weapons and high-tech gadgets ever seen in an action-platform game, Ratchet & Clank provides players with an immersive experience that demonstrates superb technological advancements and highlights the previously untapped power of PlayStation 2.

Insomniac Games advanced to the forefront of the videogame industry in 1998 with the successful introduction of Spyro the Dragon on the original PlayStation. The developer extended the franchise with Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage(TM) in 1999 and the critically acclaimed Spyro: Year of the Dragon(TM) the following year. The highly rated titles have sold nearly six million units collectively in North America, and have broken sales records across the globe.

Since the release of Spyro: Year of the Dragon, the entire Insomniac team has been developing new content for PlayStation 2. The team's first new venture on the system, Ratchet and Clank, is an intergalactic, weapons-based action-adventure game, featuring the dynamic pair, Ratchet -- a young, self-taught mechanic who has a knack for building and repairing things -- and Clank, a diminutive but brainy robot.

Insomniac's talented team of more than 30 designers, programmers, artists, animators, including Mark Cerny of Cerny Games, have created a truly unique, genre-breaking title that incorporates brilliantly designed characters with unique gameplay elements -- including an economic system that enables the player to purchase more than 35 different gadgets and weapons. The game is set within a world of enormous, breathtaking vistas filled with life, movement, energy and full interaction, showcasing the extraordinary potential of the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system's third-generation software.

"We are delighted to have the highly talented team at Insomniac Games on board to create engaging content exclusively for PlayStation 2," said Ami Blaire, director, product marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. "Ratchet and Clank clearly demonstrates that we are only just scratching the surface of the technological power of PlayStation 2. This time around, the limits are no longer with the technology but with the imagination and abilities of the development team. This holiday season will elevate the talented developers from the fray, with Insomniac leading the pack."

Set in a futuristic world filled with spaceships, robots and high-tech gadgets, Ratchet and Clank moves from planet to planet across a vast solar system. Ratchet lives on an abandoned backwater planet and dreams of someday striking out on a magnificent space adventure. Closer to the center of the galaxy, Chairman Drek rules a polluted planet, Orxon, inhabited by an ugly race called the Blarg. He too has dreams, but his concern is conquest and domination.

Tired of his polluted world, Chairman Drek comes up with the ultimate solution -- to build a new planet using the best parts from many of the other worlds in the galaxy. If he can't convince the inhabitants to part with a few thousand hectares of their worlds, the army of robots and Blarg warriors can eliminate any resistance.

In one of the factories creating Chairman Drek's evil armies, a computer glitch creates a small but smart robot -- Clank. Learning about the Chairman Drek's plans, Clank flees the factory seeking help, but his ship is shot down over Ratchet's homeworld. Forced together by circumstance, Ratchet and Clank blast off from planet to planet through an extraordinary sci-fi universe.

The unlikely pals encounter imaginative characters, acquire a plethora of weapons and gadgets, and blow up everything in their path, as they uncover more of the Chairman Drek's plan.

The independent Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has not yet rated Ratchet and Clank.

About Insomniac Games

Insomniac Games develops cutting-edge technology, graphics and gameplay for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system. Additional information can be found on the company's web site at http://www.insomniacgames.com.