From the outset of the console video game industry, one of the main goals has always been to produce a video game that feels like we’re “playing a movie.” The industry had never quite found a balance of playing and watching — as Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid games often prove — until Naughty Dog released their Uncharted series. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the Uncharted series is easily the closest the video game industry has come to creating a “playable movie.” This wasn’t lost on a certain redditor, morphinapg, who edited all three console Uncharted games into movies. Check them out after the break, and make sure you applaud morphinapg.

Need some sweet, sweet Nolan North as Nathan Drake before Uncharted 3′s launch on November 1? Aside from playing the first two Uncharted games again, the next best thing will be an official Uncharted novel, dubbed The Fourth Labyrinth, penned by Christopher Golden, who, judging from his website, has the uncanny ability to inhabit all benches at all times. Then, if both the novel and Uncharted 3 didn’t satisfy that Nathan Drake drug, November 30 sees the release of a six-issue comic book published by DC Comics, written bu Joshua Williamson, who isn’t as bench-oriented, with pencils by Sergio Sandovai.

The comic series will take place before both Uncharted 2 and 3, and

…will find Nathan Drake discovering that the legendary Amber Room was hidden by another great explorer, Sir Richard Byrd, where legend has it that many, many years ago, Byrd hid the Amber Room in the fabled Agartha (a legendary city that is said to reside in the earth’s core, often referred to as “The Hollow Earth”).

Looks like another legendary city for Nathan. So, while we won’t get Nolan North until November 1, we’ll at least get some official Uncharted fiction.

Variety is reporting that David O. Russell, the writer-director behind luggage-math movie Three Kings and the recent The Fighter, has left the movie adaptation of the beloved Uncharted video game franchise, most likely taking Mark Wahlberg with him. Variety cites “creative” differences with Sony as the reason why Russell left the project: As a big fan of the charming-but-technically-mass-murdering main character Nathan Drake, and not a fan of the canon-less vision Russell had for the movie, his leaving the project over creative differences is hilarious, because he wasn’t exactly knowledgable of even the most basic plot points of the franchise, nor did he possess any kind of common sense as related to casting.

Variety reports Russell and Sony parted ways amicably, which is good for the future of both entities, but most importantly, good for the future of the Uncharted movie. Russell is a fine director and writer, and Wahlberg is a fine actor (if you like his brand of confused-sounding acting, that is), but the pair reportedly planned on completely ignoring the canon, which would’ve been totally unnecessary in the case of Uncharted, since the game was practically built to be — and plays exactly like — a summer blockbuster movie in the first place. Maybe now Nathan Fillion has a shot of playing his virtual doppelganger, Nathan Drake.

Rejoice.

(Variety via Empire Online)

IGN: “Of all the video game movies, why was Uncharted the one for you?”

David O. Russell: “Because it’s centred around a family, and I like the combination of criminals and truth. These guys they’re tough but they’re working on this crazy case, and they can’t do it without truth. I think that’s cool.”

In an interview with IGN about the upcoming Uncharted movie, David O. Russell showcases what little knowledge he has regarding the franchise, the characters, and story. As of Uncharted 1 and 2, there is no focus whatsoever on main character Nathan Drake’s family, nor is there a focus on anyone in the supporting cast’s family. As far as we know, there is–quite literally–no one related to each other in either of the games. There have been slight murmurings that the upcoming Uncharted 3 may focus on some kind of familial relationship (or possible surprise twist) between Nathan and older partner-in-crime Sully, but my theory is Russell saw a screenshot or video or walked by his kid playing the game, noticed a young Nathan standing next to an older Sully, then immediately assumed the game was about father and son rogue artifact thieves. One might suggest that Russell is talking about “family,” the kind of metaphorical bond that isn’t defined by a literal blood relation, except it was previously stated that the movie will feature Nathan Drake’s literal father and uncle. Also, not one fan of the series would refer to Nathan’s adventures as “working on a case,” as Nathan is not a detective — he’s a treasure hunter and thief. Thieves work “jobs,” David O. Russell.

(IGN via Eurogamer)

A while back, it was a very sad day. Mark Wahlberg took it upon himself to announce a few adaptation-murdering details regarding the Uncharted movie, which included himself cast as the lead of Nathan Drake, and the addition of Nathan’s father and uncle, who haven’t even made an appearance in the video game series (so far, not counting the theory that Sully, Nathan’s older partner-in-crime, is related to Nathan in some way). Well, it turns out there’s been a few developments regarding what once seemed to be concrete details, in that, thankfully, said details may not be so concrete, including a video of a fan personally petitioning David O. Russell, the film’s director, to nix Mark Wahlberg in place of Nathan Fillion. Read on past the break for details that might make you feel a bit better about the fate of Nathan Drake’s Hollywood appearance.

The first trailer for the next installment in Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, dropped tonight at the Spike Video Game Awards. The Spike VGAs may embarrass many of us gamers, but it’s becoming more difficult to dismiss the award show when it graces us with world premiere trailers for series as incredible as Uncharted.

The trailer comes with an added bonus: A release date! November 1, 2011 can’t come soon enough.

(Spike Video Game Awards via GameTrailers)

We knew Nathan Fillion barely had a chance to be cast as Nathan Drake in the upcoming film adaptation of the stellar Uncharted video game series, even more so when David O. Russell was said to be the writer and director due to his penchant for Mark Wahlberg movies. Well, over on MTV Multiplayer, Mark Wahlberg confirmed that he’ll be playing Nathan Drake in the Uncharted film, showing that, once again, Hollywood doesn’t know what it’s doing regarding beloved video game franchises and obvious casting.

Read on...