A series of screenshots and environmental assets from Agent, Rockstar Games’ as-yet unfinished PlayStation 3 espionage game have surfaced, providing a rare glimpse at the mysterious title.
The images show both individual buildings and fully constructed versions of a single level, set in vaguely desert-style town that features buildings with multiple stories, outdoor pathways, covered streets, and palm trees. They were published online by game designer Darron Charles Hatton, who claims to have worked on environmental art for Agent and Grand Theft Auto V while employed by Rockstar North from 2009 to 2010. According to his online portfolio, Hatton published the images because he’s “not sure if the game will ever be published.”
Though it’s unclear when the images were added, it’s possible Hatton updated his portfolio in the second half of this year; based on his resume, Hatton left 2K Australia, where he designed assets for Bioshock Infinite and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, among others, in April, 2015. Redditor Captainthump found and published the images on Reddit and imgur Monday.
Agent was shared by Rockstar Games as a PS3 exclusive at E3 2009. The game was/is a first-person shooter set during the Cold War in the late 1970s. According to a press release sent at that time, Agent was to be “a paranoid journey into the world of counter-intelligence, espionage and political assassinations.” Though Rockstar has long-since stopped talking about it, Rockstar never officially cancelled the game: Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive renewed their copyright for the game logo earlier this year.
Other bits and pieces about the game have slipped out in the last six years. Another artist published similar environment-centric images created for the game in 2011.
Though some may argue that the appearance of new images may signal a change in the game’s long-dormant development status, the appearance of such artwork is just as often a sign that the developer has moved on.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Imagine tapping a Zelda icon on your iPhone and jumping straight into Hyrule. A new open-source project called nxnative makes that possible by repackaging Switch games you’ve bought into apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with no emulator in the middle.
Why does this run so well on Apple devices?