An epic tale about The Last Guardian

In the early part of September, 2010, Sony confirmed that The Last Guardian would be making an appearance at the Tokyo Game Show. Not only that, but Ueda-san would be on hand to discuss the progress of the game. This was big news. Everyone had started to think the game would never see the light of day, with its previous public outing a year prior at TGS 2009. But it was alive! The gaming population the world over rejoiced at the prospect of the next game from the team behind the glorious Shadow of the Colossus and Ico finally becoming something we could imagine owning.

Still, excitement in the VideoGamer office soon turned to the usual air of scepticism. Sure, The Last Guardian wasn’t dead, but when would it actually release? The evidence below suggests we were all far more positive than we should have been.

What followed is perhaps the greatest piece of The Last Guardian history that still exists to this day. In what can only be called a moment of inspired genius, I decided to run an office sweepstake on when The Last Guardian would finally be released. After deciding to focus on the US release date (because in the UK we still got games later from time to time) I announced the competition to my packed office (back in 2010 seven of us worked out of a living room inside a rather lovely, large detached house within walking distance of East Croydon Station (not sure how we managed that).

Excitement about the contest was tangible (side note: former VideoGamer ad sales man, Chris Thomas, now at Twich, used to love saying “tangibly”), and I hadn’t even announced the prize for the winner. I would buy a 500ml soft drink for whoever picked date closest to The Last Guardian’s release date. That drink could include Frijj milkshakes but not energy drinks. I think that was fair, but some might call it ‘tight’ or worst still, ‘Scrooge-like’.

Guesses then started to come in. If you’re new to VideoGamer you might not recognise all these names, but rest assured that they were all brilliant, apart from Jamin. Up first was Martin Gaston (now swanning about doing I don’t know what exactly, but I believe he calls himself a consultant, and runs a lot), going with Christmas 2012. I instantly clocked that people would try to get away with vague terms that cover broad stretches of time, so pressed him for a more specific date period, with Gaston (no relation to the character from Beauty and the Beast) settling on November and December 2012. Pessimistic I thought.

Little known Orry twin, James, followed. “March/April 2012” he said with all the confidence of an England penalty taker. I felt like the Orry name had been besmirched, but let it go, knowing he’d never win the bet. I chimed in next, working from a fountain of knowledge and industry insight, delivering a guess of August/September 2011. That was a year from TGS 2010, so I felt pretty confident the game would hit around then. Little did I know that I, for once, would be the gleefully optimistic one.

You might not believe me, but we used to have a writer/presenter/actor called Neon. After hiring him a few years earlier to this event (the interview took place in a local pub), we all walked back to our then penthouse office/home in the Ovaltine building in Hertfordshire, buying ice creams on the way. It was a simpler time. Anyway. Neon decided to go for somewhere in the middle of the guesses, opting for October/November 2011. Incidentally, Neon can be seen as an extra in the recently released Netflix drama, The Crown.

Next came the aforementioned Jamin, a young man I liked before his head got turned by the world of video game PR. Although it’s fitting he ended up at Square Enix considering his Final Fantasy style hair. Guesses were getting a bit tactical now, so he slotted himself in with September/October 2011. I can at least take joy in the fact he didn’t win. Unlucky, Jamin. Emily took her turn next. I can’t remember exactly what happened but I’m assuming she consulted with her lovely dog, Zoli, before offering up October/November 2011. Emily later went to work for Polygon, a site who, unknown to us at the time, would become an enemy of VideoGamer for no real reason (as far as we know they have no beef with us).

Finally came Tom Pearson, a man impossible to dislike, but also a man whose bizarre thoughts constantly brought his continued survival into question. This was chronicled in a not at all mean Twitter account that detailed all his most famous sayings (seriously, check it out. It’s amazing!). Tom P chose what he said at the time was a date different to everyone else’s guesses, but he had in fact picked the exact same November/December release window as Neon. Well done Tom!

The old editorial office used to have small hatch that let the advertising and dev team see through. They liked pretending to be one of us, as we were more fun and did all the cool stuff. They did have those trays of sand (I’ve since been told these are called Zen Gardens), though, so it probably wasn’t as clear cut as I thought. Anyway, former VideoGamer ad sales man (he of ‘tangibly’ fame) Chris Thomas could have been in Busted had his life taken a slightly different turn, but at this point in time he was trying to get in on our Last Guardian action. I allowed it, and he guessed August/September 2011. The same, doomed to failure, guess as me.

I don’t really know what the point of all this is, other than to show just how long we’ve been waiting for this game. At one point, at least in September 2010, The Last Guardian seemed close. How wrong we (and especially me and Chris) were.

And Martin, I owe you a 500ml drink. Just stay clear of the Red Bull. I’m not made of money.