PS3 Fanboy

We teamed up with Joystiq's Chris Grant in a lengthy interview with Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida (full interview to come later in the week). One of the random details we stumbled upon was the fate of the long-forgotten PSN episodic title, Rat Race. He admitted earnestly: "So, yeah, we stopped it. We really liked the concept; it's like The Office TV series. It was kind of funny but we were not quite happy with how the game was turning out and there was some difficulty in development."

Remember the first footage of the game? Well, it wasn't too inspiring. Honestly, this isn't one we're going to regret losing.

The upcoming Rat Race surprised everyone when it was announced a few weeks ago. Now, Greg Easley and the rest of the Rat Race team must figure out the finer points of comedy, as they venture into new, unknown territory. See our exclusive interview below.

The game is currently announced for PS3. Do you intend on keeping it a PS3 exclusive, or will it appear on XBLA as well?
Rat Race is a first-party Sony title and will remain a PS3 exclusive.

What was the inspiration for an episodic comedy game?
Back when we were a tiny startup, a friend of the company suggested we avoid traditional genres and set our sights on making a totally original game. Knowing what our engine could do, he suggested setting the game in an office and incorporating over-the-top comedy. It didn't take long to figure out nearly everyone on the planet has funny and outrageous office stories to tell. (Don't you? Admit it!) We realized that with material this rich we should just go for it.

Rat Race, the newly revealed episodic game exclusive for the PSN, certainly has some potential. The trailer above, however, doesn't exactly fill us with confidence. Whilst watching it we had vague flashbacks to The Sims 2. Despite that, we're excited about episodic gaming coming to the PSN. That's real episodic gaming, by the way. Not Valve-style episodic.

As far as we know, no gameplay details for Rat Race have really been divulged. Until we learn more we're going to reserve judgment. How about you?

Nope, this isn't the announcement of the long-awaited Seth Green movie tie-in. This Rat Race is a completely different monster, slated to hit the PSN exclusively at some point in the near future. The game is being hailed as a comedy/adventure title, pulling voice talent from places like South Park, Ugly Betty, Flight of the Conchords, and more. Basically, the voice talent alone will make this game worth a second look. But what's it play like?

Behold: a dysfunctional office. This is your base of operations, so to speak. The office and happenings therein would "make the Enron guys look like Nobel Prize laureates" and that's always a good start. A list of colorful characters is described at the PlayStation Blog, but that's not what we're looking for right now. The goal of the game is to make you feel like you're "playing a role" in an episode of your favorite TV show. There's more than snappy dialogue and interactive text, though -- you'll sneak, solve puzzles, steal, fight lab monkeys and more. It seems like it'll be a giant parody game in a way, but all in an office with some of the most interesting voice talents around. More to come!