Apparently DeviantArt has plans for all DA groups of the site, so I just wanted to give people a warning that tomorrow, DeviantArt will start its process of converting all of them to the new design style they have for them.
Things likes group members, galleries, and comments will be transferred during this process but sadly things like the favorites section, group affiliates, and other minor things WON’T be part of the new design.
If you want more info, go to this page
Now DA is recommending that people back up their stuff from the sites, which I think we will be fine with, but there is always the chance that something can happen during the transfer process so I guess just make sure you can resubmit any art that gets lost in the process.
What are your thoughts on these new designs?
Based on what I'm seeing, I feel like its going to be another unnecessary change, especially when there are still bigger problems the site really should look into.
Once again there is some news from Insomniac Games. A few days ago they revealed that they cancelled a multiplayer Spider-Man project called “Spider-Man: The Great Web” which from the leaked trailer, would have been an open world game with a Spider-Verse like story to it, and I think a pinch of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
Personally I’m fine with it being cancelled as after all IG has gone through recently, and that we've gotten a fair amount of Spider-Man content from them over the course of 5 years, I'm okay if they suspend/cancel/or shorten any of their leaked non Ratchet & Clank projects. Not to mention it probably would have been troublesome to handle such a game like them having to constantly maintain the multiplayer/online aspects or how there likely could have been some legal issues with getting certain characters in the game or from all the Spider-Verse references in it.
I rather IG just focus on wrapping up Wolverine and Spider-Man 2 DLC (one of which was accidently revealed through the New Game+ update the game got recently), and then after that hopefully work on a small Ratchet & Clank game, like that Kaden prequel game I mentioned in the last journal.
What are your thoughts?
This week I thought I add a fun question since it’s been a long while since I’ve done one of those.
There are many famous robots in fiction, especially in video games, and I wonder what would happen if Clank met and interacted with some of them. Which famous robot character(s) could you see Clank interacting with, and what do you think would happen?
I think it would be funny if Clank meet Wheatley from Portal 2. I could see him and Ratchet finding and recharging the long deactivated Wheatley, who then freaks out and starts to wonder what the “future” is like. Luckily the “future” has organizations to help long deactivated robots and AIs get use to their new surroundings so Ratchet and Clank take him to one, though it becomes a long trip when Wheatley starts annoying the two and constantly gets them into trouble. In the end I could see him getting the helps he needs and while still a moron, this has gotten him a stable career as an actor in training videos of what non combative robots and Ais shouldn’t do or act like in public or in the work area.
This journal will touch upon the hacking Insomniac Games were the victims of from last year. I mean no harm or insult to Insomniac Games.
If you haven’t heard or forgotten, sad things have been happening to Insomniac Games over the past few months from the recent layoffs they and other PlayStation companies suffered from, to the big hack from last December that released a lot of info about the company such as projects and plans they were working on then. These actions have likely made them put their current projects on hold as they do damage control, as it was at a point where a lot of video game fans feared the hack was going to lead to the cancellation of the Wolverine game.
If their current projects are on hold, then I think Insomniac Game’s logical next move should be to work on a new smaller project, and I have a Ratchet & Clank idea that would be perfect for this.
The main reason why they should do this is that while they hype up their fans with a new Ratchet & Clank/PlayStation exclusive game, it could help people slowly forget about the info that got leaked, while also giving IG the time needed to take that information down across the web (which was being done shortly after the hack) and make changes to any of their delayed projects. Plus now that their staff is smaller (IDK by how much) I think working on a smaller project would be easier then tackling the bigger projects until they can get more help. Besides I think they were jumping the gun a bit with some of the projects they were working on before the leak. Besides with the release of 3 Spider-Man games and 3 DLC packs (with more apparently on the way given the recent GOTY update this week) over the course of 5 years, I don’t think Spider-Man fans would mind waiting for new content, especially again after all that has happened.
As for why I think the small project should be a Ratchet & Clank game, well along with how it’s going to be a long time till the next full Ratchet & Clank game, which a lot of the fandom agrees will take place in the Lombax Dimension and thus deserves the time to make it perfect, the idea I have is fitting if it about that as my idea is a prequel game where we play as Ratchet’s father Kaden. One of the things I personally didn’t like about Rift Apart was how it missed out on the chance to inform new fans of the series about key details and characters like WHY the Lombaxes built the Dimensionator and WHY they left for another dimension so I could see a prequel game being a good way to inform new fans of such info, while also ADDING more in the process, maybe a small retcon too. I have a literature of a potential plot of such a game, which with a few tweaks could make for a good game to keep Ratchet & Clank fans entertained till the next game.
I personally see many pros to such an idea then cons, and I’m hopeful that something like this could happen, at least sooner rather than later but what do you think? Do you agree with any of this? Let me know.
As if things in the entertainment industry weren’t already bad enough I just learned that last week, Sony Interactive Entertainment let go of 900 employees from their various video games studios around the world because, of course, money as sales have been slow lately. This resulted in layoffs from several of their first party studios like Naughty Dog, Guerrilla Games, Firesprite, and sadly Insomniac Games.
This is tragic, but hearing that Insomniac Games got effected was the worse and most inexcusable of it all, as they have been working hard as the driving force of the PS5 era since it came out in 2020 with IG releasing a new PS5 only game nearly every year since then, so they should have been left alone if SIE is that desperate in gaining sales and such.
Not to mention they are likely still recovering from that hacking they were the victim of year, so this was the last thing some of their employees needed to deal with. I also fear that their projects will be delayed even longer unless they do something new, but more on that in a later journal. Admittedly it could have been worse, as apparently the SIE studio in London will be shut down but still.
I really hope the PlayStation employees will find work soon, and hopefully SIE can reverse their decision soon and maybe call people back when things get better. I feel like IG employees could get some help from Gameheads which brings me to the next topic.
A while ago Insomniac Games teamed up with Gameheads, an organization that helps teach low income youths video game creating skills. Together they created a DLC skin pack for Spider-Man 2 and while they admit that they don’t usually do priced DLC and stuff like that, luckily it is for a good cause as all the money will going towards Gameheads.
Maybe if the Spider-Man skins do well, Gameheads could reward ex IG employees by paying them to make a guest visit at a presentation to help inspire their students or could allow them let them add them as a reference to their resumes.
I really hope Insomniac Games and PlayStation recovers soon but what are your thoughts on all of this?
A bit of an odd topic for the first journal of the year, sorry for the wait, but it is something I have been wondering about for a while now.
I have been thinking about something related to the still recent tragedy Insomniac Games went through near the end of 2023, and while its probably still fresh for people I wonder if its now okay to talk about it a little bit.
What I'm trying to say is that I have an idea for a journal that would go over something related to the Ratchet & Clank franchise that is a bit connected to the hack, but not in the way your thinking of, and while I'll probably get around to posting it eventually, I might as well ask if you guys are okay with me posting such a thing now or if I should wait till a later date.
PLEASE let me know in the comment section.

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