When the developers of the `` Uncharted '' video games sat down to brainstorm their latest adventure , the first thing they decided was that they had to have a cargo plane and a cruise ship . No matter that they did n't have a story , script or setting yet . The designers and programmers immediately went to work on what reviewers say are the most memorable scenes in `` Uncharted 3 : Drake 's Deception . '' The PlayStation 3 game , published by Sony Computer Entertainment and developed by Naughty Dog , is set to hit stores on Tuesday . `` Yeah , that would be pretty cool . Let 's do it , '' Naughty Dog co-president Christophe Balestra recalled saying then . In an interview this week , he and creative director Amy Hennig offered a look at his studio 's unusual storyboarding process . Their goal at the start of each game 's production is to `` try to come up with these set-piece moments that are n't just for show , '' Hennig said . `` In many ways , they become the signature pieces of the game . '' Those segments also take the longest to plan and build , which is why they need to be conceived as early in the process as possible . A memorable scene from `` Uncharted 2 : Among Thieves '' was planned in the same way . It involves a firefight atop a moving train , and it 's a moment that is often referenced when reviewers compare the Uncharted games to blockbuster action films . Naughty Dog executives have said that the train scene took a long time to get right and that they considered cutting it in order to make Sony 's launch deadline . After determining a game 's centerpieces , Naughty Dog 's brass then choose where the story will take place . They ask themselves , `` Where can we go that 's physically different ? '' Hennig said . Previous games have sent the protagonist , Nathan Drake , to uncharted territories that include jungles and snowy tundras . For `` Uncharted 3 , '' the Drake character will explore sand dunes . Next , Hennig had the unenviable task of figuring out how in the story a giant boat fits together with a desert locale . `` I ca n't start off with a big script , '' she said . `` I 'd rather be given the weird challenge of , 'OK , we 're going to do a desert and a cruise ship . Figure out how . ' '' Hennig is familiar with atypical assignments . At Electronic Arts in the early 1990s , she was the lead designer for `` Michael Jordan : Chaos in the Windy City , '' a game that placed the basketball great into a Super Mario-style adventure , fiery basketballs in hand . ( Hennig dodged working on a sister project called `` Shaq Fu , '' which has ranked on countless worst-video-game-of-all-time lists . ) Naughty Dog takes pride in its games having `` character-driven stories , '' rather than employing mindless action or scattershot plots . Hennig spurns the use of a `` silent protagonist . '' However , character development , which she says is the game 's most important element , still has to bend to the parameters set earlier in the development process . `` The story has to be the most flexible thing in the whole production , '' Hennig said . `` It 's way more like working on a television show . '' It 's a show that many people are tuning in to . `` Uncharted 2 : Among Thieves '' has sold nearly 5 million copies . That beats the original game , which sold 3 million units , not a disappointment by most standards . The expectations are high for the upcoming game , and the initial reactions have been very positive . Still , the technical improvements in `` Uncharted 3 '' are n't quite as drastic as the leap Naughty Dog made between the first and second games , Hennig said . The latest edition incorporates features the developer has wanted to have since the original , she said . `` We 're pretty run down , '' Hennig said . `` Not only does it get physically harder as you get older , it gets emotionally and spiritually harder . '' Naughty Dog does n't expect to put out another game for at least two years , Hennig and Balestra said . ( A different studio is making `` Uncharted : Golden Abyss '' for the PlayStation Vita . ) They said executives have n't decided whether the next game will be part of the Uncharted franchise , or another Naughty Dog series like `` Crash Bandicoot '' or `` Jak and Daxter '' -- or something completely new . Whatever it is , you can bet the development process will begin with an epic helicopter flight or car chase or explosion of some sort .
Sony 's `` Uncharted 3 : Drake 's Deception '' for PlayStation 3 hits stores on Tuesday . The previous two games sold a combined 8 million copies . Game 's developers say the creation process starts with a big action scene .