Update: GI staffer, Andy McNamara, has just confirmed on NeoGAF that they don't have any news whatsoever in their next issue. We've now marked this story as fake. Those who wish to know what the fuss was all about, read away!
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This morning news popped up that the next issue of Game Informer would have a feature on Team ICO's upcoming game:
"While the whole world is occupied with playing the third Halo, Game Informer got the chance to get the first real news about Team ICO's next generation game for PlayStation 3. Instead of having some lukewarm chit chat we went home with material for a whole feature - this feature. After having created two completely different experiences such as ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, one could wonder where the next game would go. Fighting giants in HD? No, thanks God, Fumito Ueda - who we talked to - chose another different, unique setting.
The whole game is one gigantic, wide flat desert. Ueda described it as being like Death Valley (California), only being different in one department: it’s not really a flat area. That’s what it looks like when you’re hundreds of meters above ground. Actually, the whole area is interspersed with canyons. A lot of them, and all of different width and depth. The key of the game is, so says Ueda, to explore these canyons and find 'something'. What this 'something' is will be revealed at a later time.
Now, what is it that’ll make this game so special one might ask?
Besides the breath-taking setting of this enormous desert with canyons all over the place, the way you explore those is what makes the difference. The main character will travel by utilizing a glider, which allows him to fly through the air. It’s not some high-tech glider, but seemingly a traditional glider, made of wood and cloth. What makes this so unique is that you freely - and we cannot put enough emphasize on that - fly around that desert, dive into these canyons and jump off the glider to run around without it. From what we’ve seen there’s never before been that feeling of flying around in the sky, combined with this scale of environment. One thing that returns from both previous games is the ability to climb. While diving into canyons you’ll have to climb back to the surface, having a glider and not a motor-driven vehicle.
The information you read until now was exciting, and we should end this article with something exciting, as well. The working title of Team ICO´s third game is 'The Last Canyon.' Having seen how many canyons this game has we’re looking forward to find out more about the title's meaning."
Reports that this feature was fake started circulating almost immediately. But then IGN posted the same story...
Rumours about Team ICO's follow-up to Shadow of the Colossus have started to circulate. Supposedly titled 'The Last Canyon,' players are tasked with searching for a mysterious object that's been hidden somewhere in a sprawling desert that provides the backdrop for the game.
According to the rumours, the team wanted to do something completely different compared to their previous games so they set it in a huge desert - much like Death Valley in California, according to the source - with massive canyons of varying sizes that you have to explore. And rather than riding a horse around the landscape a la Shadow of the Colossus, the lead character flies across the dangerous terrain in a glider made from wood and cloth.
And that, unfortunately, is all the rumours about Team ICO's new project for the time being. We'll be sure to bring you any updates as soon as they're confirmed.
We then contacted the other game blogs to see whether they knew anything about this. Joystiq had no idea what we were rambling about but, luckily, Kotaku fact-checked with GI, confirmed they have no feature about Team ICO in their next issue and made a post smashing the rumour. After that, Joystiq updated their story to reflect this last update.
