Molly of Ghost Volta: "I will be the first to admit that The Last of Us character, Ellie bared a striking resemblance to the actress Ellen Page- especially before her redesign, but even after as well. I’ll go on to admit that up until about three days ago, I still thought it was Ellen Page doing the voice. And to be honest, I genuinely feel bad about that."
The story in part 3 of Sony Interactive Entertainment and Naughty Dog's The Last of Us series may explore a "congregation of immune people."
Former Naughty Dog artist Gabriel Betancourt explains why the "sweet spot" for game teams is under 200 people and how AAA "factories" kill creativity.
There’s definitely some truth to this. When teams get too large, coordination starts to outweigh creativity—layers of approval, risk aversion, and tight deadlines can turn bold ideas into “safe” ones. Keeping a team under ~200 people sounds ideal for maintaining clear communication and a shared vision. That said, massive AAA projects also come with huge technical demands and expectations, so scaling up isn’t always avoidable. The real challenge is figuring out how to keep that small-team creativity alive inside big studio structures.
More than that, it's logistically untenable. Inevitably, when teams get too large, how do you keep tabs on accountability? I suspect this massive team size is a consequence of the perfectionism streak Naughty Dog has.
I wish we could have so many people working on something and it turns out great because I'm all for collaboration in spirit - the problem is too many people as part of the larger team and smaller units. Suppose for example that you have too many people in the art department; you will very often come up against fiercely competing visions for how things should look. That competitive vision will cause friction between team members, team doesn't work as a unit, the back and forth can further delay parts that the other departments are waiting for, etc etc.
A 200-person team says, to me, that we need to scale back game development. Even if it means we go back to PS2 era costs and scale, why not? Those games are still great fun, the budgets were in check, and you could literally break the 200-man team into like 10 20-man teams working on different projects.
The Last of Us Part I PS5 review covering visuals, combat feel, accessibility, performance modes, and whether it is really worth the asking price of $69.99.
Ellie, Ellen and there's still no denying that Ellie looks more like Ellen Page. I just wish that naughty dog would admit that there's clearly major similarities with Ellie and Ellen Page. Everthing from the name to the looks.
I kind of feel a little sorry for her, I mean all of ND characters from Uncharted onwards have been based on the actors portraying them. Nolan looks similar to Drake, Emily Rose looks like a splitting double of Elena, you can see the distinct features of Richard in Sully and even with Troy Baker as Joel....but when it comes to Ellie they, as you can see, obviously based her on Ellen Page instead of Ashley Johnson.....whats up with that.
I know they changed Ellie's design a little after Beyond Two Souls was revealed but even still the fact they started with Ellen Page instead of Ashley in the first place was strange in my opinion. I'd understand if Ellen was a 14 year old girl to match Ellie's age, you would think "Well I kind of see where they are coming from" but she isn't, hell Ellen is only 3 years younger then Ashley.
I still believe ND could of done a better job with the makeover to make her look even more more like Ashley Johnson.
Also if they decided to make a movie based on the game, who would be the better choice to act as Ellie, Ellen Page or Ashley Johnson? We all know who's clearly the choice here. Whoever did the character design for Ellie clearly took inspiration from Ellen Page without a doubt.
The face looks more like Ashley its just Ashleys hair throws it off. Ashley did a superb job though. Shez awesome.
I am so sick of hearing this now, I know this piece is focused on Ashley, which is great. TLOU has been getting hype before it's release.
You cannot tell me Ellen page or a friend or lawyer or someone noticed this. Now that TLOU of is a smash hit, she wants to come out with this crap.
If anything Page should be flattered. Kudos to Ashley, well done mam.