Big Al's Roboshack and Gaming Superstore,[1] sometimes known simply as Big Al's Roboshack[2] or Al's Roboshack,[3] is a location in Ratchet & Clank and the re-imagining, mentioned in A Crack in Time and All 4 One. It is a robot store owned by Al in Metropolis, Kerwan. The store supplies upgrades and repairs for robots and notably supplied the Heli-Pack for Clank.
History[]
Before Ratchet & Clank[]
Captain Qwark featured in a commercial endorsing Big Al's Roboshack, describing it as his exclusive repair shop for his gadgets since he was "knee-high to a sand mouse".[3] Despite this claim, Al did not see Qwark after shooting the commercial.[4] The commercial appeared in an infobot, which the chairman of Novalis obtained.
Ratchet & Clank[]
Al meeting Ratchet and Clank in his roboshack.
Ratchet and Clank viewed the commercial on the Novalis chairman's infobot and chose to visit to search for Qwark.[5]
During "Visit Al's Roboshack", Ratchet and Clank approached Al. Al had no updates for them on Qwark's whereabouts, but after recognizing Clank's XP-18 sisterboards, he offered his assistance by providing him with a Heli-Pack upgrade for 1,000 bolts, which Ratchet and Clank purchased.[4]
Re-imagined[]
Clank outfitted with Al's Heli-Pack upgrade.
In the re-imagined release, Big Al's Roboshack and Gaming Superstore had adverts for My Blaster Runs Hot, Fongoid with a Stick, Speero the Space Mouse, and the Mega-Limited Ultra Edition of Intransigence: Fall of Blarg.[a] Ratchet and Clank visited the store in "Find a route to the Hall of Heroes", though the store was closed when the blarg invaded. After entering, Ratchet was impressed, describing the store as "nerd heaven". When in the store, Al installed the Heli-Pack on Clank for free as a gesture to the Galactic Rangers.[2]
Subsequent mentions[]
Al's Roboshack hosted a wiener roast which Ratchet and Clank attended, and was mentioned during an interview for Behind the Hero.[6] When Al was recruited by the Q-Force in Up Your Arsenal, the store presumably closed.
During A Crack in Time, Al advertised the grand reopening of Big Al's Roboshack and Gaming Superstore on space radio. This new store, in addition to selling sisterboard mods, gamma ports, and bot tune-ups, also sold the "widest selection of holo-games in the entire quadrant" and modifications to the VG-9000 game system. At the time, it offered a free consult for Mr. Zurkons to customers in the Solana Galaxy.[1]
Qwark mentioned stopping by Big Al's after refueling his ship on gelatonium during Bros Before Foes.[7]
During All 4 One, Al sponsored the news. Pepper Fairbanks read out a line advertising the store, with the slogan "pwning n00bs for over a decade".[8]
Characteristics[]
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Al's roboshack in the re-imagined release.
Al's Roboshack as seen in Ratchet & Clank is a grey store on top of a skyscraper. It is identified by a large, rotating, gold robot statue carrying a wrench on top of the store's entrance on the skybridge. Inside, the store stocks several robotic parts on shelves and on the floor, and a few across from Al's workbench. Behind the back exit of the store is a storage area with many stacked crates that lead towards other skybridges, eventually leading towards Metropolis' grav-train station.
In the 2016 Ratchet & Clank, the store has a similar appearance but is slightly different on the outside. It is instead a red structure lacking the golden rotating robot statue, featuring a billboard sign to the left. The inside is similar but has posters for each of the games sold, along with items including Captain Qwark books and a Qwark clock.
Behind the scenes[]
The commercial for Big Al's Roboshack was the scene which Insomniac Games used to determine the humor of the game, impressed by Jim Ward.[9]
A wanted poster of Ratchet and Clank was featured on the side of Al's Roboshack during the commercial cutscene, though it did not feature in gameplay.
Notes[]
Annotations[]
- ↑ The latter three are all references to past Insomniac Games works: Girl on a Stick, Spyro the Dragon, and Resistance: Fall of Man.
Citations[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 A Crack in Time script § "Big Al's Roboshack and Gaming Superstore"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ratchet & Clank (2016 game) script § "Find a route to the Hall of Heroes (gameplay)"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ratchet & Clank (2002 game) script § "Infobot - Ad for Al's Roboshack"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ratchet & Clank (2002 game) script § "Hey, you're that robot guy, right?"
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2002 game) script § "Captain Qwark has really sold out."
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Behind the Hero, Part I", Behind the Hero, Part I
- ↑ Bros Before Foes, p. 16
- ↑ All 4 One script § "Defeat the Z'Grute (gameplay)"
- ↑ Price, Schafer 2015 24:52
References[]
- Video games
- Insomniac Games (2002). Ratchet & Clank [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2.
- Insomniac Games (2003). Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2.
- Insomniac Games (2009). Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
- Insomniac Games (2016). Ratchet & Clank [Game]. Sony Interactive Entertainment. PlayStation 4.
- Books
- Fixman, TJ (2011). Ratchet & Clank (Issue 6: Bros Before Foes) [Book]. Wild Storm.
- Videos
- Price, Ted; Schafer, Tim [@GDC] (2015, December 21). Devs Play S2E02 · "Ratchet & Clank" with Ted Price and Tim Schafer [Video]. YouTube.