The staff at Naughty Dog don't stop working at two o'clock, they just start playing. A company-wide shootout happens every day, testing the multiplayer modes in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and funneling data into the never-ending tuning process that any online action game must endure. And when the scheduled war is over, participants can march over to game designer Robert Cogburn's desk, ready to lament the changes made to the firing rate of the sniper rifle. It was great, Rob, but now it sucks.

"When it comes to multiplayer, everyone's opinion is valid," Cogburn says. "I don't like the way this gun feels. Okay, tell me why. I love the way the gun felt. Alright, tell me why. To find that grey is such a black art, and I'm still working on it right now."