Guillermo del Toro
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Guillermo Del Toro's inSane finally revealed
As promised, the Spike VGAs played host to the unveiling of the joint project between THQ and Pan's Labyrinth director, Guillermo Del Toro. Titled inSane, nothing was revealed about the game's actual gameplay -- it's being developed by Volition and won't be launching until sometime in 2013 (no joke!). Based on the initial trailer, it's clear that it'll be a horror game. Hit the jump for the trailer. Update: THQ's Danny Bilson offered a little more via Twitter, stating that THQ and Del Toro have been working together on the game for six months so far and just finished up "the story beats" yesterday, whatever that means. Finally, Bilson described the game as a "Horror Adventure Title."
Guillermo Del Toro's THQ game to be revealed during VGAs
"You've heard rumors of us working with a big film director who is actually a big gamer," THQ core games EVP Danny Bilson said during his keynote at the IGDA Leadership Forum. Uh, dude, heads-up: those aren't rumors any more. As it turns out, we'll finally get an official announcement about Guillermo del Toro's THQ project during the Spike VGAs next month. "He's a gamer who wants to make a great game," said Bilson about director Guillermo del Toro, "and has very interesting points of view and is partnered very closely with myself and my writing partner, Paul." Bilson revealed that THQ "will be announcing the game title and the studio and all of that on the VGA awards in about a month." If you're late to the party, catch up on some of our previous coverage here. Del Toro's game will have Lovecraftian themes to it ---- which is great, because we've always felt there should be more awesome games about Cthulhu.
Best case scenario: Del Toro's 'Lovecraftian' THQ game in 2013
Pan's Labyrinth director and The Strain co-author Guillermo Del Toro has confirmed earlier reports that he's collaborating with THQ on high-profile video games. Speaking to MTV news, Del Toro said talks involved "huge games, huge world creation and long deadlines." How long, exactly? "With THQ we're looking at around a three year developing deadline for each game," he said. Though it's unclear how many projects are encompassed by the deal, the director claimed each is being explored in a "serious" manner. "Expect the first game, best case scenario, 2013." You can also expect it to be a "Lovecraftian thing" and a "very different type of horror game." Del Toro also recounted his experience with the cancelled "Sundown," one of several games that he had pitched in 2006. "It was eerily similar to Left 4 Dead, which I adore and am addicted to and that, in the household, is considered a 'family game.'" Wait ... if that's a family game, can you imagine how scary this THQ collaboration will be? We were just going to go with a "Boo Blox" joke, you know?
Report: Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro in talks with THQ
Writing on LA Times' Hero Complex blog, Ben Fritz reports that film director Guillermo del Toro is looking to forge a partnership with Red Faction publisher THQ. Though del Toro, who directed Pan's Labyrinth and almost directed The Hobbit, has refrained from naming the custodian of his video game vision, he recently admitted that he was in talks with a "big company" to collaborate on "technically and narratively very interesting" projects. THQ is no stranger to films and has adopted an enthusiastic stance on their intersection with games. The publisher is currently preparing an original sci-fi (and Syfy) movie based on the Red Faction franchise, set to debut alongside the latest game in March 2011. THQ's Core Games VP, Danny Bilson, has expressed belief in the "Hollywood model" of IP ownership, "which is that, the bigger the artist, the more important, the more successful they are, the bigger share they get." Bilson has been aggressive in acquiring high-profile talent and products for THQ (such as Devil's Third, led by Tomonobu Itagaki), and predicted that the company's lineup of partnerships would impress us over the next few months. "Wait till you see our announcements! You're going to go, 'oh my God'."
Guillermo del Toro working on several games with a 'big company'
Visionary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, whose cinematic opuses include Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy films, recently told MTV Multiplayer that the "next few weeks" would bring about the announcement of his first foray into game development. Del Toro, who has long been an outspoken fan of gaming, explained he's partnering with a "big company" and is planning to "do games that are going to be technically and narratively very interesting." Given del Toro's unique cinematic and storytelling style, we'd love to see what he could do behind the helm of an interactive project. We're thinking it's either going to be a twisted, fairy tale-esque story with haunting visuals and thought-provoking mature themes, or a game about throwing sports equipment at towers of Jenga blocks.
Director del Toro predicts 'Citizen Kane of games' will appear in next decade
Acclaimed Hollywood director and self-professed Team ICO fan, Guillermo del Toro, sees a bright future for video games, claiming that the next decade will bring about titles of an "earthshaking Citizen Kane" caliber. Basing his thoughts on the dynamics of narrative in sandbox games, del Toro states that this evolution in storytelling (he coined as "story engine" in his interview with Wired) will turn into something so powerful that it will not only give us better games, but also change Hollywood and "rewrite the rules of fiction." While this may seem like a bold prediction difficult to live up to, del Toro assures he won't hobbit away from the responsibility of seeing it come true. "I'll be trying to make [such a game]," he told Wired. "But I won't be trying until after The Hobbit." There you have it folks, del Toro "Citizen Kane" game confirmed* for 2019. Mark it down.*Not actually confirmed[Via GameDaily]
A recap of the Hellboy II BD-Live chat
Were you able to make it to the Blu-ray exclusive live chat with Hellboy II director, Guillermo del Toro? If not, Engadget HD has you covered. The first-ever BD-Live chat didn't go without its hitches, but there's hope in knowing future interactive experiences will be better than this. The director touts the Blu-ray disc release an opportunity for the "perfect home theater experience," as it gives viewers access to a truly encyclopedic view of the production of a film. Hopefully, other big budget movies will be able to follow with their own live commentary sessions in future Blu-ray releases. Gallery: Hellboy II BD-Live director chat w/ Guillermo del Toro
Hellboy II BD-Live director's chat event recap
Blu-ray's Internet capabilities got a brand new push this weekend, with the first director's chat featuring Hellboy II: The Golden Army's Guillermo del Toro live from New Zealand. Didn't get home in time to access the event (scattered forum posts reported problems logging in at all, or people who were logged in but unable to access the comments), or might not have the movie? No problem, here's a quick look at things after the break, and hopefully a preview of what to expect from future director / fan chats.%Gallery-37835%
Chat with Guillermo Del Toro in Blu-ray exclusive live chat
We're finally starting to see the full potential of BD-Live come to life. BD-Live is the final Blu-ray movie standard, and it adds interactive online content to movies. One of the first discs to take advantage of BD-Live is the Hellboy II Blu-ray disc. Those that own the disc will be able to take part in a live chat with director Guillermo Del Toro this Sunday at 6PM EST. If you're interested in chatting, you need to register an account at UniversalHiDef.com and then log on to the movie using your PS3 (or BD-Live compatible Blu-ray player).The potential of BD-Live is quite exciting. Should the Del Toro chat go well, we can only hope that other studios also add these opportunities to their Blu-ray movies.
Hellboy director chats with Blu-ray fans live Sunday
Hellboy II: The Golden Army director Guillermo del Toro (and avowed Blu-ray fan, take that Michael Bay) is the first to connect to viewers (as suggested by a particular EHD ed at the last CES) and chat live while watching the movie on Internet-connected players November 23. Exactly how "live" the chat will be remains to be seen, as questions will be submitted ahead of time on UniversalHiDef.com, before the event commences Sunday at 6 p.m. PST, but an opportunity to hear the director's responses in real time is not to be missed, and finally scratches the potential for Blu-ray's online capabilities. Still holding out hope for BD-Live? Make sure you're close to your PlayStation 3 this weekend, and think of a different question than "Here's my 10 suggestions on how to make The Hobbit totally awesome" 'cuz we already submitted that.
Fan's Labyrinth: del Toro approves of Team ICO
In an interview with Edge, Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro establishes two very interesting facts: del Toro, who has been enamored with gaming's charming beeps and boops since the days of Pong, lavishes a considerable amount of praise on Sony's Team ICO. "There are only two games I consider masterpieces," he says. "Ico and Shadow of the Colossus." The popular filmmaker has excellent taste in games. Those are far from the only titles he appreciates, however, as he tells Edge that he "absolutely loved BioShock." In addition, he approves of Resident Evil, Devil May Cry and Silent Hill, which he likens in particular to a "Lynch, Polanski or Romero type of horror experience." It seems our only point of disagreement can be found in his "happy" working experience with Konami's Hellboy: The Science of Evil. Nobody's perfect, eh?[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Team ICO has a fan in Pan's Labyrinth director
You know you've got an iconic piece of artistry when an Academy Award winning filmmaker has nothing but praise, respect, and admiration to show. "There are only two games I consider masterpieces: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus," said Guillermo del Toro in an interview with Edge magazine. Both titles are creations of SCEJ's Team ICO, who are currently working on an unnamed title.Guillermo, director of the widely acclaimed Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy movies, is himself a gamer since the Pong era. He's even a video game director, having worked with Konami on adapting the Hellboy series ... which unfortunately didn't do too well. With such a prominent figure giving the thumbs up to Team ICO, we're sure they're happy to hear that their hard work is getting noticed outside the realm of gaming. We're also sure, whatever they have in store next would probably be pleasing del Toro -- and us for that matter.
New Hellboy footage, Ron Perlman is in
Konami released some new details about Hellboy today. Chief among these details is that Ron Perlman -- who played Hellboy in the 2004 movie -- will be reprising his role as Hellboy in all videogame versions of the franchise. With film director, Guillermo Del Toro (go see Pan's Labyrinth, now), and comic creator, Mike Mignola, on board, Hellboy should be quite a treat for fans when it arrives on the Xbox 360 this fall. The game has a combat system that sits somewhere between God of War and Devil May Cry with a deep grappling system to boot. Hellboy will also feature online co-op. As fans of Hellboy, we're looking forward to trying it out. Check out the latest gameplay footage after the break.
Guillermo Del Toro delving deep into game-making -- Hellboy, etc...
The popular Dark Horse Comics demon hero, Hellboy, is receiving the royal video game treatment thanks to the same fellow who brought us the decent-to-great movie (debatable... never saw it, but got mixed reactions from friends), Guillermo Del Toro. What's Del Toro got in store for us? "[It has] several environments where, essentially, you are seeing the past and the present, and they are juxtaposed. You can go from one environment, like the Gobi desert, to a haunted town in medieval Japan. And then you can go and play in the ruins of a castle that is full of Nazi doomsday machines. And then you can go and wander through the empty streets of a haunted Eastern European village. And each of those levels has a common threat enemy, and a great vibe to the gameplay." And then, and then, and then... he definitely gets excited about what he does!Apparently, much of the fighting in the game relies on finding pieces of the environment around you to use as a weapon. Say you break open a door. Why not pick up a large splintered piece of it and bash your opponents? Or crack a stone pillar then pick up some rocks to toss. It sounds like it has a bit of promise, so long as Hellboy himself isn't the only playable character. Come on, you can't possibly expect a game based on a comic book team (kinda sorta) to just use the main character. Otherwise, utilizing environments for weaponry is cool. Especially if it's as detailed as Del Toro excitedly claims.
