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Prison Break escaping March 30; new screens released
We have no doubt you've been counting the days (likely via tick marks on the wall), waiting for more information on Zootfly/Deep Silver's Prison Break, so you'll be glad to hear that the game finally got a solid release date (March 30) and a price ($49.99 on 360/PS3, $39.99 on PC) today from its publisher. Along with the mess of new screens we've dropped below into a gallery, this is just about the most flush we've been with Prison Break info in the entire history of the game's development cycle -- and it's coming out in just under three weeks! As the game's coming from the developer of Mr. T: The Game, we're willing to give this one a shot just so we can support the company's upcoming adventure into madness. %Gallery-87934%
Prison Break trailer reveals innovative 'constant hanging' gameplay
We knew a few details about the plot of Deep Silver's video game adaptation of Prison Break, but we weren't aware that the game's protagonist, Company agent Tom Paxton, was actually a chimpanzee in people-clothes. At least, that's what we're assuming from the title's first gameplay trailer, posted above, in which it's revealed Paxton spends a remarkable portion of his day hanging from pipes, ledges and elevator maintenance ladders. Check out the trailer above to see the hanging (and other stuff, we guess) in action. By the way, if any major television producers happen to be reading this post, a show called Monkey Prison would be the greatest thing ever. Feel free to use that -- just send us an email so we can work out a royalty agreement.
Prison Break game screens unfold blueprint for escapism
Click to see how he did it! Remember that show Prison Break? Yeah, from like the mid-Aughts or whatever. Anyway, Zootfly is making it into a video game. Today, the game's publisher, Deep Silver, released a batch of screenshots and reiterated the plot as follows: "The protagonist of the Prison Break game is Company agent Tom Paxton. He is sent to the Fox River State Penitentiary to find out why Michael Scofield (the hero of the TV series), a man without a previous criminal record, became a bank robber. The storyline runs parallel to the first season of Prison Break: Paxton encounters several characters from the series and experiences key events from his own perspective." But you see, we believe the screens are hinting at a far different plot -- a plot that has to be exposed. Follow along as we guide you through the (totally unofficial -- like, we made it up) blueprint for a Prison Break game ... PRISON BREAK: The Unofficial Game Guide >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; }
Deep Silver planning a Prison Break
Don't let that headline confuse you -- though some of UK-based developer Deep Silver's earlier work is truly criminal (namely, Singles: Flirt Up Your Life), it isn't thinking of clever ways to terminate its incarceration. Rather, it's publishing a ZootFly-developed video game adaptation of the television show Prison Break, which -- well, which sounds pretty familiar. Perhaps it's because Brash Entertainment optioned the rights to make such a game shortly before its untimely extremely timely demise.According to a recent press release, the game's story will run parallel to the first season of the show. Players will be placed in the shoes of Tom Paxton, member of the shadowy "Company," who is sent to investigate the events leading to the arrest of the TV series' protagonist, Michael Scofield. Sounds a bit complicated to us. We'll hold out for the video game adaptation of the much more straightforward Prison Prison Break.
Joystiq interview: ZootFly talks Mr. T
The most important news story of this or any other week is clearly the revelation that ZootFly is crafting a game in which Mr. T will team with Will Wright to fight Nazis. Since there's been no title announced, we're going with This Is The Citizen Kane of Video Games So Shut Up About "When Will Video Games Get Their Citizen Kane?" Please ... or Mr. T: The Game for short.We asked ZootFly CEO Bostjan Troha the most pressing questions we could think of about the game, and he was kind enough to answer. Enjoy.
Mr. T and Will Wright team up against Nazis in ZootFly game
Seriously, guys and gals: Brace your asses for this one. ZootFly (which made its name with a now-halted Ghostbusters project) is making a game based on tough-talking, chain-wearing icon Mr.T.But that's not even the good part. Here are some actual words from the actual press release we got, with liberal underlining and bolding: "The first game will see Mr. T take on Nazis and their gigantic machines in the varied universe of South American rain forests, lost ancient cities, industrial complexes and contemporary military installations. Along with Mr. T and other characters from the graphic novel, the game will feature none other than Will Wright. In this universe, Will Wright is not a top-notch game designer but a top-notch American geneticist who was kidnapped and coerced to work on a diabolic plan. Mr. T and Will Wright will join forces to annihilate the Nazis and their hardware."We think we speak for the entire internet when we say nothing, and urinate on ourselves.
Brash stops paying devs, gets sued
Remember when we found out that Brash Entertainment had stopped paying developers -- you know, a week before the publisher completely folded? Yeah, well, two of those developers have finally come a-knockin'. 7 Studios and Zootfly have both sued Brash in efforts to win back some of the money they're owed. 7 Studios' bill stands at $468,000 for work on 9, an adaptation of an upcoming Tim Burton flick, and $113,000 for Six Flags Fun Park, which 7 Studios CEO Lewis Peterson calls "the best game Brash had produced." Additionally, Zootfly claims it's owed a whopping $748,000 for a Prison Break game.Meanwhile, in other Brash news, former president Nicholas Longano has popped up as the new co-founder of Music Mogul, a pending virtual world for aspiring musicians. Good to see inane execs are still getting work these days![Image credit: Night Star Romanus]
Zootfly footage helped sell Ghostbusters revival
With Terminal Reality now holding onto development of Ghostbusters like a charged particle accelerator, most eyes have turned away from Zootfly's unlicensed Ghostbusters tech demo footage that leaked into the wild earlier this year. Most, but not all, as Terminal Reality boss Mark Randel admits that Zootfly's efforts actually helped release the concept from the containment system. "What Zootfly did for us, inadvertently, is help sell the concept," said Randel in an interview with OXM. "When their footage came out, we were close to our green-light meeting, and when the executives saw the reaction from the fans, they immediately knew, 'Hey, Ghostbusters is going to be a big hit - we need to put this game into production.'" We doubt any of this will help Zootfly devs sleep at night -- though we advise if anyone asks if they're a god, they still say "Yes!"
See what seems to be first footage of Ghostbusters game
So we're not sure what to tell you about this supposed clip of the recently-announced Ghostbusters game from Dutch site Game1. It looks really good to us, but so did the Zootfly version we saw a few months ago, and that turned out to be a side project some company was putting together for laughs, so it's hard to say. Speaking of which, this video has a similarity to those first YouTube clips we saw of the Zootfly game, though this is way more polished. So, we present the above video to you as is, with no guarantees as to its authenticity, other than logic and our own gut instinct. Of course, it would probably be easier to tell what was going on if, you know, the whole thing wasn't in Dutch. Side note: If you want to see something that we know is official, check out this teaser for the game.
Zootfly talks about TimeO
We realize how blasphemous it is to use a PS3 site as your source, but, for TimeO details, we hope you can forgive us. If it makes you feel any better, we'd like to casually point out that PS Universe spells the title as "Time0" when the replies have it as TimeO. Just an observation, nothing more. The meat and potatoes are what's important, and in this case, it's a nice interview with Zootfly CEO Bostjan Troha. Tidbits include their development process being exclusively on Maya, how their current build is running on the Xbox 360, parallels between TimeO and Ghostbusters and that their estimated release schedule is for Christmas 2008. A very interesting read, even if coming from the "other side". So, whether it has the official branding of the Ghostbusters franchise or not, are you looking forward to seeing more on this from Zootfly?[Via QJ.net]
New TimeO trailer, screens, website
Zootfly, the devs that started all the Ghostbusters hoopla, have released a new trailer for their other upcoming game, TimeO. The trailer is the third released so far, ending the sequence that began in the first two trailers. Watching all three trailers together allows you to witness Zed Condor, one of the game's characters, taking down a twisted war machine. Along with the trailer, Zootfly has opened up an official TimeO website. The website features music from the game, all the trailers, screen shots, and news. There isn't much there right now apart from the screens and trailers, but Zootfly promises to fill the website as development progresses. With Ghostbusters, TimeO, and the Xbox Live Arcade Toy Wars all in development, Zootfly is one to watch. Check out all three trailers after the break.
Sony has Ghostbusters vids and info pulled
It was nice while it lasted. Zootfly has confirmed that Sony Pictures has asked them to remove all references to Ghostbusters from their website, and the videos of the game have been pulled from YouTube. We reported recently that Ghostbusters had been put on the back burner until Zootfly could acquire the rights to the franchise. Apparently, negotiations between Zootfly and Sony Pictures are still going on behind the scenes. Hopefully, Sony won't decide to can the project entirely, especially considering how much interest the game has generated in such a short time.In the meantime, we look forward to hearing more about TimeO, Zootfly's other paranormally charged experience, and we mustn't forget their first XBLA outing, Toy Wars.[Via Joystiq]
Sony makes Xbox 360 Ghostbusters game disappear
That didn't take long. Zootfly has confirmed that Sony Pictures has had all references to Zootfly's Ghostbusters game removed from the Slovenian developer's website. The prototype game was being developed for Xbox 360. In addition, the video of the work-in-progress has been pulled from YouTube.Columbia Pictures, which owns the Ghostbusters IP, was acquired by Sony in 1989. Zootfly is supposedly in negotiations with Sony for the rights to use the license. Interestingly, the studio has a very similar game in simultaneous development, TimeO. Perhaps this Ghostbusters fiasco -- dead in the water from the get-go -- is being used to draw attention to Zootfly's new IP, which may have had trouble generating press otherwise. Now that's hustlin'!
Ghostbusters questions answered
GameSpot took the time to talk with Zootfly's Bostjan Troha. 360 Fanboy readers will recall that Zootfly is responsible for the much ballyhooed Ghostubusters footage from earlier this week. GameSpot takes particular effort to ask Troha what the hold up is with Zootfly getting the rights to the Ghostbusters IP. Troha replies that the IP hurdle certainly isn't insurmountable, which makes it sound like a purely financial issue to us. According to Troha, Zootfly and their unnamed publisher have been working closely with the IP holder from the beginning. Should Zootfly get a hold of the Ghostbusters IP, then the full development team will shift away from TimeO to focus on Ghostbusters. In another bit of interesting news, Zootfly is also working on a game for Xbox Live Arcade entitled Toy Wars, a multiplayer title in which toys battle it out in settings like sandboxes and living rooms. Sounds a bit like Toy Commander on the Dreamcast, which made for some decent multiplayer fun.Here's hoping Zootfly gets the IP rights and finishes Ghostbusters. If the released footage proved anything, it's that there is definitely an audience for it. Hit the "read" link for the full interview.
360 Ghostbusters is real, first vids of TimeO
We came, we saw, we kicked it's ass! That's right folks, the Ghostbusters game we reported yesterday is a real game in development. That's the good news. The bad news is that Zootfly has hit something of an intellectual property road block in the game's development. In other words, Zootlfy is having some trouble securing the Ghostbusters license. 360 fanboys will still be excited to know that the videos we posted yesterday are indeed from a 360 version of the game, running on a proprietary engine created by Zootfly. Here's hoping they can resolve the licensing issues.In other news, Zootfly sent us two videos from their upcoming title, TimeO. Zootfly's Bostjan Troha informs us that TimeO is closely related to Ghostbusters, in that it shares paranormal themes and possibly the same engine. The plot is better than your average game as well. Two New Yorkers are trapped in a parallel world in which the city of New York itself is a war machine bent on world destruction (think living buildings). These two brave souls have but three days to stop it. We've got some exclusive video footage (probably not exclusive for long) of TimeO embedded at the top of this post and after the break -- actual in engine footage, by the way. Give it a watch and tell us what you think. Oh yeah, and scream as loud as you can about wanting a Ghostbusters game!
Zootfly scares up Ghostbusters details
Yesterday we caught a glimpse of some seriously impressive footage of what looked to be a modern day revival of the Ghostbusters franchise. Peeling back a layer of the mystery found European developer Zootfly at the helm, as well as more questions to be asked. The most prominent of which being, "Just what the heck did we see?"In-game footage of an early version of the game, running on an Xbox 360 apparently. Updating their website this morning, Zootfly not only expressed their excitement over the response from their new found fan base, but also dropped a few lines concerning Ghostbusters. The bad news? The game is currently on hold as they negotiate with the owners of the Ghostbusters IP, Columbia Pictures, who just so happens to be sister company of Sony Pictures. The good news is that regardless of how that battle turns out, we may be seeing the game anyways in the form of TimeO -- a homage to Ghostbusters as opposed to the real deal itself. Less appealing to the mainstream, but quite interesting nonetheless. Should Zootfly be granted use of the Ghostbusters license, what say we eBay some Ecto Cooler to celebrate?
Ghostbusters heading to 360? [update 1]
Update: The Ghostbusters game is real folks, and it's being developed on 360. Find more details here.It's a quiet dream of ours to play Ghostbusters on the Xbox 360. At first we hoped for an Xbox Live Arcade port of one of the retro versions, but this video has sent us into a downright frenzy for a new gen release. The video featured above (posted by user bostjanzoot) shows off a Ghostbuster running around New York and generally kicking some ghoulish ass. The video also shows off some destructible environments and decent lighting effects. The game is supposedly being developed by Slovenian developer, ZootFly. ZootFly's servers seem to be getting hammered in the wake of this discovery, but we managed to discover that ZootFly is working on PC and 360 projects, so it's possible that a Ghostbusters game would make it to our beloved console. Also worth noting, bostjanzoot claims to be from Slovenia and there is a Bostjan listed as a ZootFly manager on the developer's website. We've contacted the developer for confirmation.Until then, sit tight and dream of busting ghosts in high definition. Check out the other videos after the break.
Seriously impressive Ghostbusters game in the works?
We don't know whether this is a game in development, a mod, or just some fan's incredibly sick handiwork ... but there are some really slick looking videos on YouTube showing off what looks like a new Ghostbusters game. While the videos just show a member of the 'Busters running around destroying things with a proton pack, isn't that what you'd really love to do? Just don't cross the streams.Other vids show a seriously pimped out Ecto 2, and footage of a CGI Peter Venkman (who looks a bit zombified), but that proton pack ownage is the sweetest by far. We haven't seen the rest of the team, but if they could sign on Aykroyd, Ramis, Murray and Hudson ... this thing could really own. Sure, Slimer would probably make a requisite appearance, but we can accept that if a possible finished product looks anything like this.Ain't it Cool News has a writeup on the videos (without much more info), and they're all attributed to game developer ZootFly. They're based in Europe, and "are a team of passionate game developers bent on world domination. With cool games, that is." We've contacted them for further info, but for now check out the other videos after the jump, and figure out who ya gonna call.[Thanks, Matt]
