Greg Johnson
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Meet Macaulay Culkin, retro video game nerd
Macaulay Culkin is roughly 10 years behind when it comes to video games. The most up-to-date console he owns is an Xbox 360, which he plugs in mostly to beat Mass Effect 2 again or blast through swarms of zombies in Left 4 Dead with his younger brother. The most modern game in his rotation right now is 2014's South Park: The Stick of Truth, which he's about 15 percent of the way through. "I play more old-school kind of things," Culkin said. "I play a lot more Nintendo and Super Nintendo games than I do probably anything else."
Doki-Doki Universe explores worlds, makes friends on Dec. 10
Doki-Doki Universe, from Toejam & Earl creator Greg Johnson and HumaNature Studios, is set to launch on PS3, PS4 and PS Vita next week, on December 10, for $15. Doki-Doki Universe will be cross-buy enabled, so picking it up on one platform will unlock it on all the others. Doki-Doki Universe puts players in the cold metallic boots of a robot name QT3, whose model is set to be discontinued. By proving to Alien Jeff (just go with it) you've got some humanity, he won't send you off to the scrap heap. Naturally, QT3 aims to accomplish this by traversing different planets, interacting with their inhabitants and taking personality quizzes. There is also a neat message-sharing mechanic where you can send animated messages to friends on Facebook and mobile at the heart of Doki-Doki Universe. Players can also create their own planet and allow their friends to visit. A free "Starter Pack" version of Doki-Doki Universe including a few personality tests, the Doki-Doki Mail messaging feature, a tutorial planet and QT3's home planet will be available alongside the premium version at launch on December 10.
ToeJam & Earl creator says XBLA port not so certain; future games in franchise still a possibility
Greg Johnson has been in the game industry for a long time. Having designed 16-bit Sega icons ToeJam & Earl way back in the early 90s and now running Humanature Studios, he's seen his creation rise to fame and subsequently slip into gaming history as the years ticked by. But last summer, when Sega created a poll tasking fans with selecting the next Genesis title to get the XBLA treatment, ToeJam & Earl popped back up on our industry's collective radar by taking the gold. But it's not so simple! Johnson says Sega may have "got ahead of themselves a little bit" with that announcement "and didn't realize that they don't have the rights to the property." Apparently, Johnson assures us, "it's an easy mistake to make." This same shortcoming is also the reason why the characters will not be appearing in the upcoming Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, though showing up as DLC is still a possibility. "TJ&E will not be included ... and the option for including them as downloadable content is still open," Johnson said. "Sega said they're not ready to talk about that yet because they haven't started making any definite plans, but they promised to give me a shout when they get there – so hopefully we'll be able to work something out." More interesting yet, it seems that Mr. Johnson shopped around the idea for a Nintendo DS multiplayer ToeJam & Earl game – though his pitch unfortunately met with deaf ears at "pretty much all of [the game publishers]." Check out some images of what could have been in the gallery below and continue past the break for more from our conversation with Greg Johnson. %Gallery-77824%
