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Report: Saints Row: The Cooler was canceled THQ brawler
Saints Row: The Cooler appears to have been a fighting game canceled in the twilight years of publisher THQ. Unseen64 reports the brawler, which was in development at Heavy Iron Studios, tried to capitalize on the motion control movement from several years back. Two versions of the game were planned, with one for Xbox 360's Kinect and the other envisioned for PlayStation 3's Move peripheral. Although it was supposed to be a motion controlled fighting game, The Cooler would have also reportedly have featured mini-games like poker tournaments and the ability to "get lap dances." Although, we imagine, providing lap dances would be a far better workout. Gotta work them glutes.
UFC Trainer preview: Grappling with danger
THQ is, apparently, quite interested in making a big impact with its upcoming Kinect exercise game, UFC Trainer. In a large loft in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood a few weeks back, the publisher had nearly a dozen folks -- some from the game's developer, Heavy Iron Studios, some from THQ, some from the National Academy of Sports Medicine, and even one actual UFC fighter -- to show off the game. To be clear, that's about three times the number of people normally showing off a single game to the press. And during my demonstration, I was the only member of the press in attendance. As if the battalion of representatives wasn't enough to convince me of THQ's dedication to UFC Trainer, I was told upfront that the game had been moved out of its intended Kinect launch timeframe in order to give the developers more time to make a better game. Moreover, UFC Trainer was pitched as "especially for men," being the first exercise game to offer "something new and fresh" with male gamers in mind. I was then introduced to a rep from the National Academy of Sports Medicine who assured me that his institution had "gotten its hands dirty" with the project and left a profound stamp. I was even told by UFC fighter Urijah Faber that, relative to the training he actually does, the game is "really realistic." What I saw and played of UFC Trainer, however, left me unconvinced that most gamers should pick up the game for exercise -- let alone just male gamers -- and fully convinced that the few folks who do pick this up may actually end up hurting themselves.%Gallery-121990%
Rumor: Heavy layoffs at Heavy Iron Studios
Heavy Iron Studios will allegedly let go of 60-70 of its over 100 employees. Kotaku was informed by sources that the layoffs will occur at the former THQ subsidiary this week. The company previously handled much of THQ's movie tie-in titles. Attempts to confirm the layoffs with the studio have been met by ominous e-mail bounce-backs -- not to mention, our complete inability to navigate the company's labyrinthine phone system.
THQ adapting Pixar's 'Up' for every gaming platform ever
THQ, the unparalleled master of licensed gaming adaptations, is adding another notch to the ol' development belt. In a recent press release, the company announced its Heavy Iron Studios branch will be bringing Disney Pixar's upcoming animated film, Up, to a gaming console near you. That is, assuming you live near an Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP, PC or Mac.It will likely be in the same vein gameplay and quality-wise as Heavy Iron's other Pixar projects, Ratatouille and Wall-E. According to the press release, the game will follow septugenarian Carl Fredricksen and his young accomplice, Russell, as they fall into all manner of wacky hijinx in the undiscovered jungles of South America. So basically, it's like Uncharted, but with less mercenary murdering. Or maybe more! We don't know. We haven't seen the movie yet.
*Sigh* Ratatouille game goes platinum
With the rising mainstream popularity of video games it shouldn't be hard to imagine that licensed games can be million-sellers, but news like this just doesn't seem to fit. Selling a million copies on 360 alone, and 4 million across all platforms, the Ratatouille game will now be added to the 360's Platinum hits at a cost of $19.99, where it will undoubtedly sell even more. Which is a bit of a bad thing, as the game was not in any way well-recived by reviewers who found it to be average at best. We say if you're going to make a money-grabbing tie-in game at least make it solid, as other wise it's just an excuse for others to attempt the same thing. And likely fail, resulting in shelves of cookie-cutter-crap.
