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Stubbs the Zombie and Gauntlet coming soon to Xbox Originals
Microsoft's Xbox Originals collection on Xbox Live continues to slowly grow, with two new titles to add to the list next week: Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse, and Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows.Stubbs the Zombie is an under-appreciated 2005 release from Wideload Games, featuring a satirical film-noir approach to the zombie genre. Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows is, well, another Gauntlet game, this time handled by veteran Doom designer John Romero. Reviews for Gauntlet were, at best, a mixed bag, so Stubbs looks to be the cream of the crop in this Originals installment. Both titles are due for release Monday, May 19 for 1200 MSP each.
Aspyr looking for a few good Wii developers
Famous for bringing a slew of games to the Mac gaming public, as well as the incredible Stubbs the Zombie: Rebel Without a Pulse (developed by Wideload Games), Aspyr has placed job listings via Gamasutra for Mid/Sr Level Console Programmers, asking that the Wii be one of the platforms said applicant has experience with. And, personally, we feel this is one of the very few instances where a port to the Wii wouldn't be a bad thing (we'd play Stubbs again with enhanced Wii controls, for sure).[Via Codename Revolution]
Joystiq interviews Wideload Games' Alex Seropian
As one of the first to leave Bungie Studios after co-founding the developer, Alex Seropian transitioned from creating Xbox's then-surprising megahit Halo to starting afresh with Wideload Games, a small development firm he founded in Chicago. After finding success with the humorous Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse (which sports a pretty hip soundtrack, we might add), Wideload went silent until earlier this week, when they revealed Hail to the Chimp as their sophomore title. The game, which is a political-party title involving animals vying to become head of the animal kingdom, is being published by the fowl-loving, former Gathering of Developer heads now known as Gamecock. With the candor and humor, Alex endured bad audio quality to talk to Joystiq about gaming, politics, and chicken suits. How did the Gamecock deal come about? I've known Mike Wilson for a number of years back to the Gathering of Developer days, and we kind of became friends back then when we were both working with Take Two. This is when I was running Bungie; we had a distribution deal with Take Two, like Gathering did. We've kept in touch for a long time and he kind of gave me some fair warning that he was going to try and get something started up again about a year ago, which is about the same time we were coming off of Stubbs and planning our next project. We were trying to figure if it would be possible to do something together and the timing worked out really well, and the whole way that they are set up and the things that are important to them kind of aligned really nicely with how we're set up and what's important to us. It was like getting our chocolate and their peanut butter or something. [Laughs]
Stubbs developer unveils new title: Hail to the Chimp
Claiming to be bringing "the party back in party politics for the first time since the Caligula Administration," Wideload Games announced that its next title will be Hail to the Chimp, a four-player party game where players vie to become the new leader of the Animal Kingdom. The website is live but currently lacking anything other than the main page.Little else is known about the title. The press release promises online play (still only four players) and that they are expecting a Spring 2008 launch for an as-of-yet unnamed new-gen console. It will be published by Gamecock, who promptly broke through a wall and danced the funky chicken to someone playing "No One Knows" on Guitar Hero.Wideload Games have previously only published one title, the heralded gem Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse. The company was founded by Alex Seropian, whose previously co-founded Bungie Studios and headed up development of Halo.
Design challenge: weekly game idea
Patrick Curry, lead designer of hidden-gem Stubbs the Zombie, has challenged himself to produce one new game idea per week, every week this year. His first two game ideas included Toothache, a Nintendo DS dentist simulator, and It's all Business, a text-based, multiplayer, cell phone title. This week's title is the most elaborate. Mountain Bike Mike is an "extreme-sport racing adventure game." Curry details the control scheme, calling it his inspiration for the idea: "I love control schemes that evoke the real-life activity, and I think you could do some cool stuff with mountain-bike controls. The first part of the idea is that you control your steering separately from your body weight, as controlling your weight on a bicycle is important, but especially important when you’re barreling down a mountain. The second part of the idea is that you control your front-brake independently from your rear-brake. While this might sound cumbersome, anyone who’s ever flipped a bike will tell you that there’s an important distinction here."I know of a guy who might not only need a lesson in mountain bike controls but is also in a position to green light Curry's idea. Any interest in making a next-gen extreme mountain biking title J?[Via Raph's Website]
