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XBLA in Brief: Deadliest Warrior, DeathSpank
XBLA is all about death this week. First up we have gruesome, deadly martial arts with Deadliest Warrior: The Game and then we have just, heroic, loot-driven murder with DeathSpank. Honestly, both causes of death have their appeal. Watch the latest XBLA in Brief and see just how fun death can be. [iTunes] Subscribe to XBLA in Brief directly in iTunes. [Zune] Subscribe to the XBLA in Brief directly. [RSS] Add the XBLA in Brief feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [M4V] Download the M4V directly. There are new Xbox Live Arcade games released every week. We realize that our readers are busy, attractive people, and may not have time to download and examine each and every new XBLA game. You've got busy, attractive person stuff to do, after all. Not to worry though, because we've done the work for you, downloading every single trial game and giving you a taste of what to expect. Watch XBLA in Brief every week to see which games deserve a closer look. When you have the time, of course.
PSN Tuesday: Landit Bandit, DeathSpank
Some slim pickings this week. DeathSpank is the unquestionably the biggest part of this update -- lest you count the unsavory amount of add-ons EA Sports has managed to conjure up for NCAA Football 11. Check out the full update after the break. Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)
DeathSpank trailer previews some unorthodox armaments
We've discussed some of the unique weapons you'll be wielding in Ron Gilbert's upcoming XBLA and PSN title, DeathSpank, but you really can't get a good feel for them until you see them in action. It's like, you can read about the Demon Poop Hammer all day, but you've really got to see it swing.
DeathSpank dispensing co-op justice on PSN July 13, XBLA July 14
DeathSpank, Monkey Island co-creator Ron Gilbert's homage to Diablo, has been fully loaded with laughs and is ready to make its debut on PSN July 13, arriving on Xbox Live Arcade the next day, July 14 (barring any temporal anomalies). We played the game a couple months back and were smitten with its charm, humor, loot and bacon. What we didn't see back then was DeathSpank's cooperative mode. Since there can only be one DeathSpank (we don't think the world could handle two of him) player two will control his spell-casting sidekick, Sparkles the Wizard. We're sure Sparkles is just fine with his silly name, so long as he gets to tag along with the Hero to the Downtrodden. DeathSpank will loot your wallet for $14.99 on PSN and 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) via the Xbox Live Marketplace. %Gallery-96046%
DeathSpank trailer dispenses justice, toll-free hotline number
We get to see a little bit more of DeathSpank, the Diablo-like adventure from The Secret of Monkey Island co-creator Ron Gilbert, in the above video just dispatched by publisher EA. We've already spent some hands-on time with the game, which is due to land on PSN and XBLA this summer, and it places petty high on our list of games we want to spend a lot more time with, and soon. Not just because it's fun, but also stupendously funny (not to mention filled with forbidden bacon). You can get an interactive taste of the game's humor right now by calling the DeathSpank Hotline at 1-866-631-1574 (toll-free from the US). It's reassuring to know there's a hero out there ready to dispense justice, vanquish evil and be a hero to the downtrodden in so many different languages!
Hands-on: DeathSpank (XBLA/PSN)
When a game is described as "Diablo meets Monkey Island," two reactions come naturally: "Neat!," followed by, "Wait a second ... how can that even be possible?" Well, it is. I found this out for myself earlier this week when the 'Stiq had its first hands-on (we'd seen it at PAX 2009) with DeathSpank, the latest game from Ron Gilbert, designer of The Secret of Monkey Island (but not Diablo). His new downloadable game is a fast-paced, button-mashy loot-'em-up, as well as an adventure filled with interesting characters and diabolically funny dialog. Also, it's about bacon and a hero who's favorite number is ... plaid. %Gallery-92049%
DeathSpank creator Ron Gilbert has 'left Hothead' Games
Just over a month after announcing a high-profile publishing arrangement with EA Partners for the XBLA and PSN release of DeathSpank, the game's creator (and locker room pinup at Joystiq HQ) Ron Gilbert announced on his personal blog that he has "left Hothead," the development team behind the game. Gilbert takes his leave as "the creative and production phases" on DeathSpank are ending and the "long and winding road of certification and testing" for the console (and "REDACTED" ... maybe PC?) versions are beginning; however, he isn't leaving the game behind. "I will be working closely with EA and Hothead on the PR for DeathSpank as the release date of [REDACTED] draws closer," he writes, cheekily poking fun at, well, posts just like this one we imagine. Last month, Penny Arcade's Jerry Holkins told Joystiq that development on Penny Arcade Adventures was ending prematurely in large part so Hothead could focus on Deathspank. "Hothead has DeathSpank and they have a chance to do something really cool with it," Holkins said. "And they need to have an opportunity to make it incredible." With a perceived surfeit of free time, Gilbert promises to "blog more" and remember his Twitter password ... which it appears he hasn't done yet. We've asked Hothead Games to comment on Gilbert's posting. We'll let you know what we hear back. [Update: Hothead's Joel DeYoung sent us the following comment: "Ron has indeed moved on from Hothead. We've really enjoyed collaborating with him on DeathSpank -- a game we believe will be the best game yet on XBLA and PSN. We are really excited to share the result with Hothead and Ron Gilbert fans everywhere." So there you have it!] [Thanks, fco]
EA publishing 'DeathSpank' and 'Shank' on PSN, XBLA
EA Partners, a division of Electronics Arts, has announced an exclusive publishing agreement with two upcoming indie games -- Hothead's DeathSpank and Klei Entertainment's Shank -- which will allow a much wider (and ostensibly easier) path to distribution for both games. EA claims Shank will be available on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and PC this summer, while DeathSpank will be available on Xbox Live and PSN with no date yet announced. "Our mission at EA Partners is to work with the best talent across the game industry, and we are thrilled to extend our expertise to the leading creative developers in downloadable indie games," said EA Partners' outreach director Jamil Moledina. "DeathSpank is engrossingly fun and hysterically funny ... and Shank is an amazing experience." The EA Partners program has had some heavy hitters onboard, like Rock Band, Left 4 Dead 2, and Brütal Legend, but this marks the first time that smaller, downloadable indie games have been brought into the fold. We've toured through DeathSpank before (with Ron Gilbert himself!), and Shank was just named a finalist at the Independent Games Festival, taking place during GDC next week in San Francisco. It's interesting to see EA move into the indie arena, much like 2K Games has done with 2K Play (think: The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom and Axel and Pixel), but we'll have to see how it plays out. Hopefully they'll offer both in a Spank 'n Shank special bundle. We spoke with EA's Moledina and both developers, so stay tuned for more info shortly.
PAX 2009: Ron Gilbert gives us a tour of DeathSpank
Just a few scant hours after delivering the keynote address to a very pax'd audience at PAX 2009 (more on that later), legendary game designer Ron Gilbert gave me a tour of his latest creation, DeathSpank, best described as equal parts comic adventure game and Diablo-esque RPG. Yeah, it sounded crazy to me too. I met Gilbert in a small meeting room in the PAX expo hall – inconveniently located adjacent to the cacophonous Rock Band stage – and he explained the pairing this way: "I really wanted to marry those things because obviously I like adventure games a lot – I really like the way adventure games tell stories; I like the way they tell it through dialog, through puzzles – but also I'm a big fan of Diablo and having this kind of action RPG stuff in there, I just wanted to meld those two things together. And DeathSpank is the result of that." Initially billed as an episodic series in the vein of the Hothead-developed Penny Arcade Adventures, DeathSpank has outgrown that distribution model. "With DeathSpank, he's such an epic, over-the-top character that as we were working all the stories together for him – it sounds silly – but it was hard to contain him," Gilbert said. "And then once we stopped making it episodic, it was really interesting how the design blossomed at that point." %Gallery-71890%
DeathSpank gameplay footage debuts at PAX '09
PAX 2009 has yielded the first gameplay footage of Ron Gilbert and Hothead's forthcoming adventure slash RPG, DeathSpank. Billed as a potent mixture of Diablo's pointing and Monkey Island's clicking (or ... is it the other way around?), DeathSpank pokes fun at video gaming's huge array of heroic buffoons, though not without sending its own protagonist down a familiarly violent path. Mind you pay attention to the game's eye-catching art style beneath all that cartoon blood!
Ron Gilbert's DeathSpank reappears with new details, screens
Believe it or not, it's been three days short of a year since new DeathSpank info made its way onto Joystiq. Ron Gilbert's previously episodic project has now been detailed on 1UP, with the actual game part revealed as a delectable hybrid of Diablo-style role-playing and point-and-click adventure ... ing. We think we speak for all sane people when we say, "Please let us have this immediately."Oh, but who pays attention to the internet's minority group?
Thank the Canadian government for these great games
Ever heard of Fez? How about N+? DeathSpank, maybe? If any of these games are near and dear to you like they are to us (we're looking at you, N+), then you have the Canadian government to thank. Government funding towards game development in Canada helped make each of the aforementioned games come to fruition, according to Gamasutra.Similar initiatives are being proposed or practiced in many US cities, however, the Canadian government has a long history of promoting game development in the country. It even gave DeathSpank developer Hothead Games over a half million dollars -- to develop a game named DeathSpank! Though it'd be nice to say that such quality stuff was being developed in our backyards, we'll take what we can get. Good games are good games, no?
Bloody new DeathSpank trailers, details from PAX 2008
While Hothead is busy pimping its upcoming Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 2, let's not forget about its other, simpler-titled project DeathSpank. The company has released three new teaser trailers for the snarky title ("Fight" is shown above), built from the ground up with Joystiq's own Ludwig Kietzmann in mind as the target demographic. During last weekend's Penny Arcade Expo, Hothead COO Joel DeYoung said he considered the game a "more Diablo-esque" episodic action RPG with ample amounts of creator Ron Gilbert's humor, "lampooning video game space and the idea of the video game hero that takes himself too seriously." The game is not using PAA's Torque engine. More information about DeathSpank should be coming "soon," he said. After the break, check out the "Item" and "Armor" trailer. (Spoiler: Two of these three videos use the phrase "Thong of Justice.")
Joystiq interviews DeathSpank's Ron Gilbert
Described as "the perfect melding of a Monkey Island style adventure game with the wicked RPG gameplay of Diablo," Ron Gilbert's episodic endeavor also formed part of our recent GDC interview with Hothead Games. Though the Orphans of Justice still have quite a bit of growing up to do, we quickly quizzed designer Ron about Deathspank's upcoming lampooning of adventure game heroes, as well as the series' inevitable downward spiral in quality after the, uh, 600,000th episode.
Joystiq interview: Penny Arcade Adventures
It's fair to say that quite a lot is expected from Vancouver-based developer, Hothead Games. The group not only has to deliver a series of downloadable and episodic adventure RPGs in regular intervals, but also appease a fanbase so large and rabid that it can click your website to death -- accidentally, if you're lucky. On top of all that, the poor developers are occasionally dragged into a tiny room for the sole purpose of being poked by a plethora of questions regarding their upcoming games.Penny Arcade Adventures producer, Joel DeYoung, and Hothead creative director, Ron Gilbert, had to endure just such a prodding during GDC, the results of which can be viewed after the break. Appropriately enough, our interview's almost as long as the title of the series: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.%Gallery-1545%
GDC Quest Quiz I: Ron Gilbert
We did a terrible thing at last week's Game Developer's Conference. Aside from our usual barrage of photographs and "reporting," a select group of attendees had to endure a particularly inane and utterly pointless line of questioning -- just for laughs. This is what happens when you hunt down several adventure game connoisseurs and challenge them to solve a typically obnoxious adventure game puzzle. The Player Ron Gilbert, designer of The Secret of Monkey Island (amongst other LucasArts adventures), consultant on Penny Arcade Adventures and designer of Hothead's upcoming episodic series, Deathspank. The Puzzle You're standing in front of a cave. The goal is to get inside the cave, taking care to foil the ferocious robot bear guarding the entrance first. The Inventory (1) perforated parasol (1) rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle (1) sealed manila envelope (1) miniature macaroni Tim Schafer statue Find Ron Gilbert's surprisingly direct solution after the break.
Hothead Games to publish Ron Gilbert's 'DeathSpank'
Described as -- and you'll want to sit down for this -- "the perfect melding of a Monkey Island style adventure game with the wicked RPG game play of Diablo," Ron Gilbert's latest creation has been revealed to be an episodic title dubbed "DeathSpank: Episode 1: Orphans of Justice." The adventure legend has joined Vancouver-based Hothead Games as Creative Director, noting that he's spent over four years searching for "the right publisher for this strange little game." He went on to quip, "Now that I've done it, you just know that somewhere four horsemen are saddling up." Followers of Gilbert's grumpy ramblings may remember DeathSpank as a satirical game character mentioned in a series of Flash comics, created with the aid of Clayton Kauzlaric and offered on Gilbert's personal blog. They'll also recall that Gilbert is currently providing his expertise and surly demeanor to Penny Arcade's episodic endeavor, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. Expect to hear more on both titles... soonish.
