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Denis Dyack's Shadow of the Eternals rises from the grave
Silicon Knights founder Denis Dyack has formed a new studio, called Quantum Entanglement Entertainment. The studio, abbreviated as "QE2," will produce content not just for games, but television and film as well. On its "Under Development" page, QE2 lists an unannounced IP as well as Shadow of the Eternals - a project that was put on hold last year, after two failed Kickstarter campaigns. Positioned as a spiritual successor to GameCube cult classic Eternal Darkness, Shadow of the Eternals tells its Lovecraftian tale of horror via multiple viewpoints over the course of thousands of years. A 9-minute gameplay video showing protagonist Clara meeting with Elizabeth Bathory, "The Blood Countess," as the two explore a strange and forbidden tome, is available to watch after the break. Oh those forbidden tomes, always with the insanity and the Lovecraftian horror! When will people learn that is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons, even Denis Dyack may create this game? No platforms or release information is given regarding Shadow of the Eternals, but the most recent Kickstarter drive advertised the game for PC and Wii U.
Joystiq Streams: Can Eternal Darkness still scare? [UPDATE: Relive the stream!]
The things that terrify us never fade - the dark, basements, isolation, bugs, lake monsters, Paula Deen -but time isn't kind to our scary stories. Some horror stands up, though. The Exorcist is every bit as freaky as it was 40 years ago, but is Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem still as scary in 2014 as it was in 2002? Will people who've never played that Gamecube classic still freak the geek out when they play it for the first time? Intrepid explorers that we are here at Joystiq, we're going to find out today on Joystiq Streams. Our very own Xav de Matos will play Eternal Darkness for the very first time on Joystiq Streams today at 4PM EST at Joystiq.com/Twitch. Come find out how one of gaming's horror essentials holds up. Joystiq Streams is broadcasting every day at 4PM EST this week at Joystiq.com/Twitch! Join us. [Images: Nintendo]
Work ceases on Shadow of the Eternals, team 'taking a break'
Shadow of the Eternals has been officially shelved, according to a post from Precursor Games Chief Creative Director Denis Dyack. "It is with a heavy heart that we have decided to put the Shadow of the Eternals project on hold," Dyack wrote. "We are very happy with what we have accomplished both as a group and with the community. The community has blown us away and was the one thing that kept us going through it all - we cannot thank you enough." Shadow of the Eternals is the spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness, which Dyack directed. The team held two Kickstarter campaigns, the first of which was canceled, and the latter of which failed to meet its goal. Dyack said last month that the Precursor team hadn't yet given up, and that they would "pursue other avenues with the ultimate goal of having our games come to fruition," but his most recent post on the Precursor forums also notified fans that many of the team would be "taking a break." For those looking for the upside in this news: The game is on hold, not completely scrapped. "We have all agreed as a group that when and if the time is right we will get together and start it up again," Dyack wrote. In other words, Shadow of the Eternals isn't dead just yet. It's a Lovecraftian horror game, and as Lovecraft once wrote, "That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die."
Nintendo registers new Eternal Darkness trademark
Nintendo recently filed a re-registration of its Eternal Darkness trademark, with the addition of some language of the downloadable variety. As Siliconera noted, the new trademark differs from the 2010 renewal due to the addition of coverage for "downloadable electronic game programs; downloadable electronic game software." At face value, the change in language for the Eternal Darkness trademark could simply be the lawyers covering their bases. That's what they're paid to do. Especially when there's the potential need to enforce it with Shadow of the Eternals. Then again, sometimes these trademark renewals are the sign of something legit, as was the case with Killer Instinct. A digital release of Eternal Darkness on the Nintendo Virtual Console is an option available to the publisher.
Shadow of the Eternals returns to Kickstarter on July 25
On July 25, Precursor Games will re-launch its Kickstarter campaign for Shadow of the Eternals, which it considers a spiritual successor to Silicon Knights' cult classic, Eternal Darkness. Last month, Precursor Games sought $1.5 million through the crowd-funding service for Shadow of the Eternals, but pulled the plug before the drive could be concluded. Former Silicon Knights head Denis Dyack told Joystiq that drama surrounding his involvement had affected perceptions of the game negatively. At the end of June, Precursor Games' writer, game designer and artist Ken McCulloch was arrested on charges of distribution and possession of child pornography. Precursor Games was quick to distance itself from McCulloch and assured he is no longer affiliated with Precursor Games in any way following the allegations.
Shadows of the Eternals crowdfunding drives to be canceled this week
Precursor Games, the development studio of ex-SIlicon Knights employees that has been attempting to fund a spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness dubbed Shadow of the Eternals, will cancel both its Kickstarter campaign and its self-powered crowdfunding campaign through PayPal this Thursday, June 6. Precursor plans to re-launch the Kickstarter campaign in "just a few short weeks," at which point "exciting new developments" will be revealed. "Since we announced this Kickstarter campaign we have seen more support from our community than we had ever hoped for," the announcement reads. "Along with this support has come a host of a new exciting opportunities that will make the game better than we envisioned. As a result, we have chosen to temporarily take down the Shadow of the Eternals crowdfunding campaigns on both Kickstarter and our own website on Thursday, June 6." Due to Kickstarter's architecture, no one that donated to the fundraising drive will be charged for their contributions. Likewise, the studio says that anyone who donated via the official Shadow of the Eternals website will receive a full refund through PayPal. As of press time, the still-active Kickstarter campaign has raised $127,364 of its $1.35 million goal. Meanwhile, donations through the game's official site have totalled at $157,545, for a combined $284,959.
Shadow of the Eternals gets a secondary Kickstarter campaign
Precursor Games has launched a second, simultaneous crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for Shadow of the Eternals, the episodic horror game serving as a spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. This is a supplement to the crowdfunding project that Precursor launched on its own site on May 6. The Kickstarter campaign looks to raise $1.35 million, while Precursor's campaign asks for $1.5 million. "Due to overwhelming popular demand, we are happy to announce that an official Kickstarter campaign has launched for Shadow of the Eternals," Precursor says. "This gives potential pledgers even more options to contribute to the game." Precursor's campaign accepts payments through PayPal – unlike Kickstarter – and doesn't necessarily have to reach its goal to take whatever money it raises. That campaign has 24 days remaining and has raised $156,000. The Kickstarter campaign has 36 days to reach its goal, otherwise Precursor won't receive any of that money. Precursor will use the money raised in its crowdfunding efforts to launch a pilot episode in Q3 2014, and pay for the engine and core system development. Future episodes of Shadow of the Eternals – there will be 12 in total – will be "significantly cheaper and faster to produce," and Precursor will announce more episodes based on the success of its fundraising(s).
Nine minutes of Shadow of the Eternals gameplay revealed
Precursor Games has released nine minutes of gameplay footage from its CryEngine 3-powered horror-adventure game Shadow of the Eternals, giving a very thorough look at an early work-in-progress scene. Pitched as a spiritual successor to Silicon Knights' GameCube cult hit Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, Precursor's Shadow of the Eternals seeks backer support in an ongoing crowd-funding campaign. Backers have pledged over $134,000 toward Precursor's goal of $1.5 million, with 27 days left in the studio's funding campaign. Developer Precursor Games purchased game assets and hardware from the now semi-defunct Silicon Knights, and several former SK staffers, including Eternal Darkness director Denis Dyack, have joined Precursor's team for the project.
Precursor reveals 'Shadow of the Eternals' soundtrack tune, CEO defends Dyack
Composer Giancarlo Feltrin has revealed the first musical tune he's created for Shadow of the Eternals, the spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem that's currently seeking funding. The song is called "Bathory's Theme," after Erzébet Bathory, an infamous female serial killer who will be part of the game's pilot episode. Precursor Games' CEO Paul Caporicci has posted his own update on the title's development, focusing a portion of his note on the selection of Denis Dyack as creative lead. "Denis Dyack was my first choice for Creative, as he has a keen understanding on the creative aspects of game development," says Caporicci. "It saddens me to read that people's impressions of him are painted by anonymous accounts of other individuals." At Silicon Knights, Dyack oversaw the original cult-hit Eternal Darkness, before launching less successful games like Too Human and X-Men: Destiny. Ultimately, legal issues with Epic would seal the fate for Dyack's development house. Fans have asked about Nintendo's involvement, and Caporicci says that Nintendo has "been very supportive of our endeavour" so far. The game is being built in CryENGINE for the PC, but shouldn't have "substantial differences" when ported to the Wii U.
PSA: Shadow of the Eternals funding drive is live, has its own rules
The crowd-funding campaign for Shadow of the Eternals, a spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, is live now directly through developer Precursor Games. Borrowing the format from Kickstarter, Precursor has given itself 30 days to raise $1.5 million, with rewards for specific pledge amounts. Shadow of the Eternals will be distributed in 12 episodes whose story spans 2,500 years of psychological horror across Egypt, England, Hungary and the US. The pilot episode takes place in Hungary in 1610, at the castle of Erzebet Bathory, who is regarded as the most prolific female serial killer in history. She was also a countess. The Blood Countess. The pilot is scheduled to hit PC and Wii U in Q3 2014, and the entire project has Eternal Darkness director Denis Dyack as Precursor's chief creative officer. Precursor is based in Canada, meaning Kickstarter is out of the question and so are its rules – Shadow of the Eternals has a "flexible" funding goal. Even if it doesn't reach the full $1.5 million, Precursor will keep whatever money it raises, as long as there is enough to complete the game. "All contributions will go directly toward the development of this game and making it a reality," the FAQ reads. "We are committed to making this game, however, if it becomes apparent that we cannot raise enough to develop this project then we will refund all pledges."
Eternal Darkness spiritual successor 'Shadow of the Eternals' announced, crowdfunding begins Monday [Update: PC/Wii U, story details]
Update: Precursor Games will seek $1.5 million in funding when its campaign begins on Monday, a representative of the studio has told IGN. Additionally, Shadow of the Eternals will be released as 12 episodes for PC and Wii U, though an expected release window was not given. Initial story details describe Detective Paul Becker as a Louisiana cop embroiled in a conflict between two warring cults. The game will "span over 2500 years of history throughout Egypt, England, Hungary, and the United States" while players "try to balance the mechanics of combat, magick, and sanity events." Original text: Shadow of the Eternals was announced earlier today in a trailer on IGN with wording that heavily implies the game is a spiritual successor to the 2002 Gamecube cult classic Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. Under development at Precursor Games, Shadow of the Eternals will be multiplatform, presuming the success of a crowdfunding drive that is set to begin on Monday. Whether that crowdfunding initiative takes the shape of a Kickstarter, Indiegogo or independent campaign remains to be seen. What is known, however, is that Eternal Darkness director and producer Denis Dyack is involved in the project to some degree. On a more cryptic note, the Latin phrase at the beginning of the trailer translates to "The Order of the Unseen," which jives with the trailer's request for the viewer to "join the order." Personally, we're going to need to see some kind of incentive before we sign anything. Do we get a free toaster? Are utilities included? Let's make a deal here. [Thanks, Tom!]
Report: Eternal Darkness 2 demo part of X-Men: Destiny's woes
According to a report by Andrew McMillen, Silicon Knights was working on an Eternal Darkness 2 pitch demo that distracted the team from X-Men: Destiny during its development.McMillen writes on Kotaku that there were a litany of problems around the terrible X-Men: Destiny, including a lack of direction, technical and publisher issues with Activision, and problematic management from studio founder Denis Dyack."SK didn't take the development of XMD seriously the entire time I was there," says an anonymous former Silicon Knights employee. "It seemed more like a job to get us by, until ED2 could be developed and sold to a publisher - which never happened." Another unnamed source says "SK had about 60% of the development team working on XMD and the other 40% working on ED2," which caused staffing problems and allegedly lowered the quality of the final X-Men release.The piece also alleges that Silicon Knights earned the Activision contract and other contracts by "talking about Eternal Darkness endlessly," so if this is all true the very franchise that got Silicon Knights the X-Men project was the one that helped sink it. Given how certain Dyack has been in the past about an Eternal Darkness sequel, this might be one of several answers as to why X-Men: Destiny didn't get the focus it needed.
The 10 best GameCube exclusives (other than the obvious)
Three days ago marked the Xbox's tenth anniversary -- which means today is the GameCube's tenth. Those two systems are emblematic of the rift between "core" and "casual" gaming that formed seemingly around them -- nobody really thought there was a difference in previous generations, but the contrast between the Mountain Dew-green, imposing Xbox and the family-friendly, lunchbox-shaped, honestly adorable GameCube underscored the growing divide. Just as we did with the Xbox, we're celebrating the GameCube today with a look at ten of its exclusive titles. More of these led to sequels and ports elsewhere, but in almost every case, there was some aspect of the game that never "clicked" away from the GameCube. Oh, and we're not listing the obvious ones. Yes, we all liked Smash Bros. and Zelda. Where's the fun in bringing those up again? After the break, find an utterly arbitrary list of GameCube games we liked. But first, we have to begin properly: like this.
Eternal Darkness concept art shows endings that could have been
You have to like Eternal Darkness to work at Joystiq. It's on the application exam (right next to the section on Metal Gear Awesome). As such, it is our duty to share the discovery of some Eternal Darkness concept art on the Behance Network page of John Dobbie, former assistant lead artist for Silicon Knights. The various pieces depict several endings that never made it into the final game (which ended up with four possible endings). The images depict a zombie apocalypse, giant structures built with human bones and humanity marching directly into the mouth of the lobster-like god, Chattur'gha. Head over to Dobbie's Behance page to check them out.
Nintendo re-applies for Eternal Darkness trademark
Nintendo has filed for a trademark on the phrase "Eternal Darkness," the title of the GameCube's Silicon Knights-developed psychological horror game. It tricked us by doing things like pretending to reset the console or lowering a fake volume indicator on the TV screen, due to a low in-game "sanity" meter. Apparently the trademark lapsed recently, and while we'd love to tell you that this means someone is working on a brand new version of Eternal Darkness for the Wii, it likely just means that Nintendo is covering its trademarked bases. Besides, if you just want a Wii game that will drive you nuts, try some SPOGS Racing. That game is so bad it's crazy.
Batman: Arkham Asylum creator focused on quality over quantity, hasn't played BioShock
In a lengthy post-mortem with Gamasutra this week, Rocksteady Studios creative director Sefton Hill spoke his mind on a mess of topics regarding this summer's surprise hit, Batman: Arkham Asylum. "There are too many games out there that deliver lots of average content," Hill said when asked about the relative "tightness" of Batman in comparison with other games. Personal inspiration for the game's design came from places like Zelda and Metroid, two game series he's been a fan of "for years," as well as Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness. And though Arkham's audio logs and "environment as a character" motif hearken back to 2007's BioShock, Hill claimed he's never played it. "It's on my list of games to get back into ... I can't say for me that was a big direct influence."Truth be told, we're just scratching the surface of Gamasutra's thorough dissection of Batman -- a game we loved with all of our jaded, rancorous hearts -- so do yourself a favor and stroll through the entire five pages. Call it an afternoon treat! You deserve it, dearest Joystiq reader.%Gallery-31781%
Possible Silicon Knights project title leaked: Siren in the Maelstrom
A Canadian cultural agency known as Telefilm Canada recently posted a list of 56 new media projects it's helping to fund over the next year. One name on this list sticks out more than all the others: St. Catharines, Ontario-based developer Silicon Knights' apparent new project, which is titled "Siren in the Maelstrom." We know the developer is up to something, as hinted at by a few recent help wanted ads -- could this be the something for which it's hiring? We've contacted Silicon Knights to try and find out.We're pretty upset that the leaked title isn't "Eternal Darkness: Siren in the Maelstrom." On the other hand, it's also not "Too Human: Siren in the Maelstrom," so we guess we should count our blessings.[Via VG247]
Born for Wii: Eternal Darkness
It's almost Halloween, gamers: are you ready? For most of us, the approach of Halloween signifies a few things: a chill in the air as winter crawls ever closer, overdosing on candy, and concerned parents fretting over how many razor blades they're going to find lodged in seemingly innocent candy apples. For a few of us, it means wild parties and crazy costumes. But for all of us, it's the season for scares.Of course, how you get your fair share of hair-raising excitement is up to you, but we here at Nintendo Wii Fanboy think there's a better way for you to spend your time than seeing Saw V this Halloween weekend. Close the blinds, turn off the lights, crank up the sound and settle down with one of the scariest, most original games of last generation: Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. Everyone's favorite purple lunchbox was often criticized as being a kiddie platform to the chagrin of Nintendo fans everywhere, and Eternal Darkness did its best to challenge those claims when it was released in 2002. The game's rich narrative and diverse gameplay were a large part of its appeal (and critical acclaim), but being one of the downright creepiest games of all time sure didn't hurt. For messing with our heads and making us afraid to sleep at night, Eternal Darkness is the scariest game that's ever been Born for Wii. #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; } NEXT >> %Gallery-35492% Every week, Born for Wii digs into gaming's sordid past to unearth a new treasure fit for revival on the Nintendo Wii. Be sure to check out last week's entry in the series, Discs of Tron, and for more great titles that deserve your attention, take a look at Virtually Overlooked.
Top 5: Spooky Gaming Moments
In order to survive on these tough tubes, one usually needs to develop a biting sense of sarcasm. You know, where we make a statement and then italicize the second part of the sentence to indicate that this is where the funny is. When you work in cynicism, sentimentality and unfettered joy are difficult to host. You can't be contemptuous one moment but filled with child-like joy the next. Thus, we tend to judge the value of holidays based primarily on if it grants us a day off from work. Yet one holiday that seems to entertain even the crabbiest of bloggers is Halloween. Around the world, the lead-up to October 31st has us enjoying the orange and black decorations, scanning late-night cable for horror movies, and attempting to rationalize buying abundant amounts of candy at the counter of the drug store. Sure, we can be as bitter and weathered as we allow ourselves to be, but there's no denying the joy of carving pumpkins, piecing together a costume, and perhaps even enjoying a good scare or two. As gaming is always finding new ways to entertain us, fans of things that go bump in the night have no shortage of spooky games. Developers have been attempting to give us frights ever since the obscenely terrible Halloween for the Atari 2600. Good gameplay can survive regardless of technology, but generating a convincing scare is usually dependent on quality audio and visuals. Since top-notch technology and mature content have inconsistently been attributes of Nintendo, our favorite line of consoles is slightly lacking in good scares. But while the Silent Hills and Fatal Frames of the other guys have given us plenty of sleepless nights, Nintendo's consoles are home to a handful of underwear-changing moments. Here's the Top 5 moments that, speaking in strict technical terms, give us the heebie-jeebies. NEXT >> #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; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
Dyack: Ownership of Eternal Darkness IP is 'complicated'
Our greener, slightly more hi-def colleagues at X3F recently had a chance to sit down with Denis Dyack, famously outspoken founder and president of Silicon Knights. Although Dyack and Silicon Knights have been working with the others in recent years, the company does have a history of working alongside Nintendo, perhaps most notably when Ninty published cult favorite Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem on the GameCube. Since it was released in 2002, the fan clamor for an Eternal Darkness follow-up has been considerable.Regrettably, the signs given by Dyack here (at around the 4.30 mark) aren't encouraging. The sticking point seems to be the issue of who owns the Eternal Darkness IP, something which Dyack describes as "a complicated question with a complicated answer."That said, he also reveals that Nintendo is a "silent partner" with the developer, and that the two companies have a "great" relationship. "It's not time to talk about Eternal Darkness 2," he concludes. The chances of an Eternal Darkness sequel on Wii seem a little slimmer after watching this, and that makes us sad pandas.
