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South Park: The Stick of Truth coming this holiday season
During Ubisoft's E3 keynote, it was revealed that South Park: The Stick of Truth's launch has been narrowed down to Holiday 2013. The turn-based RPG, which Ubisoft recently acquired from defunct publisher THQ, is currently in development at Obsidian Entertainment.
Saving the land one blast at a time in South Park: The Stick of Truth
South Park: The Stick of Truth is a fantastical universe built on a foundation of realism: "In terms of a fourth-grade boy, magic really is farting," producer Nathan Davis proclaims. In the Obsidian-developed, now Ubisoft published role-playing game, that foundation is the essence of your character's power. Choosing to align with either Cartman and his human faction or with Stan, Kyle and the elves they command, your customizable character will offer his mysterious command of flatulence to defeat his enemies and recover the fabled 'Stick of Truth.' Known throughout the land as "the new kid" (and, yes, even as the "Dragonborn"), your character wields special abilities based on the bodily function – such as "cup-a-spell," cupping foul smelling attacks and throwing them toward enemies and the environment for massive explosive damage. It's the most South Park game you'll ever play and, with its absolute perfect mimicry of the show's art style, it's the most loyal adaptation the series has seen in video games.%Gallery-190321%
South Park Studios battles THQ over potential sale of The Stick of Truth
On January 18, South Park Digital Studios filed a preliminary objection to THQ's proposed sale of South Park: The Stick of Truth. THQ and South Park Studios entered into a Deal Memo, granting THQ use of certain South Park trademarks and copyrights, on June 29, 2011. THQ filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 19 and is being auctioned off today, January 22, at 3 p.m. EST.In an objection filed in Delaware bankruptcy court, South Park Studios claims that the Deal Memo does not allow other parties use of the South Park IP, and even if the game does end up at a different company, THQ owes South Park Studios at least $2.275 million. South Park Studios "also reserves the right to exercise its option to acquire from THQ all elements of the games and related products under the Deal Memo."THQ filed a reply on January 21, requesting that the court overrule the objection and allow the sale to continue, though it says it is working toward a consensual resolution with South Park Studios. THQ argues that the license is exclusive and therefore transferable as THQ sees fit. As for the $2.275 million, THQ is "evaluating the amount that South Park asserts is owing" and plans to work with South Park Studios to resolve the issue.All bids in the THQ bankruptcy sale were due by 9 a.m. EST today and the auction begins at 3 p.m. Hearing on the sale takes place tomorrow, January 23, at 9:30 a.m., with the closing on January 24. THQ will only sell assets individually if it receives bids of more than $60 million (plus a $10 million note) that Clearlake Capital Group is offering for the entire company. The auction has attracted the attention of EA, Warner Bros., Double Fine and others.
Obsidian's Avellone on South Park and the continued appeal of external franchises
Obsidian Entertainment has proven through its Project Eternity Kickstarter that it can afford to make original IPs. However, just because the company doesn't necessarily have to work in existing franchises doesn't mean the team will stop doing so."Working with franchises can be challenging, but at the same time I really did enjoy working on Star Wars, for example, and I have done a lot of Dungeons & Dragons games, but I still enjoy it very much," Obsidian creative director Chris Avellone told me. "And there's plenty of franchises out there that we would love to work with still."Developing games in pre-existing universes can be rewarding for Obsidian, Avellone suggested. South Park: The Stick of Truth, which is as far from Obsidian's comfort zone as anything would be, illustrates the benefits. "The fact that you're implementing game system mechanics that cater to the South Park franchise, in the sense of rude and obnoxious different weapon types," Avellone explained, "we rarely get a chance to flex our design skills in those directions, and it's a lot of fun to do. We're actually learning a lot while we're doing it. That's another advantage of working on someone else's franchise. You sort of get inside their head for a sense of how they think, and how that stuff can be converted into game mechanics." Obsidian was dropped into South Park with a surprisingly clear vision of what to do, as a concept had already been proposed. "We didn't actually know what they were thinking about in terms of RPGs, so we went up there for one day, they ran us this animatic sequence of how they imagined the opening of the game playing," and Obsidian "got it" immediately. "It was hilarious, and we got it, we see what you're trying to make here. It's going to feel like the show, it's going to look like the show. Here's how you interpret the controller mechanisms." What wasn't as clear from the outset was whether the Stick of Truth offer was true. "I would never have thought we'd get a chance to do an RPG like that, and like holy crap," Avellone said. "When we first heard about it, I seriously thought some other game company was punking us. 'Ha ha ha, we're from South Park and we want to do an RPG!... ha ha, fake.'"
New South Park screens keep you guessing
These South Park: The Stick of Truth screens suspiciously look like they're from the television show of the same name. We have no choice but to believe these are screenshots from the game, which will be available on Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 on March 3, 2013.
Broadway star Josh Gad to play Woz in Jobs biopic
The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Josh Gad is in talks to play Steve Wozniak in Jobs, the independent film staring Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs. Gad is best known for his starring role in the South Park creators' musical "Book of Mormon." He is also a correspondent for The Daily Show and has appeared in feature films such as Love and Other Drugs. Jobs will be shot on a shoestring budget of around US$5 million beginning next month in Texas. The film will chart the story of Steve Jobs from his days as a teenager to when he founded Apple -- and perhaps up to his return to the company in 1997, depending which reports of the script are accurate. The Ashton Kutcher-led Jobs film is not to be confused with Sony's official adaptation of Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography, which is due out late this year. Photograph credit: Dimitrio Kambouris/Getty Images.
South Park: Tenorman's Revenge trailer is full of half-brotherly hate
The first full trailer for South Park: Tenorman's Revenge -- which you can view above -- shows off the death-defying stunts Cartman and co. will get into this spring. Tenorman's Revenge is the second XBLA-exclusive title from the South Park universe, following South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!, which debuted in 2009. Tenorman's Revenge is the final XBLA exclusive from South Park Studios under its initial agreement with Microsoft.Show creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are hard at work on South Park: The Game -- perhaps doubly so now that a few of the Obsidian team members were "affected" by layoffs.
Macworld|iWorld's South Park talk
On the first day of Macworld|iWorld, one of the talks on the main stage was by three people who help bring the animated series South Park to life each week: David Lenna (CTO), Ryan Quincy (Animation Producer), and Eric Stough (Animation Director and Producer). It was an interview-format talk, with the questions being asked by Andy Ihnatko. There were clips from the series as well as from last fall's documentary Six Days To Air. The unique style of South Park's animation comes from its humble beginnings. When co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker first started shooting animation, they were actually using construction paper cutouts. Time constraints make that virtually impossible now, so the series is animated in Maya on Macs (keeping to that app much as possible so they don't have to switch between tools), using high-powered 3D rendering software to make everything look like it was shot with cut-up construction paper.It was interesting to get some insight into the process of putting a show together in six days. Highlights of the things they discussed: * Very little animation gets cut: They usually have about 24 minutes of animation for a 22-minute show. * Blizzard got them actual environments and files to drop in when they shot the episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft," which was largely set within the game's environment. * Their network is about 45 XServes and a stack of Mac Pros, which they pointed out, are getting a bit long in the tooth. * When a suggestion is made for a new tool or workflow, the hard rule is that it cannot take any longer than things take now. Even today the schedule is so tight, if it takes an extra 10 seconds on every machine, the whole schedule is off. * They have a team of people working right now on converting episodes to HD from SD. One of the episodes that will likely always live in SD is the aforementioned "Make Love, Not Warcraft." * Initially they thought they might be able to get an episode out in two weeks, but have managed to tighten the process down to less than one. There were also clips shown from the episode "Major Boobage." There was video of what the initial storyboards look like shown side by side with the finished product, and some video of live action that was filmed as reference and animated over. It wasn't a long enough talk for them to get into the nuts and bolts of workflow, but it was very nice to know that part of how an entire show can go from a funny idea to a finished product in less than a week is thanks to Macs.
Macworld | iWorld's Art of South Park gallery
On the second floor of Moscone West here at Macworld | iWorld 2012 is the Macworld Midway, a series of displays and events that are still Mac-related, but which veer a little out of the standard Apple community. One of those is this Art of South Park gallery, which features art from the very ribald (and hilarious) Comedy Central animated show. Not all of this art was created with Macs, but the show itself is developed and put together on Macs every week, and there's a panel here at Macworld in which artists from the show are talking about how they use Apple's technology. If you're not here in San Francisco, you can walk through the gallery, and check out all of the art on display, below. %Gallery-145739%
South Park's fifth character class is the 'Jew'
Ask any South Park fan and they'll tell you that Eric Cartman is, uh, opinionated about the Jewish people. The fifth mystery class for Obsidian's South Park: The Game has been revealed as the Jew, joining the Paladin, Wizard, Rogue, and Adventurer classes. It's bound to upset a few people, we imagine, but that's kinda what South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone do. To expect anything less is, at this point, silly. But be warned: selecting that class is bound to elicit a few negative comments from Cartman. In the new game, the Jew class is described as being a hybrid between Monk and Paladin. Matt Maclean, lead designer, tells Game Informer the Jew will be "high risk, high reward" and strongest when closest to death.
South Park RPG is a feel-good game about fitting in, and more details
Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker revealed the first details of the South Park RPG in Game Informer this week, and the project sounds so awesome that it isn't even funny. To break it down, players of South Park: The Game will be the new kid in town, and the main struggle will be to fit in and be accepted (See? South Park really is a public-programming after-school show, mom). Characters will be completely customizable and Cartman will help players choose their class -- wizard, paladin, adventurer, rogue or another, unannounced class made up by Cartman. The story will begin with players joining a live-action RPG with neighborhood kids, which will then turn into a real adventure. The combat system will mirror Paper Mario, weapon augmentation will draw from Final Fantasy's Materia, and the levels are all illustrated and animated by hand, in a completely 2D format, devoid of any real-life hamsters. Parker and Stone say there will be a summoning system, but that they can't talk about it yet. And, most shocking of all, Parker and Stone say the game will be funny. NeoGAF has a nice summary of the article right here.
Obsidian heading on up to South Park for PS3/Xbox 360 RPG [update: PC too!]
Yes, beyond the XBLA-exclusive South Park: Tenorman's Revenge game on the horizon, it appears that another South Park title is in development. Fallout: New Vegas dev Obsidian is apparently working with publisher THQ to craft "South Park: The Game," an RPG set in the world of South Park. We're already imagining Cheesy Poofs buffs and plundering the depths of Casa Bonita's mysterious caverns. According to Game Informer, who has the exclusive cover debut of the title, South Park will arrive some time in 2012. As per usual with these cover reveals, you'll find out much more in next month's issue of GI, which hits subscribers in the coming week. Update: According to a press release from THQ, the game is also expected on PC, and should arrive in the "second half of 2012."
The Perfect Ten: MMOs in movies and television
While 1982's Tron explored what virtual life might be like inside a massive video game, it wasn't until fairly recently that real MMOs have crossed the divide between niche and mainstream to be referenced in television and films. Depending on how you see it, this mainstream acceptance of geek culture can be a thing to be either celebrated or shunned. What's for certain, however, is that we've only started to see the beginning of such mentions. In today's Perfect Ten, I cobbled together a list of the first 10 MMO references that I know of from movies and TV shows. Some might be nothing more than a background detail or a throwaway line, while others are completely centered around the advertisement, er, massively multiplayer online roleplaying game. I tried hard not to use "cheats" such as fake MMOs featured in shows like The Guild, so this list is all about real-world titles with no sugar substitutes. Ready? Insert quarter and hit player one!
See South Park: Tenorman's Revenge in motion
Comedy Central posted the brief gameplay clip above from South Park: Tenorman's Revenge, which gives us a peek at two different areas in the game. Watch out for those robot gingers, children!
'South Park: Tenorman's Revenge' is the second South Park XBLA exclusive, arriving spring 2012
Cartman's long-standing feud with half-brother Scott Tenorman is about to come to a platforming-based turning point, as South Park: Tenorman's Revenge launches next spring exclusively on Xbox Live Arcade. This marks the second and final game under Microsoft's exclusivity agreement with South Park Digital Studios, as we revealed earlier this year. South Park: Let's Go Tower Defense Play!, the first game in the deal, debuted at NY Comic Con two years ago (nearly to the day!). For Tenorman's Revenge, South Park Digital Studios and Comedy Central are teaming up with quirky developer Other Ocean Interactive to put together a downloadable platformer where players will control Cartman, Stan, Kenny and Kyle against a red-hued army of "gingers," controlled by none other than Scott Tenorman. Beyond the main campaign of (presumably) hopping over gingers and avoiding their evil tricks, the game also features a multiplayer co-op mode (online and off), though it's unclear if that's a separate mode or a co-op version of the campaign. We'll know more very soon, though, as Tenorman's Revenge will be making a more thorough debut at this weekend's New York Comic Con, where developers and South Park producers alike will present the game and take questions from the crowd. That debut takes place tomorrow at 6:15PM ET. So, uh, if you're not in New York yet, it's probably a good idea to start planning. Head past the break for an exclusive look at the first image, featuring everyone's favorite three animal combo (besides the turducken, of course), ManBearPig.
Second 'South Park' game headed exclusively to Xbox 360
It's been nearly two years since the last South Park-branded title landed on Xbox Live Arcade, but apparently at least one more is in the works exclusively for Microsoft's digital marketplace. In speaking with 345 Games creative director Prithvi Virasinghe during a recent Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon preview, I couldn't help but wonder what other Comedy Central properties his studio might work on next -- perhaps one of the network's most famous? "Right now, South Park is actually in a first-party deal with Microsoft Studios, who published the first game, and they're doing a second game as well," he explained. Apparently South Park: Let's Go Tower Defense Play! was just the first of two titles in the deal, set to expire whenever that follow-up title launches. "After that, that first-party exclusivity window expires, and we get a shot of taking that back," Virasinghe explained. Though his team is up to the challenge, Virasinghe also has some other projects he's interested in first, particularly a couple of ideas involving Stephen Colbert (as well as Colbert's hilarious side character, Tek Jansen). That said, the developer needs to leap some hurdles before that can happen, the least of which is deciding whether or not its game idea fits well with the brand. According to him, "It has to be the right combination of game idea meets property." Personally, I'm holding out for Tek Jansen.
South Park lampoons EA Sports, Peter Moore, athletic royalties and everything else
The latest episode of South Park is ... well, one of the stranger recent episodes of South Park, an observation you probably made after reading its title: "Crack Baby Athletic Association." In the show's typical fashion, the episode is a hyperbolic, metaphorical critique of the treatment of professional and collegiate athletes, and their complaints of being denied royalties for media which feature their likeness. One target of the show's scathing barbs was EA Sports, headed up by one "Mr. Peters," a mock-up (pictured above!) of real-life studio president Peter Moore. You can watch the full episode for free online over at South Park Studios. We've contacted EA Sports to see if it has any comment on the show -- considering it's South Park's second send-up of the developer, we imagine its hackles might be a little raised.
South Park makes fun of all things Apple in season opener
South Park has aired the opening episode of its 15th season, and it blasted not only Apple's products, but the culture surrounding the company as well. We knew this was coming based on a Steve Jobs parody keynote promo that was shown leading up to the premiere. Some of the best bits were the Genius Bar segment (see below -- sorry, Flash required) and the part where Eric's mom tries to get him to buy a Toshiba HandyBook instead of an iPad. I'll let the episode speak for itself, though. You can watch it in its entirety here. Be warned, however -- as usual, South Park is very NSFW. HUMANCENTiPAD Tags: SOUTH PARKmore...
South Park introduces the HUMANCENTiPad
South Park is starting its 15th season on Wednesday, and Apple will be there. Comedy Central has posted a very short clip of Steve Jobs presenting the newest iThingy, which seems to be a mash-up of an iPad and The Human Centipede. The latter is a movie so bad that it garnered a Rotten Tomatoes audience rating of 29 percent. The clip is slightly NSFW (Not Suitable For Work), so be forewarned. Thanks to Keith M. for the tip
WoW Moviewatch: What would Warchief Garrosh do?
Irdeen has really proven his ability to create musical machinima that captures the community's imagination. Boom De Yada was obviously a huge hit, and now we all get to see the answer to What would Warchief Garrosh do? Five young friends enter Orgrimmar after the Cataclysm only to discover that Thrall has given over control of the Horde to Garrosh. At first, the boys aren't sure what to think of all these radical changes. The only way to set their minds at ease is ... song! The song is an obvious parody of What would Brian Boitano do? from the South Park's movie in 1999. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at machinima@wow.com.
