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Joystiq hands-on: American McGee's Grimm
click to enlarge After playing his latest creation, we're beginning to suspect that American McGee – whose previous work includes American McGee's Alice, Quake, and Doom II – has a bit of a fascination with the macabre. Grimm has its basis in some of the darker fairytales on record, and McGee has certainly milked them for every last, inky drop of blackness.As we reported earlier today, American McGee's Grimm is GameTap's first weekly episodic game. We plunged into the twisted depths of the first episode – "A Boy Learns What Fear Is" – to bring you the hands-on impressions you'll find after the break.%Gallery-26724%
American McGee's Grimm: All episodes free for first 24 hours
GameTap is taking a most unusual approach with its first weekly episodic game series. Each episode of American McGee's Grimm – individual "fractured fairytales" from the designer of American McGee's Alice – will debut as a free download and remain free for a 24-hour period. After that, episodes will go into GameTap's archives and be available to download individually for a yet-to-be-determined price.The model is likened to that of the iTunes or Xbox Live video download services. Catching a Grimm episode during the initial download-for-free window will be like watching a new episode of a show on network TV. Once it's "aired," you can download it if you missed it – for a price.The episodes will be supported by minimal up-front advertising and the first one, "A Boy Learns What Fear Is," will debut on July 31. We had the opportunity to play the first three Grimm episodes yesterday and will post our impressions later today.
American McGee likes where the Wii is taking us
If you've ever played the PC title Alice, then you got a lot farther than this blogger. The damn game only managed to crash my computer, but that's neither here nor there. People who have played Alice have enjoyed the title, for the most part. So you could say McGee has some standing in the games industry.His thoughts on Wii? "For too long it has seemed that games were becoming more and more hardcore while continually alienating potential new gamers," he says. "The massive success of simple games like The Sims offered clear signs that there was a huge under-served audience waiting for accessible, fun game content. With the Wii proving that next-gen doesn't have to mean more polys, better AI, or realistic graphics, I think there's hope that the gaming 'core audience' might just become the mass audience."What do you all think? Sure, the Wii is expanding the market, but will the "core audience" he's referring to get left in the dust? Will this "mass audience" of the future find their gaming tastes evolving beyond the casual? Weigh in![Via Go Nintendo]
GameTap tells the tale of Grimm's gameplay
GameTap posted a preview of Grimm, its upcoming 24-part episodic adventure taking the cheery Disney-fied fairy tales we all know and bringing them back closer to the source material. Each episode will release weekly and have approximately 30 minutes of gameplay focusing on one fairy tale. The episode will start with the "contemporary perspective" of the fairy tale told in puppet show form, narrated by the main character Grimm (seen above). After Grimm goes out into the world and does his thing, the end of each episode will have another puppet show telling the story a little closer to the original version with a little bit of McGee's touch.The gameplay involves Grimm running around and turning the bright cheery landscape into a macabre world, basically the opposite of De Blob. After a majority of the level is transformed Grimm can move on to other challenges, which include platform gameplay, secret areas, hidden items and more. What we still don't know is if the difficulty will curve up in each weekly episode or if it will get progressively harder as it goes along (meaning by episode 20 it could take hours to finish due to restarts instead of 30 minutes). Grimm begins telling tales in July on GameTap.%Gallery-9426%
Screenshots: American McGee's Grimm ... and first trailer!
Fee! Fie! Foe! Fum! GameTap rolled out the first in-game shots of American McGee's Grimm today, along with a trailer (posted after the break), revealing the twisted tales' "vile," and still nameless protagonist, er, rather, 'antagonist.' The images and video suggest some kind of dual-world shenanigans -- from "cheery to eerie" -- but details are vague. Grimm will unfold over 24-weekly episodes, which are currently exclusive to GameTap, beginning in July.%Gallery-9426%
American McGee announces next 'twisted tale' project after Grimm
We're not sure what it is about American McGee that makes him so fascinated about putting dark spins on Western tales. The former id Software developer and Electronic Arts' consultant found his niche in 2000 with Alice, though since that release he's done little to make us believe that his name slapped on the front of a game's box carries any more weight than the UPC code on the back. His latest project is a morose 24-episode take on the Brothers Grimm in development at McGee's Shanghai studio Spicy Horse, a project that according to a blog post by McGee is halfway completed. Excited, the developer has let the proverbial cat out of the equally proverbial bag by confirming work on another project. While details are light, McGee writes that the game will be built on Epic's UE3 engine, and is a "big publisher, multi-platform, twisted tale project." This of course makes us think that McGee will once again be paying a visit to the children's section of the local library in search of inspiration. Might we suggest Winnie the Pooh, as nothing is quite as frighting as a vicious bear that's rumbly in his tumbly. [via Gamasutra]
Sarah Michelle Gellar really wants to make Alice movie
Not content to star in the single greatest television series ever, Sarah Michelle Gellar wants yet another nerdy project under her belt and one more way to permanently graft her image to the hearts of the world's geeks. The actress formerly known as Buffy says that her passion project is a big screen version of American McGee's Alice. It's true that we knew that this project had previously been in the works, but we thought it had died in development, never guessing that SMG had such a passion for McGee's game. She even goes so far as saying she'd write it herself, if that's what it took. Keep on believin', Sarah. If we've said it once, we've said it a thousand times: When you're married to Freddie Prinze Jr., anything is possible.[Via CVG]
GameTap officially getting Grimm
GameTap announced today that they'll publish Grimm by American McGee. The 24 episode action/adventure game was re-confirmed after McGee sorta let the grandma out of the wolf last week. Expect the game to follow in McGee's Tim Burton-style treatment of Alice. The game is being developed by McGee's Shanghai studio Spicy Horse and will start on GameTap next year. Hopefully GameTap will keep McGee on track in terms of content and release schedule. So far, we can't complain about GameTap, which has brought us the only true episodic gaming experience we've seen so far with Sam & Max. An episode a month with a solid release schedule -- exactly what this whole episodic gaming concept was supposed to be about (and yes, we're looking at you Valve -- per usual). Oh, also, we know Pinnochio isn't a Grimm tale, but that's the art we've got for the game, go take it up with McGee. What we really want to know about is the "words as weapons" mechanic in the game. Action/adventure meets Typing of the Dead -- we're so there!
Alice now Universal Binary on Mac
American McGee's Alice has been updated into a Universal Binary, and the tens of Mac gamers who both use Intel Macs and enjoyed this title -- or at least its gnarled art direction -- can now run the game natively. (Okay, we jest; there must be at least hundreds of us, including this writer and other Joystiq contributors.)We salute Aspyr for offering a free update to this older title. This sort of support makes us want to keep playing Mac titles, even though the platform's gaming future is uncertain at best. Now excuse us while we dig up old copies of Alice and recite incantations for a Deus Ex update.
Weekly Webcomic Wrapup: tardy edition [update 2]
Oh, look at the time. The webcomic branch of Joystiq HQ is running a bit behind today, so pardon our sloth behavior and enjoy the selection we've picked today.Don't like the white rabbit? Well, we don't think he likes you either. Just look at his pixelated eyeballs staring you down, and those two front teeth yearning for flesh. Human flesh.... heh, sorry to get sidetracked. Here are our picks for the week's best gaming comics, be sure to vote for your favorite! The hook, line, and sinker Our poor, European brethren Tycho, Gabe, what are you doing here? Me and my shadow Gaming Scientific cubed Ubisoft strikes back Dawn of Next Gen Oh God, please no! Puzzling conclusion You can't fight instinct I've said it before, they'll say it again How's this for a Burning Crusade? Free polls from Pollhost.com [Update 1: Dueling Analogs and Digital Unrest are both back up and online, so go send them your traffic!]
Has American McGee earned the right to present anything?
Gamasutra's running an interview with game designer American McGee. The man's name is a marketing tool in its own right. McGee recognizes it saying, "Certainly it helps in branding the games. With today's game market, building proper awareness is as important as building a good game."So, what does he think his name means to gamers?"I've seen positive and negative responses. For the 'fans,' I think they have come to expect something a little different from the mainstream. That's my hope anyway. For the detractors, I get the sense they feel I haven't earned the name-above-the-title right. In either case, it does seem that it brings some awareness, and all PR, good or bad, is a good thing." When Alice came out, many moons ago, we had only known American McGee as a level designer for Doom II and Quake, and let's be honest, he hasn't done much for gamers since. Yes, American McGee Presents Bad Day L.A. ships this month, but two games in how many years? Will Wright seems to get more done on his coffee break and he doesn't slap his name on the top of every game. Can you imagine a title like David Jaffe Presents God of War 2?When is it appropriate to slap the developer's name on the title of a game? How many game developers are at the level where it matters to the consumer?
American McGee: Only real next-gen is Wii [update 1]
Eurogamer quotes game designer American McGee in an upcoming interview by CVG as saying, "The only truly next-gen console out there is the Wii. Everything else is just a video card and processor upgrade."McGee, whose next game Bad Day LA hits the Xbox and PC in a few months, says Nintendo will "capture the hearts" of gamers while "Microsoft and Sony stab each other in the neck" as they compete over market share.We've heard one developer pick the 360 over the PS3 before, but this is the first time we've seen someone in the biz say that the Wii is the only step up to next-gen.[Update: Here's the CVG link. The full interview will appear tomorrow. Thanks, JohnH259]
American McGee heads to Shanghai
Remember that creepy PC game, Alice? It was by American McGee, a pretty good game designer. The guy's expanding his playground in Shanghai, opening up an entire new development studio and looking for people to help create the next game for next-gen systems. The game will be episodic, set in "a dark, fairy tale universe." So he's not branching out too far from what he's good at, which is fine.Want to take a shot at getting to work on the game? Post your qualifications as a comment on his site and cross your fingers. Will it be for the PS3? Who knows. There's only one piece of early concept art. What type of game would you like to see from this guy? Or... judging from the piece of concept art, what sort of game do you imagine forming?
American McGee gets episodic in Shanghai
American McGee is looking for a few dark, twisted types to join his new independent studio in Shanghai, as he prepares to ride the wave of two contemporary trends in the gaming industry: episodic content and Chinese food.With Bad Day L.A. set to launch soon, the man behind Alice and Scrapland is now focusing his attention on building "an episodic game set in a dark, fairy tale universe." This project could be related to Oz or Grimm, a pair of graphic novels McGee is producing with Cellar Door Publishing.A former game designer for id Software and Electronic Arts, McGee also founded The Mauretania Import Export Company, and has served as the Creative Director for Enlight Software.
