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Interview: Tim Schafer and the art of selling out
My name is Tim ... S-C-H-A-F-E-R. [points to my notepad] That's correct. Do people get that wrong a lot? They never get it right. Does it annoy you? No, I just like to fight for my particular spelling. For no reason it's completely arbitrary but for some reason it's enjoyable to fight for the specific spelling that I randomly have. You're trying to keep your Google ranking up. Exactly. You don't want people messing with it. And people who spell their names A-E-F-F-E-R. Hate those guys. They're jerks.
Hands-on: Brutal Legend (the umlaut breaks our RSS feed, sorry)
This is going to be the easiest preview ever. Though Tim Schafer calls Brütal Legend the most personal game he's ever done, it's possibly the most widely, inescapably appealing project he's been involved with. I don't need to champion the amazing band of kids at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp or Manny and the delightful denizens of the underworld this time. We're talking about a hilarious, open-ended heavy metal epic starring Jack Black. Do you really need me to tell you it's awesome?Because, you know, it is.%Gallery-41208%
This Brutal Legend trailer renews our faith
We'll admit, we were starting to get a little worried about Brutal Legend after Activision sued to stop the sale of the game last week. But after watching this new trailer for the game (entitled "Rock Gods") we find that our faith has been renewed.Seriously, look at the thing! Look at how hard the game is rocking! You think mere lawyers can stop a game like that? ... No, we thought not.
Tweeted@E3: Brutal Rebuttal
You've got to hand it to the team at Brütal Legend, even when staring in the face of a potential problem leading into release, they can still crack wise. Of course, as you may have already noticed, here at E3 the hilarity works both ways!
The Daily Quest: Forsooth and what not!
We here at WoW.com are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Etherjammer has an old but quite humorous look at BlizzCon etiquette. My favorite line: "Use spells such as Slow Fall and Levitate to go from one level of BlizzCon to another at your own risk, as players report that these spells have been unreliable at best in past BlizzCons." Why? Because some idiot jumped off the escalator half way up last year, and it caused quite a ruckus. Pardo was near the esclator talking with some folks, and he just looked and shook his head in a /facepalm manner. Activision-Blizzard is suing Double Fine over Brutal Legend. Guild halls and player housing. Love 'em or hate 'em, lots of people want them. The Hunter's Union has an interesting take on them. Casual Raid Leader has a great post about encouraging more oraganic and communicative raiding. Stoneybaby of Big Hit Box has a good review of how he got back into PvP, which would be useful for those of you looking to do the same. Notice how we've linked Big Hit Box a lot this week? It's because they're producing great content for the community! If you're writing compelling content or come across a great site or blog post, please let us know! Click here to submit a link to TDQ
Overheard@E3: Brutally Jealous
Activision Rep: "Have you been to the booth yet?"Xav: "Not yet. I want to check out Brutal Legend... wait sorry, that's EA. You guys used to have it."Activision: "Yeah. Don't rub it in."For the record, this happened yesterday ... which makes today's law suit even more hilarious.
Activision sues Double Fine over Brutal Legend
Yahoo reports that Activision filed a lawsuit against Double Fine, developer of the Jack Black-fueled Brütal Legend, on Wednesday to "stop the release" of the game. The mega-publisher claims to have invested "roughly $15 million" into the game's development and that "it still has a valid contract to release the game," despite Double Fine transferring rights to Electronic Arts late last year.Last February, Electronic Arts responded to Activision's saber rattling saying, "We doubt that Activision would try to sue. That would be like a husband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy." Yeah ... So, to recap: Sierra is subsumed into Activision, following the Activision Blizzard merger Activision drops much of Sierra's lineup, including Brütal Legend Brütal Legend looks for another publisher, but Activision is "blocking the process" EA Partners swoops in as the game's new publisher Activision sues Double Fine (that's this post)
Tim Schafer electrocutes Jack Black on video
We hope EA is paying Jack Black a pretty hearty check, as he's been a pretty vocal advocate of Tim Schafer's upcoming Brutal Legend. It probably helps that he's the main character, but we're still surprised by the actor's continued presence in the game's promotion. The latest episode of "Brutal Thoughts" has Schafer doling out the pain to Black by transforming him into a human videogame character.See also:Jack Black pumped for 'that Brutal Legend movie'
Ozzy Osbourne's voice is in Brutal Legend
With Jack Black, Lita Ford and Rob Halford, Tim Schafer's sure-to-be-opus Brutal Legend already has a star-studded cast of voice actors. Add one more to the constellation: Ozzy Osbourne will be portraying an unnamed character in the game, as revealed at today's EA E3 press conference.He looks ... well, he looks like Ozzy Osbourne. Dare we hope that the prince of darkness is appearing as himself?
Roundup: GTTV's E3 trailers
Did your late night Canasta tournament keep you away from your television last night, preventing you from catching all of GameTrailers' exclusive ... trailers for a number of highly anticipated titles that will be appearing at E3? Fear not -- we've got them posted conveniently after the break. What games are present and accounted for, you ask? Well, let's see (deep breath): Mass Effect 2, Brutal Legend, Lost Planet 2, Split/Second, Brink, DJ Hero, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Just Cause 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Supreme Commander 2, Dante's Inferno, Madden 10, NHL 10, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, Need for Speed Shift, Alpha Protocol and Heroes of Telara. Check 'em out!
Tim Schafer conducting live E3 interview via Twitter
Would you like to get your Brütal Legend questions answered by the legendary Tim Schafer? You could try tweeting at him and praying that he responds. Alternatively, you can submit your questions to @BrutalLegend on June 2 at 6PM PST and pray that it gets picked for Schafer to answer once the live interview begins at 7PM the same night. Make sure your questions include the hashtag #E3BL. Sure, both options amount to the same thing, but at least one has a much greater chance of getting your question answered.The Brütal Legend E3 fun doesn't end there though. While we're getting our fill actually playing the game, you can check out the new trailer that will be released during the show, as well as a new episode of "Brütal Thoughts With Jack Black." The first episode of which is well worth a look if haven't checked it out. Also, signing up to the Brütal Legend website will automagically give you the chance of winning a real version of the game's preorder guitar, signed by Tenacious D. Looks like EA is pretty desperate to prevent this game from becoming another Psychonauts.
Jack Black pumped for 'that Brutal Legend movie'
In anticipation of his upcoming movie game, Brütal Legend, Jack Black is getting pumped. He's curling axes and mic stands, making silly faces and, apparently, taking toxic levels of anabolic steroids. Things are ready and on course for the game's October release then, no?Yes. Thankfully confirmed by a calm and collected Tim Schafer halfway through the video, the game's "almost done" and ready for the stage this fall. Maybe Schafer could've told Jack before he took all those steroids? Meh, we'll consider it payback for School of Rock. We kid! We kid!
Joystiq impressions redux: Brutal Legend
We imagine that we'll have several more looks at Brütal Legend before it drops in Rocktober, and that's just fine with us. We took a look at the opening scenes of the game back in April, along with other key moments like the creation of The Deuce (protagonist Eddie's hot-rod) the start of a headbangin' revolution. This time around we spent an hour with the legendary Tim Schafer as he took us into the full-fledged stage battle mode.If there's one thing we took away from it, it's that people will be going nutshit for this game. Find out what that means after the break.%Gallery-63381%
Brutal Legend as it once was, sans Jack Black
Brütal Legend developer Double Fine has been working on its heavy metal-based action game for some time now. And they've got the leftover art assets to prove it. Recently showcasing a grip of work from the past few years previously only seen during the "Brutal art of Brütal Legend" panel at GDC 2009, the screens (below in the gallery) hint at the variety of metal themed environments we're anxiously awaiting to fully explore come the game's October release date. Possibly most interesting of all is the distinctly Lemmy-ized main character, pre-Jack Black days apparently. But really, would it have been so hard to see the Motörhead lead singer commanding the armies of rock in a revolution? Yeah, not so much.[Via Kotaku]%Gallery-63101%
GameStop's Brutal Legend preorder bonus is a tribute
Here's some synergy we can totally get behind. If you pre-order Brütal Legend from GameStop, you'll receive an in-game Tenacious D guitar. According to GameStop, the axe was made "in close collaboration with Jack Black and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D" and features not just a customized appearance (with a sweet "Tenacious D" fretboard and image of the band on the body), but "new sound effects, new voice over work from Jack Black and Kyle Gass, a new visual effects suite, and new geeky technical stuff like unique textures, materials and shaders."Does that mean that both the in-game avatar and his guitar -- which features an image of Jack Black on it -- will have the voice of Jack Black? How much more Jack Black could this game have? The answer is none. None more Jack Black.
New Brutal Legend trailer starts a revolution
Excerpt from the above Brütal Legend trailer:Dude 1: What is that sound?Dude 2: It's a devil screaming.Dude 3: It's an angel singing.Dude 1: It's f*cking awesome!That about sums it up.
New Brutal Legend shots, now with more Lemmy!
click to Lemmy-size Double Fine has released a new batch of Brütal Legend screenshots. There's plenty of metal goodness to be had, including dragons, cars and giant-fisted baddies. We won't lie though, the most exciting screen, as you can see above, is that of the Kill Master, played by MotörHead's Lemmy. We're not entirely sure what he's doing with that bass guitar -- what are those strings attached to, anyway? -- but we're fairly certain it's something awesome.Check out all the new screens in the gallery below.%Gallery-51461%
Brutal Legend rocks up on Oct. 13
Though that one Nazi at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark would have you believe otherwise, having your face melted off by a supernatural display of awesome power is probably one of the best things that could ever happen to you. Since the overwrought, open-world rock epic Brütal Legend promises to scorch our grinning mugs in similar fashion, we're pleased to note that it's scheduled to arrive on October Rocktober 13th in the US (and the 16th in Europe). "Wooo! Having an official release date is awesome!" shouted Tim Schafer, lead singe-er at Double Fine Productions. "And how cool is it that EA threw down the dough to have the name of an entire month changed to Rocktober?" Pretty cool, Tim -- but not as cool as the reception we plan on giving those stupid intervening months whenever they get in our pre-melted faces.%Gallery-41208%
Tim Schafer thinks 'fans worry too much about sales'
Speaking to MTV Multiplayer, Tim Schafer recently addressed humanity's shocking failure to purchase a satisfactory number of Psychonauts game discs. "Fans worry too much about sales, to tell you the truth," said the procrastinating awards show host, possibly telling the truth. "As long as you make a cool game, publishers want to talk to you... [They say,] 'We liked 'Psychonauts. and we think we could have sold it better." Schafer assuaged fears of Brütal Legend becoming the next commercial Psychonauts, pointing out that the open-world shred-em-up "naturally has more commercial hooks, like hot babes and Jack Black." As reassuring as that is, fans may still worry, if only because we yearn to see Tim Schafer showered in unimaginable riches, enough for him to buy all the tuxedos he wants or construct a rocket-propelled candy castle which he'll use to fly across the globe searching searching for that special person that was missing in his life and then he'll land in our backyard and before we can yell at him for incinerating the dog during the landing procedure he'll walk up to us and put his finger to our lips and say shh don't worry where we're going you won't need animal companionship or anything because where we're going is a place where there are no animals because it's in space and that is where my space station is and we will learn to design really awesome games together but for now you have to stop writing this sentence because it's quite long you know.
Guitar controllers axed from Brutal Legend
Tim Schafer, speaking to a group of (likely excited) game journalists, broke the hard truth last week during GDC 2009: "I was trying to figure out how you would throw down the controller and pick up the guitar," he said. MTV Multiplayer is reporting that Mr. Schafer then told the group there are "no plans" for guitar controller compatibility in the upcoming Double Fine-developed, EA-published game. We've got one question for you, Mr. Schafer: WHAT?! But rather than mull over the fact that we won't be literally melting enemies' faces In Brütal Legend with our plastic guitars -- a travesty, no doubt about it -- we'll instead spend our time once again perusing the gallery of screens below, looking forward to its eventual release.%Gallery-41208%
