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American McGee's Grimm twists fairy tales on Steam
American McGee's Grimm is now available on Steam. Developed by Spicy Horse, the game includes 23 half-hour-long episodes based on fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood, The Golden Goose, Cinderella, Pinnochio, Sleeping Beauty and Jack and the Beanstalk. The developer stresses that the contained episodes can be enjoyed in any order, so players that want to see the "darkly twisted" side of Cinderella can start with that. The 23 episodes are available for 99 cents apiece ($25.77 total when purchased individually). Players can buy the first eight-episode season for $3.99, which is listed at $8.00 on Spicy Horse's website. Otherwise, the game's complete pack is available for $9.99. American McGee's Grimm first launched for Windows in July 2008, and arrived on Steam's Greenlight service in July 2013.
Telltale's The Wolf Among Us commences October 11
The first episode of Telltale's The Wolf Among Us will launch this Friday, October 11 on Xbox 360 and PC. Telltale says it is still confirming the game's PS3 release date, which is "expected to be just a few days after the initial Xbox 360 and PC releases go live." The game has players guiding Sheriff Bigby through a section of New York City called Fabletown. The five-episode season is based on Bill Willingham's Fables comic book series, which features numerous characters from fairy tales and their struggles. The Wolf Among Us' episodes cost $4.99 each. Players can purchase a season pass on Xbox Live granting access to all episodes for $14.99 – but that's in addition to the $4.99 cost of the first episode. The season can also be pre-purchased on Steam for 10 percent off ($22.49) until the first episode hits on Friday.
Gamania announces fairy tale-inspired Dream Drops
Today's funky name award goes to Dream Drops, a newly announced free-to-play fantasy MMO from Gamania Digital Entertainment. Gamania's press release makes good use of the words surreal, warped, and unusual, so we're guessing that the company is looking to highlight Dream Drops' unique take on genre conventions and traditional fairy tales. "Classic fairy tales are altered and well-known characters are transformed," the company says, and "the perverse personalities of familiar fairy tale characters [...] will amaze and delight players as they help the game's heroine on her mission." Who is that heroine? Her name is Sophie, and you can get a glimpse of her, as well as some Dream Drops atmosphere and gameplay footage, in the video after the cut.
Meet the Sparkplay Media team: Part One, pg. 2
Massively: Is there any MMO that has influenced your work on Earth Eternal, and if so how did it influence you? Alex Madrigal, Concept Artist: I've been pretty active with MMOs for about seven years now. I've played Final Fantasy XI the most, but I've spent a serious amount of time in World of Warcraft as well. I've dabbled in Everquest 2, Lineage II and most recently Dragonica. Artistically, I've picked something up from each of the games I've spent considerable amounts of time with. What Earth Eternal race represents you the best and why? Alex: I'd have to say that I'm probably most like the Ursine. I'm big, tough and hairy. Also...not so much tough, but definitely cuddly! If you could pick out your favorite part of Earth Eternal, what would it be and why? Alex: My monster designs. That will probably (definitely) come across as conceit, but the time spent with the team discussing, designing and fine tuning the monsters was probably the most fun I've had working on this game. To take something from a simply stated verbal concept and then see it grow through the stages of development is always exciting. Getting to draw strange things and seeing them show up in a 3D virtual space is a hoot. Plus it does my ego good when I hear people say that they think the designs are cool. And if you manage to find monsters you think aren't so cool – I didn't do those. [Laughs]What has been the most difficult obstacle for you to overcome in your work on Earth Eternal? Alex: Doing user interface work. Having come from an animation background, jumping headfirst into designing a UI was a hell of a hurdle. Dealing with a whole new set of technical limitations and rules was difficult at first. For my first UI, I'm pretty happy with the end result, but I prefer the pencil and paper/Photoshop route instead of shifting around tiny pixels. What has influenced your art style for Earth Eternal? Why this art style? Alex: I wish I could say that I was on the ground floor to help decide the artistic style for the game, but I actually came on as the concept artist about a year after the game's development started. I've been following a style set by another group of artists, but I have taken the opportunity to slather it in a healthy coating of my own personal style when possible. I'm heavily influenced by European graphic novel artists, and I really enjoy classic fairy tale illustrations. Things with visual texture and very rhythmic line work. Earth Eternal has rich lore and to me, it feels like a fairy tale world. I try to implement that kind of stuff wherever I can.Come back tomorrow for part two, when we get to speak with the lead writer, Matt Mihaly, and one of the programmers, Ryne Anderson!
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be an Enchanter
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the thirty-first in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class (or profession!) well, without embarrassing yourself. Enchanting cries out to be roleplayed. It could be a kind of magician's engineering, or a more refined cousin of alchemy. Although you could certainly play an enchanter as another sort of magical mad-scientist, the profession actually lends itself well to a more gentlemanly (and sane) approach, where experiments are not so much about creating some sort of autonomous monster or mind-controling love potion of serene bliss, but rather altering the nature of things to do what they never would have done previously.Enchantments have a huge role in mythology and literature. Cinderella's fairy godmother turned a pumpkin into a stage-coach with an enchantment, Hogwarts School's "Sorting Hat" famously talks to students who wear it, and the One Ring even contains the soul of Middle Earth's lord of evil personified. All these are enchantments in which ordinary items are magically enhanced so as to reflect some aspect of character development or plot in the story, and a roleplayer at the keys of an enchanter character can work similar magic in telling his own story.
GC 2008: Konami spinning twisted tales in Lords of Shadow
American McGee would be so proud. Konami has announced a new upcoming third-person action title called Lords of Shadow, which the company's European arm describes as "a dark fairy tale" in development for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. First announced during Leipzig's Games Convention, the game will be set in Europe during the Middle Ages, and promises to tell the story of "one man's journey to discover the true meaning of sacrifice amidst murder and betrayal." Honestly, this sounds more like fodder for daytime soap to us.Being handled by Jericho developer Mercury Steam, the project is likely the result of a partnership between the two companies announced last March, at which time Konami called the game "a major part" of its release schedule for 2009-10. Konami has now narrowed that window a bit, confirming plans to have Lords of Shadow on retail shelves sometime in 2010.
Fairy Godmother Tycoon: get your magic wand ready
Ever since Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon came out in 1990, there's been an onslaught of "Tycoon" games. You've got everything from RollerCoaster Tycoon, to Airport Tycoon, to Prison Tycoon, amongst others. There's even a "Tycoon Collection" that contains Circus Tycoon, Carnival Cruise Lines Tycoon, and Mall of America Tycoon. It's a total invasion of the tycoons.Adding to that pile is one more tycoon game that at least sounds creative: Electronic Arts' upcoming Fairy Godmother Tycoon. All the past tycooners (we just trademarked that phrase, fyi) simulate a type of business, from running a lemonade stand to operating an amusement park, but this one takes you into fairy tale land, where you have to manage being a Fairy Godmother. Which is essentially a kind of business as well, you think dealing out magic and wishes comes cheap?Apparently it doesn't come easy either, because in this game "you must make careful decisions -- purchasing supplies when they're cheap, pricing your potions correctly, hiring goons to help you with your marketing, casting spells on peasants and upgrading elements around your shop." Check out the interview on VH1 GameBreak with game producer Todd Kerpelman, and find out more about it.
