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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.
'Colbert Quest,' and The Colbert Report games that could be
I don't know about you folks, but I'd love to see a Tek Jansen video game. Thankfully, so would Prithvi Virasinghe, creative director at Comedy Central's internal game studio, the newly minted 345 Games. Virasinghe told me during an interview earlier this week that Tek Jansen, and the show "Colbert Report" from which it originates, are prime among his choices for a future game. But only if Mr. Colbert is into it, of course. "I've honestly tried to do this many, many times," he said of concepts for a Colbert-themed game. "One of the ideas we had for Colbert was we wanted to do 'Colbert Quest,' which was kinda like an homage to the Police Quest or Space Quest games." Apparently his team at 345 even went as far as to put together a "design treatment" for "Colbert Quest," which he detailed by saying, "You're sort of in this world that's humor-based, that's kind of situational and quest-based, and it would have Colbert as some sort of overlord of this domain." Unfortunately, "Colbert Quest" only made it so far before it was shot down by Comedy Central higher-ups. But while that specific concept may be out, Virasinghe isn't giving up so easily on a Colbert game. "He does have this other character, Tek Jansen, which would really make sense. There's so much stuff we could do with Tek -- if I got my hands on Tek, I'd have a ball." Of course, all of this is dependent on how well 345 Games does with its current project, a game adaptation of monster-themed sitcom "Ugly Americans" set to launch later this summer. "Hopefully this game does well, it creates some breathing room for us to think a little bigger, and maybe even attract the Colberts into wanting to do something," Virasinghe explained. So, what about it Stephen? You're on notice!
