saints-row-the-third
Latest
Hour-long documentary goes behind the scenes at Volition
Game Informer's story on Saints Row: The Third started with just a few screenshots, but apparently the magazine had some extra video footage around, so it decided to turn it into a nearly one hour long documentary on the entire Volition studio, from its PC beginnings with Descent: Freespace, up into the big console series Red Faction and Saints Row. There's a lot of fascinating behind-the-scenes stuff here for old-school Volition fans, including a lot of thinking on why Volition has made the games it has, how the company has built up its growing legacy piece by piece, and even why some developers on the staff didn't want anything to do with Saints Row in the first place. The last 18 years of Volition's work makes for some excellent weekend watching.
Ding-Dong: Saints Row: The Third screens are obscene, filthy fun
Saint's Row: The Third isn't going to tone down the series' trademark lunacy if Game Informer's screenshot gallery is any indication. Guns and explosions are present, but so is a "sex toy bat" (no word yet on the presence of a vibration setting). The screens also reveal SRTT's costume and character customization screens, locales, vehicles and characters. Check 'em out over at GameInformer.com.
Volition returns to in-house PC development
The PC ports of Volition's Saints Row 2 and Red: Faction: Guerrilla were handled by outside studios, and both suffered quality issues because of it. For the series' next iterations -- Red Faction: Armageddon (May) and Saints Row: The Third (Holiday 2011) -- Volition is reclaiming development duties, handling the PC versions in-house alongside the console editions. "For us, the key thing was making sure the PC version [of Armageddon] was done in-house," Volition studio manager Eric Barker told Eurogamer, brushing aside the debate over the fate of PC gaming. "I can't predict the future, but I'm really happy with how Red Faction: Armageddon looks on PC. It's beautiful." "We definitely believe PC games are great, and if they're done right, and done well by a studio, they're phenomenal," he added, before offering his cheeky response to concerns about the prevalence of piracy on the platform. "Let's make a game that's worth stealing, and then we'll worry about making sure they don't."
Saints Row: The Third weapons get X-rated
Subtlety has never been a strong point of Saints Row. For its third outing, THQ's sandbox action series is escalating the "our game is more ridiculous than yours" factor by introducing new weapons like air strikes, Predator drones and ... a "sex toy bat." In its latest look at Saints Row: The Third, Game Informer reveals that in addition to the ability to tag any car in the game and drive it remotely -- perfect for getting rival gangs in hot water, apparently -- players will get to wield a huge, wiggly faux willy capable of reducing enemies (and bystanders) to a bloody pulp with a single hit. There's also a much deeper weapon upgrade system in the works, not that you're even still reading this.
Saints Row: The Third landing on 360, PS3 and PC in Holiday 2011
Open-world comedic crime caper news now, with THQ announcing Saints Row: The Third for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Developed by Volition Inc., The Third (video game in the popular franchise) sees you thriving as a celebrity in the persistently harassed town of Stillwater, now a haven for your gang's merchandise and infamy. Your popularity draws the ire and attention of "The Syndicate," a criminal organization with tendrils in different parts of the world, and ultimately propels you into a new city that hosts "the most outlandish gameplay scenarios ever seen." Judging by the nine-way, airborne gunfight happening on Game Informer's April issue cover, said outlandish gameplay scenarios may be frowned upon by the TSA.
Red Faction: Armageddon coming May 2011; new Saints Row next fall
THQ today published a "core games" release calendar, highlighted by the revised May 2011 date given for Red Faction: Armageddon, which pushes it out of a crowded first quarter -- but just a few months beyond the initially proposed date. The calendar spans the publisher's fiscal 2012 (April 2011 – March 2012) and also includes a Spring 2011 release window for MX vs. ATV Alive, followed by the planned summertime launch of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. A new Saints Row game (or games?) and a WWE iteration are expected next fall. Additionally, an upcoming UFC title has been slated for Winter 2012 (January–March 2012). Of course, all dates are "subject to change," THQ notes.
THQ CEO: Saints Row and Red Faction at E3, De Blob going multiplatform
In an interview with IGN, THQ CEO (that's a lot of three-letter abbreviations right next to each other) Brian Farrell provided more details about the company's upcoming lineup. For one, we can expect to see the new Saints Row and Red Faction games as soon as E3, as well as other assorted games from THQ's lineup. "I think we're going to blow people away at E3," Farrell said. "You'll be seeing Saints Row 3. You'll be seeing the next Red Faction. You'll be seeing more of Homefront. We've been talking about it, but we'll actually show some of our Warhammer 40k MMO, and I think people are going to go, 'Oh my God. They've got their stuff together.'" And Saints Row 3 will evidently cause some to remark, "This is not your father's THQ." Farrell also suggested that THQ has learned its lesson from the last few years of the Wii market, and won't be trying anything like Deadly Creatures again -- a "fun experience" that "didn't find much of an audience." A few "brand extensions" will be shown on Wii this E3, Farrell said. And speaking of extended brands and the Wii, the executive said that the upcoming SyFy-fueled relaunch of De Blob won't just be a Wii game -- it'll be released across multiple platforms, still developed by Blue Tongue. "Actually, I prefer it on a normal controller," Farrell said.
Darksiders, Saint's Row sequels from THQ in fiscal 2012
THQ's Brian Farrell has revealed on today's investor conference call that the company is planning to revisit some of its most successful franchises as far away as the fiscal year of 2012 (which would be sometime after March 2011), including this year's bestseller Darksiders, and the popular Saint's Row franchise. Farrell says the company is looking to fiscal 2012 for "accelerated growth with three major core game titles scheduled: Warhammer 40k Space Marine, a sequel to Darksiders and the third generation of our popular Saint's Row franchise." Given that these are more than a year away, we don't have any more information besides the fact that they're planned for release (Who will Darksiders ape next? Will Saint's Row finally solve all of those bugs?). But news of sequels for both games will be welcomed by their respective fans.
Saints Row 3 already in development, 'new direction' planned
Saints Row 2 Associate Producer Dan Sutton reveals that Volition is already at work on another sequel in the urban sandbox series. Speaking with Play.tm, Sutton states that the recently released SR2 ties up loose ends from the original game and that SR3 will go in a "new direction." Considering that Saints Row 2 stands apart from Grand Theft Auto IV in how over-the-top it is, we certainly hope Saints Row's new direction isn't about toning down the series.
