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Double Fine discounts: Psychonauts, Iron Brigade, Stacking and more
No matter where you like to purchase your games, odds are you'll find a Double Fine game on discount right now. The developer has announced its entire catalogue is on sale across Steam, Xbox 360, Amazon and its own shop.Discounts include Stacking and its DLC on Xbox Live Arcade, and both signed and stock copies of Brutal Legend on PS3 and Xbox 360 through the Double Fine Shop. Iron Brigade (formerly Trenched) is cheap on Steam and Xbox Live Arcade right now, and even Psychonauts is half-off through Steam and the Mac App store, and the soundtrack too.We'd never tell you how to spend those hard-earned duckets you covet so much, but at least we can rest easy knowing you're not spending as much as you normally would.
Double Fine remembers 'Amnesia Fortnight' in GDC postmortem
In a GDC panel called "Creative Panic: How Agility Turned Terror Into Triumph," project leads from Double Fine's quartet of "Amnesia Fortnight" projects each outlined the process and inspiration behind their games -- with the exception of Costume Quest's Tasha Harris, who didn't share her insights because she wasn't there. "Amnesia Fortnight is a psychedelic mushroom and we all took it," studio head Tim Schafer said, before adding that it was really a two-week team game design exercise held in the middle of Brütal Legend work.Born from a break in AAA development, the Amnesia Fortnight forged a new direction for the company when Brütal Legend 2 was canceled.
Three DoubleFine dev diaries detail Sesame Street's storybook world
This post was brought to you by the letter "D," which stands for "Double Fine," "developer," "diaries" and "delicious cookies." This post was also brought to you by the number 3, which stands for, uhm, the number 3. Look, there's a reason they didn't ask us to make the Sesame Street game, okay?
Once Upon a Monster's 'Unidentified Furry Objects' DLC lands on Xbox Live
Double Fine's Kinect-powered Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster has a new downloadable chapter available starting today, "Unidentified Furry Objects." Oddly enough, today's letter is F, as Xbox.com is currently listing the DLC as free of charge. Previously the DLC was priced at 400 MS Points. Update: Microsoft has confirmed the DLC is indeed 400 MS Points ($5). The free listing on Xbox.com refers to a gameplay trailer for the DLC. In "Unidentified Furry Objects," the Sesame Street gang greet some extra-terrestrials who land on Earth and then help them on a special mission -- well, the gang save for Oscar. We're pretty sure he's not the best ambassador for the block, you know? %Gallery-140070%
'Unidentified Furry Objects' landing in Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster next week
We can tell you how to get, how to get more Sesame Street. Warner Bros. has announced the first DLC for Double Fine's Once Upon a Monster: "Unidentified Furry Objects." In this chapter, the residents of Sesame Street encounter some mysterious muppets who fall from the sky in an adorable spacecraft. What are their intentions? Do they come in peace? Do they like cookies? You'll have to download the 400 Microsoft Point chapter on November 22 to find out more about these mysterious travelers. In the meantime, you can examine the eyewitness pictures of the aliens' first encounter with human muppets, in our gallery.%Gallery-139594%
Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster demo available now
Two important Xbox accessories will enhance your enjoyment of a new demo available on Xbox Live right now: a Kinect (required) and a child (optional). The demo of Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster will probably be a more magical, heartwarming experience if you experience it with an authentic youngster, but we won't look askance at you if you take a de facto adults-only trip into the storybook world. Your Kinect may look askance at you, however, if you get too close to the TV or step outside its view.
Cookie Monster eat Xbox, but Xbox not cookie!
It take long time, but Bloggy Monster finally allowed to write article for Joystiq again. Finding freelance work really brutal sometimes. Anyway, Bloggy Monster here to tell you about new video with Tim Schafer and Bloggy Monster personal idol, Cookie Monster. Tim drop cookie in Xbox, then Cookie Monster EAT Xbox! Oh, Cookie Monster, you still got it.
Double Fine's 'Amnesia Fortnight' game design jams saved the company
The recent downloadable releases from Double Fine, as well as the upcoming Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster, all had their genesis in the company's "Amnesia Fortnight" events, in which small teams would make quick game prototypes. Schafer says that if not for those informal sessions, the company might not still be running. "We had done one Amnesia Fortnight in the middle of Brutal Legend, and one at the end, so we had eight prototypes," studio head Tim Schafer explained to Edge. "I thought eventually we'd start working on smaller games with the extra money that we got from these huge games, and then we found out that Brutal Legend 2 wasn't happening." With nothing else going on, Double Fine started looking for deals for the best four Amnesia Fortnight prototypes. "The thing I like about it is that we had a catastrophic event and the company saved itself purely based on the creativity of the team. Lee [Petty, responsible for Stacking], Tasha [Harris, who came up with Costume Quest], Brad [Muir, of Trenched], and Nathan [Martz, the game design puppeteer behind Sesame Street]- their ideas." Had the Amnesia Fortnight not have been a success, we can only imagine that Double Fine would be forced to hold "Amnesia Fifteenminutes" within the fortnights, in which each employee rushed out prototypes while rushing out their other prototypes.
Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster preview: A children's game for adults
I'll let you in on a little secret about me and Double Fine's next game, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster -- I played it back at E3, but unfortunately let my preview writeup fall to the wayside as the days after the big show continued. What's more shameful is that it was essentially the best game I played at E3, so I was more than happy to check out a new area at Gamescom and get a second opportunity to speak about it. A chance for redemption, if you will. Luckily, nothing has changed, and Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster remains a magical experience two months later.%Gallery-130943%
Warner Bros media roundup: Mr. Freeze, impostors, Orcs and monsters
Warner Bros Interactive went gritty at Gamescom this year with new screens from Batman: Arkham City, Gotham City Impostors, Lord of the Rings: War in the North and, most gruesome of all, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster. We still can't believe they're marketing those fluffy, brightly colored puppets to children. The humanity, WB. Check out all the WB galleries from Gamescom right here -- if you dare.
Share this Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster trailer with your family
Good news, Joystiq-reading parents! For once, we've got a post that you can actually show your kids without fear! There's no violence and no foul language in this new Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster trailer after the break, and we're doing our level best to stay clean in this text we're typing right now. We were already charmed absolutely to pieces by what we've seen of the game, but this trailer includes standout moments like Cookie Monster offering some heartfelt encouragement, and a minigame in which you rub an adorable bunny-type monster's tummy. What else do you want from a video game? What else could there be?
Tim Schafer's original pitch for Once upon a Monster
Hey, did you guys know that Once Upon a Monster was originally intended to be a zombie game? Yup, it's true -- this behind-the-scenes footage of Tim Schafer pitching the idea to a top Warner Bros. exec proves it.
Eight pieces of Sesame Street concept art and screens (Eight!)
Sometime it hard to be Bloggy Monster. But then Bloggy Monster remember there new screens and concept art for Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster (that new game for Microsoft arm-wavy box). Then Bloggy Monster look at art in rich, web 2.0 gallery and Bloggy Monster happy again! Bloggy bloggy bloggy!
Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster preview: Tickle me, Double Fine
"One of the things that I'm personally really passionate about -- the reason I'm in this industry -- is that I want to see our medium be more than it is already," Double Fine's Nathan Martz, and project lead on Once Upon a Monster, confided in me at a Microsoft press event yesterday. "Our human experience is so broad and yet our industry deals with such a narrow slice of it." Martz explained that the project was conceived with the express purpose of generating joy. "I wanted to explore emotions," Martz said of his goal going into development. "For me, the best one is joy. The early example of this is a girl I was dating at the time. She asked me if I had a 'happy' song, a song that you hear and it just makes you feel great. Everybody has a happy song, and that was originally the name of this project: 'Happy Song.'" I'll admit it: Playing a bit of Once Upon a Monster was a happy experience, one I think would be even more so for families and kids a little younger than myself.%Gallery-116735%
Sesame Street: Once Upon a Trailer
The first bit of footage from Double Fine's Kinect game, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster, has found its way online, revealing what appear to be some on-rails segments and a Cookie Monster in flight. And here we thought cookies and gravity hated each other.
Double Fine tells how it got to Sesame Street
The announcement that Double Fine's next game would be a licensed (!) Sesame Street (!!) game for Kinect (!!!) was something of a shock. In an interview with Gamasutra, studio head Tim Schafer and project lead Nathan Martz explained how the project grew out of a shared love of Muppetry and an original idea that just happened to be perfect for the franchise. Martz came up with the idea for an "uplifting" game during the same Amnesia Fortnight event that spawned Costume Quest and Stacking -- a game that involved "cute, furry little monsters, making music and having fun," as Schafer described it. As work continued on the prototype, which already featured cute Henson-esque monsters like "Marco" (above, the one who isn't Cookie Monster or Elmo), the idea of pursuing the license came up -- and then when Sesame Street and WB made a deal for games, Double Fine saw an opportunity. The game focuses on the Sesame Street idea of the "Whole Child Curriculum," teaching social and emotional skills as well as healthy living habits. In addition, though, Schafer asserts that it will be funny. He calls Sesame Street a "secret comedy show" and intends to keep the same tone in the game. "They're satirical -- they don't just make bland shows for kids, they make them actually funny," Schafer said. "I think that's important for the kids and especially for the parents who watch them together. We're hoping that this is something parents play with their kids."
Sesame Street Kinect game being developed by Double Fine
Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster will be brought to you this autumn by the letters D, F and K. Warner Bros. Interactive announced this morning that the children's television institution will be transformed into an "interactive experience" for Xbox 360's Kinect. The game will be developed by Double Fine Productions, the studio that's recently taken a new path with bite-sized downloadable titles like Costume Quest and Stacking. Accompanied by Cookie Monster, Elmo and other fluffy residents of Sesame Street, you'll explore a "living storybook" (entitled Once Upon a Monster). Parents and children can get active in this journey through a set of minigames that encourage "dancing, jumping, flying and more." From this initial announcement, it appears the game will be like an interactive Sesame Street episode. If Double Fine nails it, it holds serious potential for the studio that's only come close to having a break-out hit. Of course, if the series does take off (and remember, there's flying!) how is mom supposed to enjoy a quiet moment in the kitchen and a bottle of wine if she actually has to play along? Whatever happened to the good old days of television as babysitter? %Gallery-116735%
