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South Park Studios battles THQ over potential sale of The Stick of Truth
On January 18, South Park Digital Studios filed a preliminary objection to THQ's proposed sale of South Park: The Stick of Truth. THQ and South Park Studios entered into a Deal Memo, granting THQ use of certain South Park trademarks and copyrights, on June 29, 2011. THQ filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 19 and is being auctioned off today, January 22, at 3 p.m. EST.In an objection filed in Delaware bankruptcy court, South Park Studios claims that the Deal Memo does not allow other parties use of the South Park IP, and even if the game does end up at a different company, THQ owes South Park Studios at least $2.275 million. South Park Studios "also reserves the right to exercise its option to acquire from THQ all elements of the games and related products under the Deal Memo."THQ filed a reply on January 21, requesting that the court overrule the objection and allow the sale to continue, though it says it is working toward a consensual resolution with South Park Studios. THQ argues that the license is exclusive and therefore transferable as THQ sees fit. As for the $2.275 million, THQ is "evaluating the amount that South Park asserts is owing" and plans to work with South Park Studios to resolve the issue.All bids in the THQ bankruptcy sale were due by 9 a.m. EST today and the auction begins at 3 p.m. Hearing on the sale takes place tomorrow, January 23, at 9:30 a.m., with the closing on January 24. THQ will only sell assets individually if it receives bids of more than $60 million (plus a $10 million note) that Clearlake Capital Group is offering for the entire company. The auction has attracted the attention of EA, Warner Bros., Double Fine and others.
South Park: The Stick of Truth trailer features crossdressing and wizard crap
If the actual game proves as funny as its trailers, then Obsidian's South Park: The Stick of Truth will be doing very well. Our favorite parts from this video are Cartman on Kenny's enthusiasm for the Princess role, and a Mickey-taking cameo from Mr. Hankey.
South Park: The Stick of Truth and Castlevania's VGA trailers [update]
Spare the stick, get spoiled with the kids of South Park's latest trailer. We've also whipped up the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 trailer from tonight VGA awards.Update: OK, now everything should work properly. We hope.
South Park: The Stick of Truth pushed past April; Metro and Company of Heroes also delayed
South Park: The Stick of Truth, Metro: Last Light and Company of Heroes 2 have all been hit with delays, THQ announced today. South Park: The Stick of Truth will now launch in "early Fiscal 2014" (that's from April 1, 2013, and onward). Company of Heroes 2 and Metro: Last Light are now expected to ship in March. The South Park RPG, developed by Obsidian Entertainment, was previously slated for March 5, 2013. THQ's flagship RTS, Company of Heroes 2, and the post-apocalyptic FPS Metro: Last Light, didn't have official dates locked in, but are now expected "later than initially planned."
Obsidian's Avellone on South Park and the continued appeal of external franchises
Obsidian Entertainment has proven through its Project Eternity Kickstarter that it can afford to make original IPs. However, just because the company doesn't necessarily have to work in existing franchises doesn't mean the team will stop doing so."Working with franchises can be challenging, but at the same time I really did enjoy working on Star Wars, for example, and I have done a lot of Dungeons & Dragons games, but I still enjoy it very much," Obsidian creative director Chris Avellone told me. "And there's plenty of franchises out there that we would love to work with still."Developing games in pre-existing universes can be rewarding for Obsidian, Avellone suggested. South Park: The Stick of Truth, which is as far from Obsidian's comfort zone as anything would be, illustrates the benefits. "The fact that you're implementing game system mechanics that cater to the South Park franchise, in the sense of rude and obnoxious different weapon types," Avellone explained, "we rarely get a chance to flex our design skills in those directions, and it's a lot of fun to do. We're actually learning a lot while we're doing it. That's another advantage of working on someone else's franchise. You sort of get inside their head for a sense of how they think, and how that stuff can be converted into game mechanics." Obsidian was dropped into South Park with a surprisingly clear vision of what to do, as a concept had already been proposed. "We didn't actually know what they were thinking about in terms of RPGs, so we went up there for one day, they ran us this animatic sequence of how they imagined the opening of the game playing," and Obsidian "got it" immediately. "It was hilarious, and we got it, we see what you're trying to make here. It's going to feel like the show, it's going to look like the show. Here's how you interpret the controller mechanisms." What wasn't as clear from the outset was whether the Stick of Truth offer was true. "I would never have thought we'd get a chance to do an RPG like that, and like holy crap," Avellone said. "When we first heard about it, I seriously thought some other game company was punking us. 'Ha ha ha, we're from South Park and we want to do an RPG!... ha ha, fake.'"
New South Park screens keep you guessing
These South Park: The Stick of Truth screens suspiciously look like they're from the television show of the same name. We have no choice but to believe these are screenshots from the game, which will be available on Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 on March 3, 2013.
Obisidian goes obscene with South Park: The Stick of Truth
Way back at the beginning of 2011, Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart hinted that his company was about to work on a huge licensed title it didn't dare pass up. "It's a license that you would go, well you gotta do it," he told us at the time. "It's not a license where it's, 'Ok, we'll take that and we can do something with it.' It's more like, well that's once in a lifetime." Urquhart didn't budge at the time on what the license was, but he was visibly excited about being able to make it happen, whatever it was.That licensed turned out to be none other than Matt Stone and Trey Parker's South Park, and the game turned out to be South Park: The Stick of Truth. It combines Obsidian's talent for grindy fantasy RPGs with Stone and Parker's warped sense of humor (and construction paper production values) to make a mix that's one of a kind.%Gallery-156913%
South Park: The Stick of Truth is coming March 5, no lie [Update: Kinect integration, DLC first on Xbox Live]
THQ and Obsidian's South Park: The Stick of Truth is ready to introduce a new kid (you) to the little mountain town on March 5, 2013.Update: A press release just came in for South Park: The Stick of Truth, outlining DLC plans and pre-order initiatives – and Kinect integration. You'll be able to taunt enemies and launch attacks using your voice, but perhaps more importantly, "for the first time in South Park history, you can call Cartman a 'fat ass,' and he'll respond."The first three DLC packs will debut on Xbox 360 first – standalone episodic adventures with their own stories. In addition to that, the Mysterion Superhero DLC pack will also be an Xbox 360 exclusive, adding an exclusive superhero costume, attack and weapon. Finally, all pre-orders will include the Good Times with Weapons DLC pack, which features an exclusive attack, weapon and samurai costume.%Gallery-156913%
South Park: The Game delayed to early 2013
South Park: The Game was originally announced with a launch in the second half of 2012, but it has been pushed to Q4 of FY2013, THQ's financial statement reveals. THQ's financial years run April through March, putting the new launch window in early 2013 territory.Developer Obsidian Entertainment was hit with layoffs in March, with a few losses coming from the South Park: The Game development team.
Xbox Marketplace renames Obsidian's South Park as 'South Park: The Stick of Truth'
Not only has an Xbox Marketplace listing for Obsidian's South Park: The Game turned up with an astoundingly erroneous release date of today, but it's also revealed what appears to be the game's actual title: South Park: The Stick of Truth.None of the other assets in the listing (screenshots, description, etc) are particularly revealing, although the box art and banner do look exceedingly legit. Obviously, none of this is official until Obsidian or THQ make some sort of announcement, which hasn't happened yet.It might be possible that some rogue Microsoft employee, in a nefarious attempt to cause mayhem and wanton confusion, manufactured false artworks and an inaccurate Marketplace listing, but where's the motive? Was he spurned by a former lover? Did he do it for the money, for the fame? Nope, sorry, this screenplay just isn't coherent enough. Get out of my office.
Report: Obsidian hit with layoffs; South Park team affected, future next-gen title canceled
Obsidian Entertainment reportedly experienced a round of layoffs this week, with the extent of the damage not entirely clear. The company's forums lay out an idea of the body count, with messages on Twitter filling in more details."Another project canceled, this time for a future next-gen project and the layoffs impacted that team, plus the existing South Park team," a tipster wrote Joystiq. "Approximately 20-30 people from all disciplines, including one person who started yesterday, as well as one who started last week."It was around this time last year that Obsidian also let staff go. We've contacted the company for an official statement.Update: "We are always happy to talk about our announced projects, gaming and the industry as a whole. However, it is our policy to not comment on stories regarding our staff," Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart informed us this afternoon.
South Park's fifth character class is the 'Jew'
Ask any South Park fan and they'll tell you that Eric Cartman is, uh, opinionated about the Jewish people. The fifth mystery class for Obsidian's South Park: The Game has been revealed as the Jew, joining the Paladin, Wizard, Rogue, and Adventurer classes. It's bound to upset a few people, we imagine, but that's kinda what South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone do. To expect anything less is, at this point, silly. But be warned: selecting that class is bound to elicit a few negative comments from Cartman. In the new game, the Jew class is described as being a hybrid between Monk and Paladin. Matt Maclean, lead designer, tells Game Informer the Jew will be "high risk, high reward" and strongest when closest to death.
Obsidian CEO shares more details on South Park: The Game
We're still in the aftershock period of the South Park: The Game announcement, so let's run down what we know again. Firstly, it's a RPG coming to major platforms, and we'll be playing as the new kid in school. Game Informer's video interview with Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart now tells us a bit about the behind-the-scenes stuff that lead up to it all. Of the difficulties his studio faced, the first was trying to create a game both true to its roots and enjoyable to fans of the show. During Obsidian's first meeting with show creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the developer tried to really nail the look -- the exterior and interior of Stan's house was created, complete with his dad Randy playing Guitar Hero in his underwear. You know, from that episode. After getting the look down, the next hurdle was making it "a big epic game," Urquhart said in the video interview, which you can see by clicking through the source link below. We'll all find out if Obsidian succeeded come next year.
South Park RPG is a feel-good game about fitting in, and more details
Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker revealed the first details of the South Park RPG in Game Informer this week, and the project sounds so awesome that it isn't even funny. To break it down, players of South Park: The Game will be the new kid in town, and the main struggle will be to fit in and be accepted (See? South Park really is a public-programming after-school show, mom). Characters will be completely customizable and Cartman will help players choose their class -- wizard, paladin, adventurer, rogue or another, unannounced class made up by Cartman. The story will begin with players joining a live-action RPG with neighborhood kids, which will then turn into a real adventure. The combat system will mirror Paper Mario, weapon augmentation will draw from Final Fantasy's Materia, and the levels are all illustrated and animated by hand, in a completely 2D format, devoid of any real-life hamsters. Parker and Stone say there will be a summoning system, but that they can't talk about it yet. And, most shocking of all, Parker and Stone say the game will be funny. NeoGAF has a nice summary of the article right here.
Obsidian heading on up to South Park for PS3/Xbox 360 RPG [update: PC too!]
Yes, beyond the XBLA-exclusive South Park: Tenorman's Revenge game on the horizon, it appears that another South Park title is in development. Fallout: New Vegas dev Obsidian is apparently working with publisher THQ to craft "South Park: The Game," an RPG set in the world of South Park. We're already imagining Cheesy Poofs buffs and plundering the depths of Casa Bonita's mysterious caverns. According to Game Informer, who has the exclusive cover debut of the title, South Park will arrive some time in 2012. As per usual with these cover reveals, you'll find out much more in next month's issue of GI, which hits subscribers in the coming week. Update: According to a press release from THQ, the game is also expected on PC, and should arrive in the "second half of 2012."
