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Next-gen console wars continue in last night's South Park
Finally, the root of all console wars was revealed, thanks to Cartman in last night's episode of South Park: "You know why Kenny's doing this right? Because he wanted to be a princess and I wouldn't let him." Turns out extreme console fanboyism is just as immature as we all thought. South Park continued its Game of Thrones-inspired console wars storyline last night in "A Song of Ass and Fire," which saw the battle for Black Friday heat up with Cartman's army of Xbox One fans against Kenny's small crew of PS4 players – all dressed as their characters in South Park: The Stick of Truth, the Obsidian RPG due out in March 2014. Plus, there was a nice Princess Kenny anime intro around the 20 minute mark. US readers can watch the full episode here.
Xbox One and PS4 fans go to war in last night's South Park episode
South Park took on the next-gen console wars in last night's episode, emphasis on the "wars." The whole episode is framed as a Game of Thrones-style battle over beating other customers to awesome Black Friday deals, and the kids are particularly interested in securing new consoles. But which one? Some kids want a PS4 while others want an Xbox One. Thus begin the talking points and PR-infused insults that lead to all-out war. "Winter is coming," a poster from propaganda wizard Cartman reads. "Choose a side." By the way, "wizard" is not hyperbole in this case: Cartman and all the kids are wearing the same outfits we'll see next year in South Park: The Stick of Truth. There's even a moment where the show takes a jab at the fact that the game was recently delayed. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, so it's probable that we'll see this conflict continue, even as real-life PS4 and Xbox One systems hit shelves and we approach Black Friday. The nice thing is, despite all the violence and cussing, all of this is quite obvious satirical parody. We all know nobody would draw such absurd lines in the sand over toys, right? Right? ... Guys? US residents can watch the entire episode over at South Park Studios.
South Park: The Stick of Truth delayed to March 2014
South Park: The Stick of Truth has been delayed to March 4, 2014, Ubisoft announced today. The game will now launch on March 6, 2014 in Europe. Ubisoft acquired the game when it purchased THQ Montreal in January, later announcing that the game would arrive this holiday season. "Within three weeks after acquiring the game, we sadly realized we had to turn this thing upside down if we hoped to deliver the experience everybody wanted," Ubisoft North America's president Laurent Detoc said in the announcement blog. "It's been such a major overhaul to get to the point where we are that we couldn't let it go, even if that meant missing December." Ubisoft also unveiled a new gameplay trailer for the game, which clocks in at over seven minutes long.
UK retailers nab South Park: The Stick of Truth pre-order bonuses
Ubisoft announced that the European version of South Park: The Stick of Truth will receive a pair of retailer-exclusive pre-order bonuses when it launches later this year for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Buyers who pre-order the game at ShopTo will receive the Ultimate Fellowship Pack, which adds four new in-game costumes that grant bonus gold, defense, weapon damage, and fire damage. The three costumes featured in GAME's Super Samurai Spaceman Pack focus on party buffs, awarding enhanced attack and defense during battle. Pre-orders placed at Ubisoft's Uplay shop will receive both packs upon the game's release. Players in North America will receive the Ultimate Fellowship Pack as part of The Stick of Truth's bonus-bundled Grand Wizard Edition.
South Park: The Stick of Truth comes bearing gifts this holiday season
South Park: The Stick of Truth comes out on December 10 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in North America. Pre-orders receive some extra goodies in the Ultimate Fellowship Pack, which includes four exclusive costumes with special abilities: Necromancer Sorcerer, Rogue Assassin, Ranger Elf and Holy Defender. Also available on December 10 is the Grand Wizard Edition for $80. It includes the game, a figurine of Cartman as Grand Wizard, a map of the Kingdom of South Park and the Ultimate Fellowship Pack. We know when, but now if only we knew where to stick our truth.
South Park creators were unaware of THQ sale until it was in the news
Speaking at San Diego Comic Con this week, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone revealed that they had no knowledge of former South Park: The Stick of Truth's publisher THQ's bankruptcy and sale until the news broke publicly. "We really just read about it in the news," Parker said, "that they were going bankrupt, that someone else bought [the rights to] the game." Facing potential cancellation, the pair joked, "Oh, good, it's over!" The duo's enthusiasm for the project picked up once Ubisoft acquired publishing rights for The Stick of Truth. "Once we heard who had bought it, we got really excited," Parker said. "We flew up to [Ubisoft] and all that momentum picked up and we got really excited again." South Park: The Stick of Truth will launch for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC platforms on November 19.
South Park: The Stick of Truth coming this holiday season
During Ubisoft's E3 keynote, it was revealed that South Park: The Stick of Truth's launch has been narrowed down to Holiday 2013. The turn-based RPG, which Ubisoft recently acquired from defunct publisher THQ, is currently in development at Obsidian Entertainment.
Saving the land one blast at a time in South Park: The Stick of Truth
South Park: The Stick of Truth is a fantastical universe built on a foundation of realism: "In terms of a fourth-grade boy, magic really is farting," producer Nathan Davis proclaims. In the Obsidian-developed, now Ubisoft published role-playing game, that foundation is the essence of your character's power. Choosing to align with either Cartman and his human faction or with Stan, Kyle and the elves they command, your customizable character will offer his mysterious command of flatulence to defeat his enemies and recover the fabled 'Stick of Truth.' Known throughout the land as "the new kid" (and, yes, even as the "Dragonborn"), your character wields special abilities based on the bodily function – such as "cup-a-spell," cupping foul smelling attacks and throwing them toward enemies and the environment for massive explosive damage. It's the most South Park game you'll ever play and, with its absolute perfect mimicry of the show's art style, it's the most loyal adaptation the series has seen in video games.%Gallery-190321%
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%
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.
