Techland
Latest
Call of Juarez: The Cartel media kicks ass, doesn't stop to take names
Things are rough along the Mexican border. How does a government clean up such a cesspool of crime and lawlessness? Well, if it's a video game, you hire foul-mouthed men and women to kick down doors and shoot dudes like crazy. Results are results, we guess.
Dead Island's Sam B. wonders who you voodoo
Techland has dropped a handful of new screens from Dead Island, showcasing a character by the name of Sam B, a "one-hit-wonder rap star of fading fame." It seems Sam came to the Royal Palms resort to perform his hit song "Who Do You Voodoo?" which, of course, reminds us of the babe.
New Dead Island screens get up close and personal
Ever wondered what it would be like to be a brain in the head a human who's about to be picked apart by a raging, undead horde? This latest batch of screens for Techland's Dead Island affords us just such a perspective -- a brain's-eye-view, if you will.
New Dead Island screens to make you scream
Re-introduced in one of the most memorable trailers in recent years, Techland's undead-filled action game Dead Island was looking great when we saw it at GDC. Now the dev has dropped three new shots of its blood-soaked environments and a giant zombie in a straight jacket. See 'em after the break.
Dead Island preview: Paradise in shambles
Last month's debut of the emotionally-charged trailer for Dead Island, a game completely forgotten (if ever known at all), instantly rocketed developer Techland's zombie vacation nightmare into the spotlight, spawning a number of homages and an absolute thirst to know: Could the game possibly be as good as the cinematic teaser? After witnessing an all-too-brief gameplay demo at GDC this week, I began to answer that question for myself, likening Dead Island to a mash-up of Dead Rising 2, Borderlands, Breakdown and, to a much lesser extent than you'd think, Left 4 Dead 2 -- oh, and even some Far Cry 2 sprinkled in there. That sounds a bit chaotic, sure, but this is a zombie game. Dead Island begins shortly after the zombie emergence depicted in the dramatic trailer, with players controlling one of four possible lead characters, each representing a different class. In the demo I was shown, the developer played as the "tank" character -- powerful, but slow. %Gallery-118289%
Dead Island trailer gets literal
You need an excuse to watch the Dead Island trailer yet again. It's getting obsessive and your coworkers are starting to stare. We get it. Thus, we bring you the literal version of the trailer. "No, no, this is a funny version. I'm not obsessed," you'll say. If you play it right, it just might work.
Call of Juarez: The Cartel ban proposed in Mexico
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Call of Juarez: The Cartel has angered officials in Mexico. State legislators in the border town of Ciudad Juarez (located in the state of Chihuahua) have asked the Mexican government to impose a ban, arguing that the game's content could potentially make light of recent drug violence across the region and cause children to grow up with a "lack of values." "It is true there is a serious crime situation, which we are not trying to hide," Ricardo Boone Salmon, a congressman for Chihuahua state, told MSNBC. "But we also should not expose children to this kind of scenarios so that they are going to grow up with this kind of image and lack of values." A rating with the ESRB has yet to surface, though the two prior installments both garnered a Mature rating -- the official site's promised "bloody road trip from Los Angeles to Juarez, Mexico" certainly suggests it'll follow suit. State congress leader Enrique Serrano reiterated the needs of the children. "They believe so much blood and death is normal," he said. "Children wind up being easily involved in criminal acts over time, because among other things, during their childhood not enough care has been taken about what they see on television and playing video games." Of course, all of this is predicated upon children playing the game and, aside from the usual argument that parents should be active in their kids' lives, we'd have to say that -- actually, that's about it.
Dead Island meets Minecraft, bites it right in the neck
If you thought the evocative debut trailer for Dead Island would have been more effective had it been rendered completely in textured blocks -- no, you didn't think that. Nobody could have, except for Vareide Productions, who whipped up the Dead Minecraft trailer below.
Dead Island movie rights not yet sold [update]
Update: Dead Island publisher Deep Silver states that, contrary to earlier reports, the rights to a film adaptation of Dead Island have not been sold -- though it claims to have received "a vast amount of inquiries" following the game's buzz-building trailer. "We are looking for quality above all else for a movie based on Dead Island," says Klemens Kundratitz, CEO of Koch Media (parent company of Deep Silver). "We want to do it the right way as film realizations of games (or vice versa) usually fail to deliver what the fans were looking for." The goal, according to Kundratitz, is to "work with someone who already has a proven track record with blockbuster movies." That doesn't necessarily rule out Union Entertainment, which was rumored to have already purchased the rights, but it sounds like the IP-holder is still evaluating all potential silver-screen suitors. As mentioned in the original story below, you're not likely to see any Dead Island movie (if there is one) until well after the game's launch later this year. How about holding your horses for a bit, Hollywood? Original story: Though Techland has already gotten a popular film out of its upcoming Dead Island game -- it was called "the trailer" -- one can presume that Hollywood's looking to sell something a bit longer (and more chronological, the test audiences will insist). The Wrap reports that the movie rights were already secured by the Sean Daniel Company and Union Entertainment in 2009, years before the zombie-infested horror game stepped back into the spotlight. Union Entertainment, a talent management and production company focusing on video games, helped facilitate the creation of the first game based on The Darkness comic book series. It was also involved with The Red Star, a PlayStation 2 game based on the graphic novel of the same name and, according to The Wrap, currently holds the movie rights to Techland's Western shooter, Call of Juarez. Dead Island is connected to producer Sean Daniel (Dazed and Confused, The Mummy, Pootie Tang), but there's no indication that it's progressed enough to even warrant a script writer yet. In other words, we'll find out if the game is as good as the trailer well before we decide whether the film ... is as good as the game.
Dead Island screenshots make for grim vacation snaps
If the excellent Dead Island teaser trailer was the vacation, consider these screenshots a reminder that you have to be back at work on Monday. (Though it does help if you have some elegiac piano music to accompany these shots of a beautiful but spoiled paradise.)
Dead Island trailer made chronological, humorous
It's been acknowledged here at Joystiq HQ that the Dead Island trailer released earlier this week is pretty much a jaw dropper. Unfortunately, about half of it also backwards and in slow motion, which seems like kind of an oversight for the Dead Island marketing department. Thankfully, the editors at G4 have rectified the situation and pieced the trailer together in its proper chronological order. Also, as an experiment, they remixed the trailer again, this time tossing in some cheerful music and goofy sound effects. Let this be a reminder to all the aspiring trailer artists out there: It's all in the editing. Check out both remixes after the break.
Dead Island is back with haunting debut trailer, Deep Silver to publish
It's rare that, with a single trailer, a game goes from "completely off our radar" to "has complete dominion over our minds" -- yet that's what's happened when we caught the debut trailer for Techland's Dead Island. First announced in the summer of 2009, then never heard from again, the game now has a publishing partner in Deep Silver, plus one of the most invigorating trailers we've seen about zombies in a good, long while. Check it out for yourself after the jump. IGN's preview of the game has turned out some equally savory details: According to Techland, Dead Island is a "first-person zombie-slasher/action-RPG," set in the luxurious Royal Palms Resort in Papua New Guinea. Players are tasked with escaping the island getaway, using all manner of found melee weapons (axes, pipes, etc.) to carve a bath through disturbingly realistic walking cadavers. Sounds like the camp that usually characterizes the zombie genre is going right out the window for this one. The game is scheduled for a 2011 release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. We've got our fingers crossed that it's as good as the trailer lets on.
PSA: Nail'd demo hammers Xbox Live
Though we liked the game, you still might be wondering if Techland's ATV racer Nail'd is your cup of, er ... nails? Good news then: There's a demo of the game now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace -- currently only for Gold members -- that'll drive you to either buy, rent or delete.
Nail'd nails down new Nov. 30 launch, low price
It looks like Nail'd has made a death-defying jump, leaving its former October 19 release date in the dust. The game will now track dirt all over retail carpets beginning on November 30. Furthermore, publisher Deep Silver has announced that the game will sell for the wallet-friendly price of $49.99 on Xbox 360 and PS3. The PC version will be an even more palatable $39.99. Find a new trailer after the break.
Nail'd secures October 19 release date
Techland's insane ATV game Nail'd might defy reality in many ways, chaining together ridiculous stunts that nobody should ever do, on courses that rely on incredible, unlikely circumstances -- but even something with as little regard for the real world as this must adhere to linear time. To that end, publisher Deep Silver has announced a release date for the game: October 19 in North America, and October 22 in Europe. Past the break, you'll find a new trailer, absolutely loaded with both guitar rock and slow-motion absurdity.
Rise Against, Queens of the Stone Age get Nail'd
Nope, we absolutely could not help ourselves -- sure, we might be writing about how Rise Against and Queens of the Stone Age (as well as Slipknot and the Backyard Babies) will be adding tracks to Techland's upcoming off-road racer Nail'd, but that headline was right there, just staring us in the face! And though music from the aforementioned groups isn't scientifically proven to inspire racing precision in gamers, publisher Deep Silver believes the soundtrack will "fuel their adrenaline to the absolute limit." And what if players want to push it past the "absolute limit?" Glad you asked -- Deep Silver has teased another soundtrack reveal to be made in the near future, saying the announcement will inform us about music "created especially for the game by an all-star group of rock luminaries." Our best guess? Ratt. It's clearly Ratt.
Preview: Nail'd
"Do I really have to play that, Aubrey?" That was me, being dragged away from one demo at the SouthPeak E3 booth to play Nail'd by a friendly, well meaning PR rep. Can you blame my hesitancy? It's (1) called "Nail'd" (2) it's an ATV game made by (3) Techland whose last game was Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. Tempered expectations would be putting it mildly. But get this: It's great. %Gallery-95785%
Nail'd: ATV racing from the Call of Juarez team
Developer Techland has moved from the Call of Juarez to the Call of Four Wheelz with its new ATV racer, Nail'd, on the way to PS3 and Xbox 360 sometime this year via publisher Deep Silver. Personally, we'd want to keep our little ATV tires from being nail'd, but we're not racing experts. The racer combines high-speed ATV racing with outlandish obstacles -- according to Destructoid's preview, " There were rock slides, giant buzz saws moving about, and a jump that saw you sailing through a wind turbine. In one section, a 747 jet lands in front of you. There was even a segment that had the player racing on top of a moving train for several seconds." All in one track. For players who manage to avoid the stray planes, saws, and other hazards, performing tricks will build a boost meter to help enhance speed. To read more about the totally extreme racing game, and to see more screenshots, check out Destructoid.
The women of Global Agenda: Wait a minute, full body armor?
Former Massively columnist Tracey John recently took a close look at the female characters in Global Agenda, the upcoming sci-fi offering from Hi-Rez Studios. Her story at Techland explored the reasoning behind Global Agenda's relatively unusual decision to move away from scantily-clad females and go the full body armor route. Lead character artist Sean McBride had plenty to say on the decision, pointing out that when you add guns to the mix, it doesn't make a lot of sense to have characters running around with vital body parts such as the heart completely exposed. "It's a little easier in fantasy games as it could be explained away with magic, or her ability to finesse around the other characters." He also points out that to the ladies of Global Agenda, beauty is in function, not necessarily form: "To them, true beauty lies in the perfectly timed explosive, the inevitable satisfaction of a poisoned blade, or the immaculately precise sniper shot." Check out the full story, as well as some exclusive screenshots, here.
Jeff Kaplan looks back at WoW's launch
The 5th anniversary press continues -- this time it's a site called Techland, where our friend Tracey John (who also writes for Massively) interviews Jeff Kaplan about his reflections on the last five years of the game. It's surprising to hear that early on, Blizzard wasn't so sure of their success. Despite the fact that even before WoW, they had made some of the most classic PC games of all time, they weren't sure that going the subscription route was a good idea. But one of the companies' founders stood up and gave a pep talk, and promised a whole million subscribers, apparently. Of course, they'd go on to make many times that, but that was good enough to get the team going again. Kaplan also says that he is a little bummed that Blizzard didn't scale back raiding earlier -- 40-man raids were a little unwieldy, he admits now, and smaller raids would have meant more content in the vanilla days. But he does say that since the game has been updated so much, most of the stuff they wish they'd done different has actually been done differently. And in the future, he says that better technology will play a big role -- bigger instance capacity, and things like cross-server instances and other innovations. The next five years, he seems to hint, should be just as interesting as the first. [via HolyPaladin]
