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Double Fine released a number of successful games like Costume Quest and Trenched, and seems to be doing everything right. What can we learn from their approach to make short, deeply personal downloadable games and why aren't other developers following suit?
Gus Mastrapa of Joystick Division calls for more diversity in video game settings, discussing Bioshock, Shadows of the Damned, Trenched, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Brutal Legend in the process.
Double Fine has a quite a history developing comedically themed, unique games. With the recent release of games such as Brutal Legend and Stacking, Double Fine's next game....
The twenty-first round of Articles of Excellence saw some intense voting as several people contended for the win. In the end though it came down to two in front, with Brutal Legend by Crazyhand sticking its nose out for top spot. Describing it as a somewhat average game and giving it a matching score of 3.5/5, you'll only be looking to get into this game if you're a big fan of hack and slash titles and need to experience them all... or if you like metal!
Game Podunk blogger, IWX writes on 5 highly anticipated games only to realize the game weren't as good as they're supposed to be. Read on for more and to find what went wrong with these games.
"Critical Gamer writes: Tim Schafer is one of the most famous names in the games industry, and not without reason. He played an important part in the making of the first two Monkey Island games, played a larger part still in Day of the Tentacle, and was the driving force behind Full Throttle and Grim Fandango. Everybody had high hopes for Double Fine Productions, the company he formed in 2000; but has Schafer become his own worst enemy in recent years?"
Just recently Amazon.com discounted PS's version of Brutal Legend even further to under $20. That's more than 50% off regular price and the best price ever available for this fun but extremely underrated game.
For Reward Zone Members (membership is free and you can sign up on the website), Best Buy is offering $5 to $20 printable coupons on select video games for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. Games eligible for 2/15 through 2/28 discounts include Brutal Legend, Tekken 6, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and may more. Please note that printable coupons only work in Best Buy store and not online.
"Best Buy wants you to be there valentine this year, because there are discounts galore this week, with savings of up to $20.
As seen above, you can save $10 on Darksiders, Bayonetta, Dark Void and MX vs. ATV Reflex. Applies to every system.
If $10 weren't enough, you can save $20 on Brutal Legend and The Beatles: Rock Band. This applies to every system.
NBA 2k10 is priced at $39.99 this week, and Fight Night Round 4 is at $29.99.
Lego Rock Band on Wii is at $29.99 as well.
Not ..."
The staff over at Spawn Kill have come up with some not so run-o-the-mill game of the year categories and have finally chosen their picks for the year that was 2009. Check it out and let us know if you agree or disagree!
"It’s the tenth day of Christmas and the tenth instalment of Electronic Theatre’s The Twelve Games of Christmas series. Every day for the Twelve Days of Christmas we have been looking back at 2009 and the very best videogames that the year had to offer. Today we are nearing the end of the year and looking back at October 2009 and the games that, should you not already own, you should be looking out for in the January sales."
""If you are stuck on the strategic action-adventure game, then look below to find the answer! Mission 1: Welcome to the Age of Metal Part."
"
"It happens every year. Both journalists and hardcore gamers flip out over a video game, giving it numerous awards and high scores. Then we sit down to play this supposed virtual epiphany and have no idea what they're talking about. Welcome to the most overrated games of 2009, a collection of massively hyped and underwhelming titles that never deserved so much unnecessary praise, even from us. With that, let's begin."
This VGB video guide compiles together the Brutal Legend Tab Slab locations, Buried Metal locations, Bound Serpents locations, Forges and more collectible unlockables.
Ironically, the list dubbed "Ten Games to Cross off Your Child's Gift List" almost certainly contains at least one game that if on ever member of Neoseeker's list this holiday season.
Now while I'm sure the Times *scoff* has their reasons to dislike this list of mostly shooters and questionable ethical decisions, but that's the main draw (at least for most gamers)
"Electronic Arts Inc. and Double Fine Productions Inc. have announced the release Hammer of Infinite Fate, set for release on December 17th, 2009. The second Downloadable Content (DLC) pack for the heavy metal, third-person action game, Brütal Legend, Hammer of Infinite Fate introduces a series of new skins, weapon upgrades, multiplayer maps and unlockable achievements for players to sink their horns into."
"Article Excerpt:
"I can hear what you are saying to yourself right now, and your cheetos are in the second drawer. (Underneath where you keep your silverware.) That's not what you are thinking? Oh. You are questioning my title with outrage and anger. "Why Hamsterfist you are crazy!" There are plenty of great games released this fall, none of which are disappointing. Now who's the lunatic? You, my dear reader are. But the advertisers and game developers thank you for rushing to the defense..."
Black Friday is right around the corner gamers and AnalogHype has the Ultimate Gamer's Black Friday guide to help you navigate through the madness. The guide includes the stores to get consoles, games, and tips on how to survive the event with some money left in your pocket.
It was recently announced that EA layed off 1,500 workers. They said that they will now be focusing on IP's that guarantee a profit. Such games Battlefield, Madden and Need For Speed. But what about all the new IP's that EA has created in the last few years. Such games as Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, Spore and Brutal Legends might never see sequels. Which is a such a shame as EA renewed themselves with these amazing games, that sold only decently.
"Brutal Legend is a game that is quite difficult to categorise as it borrows from three quite different genres. Somehow, the developers at Doublefine have taken these three aspects and blended them together to create one of the most unique and enjoyable game experiences so far this generation."
"“What do you do with a bunch of kids who don’t know how to do anything but bang their heads all day long?”
“We start a revolution!”
Perhaps no greater tribute has ever been offered at the temple of an entire genre of music than Brütal Legend. This game idolizes the power and energy of heavy metal, creating an entire world with metal as its central mythology.
The world of Brütal Legend is steeped heavy metal symbolism; with every scenic vista looking like it belongs on an album cover...."
This week Yahtzee looks at Tim Schafer's newest creation Brutal Legend and gives us the pros and cons along with his usual sense of humour. Check the source and watch the vid!
Rock On!
Starting next month, Brutal Legend will be getting DLC on both platforms, on the XBOX 360 it'll cost you 400 point; on the Playstation 3... Free.
Odd, yes. But it isn't the first time Downloadable Content was available on a different platform for free but costed money on the 360. Earlier this month Left 4 Dead dropped new DLC: Free on PC, $$ for 360. Is this Microsoft's doing or EA's and Valve's? Either way, this is not looking good on Microsoft's part.
"It’s a bizarre concept, büt for some reason everything manages to flow together qüite well. The epic, sweeping, metal-album-cover inspired landscapes. The genre aligned inhabitants. The entirely carnivoroüs animal life. The world that Tim Schafer wraps around the player is so beautifül you could jüst weep black tears onto a doüble tailed scorpion. Yoü’re actively encoüraged to explore it too, with a wide range of collectables and (not qüite as ranged) side missions scattered aroünd the enviro..."
Snarkasaur of Spawn Kill reviews Tim Schafer's latest brainchild, the over-the-top metalfest Brutal Legend. Though perhaps tardy, this review is nonetheless served the an opinion both warmed and savored.
All Age Gaming's John Elliott takes a look at the game that Heavy Metal fans have been waiting for, Brutal Legend. Does a game featuring Jack Black and a great Heavy Metal soundtrack going to appeal to the masses? Read on to find out.
"This week, Jack Black continued his bizarre Brütal Legend promotional tour with an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, somewhat in character as Eddie Riggs. As we watched Black upturn furniture and do clap push-ups, we started to realize that he's getting rather a lot of mileage out of that muscle suit. And then we couldn't help but wonder: what do you think that suit smells like right now?"
"The mechanics of the storyline are just as deep as a Heavy Metal album cover, and so while the world contains a distinctive character, it doesn’t take a child of the art to understand the conventions. Instead, a particularly Hollywood storyline is decorated with the larger-than-life theme, allowing anyone to following the twisting plot. And it’s a plot that’s strong enough to entertain for the full stretch of the single-player game."
"irst, a note on the differences: In an RTS game you float high above the action, making one split-section strategic decision after another. You often command individual units to position them based on their heath and context. In Brutal Legend, you make strategic choices once in a while, but then you jump into the battle and slug it out in person."
"Few were as excited about Brutal Legend as I was, and having actually played it, I can safely say that this game surpassed my expectations.
Brutal Legend’s narrative follows Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black), the world’s greatest roadie for the world’s worst metal band. There is a horrible accident, and he is transported back in time to help the human resistance fight the evil Emperor Doviculus. The world looks like it was taken straight from the greatest metal album covers, or Frank Fraze..."
"XLOC has announced that its technology was responsible for the worldwide release of the much-anticipated Metal adventure Brütal Legend, developed by Double Fine Productions and published by Electronic Arts (EA), due for European release this coming Friday, October 16th 2009. The leader in global localisation XLOC translated the game into English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3."
"Developer Tim Schafer has been delivering funny games for the past two decades, but none of them have enjoyed the marketing push of Brutal Legend. Gaming's best kept secret has been given the limelight. Has Schafer and his studio Double Fine created something worthy of all this attention?
"
"In anticipation of Brütal Legend’s release, EA has created an video series called “Brütal Thoughts” with Jack Black. The videos feature funny segments with Jack and live-action clips from the game. You can check out the most recent episode in the player below and you can visit the Official Brutal Legend site to view past episodes. The game will be officially released on "Rockertober" 13th. That's EA's pun, not mine. I swear."
"So the demo takes you from opening cutscene, to battle with your axe and guitar, to mowing down enemies in the Deuce, to a mini boss fight. Sounds great, right? I have to confess that the first time I played the demo, I was disappointed. Why? Well, for one, if you are like me, you probably won’t see anything you haven’t already seen in a trailer or preview video. Many of the scenes from the demo were included in trailers, and a lot of the gameplay was also previewed before. The demo als..."
"Fall officially started days ago. Which means only one thing. That the video game season is upon us. It is in this season that not only are video games are plentiful, but their demos as well. One of the games that was on my personal list for VG season is Brutal Legend. I got a chance to play with the demo and was instantly excited about the prospects of this game."
"Throughout the course of this past weekend, September 17th – 20th, the Paris Game Festival took place over on the continent, showcasing some of the best games of this year and the hopefuls for 2010. Big name publishers such as Microsoft, Sony, Activision, Electronic Arts, Nintendo and Square Enix were joined by a raft of development studios and accessory manufacturers, each attempting to wow their audience with their latest and greatest releases."
"Jack Black makes a grand entrance complete with extra muscles and a battle axe as he arrives at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Sunday (September 13).
The 40-year-old funny man is promoting his new music video game Brütal Legend where Jack voices the main character Eddie Riggs.
The new video game is expected to be released on October 13 after being delayed several months."
""The "Six Degrees of Schafer" Achievement/Trophy is rewarded when you play with or against Tim Schafer in Brutal Legend's epic multiplayer mode. The achievement is also viral, meaning that once you play Tim (or someone who has played Tim), you then have the achievement, and then when you play someone else, they get it, and then when that person plays someone else, they get it, etc etc, rinse, repeat…. Think of it like the flu, a heavy metal flu if you will… "
Note that the Playstation 3 ve..."
"Electronic Arts announced this morning a Brutal Legend downloadable demo will be available nationwide this September.
This news comes out of Cologne, Germany, but we expect the demo to make its way over to North America as well."
Brutal Legend is lucky enough to have voice acting by two big name stars: Jack Black and Ozzy Osbourne. The two have been able to create funny and interesting dialogue for the game. Schafer reveals that Black would, “read a line over and over to get the feel” then he would begin, “goofing off”, which is what the team "ended up using”. Schafer then went on to say that Ozzy Osbourne, “swore more than was scripted”. Look out for Brutal Legend hitting stores this Rocktober.
"The general reaction from people when I told them I was going to a Brutal Legend multiplayer event was, "There's multiplayer in that game?" In fact, that was the reaction from some people as they arrived at EA's three-hour play session. Yes, there is online multiplayer in Double Fine's upcoming game. In fact, Brutal Legend's multiplayer component has been in development for longer than the single-player campaign.
The multiplayer element is unexpected, not just in its very existence, but i..."
The 'good news' episode of The Bender. Mostly for us, but still good news. Lots of ground covered, including a little touching of the "games as art debate", James taking on the "10 day detox" of video games, and much more. Grab us/stream through iTunes or download the mp3 here
Electronic Theatre reports on the revelation of the complete soundtrack for the forthcoming Brütal Legend for Xbox 360 and PS3 from DoubleFine and Electronic Arts.
The lawsuit that brought big giants such as Acitivision and EA has now been settled outside of court. Activations was talking Brutal Legends developer to court for seeking another publisher after some mishaps. You can read more about the details here. Now the lawsuit is over and Brutal Legends is set back on track for an October release. Linked info from the settlements reveals that Activision will receive little to no compensation. The way it should be.
Exclusive Boss battle gameplay from Brutal Legend. The game will hit stores October 13th in North America and October 16th in Europe.
Check it out!
Brutal Legend main controversy stems from Activision's acquistion of Vivendi Games. Brutal Legend didn't make the merger cut so to speak.
First Activision sues Double Fine, saying they had no right to seek a new publisher. Now Double Fine is returning fire. Countersuing Activision claiming they only seek to kill the game.
James Walker has had it. This goes past Bobby Kotick's recent dropping Sony support threats. This has been a long time coming. Someone needs to call Bobby out on the things he is doing with what was a company we all could at the very least say used to be "better than EA"
This week on The Bender, we bring you a discussion between Perry and Mike over digital downloads versus owning a physical copy of a game, we give Scribblenauts some attention, and a whole lot more, check the show notes in the quote. Grab the podcast off iTunes by clicking here or download the mp3 directly here.
""Hey, if Activision liked it, then they should have put a ring on it. Oh great, now Beyoncé is going to sue me too." - Tim Schafer, responding to the Activision lawsuit against EA for releasing "Brutal Legend," which they allegedly have the rights to ... despite dropping the title from their company months ago."
Video game publisher Activision Blizzard formally sued game developer Double Fine Studios on Wednesday. The point of contention? Tim Schafer's Brutal Legend, the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 game starring Jack Black.
Activision Blizzard claims that it still has a valid contract for the title, and had invested roughly $15 million in the game. The lawsuit issued by Activision Blizzard states that Double Fine transferred rights that were owned by the company to the now-current publisher Electron...
In this new trailer of Brutal Legend, were shown the full cast of the film, including the likes of Lemmy Kilmister and Ozzy Osbourne. Also were shown that your able to form a mosh pit and storm through the streets whilst moshing!
Prepare to rock your socks off!
This is a must download of The Bender this week. We preview EVERYTHING that will happen and E3 (and even things that might not happen). The show runs a little longer than usual and we cut the news down to a minimal as we all get excited for our trip to E3! Grab the MP3 by clicking here or load us up in iTunes by clicking here
"Brent Dady, Marketing Product Manager for Brütal Legend, is gearing up to head to E3 and showcase this highly anticipated heavy metal epic. Brent took a few minutes to answer some questions about a game he is clearly very psyched to be working on."
"I'm guessing that many of you missed the Spike TV special Thursday night that previewed E3. No worries. I have the highlights and the trailers for you. Take a look to see new trailers for the Batman game, Brutal Legend, DJ Hero, Mass Effect 2 and Just Cause 2.
Oh yeah, there is also a trailer for the new Bethesda game, called Brink. I broke the videos into two parts. This one has the big ones and the news of the night."
(Dai note: Battle of the Bands is the RTS metagame <one of many> found in Brutal Legend)
It is unfortunate that Psychonauts didn't sell well, it was a fantastic game and further iconized Tim Schafer as one of the best game developers on the planet. Brutal Legend is shaping up to have more depth and activities than those found in Psychonauts (which had a daunting amount of things to do and side quests) - the more I hear about what Tim's team was able to pack inside Brutal Legend (and the ...
New screenshots have emerged for Brutal Legend, the screens show some awesome and bloody ingame footage and also hint at being able to control a demonified version of Eddie.
They also show Rob Halford's (Member of Judas Priest) character and his insane hair.
I for one cannot wait for this game!
"Those ready to rock can start today by visiting the newly re-launched Brütal Legend website (www.brutallegend.com), which features exclusive trailers, screenshots, concept art, exclusive Blogs from the Double Fine studio team and more. Sign-up for exclusive updates through the Brütal Legend newsletter, or follow Brütal Legend on Twitter for intimate access and new information nearly every day."
"The most ultimate gang over at 1UP hand's the pen over to Double Fine today for a list of unknown facts -- both obscure and hugely important -- about their new game, Brutal Legend (featuring Jack Black) Also, tons of new screenshots! Check it out! LET THERE BE ROCK!"
Old screenshots and shots from the trailer of Brutal Legend have been released in high res versions. The game has Jack Black voicing the main character and from the looks of the screenshots the main character looks alot like Jack Black himself, that's only my opinion mind you.
"So much attention was paid to the publisher drama surrounding Brutal Legend - it was dropped by Activision and then floated around for a bit before finally being picked up by EA last month - that details about the game itself were lost in the shuffle. The heavy metal action game, for example, has multiplayer. News to us."
"The Bosslady of the Game Developers Conference has written a post updating us on what we can be expecting from the upcoming convention (March 23rd through the 27th).
Sure, we'll get great speeches from some of the Killzone 2 devs, some Lionhead people talking on Fable II, and something or other about Far Cry 2. The bigger news to come of this...
A designer and project manager working on Mass Effect 2!"
"Electronic Arts Inc. and Double Fine Productions, Inc. today announced that they have signed an exclusive publishing agreement that will bring the highly-anticipated rock-adventure Brütal Legend to gamers, headbangers, roadies and rockers worldwide..."
It's not just Uncharted 2 debuting at the Spike 2008 Video Game Awards.
Add to that God of War 3, Watchmen; The End is Nigh, Brutal Legend, Mafia II, Terminator Salvation, New Gears of War 2 content, Fight Night Round 4 and 3 yet to be announced games and you've got a better picture of the event !
LIVE on Sunday, December 14th at 9pm.
Activision announced that they will continue publishing Vivendi franchises such as Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Ice Age, Prototype, and another unannounced IP, for their "long term strategy". The problem is that they're NOT going to publish other Vivendi games:
Ghostbusters: The video game
Brutal Legend
Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
World in Conflict: Soviet Assault
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand
These games are NOT cancelled but they are without a publisher which ...
![Box shot of Brutal Legend [North America]](http://i.neoseeker.com/boxshots/R2FtZXMvWGJveF8zNjAvQWN0aW9uL0FkdmVudHVyZQ==/brutal_legend_frontcover_small_jDSZBp4nfypvyHq.jpg)