PlayStation LifeStyle » Double Fine

PSN Stacking up in February

Tyler Minarik — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 15:22:23 +0000

Double Fine will be bringing out their next downloadable title, Stacking, next month. Stacking is a unique adventure game with Russian stacking dolls as the characters.

Stacking‘s lead protagonist is Charlie Blackmore, a young chimney sweep who is the smallest of all the dolls in his world. The game is set in miniaturized vintage world, and has a charming Victorian art style. When Charlie’s family is forced into hard labor by the evil Baron, he must set out to save his family, and prove that despite his small stature he is still useful. This is where the core game mechanic of our young hero’s adventure comes in.

Since Charlie is smaller than all the other dolls, he is able to hop inside the other larger dolls. He can only do this when they are facing away from him, but if done successfully he can use them to acquire special abilities. He will need to use this to his advantage in order to progress through the game and pass its varied challenges. One such situation he may use a particular character to release an odor, causing dolls to leave and clear a path they previously blocked. There are multiple solutions to each situation, and players will be rewarded for exploring them all.

Stacking releases on the PlayStation Network February 8th, and will cost $14.99. Will you be downloading this interesting title when it releases?

THQ wants to Multiply Double Fine Deal

Tyler Minarik — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:02:58 +0000

THQ has a contract to publish two games from Double Fine, but it seems like they want some more from this very fine developer. They have already published the well-received Costume Quest, and Double Fine has what looks like another brilliant game on the way, titled Stacking.

Currently, Double Fine is working their way through a four game road map, having released Costume Quest, announced Stacking, and are in the middle of development on two other unannounced games. Danny Bilson, THQ’s head of Core Gaming, talked yesterday about their positive relationship with Double Fine, and where they’d like to go with it:

I really wanna do a lot more with Tim [Schafer]. I’ve always been a huge Tim fan. Grim Fandango to me is one of the greatest works of art in gaming. Stacking I fell in love with. When Tim brought that in, I was like, ‘Let’s do this game! This is fantastic!’

Stacking really does look fantastic, and unique as well. The game places you in control of a Russian stacking doll, who can interact with other dolls by hopping inside of them, which then gives the character special abilities to be used for game progression. It’s an interesting game mechanic, that should make for some good puzzling when it releases in the second quarter of this year. Danny Bilson not only expressed how pleased he was with the two games under contract, but also the situation is for signing Double Fine on for more downloadable fun.

There’s a few more that I’ve identified, but I haven’t made those deals yet. We’ve gotta get some hits rolling so I have more money to spend, to be honest with you.

So, if the money is there, then the games might be published? Sounds good. THQ is releasing Homefront, Red Faction: Armageddon, and Stacking later this year, giving them plenty of opportunity to bring in the all important cash. The real question then is will you support them with a purchase of one of their games?

Costume Quest Gets Into Christmas Spirit With DLC

Zak Islam — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 11:03:04 +0000

Developer Double Fine is getting into the Christmas spirit by announcing that Costume Quest is set to receive some winter-themed downloadable content – entitled Grubbins on Ice – this December.

‘Grubbins on Ice‘ sees players set out on a mission to save Lucy, who has been sucked into an inter-dimensional portal. Players will follow her down the wormhole into the kingdom of Repugia, where you end up joining forces with the resident grubbins to help free Lucy. The add-on will apparently total up to five hours of questing.

Grubbins on Ice will introduce new costumes, patterns as well as several enhancements for the original title – the DLC will add a patches aimed to fix a few bugs and adds minor inclusion to the game including letting you pause during cut scenes as well as saving your game at designated phone posts.

[Via]

Psychonauts 2 a Possibility; Could be ‘Big Hit’

Adam Wolfe — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 18:46:56 +0000

Psychonauts initially was sort of a flop with very lackluster sales, but through the years has risen up to cult like status. Well, in a recent chat with PSM3 Tim Schafer talked about the possibility of a Psychonauts 2.

During the interview Tim was posed the question about Psychonauts 2:

I’m ready to do it. I’d love to do it. It’s really a question of getting a publisher who’s interested in doing it.

Tim then added why he thought the sequel would be a big hit:

Over the years it’s gotten into the hands of a lot of people, through being two dollars on Steam for a while, and being pirated.
So it’s gotten out there. So if all these people were going to buy the sequel it would be a big hit.

[Source]

THQ Announces Costume Quest Release Date

Zak Islam — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:45:10 +0000

Costume Quest, the adventure role-playing game which is the first of two downloadable titles from developer Double Fine and publisher THQ, has been given an official release date.

THQ has announced that Costume Quest is scheduled for a release on October 20th.

Costume Quest is an adventure role-playing game that plays out on Halloween night. Players will find themselves among a group of young friends who travel about during All Hallows’ Eve, collecting candy, cards, and quest assignments. Players will also be able to change into their costume of choice, giving them the ability to battle or outsmart creatures of the night. A variety of costumes are in the game, and each comes with its own special attributes and powers. The game is priced at $15.

Schafer Calls his ‘Prick’ Comment Towards Kotick an ‘Accident’

Max Murray — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 04:23:35 +0000

Tim Schafer let it be known a few days ago, how he really felt about Activision’s Bobby Kotick, to which Activision released a public statement in an effort to save the reputation of the long drowned Bobby Kotick. Now, as the third entry to the latest Schafer/Kotick event, Tim Schafer hopes to put an end to the unfolding drama by revoking his previous statement as an errors he calls an ‘accident’.

Speaking with Eurogamer, Schafer showed no hesitance to clear the air about his widely publicized comments:

“That was an accident. I was going to change the title of my talk to ‘how to give interviews and remember to check the microphone is off.”

He didn’t stop there; this incident seems to have alerted him to be more conscious of his appearance in the future so as to help prevent ‘burning bridges’.

“I need to keep my mouth shut,” he said. “It is shocking how you really burn bridges in the industry. You start your own company and you don’t have to work for that jerky boss any more. Not naming names. Then it’s like Empire Strikes Back – you walk in the room and, ‘Holy s*** Darth Vader’s at the table.’ It’s such a small industry, you see the same people over and over again. No-one ever goes away.”

When asked, Schafer refused to delve further to explain what he meant, or to clarify his previous statement:

“I’m definitely not saying anything about Bobby,” he said. “After that Eurogamer thing I realised I’m a little nervous about what I want to say.”

Hopefully this ends the tail-spinning debacle. Or maybe we’ll be lucky and tomorrow Activision will release a new statement about lipstick she found on Schafer’s white collars while doing his laundry, or a pair of red lacy panties in his coat pocket, and he responds by calling her a ‘paranoid broad’ in a slurred voice right before stumbling out of the door with friends that ‘just get him’ on their way to partake in another all-night binge drinking fest .

[Source]

Tim Schafer: Several Retail & Downloadable Titles in The Work

Zak Islam — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 04:47:35 +0000

After his comments slating off Activision’s CEO during his Develop keynote, Double Fine boss, Tim Schafer, has confirmed that his team are currently working on several projects – with some being downloadable games and some being retail titles.

The Brutal Legend creator confirmed that Double Fine are working on four new games with each of the games having its own publisher. Schafer stated that focusing on smaller projects in the form of downloadable titles gave the developers the opportunity to become more flexible.

Brutal Legend team member, Nathan Marks, is leading development for one of the titles. Meanwhile, Brutal Legend Art Director Lee Petty was another name mentioned to be leading one of the games. Tasha Harris, another development member on Brutal Legend is leading another project, too.

For more on Develop 2010 – be sure to stay tuned into PlayStation LifeStyle.

Bobby Kotick is a “total prick” says Schafer

Cameron Teague — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 07:22:53 +0000

I think its about time for someone to phone up Don King and get him over here as there might be a fight brewing on our hands. In a recent interview with Eurogamer, DoubleFine’s Tim Schafer spoke out about Activision head man Bobby Kotick, calling him a “total prick” and a “dick.” These words from Schafer could possibly have something to do with the fact that Activision was originally going to publish Brutal Legend, only to drop out at the last second and leave Schafer and company to find a new suitor named EA.

“His obligation is to his shareholders,” Schafer said. “Well, he doesn’t have to be as much of a dick about it, does he? I think there is a way he can do it without being a total prick. It seems like it would be possible. It’s not something he’s interested in.”
He added: “[Kotick] makes a big deal about not liking games, and I just don’t think that attitude is good for games in general. I just don’t think we’re an industry of widgets.
“We can approach it like we approach bars of soap, where you’re just trying to make the cheapest bar of soap. He definitely has that that kind of widget-maker attitude. I don’t think he’s great for the industry, overall. You can’t just latch onto something when it’s popular and then squeeze the life out of it and then move on to the next one. You have to at some point create something, build something.
“Hopefully he’ll go back to another industry scene. He could go to an industry that makes more money. Ball bearings… something that suits his passions more. Weapons manufacturing?”

[Source]

Get Ready to Rock New Brutal Legend DLC

Zak Islam — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:34:22 +0000

Brütal Legend was a very entertaining game, thanks in large part to Jack Black. It offered a compelling fun story mode and an addictive RTS like online multiplayer. Double Fine is once again going to make the fans of the title happy.

The second DLC named “Hammer of Infinite Fate” will hit PSN on December 17th. You can also have the luxury of adding some new trophies to your profile, seeing the DLC will add 9 new trophies based on the DLC. The pack will be available on PSN for $4.99.

The Hammer of Infinite Fate pack allows players to upgrade Eddie Riggs with three new outfits including the Mountain Man, Black Metal and Zaulia Threads.

The DLC will also include:

Four new paint schemes for the Deuce
Four upgrades for the Deuce. Three weapons: the Disgorger, the Coiling Maw, and the Eye of Sorrow (a weapon that draws its power from the Sea of Black Tears, and fires “black projectiles of doom”) along with the Oculus of the Lost (a GPS unit that points out the location of Serpents).
Four new multiplayer maps: the Altar of Blood, Coiled Remains, Crucible of the Titans and The Amplified Cliffs. Each map contains “an in-game element of surprise that puts a strategic twist to every Stage Battle,” or so says EA.

I’m excited about the beard, or course, and the new achievements and trophies,” said Tim Schafer, President of Double Fine Productions. “But the thing I really can’t wait to get my hands on is that Oculus of the Lost. Using it to find the last Bound Serpent isn’t cheating, because it looks so cool on my car.”

PS3 Review – Brütal Legend

Adam Wolfe — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:14:22 +0000

The highly anticipated game from Double Fine, Brütal Legend, has finally hit store shelves, but does this heavy metal game live up to the hype, or does the weight of high expectations and hype bring it crashing to the ground?

Brütal Legend follows the adventure of Eddy Riggs, a roadie for a less-than-metal heavy metal band. Though he is their roadie, he can’t help but feel like he is living in the wrong time and wishes for a time when heavy metal is king.

At one of the band’s shows, there is an accident with a stage prop, which injures Eddy and unleashes a beast onto the stage that destroys the band and transports Eddy back into the past.

When Eddy comes to, he discovers that this world is very different from his own, and metal encompasses everything in the world. While fighting through hordes of demons, he comes into contact with a woman named Ophelia. Ophelia is a part of a rebellion which strives for freedom but lacks an army and the self confidence that is necessary to stage an uprising. It is now up to Eddy to build an army and lead them into battle so that the human race can be free from their demon overlord.

When Eddy enters this world, he discovers an ax which he surprisingly can use with great skill. He also gets a guitar that can cause lightning and fire to strike his enemies, and can also be used with special relics to call up a vehicle, melt the faces of enemies or simply give power to armies. These weapons and Eddie’s leadership will take the player on a journey through snow covered mountains, haunted graveyards, and everything in between.

The gameplay in Brütal Legend is quite varied, from racing, to hack and slash, to RTS; it has a little bit of everything. The player starts in a hub world–an open world where players can accept missions, interact with environments, and just cruise around admiring the landscape. The map is littered with side missions ranging from races with the locals, to fighting waves of enemies, and even some hunting missions to capture some of the unique creatures that inhabit this world.

There are also plenty of collectibles and secrets to find, like Motor Forges, which will upgrade the vehicle as well as the weapons. There are also vista points which give a great perspective of the unique structures in the landscape, special jumps, bound serpents which will increase the player’s health when freed, and legend stones that will give a glimpse of how this world came to be.

Besides the side missions and collectibles, there are also the main story missions. These start out as simple hack and slash missions with the occasional boss fight. About a third of the way through the game, however, the missions become more like an RTS.

The battlefield is laid out with the player beginning on his stage, which is his main fortress. This is where new recruits will spawn from and ultimately what the enemies want to destroy. In order to upgrade the stage, as well as get new recruits, the player will need fans. Within each battlefield there are holes in the ground which spirits are coming out of. These spirits are fans that need to be captured by building merch booths over the top of them. Once enough fans have been collected, the player can start to recruit the army and upgrade the stage.

The first few RTS stages are pretty easy, but once a few missions have been completed, new kinds of troops will become available, making the game more complex. Unfortunately, the learning curve rises steeply, and the AI will not take it easy on players. However, once players learn to effectively manage their army, use the right troops for each situation, and use guitar solos effectively, it becomes a lot of fun and pretty rewarding to win a battle.

The graphics for this game are very good–it stays away from a very realistic look, instead going for a heavy metal art style. The textures are smooth, the environments are gorgeous, and the amount of creativity that went into every nook and cranny of this game is obvious. The sound in this game is equally as good. The voice acting is top notch, with Jack Black providing an excellent voice over for Eddy Riggs. The rest of cast is also composed of pretty well known actors as well as a few heavy metal legends. The soundtrack for this game is also top notch–unsurprisingly, it is all heavy metal and features such artists as Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne and Megadeath. With the art style, voice acting and music soundtrack, this game screams metal from every orifice.

This game has a lot of good points, but there are some negatives. The biggest would probably be the RTS portion of the game. This was a complete surprise for this game, and most players will not expect to see this type of gameplay. The RTS segments are not bad, but the adjustment to these unexpected missions can be difficult.

The whole game is in the third person, as are the RTS missions. In these battles, the player still controls Eddy, so it is up to the player to move him around the battlefield, have the army follow him, tell the soldiers where to attack, and then attack with Eddy himself. This gets pretty taxing from time to time, especially when trying to remember to use guitar solos that can aid the army. All that being said, once the player learns to manage all this, it becomes a lot more fun and rewarding, but it is still an unexpected addition which could be a turn off to a lot of gamers. RTS elements very rarely work on a console, and a third person view makes it even more difficult.

Brutal Legend is a decent game.The story is entertaining, the characters, environments and music are top notch, and the amount of hidden objects and side missions should keep players coming back for more. Even though the RTS portions of the game can be rough and sometimes downright frustrating, they have the potential to become a lot of fun. Players are recommended to try one of the RTS portions before buying the game, but this is a definite rental just to see this cool world and the people and creatures that inhabit it.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score

Top notch visuals and sound

Lots of replay value

RTS portions can be frustrating

Brutal Legend Demothon Live

Anthony Severino — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:10:40 +0000

Are you ready to Rock? Ormagoden, the Cremator of the Sky, the Destroyer of the Ancient world, the Lord of all things Brütal has demanded that 666 Million humans download the face meltingly awesome Demo of Brütal Legend or he will give “everyone” Swine Flu. While this may seem like a good time to panic, sell all your worldly possessions and run to the hills, fear not. Double Fine will be streaming a LIVE video “Dem-o-Thon” in support of the Demo in hopes that they can meet Ormagoden’s impossible demands and save your sinuses.

Activision Originated the Month of Rocktober

Dan Massi — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:01:26 +0000

Rocktober, as it is currently known, is associated with the much-hyped title Brutal Legend. The whole marketing scheme for the title, created by gaming legend Tim Schafer, is about the month of Rocktober, in which the game releases. However, Rocktober may become an even hotter topic now, as Activision may come to “rock” the boat.

Unfortunately for both Double Fine and Electronic Arts, the trademark by Activision for Rocktober dates back to 2007. The company has recently used the term for a new press release concerning Guitar Hero.

“GUITAR HERO® CELEBRATES ROCKTOBER™ WITH A LIMITED-TIME 25% DISCOUNT ON SOME OF THE HOTTEST DOWNLOADABLE ROCK TRACKS
“Fans can expand their library with discounts on up to ten of Guitar Hero downloadable favorites
“Guitar Hero® is ushering in ROCKTOBER™ with a limited-time-only discount on ten of our favorite tracks available to fans for Guitar Hero® 5, Guitar Hero® World Tour and the upcoming Band Hero™ games through Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.
“Starting Monday, September 28 and continuing through Sunday, October 4 Microsoft Xbox 360 Guitar Hero rockers will be able to expand their music library with 25% off ten of the hottest tracks:
The Killers – ‘Mr. Brightside’
Travis Barker – ‘Low (Travis Barker Remix)’
Blink-182 – ‘What’s My Age Again’
Rick Springfield – ‘Jessie’s Girl’
Queen – ‘We Are The Champions’
Blind Melon – ‘No Rain’
Ram Jam – ‘Black Betty’
Nickelback – ‘Because of You’
Smashing Pumpkins – ’1979′
Foreigner – ‘Hot Blooded’”

What do you think of this matter? To be perfectly honest, with a band like Nickelback in the Guitar Hero catalogue, Activision doesn’t deserve to hold the Rocktober title.

We’ll fill you in as news goes along on this matter. For now, stay tuned.

[Source]

Get Ready for One Very ‘Brutal’ Contest

Cameron Teague — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:04:53 +0000

I’m sure all of you are excited about Electronic Arts‘ upcoming game Brutal Legend, staring Jack Black. So we wanted to let you all know of a great contest going on right now over at the Brutal Legend Facebook Fan Page. Here is a great chance to win a very cool prize (one of five limited edition Eddie Riggs statues) in anticipation of its release. So for all of you that are interested, please check out the details after the jump.

Here is how to enter:

- Become a fan of the official Brutal Legend Facebook fan page – www.facebook.com/brutallegend
- Post your Brutal Legend fan art onto the official Brutal Legend Facebook wall with “Fan Art Contest” somewhere in the title
- 5 winners will each receive a limited edition Eddie Riggs statue
- Sorry to all of our international fans, this is a US only contest
- Sample contest and statue image & rules/full contest details: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZLWY5509

Not sure why you are still here, hurry up and get to drawing!!

Double Fine and EA Rock PS Store with Brütal Legend Demo

JohnDraisey — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:02:50 +0000

Players Rewarded with Early Access to Tim Schafer’s Heavy Metal Action Opus

COLOGNE, Germany–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) and Double Fine Productions Inc. today announced that gamers nationwide will get a sneak peek at this Rocktober’s heavy metal action game Brütal Legend™, when the demo launches in September. In just one month, players can download the demo and experience first-hand the face-melting action that G4 Networks honored with the coveted “Best of E3” award. For complete information regarding the availability of the Brütal Legend demo please visitwww.brutallegend.com/demo.

Brütal Legend is an epic action game from visionary developer Tim Schafer. Jack Black stars as Eddie Riggs, a legendary roadie summoned to a heavy metal world where he must fight for the liberation of humanity from the demon Emperor Doviculus. In this wild world, mountains are made of amplifiers, killer spiders spin guitar strings and rock legends roam the landscape. In the demo, players get a preview of the game’s non-stop hack n’ slash action and mayhem. The demo opens as Eddie awakes in the age of metal where he must quickly learn how to use the powerful ancient axe, ‘The Separator’ and electrifying guitar ‘Clementine’ to unleash combo moves that destroy the demons of darkness. As he comes face-to-face with zipper-faced nuns and devilish druids, Eddie encounters the beautiful and tough-as-nails Ophelia, an ally and would-be love interest. Together, Eddie and Ophelia use double team attacks for more powerful combo moves to defeat the rock demons that are after them. Luckily, they are bestowed with a super-charged, druid-destroying vehicle, ‘The Deuce’ that can be upgraded with weapons and armor throughout the game. From the bowels of the druid dungeon to the tops of corpse mountains, the Brütal Legend demo is just the beginning of an epic journey.

“We just couldn’t wait,” said Tim Schafer, President of Double Fine Productions. “Villagers have surrounded our offices with torches, demanding the game. So we’re releasing a demo and hope that this taste of metal will keep the mob at bay until Brütal Legend comes out this Rocktober.”

Brütal Legend will launch on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and has been rated ‘M’ for Mature by the ESRB, 18+ by PEGI and 15 by the BBFC. The game is set to create headbanger whiplash when it ships on October 13^th in North America and October 16^th in Europe.

For more information on Brütal Legend and to sign up for the Brütal Legend newsletter, please visit www.brutallegend.com. To followBrütal Legend on Twitter please visit http://twitter.com/brutallegend.

Activision and Double Fine Settle their Slapfight

Dan Massi — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 02:40:43 +0000

In the past months, Activision and Double Fine haven’t exactly had the rosiest of relationships. Brutal Legend was dileberately dropped from Activision’s lineup after Activision merged with Blizzard, and the title was left alone after an unsuccessful attempt to convert the property into a Guitar Hero game. Then, EA picked it up, and helped turn it into an anticipated title. And that’s when the trouble started.

Activision went on to sue Double Fine, because the publisher held “the publishing rights to the game”. However, Double Fine countersued them back, so both parties were given the opportunity to present their arguments before a judge. But apparently, this isn’t going to happen any longer.

Instead, Activision’s legal team contacted the court, stating that a settlement had been reached. In late July, the judge had said that he was not inclined to force a delay for Brutal Legend, and that the imposed delay by Activision did not have “a likelihood of succeeding” in the courtroom.

Are you glad that a settlement has finally been reached? Or did Activision have the right to delay a title that they had already abandoned? Let us know in the comment section below!

[Source]