Electronic Arts boss comments on Brutal Legend

With Brutal Legend’s fate still unclear and the game apparently without a publisher, speculation has been running amuck with people throwing names like MTV, EA, and even Gamecock into the list of publishers who might take the game on.

Keen to get some clarification on what the actual deal is, Gamasutra took the opportunity to slip a question about Brutal Legend into its recent interview with EA CEO John Riccitiello. The response:

“I have seen it. I am well aware of what the game is. It’s a very significant creative risk. Sometimes significant creative risks end up being some of the world’s best products. Spore was also a significant creative risk. So was The Sims. Portal, BioShock. But so was Grim Fandango.”

A number of other gaming sites have taken this as an acknowledgement that EA has looked into the game and isn’t prepared to publish it, particularly because of Riccitello’s use of the word ‘risk’. However, it is important to note that EA has a history of publishing ‘creative risks’, including the aforementioned Spore, The Sims, and Portal.

Unfortunately he also slips Grim Fandango in there, which although deservingly has almost legendary status as a high-quality game, didn’t really set the sales charts on fire. As such, his comment diplomatically leaves EA’s actual intentions regarding the game entirely unknown.

50 Cent game switches from Sierra to THQ

Brutal Legend is one of several games that were effectively cancelled by Activision Blizzard, thus causing Brutal Legend’s publisher issues that I’m sure must of us are aware of. One of the other games left in limbo was 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand, which it turns out is now being published by THQ.

This obviously only very loosely concerns Brutal Legend, but it does shed a little light on what is a very murky picture of what’s going on with the in-limbo games (there’s been no real official announcement to clarify things), and shows that the games are actually finding their way to other publishers. And they’re finding their way with no official announcements, at that — the only reason we know about this 50 Cent development is because someone spotted the publicly-accessible Australian ratings record.

Will THQ also pick up Brutal Legend from Activision Blizzard? Or is Double Fine still grabbing publishers by the ears and pitching the game to them? Perhaps Activision Blizzard is actively helping out and trying to hook up the developers of the games they cancelled with new publishers? Who knows.

Hopefully I’ll be able to give you some solid details soon. Until then, speculation is all we’ve got!

Tim Schafer interviewed by Gamers With Jobs

I have to confess that this is the first time I’ve heard of Gamers With Jobs, but scoring an interview with Tim Schafer is certainly a demonstration of good taste on their part — looks like I’ve found a new blog to subscribe to!

It’s a pretty superb interview. Spanning about 20 minutes, it covers everything from Schafer’s earliest games like Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle, right up to a whole bunch of details about Brutal Legend. Here’s a slightly paraphrased snippet concerning the status of the game:

“We’re not done, but we’re pretty far along. I would say we’ve got two thirds of the dialogue recorded; we’ve been to the studio several times with Jack [Black]. He’s awesome and adds a lot of comedy to the game — a lot of personality to it. […] I can’t say when [Brutal Legend] is going to come out or be done, but it’s going to.”

It’s generally a great listen — it’s a podcast, by the way — and well worth 20 minutes of your time. Head over to the Gamers With Jobs download page to give it a listen; the 20-minute Tim Schafer interview starts about 44 minutes in, with Brutal Legend conversation mixed in throughout.

PlayStation World scans added

I’ve just added a new set of scans to the Assorted Images section, taken from a late-2007 issue of PlayStation World. The article is comprised of six pages and contains some screenshots we’ve not seen anywhere else if I’m not mistaken, including a nice six-frame strip of a Fire Baron circling two Bouncers.

Many thanks to Chris Capel of IndyJones.net for providing these!

Update

[October 11th, 2008 at 12:34pm GMT+1] Just changed the name of the magazine following a correction from Chris. Just goes to show how good my reading comprehension is!

BRUTAL! now operating at full throttle

OK, so it’s not quite an early 2008 launch. But hey, there wasn’t much to talk about until very recently anyway. And we all knew Brutal Legend was going to end up being delayed for some reason or other, right? It’s Double Fine tradition. Kind of like having your publisher screw you over at the last minute!

But let’s avoid that slightly depressing subject for now. Onto more pressing matters: Welcome! You’re now looking at BRUTAL! The Legendary Fan Site, a hotpot of win that you should bookmark or subscribe to right now if you fancy keeping on top of any and all Brutal Legend happenings from here on out. Whether it’s news, videos, screenshots, whatever — you’ll find it here.

It’s early days, so obviously this is largely a foundation and you can expect new sections and whatnot to appear as time goes on. If you happen to run a site or blog yourself, check out the Site Linking & Affiliation page. Any and all incoming links are much appreciated!