The most Brutal of Legends
So it looks like Activision is suing DoubleFine over the release of Brutal Legend. I've long considered Activision total douchebags, but this is almost too much.
Brutal Legend is the next game by Tim Schaffer, the brilliant mind behind Psychonauts. It's the game that I have wanted more than anything else since it was first announced, so I've paid really close attention to it's development while trying to avoid too much information at the same time.
Back at the Activision/Vivendi merger, Activision decided to drop a lot of titles from Sierra, including Brutal Legend and the Ghostbusters game. They said "they weren't franchise material" because they couldn't make a new game every year. At the time I called total horseshit, but figured DoubleFine has made some great games, and Brutal Legend has Jack Black voicing the main character, so this would have a publisher eventually.
EA picked the game up, and despite all the previous hate for EA a couple of years ago (anyone who remembers the EA spouse LJ entries knows what I'm talking about), they've been doing a really good job recently. They've published out a lot of fantastic games, including one of my personal favorites from last year, Mirror's Edge.
Activision has taken up that mantle. A new Call of Duty game every year is a bit over the top, but whatever. Seven new Guitar Hero games every year, on the other hand, is a fucking disgrace IMHO. Now, I'll fully admit, I will take Rock Band over Guitar Hero any day of the week. While Guitar Hero has some nice things in it compared to RB, Rock Band is just better in almost every significant way.
Now, Brutal Legend started making waves. Big waves. Best in show by 1up and IGN from what I've been reading. And now Activision's suing to block the game being released. Of course they were trying to block the game that they dropped from getting a different publisher. There was another whole legal debacle with Scratch: The Ultimate DJ which actually has made me ignore just about anything regarding DJ Hero on principle, because while it was different, the case had way too many similarities to this.
I'd like to quote EA's response from February when Activision mentioned it: "We doubt that Activision would try to sue. That would be like ahusband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy."
Oh god do I hate that company.
Brutal Legend is the next game by Tim Schaffer, the brilliant mind behind Psychonauts. It's the game that I have wanted more than anything else since it was first announced, so I've paid really close attention to it's development while trying to avoid too much information at the same time.
Back at the Activision/Vivendi merger, Activision decided to drop a lot of titles from Sierra, including Brutal Legend and the Ghostbusters game. They said "they weren't franchise material" because they couldn't make a new game every year. At the time I called total horseshit, but figured DoubleFine has made some great games, and Brutal Legend has Jack Black voicing the main character, so this would have a publisher eventually.
EA picked the game up, and despite all the previous hate for EA a couple of years ago (anyone who remembers the EA spouse LJ entries knows what I'm talking about), they've been doing a really good job recently. They've published out a lot of fantastic games, including one of my personal favorites from last year, Mirror's Edge.
Activision has taken up that mantle. A new Call of Duty game every year is a bit over the top, but whatever. Seven new Guitar Hero games every year, on the other hand, is a fucking disgrace IMHO. Now, I'll fully admit, I will take Rock Band over Guitar Hero any day of the week. While Guitar Hero has some nice things in it compared to RB, Rock Band is just better in almost every significant way.
Now, Brutal Legend started making waves. Big waves. Best in show by 1up and IGN from what I've been reading. And now Activision's suing to block the game being released. Of course they were trying to block the game that they dropped from getting a different publisher. There was another whole legal debacle with Scratch: The Ultimate DJ which actually has made me ignore just about anything regarding DJ Hero on principle, because while it was different, the case had way too many similarities to this.
I'd like to quote EA's response from February when Activision mentioned it: "We doubt that Activision would try to sue. That would be like ahusband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy."
Oh god do I hate that company.