Rock, Paper, Shotgun

“Described by top scientists as Monkey Island meets Diablo,” according to the DeathSpank official webpage. It’s what Ron Gilbert is working on now so, you know, go take a look.
Read the rest of this entry »

1UP only have a bloody exclusive, so we’re going to have to link to them. Curse them and their exclusives and their fashionable haircuts. They’re doing a week of DeathSpank coverage starting with a preview, including the aforementioned screens. Ron Gilbert does an Adventure Game/Action-RPG cross-breed based on an office running joke which just wouldn’t stop. I’m excited by this. More of this kind of thing. And more when we know anything which isn’t based on 1UP’s bloody exclusive. Bloody 1UP.

Ron “Grumpy Gamer” Gilbert’s forthcoming DeathSpank has been quiet for a while. But now, all of a sudden, we have three teaser trailers to enjoy. Or be completely confused by. The game, which he says is coming out in 2009, has a booth at PAX, but there’s no need to travel all the way there when you can watch the videos below.

Read the rest of this entry »

The very moment we heard the news that Ron Gilbert had upped sticks to Canada, become Creative Director of Hothead, and announced his new game, we leapt upon him for more details. More details we have, in our exclusive chat with the brains behind your favourite adventure experiences. We discuss his new job, get some juicy details on his new game, DeathSpank, the role adventure games can play today, and the merits of episodic gameplay. And find out who Grimtub Hobblepotty is.

RPS: Congratulations on the new job. Can you tell us what you’ll be doing as a Creative Director?

Ron Gilbert: First of all, it’s great to be at Hothead, I could not be more thrilled. My job will be to oversee the creative aspects of the games, with most of my focus on the game designs and working closely with the designers.

RPS: What was it about Hothead that drew you toward them? We mean, beyond their agreeing to publish your game…

RG: I got to know the people here while I was consulting on the Penny Arcade game and I was really impressed with their indie spirit and how they looked at games. They were really into ideas and concepts that were different and “creative”. They loved the strange satirical humor of DeathSpank and got it right away. We hit it off quickly and I realized I’d be able to make DeathSpank the way it needed to be made with them.

Read the rest of this entry »

The hero of a generation of gamers, Mr Ron “Monkey Island” Gilbert, has announced his new game, and the publisher who’ll be distributing it.

Ready?

DeathSpank Episode 1: Orphans of Justice.

Oh yes.

It’s an “RPG Adventure”, featuring a character from the short-lived Grumpy Gamer cartoons. Gilbert explains,

“I called up Tim Schafer and said “Loan me a desk, I have a game to design!” and I proceeded to crank out what can only be called the perfect melding of a Monkey Island style adventure game with the wicked RPG game play of Diablo. Clayton [Kauzlaric] and I got together and banged the kicks out, slapped some meat on the characters and tightened up our story and world, and damn it, we had a design you could cook an egg on.”

Read the rest of this entry »