That's both an accurate analogy and the plot of the game

I don’t know about you, but my memory for video games is vivid and all-consuming, like a thirsty sponge full of radioactive ooze. It goes back as far as I can remember anything, and certain events in my life are linked to what I was playing at the time. Take Earthworm Jim as an example. I vividly remember renting it f??rom Blockbuster with my family an?d staying up a smidge late to watch my dad play a bit of the first level.

I also recall ?getting immensely excited the first time I saw a commercial for the cartoon. Once, I wrote a fan letter to Shiny asking if they were making a sequel, and they wrote back!

So, there was no dissuading me from Earthworm Jim 3D, and through the lens of a daft pre-adolescent, I had a good time. I must have been determined because otherwise, I have no idea what I saw in the game. Earthworm Jim 3D is as bland as ?eating a?? bag of flour. It contains none of the imagination of either the first two titles or the cartoon that it leans closer to.

One of the things I recall about Earthworm Jim 3D was its protracted development. The time I spent waiting for the thing to be released felt like an eternity. I used to browse the pre-dotcom bubble internet for tidbits and screenshots as I awaited with anticipation. By the time the game was released in 1999, the show it was based on was off the air for three years, and most of the co?ntent that was shown of the game had been cut.

Worse yet, the box it came in and the advertisements that were launched alongside it didn’t depict the final product. The North American box blurb merely committed the sin of having a screenshot with the beta HUD, but PAL regions got ones that showed areas that didn’t even appear in the final product. Ads proudly announced the inclusion of Evil the Cat, another baddie who found their way to the chopping block. So, really, the problems with Earthworm Jim 3D start before you even open the box.

Quite a few popular characters failed in their first dalliances with 3D. Bubsy, for example. No, wait, I don’t think he was ever popular. Regardless, 3D was a battlefield that many licenses struggled to adapt to. Earthworm Jim may be one of th?e most prominent fatalities of that.

Part of the issue is that Shiny didn’t want to make sequels anymore, which didn’t seem to work out for them in retrospect. Interpl??ay handed Jim over to VIS, a relatively unproven devel??oper, and that went about as well as expected.

From the kick-off, the game features problems typical of the early 3D era: the camera sucks, the frame rate is horrible, the controls are�workable, I?? guess. The ?animation is ridiculously choppy, which either demonstrates that the game was unfinished or VIS just didn’t realize how little space was available on an N64 cartridge.

No, in terms of gameplay, Earthworm Jim 3D i?sn’t the d??eepest crater in the early 3D landscape. It’s playable. Mostly.

What more prominently kills Earthworm Jim 3D is how aggressively unimaginative it is. Earthworm Jim is the story of an unassuming worm who finds its way into a super-suit and immediately sets off to save a princess. It crosses the galaxy but pays no attention to continuity. One moment, you’re traversing a h?ellscape while screams and elevator music play in the background, the next you’re navigating a harrowing underwater maze in a fragile gla?ss submarine.

Earthworm Jim 2 jumps further into the deep end, to the point where I’d just like to call it art. Swimming through someone’s intestines as a blind salamander, jumping across heaps of paperwork, bouncing puppies off a giant marshmallow; there’s nothing normal about the Earthworm Jim series.? It was bewilderingly bizarre, constantly flipping the script and forcing you through more and more unhinged challenges.

We get to Earthworm Jim 3D, and, at best, I’d call it weird. It’s not bewilderingly bizarre, it’s just maybe quirky. And this takes place in Jim’s head, where anything should be able? to happen.

Playing off the joke about Jim having four brains, the game world is separated into four sections: memory, happiness, fear, and fantasy. It lays the groundwork for some neat character exploration, but Earthworm Jim 3D doesn’t want to do that. His memory is of some sort of war between cows and chickens, his happiness is food (same, guy), his fear is mundane horror, and his fantasy is to be in a western. You have to work to come up with ideas so bland.

The farmyard w??ar is probably the most imaginative, but I can’t say it makes much sense. You help the chickens. Chickens eat worms. If this happened while J??im was a mere worm, then how did this memory actually play out?

Whatever.

The food levels are maybe the most interesting, but then it pulls i??n fart jokes. Yeah, you eat a can of beans and that rockets you upwards. It’s horrible, since you can’t tilt the camera to any helpful extent, and it expects you to land on ledges above you.

Horror is the worst. The most creative Earthworm Jim 3D gets is zombified disco dancers (because disco is dead, get it?) Just recalling this game’s attempts at humour is causing my soul to die. The weirdest moment was when Elvis gets ground into a hamburger. That’s kind of dark, but I can dig it, so let’s ??stop there.

In terms of gameplay, the most horrendous part of it is the boss battles. Far from tests of your skill, you’re put on the belly of a pig and have to surf around an arena, gathering marbles. There are a hundred and you and the boss compete to collect them. All of them. Meaning if the boss collects any you need to hit them with a bullet and to free those little marbles??, then scoop them up before the boss can touch any of them.

This isn’t too bad, but the later bosses start dodging your bullets wit??h? extreme precision. There’s a strategy to landing a hit, but it’s such excruciating agony. There are five of these encounters, and they don’t get any more inventive or any better.

If ??you manage to collect all the marbles in the game, you get the ability to play as Earthworm Kim; Jim’s feminine side. It’s like the game’s hard mode because you take double damage. Get it? Because femininity is equivalent to weakness!

Don’t try feeding me that shit; Jim is a hermaphrodite! Is he sincerely ??that against showing his feminine side that he represses it? That he consid??ers it his weaker side? Is he that insecure? Is this what they mean by "toxic masculinity?"

It could have been worse, I guess. I personally believe that Earthworm Jim’s transition into 3D should have gone the way of Rayman 2, but instead, we got “at least it’s not Bubsy 3D.�Frankly, the Game Boy’s Earthworm Jim: Menace 2 the Galaxy is probably the worse game, but most people were able to shut that one out of their consciousness. Earthworm Jim 3D was the higher-profile flop. Plans for a PlaySta?tion release were humiliated out of existence.

This game essentially ended the EWJ franchise. We got an HD version of the original game years later, but never a true sequel. There were a few cancelled attempts, but nothing came to the surface. Currently, Earthworm Jim 4 is in development exclusively for the�Intellivision Amico. It’s slated for release October 10, 2021, but I’ll believe it when I see it. Which I may never, since I don’t see myself buying an? Amico. Sorry, Tommy Tallarico, I hope we can still be friends one day.

The post Earthworm Jim 3D put the series on life support appeared first on Destructoid.

Due to "unforeseen issues"

There's a new Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance on the way, and today, Black Isle and Interplay have released a re-release of the classic Baldur's Gate variation of Dark Alliance. It's out now on PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox S?eries X|S, but the Nintendo Switch version has hit ??a snag.

On Twitter, Black Isle Studios posted a statement saying that "due to unforeseen issues," it would be delaying Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance's Switch launch for a few days. "We're incredibly sorry about this and we're working hard to remedy t?his as quickly as ??possible."

Hey all,

Due to an unforeseen issue on the Nintendo Switch store, we’re going to have to delay the launch for a few days to fix it.
We’re incredibly sorry about this and we’re working hard to remedy this as quickly as possible.

Thanks for your patience! pic.twitter.com/qw3h8hey1L

— Black Isle Studios (@BlackIsleStudio) May 7, 2021

The re-release of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance has higher resolution graphics, though it will still have the classic hack-and-slash action of the original. It will also have the ability to adventure with a friend, a key piece of the original Dark Alliance's appeal.

The only thing better than dungeon crawling and looting is do?ing so with?? a pal. Hopefully the Switch version snafu can get fixed up soon.

The post Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance’s re-release on the Switch has been delayed a few days appeared first on Destructoid.

The Reloaded remaster promises better balance

There's something oddly fun about seeing a decades-old video game you never played resurface out of nowhere with an unlikely remaster. Kingpin: Life of Crime – a controversial Quake II-era FPS from Xatrix and Interplay – is coming back in 2020 with a remaster for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

As someone who has zero history with the original game, the trailer for Kingpin: Reloaded isn't terribly convincing. But after reading up on this deceptively bonkers game – it has art deco and Cypress Hill! – I've warmed up to it. (This retro review from YouTuber GmanLives helped catch m??e up to speed.)

Beyond 4K and ultrawide support, the Kingpin remaster will also have a "new quest system" and "re-bala?nced and polished gameplay," so it's not just a straightforward visual refresh. In terms of mode?rnizing the gameplay, let's hope the thugs aren't quite as bulletproof as they were in 1999.

"Kingpin doesn't get the recognition it deserves," said 3D Realms founder Frederik Schreiber. "We have the privilege of giving it a second chance for people who never heard of it, and sprucing it up for diehard fans." I'm sure some of you found Kingpin at the exact right time and place?? and have a soft spot for it.

As surprising as it is to see this IP return, it makes sense – old-school FPSes are in right now.

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Well, Fargo

"How about this stretch goal?" famed video game designer Brian Fargo asks on Twitter. Most crowdfunding ventures incentivize by upping development efforts -- new modes, conso?le ports, that sort of thing. Fargo's going to try to buy the stu??dio he co-founded in the early '80s.

Fargo says that he'll try to purchase Interplay if The Bard's Tale IV sells two million PC copies in its first 18 months on the market. The Bard's Tale IV has already been successfully crowdfunded to the tune of $1.5 million (and change), and it's set to release tomorrow, September 18. It was developed by inXile, the company ??Fargo founded in 2002 after?? leaving Interplay.

To be completely fair, Interplay is no longer the attractive property it once was. In the '80s and '90s, Interplay developed and published some of the most popular names in role-playing games. Fallout, A Bard's Tale, Baldur's Gate, and Descent were all linked to Interplay. Two years ago, financial issues caused Interplay to try selling all its video game properties.

It's tough to tell what Interplay might be worth today because it's not all that forward-facing and relevant anymore. Its Twitter profile says it's "the company behind Freespace, MDK, Earthworm Jim, and more great games." There's a near-guarantee th?at inXile is the more valuable of the two companies at this point. Still, there'd be a sweet poetic justice to Fargo buying back Interplay -- the place ?where he earned his fame -- after all these years.

@BrianFargo [Twitter]

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It turns 20 tomorrow!

Just in time for Fallout's 20th anniversary, the game is free to own on Steam.

It's not necessarily the easiest game to get into if you're coming in completely fresh, but it's without a doubt worth having in your library. You never know! One day you mig??ht have the urge to wander the wastes like it's 1997. You'll be glad you have this classic RPG in your library if that day ever comes.

Besides, that Water Chip isn't going to fetch itself, Vault D??weller.

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game [Steam]

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What if they still made movie tie-in games?

I'll be the first to admit it, this story's a little strange. I'm pretty sure we've never posted anything from HalloweenCostumes.com before.

Movies and TV s?hows tend not to have full console releases anymore, as the tie-in games we see today seem to have shifted to mobile, where it's easier and faster to develop a title. So it's an interesting "what if" exercise to think about what some game boxes might look like if the SNES were still the dominant console, still receiving licensed movie and television tie-in games. 

Some of these are better done than others, but one thing that particularly impressed me was the attention given to each fake SNES game's publisher. Interplay is a great choice for the Game of Thrones game, since that publisher was known for adapting story-heavy intellectual properties and TV shows like Star Trek. Similarly, it's logical that Capcom would've published the Deadpool game back in the '90s, even though Activision was actually publisher for the 2013 game.&?nbsp;

Furthermore, it makes perfect sense that Sony Pictures would have tapped Sony Imagesoft to promote its tie-in of the rebooted Ghostbusters.

And for better or worse, JVC was the publisher for the three Super Star Wars games that were released on the SNES, making this box for the upcoming Rogue One anachronistically accurate.

If the titles on display here piqued your interest, there are several more boxes at the HalloweenCostumes website, including Captain America: Civil War, Better Call Saul, and Suicide Squad. In all, 16 ti??tles were boxified, one for each of the Super Nintendo's 16 bits.

??Super 16: 2016 Movies and TV ??shows as Super Nintendo games [HalloweenCostumes.com]

The post Stranger Things and Game of Th??rones ?get the SNES treatment appeared first on Destructoid.

Massive IP and asset sale

When I think of Interplay, I think of the Earthworm Jim series, but that isn't a thought I've had in a long while. There j?ust isn't much happening there unless you're simply rebuying the original games, and the same could be said of most of the company's catalog. Its dust is collecting dust.

That inactivity can and probably will change in the coming years, as Interplay is looking to offload its "library of video game assets and intellectual property." In a press release this week, compan??y president Eric Caen said that "With the proliferation of mobile, augmented reality, virtual reality and other new? forms of consumption, we believe that consumers are ready to experience and interact with Interplay's characters, stories, and gameplay in ways never possible before."

The announcement serves as a nice memory-jogger, with specific mentions of Earthworm Jim, Freespace, Giants, Kingpin, Messiah, MDK, Run Like Hell, Sacrifice, Battle Chess, ClayFighter, Dark Alliance, and Descent, but the "expected sale represents 70 titles and dozens of characters."

_{[Jim's shrieks, man. They still send a jolt of despair down my spine.]}

Internally, a bunch of us chimed in for a quick word about this ??news. Try to gue?ss who said what.

• "I think the FGC is ready for a return to the real fighting game franchise of the '90s."

• [From the press release:] "As game creators, we are proud of the entertainment these properties have provided over the years."
  "I don't know how anybody could be proud of Run Like Hell."

• "Let's buy Earthworm Jim and turn him gay and make him fight for gay rights."

• "You'll have to make a level where he worms his way into a dude."

• "The mole levels in the sequel only with shit."

• "These emails could be the post."

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They're still on Steam, though

GOG.com (née Good Old Games) has removed the Descent games from sale after developer Parallax Software terminated its contract with publisher Interplay over unpaid royalties. According to a post on GOG's forums from developers Matt Toschlog and M??ike Kulas, Interplay has not paid any royalties?? to Parallax since 2007.

"We've talked to [Interplay] about this numerous times over the years, and finally took action this fall. We served Interplay official notice that they were in breach of the contract, and when they still failed to pay, we terminated the agreement. This means that Interplay has lost the right to sell the Descent games, which is why they came down from GOG. (We're not sur??e why they're still on Steam; they? shouldn't be.)" Toschlog and Kulas said.

The duo are correct. As of publishing, both Descent and Descent II are available for purchase on Steam (and they're even on sale). Interplay still owns the rights to the Descent trademark, which explains the existence of recent Kickstarter success Descent: Underground.

Parallax Software's original agreement with Interplay was originally forged 21 years ago, and gave Interplay exclusive rights to sell the Descent games. With the dissolution of the contract, Descent and Descent II ??;are in limbo, unable to be sold by any party. Toschlog and Kulas hope ??to work something out with Interplay, eventually putting the games back on sale.

GOG Takes Down Descent From Sto?re Because Interplay Did Not Honor 21-Year-Old Agreement W?ith Parallax [reddit]

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One more for the mooch collection

GOG.com is ending its Big Winter Sale with a free game. And it's a rather good one, at that! For the remainder of the site-wide sale, Giants: Citizen Kabuto is free to claim and keep.

This game is part third-person action, part real-time strategy. Originally released in 2000, it centers on three races vying over an island floating through space. One faction uses guns, another wields magic, and the other is a giant creatur??e. Pretty interesting premise, even in 2015.

Y?ou'll have until December 13?? at 5:59am Pacific to grab your copy. That's when the sale ends!

The post Be sure to grab Giants??: Citizen Kabuto for free on GOG.com appeared first on Destructoid.

Oh, to think what could have been!

If Mad Max: Fury Road had been released twenty years ago, the accompanying video game - currently in development by Avalanche Studios and scheduled for release this coming September - might've been created by Fallout developer I??nterplay.

Universal flew Brian Fargo - Interplay's founder - and George Miller - the man behind Mad Max - to Whistler, Canada, by private jet. The two got talking, Miller shared the script for Fury Road, and together they talked about what a new Mad Max game might look like.

"I got to fly with him to Whistler, Canada, on the Universal private jet – because Universal used to own half of Interplay – and spend three hours with him," Interplay founder Brian Fargo told Kotaku. "The Road Warrior?? was ??my favourite movie for a decade. I’d watch it over and over again so I was a huge fan of Miller's. [He] was familiar with Wasteland and Fallout and loved the work we’d done. So ha??lf of the ride was us fanboying and half was 'OK, let’s do something'."

Sadly, it was not to be. The film's lengthy delay pushed back production, and then EA got in ?touch with Miller and offered him $20 million for the game rights. Miller told Fargo that "I like you but I do??n’t like you that much" and signed everything over to EA... but nothing came of that, either. 

"The movie had lots of f??its and starts," Fargo added. "The movie ?was at Fox for some of the time, it got announced and then it got canned. Then Warner Brothers ended up getting the rights, they had a relationship with Miller that goes way back."

Given the recent shots from the Mad Max game it's difficult to lament too much, but a Fallout-Mad Max lo?vechild sounds just a teeny bit perfect. 

Also, did you know that Fallout 4 is a thing now? Seriously. 

The post What happened to Fallout dev’s cancelled Mad Max game? appeared first on Destructoid.

Remaster coming to PC next year

Mere days ago, I hoped out loud that 2015 would become the year of clay for videogames, and now there's an announcement for a remaster of ClayFighter. Shame it won't be out until 2016.

Interplay and Drip Drop Games (who?) are promising "the best of all previous ClayFighter titles" as well as "remastered audio and high resolution visuals." Also, curiously, new mechanics: double jumping, air dashing, counters, and reversals. Claytality moves re?turn, though perhaps they shouldn't, and there will be 20+ characters (including Earthworm Jim and Boogerman) and stages.

My memories of this series are strongly linked to Blockbuster rentals and, truth be told, I think I ended up preferring the box art to the actual games. I was more of a Primal Rage guy back then.

Several years back, there was going to be an updated ClayFighter 63 1/3 for Wii and DSi but the game was canceled. We'll see if this remaster has better luck.

[Image source]

The post Haha, really????? Interplay is bringing back ClayFighter appeared first on Destructoid.

Half-price sale

Running through this list of discounted Interplay titles on GOG.com, all I see is dollar signs and my bank account draining. Thankfully, I've played a fair number of these before and can resist the urge to reb?uy. The games themselves are half price which, if you go for all 34 of 'em, comes to a total of $125.66. Us gamers have done sillier things.

There are some real classics on sale, with franchises like Fallout, Freespace, Descent, MDK, and Earthworm Jim represented. Sacrifice, Giants: Citizen Kabuto, and Shogo also jump out. At three to five bucks a?? pop, watch out -- these purchases can add up, fast.

The post Own Interplay’s entire GOG.com library for $125 appeared first on Destructoid.

The classic space combat sim is back with its original publisher

In this week's episode of The Question, I talked about how much I'd like to see a new Freespace game; now we've gotten an update as to who owns the Freespace IP. Coincidence? Almost certainly. Polygon has discovered that the intellec??tual property for the classic space combat has been sold to its original publisher, Interplay?, for a paltry $7,500.

Freespace was originally developed by Volition, now probably best known for developing the Saints Row franchise. After the collapse of its parent company THQ, Volition was sold to Koch Media but now court documents show that Interplay is the owner of Freespace.

While any news on the Freespace IP would make me happy, Interplay unfortunately hasn't been very productive of late, even almost teetering on the brink of collapse. Sure Interplay published some absolutely classic games -- Fallout, MDK, Earthworm Jim, to name a few -- but I'd love to see the IP go to a publisher who is actually going to make a new Freespace game.

Int????erplay purchases Freespace IP from THQ and Volition for $7,500 [Polygon]

The post Interplay now owns the Freespace IP appeared first on Destructoid.

Conrad and Jordan's Couch Campaign continues

Jordan and I have started a new game in our Couch Campaign, and it's one that I have been excited to play since we first began talking about the project. As a huge fan of the Fallout franchise and a lover of top-down, exploration shoot-em-up games, the pairing of the two could have been glorious. And Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel is, pr??ovided you think train w?recks can be glorious.

And here is episode 2 for your perusal.

The post Watch the worst Fallout game ever made appeared first on Destructoid.

No, it wasn't Super Mario 64

[Update: And I've just been informed that Mario was voiced in Mario Teaches Typing, which predates even Hotel Mario. The original 1991 DOS version used a different actor, but a 1995 CD-ROM re-release replaced him with Martinet. However, I'm not sure whether that or Game Gallery came out first.]

Super Mario 64 introduced the world to Charles Martinet, voice actor extraordinaire who continues to lend his vocal talents to Mario and many other Mario universe characters to this day. Little do most people know that Mario 64 wasn't the first game to star Martinet as Nintendo's mustachioed mascot, thus Shane Luis of Retroware TV decided to discuss this rather obscure bit of Mario's legacy on his web series, Rerez.

In 1995, Fallout developer Interplay published Mario's Game Gallery, a collection of five traditional board and card games for the PC. A rather forgettable title, its only claim to fame was in giving Martinet a chance to shape Mario's identity. It was later rebranded as Mario's FUNdamentals, probably to position itself as an educati??onal game and rope in unsuspecting parents.

Of course, we all know the first game to give Mario any voice at all was Hotel Mario. Imagine if that actor had become the official voice! Tears of ??blood would have bee?n shed!

Mario's Game Gallery - Rerez [Retroware TV]

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Get the entire library for 35 bucks!

Interplay has followed Larian Studios to become the next company offering a "pay what you want" sale on GOG.com. If Larian's deals didn't get your attention, this most certainly shall. They've got an interesti??ng little setup going on. 

Paying any amount of cash gets you eight games, including M.A.X, Jagged Alliance 2, and Shattered Steel. If you pay above the average price (currently $11.31), you get 20 games, including Messiah, Battle Chess, and Earthworm Jim 3D.

However, if you go for the premium minimum price of $34.99, you get everything Interplay has. That's Fallout, MDK, Freespace 2, and loads more?? for a total of 32 games and a saving of more than $150. I personally couldn't resist this one. 

The deal will last another 14 days.

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It may not be a holiday weekend but there's still plenty of great PC download deals to be had. Gamersgate has knocked 33% off the recently released PC version of Alan Wake (both the standard and collector's editions).

Meanwhile on Steam, there's two big deals. Firstly, Wargame: European Escalation has been reduced by 40% to coincide with its first DLC pack being released. Also on Steam, both Might & Magic Heroes VI and Might & Magic Clash of Heroes are reduced by 50%, with the? latter also available to play for free th??is weekend.

If for some reason you didn't pick up the original Fallout for free last week, then you can at least save 50% on that game plus all of Interplay's catalog on GOG.com. There's some great titles on offer including Earthworm Jim, MDK and err ... Redneck Rampage. As always, if you've seen a cheap deal online post it in th?e comments and share the savings.

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Happy Friday, folks! In case you missed it, The Destructoid Show went live earlier today, and in addition to giving out four codes for Waveform on ?Steam, we also covered a metric shit-ton of news that happened recently - some good, some bad.

First up, it was announced that FEZ will be releasing on XBLA for 800 MS points on April 13, effectively ruining any debaucherous plans I had in store for that week. THANKS A LOT, PHIL FISH. In other news, Obsidian might be co-developing Wasteland 2 with inXile, Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millenium is no longer an MMO, Journey is now officially the fastest selling game in PSN history, and Sega is the latest company to get hit with layoffs. If that wasn't dramatic enough for you, apparently people are still mad about Call of Duty and Mass Effect 3. So, that's still a thing.

The post The DTOID Show: Journey, FEZ, and Wasteland 2! appeared first on Destructoid.

At GDC 2012, Tim Cain provided insight into the development of his landmark game, Fallout, in one of the conference's popular Classic Game Postmortem sessions. As a huge Fallout fan, I couldn't miss the opportunity to learn new nuggets of information about it, but some of the things I heard today blew my mind a little bit. Specifically, the fact that the vast majority of coding for Fallout, including its combat and skill systems, was acco??mplished in a mere two weeks.

As Cain explained, this was necessary due to a licensing issue. As you may know, Fallout was originally designed using Steve Jackson Games' GURPS (Generic Universal Role-Playing System) rules set but had to transition to its own system (known as SPECIAL; Tim revealed it was almost called ACESLIP until someone pointed out the better acronym) after issues were raised over the title's art direction. According to Cain, Steve Jackson Games found the darkly humorous drawings of Fallout Boy and the gory nature of the combat to be inappropriate and after Interplay failed, the team was given just two weeks to rewrite the game's ??code without the GURPS mechanics or have the project canceled. Cain claimed that practically the whole game (with the exception of the "Perk" system, conceived shortly thereafter) was coded within this two-week period.

Another interesting story about Fallout's development included an early game concept i?nvolving a time-traveling main character who causes the death of the simian responsible for the evolution of the human race an??d must try to fix his mistake so he can return to modern times and rescue his girlfriend. Now that's a game I'd like to play.

The post GDC: The original Fallout was coded in two weeks’ time appeared first on Destructoid.

Hey gang! Here's today's Destructoid Show news segment. We've got some decent stories today, and I have a new shirt! Also, Tara looks nice today and my mug is shaped like Boba Fett and there is ?Mountain Dew inside it!

1. We've got actual screenshots and some details about XCOM: Enemy Unknown
2. Rumors are flying around about a Diablo III release next month!
3. Photographic evidence of an Aliens: Colonial Marines collectors edition
4. The internet is making a fuss for a PC port of Dark Souls
5. The legal battle between Bethesda and Interplay for the rights to a Fallout MMO is finally over

The post The DTOID Show: XCO??M, Diablo III, and PC Dark Souls? appeared first on Destructoid.

The long, bitter legal battle between Bethesda and Interplay has finally resolved today, with Bethesda emerging the victor. Interplay officially has no claim to the Fallout IP, and its plans to create a Fallout MMO are now through. 

"Under the terms of the settlement, the license granted to Interplay to develop t?he Fallout MMO is null and void, and all rights granted to Interplay to develop a Fallout MMO rev??ert back to Bethesda, effective immediately," announc?ed the winning company. "Interplay has no ongoing right to use the Fallout brand or any Fallout intellectual property for any game development. ZeniMax will pay Interplay $2 million as c?onsideration in the settlement, each party will bear its own costs of the litigation, and Bethesda will continue to own all Fallout intellectual property rights."

Interplay has permission to continue selling Fallout Tactics, Fallout and Fallout 2 until December 31, 2013, after which t?ime Bethesda gets sole control over all games. 

The war between the two studios began after Bethesda bought the Fallout rights in 2007. Interplay was allowed to develop an MMO on the condition that it raise $30 million in financing and begin full-scale development by April 2009. It failed to meet the requirements, but insisting on making the MMO anyway, which Bethesda has been fighting for two years.

Now, the fight ?is over, but is the conclusion righteou??s or unjust? Why not let us know what you think?

The post Interplay’s Fallout MMO is done as Bethesda wins battle appeared first on Destructoid.

MDK2, one of BioWare's lesser known titles, recently got a WiiWare port which is great if you have a Wii, not so much for the rest of us. Good news is that some BioWare vets (now with Overhaul Games) are reworking the old title for a HD re-release that will contain gameplay tweaks, a complete graphics overhaul and higher quality audio. They are also asking for input from fans, via their facebook page, on ways they can make the game better. Bad news is that this will be a PC exclusive available only through Beamdog.com.

I never got the chance to play MDK2, so I may pick it up when the title becomes available in September, seeing as how it will only be $14.99. While the idea of having to install another digital distribution client is a bit discouraging, BioWare is probably one of my favorite developers, so I am mo??re willing to give Beamdog a shot.

The post MDK2 is getting some HD love on PC appeared first on Destructoid.

Good Old Games is having a 50% off sale for all the 32 Interplay games in their library. Each game is now only $2.99 until July 4th, and you can buy all of them for $?95.68 although the only benefit of that not clicking 32 times.

What games did Interplay release again, you might ask? All the Descent, Redneck Rampage, Earthworm Jim, Fallout, MDK and Freespace games for starters! Other notables include: Screamer, Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, Kingpin: Life of Crime, Jagged Alliance 2, Messiah, Sacrifice, and last but not least Giants: Citizen Kabuto.

If for some reason you never played any of these, then first of all: what is wrong with you? Second, buy Freespace 2 right now! And grab Giants: Citizen Kabuto and Sacrifice next, as those are still among the most creative? games ?in PC history.

And Shogo. And Fallout. And.... just go look at the entire list yourself, and breathe in the nostalgia that brings you?? back to the time where you pointed and laughed at your frie?nds with their N64s and PlayStations.

[Thanks mrandydixon!]

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