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'South Park' is ready to do battle on your phone
The Fractured But Whole isn't the only South Park game arriving this fall: Ubisoft and RedLynx have released South Park: Phone Destroyer, the Android and iOS title teased back at E3. Think of it as Hearthstone meets Herbert Garrison: you're duking it out in real-time solo or multiplayer battles using collectible cards that grant special abilities to the show's many, many characters. And it's not just banking on South Park's usual sophomoric humor to reel you in. There's a proper 60-mission single-player story and a rare team dynamic that lets you share cards with friends.
Don’t bother playing ‘South Park’ unless you’re a die-hard fan
"South Park used to be a lot funnier," I catch myself thinking as I play through the franchise's latest game, The Fractured But Whole (TFBW). Maybe I'm just too old, or has the world moved on while South Park stayed the same? Humor is crucial to the success of the game, which relies on superficial mechanics and an overload of fetch quests and collectibles to pad its length; It's TFBW's jokey tone and writing that hold the game together. But if you aren't already a fan of the show, there's little reason to play the game.
'South Park' game's main DLC items won't be available this year
After a few delays, South Park: The Fractured But Whole will finally be released next week. If you're curious what the super-hero-themed RPG's season pass offers before laying down another $30 (assuming GameStop hasn't already guilted you into buying it), we've got you covered. Come launch day on October 17th, you'll only have access two two things: a costume and perks pack and Towelie, the pothead towel, who will give you tips in-game. Both will be sold separately; the former will cost $4.99 on launch day, and the latter will be $1.99 a week later.
The latest 'South Park' game is hardest if you choose a black character
South Park writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone haven't ever really shied away from social commentary (president Donald Trump notwithstanding) and that doesn't look like it's changing with the upcoming South Park: The Fractured but Whole. When creating your character in the make-believe superhero game, Eurogamer discovered that the darker the skin tone you choose, the more the difficulty level ramps up. "Don't worry, this doesn't affect combat, just every other aspect of your life," perpetual jerk Eric Cartman says in voiceover.
Relive the first 11 seasons of 'South Park' on Blu-ray this fall
While we tend to post more about South Park video games around here, television's most crass social satire is equally important, really. To that end, Paramount Pictures has just announced that the first 11 years of South Park will be available on Blu-ray this fall for the first time. The individual seasons will come as a two-disc set, with the first five seasons available on November 21st and the following six seasons available on December 19th.
A 'South Park' mobile game is coming this year
If you're bored with Pokémon Go and happen to be a fan of Comedy Central's animated misfits, you'll soon be in luck. Ubisoft's RedLynx teamed up with South Park Digital Studios for South Park: Phone Destroyer, a free-to-play mobile game that's set to arrive on Android and iOS later this year. Ubisoft says the game is designed so nothing is blocked behind a paywall and every part of the game is available to everyone -- whether they choose to spend money or not.
'South Park: The Fractured But Whole' delayed for a second time
The latest adventure of the Coon and Friends has suffered another setback. South Park: The Fractured But Whole will now hit store shelves sometime between April 2017 and March 2018, publisher Ubisoft announced today during an earnings call.
'South Park: The Fractured But Whole' delayed to early 2017
South Park: The Fractured But Whole is set to hit PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC in the first three months of 2017, a slight delay from its initial release date of December 6th. Ubisoft announced the date change in a two-sentence update on the Ubiblog.
Watch 'South Park' creators explain why their next game is better
Now that the long-in-development South Park: The Fractured But Whole is close at hand, Ubisoft and South Park Studios are finally opening up about its creation. To start, they've posted a behind-the-scenes video that isn't quite the usual puff piece. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone not only why the game exists, how it was made and what's new, but how they got some of their feedback on The Stick of Truth. They apparently got plenty of helpful input by watching PewDiePie's playthrough -- after all, the YouTube star is telling you what he thinks at any given moment.
The next 'South Park' game will launch on December 6th
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone just jumped up on stage to share more details about the next game based on their long-standing cartoon. South Park: The Fractured But Whole was announced last year, but today we're seeing a lot of footage from the game, and we also got a release date: it'll be out on December 6th.
See an unreleased 'South Park' game running on the original Xbox
Legend has it that back in the early 2000s, Oregon studio Buzz Monkey was working on an officially licensed South Park game for the original Xbox. The game never shipped, but an incredibly early version appears to have made its way to an Xbox debug console -- and it's now on YouTube. The folks at HappyConsoleGamer unearthed the forgotten South Park game on an original Xbox and they've posted (extremely rough) gameplay, featuring a split-screen mode and Cartman walking around his house, driving a school bus and fighting a pack of dogs. Yep, this game has a combat system. Also included in the video is a taste of an unreleased Happy Feet game, which is appropriately adorable.
South Park is staying on the air and on Hulu through 2019
Looks like the kids from everybody's favorite quiet mountain town will be continuing their shenanigans for at least another three years -- huzzah! Comedy Central announced that South Park creators Matt Smith and Trey Parker have reached a deal to extend the cultural touchstone series by another three years and 30 episodes (that's in addition to the two remaining years on the shows current contract). Additionally, South Park Digital Studios (Parker and Smith's joint venture with Viacom) announced a separate deal with Hulu that will see the series remain on the streaming service until 2020.
Ubisoft at E3 2015: 'Assassin's Creed,' 'Just Dance' and new IPs
Ubisoft (featuring Aisha Tyler, as always) has revealed quite a lengthy list of games at this year's E3. It includes new entries in fan favorite series Assassin's Creed and Just Dance, as well as new IPs for those who'd rather try something fresh. We've listed them all below the fold along with their trailers, so you can get a quick glimpse of what the French gamemaker has in store for this year and next.
There's a new 'South Park' game and it's all about superheroes
Well, Ubisoft just kicked off its E3 press conference with what's definitely a crowd pleaser: a new South Park game. Aisha Tyler (she of "LANAAAAA!!!" fame) brought out South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone to announce the title, South Park: The Fractured But Whole (get it? yeah), which is available for pre-order now. The game's currently in development -- sorry, no release date was mentioned -- with Ubisoft's San Francisco studio and picks up where Stick of Truth left off. You're still the "new kid," but this time you and the South Park crew are playing superheroes. "At the end of Truth, we kinda realized how to make video games," said Matt Stone onstage. And well, considering how many patches were issued for Truth, Matt, we're inclined to agree. Check here for everything happening at E3 2015!
South Park skewers 'freemium' games
If your business model is conning kids into spending their parents' hard-earned app-store cash on in-app purchased "rewards," it's fair to say you deserve to be ripped. South Park did the honors with its "Freemium isn't Free' episode involving a Terrence and Philip-branded Candy Crush-style game created by Canada's "Minister of Mobile Gaming." After he exposits that it's just "harmless fun" (see the clip below) it turns out that its a diabolical scheme involving Satan and addiction. The (delightfully silly) plot is just a wrapper for the satire, of course -- which points out that such games suck players in by letting them spend virtual cash before introducing real lucre. As any Farmville addict can attest, they're also just "barely fun" enough to keep you playing. It starts off a bit slow, but ends with a rollicking finish including Satan's spot-on sum-up of the whole phenomenon. You can grab the episode here (US-only, sorry to say).
Comedy Central for Xbox One serves 'South Park' and 'The Daily Show'
Not going to be home to catch the South Park season premiere this week, lack a DVR but have an Xbox One? We realize those conditions might narrow the field just a bit, but you shouldn't worry either way: the Comedy Central app is now available for Microsoft's newest gaming console. With it comes access to current shows the day after they air and a trove of past seasons and catalog programming, too. The Daily Show network notes on Xbox Wire that there's a bunch of stand-up specials and digital shorts available on the app (similar to its Xbox 360 counterpart) as well. The difference between this and Hulu Plus, of course, is that accessing the shows is free with your existing cable subscription. It's even more of a deal in the wake of Microsoft not requiring an Xbox Live Gold membership to access media apps. With enough time, the Xbox One could even start to pay for itself -- assuming you only watch Comedy Central, that is.
Hulu gets exclusive rights to stream South Park's full show catalog
If you're determined to catch up on South Park episodes without downloading them, you'd better get used to Hulu -- you'll be using it a lot. The service has just unveiled a deal that gives it exclusive US rights to stream the series' complete catalog for the next three years, including new episodes as soon as they've finished airing on TV. The official South Park website will still host both 30 older segments as well as new releases, but you won't be (officially) streaming the classics anywhere else. It's a definite coup for Hulu, which has frequently had to watch as Amazon and Netflix score big exclusives of their own. It's not grand news for Americans, though, as you'll only have one streaming source for the full escapades of Cartman, Kenny, Kyle and Stan.
Macworld|iWorld's South Park talk
On the first day of Macworld|iWorld, one of the talks on the main stage was by three people who help bring the animated series South Park to life each week: David Lenna (CTO), Ryan Quincy (Animation Producer), and Eric Stough (Animation Director and Producer). It was an interview-format talk, with the questions being asked by Andy Ihnatko. There were clips from the series as well as from last fall's documentary Six Days To Air. The unique style of South Park's animation comes from its humble beginnings. When co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker first started shooting animation, they were actually using construction paper cutouts. Time constraints make that virtually impossible now, so the series is animated in Maya on Macs (keeping to that app much as possible so they don't have to switch between tools), using high-powered 3D rendering software to make everything look like it was shot with cut-up construction paper.It was interesting to get some insight into the process of putting a show together in six days. Highlights of the things they discussed: * Very little animation gets cut: They usually have about 24 minutes of animation for a 22-minute show. * Blizzard got them actual environments and files to drop in when they shot the episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft," which was largely set within the game's environment. * Their network is about 45 XServes and a stack of Mac Pros, which they pointed out, are getting a bit long in the tooth. * When a suggestion is made for a new tool or workflow, the hard rule is that it cannot take any longer than things take now. Even today the schedule is so tight, if it takes an extra 10 seconds on every machine, the whole schedule is off. * They have a team of people working right now on converting episodes to HD from SD. One of the episodes that will likely always live in SD is the aforementioned "Make Love, Not Warcraft." * Initially they thought they might be able to get an episode out in two weeks, but have managed to tighten the process down to less than one. There were also clips shown from the episode "Major Boobage." There was video of what the initial storyboards look like shown side by side with the finished product, and some video of live action that was filmed as reference and animated over. It wasn't a long enough talk for them to get into the nuts and bolts of workflow, but it was very nice to know that part of how an entire show can go from a funny idea to a finished product in less than a week is thanks to Macs.
Macworld | iWorld's Art of South Park gallery
On the second floor of Moscone West here at Macworld | iWorld 2012 is the Macworld Midway, a series of displays and events that are still Mac-related, but which veer a little out of the standard Apple community. One of those is this Art of South Park gallery, which features art from the very ribald (and hilarious) Comedy Central animated show. Not all of this art was created with Macs, but the show itself is developed and put together on Macs every week, and there's a panel here at Macworld in which artists from the show are talking about how they use Apple's technology. If you're not here in San Francisco, you can walk through the gallery, and check out all of the art on display, below. %Gallery-145739%
South Park makes fun of all things Apple in season opener
South Park has aired the opening episode of its 15th season, and it blasted not only Apple's products, but the culture surrounding the company as well. We knew this was coming based on a Steve Jobs parody keynote promo that was shown leading up to the premiere. Some of the best bits were the Genius Bar segment (see below -- sorry, Flash required) and the part where Eric's mom tries to get him to buy a Toshiba HandyBook instead of an iPad. I'll let the episode speak for itself, though. You can watch it in its entirety here. Be warned, however -- as usual, South Park is very NSFW. HUMANCENTiPAD Tags: SOUTH PARKmore...
