[100ja a.k.a. mr_mitja]

Hey guys, I'm wondering if any of you have heard what anything about American McGee and the OZ game that was in the making some time ago. I really liked Alice, it sure was one of the most bizarre game I've ever played (the atmosphere, the design, characters...). Is he gone for good?

[ConcreteRancor]

Originally Posted by 100ja a.k.a. mr_mitja

Hey guys, I'm wondering if any of you have heard what anything about American McGee and the OZ game that was in the making some time ago. I really liked Alice, it sure was one of the most bizarre game I've ever played (the atmosphere, the design, characters...). Is he gone for good?

I agree, Alice was great. As for OZ, I know that he's marketed toys based on the characters he's creating, so the game probably is still in development. He might pull a Valve on us and say "Hey look! I'm making this game that you guys forgot about, and it's almost done!"

[Intrepid Homoludens]

That's weird. I read a while ago that the game got unplugged. Whether he's pitching it to other publishers remains to be seen, but since we hadn't had any press about it in the past few months, consider it cancelled or suspended.

[Marek]

The project is publisher-less and seems to be in limbo. It's hard to tell what's going on exactly.

The last thing heard from American McGee is that he associated his name with Scrapland. He had nothing to do with that game's development, but if his name will make people notice it, so be it.

Here's his blog btw:
http://www.americanmcgee.com/blosxom.cgi/home/

[100ja a.k.a. mr_mitja]

Originally Posted by Marek

The last thing heard from American McGee is that he associated his name with Scrapland. He had nothing to do with that game's development, but if his name will make people notice it, so be it.

Hmmmmm, don't look like the American McGee I want to see... This Scrapland thing looks like some marketing trick.

[Royal Fool]

Yeah, I was under the impression that his Oz project had pretty much been scrapped.

Originally Posted by ConcreteRancor

I know that he's marketed toys based on the characters he's creating

The toys you are talking about are todd Mcfarlins (creator of spawn) creation, he is in the process of creating his own version of oz, i'm not positave but i'm sure it's going to be a cartoon movie that is animated with his style and grotesk

[ConcreteRancor]

Originally Posted by guybrush_guy

The toys you are talking about are todd Mcfarlins (creator of spawn) creation, he is in the process of creating his own version of oz, i'm not positave but i'm sure it's going to be a cartoon movie that is animated with his style and grotesk

No, I know the toys you're talking about, I've seen pictures of them online. They freak me out.

A while back, PC Gamer showed an image of one of the American McGee figures. It was just a munchkin, but they said that the figures were in stores.

Originally Posted by ConcreteRancor

No, I know the toys you're talking about, I've seen pictures of them online. They freak me out.

A while back, PC Gamer showed an image of one of the American McGee figures. It was just a munchkin, but they said that the figures were in stores.

ohh, ok then...sorry

[Deshrill]

I recently checked his website and it seems like the Oz stuff is in a limbo position. He apparently is developing a concept similar to the "dark children's tales" things with Alice & Oz, but dealing with the Brothers Grimm stories. The concept artwork on his site looks interesting.

[Marek]

Originally Posted by 100ja a.k.a. mr_mitja

Hmmmmm, don't look like the American McGee I want to see... This Scrapland thing looks like some marketing trick.

Yeah, he's turned into a "call my agent" sort of guy, but still, if this marketing trick gets a highly original but obscure Spanish game noticed by the world, then the ends do justify the means.

[ConcreteRancor]

Originally Posted by Deshrill

I recently checked his website and it seems like the Oz stuff is in a limbo position. He apparently is developing a concept similar to the "dark children's tales" things with Alice & Oz, but dealing with the Brothers Grimm stories. The concept artwork on his site looks interesting.

I agree. The Grimm stuff looks great. I think he should do that first, then Oz. I like the seven dwarves named after the 7 Deadly Sins, and I particularly enjoy Red Riding Hood as an axe murderer.

[LeChimp]

Is anyone else annoyed by the fact that everything he does has to be dark? I mean, do something else for a change. There's nothing wrong with dark but when all he does is take a classic story and make it dark, it gets boring after a while. I was a big fan of Alice though.

[DasJan]

Executive Producer for Scrapland, American McGee has gained his reputation as a ground breaking game auteur with Alice – a complex and challenging game based on the 'Alice in Wonderland' stories. He will again be injecting his unique creativity into the character development and dialogue of Scrapland, and elevating the gameplay into a true entertainment experience.

"I knew I wanted to be involved with this project the moment I met with Mercury Steam and saw the game," said American McGee, Executive Producer for Scrapland. "Scrapland has an extremely unique free-form style of play that capitalizes on the success of games like GTA3, yet takes the action one step further."

Scrapland is a deeply immersive 3rd person 3D action/adventure set in a bizarre robotic world made of scrap parts. Scrapland is scheduled for release in Q4 2004 for the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft and PC.

About the Game
Scrapland is a third person action-adventure game set in a stunningly beautiful and futuristic world occupied by an amazing array of robotic characters. The play experience is driven by a solidly engaging, sometimes humorous adventure narrative. The game mechanic combines proven GTA3 style emergent action with an immersive storyline, diversity of player actions, and complete freedom of movement through the world.

Throughout the game the player can: transform into any of 15 character types inheriting unique abilities, build and pilot ships with hundreds of permutations, engage in explosive combat, participate in life-on-the-line races, and freely explore a truly dynamic and living world.

The game is structured in missions whose objectives are always "doing things", instead of "finding out how to do them". That is, the player will never wonder what to do, which object he needs or which character he has to transform into to accomplish a mission; The game itself provides that information constantly and clearly. Fun and challenge lie in what happens and how the system reacts when the player does what he is asked to, when he uses the object he needs or when he transforms into the precise character.

The player has total freedom of movements most of the game time –it is a little restricted at the beginning for tutorial reasons-. In Scrapland, one can freely wander round all levels/maps, interact with all characters, drive all ships and combine, with no restriction, the main mission with any other thing the player feels like doing. The possible casuistry is huge, thanks to which the game world is perceived as living, realistic and unpredictable.

SCRAPLAND's multiplayer offers a kind of gameplay based in combat and speed, with the same ships the player can built in single player. Individually or by tem, LAN or internet, SCRAPLAND establishes a new standard in high-competitive multiplayer games.

• Open-ended gameplay set in a unique and novel science fiction 3D world.
• A compelling, intriguing storyline accurately integrated into an emergent -from start to finish- gameplay.
• Rich and alive Gameworld
• Realistic physics engine
• Immersive 3D environment. Huge outdoor locations and really explorable highly detailed indoor places.
• Sophisticated AI. Interact with dozens of unforgettable bizarre characters with their own behaviours toward the player and toward the othe NPCs
• Thrilling combats to death with the most powerful combination of devastating weapons in the most exciting and challenging 3D action seen to date.
• Supercompetitive, original and spectacular races with extreme gunships the player can build to his taste
• Intuitive, simple and powerful control system both with gamepad and joystick or mouse+keyboard.
• The up to 140 main missions provide an almost unlimited number of hours of vaired and fast-paced gameplay.
• Turn yourself into fifteen different characters, take on their identity and acquire their special abilities.

Multiplayer capabilities. Fight alone or join a team, with gunships built and optimized by yourself. Via LAN or Internet.

Operating System: Windows® 98 / 2000/ ME/ XP -only tested in XP-
Processor: Pentium III or AMD Athlon 800 MHz -not tested yet- 1.800 MHz recommended
Memory: 256 MB of RAM -not tested yet-, 512 MB recommended
Video Card: DirectX® 8-compliant 64 MB video card -only tested with Ati Radeon Mobile 9000 and GeForce 3-; Specific 128MB cards supported -tested-: ATI Radeon 8500/9600/9700/9800; GeForce 4/FX
Sound Card: DirectX® 8.0 or higher compliant sound card
DirectX Version: 8.0 or higher
Hard Drive Space: 1.5 GB minimum; 2.0 GB recommended
CD-ROM: 16X or better
Controls: keyboard and mouse or gamepad.

(source: press release 13/7/2004)

[ConcreteRancor]

Originally Posted by LeChimp

Is anyone else annoyed by the fact that everything he does has to be dark? I mean, do something else for a change. There's nothing wrong with dark but when all he does is take a classic story and make it dark, it gets boring after a while. I was a big fan of Alice though.

Penny Arcade commented on this a while ago, and ripped on Todd McFarlane for the same reason. Their commentary lead to the infamous "American McGee's Strawberry Shortcake" comic which ignited PA's legal trouble with American Greetings.

[LeChimp]

Originally Posted by ConcreteRancor

Penny Arcade commented on this a while ago, and ripped on Todd McFarlane for the same reason. Their commentary lead to the infamous "American McGee's Strawberry Shortcake" comic which ignited PA's legal trouble with American Greetings.

Yeah, I'm a fan of penny arcade (but didn't think Oz was boring because of it). I don't think Todd McFarlane is as bad because at least he doesn't just tranform classic literature into dark stories. I'm not a big McFarlane fan but he has done some good stuff like Amazing Spiderman.

[Jackal]

Originally Posted by LeChimp

Is anyone else annoyed by the fact that everything he does has to be dark?

Well, he's really only done one thing so far (not counting whatever early work he gets credit for), so I'm game for a few more offerings. I really hope to still see Oz some day.

If McGee really wants to do dark and twisted, he should tap into nursery rhymes, which are all brutal and violent already, despite the whimsical rhythms.

[Kolorabi]

Scrapland is a game I'm really looking forward (with or without American McGee - it just looks like a stunning concept)

[ConcreteRancor]

Originally Posted by Jackal

Well, he's really only done one thing so far (not counting whatever early work he gets credit for), so I'm game for a few more offerings. I really hope to still see Oz some day.

If McGee really wants to do dark and twisted, he should tap into nursery rhymes, which are all brutal and violent already, despite the whimsical rhythms.

Well, he is doing Grimm, which can get REALLY brutal. Isaac Asimov, in response to a parent watchdog group complaining about "violent" science fiction, told them to reread all the old stories that they read their children.

Little Red Riding Hood: Grandmother and Red get devoured. No happy ending originally. The woodcutter killed the wolf (with an AXE, no less,) and that was that. Little girls who get eaten by wolves do not get swallowed whole.
Hansel and Gretel: Cannibalism, abandonment, burning alive. Pretty simple.
The Little Mermaid: Gets her tongue cut out. (Yes, it's Hans Christian Andersen, not Grimm. The point remains the same.)

And these are just a few examples. So he's got a lot of good material there. As far as making things dark goes, I don't really mind that, and besides, there was some humor in Alice, too. The Cheshire Cat was quite the witty and sarcastic fellow.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by LeChimp

Is anyone else annoyed by the fact that everything he does has to be dark? I mean, do something else for a change. There's nothing wrong with dark but when all he does is take a classic story and make it dark, it gets boring after a while. I was a big fan of Alice though.

Tell you what. If M. Shyamalan stops doing the formulaic one trick pony plot twist movies he's always doing, then McGee will stop doing his formulaic one trick pony dark & twisted themed games.

Why grieve? The guy's only released one game like that. It's not as if he's done it a dozen times! I look forward to another wonderfully screwed up fairy tale from him, and then we'll see if we get sick of them yet.