Earthworm-Jim posts

With the exception of a few of their older games ported to downloadable console titles, Interplay hasn't actually released an all new game since 2004. The once mighty developer and publisher has been working for years to port the Fallout franchise into an MMO (an effort that's now in court with Fallout's current owners Bethesda Softworks). Now comes word that the publisher may have gotten a cash infusion to fund new game projects.

The Fallout fan site Duck and Cover have pointed to a new SEC listing from Interplay where the company says it sold a large amount of stock, as much as 10 percent, to both Microprose and its managing director Frederic Chesnais. According to the site, word from an Interplay investor called "Frymuchan" is that this development, " . . is very good news for stockholders. He claims the stock sale will allow Chesnais to fund new Interplay game projects. The games named are Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, Descent and MDK. Oddly enough, Interplay listed those games two years ago as titles they were planning to develop as new sequels.

Valve's Steam PC game download service has added a classic character to its library. Earthworm Jim, the weird but cool action game mascot of the now defunct Shiny Entertainment, is now available to download via Steam in a bundle that contains the original game, Earthworm Jim 2 and Earthworm 3D. The bundle costs $19.99 and is the only way to get the games via Steam; they are not sold separately.

In different but related news, Steam has added the three Massive Assault strategy games from Order of War developer Wargaming.net to the service. You can get each game (Massive Assault, Massive Assault: Phantom Renaissance, and Massive Assault Network 2) separately or all three in a bundle package for $59.99. The bundle saves you $29.98 if you bought each game on its own.

Finally Steam has added the recent adventure game Fatale and the action shooter Doom Rails to its library.

Sometimes you just need to sit down, slide a floppy into your A: drive, and enjoy gaming retro style. We know this all too well! That's why we have a list of the best and brightest from days long gone. These are some of our favorite games of all time, and we're sure that you'll love them as much as we do, if not more. Welcome to Boot Disk, and enjoy the retro ride!

Boot Disk covers a lot of genres, from shooters to strategy games to RPGs. However, the one under-represented genre is easily sidescrollers. Since Interplay has been releasing their old catalog out into the world once again, PC users have access to one of the best sidescrollers ever made. Earthworm Jim is one of those games that is not only good, it is ridiculously good, and it leaves nothing but fond memories for those that have decided to play it. With the creative dream team of Shiny and Doug TenNapel, it came out of nowhere to show us just what surreal fun can be like.

GoG.com's weekend sales deal is one of the best, if not the best, they have offered so far. From now until the end of the day on Monday, the DRM-free game download site is giving a 25 percent discount on all of their Interplay action games.

The games in the sale include Die by the Sword, Earthworm Jim 1 + 2, Earthworm Jim 3D, MDK, MDK 2, Messiah and Shattered Steel. Simple put one or more of these games in the GoG.com online shopping cart and before you finish buying the games put in the promo code ACTION to get the 25 percent discount. GoG.com also has a special treat; a chat with BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk as he talks about the making of MDK 2, one of the earliest games from the now acclaimed RPG publisher.

Founder and former president of Shiny Entertainment, David Perry, was awarded an honorary degree by Queen's University in Belfast, Ireland. Once hailed by the BBC as the "Spielberg," of videogames, Perry has reached success by collaborating with companies to bring name brands into the videogame market and been responsible for recording nearly $1billion in global sales.

Known for introducing the world to Earthworm Jim and a pair of games based on The Matrix films, Shiny Entertainment became a wholly owned subsidiary of Atari in 2002 before merging with developer The Collective in 2007 - now collectively known as Double Helix Games.

In 2006, Perry left Shiny Entertainment to work with major Hollywood studios and game development companies around the world as a consultant. A hearty congratulations goes out to Perry for all his fine work. Except Enter the Matrix.

Late last year, Interplay and GameTap broke up. All of GameTap's friends were sad to see it happen, because they really liked Interplay and didn't want to see it go. No one knew exactly what caused the relationship to go sour; who can say what happened behind closed doors? It's been a sad six months; GameTap has been eating a lot of chocolate while watching old movies alone until 2 AM. Not good!

But now something wonderful has happened; Interplay and GameTap are getting back together! Interplay is bringing 14 of its best games with it, including the entire Descent, Freespace, and Earthworm Jim series. Take-Two is tossing in a few titles of its own to celebrate -- Civilization IV, Sid Meier's Pirates!, and Civ IV's Warlords expansion. Not bad!

The new titles unfortunately won't be available until June. In the meantime, though, two less prestigious (but not necessarily less fun) titles have been added to the library: submarine sim Dangerous Waters and action RPG The Chosen. Not ... eh, we could go either way with those.

[Via Joystiq]

Well, it's been hinted at, and now it has finally come about. Earthworm Jim is coming back! In an announcement today, Interplay declared that they are working with Doug TenNapel to create Earthworm Jim 4. Not only that, but TenNapel, besides serving as creative consultant, will also be developing a new television series and feature film to be released as well.

What does this mean? Well, a new Earthworm Jim game in the same vein as the original series, as well as the super-powered worm's first feature film. Check out the full press release for the complete low-down on the announcement.