running-with-scissors posts

Developer Running with Scissors isn't a favorite among game critics but their Postal games sure do manage to generate talk and controversy. The games also have a very dark but funny sense of humor. It's been several years since the release of Postal 2 and Running With Scissors has been working with Russian developer Akella for a while for the third-person shooter Postal 3.

So what's been happening with the game? Big Download got a quickie update from Running With Scissors' Mike Jaret about their current status for Postal 3, why they decided to use the Source engine for the game and more.

There's some very sad news to report today as actor Gary Coleman has died at the age of 42. News reports state that Coleman, best known for his role of Arnold Jackson in the 80's TV sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, died after suffering a intracranial hemorrhage on Wednesday after falling in his home at Santaquin, Utah.

Coleman is perhaps best known to gamers for his role playing himself in Running With Scissors' controversial 2003 first person shooter Postal 2. In the game Coleman is signing autographs and can either be peaceful to the player or can be threatening if the player chooses to attack Coleman in the game.

The official Postal web site has already posted a tribute to Coleman, saying, "We had a lot fun times together! You were an awesome dude with a great sense of humor! Rest in peace Gary, we love you and we will remember you always. You will be greatly missed little Buddy." Coleman also performed as the voice of Kenny Falmouth in LucasArts' adventure game The Curse of Monkey Island.

The 1409X patch includes the most popular fixes and updates for Postal 2: Share the Pain, which is free to download and play here. Continue reading after the jump for a description of some of the changes.

Download Postal 2: Share the Pain 1409X Patch (63 MB)
Download Postal 2: Share the Pain Multiplayer (597 MB)

If you ever wanted to do something awful to film director Uwe Boll, you may get your chance. According to Eurogamer, Boll actually paid for the privilage to have his likeness put into Postal 3, the upcoming next game in Running With Scissors' action game series.

Boll, of course, directed the Postal movie that was released in 2008 and according to Running With Scissors head Vince Desi, "Uwe will be presented as himself and of course you can have fun with him, it's Postal!" Postal 3, which is being co-developed by Akella and uses the Source engine, does not yet have a release date.

GoG.com warned . . .er, alerted us last month that they would be releasing games in the Running With Scissors developed Postal series. Today they revealed that they have put up Postal 2 Complete, the full DRM-free version of the Unreal Engine powered first person shooter that caused many to be up in arms about the game. (We think it's all about Gary Coleman).

GoG.com is selling the title for just $9.99. The Postal 2 Complete edition has the original game, the multiplayer expansion pack and the single player Apocalypse Weekend expansion all in one package. GoG.com even throws in some free music, wallpapers and a Postal 2 comic book. Meanwhile Running With Scissors is working on Postal 3. Yep, Postal 3.

GoG.com has a couple of announcements to make before they head out for the weekend. The DRM-free game download service has announced that they will be adding the Postal games from Running With Scissors to their library. The first game, Postal: Classic and Uncut, is available now to download for $5.99 with other games in the series to be added in the future.

The other announcement is their rweekend bundle deal. This time you can get both Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader for just $11.98 until the end of the day on Monday. As usual if you own one game in the castle sim-RTS series but not the other you can get the other title for a 25 percent discount.

Anyone who knows anything about the Postal series can anticipate some of the creative and crazy things this GDC 2009 presentation video shows. This video reveals some pre-beta gameplay footage of Postal 3. If the game will be anything like its predecessors, it will be an open-world game where players can spontaneously go into a murderous rampage, except this time they'll be do drive-bys from Segway scooters.

Download HD Postal 3 GDC 09 Gameplay Video (89 MB)

It's a game that many critics cannot stand yet it has become an underground hit and even inspired a crappy Uwe Boll movie. Now Running With Scissors has announced in its latest newsletter that their first person shooter Postal 2 will be placed on display in none other than the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. Yep, it was funded by Alfred Nobel, the creator of dynamite and later the Nobel Prizes.

Running With Scissors reports that the game will be a part of the museum's "Freedom of Speech: How Free is Free?" exhibit that is scheduled to begin on Feb. 12 and run through Sept. 30. Postal 2 will be on display in a game censorship part of the exhibit (Apparently Postal 2 was actually put on trial for some offense in Sweden; the game "was acquitted a couple of years ago"). Meanwhile the developer is still working on the long awaited Postal 3. Perhaps that game will be shown in the Smithsonian.

[Via MTV Multiplayer]

The Uwe Boll directed adaptation of Running With Scissors'sPostal game franchise may have been kept from being released in most movie theaters last May but on August 26 everyone will be able to see the movie in either DVD or Blu-Ray format. The DVD Active web site has posted up the box cover for the release which reveals extras like commentaries, deleted scenes and more.

The release will also come with the full version of the Postal 2 game, the Unreal Engine 2 powered open world shooter that Running With Scissors released several years ago. Running With Scissors and Russian based Akella are currently working on Postal III which should be released in 2009.

Running With Scissors used Gary Coleman as a character in their last title, the open world first person shooter Postal II. Now it looks like the developer is bringing in more pop culture members to appear in the next game, the Source Engine based action game Postal III. Today they named their first such quasi-celeb, Randy Jones of the original line-up of the 1970s disco group The Village People.

Never afraid to "go there", the game will have Jones' voice and likeness used as a leader of a gay biker gang. This will apparently be the first of a series of celebs that will appear in Postal III which should be on display at Akella's booth at E3 next week.