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Del Toro: If I Do Another Game, “World War III Will Start”

Ben-Dutka 8 Comments

Noted film director Guillermo del Toro thinks he's cursed.

His ambitious inSane trilogy never really got off the ground and then, things sadly fizzled with Hideo Kojima and Silent Hills .

So now, when asked about his next foray into video games, the "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Hellboy" director says he just can't do it. As per a recent ShackNews interview :

"I have proven to be the albatross of video games. I joined THQ, and THQ goes broke. I join Kojima, and Kojima leaves Konami. I have decided, in order not to destroy anyone else's life, I will never again get involved in video games. Otherwise, I'll join someone and his house will explode, or something."

Del Toro added that he "learned a lot" from Kojima and THQ and the experiences "changed the way" he looks at storytelling. As for Kojima, Del Toro said "I love his work and I will continue to learn from him as a friend." However, he fears that if he joined up with another game project, "World War III will start."

Gee, that's too bad; we've scared him off. Both of his projects were immensely promising, too.

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Del Toro Talking To A “Very Big Company” To Revive inSane

Ben-Dutka 11 Comments

Noted film director Guillermo del Toro must've been disappointed when his proposed game project, inSane , had to be ditched by a floundering THQ.

But it seems he isn't interested in letting the title fall by the wayside (remember, this is supposed to be a trilogy), and now he's talking to a "very, very big company" that will help resurrect the temporarily derailed project.

Or at least, that's what he told the Toronto Sun last week:

We are in talks with a very, very big company. I can’t say who, but it’s one of the big ones. They really responded to the game, they responded to what we were trying."

Any idea which company might pick up inSane ? He has been quoted as saying he'd love for Half-Life developer Valve to be involved, but we're not sure they qualify as a "very, very big company." At this point, though, we just want to hear a little more about the game; i.e., just the baseline details. Like, knowing the genre, intended platforms, and general theme, concept and style…

Related Game(s): inSane

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inSane Finds A New Home, Still At Least Two Years Away

Ben-Dutka 4 Comments

After THQ dumped Guillermo del Toro's proposed video game trilogy, inSane , we all figured we wouldn't hear about it again for a while. After all, it takes time to find a new publisher, right?

Well, according to what the acclaimed film director told IGN , it didn't take long at all to find a new home for inSane :

"We were going to go to a lot of developers after THQ, but it seems like we’re going to be developing it after the first meeting we had. I can’t disclose where it was, but we went to a great developer on the first meeting and it seems that they’re picking it up because they love the package."

Now, we're not sure if he means to say "publisher" there, but I figure we'll learn the details in due time. As for a time frame, del Toro believes the first game will require another two years of development, which would presumably put the title into the next generation of hardware…right? Here's the progress update:

"The development span of a game like this is three years. We put a good year and a half into it and we have the universe quite figured out, but we are now going to take that and start doing all the leg work with coding it, creating the engine, and starting to test it. The basic tenants of the game is that it’s created, but now we’re going to need to start actually making it. It’s going to take a good two years of modeling and rendering and creating the environments and all of that."

We still have no idea what this game (or these games) are even about. No details concerning the genre or platforms have been released just yet but hey, it's very early going. We can be patient.

Related Game(s): inSane

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Del Toro Refuses To Give Up On inSane

John-Shepard 12 Comments

Thankfully, one of the most respected directors in all of film still wants a piece of the video game industry.

Not too long ago, the struggling THQ was forced to cancel a number of projects, and that included Guillermo del Toro's inSane . But hey, the guy is in movies; he probably runs into this sh** all the time.

And as the "Pan's Labyrinth" director told Kotaku , he's not about to give up yet. There are other ways to go after the project and he won't be shying away from any fresh opportunities to realize his inSane vision. Said del Toro:

"When something doesn't happen in one way, I just continue pursuing it in another way. I own the property and I control it. I'm not giving up on InSane."

It was actually supposed to be a trilogy at first; we're not sure if that's still the intent, but it's nice to see him so determined. By the way, you may also note in that article that del Toro will be using the fantastic voice of Portal 's GLaDOS, Ellen McClain, in his next movie. Good call, that.

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THQ Forced To Cancel Del Toro’s Insane

John-Shepard 10 Comments

At last check, the game was still in development, even if the first entry (this was supposed to be a trilogy) was a long ways off.

But unfortunately, THQ announced during an investor call that they've canceled Guillermo del Toro's horror game, Insane , and have given him back all the rights to the anticipated project.

Insane was initially announced back in 2010 and del Toro had apparently teamed up with Saints Row developer Volition. But things had been awfully quiet on the update front since that announcement, so maybe it's no big shock to see the project die off. THQ was also forced to cancel another promising game earlier this year, Tomonobu Itagaki's Devil's Third .

THQ has had to make some tough decisions in order to right the ship. Maybe this month's Darksiders II can go a long way towards achieving that feat… Still, we're disappointed that we won't get to see del Toro's vision. Perhaps another publisher wants to sign on for the long haul.

Related Game(s): Insane

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THQ’s New Boss: We Need To Make The “Best Possible Product”

Ben-Dutka 24 Comments

THQ is struggling a bit right now, so new president Jason Rubin has his work cut out for him.

Part of that work involves answering tough questions, such as those that involve film director Guillermo del Toro's planned inSane trilogy and other projects that are, as Rubin puts it, in a "nebulous state" at this point in time.

During an E3 interview with Joystiq , Rubin said he'd be going around and checking out the titles in the hopper. As for inSane , that's "still in the slate," even though he admits THQ will be a "different company" within the next couple of years. Said Rubin:

"I'm taking every project as clay, a clay statue that's been built. It's not nearly been completed. It can be augmented, it can be shrunk, it can be changed. Everything is up for change to make the best possible product that could be."

It's clear that some projects will continue forward, while others probably won't. Rubin has to decide which of the projects are promising enough to pursue, and that includes Turtle Rock's unannounced FPS and THQ Montreal's new IP. For now, the 1,750 THQ employees are safe, as Rubin finished by saying they won't continue to cut teams. However, the caveat is-

"But as far as product goes, I think we'll have to find out exactly where that's going."

Could be a tough road. But good luck, at any rate.

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