Brütal Legend promises to rock Rocktober, in stores now

Are you ready to rock, roll and kick some ass? Well the first opportunity to let you do both is now in stores. Electronic Arts and Double Fine Productions have shipped the rock ‘n roll rich action game Brütal Legend to retailers in North America (shipping in Europe on October 16th). The brainchild of Tim Schafer, Brütal Legend stars Jack Black as roadie Eddie Riggs who embarks on an epic rock adventure featuring guitar wielding combat, storytelling and humor along with imagery inspired by classic heavy metal album art and music.

Brütal Legend is a third person open-world action game from Tim Schafer and his team at Double Fine Productions. Starring Jack Black as the voice of Eddie Riggs, Brütal Legend tells the tale of Eddie, the ultimate Metal roadie who is knocked unconscious in a stage accident and awakens to a world where heavy metal breathes life through mountains made of amplifiers, killer spiders spinning guitar strings and rock gods roaming the lands. In addition to Jack Black, Brütal Legend features metal’s biggest names, including Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, Lita Ford, Ozzy Osbourne and more. Brütal Legend also offers a soundtrack featuring more than 100 tracks for over 75 bands including Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motorhead and more.

Brütal Legend is available for MSRP $59.99 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and is rated M for Mature by the ESRB and 18+ for PEGI.

Xloc makes it happen worldwide: Brütal Legend

Localization solutions provider XLOC wants you to know that its technology facilitated the worldwide release of the Brütal Legend. Developed by Double Fine Productions and published by Electronic Arts, Brütal Legend utilizes XLOC’s tool suite to localize the title into English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

So now you know, and as GI Joe tells us, “Knowing is half the battle.”

You can learn more about XLOC by visiting www.xloc.com.

EA and Double Fine’s Brütal Legend Dem-o-Thon

EA is holding a live event next week to celebrate the release of the Brütal Legend demo. Next Thursday, October 1st all involved will be hosting a Live Webcast from Double Fine Productions in San Francisco in support of the Brutal Legend Demo which will at www.brutallegend.com. This will let fans of the rock and roll action adventure game starring Jack Black and developed by Tim Schaefer a chance to interact with the development team, ask questions, take a peek inside the studio and witness some expected live hi-jinks.
The demo is set for release Oct. 1, on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live.

Double Fine’s “Dem-o-Thon” event will also allow for live questions from the Brutal Legend Twitter stream (www.twitter.com/brutallegend) as well as some other coolness and strangeness including giveaways, a message from Tim’s Swine Flu proofed bunker, spoilers, Live Axe Lessons, and much more.

Be sure to check out this lead-in video starring Tim for a chuckle.

Pre-order customers get Brütal Legend demo early

Are they rewarding pre-order customers or punishing the rest of us for not opting in early? Electronic Arts and those crazy cats at Double Fine Productions are giving pre-order customers a treat - early access to the Brütal Legend demo four weeks before the game’s “Rocktober 13th” release in North America. That’s odd because I thought it was being released in Rockvember 32nd. Players can enjoy Tim Schafer’s heavy metal action adventure game long before the unwashed masses can (that’s me - guilty as charged!). Starting today pre-order customers from GameStop can download the demo on Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Network. For anyone that has not pre-ordered the game, the demo will be available on both platforms in the coming weeks.

The Brütal Legend demo includes the game’s entire opening chapter, setting the stage for roadie Eddie Riggs journey into a Heavy Metal-inspired universe on the brink of decimation. After a stage accident renders Eddie unconscious, he awakens to find himself in a fantasy world where mountains are made of amplifiers, killer spiders spin guitar strings and heavy metal legends including Rob Halford, Lemmy Kilmister, Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne roam the world’s picturesque landscapes. Sounds like an acid trip I had once. A series of tutorials shows players that Eddie is uniquely qualified to lead the revolution to save humanity – his muscles big enough to swing “The Separator” axe, slashing his way through demons and druids, his strumming skills vast enough to handle “Clementine”, an electrifying guitar that can shock and set fire to any threat. These weapons, along with a variety of deadly combos, double-team attacks with allies and Eddie’s self-made hot-rod, the Deuce, will all be needed in order to defeat the vicious boss at the end of the demo.

Brütal Legend demo in September

Electronic Arts and Double Fine Productions will release a demo for Brütal Legend in September. In just one month, players will be able to download the demo and experience Tim Schafer’s latest creation starring Jack Black as roadie Eddie Riggs in his inter-dimensional adventure where rock and roll is real bone crushing, face melting power. No word on what the demo will offer, but keep an eye out for it early next month.

Brütal Legend will launch on the Xbox 360 and PS3 October 13th in North America and October 16th in Europe. For more information on Brütal Legend demo visit www.brutallegend.com/demo.

Brütal Legend sountrack revealed

Electronic Arts and Double Fine Productions announced the complete soundtrack for Brütal Legend, the heavy metal rock inspired action video game from Tim Schafer starring Jack Black. The game will offer 100 tracks from metal’s most celebrated rock bands including Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Megadeth and Motörhead.

Brütal Legend will be released for the Xbox 360 and PS3 October 13th in North America and on October 16th in Europe.

A full accounting of all the tracks can be found after the break.

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Verdict delayed in Brutal Legend lawsuit

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has delayed a ruling on the Brutal Legend lawsuit between developer Double Fine Productions and former-publisher turned adversary Activision. But even with a delay on this ruling, it doesn’t look good for Activision. A ruling on the case has been suspended until August 6, but Los Angeles Superior Court judge Craig Karlan promised to have a final ruling on the case prior to EA’s August 8 deadline for the game.

Activision began this legal battle against the developer in June, with claims that it still owned the rights to publish the game and that it had invested nearly $15 million into the project. Brutal Legend was supposed to be published by Vivendi Universal Games before the company was bought by Activision to form Activision Blizzard last year.

While the judge emphasized in court that neither side had the upper-hand in the case, he also told lawyers for Activision that he didn’t have confidence in their case: “I can’t say there’s a likelihood of success here.” he commented.

Expect to hear a more definitive ruling next week on Thursday, August 6.