Demiurge Studios - Blog

X-mas X-mustaches

2010-01-04T14:30:00.003-05:00

It takes a tough man to drive a pink tank... and wear a mustache. Here at Demiurge, we take our mustache growing seriously. Carefully cultivating them over the holiday break, these dedicated men started the new decade right. Some Demiurge-ers even sent in absentee entries.

Click the full post for individual glamour portraits.

Christmoustache

2009-12-17T14:28:00.004-05:00

It's the time of year for the annual Demiurge Holiday Mustache Contest.

The rules of the competition are simple - show up on January 4th with an
awesome mustache. The winner will get a copy of CoD:WaW for PC as well
as endless glory.

Mustaches will be judged according to the official rules laid out by the World Beard and Moustache Championships

Last year's winner was our very own Dan Chretien who sported a mustache
in the "Dirt 'Stache" style - in which the mustache is carefully groomed
to resemble a smudge of dirt on your upper lip.

Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: I'm a girl, this competition seems unfairly exclusionary!
A: No excuses, play like a champion

Q: We all know mustaches are awesome, but are there any side effects to
wearing a mustache.
A: Yes. Mustaches make you irresistible to women, just like Axe Body
Spray(tm).

Q: I already have a full beard, that's sort of like a mustache.
A: Shutup.

Demiurge Studios is not responsible for any harm that results from your
growing a mustache including but not limited to being mistaken for 70s
porn icon Ron Jeremy or having your eyes gouged out by a murder of crows.

Sincerely,
Alex

** STAY TUNED FOR CONTEST RESULTS AND INEVITABLY EPIC PICTURES **

Pinnacle Station in Kotaku Buyer's Guide

2009-12-07T10:30:00.005-05:00

Pinnacle Station is listed under Kotaku's Xbox 360 Buyer's Guide. There were a lot of great titles that came out this year. It's becoming more and more difficult for the studio to vote on which title to buy as "Game of the Week" each week!

Al Speaking on Northeastern Panel

2009-11-16T12:16:00.003-05:00

Northeastern University's Global Entrepreneurship Week is host to a number of panels this week. Al Reed is a panelist for the Entretech Forum, "Making Your Name in a Changing Gaming Industry" on Tuesday, November 17, at 6PM. Check it out if you're in the Boston area!

Panel Details Here

DJ Hero in the Hoouuuse!

2009-11-06T14:02:00.004-05:00

This week's game night, we busted out our new copy of DJ Hero. We got the party started right, with the numerous cases of Red Stripe that Gearbox sent us. It was the perfect blend of board games, Street Fighter, and club music.

As the night progressed, *some people* got a little carried away with their DJ personas...

Borderlands Released

2009-10-21T14:21:00.003-04:00

Gearbox enlisted Demiurge's talent once again for their latest release, Borderlands. Team up with your friends, or turn against them in the competitive Arena mode we worked on! You've got bazillions of possible weapons to find and tons of fortune to seek. See you in Pandora...

Rock Band Metal Track Pack Out!

2009-09-28T16:48:00.004-04:00

We're turning it up to 11 with our latest release, Rock Band: Metal Track Pack. Harmonix tapped our motley crew again to bring this title to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and Wii. We packed in 20 "face-melting" metal songs from the past and present.

Press Release - with full song list

WordFu in Edge Mag's Top 50 iPhone Games

2009-09-09T17:21:00.005-04:00

WordFu made it into Edge Magazine's The 50 best iPhone/iPod Touch games article in the October 2009 issue, saying it's "more than capable of sucking up hours of your life." Consider yourself fairly warned. It's awesome sitting alongside so many great games!

Movin' Pictures

2009-09-02T09:56:00.002-04:00

Demiurge now has YouTube and Vimeo accounts!

Check out our first upload, the trailer for Pinnacle Station:

We'll be uploading more videos in the coming weeks, so check back.

Mass Effect: Pinnacle Station Out Now!

2009-08-27T19:11:00.002-04:00

Demiurge and Bioware joined forces to create Mass Effect's second installment of downloadable content: Pinnacle Station. Available on PC and Xbox 360, Pinnacle Station allows Commander Shepard and squadmates to participate in a series of simulated combat experiences. In four different combat modes in twelve replayable missions, Shepard must prove his worth in the battlefield. This new content is all about replayable missions and experimentation - try out different squad and weapon combinations, earn high scores, and become the top competitor in Pinnacle Station.

Twitter for rizzle

2009-08-14T16:23:00.002-04:00

Demiurge is now tweeting! Follow us!

Gamasutra WordFu Postmortem

2009-08-05T10:22:00.005-04:00

Our postmortem for WordFu went live on Gamasutra today! Learn all about how we developed the game - what went right as well as what went wrong. See how we fell in love with the iPhone and made lots of little wordy babies with it. Not to mention, you'll even learn the longest possible French word you can spell in WordFu.

link: Gamasutra WordFu Postmortem

Rock Band: Country Track Pack Released, Y'all!

2009-07-21T13:41:00.005-04:00

Rock Band Country Track Pack is out for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and Wii! Harmonix tapped Demiurge's team to bring the Country Track Pack to the four consoles. Get your twang in tune, because there are 21 country songs that "you and your gang" can play in this standalone title. With artists like Kenny Rogers, Dixie Chicks, and Shania Twain, there's a broad mix of country songs, over half of which are new to the Rock Band platform.

Visit the Official Website for more info.

Field Trip!!

2009-06-30T13:21:00.003-04:00

Last week, some kids from the East End House came to visit the studio. We showed off the more exciting aspects of game development through workshops, brainstorms, and demonstrations. We showed models in an editor, and then what they look like in game. They got some hands-on experience with art tablets - and some of them might have a future in that field!

During the game design brainstorm, the kids came up with the idea for a zombie game where chairs push you out of windows. And the only way a zombie can be cured is to be bitten by a baby (the only logical solution).

More pictures after the jump!

Up Close With Tom Lin

2009-06-15T16:14:00.002-04:00

Game Focus has yet another installment of Up Close With... and this time, it's Tom! This will be the last Up Close interview we have with GF (at least for now), but I think we've spilled enough beans to temporarily satisfy the masses.
Up Close With Tom Lin

Website Borked!

2009-06-12T14:03:00.010-04:00

Yesterday we discovered that our website was down for the count. Maybe Dan's German fanbase decided to all visit at the same time. The blog also apparently got swine flu. But it's all better now! Read More for our nice little chat with Earthlink tech support... Okay!!

[email addresses removed... sorry robots]

Welcome to Earthlink LiveChat. Your chat session will begin shortly. Feel free to begin typing your question.

'Kim M' says: Thank you for contacting EarthLink LiveChat, how may I help you today?
Al: Out website has stopped working

Al: our website.

Kim M: Hello, I will assist you.

Kim M: Let me know the domain name.

Al: demiurgestudios.com

Kim M: Are you getting any error message while accessing web site?

Al: We are not, our pages all turned to blank white pages. For example, you can view http://www.demiurgestudios.com/

Al: and see it is just a blank page.

Kim M: Do you have the Index.html file for the Home page?

Al: It's index.php4

Al: But other pages aren't working either. For example: http://www.demiurgestudios.com/?allgames/

Al: that used to work

Al: and we didn't change anything.

Kim M: Okay.

Al: Okay!

[many minutes pass]

Al: Hello?

Kim M: Yes, I am with you.

Kim M: I see that the issue is at the server end.

Kim M: Let me provide you the direct number who can access the servers and fix the issue.

Kim M: 800-955-0186

Kim M: I am sure, once you contact the phone number, the issue will be fixed.

Al: We already tried calling that number and they were not able to help us.

Kim M: Okay.

Kim M: Not to worry, I will escalate the issue to our engineers.

Kim M: Please let me know your domain password and contact email address.

Al: my email address is XXXX

Al: I'm not sure what our "domain password" is. Which one is that?

Kim M: The password for Control Center.

Al: I think it is XXXX

Kim M: Thank you for the information.

Kim M: I have escalated the issue to our engineers.

Kim M: You will be contacted through your email address.

Kim M: I am sure, the issue will be fixed as soon as possible.

Al: This is very urgent. When will they be contacting us?

Kim M: I understand, I have set the high priority.

Kim M: Not to worry, the issue will be fixed.

Kim M: Is there anything else I may assist you with today?

Al: Okay!

Kim M: Thank you for understanding.

Kim M: I appreciate your patience.

Kim M: You're welcome and thank you for using EarthLink LiveChat. Should you need further assistance, please feel free to contact us again.

Kim M: Have a great day!!

Chat session has been ended by the agent.

Borderlands Announcement

2009-06-08T10:30:00.003-04:00

Tons of new Borderlands info was announced at E3 and in the June issue of PC Gamer magazine. Along with the new look, they announced the multiplayer versus portion of the game. Demiurge was responsible for initially developing this mode, creating a competitive experience within the Borderlands world.

Adding new features was a relatively fast process (we had a functional PvP mode within a week of starting the project!), but the biggest challenge was in the iterative and extremely nebulous process of "finding the fun." This consisted mostly of weapon and player balance and creating finely tuned greybox maps. Then, we played the hell out of them, gathered tons of feedback, and produced two polished arena maps. We even created a transition sequence from the co-op/single player game into the arena, with an elevator, an interactive lobby, and flashy mechanized weapon racks.

It was a great project to work on, and as fans of the game ourselves, we're eagerly anticipating the release!

We're Big In Japan

2009-05-29T11:29:00.002-04:00

The Japanese version of Mass Effect that we've been working on has finally hit the shelves!

Rest assured that Shepard is just as foxy in Japanese as (s)he was in English - and Japanese gamers seem to agree. It reached the number 3 spot in sales in Japan this week! Not to mention, Famitsu gave it a very respectable 34/40 review score. "うわっ！"

Official Site (if you can read it)
Kotaku (sales ranking)

Up Close With Chris Linder...

2009-05-28T10:31:00.003-04:00

GameFocus has an "Up Close" interview with another Demiurge-er. This time it's Chris who's spotlighted on the main page. Check out the interview to get more insight into another co-founder of Demiurge: Up Close with Chris Linder

Demi-Barber Shop

2009-05-26T15:39:00.004-04:00

It's Friday, about to be a three-day weekend. What do you do? Give your boss a mohawk, duh. This might be the start of a new tradition. We already have our annual Grow Your Christmoustache over winter break.

I wonder if his Xbox avatar reflects his new hairdo...

Click the "Read More" for more pictures of the metamorphosis.

Up Close With Albert Reed...

2009-05-15T10:24:00.008-04:00

GameFocus has been interviewing industry leaders in their "Up Close" features. Al's interview is spotlighted this week on the main page. He's got some sage advice for people breaking into the industry, as well as who to take if you're going on a space trip and can only take one video game character. There may even be a little teaser for a game we're cooking up.

Check it out! Up Close with Albert Reed

HADOUKEN!!!

2009-05-06T15:06:00.002-04:00

We got a Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike arcade machine! This classic game is a favorite among many demi-residents, but none speak its name with reverence quite like Tom. If you visit the studio, there's an extremely high chance you'll be challenged to a match.

Al Reed @ MIT BiG Conference

2009-05-04T10:31:00.009-04:00

This Friday, May 8, Al will be speaking at the 1st Annual MIT Sloan BiG (Business in Gaming) Conference. He'll be joined by industry leaders on the Digital Distribution Panel to discuss the recent push towards digitally distributed games and content. An excerpt from the official website explains the theme of this year's event:

"Marketing and Distribution in the Digital Age" explores the current evolution of the gaming industry as it is set to exceed those of both the music and movie industries. Now especially, when the economy is slowing down, we will examine innovative ways to market and distribute games cheaply but effectively through the digital media. - MIT BiG

A ___ of Zombies

2009-04-14T13:31:00.002-04:00

There's been an ongoing discussion as to what a group of zombies is called. The following sentence mysteriously appeared on a whiteboard: "A Flock of Birds, A ___ of Zombies?" Here's a little taste of what appeared below over the next week:

Horde
Gaggle
Shamble
Murder
Mob
Aargh
Fiesta
Boy Band
House of Representatives
Vin Diesel
Bridal Suite

...and the list gets more ridiculous. Click the picture to zoom in on the full brainstorm... no pun intended.

I challenge your honor!

2009-04-03T16:52:00.005-04:00

WordFu 1.1 update is live!

- Choose how many seconds a game lasts! Choose 30, 45, 60, 90 or 120 seconds in the Options screen.

- Challenge your friends to beat your scores via e-mail.

- Listen to your own music while playing.

We're listening to your feedback, and making changes to improve the game. Thanks for the support!