is a side-scrolling adventure that is a fusion of art, classical animation, and captivating gameplay, created by artist, Michel Gagné, and game industry veteran, Joe Olson. It is developed by Shadow Planet Productions and published by Microsoft Studios.
Xbox Marketplace has kicked off its holiday sales with "Countdown to 2012" and is offering Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet at 50% off for the entire duration of the promotion. Quite a steal, if you ask me.
You might also want to pick-up the add-on, Shadow Hunters. The add-on is awesome, but we need more people playing it on Xbox Live so that gamers can get the full benefit. It really shines when you can get a team together.
In the meantime, the game has been picking up more award nominations. Here are the latest:
When Joe and his charming girlfriend walked into the Innoventions Pavillion at Disneyland's Tomorrow Land to see an exhibit on the future of gaming, they were surprised and delighted to see videos of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet playing on several monitors of the exhibition wall! Now, how cool is that?
I just learned that Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet has been nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Video Game. You can see the full list of nominees here.
Besides the Annie, the game has been gathering various industry nominations. Here's three more to add to the list:
How cool is that? Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is nominated for a VGA in the category, "Best Downloadable". Let's keep our fingers crossed! Check out the official site and cast your vote.
There's about one thousand videos of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet on YouTube from various sources, so I feel a bit hesitant about adding more. However, since I had to create new videos for awards submissions (yes, it's that time of the year again), I thought I'd share them here.
The first one features gameplay footage with in-game music from the Shadow Hunters mode, composed by Andrew Scott, Troy Lawlor and Dan Bruington.
The second video features game's cinematics with music by Dimmu Borgir.
To celebrate the successful release of our first DLC, Shadow Hunters, I decided to put together this concept gallery to give the viewer a little insight into our creative process. Check it out here!
The first issue of Download has been released and features 18 pages devoted to Insanely twisted Shadow Planet. This high quality, square bound French magazine focuses on downloadable games and is a visual treat for anyone interested in videogames. More info here.
Seattle, WA, October 2011 – Shadow Planet Productions is pleased to bring Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet's first Game Add-On, Shadow Hunters, to Xbox LIVE Arcade.
Shadow Planet Productions' partners and creators of ITSP, Michel Gagné (Gagne International) and Joe Olson (Fuelcell Games), are confident that this addition will further enhance the player’s experience and expand upon the narrative of the main campaign, as well as give an opportunity to tackle new challenges alone, or team up with your friends locally or over Xbox LIVE on your quest to eradicate the remnants of the invasive shadow virus.
This new mode begins with a cinematic that picks up exactly where the final scene of the main campaign left off. In a nearby asteroid belt, the Shadow Entity still thrives, and the player must clear these asteroids of the nefarious presence before it begins to spread again.
“Shadow Hunters won't be more of the same”, said artist Michel Gagné. “I'm really happy that we were able to further the story, steer the art in a fresh direction, and create an adrenaline charged gaming experience. As far as I'm concerned, Shadow Hunters may very well be the most exciting part of ITSP.”
“The whole team has really outdone themselves on Shadow Hunters”, said Olson, CEO of Fuelcell Games. “We started with the exploration and puzzle elements from the Campaign and incorporated those with the procedurally generated level and fast paced decision making elements from Lantern Run, then pushed these ideas even further to create a challenging and addictive new game mode in the Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet universe.”
Shadow Hunters will be available on Xbox LIVE Arcade on October 12th, 2011, for 400 Microsoft Points.
Last week, we had the pleasure of having game critic, Brad Gallaway, and a small group from PNWjournos meet us at Fuelcell Games to try out our upcoming DLC, ITSP Hunters. We were delighted by their reactions! Read all about it here.
I always enjoy seeing movies with animated credits. I even got to do the opening credits for the movie, Osmosis Jones, during my tenure as head of 2D special effects at Warner Brothers Feature Animation. We thought it would be fun to cap off our videogame with its very own set of animated credits. I had a blast putting those together. I hope you enjoy them!
GameRevolution.com is having a little contest. Here's your chance to win a copy of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet! From their website:
Here's the deal: You have to write a haiku using any ONE of the following words: Insanely, Twisted, Shadow, or Planet. How you use those words is up to you. The words surrounding those words is up to you as well. Really, we're not about to inhibit your creativity. We want to see what you can come up with!
Joe and I will be showing the game and unveiling the four-player coopetitive mode at San Diego Comic-Con at these events:
Thursday, July 21 - Xbox Media Showcase 8:00 pm – Midnight
Saturday, July 23 – Xbox Lounge in Hard Rock Hotel 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
Sunday, July 24 – Xbox Lounge in Hard Rock Hotel 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
We popped the champagne open this week as our game went gold and passed Cert with flying colors in both, Compliance and Functional. We are good to launch! The game will be release August 3rd as the third XBLA's "Summer of Arcade 2011" title. It will retail for 1200 points ($15).
I will also be signing my new 200-page full color graphic novel, The Saga of Rex (which might also become a game at a later date) at these times:
On your journey through the Shadow Planet, you will uncover icons that will grant you access to 37 pieces of concept art that I painted for the game. After we decided which 37 pieces would be hidden in the game, we were still left with a large amount of nice material. As a result, we decided to put some of this material on-line for your viewing pleasure. Click here to check it out!
It has been a long and difficult journey, but we have persevered and conquered! ITSP is finally done! I want to thank from the bottom of my heart, my partner Joe Olson and his amazing team at Fuelcell Games (Jonathan Peters, John Scrapper, Garret Smith, Travis Phelps, Dmitri Salcedo, Troy Lawlor, Corwin Light-Williams, Chris Eng, Thomas O'Connor, Ryan Meyer, Kimberly Walker, Daniel Rosas, Bryanna Lindsay, David Heutmaker) for going above and beyond the call of duty. Five years ago, I went into this not knowing anything about how games were made. If it wasn't for their talent, guidance and expertise, this game would not exist.
I also want to give props to my wife, Nancy, who not only supported me through this demanding endeavor, but she also was an instrumental part in managing Shadow Planet Productions and Gagne International throughout the whole process. Big thanks also to my friend and noise maker, Andrew Scott, who like me, went into this project with no game experience and managed to create one of the most beautiful soundscape I've ever heard.
Last week, we presented the game at E3 and the response was fabulous. We received four "Best of E3" nominations:
Best Original Game from Machinima.com Best Downloadable Game from 1Up Best Downloadable Game and Most Original Game from G4
Several reviewers were able to try the game for themselves. We're delighted to see their positive reviews. Check them out:
On a side note, here's a new review of our demo that was just posted at Crush!Frag!Destroy! This brings the total of reviews of our PAX demo to 22 (those are the ones we know of). You can check out all the reviews at this link (PAX Demo Reviews).
One thing I forgot to mention about PAX East last March, was the fact that the XBLA marketing department released a set of 6 limited edition postcards featuring Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet and other upcoming games. The postcards, designed to look like vintage movie posters, were quite a hit with the crowd. Only 700 copies of the set were printed so those puppies are pretty rare. Here's a look.
A couple of months ago, I was contacted by Mercedes Milligan, associate editor for Animation Magazine. She asked me if I'd be willing to be the subject of their monthly feature called, “A Day in the Life of...”, to which I answered, "sure, why not!"
And so, I proceeded to photographically document my day, giving an insight into my not so glamorous life. The pictures and captions I provided are featured in the April/May issue. I scanned the page for your viewing pleasure. Click here for a larger view.
Bartek Kielban sent me a picture of his bedroom. He writes: "After being inspired by your work we want to send you a photos of my room painted similar to your arts from Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet."
Joe, Andrew Scott (sound maestro) and I had a lot of fun in Boston at the PAX convention. The reception to ITSP was incredible. The booth stayed completely busy the whole time with lines of anxious gamers waiting patiently their turns to experience ITSP. Everyone was so excited and positive towards the game, it really warmed our hearts.
Joe and I did several interviews and answered a lot of questions. We were given the go ahead by Microsoft to reveal that the game will be released this summer and that it will feature a coop version.
Observing people playing the game was very insightful. We took a lot of notes and will make sure to use the knowledge we gathered to make the game even better.
Here's a sample of the reviews we received from journalists who got to test the game for themselves:
The past few months have been quite a marathon, to say the least, with Joe and I, as well as members of our team working into the wee hours of the morning. We're approaching the completion of the game and we're all dedicating ourselves to make ITSP as memorable as possible.
Joe, Andrew Scott (our sound maestro) and I will be flying to Boston tomorrow to unveil the game at PAX East on March 11th. You can read our press release here.
I've also designed a new website that centralizes everything about Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. Even this blog will now be readable within the main website. Go check it out at www.InsanelyTwistedShadowPlanet.com.
The website is going to keep growing with artwork and videos added periodically until the release date. Check out the art gallery for a peak at what's coming!
Last but certainly not least, we're going to release a gameplay video with 10 minutes of footage to coincide with the PAX event. Make sure you check out our video section on march 11th when the videos go live.
