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Speaking to MTV Multiplayer, Tim Schafer recently addressed humanity's shocking failure to purchase a satisfactory number of Psychonauts game discs. "Fans worry too much about sales, to tell you the truth," said the procrastinating awards show host, possibly telling the truth. "As long as you make a cool game, publishers want to talk to you... [They say,] 'We liked 'Psychonauts. and we think we could have sold it better."

Schafer assuaged fears of Brütal Legend becoming the next commercial Psychonauts, pointing out that the open-world shred-em-up "naturally has more commercial hooks, like hot babes and Jack Black." As reassuring as that is, fans may still worry, if only because we yearn to see Tim Schafer showered in unimaginable riches, enough for him to buy all the tuxedos he wants or construct a rocket-propelled candy castle which he'll use to fly across the globe searching searching for that special person that was missing in his life and then he'll land in our backyard and before we can yell at him for incinerating the dog during the landing procedure he'll walk up to us and put his finger to our lips and say shh don't worry where we're going you won't need animal companionship or anything because where we're going is a place where there are no animals because it's in space and that is where my space station is and we will learn to design really awesome games together but for now you have to stop writing this sentence because it's quite long you know.

Those catchy tunes we remember from Psychonauts are now available online as Double Fine has released the soundtrack and cinematic score to Tim Schafer's mental adventure over most major online outlets, including iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, eMusic and Amazon.

Oh sure, we already own the Peter McConnell-composed music on CD, but as the studio's blog puts it, eCopies free us from such dangers as "deadly plastic discs" and "eye-burning lasers." Well, when you put it that way, here take our digital money. Just please don't melt our brains.

We thought we'd take a break this week from our usual Flash-based fare this week on the Free Game Club to talk about a slightly meatier experience that you could be having for for free right now: Psychonauts. Yeah, that's right. Tim Schafer's bizarre, hilarious action-platformer is available right now as a free selection on GameTap.

So here's the question: Why haven't you played it yet? You might have had an excuse a couple of years ago, when it was just a poorly-marketed Majesco game. But how has it not made its way onto your must play list at this point? It's cleverly written, it's got some really memorable levels and characters, it's just an all-around great way to spend your time. OK, so maybe some of the actual platforming and combat gameplay is a touch spotty from time to time. But we can look past it, and we're betting you can too.

If you've played the game, feel free to use the comments below to share your thoughts/gushing adoration. If you haven't, we'd love to hear your excuses. If you're about to play it for the first time ... well, don't let us keep you. We'll still be here when you're done.

You may be wondering just what this is. Stark white slabs, neatly stacked ... no, it's not the preliminary plans for Apple iChocolate (available in white only), but rather, the work of a DS owner in need. Reader PeZ had a problem: a lost game. And while the missing game turned up later, it revealed a flaw in his DS cart storage system. Nothing quite fit his needs; either everything was too big, too small, or unsafe. One day, as he finished off some Läkerol mints, an idea struck. Surely that neat little tin would be good for something.

And so PeZ got to work. As a designer, he had some idea of how to start -- he drew up plans for the perfect cart case. To the right, you can see the plans, which were eventually cut from black cardboard and glued to the inside of the tin. PeZ reports that, with slots cut in, the carts are perfectly secure, even with the tin held upside down! But with the practical inside complete, the outside needed a little work. To see what he came up with, jaunt on past the break.

Got something you want to show off to all the other DS fans? We like just about anything with a little Nintendo flavor, so snap a few pics and send 'em off to tell us what's up, and send it all to showmeit [at] dsfanboy [dot] com. We'll take care of the rest.

Alright, Tim Schafer, you win. After targeting various industry folks with a typically contrived adventure game puzzle and then assembling their responses in our GDC Quest Quiz feature, we simply weren't prepared for your relentless response to our silly challenge. Not only did you trick us into doing all the hard work, but you successfully navigated through our made-up-as-we-went-along chicane of bizarre logic. But don't grow complacent in your victory -- we'll get you next time.

The Player
Double Fine's Tim Schafer, designer of Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, Psychonauts and upcoming god of gwar epic, Brütal Legend. Prior to the release of those games, he worked on The Secret of Monkey Island, Monkey Island 2 and Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle.

The Puzzle
You're standing in front of a cave. The goal is to get inside the cave, taking care to foil the ferocious robot bear guarding the entrance first.

The Inventory

• (1) perforated parasol
• (1) rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle
• (1) sealed manila envelope
• (1) miniature macaroni Tim Schafer statue

Make your way past the break to read our adventurous e-mail exchange.

We did a terrible thing at last week's Game Developer's Conference. Aside from our usual barrage of photographs and "reporting," a select group of attendees had to endure a particularly inane and utterly pointless line of questioning -- just for laughs. This is what happens when you hunt down several adventure game connoisseurs and challenge them to solve a typically obnoxious adventure game puzzle.

The Player
Erik Wolpaw, co-author of the now-defunct Old Man Murray. He's written for games such as Psychonauts and Portal, and once accused the adventure genre of committing suicide.

The Puzzle
You're standing in front of a cave. The goal is to get inside the cave, taking care to foil the ferocious robot bear guarding the entrance first.

The Inventory

• (1) perforated parasol
• (1) rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle
• (1) sealed manila envelope
• (1) miniature macaroni Tim Schafer statue
  

The Solution
"How is the pulley attached to the rubber chicken? See, this is why I hate adventure games. I think you're expecting a joke answer, and I'm actually trying to figure it out. OK, type 'quit.' That's what I would do. Go to the menu and type 'quit.'"

(Catch the rest of our interview with Wolpaw later this week!)

Valve's Steam service is having a last-minute holiday sale from today until January 1, with everything on the online store reportedly 10% to 50% off. While all they have to do is make one game 50% and the rest 10% to make that statement valid, there are some good deals going on. Highlights include:

• Orange Box - $37.45 (25% off)
• BioShock - $37.45 (25% off)
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - $22.45 (25% off)
• id Software Super Pack - $52.45 (25% off)
• Psychonauts - $9.95 (50% off)

There are very few hours until Christmas. On this coast, most stores are closing down. Wouldn't be great if you could find the perfect gift for the ones you love? How about a downloadable copy of Psychonauts (no, we don't shut up about this game) for only $10? And while we're at it, you can afford to purchase Rag Doll Kung Fu ($13.45) and Bookworm Adventures ($17.95).

Okay, so a Weighted Companion Papercraft is cute but overplayed, the coin box is creative but part of the ages-old Mario fan art category ... is that a representation of Sasha Nein's mind from Psychonauts as a papercraft doll? No way! Schafer love knows no bounds it seems. (Thanks, Tim) Check out the highlights for today:

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Alright, the internet, you can officially stop dreaming about a sequel to Psychonauts and go back to dreaming about Brutal Legend. After a darkened version of the game's logo with the words "Coming Soon" on it appeared on the Double Fine site and started the rumor train, chief Tim Schafer had to be the one to put the penny on the track. He told Next-Gen, "the truth is we are just putting together a new page about 'The Excellent Game Psychonauts.' We're not announcing any new games or anything. Sorry if we confused anybody! We lightened up the image to hopefully make things clearer."

Why do you build us up (build us up), buttercup? ... And why did we just call a man who could squish us between his meaty palms "buttercup"?

Hot off the heels of Double Fine's announcement of Brütal Legend, we get this tasty little morsel of potential excellence. On Double Fine's projects page, beneath the link for Brütal Legend, we have the teaser image pictured above. No great mystery regarding its contents -- that's clearly Raz, and the logo for the first Psychonauts.

Is Tim Schafer trying to not-so-subtly tell us that a sequel is in the works? Or is this some sort of twisted joke? (Schafer does, after all, have a "twisted mind," as many a press release have said). Not much else to speculate here. We'll keep our eyes peeled for any further announcements or information.

[Update: Sadly, it seems that the "coming soon" image was merely intended to indicate an eventual info page for the original Psychonauts. Double Fine has recognized the confusion, and quietly un-darkened the image to make it more apparent. So no Psychonauts 2 after all. Color us disappointed.]

[Via Rock Paper Shotgun]

"A Rock 'n Roll roadshow through the twisted mind of Tim Schafer?" That sounds fantastic, though we imagine it comes across like nails on a chalkboard to the publisher hoping to hear terms like "shooter," "sequel," "football," and "based on the hit movie" in the game pitch. Preferably, it'll be all of those.

And for all we know, Double Fine's Brütal Legend could contain any of the above. For now, the only information we have is that obtained from the cover of the latest Game Informer magazine (we've confirmed the image is real), graciously snapped and posted by "Iksenpets" on the official Double Fine forums. The image reveals who we assume to be Jack Black's character -- an axe-wielding, axe-wielding roadie named Eddie Riggs. Oh, and when you check between the pages to find out more about Mr. Schafer's latest road trip, be sure to find out how NF HELL 4K2: The Movie: The Game is coming along.

[Thanks, Max]

As any video game journalist with a few free minutes will tell you, Psychonauts is a brilliant classic that never got the attention it so richly deserved. Thankfully for all of us tired of game journalists yammering on about his last stroke of brilliance, Tim Schafer and Double Fine studios have returned with a new stroke, a title perfectly poised for mass market success: Epic Saga: Extreme Fighter.

We all love dark wizards and gnome kings, right? But what if a gnome king fought a dark wizard? That's the sort of question that ES: EF dares to simultaneously ask and answer. If your puny desktop rig can manage pushing all the pixels, you need to start playing this game today. Oh, didn't we mention? It's free!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]

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I never thought I'd write about cock on this blog, but it's unavoidable now that a new company has formed called Gamecock. The company was founded by the former CEO and former president of the defunct Gathering of Developers. They aim to bring risk taking, creative indie titles to all platforms. Two of their first games are headed to not just next-gen systems, but also an unnamed handheld. It seems like the PSP is the most likely candidate.

The first game is Mushroom Men, which follows three-inch-high Mushroom Men as they battle in a war against different spore factions. Use common household items to fashion weapons and tools to help turn the tide of war. The second game is Insecticide which has a Tim Burton/Psychonauts look to its character designs and is an action/adventure game set in a world that is decaying and full of bugs ... sexy bugs. You can visit Gamecock's site to see more on all their games.

[Via IGN]