Brütal Legend's Rocktober release is drawing closer, and the game's creator, Tim Schafer, has tossed us a bone in a pair of developer walkthroughs for the beginning sections of the game over at IGN. Be warned: The videos show off a great deal of content, so if you're trying to avoid spoilers, steer clear. For the rest of you, we suggest you don your spiked bracelet and sleeveless leather vest and peer past the break for some glorious metal action.

Source - Brütal Legend developer walkthrough (part one)
Source - Brütal Legend developer walkthrough (part two)

[Update: EA's response: "Brütal Legend was never announced for the Wii." That's ... true ...]

Remember the rumored Wii version of Brütal Legend? It was rumored that EA planned to release a Wii version of the game, developed by someone other than Double Fine. The very mention of the project made Tim Schafer uncomfortable.

According to Destructoid, that Wii release, which we don't even know was real to start with, has been canceled. "Word has it that quality assurance testers who moved from Electronic Arts to Double Fine were recently let go," Destructoid notes, "after the demise of the project left their services unnecessary."

Whether the game was real and canceled or never existed at all, the net effect would seem to be the same: no Brütal Legend game on Wii. If it really was so bad that EA decided to cancel the project, we can only feel grateful that the company didn't subject Wii fans to the kind of embarrassment we had to endure whenever a screenshot of the Wii Dead Rising came out.

Whilst staring longingly at Tuesday's finally released cover art for Brütal Legend, something struck us as a little ... out of the ordinary. There they were, right above the game's logo: the words "A Tim Schafer Game." (With a seriously metal "S" in Schafer, we must say.)

You see, unlike the wonderful world of film, it's a rarity that video games' creators get credit in promotional materials, let alone on their games' covers. Sure, there are exceptions, like Sid Meier, Hideo Kojima, Tom Clancy and John Madden. Oh, that's right. Those last two don't even make "their" games; they just get all the credit. For shame!

But Tim Schafer? He makes the game (in more ways than one). Although his lone "solo" work to date -- Psychonauts -- was a critical success, it unfortunately didn't set cash registers ablaze, literally or figuratively. So, why the box-front accolade then? Two likely answers. The first is the fact that EA, in its early years, was fairly unique among computer game publishers in that it prominently displayed the names of its designers on their games' boxes -- so there's precedent. The other, perhaps stronger possibility: EA knows it's got something good, and is banking on Schafer and his Double Fine crew to keep on making EA-published games with his name on them, hopefully for many years to come.

Jack Black returns for yet another episode of "Brutal Thoughts." The weakest episode so far explores the "wild" world of roadies, courtesy of someone named "Meatbones." The punchline ... is rather mediocre. There's no Schafer in this episode, and even Black looks like he's phoning this one in. Give it a watch, and then relive the (much better) previous installments here:

• Tim Schafer electrocutes Jack Black on video
• Jack Black pumped for 'that Brutal Legend movie'

So Dio's out of Brütal Legend and Tim Curry's in, but it has nothing to do with any ongoing feud between Dio and Ozzy 'Prince of Darkness' Osbourne, as speculated. Tim Schafer has issued a statement clarifying the reasons for the decision, stating that "Ronnie James Dio is an amazing singer and truly one of the great figures of Metal, but as the character of Doviculus evolved, we realized that Tim Curry was a better fit for the part."

That's all it is. He's a "better fit." Schafer claims that it was Curry's role as The Lord of Darkness in the 1985 movie Legend which landed him the part of Doviculus, but we suspect it may be his most famous role, as Rocky Horror's Frankenfurter, which is the real reason behind the casting. Just you wait, Doviculus will be prancing around in stockings and a corset before the game is through. Yeah, we see you shiver with antici ... you know the rest.

The "Holy Diver" himself, Ronnie James Dio of heavy metal band Dio, has reportedly been cut from Brütal Legend's voice actor list. Dio's management confirmed to Blabbermouth the removal of the lead singer's voice from the game, not citing any specific reasons, though it noted that actor Tim Curry will be filling the position.

Speculation surrounding the cut points to a longstanding feud between Brütal Legend's "Guardian of Metal" Ozzy Osbourne and Dio, though we're not so sure that their feud would carry over into the Double Fine-developed, EA-published title. To be honest with you though, we're still reeling from the lack of inclusion of any members of Slayer. "Raining Blood" playing while the act itself takes place in game -- these things write themselves, people!

[Thanks, The Weaponeer]

E3 was brütal! If you blinked, for a split/second, you missed something. Even if you were trine to keep up, it was a blur -- staying a.wake like that, you only pushed yourself to the brink of your own dark void. That's where Joystiq comes in; to crackdown on the madness; to reach out ... with conviction -- phew! Crysis averted.

We've scoured the dark corners and survived the inferno to piece together this roundup of all things Xbox at E3. Why? Just 'cause we love you. So, draw nier and shift your eyes past the break.

My name is Tim ... S-C-H-A-F-E-R. [points to my notepad] That's correct.

Do people get that wrong a lot?

They never get it right.

Does it annoy you?

No, I just like to fight for my particular spelling. For no reason it's completely arbitrary but for some reason it's enjoyable to fight for the specific spelling that I randomly have.

You're trying to keep your Google ranking up.

Exactly.

You don't want people messing with it.

And people who spell their names A-E-F-F-E-R. Hate those guys. They're jerks.

This is going to be the easiest preview ever. Though Tim Schafer calls Brütal Legend the most personal game he's ever done, it's possibly the most widely, inescapably appealing project he's been involved with. I don't need to champion the amazing band of kids at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp or Manny and the delightful denizens of the underworld this time. We're talking about a hilarious, open-ended heavy metal epic starring Jack Black. Do you really need me to tell you it's awesome?

Because, you know, it is.

We'll admit, we were starting to get a little worried about Brutal Legend after Activision sued to stop the sale of the game last week. But after watching this new trailer for the game (entitled "Rock Gods") we find that our faith has been renewed.

Seriously, look at the thing! Look at how hard the game is rocking! You think mere lawyers can stop a game like that? ... No, we thought not.

You've got to hand it to the team at Brütal Legend, even when staring in the face of a potential problem leading into release, they can still crack wise. Of course, as you may have already noticed, here at E3 the hilarity works both ways!

Activision Rep: "Have you been to the booth yet?"

Xav: "Not yet. I want to check out Brutal Legend... wait sorry, that's EA. You guys used to have it."

Activision: "Yeah. Don't rub it in."

For the record, this happened yesterday ... which makes today's law suit even more hilarious.

Yahoo reports that Activision filed a lawsuit against Double Fine, developer of the Jack Black-fueled Brütal Legend, on Wednesday to "stop the release" of the game. The mega-publisher claims to have invested "roughly $15 million" into the game's development and that "it still has a valid contract to release the game," despite Double Fine transferring rights to Electronic Arts late last year.

Last February, Electronic Arts responded to Activision's saber rattling saying, "We doubt that Activision would try to sue. That would be like a husband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy." Yeah ...

So, to recap:

1. Sierra is subsumed into Activision, following the Activision Blizzard merger
   
2. Activision drops much of Sierra's lineup, including Brütal Legend
   
3. Brütal Legend looks for another publisher, but Activision is "blocking the process"
   
4. EA Partners swoops in as the game's new publisher
5. Activision sues Double Fine (that's this post)
   

We hope EA is paying Jack Black a pretty hearty check, as he's been a pretty vocal advocate of Tim Schafer's upcoming Brutal Legend. It probably helps that he's the main character, but we're still surprised by the actor's continued presence in the game's promotion. The latest episode of "Brutal Thoughts" has Schafer doling out the pain to Black by transforming him into a human videogame character.

See also:
Jack Black pumped for 'that Brutal Legend movie'