Jul 21, 2011
The Soldier Invades Comic-Con
Team Fortress 2
The larger-than-life Victory Pack Soldier has been a major hit so far at the Weta booth during day one of Comic-Con 2011. If you're attending the show, stop by and check out the awesome collection Dr. Grordbort's replica space guns and ask for one of the special coupons that'll get you the Righteous Bison for FREE! Coupons are limited so get them while they last!

Jul 21, 2011
Team Fortress 2: Dough, Ray-Guns, Me
Team Fortress 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Richard Cobbett)

Well, that was quick. Only the other day, rockets were spotted in assorted Team Fortress 2 maps, and now Soldiers everywhere are tooled up with sci-fi weapons designed by the special-effects geniuses at WETA Workshop. (You may have seen their work in movies like Lord of the Rings, Avatar, King Kong, and about half the other blockbusters in recent years.) Read this comic to see their discovery, and visit the Mann Co. store to witness the might of Dr. Grordbort’s Infallible Aether Oscillators, and the inevitable hat that goes with them.

But, we hear you ask, what are> Dr. Grordbort’s Infallible Aether Oscillators?

(more…)

Jul 20, 2011
Meet the sci-fi Soldier—Valve partners with WETA to release new TF2 items, available now
Team Fortress 2
grord_soldier_3
Wonder no more what all those mysterious rockets are doing in the back of Team Fortress 2 maps! Valve has partnered with WETA Workshop, the design studio that's created countless movie props and creature effects, to release a new item pack based on Dr. Grordbort's Infallible Aether Oscillators (say that three times fast). Come take a gander at what it looks like when the Soldier decides to enlist with space marines.





PCG's Gut Reactions™:


The Cow Mangler 5000: Pardon me, but I could've sworn you said "doesn't require any ammo." Holy smokes! This "rocket" launcher turns the Soldier from a frontlines fighter into a support specialist—thanks to the four-second building disable, you won't need to rely on a skilled Spy to break up a pesky Sentry nest. And we have to imagine that nailing someone with a fully-charged shot is just about as glorious as it gets.
The Righteous Bison: I'MMA FIRIN' MAH LAZER! Who cares about doing reduced damage to buildings when this little number can hit multiple enemies at once? You'll make many a Pyro have a sad day when they try to deflect a beam of light with an airblast, and again, the whole "no ammo" thing is immensely exciting for those situations when you're behind enemy lines. This phaser is most definitely not set to stun.




What do you think of TF2's first venture into the great unknown? Also, don't miss the awesome companion comic that explains how the Soldier got his new swag (and why he needs to make more friends).
Jul 20, 2011
Fit For a King
Team Fortress 2 - SZ
<a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/grordborts/"><img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/drg_blog.jpg" width="420" height="252" border="0"></a>

When <a href="http://www.wetanz.com/weta-workshop-services/">WETA Workshop</a> first approached us with the idea of partnering some of their IP with ours, we couldn't believe our luck. These were the guys who made In The Name of the King, after all, and since that movie stars Burt Reynolds, there was a pretty good chance they'd introduce us to him. Eager to raise that chance to 100%, we sent them over a contract demanding they produce Burt Reynolds at any partnership meetings.

Their lawyers told us they'd actually made some different movies about kings: Return of the King and King Kong, neither of which feature Burt Reynolds in even a minor role. We got less excited, then briefly more excited again when we remembered that King Kong stars Tony Danza, then into a tailspin of depression when we realized we were thinking of Going Ape.

Luckily Greg Broadmore, WETA Workshop's mastermind behind <a href="http://www.drgrordborts.com/">Dr. Grordbort's Infallible Aether Oscillators</a>, sent us over a bunch of concept art for cool-looking space guns, which cheered us up immediately. We asked if he could redraw the art so Burt Reynolds and Tony Danza were having a gunfight in space over who would be our best friend. He said sure. Then he never did.

But just because Greg Broadmore is a liar, that doesn't mean he didn't invent some nifty-looking guns. Find out more about them <a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/grordborts/">here</a>, and read a comic we wrote about the items <a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/grordborts/comic">here</a>. Or you can skip all that and go watch Smokey and the Bandit II here.
Jul 20, 2011
Fit For a King
Team Fortress 2 - SZ


When WETA Workshop first approached us with the idea of partnering some of their IP with ours, we couldn't believe our luck. These were the guys who made In The Name of the King, after all, and since that movie stars Burt Reynolds, there was a pretty good chance they'd introduce us to him. Eager to raise that chance to 100%, we sent them over a contract demanding they produce Burt Reynolds at any partnership meetings.

Their lawyers told us they'd actually made some different movies about kings: Return of the King and King Kong, neither of which feature Burt Reynolds in even a minor role. We got less excited, then briefly more excited again when we remembered that King Kong stars Tony Danza, then into a tailspin of depression when we realized we were thinking of Going Ape.

Luckily Greg Broadmore, WETA Workshop's mastermind behind Dr. Grordbort's Infallible Aether Oscillators, sent us over a bunch of concept art for cool-looking space guns, which cheered us up immediately. We asked if he could redraw the art so Burt Reynolds and Tony Danza were having a gunfight in space over who would be our best friend. He said sure. Then he never did.

But just because Greg Broadmore is a liar, that doesn't mean he didn't invent some nifty-looking guns. Find out more about them here, and read a comic we wrote about the items here. Or you can skip all that and go watch Smokey and the Bandit II here.
Jul 20, 2011
Team Fortress 2 Update Released
Team Fortress 2 - Valve
Updates to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Team Fortress 2
  • Added the items for Dr. Grordbort's Victory Pack
  • Fixed hatless hats not working correctly
  • Fixed a display issue with team color paints
  • Updated the localization files
Jul 20, 2011
TF2's Rockets Explained: Pith Helmets, Ray Guns & Mutton Chops Ahoy
Team Fortress 2

TF2's Rockets Explained: Pith Helmets, Ray Guns & Mutton Chops AhoyWETA, the special effects and design house behind movies like Lord of the Rings and District 9, has teamed up with Valve for a little cross-promotion, with some of its original designs to be featured in Team Fortress 2.


For a while now WETA has peddled its own intellectual property (created by WETA's Greg Broadmore), that of Dr. Grordbort, seller of old-timey ray guns for combat against old-timey aliens.


That universe, previously restricted to comics and high-priced collectibles, is now part of Team Fortress 2, a variety of items now available including a pair of guns, a pith helmet and a beard/pipe combo.


That explains the rockets! oh, and there's also a new comic, available at the link below.


Link ChevronDr. Grordbort + TF2 [Team Fortress 2]


Jul 20, 2011
Fit For a King
Team Fortress 2


When WETA Workshop first approached us with the idea of partnering some of their IP with ours, we couldn't believe our luck. These were the guys who made In The Name of the King, after all, and since that movie stars Burt Reynolds, there was a pretty good chance they'd introduce us to him. Eager to raise that chance to 100%, we sent them over a contract demanding they produce Burt Reynolds at any partnership meetings.

Their lawyers told us they'd actually made some different movies about kings: Return of the King and King Kong, neither of which feature Burt Reynolds in even a minor role. We got less excited, then briefly more excited again when we remembered that King Kong stars Tony Danza, then into a tailspin of depression when we realized we were thinking of Going Ape.

Luckily Greg Broadmore, WETA Workshop's mastermind behind Dr. Grordbort's Infallible Aether Oscillators, sent us over a bunch of concept art for cool-looking space guns, which cheered us up immediately. We asked if he could redraw the art so Burt Reynolds and Tony Danza were having a gunfight in space over who would be our best friend. He said sure. Then he never did.

But just because Greg Broadmore is a liar, that doesn't mean he didn't invent some nifty-looking guns. Find out more about them here, and read a comic we wrote about the items here. Or you can skip all that and go watch Smokey and the Bandit II here.

Jul 20, 2011
What if LittleBigPlanet Had Been Free To Play?
Portal

What if LittleBigPlanet Had Been Free To Play?We could have had Sackboy for free at one point. Turns out that this was an early suggestion from Sony to the fledgling group of devs that would become Media Molecule, the studio revealed at the Develop 2011 conference.


"Phil said all sorts of buzzwords that hadn't really hit yet. He said it should be driven by DLC and that it should be free-to-play, have a social core and premium, paid-for content. From that initial meeting Sony agreed to fund us for six months. But that time was primarily spent making videos to try to explain what this game was going to be, not to Sony, but to ourselves!"


At that time, the game was called Craftworld, and Valve had even expressed interest in hiring the team — and this was in 2005, before they had hired the Narbacular Drop team that would go on to develop Portal.


I'm now imagining a world where Little Big Planet could have been free to play, Portal never happened, or maybe it did, but was developed by Media Molecule, and it was full of candy and joy.


Someone should notify these guys of all the alternate realities they've potentially created by telling us this.


Link ChevronDevelop: LittleBigPlanet Was Originally Free-To-Play Reveals Media Molecule via Gamasutra


Jul 19, 2011
The Mysterious Team Fortress 2 Space Program
Team Fortress 2

The Mysterious Team Fortress 2 Space ProgramEarlier this week, a Team Fortress 2 update quietly added a bizarre new feature: several crashed rockets, which can now be seen smoking in the distance of several of the game's maps.


There's no explanation for the rocket's appearance, just the fact they're there, and that when yanked from the game's code we find they're called "Grockets".


Bizarre, but then, we had something similar recently, when doves started turning up in the middle of matches. That ended up preceding the release of "Meet the Medic", so there's hope that this means another of Valve's excellent animated shorts will soon be on the way.


Link ChevronRockets? In MY TF2 maps? [Steam]


...