There’s tons of fun in this 4-page pdf, which you can print out to leave a copy at the dentist’s office and confuse the hell out of everyone. Word searches (”BODY ODOR,” “NO SHOW” and “DENIS DYACK.”) booth babes and jokes, too. (”Why did the AAA exclusive game flop after years in development?” “It was released for PC?” Owwwwww …)

God, that cartoon of Reggie cracks me the hell up. Enjoy, courtesy of GameSpy.

The E3 Activity Book for Kids [GameSpy]

Too Human developer Silicon Knights hired Michael Mays, a “skilled financier” with nearly 20 years financial experience, as their new vice president.

Mays will work closely with Denis Dyack to “to drive the company forward by fostering continual growth for Silicon Knights, as well as the games industry in Ontario and the Niagara Region. “

No exactly sexy, exciting stuff, but it is the sort of thing that can keep a developer from going belly up in harsh economic times. Of course within his first month on the job, Mays was handing out actual swords to Silicon Knights employees with ten years service, so maybe not.

“The sword ceremony only confirmed for me what I already knew – Silicon Knights attracts talented individuals that are devoted to being at Silicon Knights and to creating groundbreaking video games,” said Mays. “I am very excited to be working for one of the largest independent game developers in the world.”

Dyack says Mays arrive marks a step forward in the development of Silicon Knights.

“His keen business acumen and financial knowhow makes him the perfect leader for us and for working with the Ontario government to help build the video game industry presence in the Niagara Region and Ontario,” said Denis Dyack, President of Silicon Knights. “Michael brings a fresh and knowledgeable perspective on business growth and partnerships, and I am pleased to be working with him to expand the company and move our guild forward.”

Rob DePetris, vice-president of finance for Canadian developer Silicon Knights, has left the company. His reason?

According to DePetris, “I’m just looking for something different.” What exactly that is, DePetris does not yet know, adding, That’s something I am going to worry about in the new year,” he said. “But I am going to stay involved in the community, and I am not planning on leaving.”

The exec was instrumental in collaborating with the Ontario government on various game initiatives that helped fuel the company. DePetris is not severing ties as he will continue to work “closely” with SK president Denis Dyack (pictured), Silicon Knights stated.

Silicon Knights exec calls it quits [St. Catherine Standard via ENDSIGHTS]

Carman Dix, Art director of Too Human:
Underneath, Denis is still that boy that genuinely loves video games with a passion.

Henry Sterchi, Director of design of Too Human:
Denis is sincerely passionate about the quality of everything Silicon Knights does, and with that passion comes some of his outspokenness and desire to interact with the community.

Steve Henifin, Audio director of Too Human:
One of the things I like about Denis is that he is a tenacious person and he takes risks. I respect him for that, because I’m the same way.

That’s nice and all… What do you really think?

‘Too Human’ Developers Share Impressions Of Denis Dyack [Multiplayer] [Pic]

Too Human set out to be epic and it delivered on at least one level: Denis Dyack’s painfully personal reaction to the previews and reviews made for a soap opera drama of epic proportions on gaming forums and websites international. But what about the game, did it deliver on the same epic level as Dyack’s wounded ego?

Loved:
May I Have This Fray?: Too Human is a button masher free of button mashing. That’s one of the things the action title does so well. Initially, playing with very few button pushes is strange, even unnerving. But as you master the art of double thumbstick combat, the rolling dungeon brawls become more about spacing, tactics, timing, then they do about tapping A over and over again. Combat becomes almost terpsichorean as you slip from attacker to attacker, unloading powerful blows that some times launch them through the air.
Bountiful Armour and Weapons : Too Human is packed to the gills with different weapons and armour, hundreds of thousands of them. While the Too Human naming convention can result in some pretty goofy titles, the sheer volume is a role-playing gamers fantasy. Throw into the mix that each looks quite unique, that you can collect sets, and the fact that you can augment almost everything with Runes and you turn equipping almost into a mini-game.
Unique World: Silicon Knights’ blending of Norse mythology with cyberspace initially comes off as a bit hackneyed (especially when you’re introduced to a seemingly random taste of Beowulf), but it grows on you. The concepts are all solid, and some are even sublime, like the body snatching Valkyries and robot goblins, trolls and dark elves. It’s a peculiar take on a familiar world that doesn’t try to take centre stage to the game but still manages to slightly bewilder you in its delivery.
Diverse Skills and Alignment Trees:Running there right along side that mammoth, almost never-ending selection of weapons, armour and runes, are the ever branching skill and alignment trees. Each of the five classes in the game have more than a dozen skills to choose from and build up, running along different paths. Players are also asked to choose an alignment a bit into the game, giving them another nine skills to work on. It’s all lends itself to a high level of customisation in the way you want to play the game and plenty of tweaking, almost reminiscent of a pen and paper RPG.

Hated:
I’m a God Not A…:Mountain climber, or hiker, or guy who likes to walk anywhere that isn’t strictly defined in the game. Come on! Baldur is a God, why can’t he walk the less travelled path? It’s down right annoying that I can’t make my way though a collection of shrubs in the middle of a map, but that each of this god’s mighty leaps results in the sound of rolling thunder.
Graphic Glitches: When I played through the preview of Too Human I was struck by how beautiful the game can look at times, but I was more struck by how many graphic glitches and annoying little visual and audio bugs there were in the game. Then when I received the review code I saw much of the same issues, so I waited for the retail code. Guess what? Still there.
CyberWTF: I get what Silicon Knights is going for and in many ways I like it. The modernisation of an ancient mythology is very tantalising and gives gamers a lot of meat to chew on. But the element of cyberspace, however good it might look on paper, feels like a time-fluffing waste. Instead of opening a door I have to go to a well, walk twenty steps, push a button, walk back, leave the well and open a door. I’m sure the developers will better explore this concept in future games, but that’s no reason to punish gamers now.
Epic Confusion: Too Human sets itself out to be an epic tale, one so vast it needs to be told in three games. I buy that and actually can’t wait to dive into the second game. But the first felt like a plunge into the middle of a story that I wasn’t even sure I wanted to care about yet. This sort of starting in the middle approach might work for some, but Silicon Knights just doesn’t have the chops to pull it off. The result is a storyline so convoluted that a gamer’s initial pass is likely to leave them more confused than caring.
Character Development: If you want to sell a game with its story you have to make characters people care about. In Too Human the main characters are so flat, so underdeveloped that it’s hard to feel anything when they start dropping like flies. The same can be said for game lead Baldur, who with a complex back story and conflicting motives should be someone you easily empathize with. But that connection never seems to happen.
Multiplayer: When is multiplayer co-op not multiplayer co-op? When it’s delivered in bite-sized chunks that strip out the cut-scenes and plot. Multiplayer gaming is supposed to be about the act of mutual discovery, experiencing something together. But the fact that characters of any level, no matter how disparate, can make their way through the game in any order they want turns the experience into more of a treasure hunt than voyage.

The most exciting part of Too Human is its ending. That’s not meant to be a back-handed compliment. I’m not saying I relished not playing the game anymore. I’m talking about that final cut scene, one that delivers more hope, more possibility than almost all of Too Human managed to muster in its relatively short play through. The fact that it excited me, though, also means that over the course of the game I guess I grew to like Too Human and become a bit fond of its idiosyncrasies. I’d hate to suggest a game based on what it’s sequel might deliver, but that’s what I’m doing.

The absurdly diverse reaction Too Human is more a product of expectation than any major flaw in game design. Sure it could have used some more polish and this first game in a trilogy, perhaps, should have kicked off at a more interesting point in the overarching story, but it wasn’t a bad game.

Too Human, developed by Silicon Knights, published by Micrsoft Game Studio and released Aug. 19 for the Xbox 360. Retails for $US 59.99. Played through single-player campaign using review code once and final, boxed retail code once. Played through more than two chapters in multplayer matches.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

Microsoft Game Studios and Silicon Knights are committed to finishing the first instalment, but Too Human is an overarching epic with a rich and vast game universe that cannot be told in one instalment.

This game will begin the saga of the god Baldur in the narrative tradition of classic trilogies, such as Star Wars and Lord Of The Rings. We will talk about the full trilogy and we are very excited about its potential.

Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Too Human? All in the same Microsoft breath.

Too Human trilogy ‘very exciting’, says Microsoft [MCVUK]

Too Human isn’t just a science fiction reinterpretation of Norse mythology, nor is it just a philosophical look at humanity’s growing reliance on technology, nor is it just a cautionary tale about the nature of war, nor is it just an action game. Definitely don’t judge it as just an action game. No, Too Human is, among all of these other things, a chance at salvation for an entire city in Ontario, Canada. Or thus spake Dyack in a recent interview with his home town paper.

“If Too Human does what we expect it will (in the marketplace), then it can change the world for St. Catharines and Niagara”, Dyack said Friday from his office at One St. Paul Street.

…

There is a great deal riding on the success of Too Human for Silicon Knights, which employs 160 people. If the game is a hit, it will not only allow the company to grow, but will fuel Dyack’s larger agenda for the city and region.

“I’ve said this before. I want to see a campus here in Niagara dedicated to interactive information technology”, he said.

Dyack sees Niagara as suffering from a kind of inferiority complex that keeps it from reaching its full potential. The problem is compounded by the steady decline of the manufacturing sector. Video-game development and its associated industries might help build a new knowledge-based economy for the region, Dyack said.

So not only will you make Dyack cry if you don’t buy Too Human, you’ll kill a town. See if you can sleep with yourself then!

Long-awaited offering by Silicon Knights may represent the future of city’s economy [The Standard]

Well the trial is proceeding, we feel really good about our claims, and we’re hopeful that justice will be done. We all feel really strongly that they have defrauded us, and a major portion of the industry.

The Unreal Engine is still the industry’s most popular third party engine.

SK v Epic: ‘Justice will be done’ says Dyack [Develop]

Hit the jump for the full press release with pre-order info:

Now is the Time to Become a god Amongst Men; Xbox 360 Exclusive Too Human has Gone Gold

Xbox LIVE Marketplace demo downloads surpass 900,000

Microsoft Game Studios and Silicon Knights announced today that the blockbuster action RPG “Too Human” has gone gold and will be shipping to retailers throughout North America on August 19. In anticipation of the title’s release, gamers can jump into the first level of “Too Human” with a demo now available on Xbox LIVE. The Too Human demo has already been downloaded more than any other action demo on Xbox LIVE Marketplace in its first week of availability and has been one of the top played titles on Xbox LIVE overall. In addition, gamers that pre-order will get access to five exclusive armour sets, one for each class in the game.

A modern take on classical Norse mythology, the Xbox 360 exclusive “Too Human” chronicles the epic story of cybernetic god, Baldur, and his quest to save humanity at the potential price of sacrificing his own humanity. By combining elements of both action and RPG genres – along with the ability to fully customise Baldur’s weaponry, armour, and combat techniques – Too Human creates a truly unique gameplay experience. Players can also invite a friend to join the explosive combat via advanced, online two-player co-op gameplay on Xbox LIVE *.

“Too Human” will have an estimated retail price of $59.99 and is rated “T” for Teen. For more information, visit www.xbox.com/toohuman.

*Online co-op play requires Xbox LIVE Gold Membership.

Too Human Gold [Gamerscore Blog]

You’re not still reading, obviously, but keep an eye peeled for our similar line of interviews coming soon. They’ll feature myself and Mike Fahey in Craftmatic adjustable beds interviewing industry luminaries in our PJs. As soon as someone agrees, we’ll start filming. Any day now…

Denis Dyack Explains Too Human To Our Penthouse Pets, Part 1 [Das Gamer]