Toys for Bob News

Latest Project

Toys for Bob — 12 July 2010 00:00:00 EST

It's been a while! We're still working on a game that we think is really awesome and fun, but we can't talk about it just yet. We would, however, like to clear-up some rumors that have been circulating about a new Star Control game we're supposedly making called "Above and Beyond": they aren't true! The game we're currently developing has nothing to do with Star Control, but it's still really exciting and we can't wait until we can talk about it officially. Stay tuned!

Madagascar 2 Shipped!

Toys for Bob — 14 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST

Our most recent game, Madagascar 2, has shipped! We've already sold around 10 million copies. Alright, maybe that statement is not based on any real hard data, or even any real soft data, but something that is true is that we are really proud of the game and hope you folks that pick it up like it too. For the Star Control fans, I'm sorry to inform you that our next game will not be a new Star Control game, but it is very likely that what we've got cookin' could be just as cool, so look out!

To All That Doubt The Power Of News, Behold!

Toys for Bob — 14 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST

All right, all right, I will finally update our News Page. I keep thinking there isn't all that much news since we can't officially announce what game we're working on. I asked someone in PR why we can't announce it and she said because they don't usually announce games until at most 5 or 6 months before they are scheduled to come out. I then asked again why that is and she said it's because there's no reason to start your marketing campaign long before a game is released. I said that makes sense but announcing it doesn't necessarily mean you have to start your marketing campaign, does it? I mean, movies are often announced (not marketed) before filming even starts, years before they come out, and it doesn't seem to have a negative effect on them. The answer to that question was that there was no answer. Much like the sound of one hand clapping or where is the law that specifically states citizens of the USA have to play income tax.

But this I can tell you about the game. It will be probably close to done around this time next year. We're in full production right now and have resurrected our good ole' TFB tools, which like all goodhearted people, we love using. The game will feature interactive menus and full credits. There will be characters. Oh, and it won't be a fireman. That was I used to say many years ago when I worked for some shady telemarketing firm that raised money for police associations. Sometimes people would ask if I was a cop and since I didn't want to tell them that I wasn't, my answer would be something like, "Well I'm not a fireman huh huh huh" and then they kind of chuckled back and bought two tickets to The Drifters show at the county fair. So I guess I am not totally innocent in this world of not answering questions.

Yesterday, the Ur-Quan Masters team was kind enough to set up an IRC chat between fans of Star Control II and the creators of Star Control II, Paul Reiche and Fred Ford. As a bonus, we even threw in design and art contributor Erol Otus and 5-time juror Alex Ness (but you can call me, "me"). We all thought it went really well and always appreciate talking to the wonderful and passionate SC2 fan base. Afterwards, there were even some online Super Meelee matches. Paul decided to play, his first match in what some would call about 4 years and he was beaten into oblivion. This was quite painful and forced him to go home to his mansion and cry on a big pile of money. He hasn't been seen since. It's quite possible that he's still in the pile of money and no one can find him. It's just so big!

Star Control Sequel Update: Here comes that update. Well, we have talked to our parent company Activision about doing a Star Control sequel, quite seriously, and there did honestly seem to be some real live interest on their part. At least on the prototype and concept-test level. This is something we may in fact get to do when we finish our current game and clean our room. Again, I will continue to say that I really appreciate everybody's email and petition support. Believe me, it helps. Publishers are generally very scared to release original console games or in this case, a franchise game but the franchise is so old it might as well be original. They're so scared that they can't even refer to it as releasing an original title. They have to call it "Launching a new IP". Somehow that makes it less scary. Ghosts run away at the sound of buzzphrases, I guess. But being scared is nothing to be ashamed about. We all get scared of things like ghosts or gambling on an idea in an industry where you're either in the Top 10 games of the year or you are an abysmal failure. So the more we show them that there is a sizeable, as well as wonderful and passionate, fan base out there, the less frightened they'll be. There has also been some talk about releasing a downloadable version of SCII for the Xbox 360 Live Arcade deal. I think that would be greatest thing since something that was really great. Not sliced bread though. How great is sliced bread anyway? Considering the expression, "greatest thing since sliced bread", I would expect it to be a lot better than it is. How about this new one: "The most overrated thing since sliced bread?"

I Really Am Sorry

Toys for Bob — 18 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST

So sorry that I haven't updated this website in what is generally considered to be "many months". It's just that I've/we've been really busy lately. Too busy to use the internet. Or write a complete sentence. Just fragments. Grunts.

But we were grunting for a cause. We have been trying to finish Downhill Jam. That actually hasn't been the difficult part. The difficult part has been getting "100 Percent Pure Adrenaline" into Downhill Jam. It was rough but we did it. I can never go to Thailand again (never ever, under any circumstances) but at least no one can say we used 52 percent adrenaline or even 99 percent adrenaline. Although no one ever would say that. It's either 100 percent or you've made a sissy game. Never mind who gets hurt in the process. I said, "Couldn't we just put sunglasses on Tony Hawk? Wouldn't that give him enough 'attitude'?" But no, they needed the real thing. So please, pick up Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam for the Nintendo Wii when it comes out in a month. Otherwise all of those people (and that one bear) died for nothing.

"But what about a Star Control sequel", you ask? And yes, I know you ask that because I am psychic. But if you're so psychic, then why ask me? Don't you know already? Oh wait, you didn't say you were psychic. I guess I said I was psychic. But I guess I'm not. And that's why I don't really have any news on a Star Control sequel. Well, that's not really why but that is why I don't know for sure if we're ever going to be able to make one. Because that would require seeing into the future. That's not really psychic power though. I think they call that pre-cognition. I don't have that either. I'm just a guy who doesn't have any new news for you on this front, I'm sorry to say, and also a guy who's made a lot of mistakes. They say what happens in Thailand, stays in Thailand. Or maybe that's Vegas. And maybe only idiots say that. I still hope and pray that they're right.

So while I may not have the ability to see into the future, I can see into the past. And the present, to a very limited degree. What these cognitive abilities are telling me is that many of you great people all over the world continue to send in emails and sign our petition in support of another Star Control sequel. That is so cool. I can't tell you how happy that makes us. I could try but it would only come out like gibberish that you might think sounds a little like swearing and then you might think I'm swearing at you and nothing could be further from the truth. Again, I am so grateful that support continues to roll in. Let's keep rolling it in. It can't hurt. It can only help. And not only does it increase the total amount of emails but it also shows Activision that this isn't just some flash-in-the-pan, support-of-reviving-an-old-franchise craze. You know how they have those? This just continues to prove that there is a real fan base out there for Star Control and they are not going to dissappear or die or just get very, very lost.

And finally, I would like to leave you with the words, "Anthony Suarez"

OBGYN Kenobi

Toys for Bob — 28 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST

Hey, this is just a quick Star Control initiative update: Emails and petition signings supporting that initiative I just mentioned continue to come in. We're still a little short of that 1 million mark I wanted. I guess that can just stay out of my car and into my dreams for a while. My car isn't all that clean right now anyway.

We really do appreciate all of this support. Besides helping us convince Activision that there is a fan base clammoring for this game, the emails rea ly fire Paul up. He's been brainstorming ideas on his spare time for a possible sequel and come up with some really cool stuff.

So are we actually going to make this thing? We still don't know. It's kind of like birds. What are birds? We really don't know. The hope is that after we finish our current project, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, we can propose doing a Star Control sequel next. Oh yeah, that's right, our current project is Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam for the Wii. So now you know. And knowing is half the battle. You know what the other half of the battle is? Battling.

Only 997,700 more emails to go!

Toys for Bob — 27 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST

I must say thank you so much again to all the wonderful people who have sent in emails and signed the petition to help give us, Toys For Bob, the opportunity to do another Star Control game. I could kiss each and every one if you, especially the Scandinavians, if I hadn't already signed a form with the company saying I wouldn't.

We're at around 2300 emails/petitions right now, which is awesome, but it seems to be slowing down a little. And we need more more more if we're going to make any kind of a case to Activision. Does anyone have any ideas, even diabolical ideas, especially diabolical ideas, for how we can get more people to rock the vote? I've heard Steven Spielberg is a fan. Does anybody know Steven Spielberg? Tell him to email me. Also ask him if he knows where my television remote is. Because I can't find it. And let me tell you, when you've used a remote for years and then you suddenly don't have it anymore, it's extremely upsetting. You just end up watching CSI over and over and over again on the Spike channel. That's all they play. I get it, okay? All flash and no substance. Great stuff. Now get back to the James Bond marathons you used to show.

Supposedly Jack Black is a fan of the series too. Anyone know him? I could definitely use a supportive Jack Black email, laced with his fractured take on modern life or something. Don't ask him about my remote though. Because I'm pretty sure Spielberg has it. For now.

Support The Star Control Initiative

Toys for Bob — 17 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST

Wow, thank you so much, World, for all the emails you have been sending me in support of us doing another Star Control. I've already received over 800 since my last post! That makes me happy in ways that you would probably be uncomfortable to hear about. I'm not sure exactly how many of these I will need to convince Activision to let us make a sequel but I'm almost positive that if I had one million, they would have no choice but to give us the thumbs up, along with a bunch of money, clearly marked with a dollar sign on them to indicate that it's money. So keep the emails coming! I had planned on trying to write each and every one of you back, saying thanks and other nice things but with so many flowing in every minute, I'm afraid I won't be able to do that.

So this is kind of my thank you letter to you people right here. I know it's not very personal and I apologize for that. You can make it a little warmer by reading it aloud but in my voice. And my voice has to sound somewhat echo-y, like it's coming through a megaphone but not so loud. There also should be a lot of swear words. But most of them are probably not directed at you. I just like swearing. Oh, and I should definitely be asking you when we can kill again. Because that's something that's really important to me. Anyway, I would like to conclude this Thank You Letter by saying, "Sincerely, Alex Ness"

But wait, there is a PS. That old petition address I gave you was just that. An old petition. That was no longer alive. We have a new place where you can sign a petition requesting us to do a Star Control sequel. Go to http://sc2.sourceforge.net/petition/petition.php and sign away. Special thanks to the great and mysterious Serge van den Boom for setting this up.

PPS. Seriously, when can we kill again?

Star Control Sequel - Get Out Of My Dreams..

Toys for Bob — 11 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST

You know what I haven't done in a while? Written any news. Some things have happened but nothing you would be that interested in. We've definitely hired a bunch of people in the last 6 months (See? I told you so.)

The game we've been working on for about a year is scheduled to come out in early November or so. What game are we working on? That's the funny thing. I can't tell you. I don't even know myself. What I mean is, "I don't even know, (comma) myself." Actually that doesn't make sense if I write it that way. I just didn't want you to think that I didn't know myself, even though I really don't. I wanted you to think that I didn't know what game we're working on, even though I really do.

Apparently, Activision is going to finally reveal the secret identity of our game at E3, which is about a month away. Hopefully I will know what game it is beforehand because I am supposed to be demo-ing it down at the show. If you're down there and want to say hi, just try and find me. You never will. I'm extremely difficult to find. And I won't answer to my own name (Alex). If you think you see me and call out a different name, like say, Stefan Jacobs, look for the person that doesn't turn around. That person is probably me. You may think that makes me fairly easy to find but again, you are wrong (I can't remember the first time you were wrong but I'm assuming it's happened at least once). Most people, you will notice, will turn around to the name Stefan Jacobs.

So it's taken me my usual 3 paragraphs to get to the real meat of this news article. And here it comes: A Star Control Sequel. We (I) want us to do a Star Control sequel. Back in the early 90s, Paul and Fred and some other people made Star Control 2. Personally, I thought it was pretty amazing. It was like a drug to me. Not quite as much like a drug as the drugs were but very, very close. I know there are other people that loved this game too. Sometimes you email me and ask if we'll ever do a sequel. And I always tell you that I wish we could do a sequel but it's very hard to convince large publishing companies that a new Star Control would sell very well in the current video game market. But maybe, just maybe, if enough of you people out there send me emails requesting that Toys For Bob do a legitimate sequel to Star Control 2, I'll be able to show them to Activision, along with a loaded handgun, and they will finally be convinced to roll the dice on this thing.

Will you do that for me? Your old pal, Alex? If you were working at a video game development company who had 2 founders that had worked on a classic, epic space role-playing and combat game years ago for which you had recently re-acquired rights to and were hoping to convince your new parent company to let you make a sequel by asking for the public to send in requests for said sequel, I'd email you. There's actually even a petition online. I have no idea how to sign it but here it is: http://starcontrol.classicgaming.gamespy.com/petition/petition_signed.shtml

Madagascar Loses Pants, Life

Toys for Bob — 02 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EST

Madagascar didn't lose pants but it does apparently have legs. That's what we hear. I don't know if it needs pants now. Maybe it wants to roll with an "unfurnished basement." I know that would be my choice for total comfort. I think the perfect look for me, for any man really, would be socks, shoes, a shirt, a backpack, and no pants nor underwear. The key is to pull your socks up really high. I could seriously rock that look. Anyway, what I'm getting at here is that Madagascar is selling like hot cakes. Hot cakes that sell a whole lot, I mean, because I've never known hot cakes to generally sell that well. One problem might be that nobody actually knows what a hot cake is. Of course we do know what the words "hot" and "cake" mean but together...I don't know. It could be many things. Pancake would be my guess. Pancakes never stay hot for that long though. No breakfast foods do. Why is that? Who cares? I've lost the point again. It will take me a few minutes to get it back but thanks to the magic of the internet and the abstract concept of love, you won't have to wait a few minutes. You are going to read it now. You're so lucky. Sometimes I wish I were you. But mostly, I wish I were George Clooney. No, that's not true. I think I'd rather be Stefan Jacobs. I'm not sure who that is though.

So do you think I'm ever going to get to the point and talk about real news involving our latest game, Madagascar? Chances are I'm not just going to randomly ramble for this whole post, am I? It's hard to say. I certainly wouldn't put it past myself. I probably would put it past Stefan Jacobs. He seems to be a little more on the ball about these things. Maybe I just need to reach down deep and find that Stefan Jacobs inside of me. Here goes: Madagascar sold over a million units in the US alone and that was like, almost 2 months ago. Who knows how much it's sold now. - a billion? I guess probably not that much. This isn't really one of those websites that has all the answers or facts. I just know it's selling really well over here. Then, in the UK, it was the number one PS2 game for about a month. Then it was number two. Now I think it's number two still. That's good eating! I haven't heard anything about how it's doing in those other freak countries but it's gotta be selling at least okay. But if it isn't, then screw those guys.

We've now moved onto the next game. What is the next game, you ask? Oh you sneaky bastard, you almost tricked me. I almost slipped and told you what game we're working on even though I'm not allowed to say yet. You see, if I were to tell you, the entire fabric of society would collapse. Fabric can't collapse, you may think. Well that's exactly what we're dealing with here. The result would be so catastrophic, everything you once held true would suddenly be held untrue. Now that I think about it, I kind of want to tell you what we're working on just to say what happens. But then someone from Activision would come out and beat me half to death. And the only way they'd know for sure that they had beaten me half to death would be to administer the EXACT same beating again and see if I died. So I'd be dead and wouldn't get to enjoy the dismal future I had doomed the rest of humanity to.

We're in the process of updating our website a little. I know it's pretty crazy to announce on our website that we're updating that website. It's like a paradox or an infinite time loop or something. Or like when you're watching a movie and then the people in the movie watch a movie. Every time that happens, I'm like, "Whoa. I'd better hang on for the ride of my life!" One of the things we have to update is the staff list. We've hired a bunch of new people recently that have yet to find their voice on our website. We also haven't given them phones or water. Oh, and we need to do some work on the games page so that you can see Madagascar up there. You won't be able to see its legs though. Because the "legs" are metaphorical, see? No, you can't see. That's the point. They're a metaphor. Man's quest for absolution. Madagascar has that, I guess. Were there any typos in the news posting? Apparently, I have a problem with typos and this is the reason I am afraid to feel things.

- Alex

TFB Bought By Activision - What Up!

Toys for Bob — 03 May 2005 00:00:00 EST

Today it was announced that we, Toys For Bob, were purchased by Activision. My tears of joy and this internet article say more than words ever could (even though the internet article does contain words):

http://dformosa.zeta.org.au/~dformosa/Spelling.html

No wait, that was the wrong website. Here you go:

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=5415

How about that, huh? You see what you get? Send me to a psychiatrist, will you? Well who's laughing now, Dr.Reilly?

News

Toys for Bob — 09 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EST

Unfortunately, the thir testicle was never found.

Maybe I should start at the beginning. You see, I was trying to start off at the end of the story to get you interested. And then I was going to go all the way back to the beginning so that you could see how the third testicle came to never be found. Or more importantly, how it was lost in the first place

We were just about to submit Madagascar. Wait, let me go back even further. No, actually I don't need to go back any further. That's really as far as I remember. Let's talk about Madagascar. Madagascar is the video game title we've been working on for the past 20 months. Some might even call it a "AAA title". "Title" meaning video game and honestly, I don't know what "AAA" (pronounced Triple-A) means. What I do know is that there are no video games that are not AAA titles. No company has ever made a AA or D title. You're probably thinking something like, "What about XXX titles?" and let me just say this, I'm right there with you. I have noticed that people who talk about AAA titles are usually the same kind of people who participate in Fun Runs. The also sometimes say, "See you at GDC!". For those of you that don't work in the video game industry, that means absolutely nothing. True for people who do work in the video game industry as well. It's pretty much the equivalent of mumbling under your breath when you're really intoxicated.

In the last news broadcast, I told you that Activision's website would probably have info about our game Madagascar by the end of January or beginning of February. That turned out to be completely false. There were about 1907 other lies in that last news broadcast though so you probably didn't notice this particular one. Now they tell me that the game will have it's own website soon, closer to the movie release date. They also tell me to "be patient" and "please exhale into this breathalyzer". I don't care if they are cops, I get really tired of hearing people say things like that.

Getting back to the matter at hand: the testicles. While I've been writing this, I found out that nobody has a third testicle so that's why it was never located. I guess I just got confused for a couple minutes. A tense couple minutes, I might add. So how's that for payoff? It's like when you watch a movie and they tell you like, the Secret To Life or something at the very end. And then you get to the end and the Secret is something like Love or whatever. Like you have to love everybody or something. Maybe this isn't the exact same thing but it's still pretty bad.

More news

Toys for Bob — 13 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST

I think we can say what game we're working on now. We're at Beta and if our publisher (Activision) hasn't officially announced it yet, we're pretty much working on a fake game and it doesn't matter what we say about it.

It's called "Madagascar", named after the upcoming animated DreamWorks movie called "Madagascar", named after the British explorer, "Earl Lord Duke Thistlewick Madagascar" ("Lord" and "Duke" were actually part of his name. He wasn't a real Lord or Duke. He was a real Earl though. Whatever that means. He was also, incidentally, the first man to ever legally marry his own beard), who was himself named after the chemical "Madagascar", which was a 1500's precursor to what we would now refer to as a beaver tranquilizer. I'm not totally sure if his family invented that primitive version of a beaver tranquilizer and that's why they took on the name or if they just really liked using it for recreation (either taking it themselves or making beavers tired or both at the same time).

Anyway, you can get more information about the game on Activision's website. I'm just kidding though. I looked on that site right now and couldn't find anything. I guess we really are working on one of those fake games. No wait, I just spoke to our producer at Activision and she said that there should be something up there by the end of January/early February. So now it's not a fake game. I wish I would have fou d this out before I started beating myself about the face, chest, neck, breast, neck, and head. But what would you do if you thought you had been working on a fake game for like, a year-and-a-half or something? You'd give yourself a pretty good self-beating too, that's what. Actually, now that I think about it, that self-beating was for something else. I was trying to do a magic trick or something.

I did happen to notice that I couldn't find much information about Earl Lord Duke Thistlewick Madagascar online. Maybe I spelled the name wrong or made him up completely.

We should be all finished up with the game in February/March of 2005. That's a fact, Jack. There's still no official word on our next project yet but as witnessed in the News Section of this very website, official words can take a long time to become official. Like for instance, in the last news installment, Iana mentioned that the bathroom drain in the office above our conference room backed up but actually, that happened years ago (and/or not at all). We just weren't ready to go on record as officially announcing it.

With a love that will echo through the ages,

Alex

Updates

Toys for Bob — 27 Sep 2004 00:00:00 EST

Hi all. Been quite some time since I updated this thing. What's happened in the meantime? Loads.

- Shane Ushijima has left our Animation Staff and Chris Turner has joined it.

- We hired a bunch of people as Temporary staff to help us work on this game.

- We rented more office space.

- The bathroom drain in the office above our conference room backed up and left the nastiest smell.

- The number of motorcyclists in the company has gone up.

- Durian fruits have infiltrated our game (and the candies, our office. try one!)

- And more...

Now for what you've all been waiting for: the name of our secret project! Unfortunately, I still can't tell you that, unless you want to be promptly dismembered. Sorry. You'll just have to wait.

-iana

Super Secret Project and New Additions to the Team

Toys for Bob — 09 Apr 2004 00:00:00 EST

Well, here we go: my first newsletter thingie. For those of you who have been here before, let me tell you what's changed. First of all, Alex used to take care of all this web stuff, but he decided that designing levels is more fun, so I got hired. Who am I? I am Iana, and you can check out my bio by going to We Are and then Staff List and then finding me. Read everybody else's, too. We have a bunch of other new people, too.

Meet the Newbies: Robert is programmer who plays soccer all the time; Jamie is a programmer who goes running and diets all the time; Ray is a level designer who plays Halo all the time; I am just some gamer chick they hired; Josh is an artist who works all the time (go figure); Laurie is an artist with a sick sense of humor; and Guy is, well, this guy we hired to do art.

So those are the additions to the team. Now for the Super Secret Project. I'd tell you what we are working on, but then I'd hav to dismember you. All I can say is that we continue to have work despite the economic slump. That makes us pretty cool.

OK, if you made it this far and are wondering what possessed the bigwigs here to let me write all this boring stuff, let me assure you that, now that I've gotten this out of the way, the next update will be far more entertaining.

'Til next time, --iana

New Game

Toys for Bob — 04 Nov 2003 00:00:00 EST

We just finished our first game, Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure. While I know what all those words mean individually, I have yet to figure out what they mean all together. Nonetheless, final versions have been approved for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo Gamecube, and Xbox. Plus there were foreign language versions on all those platforms. Plus there was a beautiful flamingo flying across the brilliant pink-orange sky as the sun gently dips down beneath the receipting horizon. Plus I'm drunk. And maybe it's the whisky talking, but working on this game was a lot o fun and we're all really proud of it. That's probably not the whisky talking though. It's probably that bottle of Mrs. Butterworth's syrup again. At first, it was funny and cute when she talked but now I just want to smash her, maple blood spilling forth. Still though, I agree with her sentiment. The game turned out really nicely and will be out in September 2003. So now we're moving on to the next game and once again, we're back to not being able to tell anyone about it. We're really excited about it though and will at least tell you this: democracy just doesn't work. Some Star Control 2 News: Gamespot magazine just released a Greatest Video Games Of All Time and Star Control 2 was in the 6-10 ranked group, along with some pretty elite company. We are very happy and honored by this. Or at least, Paul is. Fred is not capable of feeling either of those two emotions. That's really about all there is. Tune in next time for when we discuss "Religion: Which is the one true faith?"