Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth GOLD

[MrWonderstuff]

After what seems an eternity, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth has finally gone gold. The bad news is this release is for the XBox with no details on the whereabouts of the PC incarnation.

New York, NY – October 24, 2005 – 2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), and Bethesda Softworks announced today that Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, a highly anticipated survival horror game for the Xbox® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, has shipped to retail stores in North America – just in time for Halloween. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth will be shipping to European retail stores on October 28.
See full press release here (http://ir.take2games.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=177159).

Worringly this has quietly slipped out with little or no fanfare - a bad omen? :(

[Kelegacy]

This BETTER not suck. It's been in development for a long time now. Still, Bethesda wouldnt release a shitty product...would they?

I agree, though; this game has been under the radar and I didn't even know it was shipping this fall. I hope it's not a bad sign. Hate to see a good game get overlooked, though...if in fact it IS good.

[Rommel]

Entering the gamestop, I beheld a fetish of unbeknowst origins. The scientists assures me no such material as of its creation exists on this Earth... it must have come from someplace else - beyond the stars.

I need to throw some racist remarks to really emulate Lovecraft.

[MadHiro]

Bad omen? How can you top a game about Great Old Ones that lie beyond the furthest stars, intent not only on our physical destruction but the utter obliteration of all that we can even comprehend?

You would need to add angry kittens, covered in spikes.

[Swat]

I had hoped the best for this title, but over at GAF they posted scores from a recent mag (Edge?) which gave it a 4/10. I'd still like to give it a rent, regardless.

[Xerxes]

WORST MARKETING EVER... I mean this game was getting press a yeas ago, and nothing since then.

[Xerxes]

This BETTER not suck. It's been in development for a long time now. Still, Bethesda wouldnt release a shitty product...would they?


There once was a game coming out called Sea Dogs 2. It was repackaged as Pirates of the Carribean. Fans of that game please raise your hands. :rolleyes:

[H.Bogard]

Worringly this has quietly slipped out with little or no fanfare - a bad omen?

Serves them right, they say fuck the PC version i say FUCK THEM!

[Conner Dain]

Entering the gamestop, I beheld a fetish of unbeknowst origins. The scientists assures me no such material as of its creation exists on this Earth... it must have come from someplace else - beyond the stars.

I need to throw some racist remarks to really emulate Lovecraft.


Yes, and then don't bother to mention that such remarks were common and prevalent among all writers at the time. H.P. Lovecraft was a product of his time. For god's sake, look at the other popular media at the time. His racism was positively mild in comparison to such works as "The Birth of a Nation.".

[Lodin]

I love the fact that Bethesda of all companies has started to flip off PC gamers.
*not bitter*

[zipR]

Cthulhu thanks you for your comment.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

I love the fact that Bethesda of all companies has started to flip off PC gamers.
*not bitter*


Really, what developer hasn't at least started to flip the PC the bird? None of them seem to care about their original fanbase anymore. The only one I can see is Blizzard, and even they would probably be leaving right now if the development of Starcraft: Ghost wasn't such a fuck up.

[Zeal]

Damn, this game has been under development longer than Duke Nukem Forever. I actually thought it would never make it. Amazing.

[KNOTE]

As for the lack of marketing, it could be because the game is disappointing. It could also be that, if you're Bethesda you have a choice to put your marketing dollars behind Oblivion or Cthulu. You can probably imagine which is higher on their marketing list.

[Kelegacy]

Serves them right, they say fuck the PC version i say FUCK THEM!

No PC version? What the fuck? How can you play a 1st person survival horror game on a console?

Oh yeah, with a gamepad. Motherfucker, just rip out my shorthairs while you are at it, Bethesda!

Would a modern writer using Lovecraftian language be labled as a purple proser? Sometimes I think Tycho indulges in a bit too much of the purple, but sometimes I enjoy that shade of color.

[mixuk]

None of them seem to care about their original fanbase anymore.

That's not fair. It's never about caring. It's always about money. It's business.

Fact: Not many people buy PC games.
Followup: Not many games are made for the PC.

Simple as that.

They might care, but its the revenue which dictates what gets made and to what.

[H.Bogard]

Fact: Not many people buy PC games.
Followup: Not many games are made for the PC.

I disagree, i think reality is the reversal of your statement. The fact is that not many games are made for the PC and the followup is that theres no sales. Nifty eh?

Tell me if RE4 made it onto the PC you wouldnt be horny for it!
yeah baby! bring on the button mashing!

[Rommel]

I like to temper moral judgements of bygone times, but that does not mean I cannot decry faults. Otherwise, the Nazis were fine because the acts were so prevalent throughout Germany.

[Kefkataran]

Damn, this game has been under development longer than Duke Nukem Forever. I actually thought it would never make it. Amazing.

Seriously? It's been in development longer than DNF? I can't believe it.

Tell me if RE4 made it onto the PC you wouldnt be horny for it!
yeah baby! bring on the button mashing!

Huh? I'd probably pick the console version. That style of gameplay lends itself easier to console.

[inmostlight]

I think Bethesda's just publishing this one, not developing it.

I'm definitely gonna wait for more reviews on this one. I was excited a few years ago, but it seems like it's been in development hell forever...

[JudasGoat]

More importantly (to me at least), what does this portend for Fallout 3? If a game they lose interest in or doesn't have anything to do with Elder Scrolls is allowed to tank (presumptiously), does that mean Fallout 3 is in danger of a half-assed approach?

[gojira]

Well, yes and no.

When I was taking history classes, my college professor took time out to explain the difference between prejudice and bias. In a historical or anthropological study, prejudice is the things that you can unlearn, and bias is the things you cannot unlearn.

His point was that we cannot judge history by modern standards. When the Catholic Church said you could beat your wife with a stick no thicker than your thumb, that was actually the beginning of a movement we understand today as social justice and equal rights.

To point out that H. P. Lovecraft was a racist by modern standards is a cheap shot. So was everyone else back then, by modern standards. The civil rights movement was fought fifty years ago by, among others, four scared college men who asked to be served coffee, not by internet posters. Unless you were alive back then, I don't think you have the slightest idea what the word "racist" actually means.

[Heretic Machine]

...Wasn't this supposed to come out tomarrow?

EDIT: I was wrong. It was supposed to come out TODAY. Why is there a post about it going gold?

[Bumbuliuz]

I thought they said it was comming for Xbox and Pc. But also wasnt there a 2nd cutulu games in the works? One suposed to be only for consoles?? :rolleyes:

[Rommel]

His point was that we cannot judge history by modern standards.

And by that respect, we cannot hold other men from other cultures to our own standards.

Edit: For the record, I love H.P. Lovecraft stories, but as I said I do not fail to point out flaws.

[Kefkataran]

And by that respect, we cannot hold other men from other cultures to our own standards.

The man's got a point. Relativism works some of the time, but there is a point where it gets crazy.

[reimomo]

The man's got a point. Relativism works some of the time, but there is a point where it gets crazy.

Yeah, but isn't that point relative? Besides, I think "drunk and crazy as a shithouse rat" is a better descriptor for Lovecraft than "racist" :)

re gojira: move to the small-town south if you think racism is dead and people today have no idea what it was like 50 years ago... like a whole different fuggin country with some people down here.

[Talanvor]

How about just hard to read? That son of a bitch loved to beat his catchphrases into the ground. If I ever read anything about the swirling nameless chaos again I'm going to lose it.

I (tried) reading one of his dream anthologies (The one with Neil Gaiman doing... something for it) and I just got halfway through the book then stopped. Someone really needed to point out that paragraph breaks can be a very good thing. A 40 page paragraph does no one any favours.

[Kelegacy]

I thought they said it was comming for Xbox and Pc. But also wasnt there a 2nd cutulu games in the works? One suposed to be only for consoles?? :rolleyes:

I think I remember that as well. So is Dark Corners of the Earth coming to PC or not? Clarification?

And to whomever mentioned it: I believe Bethesda is developing this one...isnt Take 2 publishing it? I don't think Bethesda is in the publishing biz...

[bobbler]

I think the last Bethesda game I played was some Terminator fps game for the PC (early 90s I would guess) -- it was a lot of fun though!

I can't say I've really been a fan of the stuff they've made, mostly because the western style RPGs make me feel like I'm playing an MMORPG in single player mode. I might try oblivion though!

Btw, Bethesda site says Call of Cthulu is PC/Xbox/PS2.

[TheHulk]

reimomo... Having grown up in a small town in the south I'd be lying if I said there wasn't racism still here, but I've met people from Michigan and northern states that were a million times more racist than anything I've seen here. Don't think it's just in the south, it's everywhere.

Anyway, I really do hope this is a good game. Could use a good game like this to play thru Halloween.

[H.Bogard]

And to whomever mentioned it: I believe Bethesda is developing this one...isnt Take 2 publishing it? I don't think Bethesda is in the publishing biz...

Xbox version released, no sign of PC version till 2006.

[holycrapper]

Racism as it was in the 50's and before is dead, we DO NOT hang black people for being black, and we DO NOT beat them to death, personally i think that what we call minority's now should have to go through what my ancestors did, who by the way were white slaves and native americans, then they would probably stop bitching, anyway, been looking forward to this game for a while, had one of their screen shots as my wall paper for a while. will at least give it a rent...

[Bumbuliuz]

The other cutulu game seems to be called; Call of Cthulhu: Destinys End and is listed on Ebgames as pc only. Take it with a grain of salt though

[Kefkataran]

personally i think that what we call minority's now should have to go through what my ancestors did

Uh... seriously? Hell.

[Rommel]

personally i think that what we call minority's now should have to go through what my ancestors did

Wouldn't it be better if no one went through the failings of the past and instead we all moved on as a unified people with niether hatred or whining? Ah fuck that! I need a good convoluted page about the heathen niggers and their nameless rites! Waitaminute, that's racist! Hmph, lovecraft never even bothered to ask the heathen niggers if the rite had a name.

/hyperbole <- disclaimer

[Twigz'N'Berries]

Wouldn't it be better if no one went through the failings of the past and instead we all moved on as a unified people with niether hatred or whining? Ah fuck that! I need a good convoluted page about the heathen niggers and their nameless rites! Waitaminute, that's racist! Hmph, lovecraft never even bothered to ask the heathen niggers if the rite had a name.

/hyperbole <- disclaimer
What a coward. See, as I see it, you are a major reason we have problems today. Idiots like yourself spew bigoted, racial remarks (of course you wouldn't do this in public, but rely on the anonymity of the net) which incenses some of those who read it. You harbor these feelings and then you act accordingly when you meet minorities elsewhere. You probably don't do anything overtly, too much of a puss, but do little chicken-sh_t things to screw with them.

I love coming to a video-game site and having to put up w/rascist bs like this. When I can go to a site and not have to read some idiotic, racially offensive bs like you just posted, then I think we may have moved forward in race relations. Idiots like yourself just remind all of us that it is alive and well in today's society.

[Twigz'N'Berries]

Racism as it was in the 50's and before is dead, we DO NOT hang black people for being black, and we DO NOT beat them to death, personally i think that what we call minority's now should have to go through what my ancestors did, who by the way were white slaves and native americans, then they would probably stop bitching, anyway, been looking forward to this game for a while, had one of their screen shots as my wall paper for a while. will at least give it a rent...
First question, why do you call it 'white slavery'? If it is the act of slavery, does adding 'white' before it make it more or less heinous? Clearly, when adding such a modifier, it holds significance to you. Second, are you referring to slavery or human trafficking?
http://www.iabolish.com/faq.htm

Wow. With racial sensitivity like that, who could argue that racism is dead? Because I'm sure none of the 'bitching minorities' had ancestors who were, beaten, raped, castrated, shot, hung, lynched, tortured, starved, worked to death, interned, whipped, chained, forced to literally eat ash/dirt...I remember reading stories where plantation slave masters would cut open the bellies of pregnant women to teach other slaves a lesson.

Yeah, Native Americans have been royally screwed over. They fall into all the categories above...and add that their land was stolen and some were intentionally infected with diseases. Oh, don't forget the Tuskeegee experiment, African Americans were infected with syphillis for an experiment...they just weren't told. The Japanese were interned in camps during the war and had their businesses basically stolen from them. Many died in these internment camps and suffered from harsh conditions.
http://www.powersource.com/cocinc/history/trail.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery_in_the_United_States

I'm going to give you an analogy. Lets say a family named called the Jone's needed lived next to you. One day the Grandpa Jones decided he liked your car. So he came over, beat the sh_t out of your Grandma and Grandpa and took the car and parked it in his driveway. Then Grandpa Jones decided he needed his lawn tended to, but he didn't want to do it himself. So he came over and kidnapped your Grandma and Grandpa, beat the sh_t out of them and made them clean his lawn. He kept them in a shack in the back of his property. Grandpa jones would occasionally get a little horny, so he would come out and rape Grandma Jones every once in awhile. Eventually, he found a machine that would take care of his lawn, so he released the Grandma and Grandpa. Now, whenver Grandma or Grandpa would invent something, Grandpa Jones would come over and steal it. He would say that he invented it and he would reap all of the benefits. Now, lets say old Granpa Jones took all of this money and used it to set up an infrastructure of learning and commerce...but he'd be damned if he would let your Grandma or Grandpa use any of it. Your Grandma and Grandpa had to fight for years to enjoy just a modicum of the system that they helped to create, but were denied. Lastly, Grandpa Jones ran the media, so he would constantly depict all of your family as lazy good for nothing bastards (now, some of your family are indeed lazy, good for nothing bastards, but the representation of this was greatly lopsided) so that everyone in the neighborhood thought that your family were horrid people.
How long would it take you to completely let go of what Grandpa Jones did if his family is still reaping the benefits of his actions?


But as a sidenote; I absolutely believe that a lot of covert racism goes on today. But I believe a lot of people confuse racism with classism. Read below if you don't know what I mean.
http://www.tinotopia.com/log/archive/2002/01/21/racism_in_america.htm

[Xerxes]

White slaves?

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Racism as it was in the 50's and before is dead, we DO NOT hang black people for being black, and we DO NOT beat them to death

Nope, these days "we" just drag black men behind our hillbilly pickup trucks until they die, or beat the shit out of "faggots", tie them to fences, and leave them to die.

Racism and hatred are definitely not an issue anymore in America. :rolleyes:

[Magnanimous Gnome]

I think I remember that as well. So is Dark Corners of the Earth coming to PC or not? Clarification?

And to whomever mentioned it: I believe Bethesda is developing this one...isnt Take 2 publishing it? I don't think Bethesda is in the publishing biz...

Bethesda does publish. They published Morrowind, Pirates of the Caribbean, and other titles. They are publishing Oblivion even.

[sanitystream]

From the official CoC game forum:

"VoodooExtreme is reporting that someone from BethSoft told them the PC version will be out soon."

But then there's this comment direct from one of the developers:

"I realise its frustrating that we aren't allowed to disclose information about which platforms are developed for, and I won't pretend to understand the reasoning behind it in any detail, but thats the way it is. Perhaps you will find some comfort in the following information:

From a purely technical point of view, there is not big difference between an Xbox version of a title and a subsequently developed PC version. The coding differences would be relatively minor changes to create an exact port from Xbox to PC, and whether a given game is created as a direct port or an enhancement to take advantage of advances in PC hardware is typically at the publishers discresion."


So.. huh? Does this mean the PC version is coming, but it's a ways off? I don't want to wait!!

[Bumbuliuz]

by the look of it I will be picking this game up for my xbox. Cant wait until 2006 :( That´s just insaine ;)

[Carnifex]

Cthulhu fthagn! IA! IA!

[Kefkataran]

Cthulhu fthagn! IA! IA!

Mmmmmmhmmm! Preach it!

[H.Bogard]

White slaves?

He meant the counter-strike community.

[Kefkataran]

He meant the counter-strike community.

Oooooooh. Now I get it.

[JudasGoat]

So, I picked this one up and so far I'm really impressed. Only about 1.5-2 hours in, but it's better than I anticipated.

If anyone has any specific questions I'll be happy to answer what I can.

[ChumLord]

So, I picked this one up and so far I'm really impressed. Only about 1.5-2 hours in, but it's better than I anticipated.

If anyone has any specific questions I'll be happy to answer what I can.

I'll be waiting for the PC version, but here are a few:

How is the overall ambience of the game? Good quality sounds, visuals, aesthetics, little details that really pull you in?
Is the story involving, unique, and interesting?
Will it skip your heart a few times playing it in the dark alone at midnight?

[JudasGoat]

Ambiance is really good so far. I've only made it as far as Innsmouth, but it's definitely got the sense of hopelessness, oddity and dilapidation. As I said, I'm 2 hours in and haven't fought a single fight, so it's been all story driven so far and quite good at that. It feels very Lovecraftian, although the main character's (your) voice doesn't quite sound right to my ears, however compared to most voice acting it's pretty good. By this point in the game you haven't really got "in the shit" as it were, but moments of unease or just plane wrongness are certainly scattered around. It does a good job of emphasising the fact that you're a gumshoe and comes across as a first person adventure title far more than an FPS, at least thus far.

[ChumLord]

Excellent, thanks for the info and keep us posted on your thoughts. I hope this game sells well, but the marketing for it has been nil from what I've seen. I'd like to see more of these titles (if it really is a good game in the end) so I can crawl around the ruins at Mt. Erebus or the nameless city one day. Wonder if they'll release a mod kit for the PC...

[JudasGoat]

Cripes. If they do, I'll buy it again. :P