The lead developer behind "Mushroom Men" tells me about the opportunities and the setbacks of making Wii games for a hardcore crowd -- and takes a shot at "Deadly Creatures." Read more...

With Les Claypool contributing his musical talents, there's no doubt that "Mushroom Men" will have interesting audio.

But while the Primus frontman was responsible for crafting the Wii title's main themes, it was the game's audio director, Matt Piersall, who remixed the additional music and sound effects -- like humming, whistling and even scatting -- for the game, recording with popular indie band Midlake.

Influenced by dub and electronic music (Piersall's also a national laptop battle champion), he explained that they set the music to a metronome.

"The entire game runs at 120 beats per minute, so it's literally on an actual clock," he said. "We've put this whole game on beat, so visual and ambient environmental effects will happen in time with the music. It's a very subtle feature but it adds to the immersiveness."

To see what Piersall's talking about, check out the video above. There's also another one after the jump.

(Videos not viewable by users logging in from Canada or the U.K.)

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Gamecock is not longer an independent publisher. SouthPeak Interactive acquired them yesterday.

What does this mean for the future of Gamecock? Earlier this month, Gamecock CEO Mike Wilson described their first year as a company as "rough."

MTV Multiplayer e-mailed questions to SouthPeak CEO Melanie Mroz to find out if the Gamecock brand is dead, what role Wilson will have at SouthPeak, if this is a sign that Gamecock's style of independent gaming was a failure and more.

Read on to find out what Mroz had to say.

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Last week, daily Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun (via Yahoo! Japan) reported that the Japanese Association of Psychiatric Hospitals has asked Gamecock Media Group's Japanese distributor Interchannel to pull DS game "Dementium: The Ward" from store shelves.

Released in Japan in June, "Dementium" is survival horror first-person shooter with a plot that has the protagonist in a dilapidated hospital filled with gruesome surgical experiments.

From the translated Yahoo! story, it seems that the organization was concerned that the game might "encourage discrimination and prejudice" against those with psychiatric disorders.

We contacted Gamecock CEO Mike Wilson about the association's request to yank the selling of "Dementium" in Japan. He said to MTV Multiplayer in an e-mail:

"Gamecock's position is that this story, like many before it, boils down to a lack of understanding or appreciation (and therefore fear of) games outside our little sub-culture. I'm sure the people involved have only the best intentions. The co-publisher/distributor for the game in Japan, Interchannel, will deal with the situation appropriately. In the meantime, we're thrilled that this quick bout of paranoia has brought so much attention to our first lovechild with Renegade Kid... The game is groundbreaking on the platform and it deserves the attention and success it is seeing."

"Dementium: The Ward" was released last October in North America and is still available in stores now.

Related Post:
Gamecock CEO Explains How Publisher Will Improve On 'Rough' First Year

Gamecock Media Group is one of those names you see a lot in the gaming press but aren't quite sure what they actually do.

You've probably heard about the Austin-based company when they held a funeral for E3 in 2007. Or when its employees rushed the stage at the 2007 Spike Video Game Awards during Ken Levine's acceptance speech. Or maybe you remember its CEO's candidacy for president of the Entertainment Software Association earlier this year.

But perhaps what you haven't heard is that they also publish games. Formed in 2007, the company put out "Dementium: The Ward" on DS and "Fury," a now defunct PvP-based MMO. This year, they've published "Insecticide," "Stronghold Crusader Extreme," "Hail to the Chimp," and "Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball." And before the end of 2008, they'll release FPS "Legendary" and hyped action-adventure title "Mushroom Men."

I recently spoke with CEO Mike Wilson, not about the publisher's antics, but about how the company is doing.

Here is his candid summary of the company's first year: Read more...

When I heard about the politically-themed party game "Hail To The Chimp" last year, I was told it was for fans of "The Colbert Report."

In other words, "Hail to the Chimp" is for me. By hiring writers from political comedy mainstays "The Daily Show" and The Onion to pen the game, Mike Wilson, CEO of the game's publisher Gamecock Media, said, "We're specifically going after people who follow politics and find it funny... Only ours is funnier."

But is "Hail To The Chimp" funnier than the "The Colbert Report"? The satirical, late-night talk show features charismatic host Stephen Colbert and his deadpan comedy, wry wit and astute political observations. I watch it every night it's on. And I laugh. A lot.

I took Wilson's words as a challenge. So I conducted an experiment where I measured the laughs I had during the game and the popular TV show. And the "truthiness" may surprise you...

Read more...