Filed under: Too Human

Silicon Knights announced today that it has laid off 26 employees in the wake of the completion of Too Human and heading into "several new and exciting games." The press release notes that it is common for development teams to grow during a single project and "whittle down" once the project is complete. According to the release, Silicon Knights had undergone "four years of unprecedented growth" in which the company reached over 180 people before the cutback. The layoffs are purportedly temporary with company head Denis Dyack stating, "These 26 individuals are hard-working and valued team members that we hope to bring back as we ramp up on our future projects."

While the press release states that "All the company's directors and leads are still at Silicon Knights and working on its next projects," a Joystiq tipster said that the 26 cut employees included "a few long-tenured ones."

Find the full press release after the break.

Tonight, from 7-9:00PM eastern, Mr. Denis Dyack and a handful of Silicon Knights developers will be logging onto Xbox Live to play some Too Human as part of Xbox.com's Game with Developers initiative. And, really, we couldn't think of any better way to spend a Friday night. Simply make the leap over to Xbox.com to get a listing of all the Silicon Knights Gamertags and spam their friends list like there's no tomorrow. Have fun and, please, play safe.

Just when we all thought that the lumbering storm cloud that washed Too Human's existence with unrestrained negativity (or "mixed" positivity, depending on how you look at it), we remembered something: Zero Punctuation. As a man who loves to hate, we imagine there was no way Yahtzee would pass up a game like Too Human. It is, in his opinion, universally bad and apparently has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. To anyone who enjoys the game (frankly, we've been a bit addicted), you have been warned. Everyone else, find the review after the break.

According to the NPD Group the controversial loot-grinder Too Human cracked the top ten sales chart for the month of August. Selling 168,200 units in a ten day period, Too Human landed the number 8 spot beating out Madden 09 for the Nintendo Wii and Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS.

While reactions have been mixed since Too Human's release, Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack told X3F in a post game release interview that the team from St. Catharine's, Canada, couldn't be happier with the final product. Controversy aside, Too Human debuted strong and continued sales only solidifies that the previously announced sequels are still in the works. That Valkyrie death animation can still fall in a well and die, though. Just saying.

[via GameDaily]

After a week covering Silicon Knights and Too Human, it's time to end our special coverage with a special giveaway. Up for grabs we have a copy of Too Human autographed by the team at Silicon Knights. We also have a swanky Too Human cloth bag for you to put it in. You wouldn't want the ink to get all smudged, now would you?). But wait, there's more! We also have an autographed Too Human poster for our second prize winner (check out a photo of it after the break). To enter, simply follow these directions:

• Every player in Too Human has to make a philosophical choice: Human or Cybernetic. Leave a comment telling us which path you would choose, and why. It doesn't even have to be specific to Too Human, just have fun with it.
  
• Only one comment per person will be accepted. Posters of multiple comments will be disqualified. We'll accept entries until 11:00PM eastern time today, August 29th, 2008. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. This giveaway is open only to residents of the U.S. and Canada (excluding Quebec).
  
• Later today, we'll pick two winner via random drawing.
  
• One grand prize winner will receive an autographed copy of Too Human and a Too Human cloth bag, worth $80. One second prize winner will receive an autographed Too Human poster, worth $20.
• Complete giveaway rules can be found here

In the final part of our three part interview with Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack we discuss the future of the studio. From genre bending, clarifications and the unanswered question regarding the ownership of the Eternal Darkness IP, this interview covers everything you'd want to know about the future of Silicon Knights.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a special giveaway to round out our Too Human coverage.

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In the second part of our three part interview with Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack the conversation focuses in on Too Human. After listing off his three high points and low points from his experiences of the game, Denis discusses his overall impressions of fan response -- refraining to comment on videos from Kevin Pereira and Giant Bomb -- and whether or not the game has lived up to the studio's expectations.

Due to length this video split into two sections, the second portion of the Too Human interview can be found after the jump.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the final part of our three part Denis Dyack interview. In part three Denis and Xav discuss the future of Silicon Knights, the studios relationship with Nintendo and the genre possibilities for the development team.

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In part two of our three part exclusive interview with Denis Dyack during a studio tour of Silicon Knights the subject of much debate was pointed out in the room like a 300 ton gorilla. Whether you're on the Too Human hate train or defence camp nearly everyone agrees the unskippable Valkyrie death animation breaks the flow of the game and gets downright boring.

When asked why the animation was not skippable, Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack was quick to compare the animation with loading a save file in other titles or an MMO corpse run reiterating that the Valkyrie scene is the only real penalty for death.

"If you're getting frustrated with the Valkyrie cinema, you might be dying a little too much," Dyack joked. "The bottom line is ... If it's a sign that people love the game so much that they just want to get back in and play, could we make it skippable? Sure, it's an easy change. Is it something we ever would have anticipated since we thought it was faster than going to get your body or losing experience [which does not happen in Too Human] ... is that a change we can make in the future? Sure."

While Dyack makes a valid point, many detractors and even fans - ourselves included - agree the scene feels dated and while he told us it could change, X3F was never told that that it would.

Stay tuned for the full interview at noon today where Xav and Denis discuss Too Human.

As part of our week long coverage of Silicon Knights latest release Too Human, X3F presents our brand new Too Human page. The Too Human page includes all the latest news on the game, including each of our special features that we will be debuting this week on X3F, as well as image galleries and basically anything you need to know about the game. The page will be updated throughout the week to include every day's feature and we will also update it in the future as news develops. Click and enjoy. Also, keep your eyes out for more pages covering major releases in the future.

Check out X3F's Too Human page

In the first part of our three part interview with Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack we discuss the origin of the studio from an Atari, Amiga and PC developer of RTS titles to the GameCube remake of the classic PS1 title, Metal Gear Solid. How did Silicon Knights get tapped to create the remake, when did the studio's relationship with Nintendo begin? Part one of the interview gets to the bottom of things from the games that Silicon Knights develops to the people and culture that make up the studio.

Stay tuned tomorrow for part two of our three part Denis Dyack interview. In part two Xav lists the top three things he likes and dislikes about his experience with Too Human - discussion ensues.

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In our exclusive three-part interview with Denis Dyack, the Silicon Knights president revealed the company is built much like a guild. "We do games differently than other companies," Dyack told X3F. "We're not saying we have it right and everyone else has it wrong but we do it our own way."

With ten staffers soon to be added to the, already long, list of decade long employees at Silicon Knights, Dyack told X3F that he hopes the company continue to support the industries most vital resource: People. "Everyone at Silicon Knights realizes that we're a knowledge based company and in a knowledge based company computers are $5,000 pencils -- the only value is the people."

Check out our exclusive studio tour and stay tuned at noon for the first part of our three-part interview with Denis Dyack.

After launching the controversial title Too Human, Silicon Knights invited X3F for a full tour of its studio and a one-on-one interview with company president, Denis Dyack. In the first of four videos, Dyack walks X3F through its St. Catharines, Canada, based studio showcasing the company culture and the process of creating its latest release.

Stay tuned tomorrow for part one of our three part Denis Dyack interview. In part one Dyack describes the "Origins of Silicon Knights."

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In an exclusive studio tour and interview with X3F, Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack discussed his frustration regarding the common misconception that Too Human has been in development for over a decade.

"I cannot dispel that rumor enough," Dyack told X3F. "That is a bad way to talk about Too Human because that is factually incorrect."

Too Human is commonly noted as being in development since it was first showcased as a PlayStation title in 1999 but, according to Dyack, production on the game did not begin until sometime after Silicon Knights shipped Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes for the Nintendo GameCube. "People think, 'Oh the game has been in development for 18 years plus...' it isn't possible," Dyack told X3F.

Stay tuned at noon for a full studio tour video and image gallery with Denis Dyack.

During the Too Human launch signing in St. Catharines, Ontario, Denis Dyack took a few minutes to answer some of our questions. While reserved, Dyack did speak fondly of the community Silicon Knights represents, the success of the demo and misunderstandings within the media.

Surrounded by fans awaiting a signature from the Silicon Knights development team, Dyack brushed off our questions regarding the recent reviews of Too Human, message board communities and the future of both the franchise and the studio's next announcement.


[MP3] Download this interview in MP3 format