Whacked!
A violent game show where seven deadly sins compete.
The game includes eight characters: seven contestants, each representing one of the seven deadly sins, and an eighth host character.[1][2]
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Presto Studios
- Publisher
- Microsoft Game Studios
- Designer
- Phil Saunders
- Composer
- Jamey Scott
- Engine
- Sprint Engine
- Platforms
- Xbox
- Released
- October 15, 2002 (NA)
- November 29, 2002 (EU)
- JPN
- January 16, 2003
- Genre
- Party
Facts from the source article.
Making and release
The concept for Whacked! was first discussed in the mid-1990s as a casual multiplayer game intended to compete with Mario Kart 64.[1][2] The game was tested without artificial intelligence to prioritize the multiplayer experience.[1] Whacked! shipped three weeks early due to a strict development schedule.[1][2] Halfway through the project, two of the three creative designers departed, which made development more difficult.[1][2]
For the first Xbox Live rollout, beta testers received Whacked! as one of two distributed titles.[3] Presto Studios shut down in 2002, and Whacked! was the last game it released.[4][5]
What the cited sources add
Saladino's postmortem notes that the game was originally worked on under the code phrase "Big Toe"[2] The Sprint Engine, which supported Whacked!, was driven by Saladino and one other person.[2] Dan Paladin's conceptual work and Flash-animated cut scene "commercials" were essential to the game's visual distinctiveness.[2] The first pitch to Microsoft included a Winsock networking system written in about two weeks.[2]
Saladino pushed to hire an interface programmer for the online extension but was told the studio could not afford it.[2] The design department operated with an "it's done when it's done" attitude, using the seven deadly sins as character foundations.[2] Presto had dreams of sequels including "Whacked Kart" and "Toof's Big Day".[2]
References
- Wikipedia, "Whacked!" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Saladino, "Postmortem: Presto's Whacked!", Game Developer, November 14, 2002 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Saladino, "Postmortem: Presto's Whacked!", Game Developer, November 14, 2002. facts only, no text reused. gamedeveloper.com
- Wikipedia, "Whacked!" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Parker, "Xbox Live starter kit games confirmed", GameSpot, September 25, 2002 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Whacked!" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cohen, "Game maker Presto Studios closes doors", IDG Communications, September 2, 2002 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Cohen, "Game maker Presto Studios closes doors", IDG Communications, September 2, 2002. facts only, no text reused. macworld.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Whacked! (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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