DeathSpank dev working on The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

By Adam Rosenberg May 25, 2011

the-new-hitchhikers-guide — Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you like loot and laughter and you haven’t played Hothead Games’ DeathSpank then you are doing yourself a grave disservice. The action role-playing game is available for both high def consoles as well as Windows and Mac OS X. In other words, unless you restrict your gaming to Nintendo and mobile products, you have a way to play. Along with being a great game, DeathSpank also effectively demonstrates why it’s so great to hear that Hothead is now working with the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy license.

The press release unfortunately doesn’t really specify exactly what Hothead’s new project entails. It states the that the developer is working with Megadodo Publications — the fictional publisher of the actual book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in creator Douglas Adams’ universe — to create a “new edition of The Guide.” Taken literally, that could mean some sort of funny, interactive mobile app. Or it could just be clever PRspeak written to mimic Adams’ dry style of humor. The translation being, “We’re making a new Hitchhiker’s game, but we’re going to immerse this press release in the fiction of that universe.”

There’s a website up for The New Hitchhiker’s Guide which is also completely non-revealing. A message on the page states that the guide’s content has been updated “to provide compatibility with such quaint locations as Earth.” The message also notes that this updated Guide “will soon be available for all the latest primitive digital devices on your planet, including”… and that’s where it stops. The message doesn’t actually end there, but a poorly positioned Post-It note blocks the rest. Jerks.

Maybe this really will be some kind of interactive book download. It’s going to be tough to top the original game based on Adams’ novel, a classic text adventure from Infocom. Maybe Hothead should just port that to everything under the sun and call it a day.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

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