Believe it or not, there was a time when South Park games weren’t very good…
This article originally appeared in the Den of Geek New York Comic Con special edition print magazine.
you could find the digital copyhere.
But what are the shows co-creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, most proud of?
Parker has said in interviews that hes most gratified that they havent handed it off.
Parker and Stone still voice almost all of the raunchy animated comedys main characters.
Either Parker or Stone is listed as a writer on every singleSouth Parkinstallment.
Parker hasalso directed or co-directed all but 15 of 267 episodes.
South Parks voice is Matt and Treys voice, so its hard to imagine the show without them.
Hard, but not impossible.
It went as well as youd expect.
The show premiered in August 1997.
By December 1998, it was everywhere.
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In that climate,South Parkvideo games seemed like a slam dunk.
A few months later,Chefs Luv Shackmashed upSouth ParkandTrivial Pursuitwith classic arcade games.
In 1999,South Park Rallydropped the shows iconic characters into an uninspiredMario Kartknock-off.
Even if these were good gamesand they arentthey dont have much to do withSouth Park.
The show is at its best when it uses crude humor to slyly dissect celebrity trends and pop culture.
By contrast, aside from a few dirty jokes, Acclaims games played things completely straight.
At a PlayStation 2 launch event, Stone admitted, Weve had really bad video games.
For most of the 2000s,South Parkstayed away from video games.
At first, Urquhart thought that the call was a prank.
As it turns out, Parker and Stone really were on the line.
They wanted to make aSouth Parkrole-playing game, and they wanted Obsidian to develop it.
Parker wrote the games 500-page script.
Despite some hiccups involving publishers,South Park: The Stick of Truthlaunched in 2014.
Character customization and the types of big moral choices that players make in games likeSkyrimorDragon Agedont really matter.
The exaggerated political drama ofGame of ThronesandThe Witcher 3is reduced to petty playground squabbling.
Obsidian isnt returning for this go-around, but Parker and Stone are just as involved as ever.
Thats a good thing.
