Q&A: Parker, Stone talk 'South Park' game at E3

[June 14, 2013]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Trey Parker and Matt Stone have killed Kenny hundreds of times on "South Park," but the video game based on their popular Comedy Central animated series is still very much alive.

After being delayed for months, Ubisoft revealed Monday during its Electronic Entertainment Expo presentation that "South Park: The Stick of Truth" will be released this holiday season for current-generation PC and consoles. The game's fate was up in the air when original publisher THQ Inc. sold off its assets earlier this year after filing for bankruptcy.

While at the Ubisoft booth Wednesday on the E3 show floor, the creators of the Broadway hit musical "The Book of Mormon" were lighthearted about the game's road to release.

AP: How does it feel to be on the E3 show floor?

Parker: It's funny. We're walking around seeing all this stuff, and then we saw this big ("South Park" sign) and we're like, "Oh, crap." It's the same feeling I had when we walked around the corner and saw "Book of Mormon" up on Broadway. It's like, "Oh, we're doing this. OK. We better go get to work."

AP: When is the game coming out now?

Parker: It's starting to look like in the next 10 years it's going to come out. We've been working on it for 26 years now.

AP: How are you bringing your sensibilities to the game?

Stone: The original concept of the game is that it looks like you're in a "South Park" episode. It's funny that it took all this high technology to make it look like the show. It is just the show. It's not a 3-D version or a new look of the show. It just looks like you're in "South Park." That's been a little tough to pull off with the perspective, being a 2-D show, but that part of it is working really well. The other part of it is we have the map of the town for the first time. You can actually run around South Park, and we actually figured out where all the buildings are in relation to each other. We had never done that before.

AP: You frequently make fun of video games on "South Park," but now we're making one. How's that working?

Stone: We like video games a lot, and the kids in "South Park" love video games, so that's a part of the game itself.

Parker: I always loved role-playing games, so I wanted it to feel like you were the new kid in the town. That's what we talked about from the beginning. Conceptually, we need a new character in town, and it's you. You're the new boy. The dynamics of how you fit in. Are you Cartman's best friend? Are you Kyle's best friend? We knew, from our end, we could do all the writing of that and make it cool.

AP: Did you get a chance to check out the Xbox One or PlayStation 4? What did you think?

Stone: We played a little bit of a Roman game on Xbox and a racing game. They looked great. It's like when you have a baby and you have to get the baby room ready. Pretty soon, I'm going to have to get my room ready for my new Xbox and PS4.

AP: You've lampooned violence in pop culture on "South Park." What do you think about all the violent games here at E3?

Stone: There's still not enough. We want more. We think they should be way more violent.

Parker: Those are my favorite kind of games: killing as much stuff as you can.

AP: Can you kill anyone in your game?

Stone: Yeah, a little bit. It's a different sort of game. It's not going to be like a "Far Cry."

Parker: We don't have enough pointless killing in it yet, but we're going to try to add that to it.

AP: Do you see "The Stick of Truth" as the beginning of a new gaming franchise?

Stone: If we can get a game out every 15 years, that's what we're doing right now.

Parker: We can basically do three Broadway musicals in the time that we can do one video game, so I don't know if it's the most lucrative business for us, but what is fascinating is how it ties in with the show. We're already starting to see that. Who knows in 10 years, when the game is getting done, what the technology will be or what system it's going to be on.

Stone: Xbox Three!

[Associated Press; By DERRIK J. LANG]

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://twitter.com/derrikjlang.

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