WHILE it's been raising a crudely animated middle finger to pop culture for nearly a quarter of a century, early attempts to bring South Park's filthy fun to the videogame set were steaming piles of Mr Hanky.
It was only with 2014's Stick of Truth that creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker finally nailed the show's anarchic spirit for joystick junkies: playing out like Paper Mario with Tourette's, the role-player was followed up in 2017 with an equally sick puppy, The Fractured But Whole (say it out loud).
Now, fans of the cult animation have an all-new South Park game to look forward to. With their coffers suitably swollen thanks to a $900 million deal struck with ViacomCBS, Parker and Stone are planning five more series, 14 films and a new game – the only details of which are that it's 3D.
Given how well recent games aped the cartoon's look, the news conjures up traumatic memories of 1998's N64 turkey, South Park, where all players did was throw snowballs at, well, turkeys. Even the South Park creators hated it – Parker's verdict was "it sucks" – so you'd have to wonder what they were smoking when they decided to go back to 3D. Though, given that the pair's new ventures include a weed company, I think we know.
Speaking of huge financial deals, the latest "football club wants money" shocker means Football Manager's legion of couch coaches will from next year no longer see Manchester United in the venerable sports sim. After 16 years of authentic Red Devilry, Football Manager 22 will instead feature "Manchester UFC".
The Premier League club sued Sega last May for infringing its trademark simply by using the words Manchester United. In response, Sega, who had used the name since 1992 without complaint, said the suit amounted to "an unreasonable restraint on the right to freedom of expression to restrain the use of the words Manchester United to refer to a team in a computer game".
The videogame giant also pointed out that they had sent copies of the game to officials and players at the club for years, and that staff had contacted them on various occasions asking for access to the Football Manager database for scouting and research purposes.
Indeed, current coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been vocal about how playing Football Manager helped perfect his tactics. An "amicable" settlement means that from this year's game onwards, the team will be known only as Manchester UFC or Man UFC.
In the 90s, games often used sound-a-like licensing workarounds, leading to Sensible Soccer boasting such stars as 'Ryan Goggs' and 'Paul Once', but this is the first time a club has claimed copyright on the very words that make up its name.
When it comes to Manchester United's owners, at least we now know what the FC stands for.
