Long-awaited offering by Silicon Knights may represent the future of city's economy
Posted By GRANT LAFLECHE STANDARD STAFF
Updated 8 hours ago
Myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation.
-- philosopher/author Joseph Campbell
Chances are the name Baldur doesn't mean much to you. But very soon it might. Baldur, a curious and little known god of Norse pagan religion, could soon make a big difference to St. Catharines.
If Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack has his way, Baldur, the hero of the company's new video game, Too Human, will do nothing less than change the Garden City.
In mythology, Baldur is the second son of the supreme god Odin, but there isn't much in the old records about him. He is best known for his death, which leads directly to the Ragnarok, the world-ending twilight of the gods.
But unlike other end-of-the-world scenarios found in religious myth, Ragnarok isn't really the end. It's followed by a rebirth of the world, which emerges, along with Baldur himself, fresh and new, having cast off the troubles of the past. The myth isn't just something woven
into the fabric of Too Human, which hits store shelves Tuesday, but is emblematic of Dyack's hopes for the region's economy.
"If Too Human does what we expect it will (in the marketplace), then it can change the world for St. Catharines and Niagara," Dyack said Friday from his office at One St. Paul Street.
As a concept, Too Human is nearly a decade old, originally conceived as a game for the original PlayStation console. It never really got past the preproduction stage and was shelved as Silicon Knights moved on to other projects.
But Dyack says Too Human was never forgotten, and about four years ago the idea was resurrected as a game for Microsoft's Xbox 360.
On Tuesday, Baldur and the rest of the Too Human cast will finally be in the hands of gamers.
Full Story here.
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