In a weird move that most people probably didn’t see coming, actor and former Hollywood superstar, Macaulay Culkin, was announced as the new executive producer at HumaNature for the upcoming release of the crowdfunded co-op adventure game, ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove.
The news came via a press release indicating that HumaNature brought him on because on multiple occasions Culkin claimed that the original Sega Genesis titles were his favorite games, and that he would rather play ToeJam & Earl than Watch the Oscars.
Here’s some things I’m doing instead of watching the #oscars
5. Toejam & Earl pic.twitter.com/w2jWutHw83
— Macaulay Culkin (@IncredibleCulk) March 5, 2018
He also claimed that because it was his favorite game it would make sense to offer feedback on what people might and might not enjoy about the upcoming game, working as somewhat of a focus group tester and its executive producer, saying…
“I’m honored to be producing the new ToeJam & Earl because it is literally my favorite video game of all time. Plus, Greg Johnson is the tits!”
I’m not entirely sure how to feel about this decision. On one hand I feel it’s like HumaNature is capitalizing on the former stardom of Culkin in order to make headlines (in which case, congrats on the move if it worked out for you) but on the other hand one must really question the gaming skills and measurement of quality that can be offered by a Hollywood actor?
On the Angry Video Game Nerd show Culkin appeared to offer some decent, common sense, down to Earth feedback on the terrible Home Alone games and the Pagemaster title, but was that all for show or does he possess legitimate common sense… like a real gamer?
It’s hard to tell from the sidelines, but let’s hope that he doesn’t screw up one of the few games I’m looking forward to this year when ToeJam & Earl: Back In The Groove launches on March 1st, 2019 for $19.99 on the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and on Steam for PC and Mac. Definitely going to get me a Switch version.
You can learn more about the game by visiting the official website.
