Trivia
Psychonauts was named #10 Game of the Year in the 2005 PC Game Awards issue of Computer Games Magazine (March 2006).
Contributed by
PCGamer77 
(3025) on Feb 21, 2008.
The character of Edgar Teglee is based on the real artist Edgar Leeteg who popularised the Black Velvet style of painting of that level's art style. Leeteg initially worked as a billboard painter and sign writer in California before losing his job due to the depression. Later he went on to achieve infamy for his cheesy art style.
The four painting dogs in the same level are the dogs from the famous Dog's Playing Poker painting, actually called "A Bold Bluff" by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge.
Several characters' last names mean "no", "none" or "nothing", including Bobby Zilch and Sasha Nein.
One idea Tim Schafer had for the game's protagonist was a mental unbalanced (with multiple personalities) ostrich.However, this idea was dropped as Tim Shafer is a strong believer in games being a form of wish-fulfillment, and he came to the conclusion that not many gamers would dream of being insane ostriches.
One wonders if there would have been a personality-changing game mechanic consisting of the ostrich sticking its head in the ground and pulling it out again with a different persona.
Some of the character sin "Psychonauts" are named after real historical figures. The protagonist Razputin (Raz) is named after Grigori Rasputin (died in 1916), the famous Russian "court mystic", who was considered by many a religious charlatan. Raz's special psychic powers is a reference to Rasputin's alleged mystic healing powers.
Another character, the Russian immigrant Mikhail Bulgakov, is named after the Soviet/Russian writer, author of the popular novel The Master and Margarita.
On October 10th 2006, Psychonauts won a BAFTA Video Game Award for Best Screenplay.
Tim Schafer took the name Raz comes from Razmig Mavlian, an animator at LucasArts who later joined the Psychonauts team.
Contributed by
Kabushi (48827) on Jan 27, 2006.
The original main character was going to be named D'Artagan, but was cut. He is referenced twice though; in the beginning cutscene, when Coach Oleander is trying to guess Raz's name, he says, "Starts with a D!" Also, the original D'Artagan model can be seen poking out of the outhouse in the ending cutscene.
Several past references to Tim Schafer games:
- In the campfire area there is a tree with a crashed van and three tombstones under it. Some say this is a Day of the Tentacle reference, as the truck looks similar to the one used by three characters in the game. It is also a double entendre stating Schafer's opinion of LucasArts' commitment to adventure games - dead.
- After getting the canoe from Cruller, you can ask him "Admiral Cruller? That canoe...are you...in love with it?" This is a reference to Sal in Grim Fandango asking if Manny was in love with Meche.
- When you need a Marksmanship learner's permit and don't have it yet, you can tell Sasha "I left it in my other pants." Guybrush says something similar in Monkey Island 2.
- The obligatory Star Wars reference: When Clem and Crystal are standing on the roof of the lodge, you can overhear their conversation which includes, "We're going to be so powerful, aren't we?" and a reply of "More powerful than you can possibly imagine."
Not only is Raz played by Invader Zim voice acting talent Richard Steven Horvitz (who, believe it or not, was born in 1966!); if you work hard, you may be able to unlock a Primal Memories journal entry with concept art showing Raz to be simply a non-green Zim with goggles!
One of the final bosses in the game is voiced by the same actor who played LeChuck in the Monkey Island games.
The annoying bully-type character in the game, Bobby Zilch, is based on the camp bully from Schafer's real life experiences, who was also named Bobby.
The PC version was inexplicably delayed to April 27th, even after the announcement that both the Xbox and PC were shipping on their original release date. This is likely due to manufacturing complications.
The game was originally supposed to be an Xbox-exclusive title. Microsoft dropped the publishing contract in 2004, at which point it was picked up by Majesco, who requested PC and PS2 ports.
