And here comes a new kid in the gaming industry block, pitched by no less than Major League Baseball pitcher Boston Red Sox">Boston Red Sox">Curt Schilling of the Boston Red Sox. Introducing 38 Studios, formerly known as the Green Monster, this brand promises to deliver not only massively multiplayer online games, but a whole lot of immersive products boasting of a wide range as well.

Brett Close, president of 38 Studios, explains, "the name 38 Studio captures the scope of our goals... Our mission is to create ground-breaking intellectual properties that inspire a vast selection of entertainment experiences."

Why the number 38?

It's not only about what we're going to accomplish, but how. 38 is Curtis' number, of course. Anyone familiar with Curt recognizes that he represents excellence, integrity, and achievement. These are attributes intrinsic to our people, our organization, and our products.

The company is currently attending this year's Game Developers Conference marking their debut appearance in the gaming industry's event.

Curt Schilling. He may be the starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, he may be a self-confessed fan of EverQuest II. But does his Green Monster Games has what it takes to churn out a great MMO, or any MMO for that matter? Well, for now, nothing is certain, but Curt Shilling's recent interview with The Escapist may give us a glimpse of what he can or can't do with his team-up with Salvatore and McFarlane.

When he was asked if he sees Green Monster Games as a mere pet project or as something he'll be someday working on full-time, this is what he had to say:

This is something I will focus on explicitly and completely when I'm retired. Outside of working out for this season and my family right now, it's taking up every minute of my day.

Ok, we've settled that issue. So what would Curt do at Green Monster? He said that he is the founder and CEO of the company. He got a president and they'll be creating the core team over the next six months. That team will consist of 30 people. So what would be R.A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane do with the company. Schilling has this to say:

R.A. was hired on as the creative director. R.A. will drive the creative vision, the story behind what we're doing. He's got a pretty decent track record of writing some pretty good stories.

Todd will literally be the art director. He will be behind the artistic vision of R.A.'s story. We will have an art director in house that will collaborate with Todd and Todd's team to take Todd's conceptual vision and turn it into a game world and game players and game characters.

Although he didn't mention anything about what kind of MMOs Green Monster Games are preparing for, a little optimism doesn't hurt. But then again, one can't live on optimism alone. To read more of Curt's interview, click on the Read link below.

Word on the net says that baseball legend and avid MMO fan Curt Schilling is teaming up with Spawn creator Todd McFarlane and popular sci-fi/fantasy author R.A. Salvatore to form a new Boston-based video game company called Green Monster Games.

Schilling, who pitches for the Boston Red Sox, is already known for his interest in gaming. He owns a small paper-gaming company called Multi-Man Publishing and was recently turned into an evil NPC in EverQuest II in the name of the ALS Association charity. Schilling has also been a longtime EverQuest player.

The names Todd McFarlane and R.A. Salvatore became associated with Green Monster Games through the job ads the company has posted on various game job sites. McFarlane will apparently be helping the company as the lead artist on their new project, with Salvatore taking on the role of creative director for Green Monster Games's output.

Green Monster Games is apparently named after the 37-foot left field wall at Fenway Park, home to Schilling and the Boston Red Sox. Green Monster Games aims to create what it describes as "industry-changing games."

So far, there have been no concrete news yet on the games that Green Monster Games might be developing. With the weight of the names behind this company, though, it seems not too presumptuous to expect something big once Green Monster Games finally makes their first game announcement.