A news story making the rounds right now involves PlayStation Network title Joe Danger, which was turned down by several publishers but went on to sell 50,000 copies in its first week on Sony’s digital distribution platform.
Below are some of the comments that developer Sean Murray received from publishers who rejected the game. I found one comment in particular especially disconcerting (in bold):
- “Collecting giant coins feels unrealistic to me”
- “I can see this working as a Facebook app”
- “We want games that are less about fun right now”
- “Can Joe be a monkey? We like Monkeys”
Less about fun? Seriously? Video games are supposed to be fun… aren’t they? I mean, that’s what this whole site is based on. I’d hate to think fun is obsolete – otherwise I’ll have to find a new hobby.
This is why I miss the days of the Dreamcast. The gaming world was blessed with an amazing number of new IPs from Sega during the life of the Dreamcast, from Shenmue and Skies of Arcadia to Seaman, Space Channel 5 and Ooga Booga. I have a hard time believing even half of the games from that era would get approved and make it to market today.
I can only hope that, at some point, we’ll have another period with the same sense of unbridled creativity as we did ten years ago (though some digital releases on PSN/XBLA/WiiWare do capture that spark sometimes). I definitely start feeling my age when the majority of the PS3 and 360 libraries just don’t appeal to me with their muted-color FPSes and 3rd-person shooters. In recent years, the amount of retro gaming I’m doing keeps increasing as I become an old man yearning for the “good ole days” (except I’m only in my 20s).
It’s hard to put my finger on why, but most of the games on HD consoles just don’t look fun for some reason. One probable reason is that sometimes I actually prefer less details in my character models; the push for uber-realism can be rather off-putting and leaves nothing to the imagination. Just give me an amazing art style (Valkyria Chronicles is a great modern example) and I’m happy. Photorealism can be done well, too; there were some beautiful, realistic environments in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, for example.
While there’s no easy solution to the “developer ideas vs. publisher business practices” issue, it would at least help a little bit if there were more gamers working at publishers. I don’t have hard numbers, but I think it’s safe to say that very few of the business execs at publishing companies actually play video games at all. I understand that publishers need to worry about investments, the bottom line, etc., but they should also be able to recognize a good product when they see it – even if it doesn’t fit into what they typically expect to be profitable. I bet there are a few companies out there regretting their decision to turn down Joe Danger now!
IGN’s video review of Joe Danger
Original article: ‘No monkeys?!’ Why publishers nixed Joe Danger
