It’s clear publishers like Electronic Arts hate to take risks on video games. They’re not alone in their opinion, look how many sequels we’ve got for the holidays compared to new creative titles like Little Big Planet, or how publishers push out sequels to hot titles until we can’t take it anymore; how many Guitar Hero titles will arrive before we scream “enough!”?
Speaking to rocking music, Electronic Arts may pass on the chance to pickup Brütal Legend, a title originally being published by Vivendi Games prior to the Activision Blizzard merger. The title was left without a home when the merger was complete along with other dropped titles.
Why would EA not take the chance with the game? Risk factor. Brütal Legend is a game title developed by Double Fine Productions and has been designed by Tim Schafer, with past games like Monkey Island, NES’s Maniac Mansion and the fantastic title Full Throttle. With such sweet titles under his belt, why wouldn’t a game designed by Tim Schafer be a hot commodity in the market?
The game brings music and action adventure together in a creative twist. No, it’s not Rock Band and it’s not Guitar Hero, thus, MTV and Activision don’t care about it. However, the game plot and storyline are music related and, supposedly, the main character is voiced by Jack Black, vocalist of Tenacious D and popular actor (School of Rock anyone!?)
Creator Tim Schafer has said that roadies have long fascinated him. Schafer originally thought of the game’s title over fifteen years ago. “I was riding a bus, thinking about a game that would be the complete opposite of what we were working on, The Secret of Monkey Island. And Brütal Legend leapt into my head. (wikipedia)
It appears a series of publishers have walked away from Brütal Legend without much hesitation. “I have seen it,” EA CEO John Riccitiello told Gamasutra. “I am well aware of what the game is. It’s a very significant creative risk.” (joystiq)
Where would the game be without significant creative risks? In many ways, World of Warcraft was a risk… it’s only got 9 million or more players.
First I’d like to offer sincere condolences on the passing of Andrew, that was very sad to hear, just proof that life is very short.
@LoL; I read this story as well before it was on here and I couldn’t fathom why or how any LGBT would have any kind of advantage. More over how anyone would know or why they would even care? The whole story is completely baffling.
As for any slight advantage due to genders, there was a Mythbusters episode where they tested gender biases; like “throwing like a girl”. First they had untrained kids pitch balls, they had a pattern of boys throwing harder/faster and girls being more accurate. Then when they brought in the professional players they found the differences very negligible. With training and practice any weakness or disadvantage can be overcome.
@Nintendo lower prices: Yes please, I’m all for cheaper games. Also being able to get the back log on DS that was on Wii!
@EA games too hard to learn: I agree Jonah read the manual, read forums, wiki guides, etc. There’s a ton of resources, I have several GoG and Steam games that actually do have their manuals. As for EA games I have never found them hard to learn, their games seemed to have been focusing on being as streamlined as possible.
I also find it very odd if as Jonah says that Grim Fandango isn’t that much different, aside from the sound cues, that it doesn’t work for Paul. There has got to be a way to get that game to work.
@QotW: The list is so long I’ll start with a yes there are games I get emotional with. When ever I hear the sad songs from Final Fantasy 4, 6, or 7; the music of Suikoden I and II. They bring back so many fond memories.
My condolences to family and friends of Andrew Yoon. It is a terrible misfortune to die so young. Especially following completion of a project. He sounded like a real fun guy.
@Too much kohones
I will now clean my eyes and read that again. Nope. It’s still there. What part of human logic created that idea. It’s f**king LoL, not Olympics. If they are so afraid of superior mouse clicking ability, they should also ban Michael J Fox (Parkinson’s). To be honest I was always against e-sports. We are starting to forget that video games are primarily a source of fun, not funding. But some people take it too seriously, resulting in those exiting propositions. If we could instead concentrate on banning antisocial twats from the gaming industry that would be better. Oh no wait. Then there would be no one to run the tournaments…
@Ninendo’s peasant strategy
As much as I love Nintendo games, I hate paying for them. As opposed to Xbox/PS titles which gradually fall in price, good Nintendo games stay at release price for years in UK. I am yet to find a copy of Lego City Undercover that won’t bankrupt me. However, when they re-released the Metroid Prime Trilogy for cheap, I snapped it up without a second thought. I would gladly pay for cheaper Nintendo software.
@QOTW
Mirror’s Edge Still Alive ending. Beautiful.