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Steve Purcell On Sam & Max 2's Cancellation
An anonymous reader writes "Saw this newsbit on AdventureGamers.com - Steve Purcell, creator of Sam & Max, made the following statement in a letter to the LucasArts fansite Mixnmojo regarding LucasArts' cancellation of Sam & Max 2: 'LucasArts' sudden decision to stop production on Sam & Max is mystifying. Sam & Max was on schedule and coming together beautifully... It's a shame to think that the [dev team's] accomplishments, as well as the goodwill that has been growing in the gaming press toward this project, will all go to waste due to this shortsighted decision.' Check out the link for the full letter. There is also an interesting editorial posted on AdventureGamers.com as well." Is this cancellation a blow the commercially developed traditional graphic adventure can recover from?
As much as I hate this, the fact probably is that a Star Wars title will automatically sell a huge number of copies, while a Sam & Max title will have to be both awesome and be agressively marketed to even come close to the number that the Star Wars title will automatically pre-sell.
Don't get me wrong - I have already sent my email to pr@lucasarts.com promising to buy an S&M title for the Mac, PS2, or XBox... it's just that I can hardly blame Lucasarts for choosing projects on the basis of how much money they will assuredly make. They, after all, are the ones whose pockets the losses would come out of.
That's the problem with mixing art and business - art will always suffer in the face of business realities. Success breeds mediocrity because the quest for excellence is risky.
As Joss Whedon summarized it,
IOW, you don't find the piles of cash on the road less travelled by.
"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
Well I've taken the advice of the AdventureGamers editorial and mailed LEC and PCG about this in a typical kind of "grr I'm a bit cut up about that" letter, lambasting endless bloody Star Wars titles and generally being polite but hey, anyway here's what I sent them (btw, it's long and I doubt they'll really read it all.)
to: pr@lucasarts.com
After advertising the fact that Sam & Max: Freelance Police is in production, getting so much press coverage and generating an incredible amount of anticipation and gratitude from LucasArts fans the world over, you suddenly destroy your reputation and yet again damage your fanbase by suddenly deciding to cancel production of Sam & Max: Freelance Police for *no discernable reason*. What the hell do you guys think you're doing?
A long time ago LucasArts led the industry in innovative and enjoyable adventure titles. Now you seem to becomming Just Another Software Company making endless tired repeats and cash-ins on Star Wars, so much so that you must be close to running out of names for the things now.
I have been a loyal LucasArts fan for many years, I always purchase LucasArts games because I can be assured of quality, enjoyment and replayability. However, in recent years your contribution to the gaming scene has been lacklustre, your reputation is based on the fact that you once were the ultimate developer of adventure games with style and class, not that you make a lot of Star Wars titles that let people fly in an X-Wing and shoot stuff, or run around with a lightsabre and slice stuff. This has all been done countless times before and you seem to churn out games every other month that don't have the depth or plotline of any of your earlier titles.
It seems to me that you are now pandering to the console market, thinking that console gamers want action and can't handle the slow pace of adventure. The amount of work that went into both the Full Throttle sequel AND Sam & Max: Freelance Police by your developers, artists and musicians must have been colossal, and by throwing all that out in favour of cheap nonsense with gratifying explosions you're not only harming the gaming community but also yourselves. What incentive is there for employees of LucasArts to continue to work for your reputable company when their work on a project is so swiftly dismissed? I earnestly hope that a good deal of your developers decide that LucasArts is no longer providing them with the support that they had come to expect and leave your company in favour of one that respects their talents. I believe I am speaking for a good share of LucasArts fans and the developers themselves when I say this.
One day I hope that LucasArts will steer away from it's current course of "Price of everything, Value of nothing", where you seem to be attempting to earn a swift buck rather than concentrate on your reputation. In the gaming industry reputation is extremely important, probably more important than sales, especially in this age of increased piracy. Reputation brings you loyal customers who believe that your software is worth paying for. If you lose that, you lose to piracy and people will just rip off your games for a quick blast and you won't see a cent.
LucasArts needs to release another adventure title to uphold itself as a leader in this genre. Your press release says that it does not seem like the right time to release an adventure title, perhaps because there are few profilic adventure titles out there right now (except for things like Syberia and Broken Sword). Perhaps you should consider that the reason there are few adventure titles out there, is that the well known companies such as LucasArts just aren't interested in publishing them. This leaves a huge proportion of your potential market disappointed and disillusioned with LucasArts, after all, there are plenty of people out there that do not play any other game but adventures (usually the older segment of the market) and enjoy a plot, comedy, and an easygoing game pace.
Release it, and get $50 from me and the whole of the rest of the community. Don't release it, and lose thousands of dollars in development costs, all for nothing. The choice is yours.
[end of mail]