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On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Awesome
Runefox wrote to point out that the boys at Penny Arcade have passed around the first trailer for their upcoming episodic PC game. Kotaku is link/hosting a flash version of the trailer, and a high quality one is on GameTrailers. As Runefox says: "While almost all can agree that the graphics, as they are now, will give small children nightmares, so, too, can most everyone agree that the Fruit F***ker is simply awesome." Earlier this week Gabe put up a post with more information on the game, and owns up to maybe having put out the trailer 'too soon'. "We were worried though that people might think this was going to be a 2D game if that's all they saw. So we decided at the last minute to attach some of the 3D work we've got. It's extremely early and it's missing some effects like cell shading and a few others.In retrospect we probably should have held of showing it but we were excited and we jumped the gun a bit. We still have a lot of work to do in order to really define the look of the game." The best tidbit: You'll be able to make your own PA-style character to fight alongside the boys. Good form.
I have known about this game as soon as it was announced, but I still have no idea what platforms it will be available on. Based purely on that lack of info, I would guess that it's only playable on a PC.
Is it just me, or do you hate it when people say "Is it just me..."?
can most everyone agree that the Fruit F***ker is simply awesome.
So awesome, the editors have to add an extra *. And leave out the question mark.
As a disclaimer I am a PA fanboy. But how you got that there is nothing worth buying from that trailer, I have no idea. It was just a few clips of character animations, no gameplay at all.
Gabe has stated the game will be adventure/RPGish. You'll be playing the role of an original character that you create at the start of the game. During the adventure you'll be joined by the various cast of PA.
For the $20 they'll be asking, I'll check it out.
Actually, I rather like the artistic style of the game. The environment seems a mix of Sam'n'Max crossed with Zelda. Cartoony, but well drawn and believable while not trying to push the "realism" button too much (like many games do nowadays).
Of course that says nothing of the gameplay or plot, but I'll keep an eye on this one to see what the reviews say about that.
It's very interesting to see Penny Arcade on the "other side of the fence", so to speak ... on the side of being a game developer, rather than just talking about them. You can definitely see this influencing some of their comments and blogs, for example their recent article on the controversial Denis Dyack / Too Human podcast. Dyack was on the EGM show lambasting one of the writers for calling last year's E3 demo "terrible". While he sounded quite insane and childish at times ("I'm telling you my game is awesome, you just have to believe me!"), he did make some interesting points regarding the state of media/press in the industry, especially when it comes to the notion of previewing really early builds of games.
At first, I was surprised to PA have such a calm response to Dyack's outburst. Other bloggers have said rather unpolite words to Dyack. But it makes sense, particularly because PA was probably in the middle of trying to make a similar decision. Should we show this early trailer of the game, or not? When it's "your baby", it does become quite personal if someone does criticize it really harshly.
-- jchenx
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You could argue that PA should be able to tell if they do make a bad game, and then decide not to ship it
That said, I give them enormous kudos for going on this venture and wish them the best. But I'm not going to hold them up to the same high standards you guys seem to be. Do I want a game that I have fun with? Sure! But "best adventure game of all time" is a lot to ask for
-- jchenx