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Tim Schafer Confirms No Psychonauts Sequel Likely
Via Game|Life comes an interview with Tim Schafer of Psychonauts, Day of the Tentacle fame in which he states there will likely be no sequels in the near future for those of us who loved his past works. "I would love to go back and spend time with the characters from any game I've worked on, and I would love to make a sequel to any of them. But I also want to make something new. If there were five of me I might make sequels, but there's always some new idea I want to explore." The interview is a part of Playboy's Geniuses at Play feature. It features discussions with folks like David Jaffe, Phil Harrison, and Clive Barker, the whole of which is worth reading. The subsite for the interviews is safe for work as of this posting.
Way to link to a story hosted on an adult website! Can't wait for the admins to look through logs, see playboy.com, and fire me for 'looking at adult themed websites' at work. You're the best!
Sure, just try to explain that to your bosses. I just want to read the articles, honest!
I just don't get developers sometimes. Somehow, some way, franchises stricken with Stupid Sequelitis like Madden, Need for Speed, Halo, Jak, Ratchet and Clank, and Splinter Cell receive installment after marginal installment, even though many (I won't say most) gamers that I know or talk to agree that these are just rehashes of more of the same, and the quality invariably declines with each iteration. Yet they keep coming, because some marketroid decided that there's still milk in that franchise cash cow despite the fact that to the nearest decimal point, nobody cares. (Though halo 3 was an exception to this, as plenty of people did care, and still do.)
Yet, for similarly braindead reasons, developers of these amazing, cult-following sorts of titles steadfastly refuse to make sequels to their games even when millions of people all over the globe are clamoring for them.
Hey, Doublefine! What the fuck is wrong with you? Free money over here!
Christ. The same thing happened with Sam and Max before Telltale revived the idea, the same thing was going on for years with System Shock before Irrational finally stepped up to create Bioshock... Ditto with Beyond Good and Evil as well as Psychonauts - which, might I add, both left us with setups for sequels right there in the endings.
If you want half-finished crappy sequels, you can always ask Obsidian or EA, that's what they are good at.
BTW, I agree with his stand, to remain on top, he needs to take new risks over and over instead of falling back to the average. As long as he find someone willing to finance him, he should continue slightly improving our gaming experience.
Maybe it's just me here, but isn't it a bad idea to link to a known softcore pornography site on a site aimed at the entire age scale? I mean sure it might be a good article, but if the messenger is wearing nipple clamps and a strap on vibrating horse penis you might just want to side step it all together.
I like muppets.
Looks like used copies are going for $25 for PS2 and $30 for Xbox. Sounds like a good candidate for a reissue.
-Peter
I think Hustler is more your style.
Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
Wow. First MTV and now Playboy as a source for interviews with game developers? Despite the fact that the site is linked directly to on Slashdot, that's messed up.
but if the messenger is wearing nipple clamps and a strap on vibrating horse penis you might just want to side step it all together
I don't know what version of Playboy you found in your granddad's attic, but they certainly seem more interesting.
Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
The main attraction of a sequel to this game would be so we could enjoy a game that had the same level of quality as the first one - but we already have that going on. The same team is making Brütal Legend. I'm glad they chose to pursue making a new, original game, rather than a sequel. It's not like we're missing out on a game that is as great as the first one was - it's that we're getting a game that is potentially going to be even greater, and, more importantly, a whole lot fresher.
The reason that a new Madden game comes out every year is because it sells. It is almost guaranteed to sell more copies in the first week than Psychonauts has sold since its release. This is why they make more.
I enjoyed Psychonauts but I am not clamoring for a sequel. The writing and voice acting were top notch but it just wasn't a fun game to play. Actually, if I could just watch all of the cut scenes, one liners, and other such parts in a two hour animated movie I'd be pretty happy. As a 10+ hour game it just isn't that worth my time for a replay. Yes, I would buy a theoretical sequel but I imagine that there are others who felt the same way I did and probably wouldn't.
Hey, Doublefine! What the fuck is wrong with you? Free money over here!
It's only free money if the game costs nothing to develop and produce. This is definitely not the case. Add in the fact that they are dealing with a known property that didn't perform stellar in retail and it's really difficult to secure funding to produce a sequel that thousands (not millions) of cult fans would go out and purchase.
Demented But Determined.
Why would he waste his time on a sequel for a great old game when he can make a great new game? Look up Brutal Legend, and see if you wouldn't rather have that than Psychonauts 2.