Uh-oh. Whenever gamers hear this, they begin to think bad things about publishers…
Grasshopper Manufacture's Shadows of the Damned drops on June 7; EA is producing the game, and during a recent interview with guru Shinji Mikami, we learn the project was once very different. Well, it was until EA intervened; what once had a more "unique" style has been altered to appeal to a larger audience.
He also goes on to discuss the pros and cons of dealing with a large publisher. Obviously, EA intends to produce a quality product – they've been doing that a lot as of late – and there's no doubt that guys like Mikami and Suda51 want to compromise their vision. But it seems it all worked out in the end; Mikami doesn't appear disappointed, right?
And the game does appear to have a lot of potential.
Related Game(s): Shadows of the Damned
Lame…yet another example of the casuals forcing the industry down to their standards.
Different doesnt always mean worse.
True, but when ever we hear "appeal to a wider audience" it usually translates into dumbing down.
Not really. The mainstream is where everyone wants to be, because unless you have a VERY aggressive marketing campaign, you're not likely to make an impact otherwise. At least it doesn't look like a CoDclone.
The "main stream" is where a great majority of the mediocrity lies in any media. Music, movies, games, etc. I usually do my best to stay out of the main stream myself.
I meant developers/directors/writers, y'know, creative people. Okay, not really. I remember you mentioning that you're a musician, and I'm trying to write. That being said, what is mainstream generally seems to be of a lower quality because there is so much of the same out there to compare it against, and that brings all of it down.
Do you think Michael Jackson would have had the same amount of success if he was debuting today, and having to face off against all of the other pop artists out there?
Ooh. I don't know. I want to say yes but I don't think so.
Guess the "suits" feel it will at least have a better chance of breaking even. This seems the biggest issue these days… developers are finding it difficult to make money… unless you are a CoD developer of course 🙂
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
Yesssss….because the 'wider audience' these days are NOT the hardcore market, that much we can establish. The 'Majority' of 'Gamers'….are those who buy the Wii, those that buy shovelware, those that buy DS's, those that aren't hardcore nor the nerds that the hardcore were proudly during the classic days of NES or even beyond Nintendos' original rise to power.
The hardcore market isn't as massive as the casual market, that much should be obvious to the 'Hardcore' gamer, because we see shit like 'KINECT SELLING(Shipping) 10 MILLION' ?! KIDDING ME!!!….. Mind boggling.
Nintendogs is the casual-'Gamers' Super Mario Bros 3.
Be very afraid, wider market = EA said to them: "We want a god damn RE4-like game! It must be teh BEST GAME EVAR!"
I want a number in my name!!
Me too, but i cant decide which one.
My would be 1687.
too long
Mine would be 415. Don't know why.
80085
13 aaaaahhhhh!
It still looks quite unique. It's not as though it's a straight rip of RE. It's gothic horror. I'm hopeful for it, but releasing on the same day as inFamous 2… it probably won't go down well with the PS crowd, early on at least. And why haven't you guys mentioned Alice: Madness Returns, another EA title launching a week later?
Peace.
Alice will be mine.
Does alice has a first game?
I don't see this game doing too well.
American McGee's Alice, from 2000. Never played it, but I like the twisted Wonderland feel of this sequel. It will be mine also.
This was meant to be a reply to Pandacastro… Sorry.
aaah, it looks kind of cool
Wow, first multi with Wii and now this? .
But again if it's similar to NMH I wouldn't have a problem, I loved that game.
Last edited by Oxvial on 3/11/2011 10:57:34 PM
EA has really been on the ball lately. As for this bad boy we'll have to wait and see. That assault rifle octogun looks like somethin out of dr. seuss's world.
dr. suess, eh? mikami has not really had a lot of success in terms of sales since leaving capcom. bayo, and vanquish were pretty well received by critics, but did not do so hot.
i kind of agree with sven md. the footage just looks blah.
I watched the trailer for this the other day and thought it looked terrible…. both graphically and whatever story I could gather in the trailer.
Seems like a bigtime pass.
really looking forward to this!
hopefully this will be the years horror game.
been far too long since a game gave me a proper scare!
Dude, did you see the last trailer? is more comedy than horror xD.
Just another indication that you didn't actually play Dead Space 2.
If their idea is so great then why not come up with the money themselves? "Oh we can't afford to make our idea into a game." Well guess what buddy, none of us can. It's called "a loan." You take it out, you make your game, and the sales pay back the loan. Or are you not that confident in your project? You're not? Well, then if EA is kind enough to take your crazy looking game and fund it, then you better believe they're going to tell you which way to take it.
Heh, I sense a little dark humor in this. Reminds me mildly of evil dead on crack. This could be interesting.
Evil Dead on Crack like Evil Dead 2? Or Army of Darkness with more gore? Either way is fine by me =)
the main character's name is hotspur. yee-hah. giddyup hotspur.