| 06 | 09 | 13 - Vivendi, that’s Mighty Fine, Double Fine Even |
 PIXEL DUST Vivendi, that’s Mighty Fine, Double Fine Even Weds, 13 Sept 2006  Normally a developer getting a new publisher isn’t a big deal, but when you consider that Psychonauts was the developer’s previous title, it kind of is. Keep in mind that this psychedelic trip - forging wildly imaginative game levels from the mindscapes of a bunch of oddball characters - was so tough to explain that many retailers wouldn’t sign on the dotted line to bring the game into their shops. Even after a bunch of great reviews, it was still a mission to track down copies of the game. I guess it means that Vivendi is willing to back quality over a game that sold a squillion. I suppose it could also mean that Tim Schaffer’s latest won’t be quite so far out. Now the question is: is that a bad thing?
I loved Psychonauts, and it had some absolutely brilliant moments, but that didn’t help all of the people who couldn’t actually find the game at their local EB. Games need to be played, and to get played they have to be seen and even marketed a little. If you want to feel all elitist and special you can argue that the people who didn’t track down the game don’t deserve to play it, but I’m more of the opinion that the more people who can share a game’s magic the better. Not everyone will get it, and not everyone will get the same thing out of it, but they should have a chance.
In fact, I’d love to see Schaffer come a bit more out of left field coming out of left field. I’d love to see him turn a slightly more classic genre or story on its head so that you think you have one thing (and it looks like that one thing), but you get ambushed by these out-of-town moments of pure genius. We’ll keep you posted on any news as to the particulars of Double Fine’s brand new game. |
