Lack of monkeys caused PS3's Joe Danger publishing woes


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Lack of monkeys caused PS3's Joe Danger publishing woes

By Andrew Webster

StadiumTrick.jpg

Imagine this, but with more monkeys.

We at Ars loved Joe Danger, a recently released PlayStation Network game developed by the four-man team at Hello Games. But, according to managing director Sean Murray, selling a game about a washed-up stuntman to publishers was no easy task, and in the end, the studio ended up self-publishing the title.

At the annual Develop conference in Brighton, UK, Murray revealed some of the reasons that publishers gave the studio for not wanting to publish Joe Danger. Originally reported by Develop Online, the list is as funny as it is depressing.

  • "Name me one popular game with motorbikes?"
  • "Collecting giant coins feels unrealistic to me"
  • "I can see this working as a Facebook app"
  • "We want games that are less about fun right now"
  • "We love the theme, but with a different game"
  • "We believe the iPhone will be largely unsupported"
  • "Can Joe be a monkey? We like Monkeys"

This story is a great example of why digital distribution is so important, especially for smaller indie developers—if the game was a traditional retail title, chances are it wouldn't ever see a release. And if it did, it wouldn't be the same game that hit PSN. Thankfully things worked out for the team, as Murray also announced that the game had moved 50,000 units on PSN in its first week alone.

Source: ArsTechnica

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I read this on Kotaku yesterday, amazing how dumb some publishers can be. It really makes me wonder did any of them even play it or did they just sit through a pitch. The game is just outright fun, no other description for it. I have stopped playing it due to other games, but it is a game I can and will easily just get back into playing.

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Well some of those people should hang their heads in shame really. The game is great and very good fun, lovely and competative in terms of the score boards! :)

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"Name me one popular game with motorbikes"

Apparently they've never heard of Trials HD.

"We want games that are less about fun right now"

Let me guess, Bobby Kotick said this?

Hilarious article. This game fell right under my radar, but now I feel like I need to take a look at it.

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Well some of those people should hang their heads in shame really. The game is great and very good fun, lovely and competative in terms of the score boards! :)

Speaking of which, I have not played or checked the scoreboards since we posted that one day, but I am pretty sure all my scores were destroyed by now. :laugh:

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I think they should out the developers who said this. :D I really want to know who wanted more monkeys.

"Name me one popular game with motorbikes"

Apparently they've never heard of Trials HD.

Pffft. Excitebike FTW!!!

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I really want to know the publishers who said 'we dont want fun games.' I would never buy anything from them again :angry:

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Speaking of which, I have not played or checked the scoreboards since we posted that one day, but I am pretty sure all my scores were destroyed by now. laugh.gif

Me neither, I'm back working now and had a weekend away to Scotland. Not had a chance to really play many games over the past week or so. Will hopefully squeeze a few hours in over the weekend.

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This is also incidentally why it never ported to the XBLA either, as games are not allowed to be self-published on there. As well as the lack of man power of course.

However seeing as the game has proven to be popular, I'm sure they won't have a hard time porting it with a publisher attached to it now.

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It seems to me Murray said those things as a joke... it's hard to believe anyone would use those "excuses". Funny and all but I don't believe it :p

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I tend to agree, I can't properly enjoy a game unless the theme is monkeys or at least features one monkey - That is basically my success criteria for any game released these days.

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This is also incidentally why it never ported to the XBLA either, as games are not allowed to be self-published on there. As well as the lack of man power of course.

However seeing as the game has proven to be popular, I'm sure they won't have a hard time porting it with a publisher attached to it now.

Source?

That seems rather retarded for indie devs.

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I tend to agree, I can't properly enjoy a game unless the theme is monkeys or at least features one monkey - That is basically my success criteria for any game released these days.

What if the game has no monkeys but you're playing multiplayer with DrunknMunky, does that count?

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"Can Joe be a monkey? We like Monkeys"

Who said that? I'll make sure to buy all their games!

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What if the game has no monkeys but you're playing multiplayer with DrunknMunky, does that count?

Yes, yes it does - Although when he ignores me ( as he always does ) that opinion changes 180* :(

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Source?

That seems rather retarded for indie devs.

http://www.diygamer.com/2010/05/microsoft-time-selfpublished-xbox-live-arcade-titles/

Although it seems Indie games can. So I guess there must be a criteria when it comes to classifying their games. MS would have probably been happy to sell it on the indie store for less, but Hello Games wanted a higher price tag or something?

I'm sure there is no single answer at the end of the day.

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I tend to agree, I can't properly enjoy a game unless the theme is monkeys or at least features one monkey - That is basically my success criteria for any game released these days.

You must have been a big fan of Timesplitters then :D

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