150°

Exclusive: Notch no longer funding Psychonauts 2

After a year of hope and speculation, GamesBeat has learned that Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson will no longer personally finance a sequel to Double Fine's much-loved action/platformer, Psychonauts.

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venturebeat.com
NagaSotuva4097d ago

I never played Psychonauts. Is it really that good?

SybaRat4097d ago

It is that good, and I CONDEMN YOU TO HELL FOR NOT PLAYING IT.

dboyman4097d ago

I know, I picked it up on PS+ sale the week before when it was only $2.50. Great deal for a great game...

illegalyouth4097d ago

I've never played it, either. It just never seemed that appealing. Schafer games are too narrative-driven for my tastes.

r214097d ago

Play it man, it has one of the most unique settings and worlds you'd ever imagine. Plus its got quirky and whacky fun dialogue and powers to mess with :D

Christopher4097d ago

To be honest, $18m for Psychonauts 2 does seem high unless they are moving away from the old graphics style and going with a full 3D engine. Don't know why they'd do that, though. Just use a modern version of the old engine.

Christopher4097d ago

I'm not seeing even that. Similar games to Psychonauts are being developed now for $1-3m.

Korda4097d ago

Psychonauts WAS fully 3d and $18m is not as much as you would think Considering a low wage for someone in the games industry is $50,000 and you would want a dev time of 2-3 years that's at least $150,000 per person. Double fines simple kickstarter adventure game got over $3 million dollars and they are struggling with that budget.

Christopher4097d ago (Edited 4097d ago )

**Crap, I was thinking of a completely different game, it was 3d***

Even then....

$25m is the price to make a AAA game like CoD today. The majority of the rest of the money is solely in advertising. That's with hundreds of people working each year to make the games. Most games don't cost more than $10m to make today.

Even if you paid everyone $50,000 per year for a standard 40 person crew to make the game, it would allow for 9 years of development. A figure that's very far fetched. Sorry, that number is very high for the type of game it is.

Ratchet & Clank games don't cost that much to make, for example.

As I said, people making similar games today do it for less than $5m. I believe what they wanted to do is taking it much further than it was and use current (or possibly even next-gen) technology.

Bimkoblerutso4097d ago

There hasn't been any indication that they're struggling with their budget, only with their time frame. How could they possibly be having problems with a budget that was 8x what they were asking for?

SilentNegotiator4097d ago (Edited 4097d ago )

50 grand? What, is Double Fine made up entirely of QA testers? Entry personnel make $60+ and the average is over 70K.

Double Fine has about 65 people. 65 times 70,000 average times 2 years....Over $9 million without marketing or anything.

So....

@Korda
You aren't wrong that 18 million would be a fair number *IF* Double Fine were to go all the way with development and make a big AAA game with lots of marketing. But Double Fine is a lot more "indie" than that.

@cgoodno
"people making similar games today do it for less than $5m"
Sure, but with lower production values and smaller teams.

r214097d ago

Someone fund this sequel! I want it now!

Swiggins4097d ago

To Hell with Waiting, I'll fund my own Psychonauts Sequel!!! With Blackjack and Hookers!!!

SybaRat4097d ago

I want to play Blackjack and Hookers!

r214097d ago

Bubbed up for that Futurama reference XD Love that show :D

80°

Interview: "The Art Of Psychonauts 2" Writer Ashley Esqueda

from paulsemel.com: In this exclusive Q&A, Ashley Esqueda, the writer of "The Art Of Psychonauts 2," discusses how this this video game making-of art book came together.

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paulsemel.com
rpad42d ago

my friend said that a Best Buy clerk insisted that the game was called "Psycho Mouse"

60°

Minecraft Meets Bloodborne With The Help Of A Stunning Mod

YouTuber Potomy has revealed new details about the new Bloodborne mod and that it is now in a playable state for Minecraft.

230°

All the Essential Video Games Everyone Needs To Play At Least Once

Given the medium's wild diversity, this primer of the essential video games everyone should try is a good place to start.

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wealthofgeeks.com
thorstein43d ago

.... from the 2000s (mostly).

shinoff218343d ago

I can't fk with this list. They missed on alot of games probably before the writers times. Also I know people loved some portal but I was never a fan.

Cacabunga43d ago

Tomb Raider 1
Driver 1
Abe’s Odyssey
FF6
King of Fighters 94
Mortal Kombat OG
LINK 2 the past
Street Fighter 2
Resident Evil 1

Inverno43d ago

Infinite but not the first two games? Witcher 3 but not the first two games?? GTA V but not literally any of the games before it??? Portal 2 but not the first? Also if you're going to play Shadow of The Colossus play the remaster and not the remake. Can't say I disagree with the list but my man it's all over the place.

Name Last Name43d ago

I mean some sequels are objectively better and you don’t need to play the whole series.

Inverno43d ago

But most of these games have a story to follow, sure you can catch up with a YouTube vid but where's the fun in that?

LucasRuinedChildhood43d ago (Edited 43d ago )

A list like this isn't telling you not to play the previous games if you want to. It's just giving you legendary games to play.

But tbh, you don't always have to force yourself to play every entry in a franchise to get to the better ones.

- The vast majority of Witcher 3 players never played the first 2 and had a great time. The first 2 games aren't in the same league.
- The GTA games are self-contained with the odd fun reference. You can easily jump into any of them.
- The Shadow Of The Colossus remake looks and controls better than the original (plus it has a 60fps option while the remaster is just 30fps). New players will enjoy it more.
- Portal 2 is a lot better than Portal 1 and takes the concept much further gameplay-wise. Storywise, Portal 1 is fairly light too. Not that you shouldn't play it but realistically ... you'd love Portal 2 whether you play it or not (at lot of Portal 2 players have never played 1).

Bioshock 1 is the only one I agree with you on simply because it's one the best games of all time and arguably better than Infinite. No other setting like Rapture.

Looking at the list, I'd recommend playing Uncharted 1 before 2 but no doubt, 2 is the legendary one you have to play.

Inverno43d ago

I get it, but that's just my opinion on his opinion. I just think that before you play a sequel you should still play what came before it. Maybe it's just me but i find it fascinating playing through the first game in a series and seeing how it has evolved through its sequels. Like I said I don't disagree with the list, other than SoTC which I strongly believe the remaster of the original should be played above the remake.

AuraAbjure43d ago

Awesome list! Hot take on Fear (and it's hard af expansion Persaus Mandate!) Bioshock Infinite is stellar, so is the Witcher 3 and you nailed it by having Ocarina of Time. So many fantastic games! Gotta play 'em all! Next one on my list is Prey after I beat Dead Space 2 and Splinter Cell Conviction.

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