When 'graphics got better, games got less funny,' says stand-up comic Victor Varnado, who wrote and did voices for the game.
There aren't many comedy games these days. There used to be more, a slew of joke-filled adventures such as The Secret of Monkey Island and Grim Fandango. In Varnado's view, some of the very things that games have gotten better at - visuals and interactivity - have lessened the need for developers to keep players engaged with humor. Those adventure games were popular in their day, but technology improved. "As soon as they got to the point where graphics got better, games got less funny," he said. Better gameplay also removed any outright need for a game to be funny. "If you looked at early games, they had very few game mechanics. Look at [1983's interactive cartoon/game] 'Dragon's Lair.' Not many gameplay mechanics, but it's great to look at and the comedy is funny."
Rat Race is an attempt to solve all this, taking a somewhat different path from the last significant game comedy attempt, the revived "Sam & Max" series.
TrueGameHeadz writes:
"It's not often that a game comes back from being canceled, but it looks like that's exactly what's happened for the episodic comedy game "Rat Race." The game, which was announced in late 2007, quietly faded into obscurity when the president of Sony's Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, was quoted as saying it was canceled at last year's E3. However, "Rat Race," which is being developed by Super-Ego Games, may be about to come back to life. Last week I spoke with Bo Lasater, one of Super-Ego's co-founders, and asked him whether or not "Rat Race" was dead, and he responded with, "Is Rat Race dead? No, it is not dead. Is it 100% alive? Maybe the patient is coming out of a coma."
So, if one of Sony's studio presidents declares your game dead, and you say it's just in a coma… where do things really stand? In terms of "Rat Race"'s future, things look pretty good, so much..."
What makes you think this game doesn't look promising? Because it looks a little different? Because you dont have to kill anything in it? Because it tries something new? Because it tries to be funny?
Looks rubbish.
Even if it manages to work for an American audience, it will be lost on 90% of the world most likely. Comedy is like that - and a videogame effort is unlikely to become a phenomenon around the world. If you look at the trailer... well let's just say the reason you laugh is not because it's funny.
French website Gamekult writes:
"Ironically, Sony confirmed during the E3 the cancellation of Rat Race, a PlayStation Network project announced last October. If the concept of a humoristic game in several episodes had attracted Sony Worldwide Studios, its President Shuhei Yoshida confirmed that problems of development had pushed its destiny."
I didn't find any of it funny, either. Maybe it was because it was american-style humour, but probably mostly because it hit the uncanny valley slap bang in the middle.
THANK GOODNESS!
thats all I can say. I'm glad Sony seem to be keeping a better eye then usual on quality. Let's hoping their money and efforts are being used well, and that they'll announce the continuation of Getaway and Eight Days soon.
IGN writes:
"In October -- seemingly out of the blue -- Super-Ego Games popped up on the IGN doorstep with a wacky idea: an episodic PSN game that plays like an office sitcom. The developer, known for the Barbie Diaries on the PC, promised to toss players into the world of BiggCo, an ethically-challenged consumer products company, and let the gamers take the role of Tina Brooks. Tina, a brand manager with the company, will need to survive a number of "wacky, over-the-top, and wildly inappropriate situations" to make her way through the corporate ranks. Super-Ego promised to bring in writers from SNL, My Name Is Earl and more. Then, the developer went silent".
I was hoping this would hit PSN this year, but it doesn't look like it. In any case I can't wait, it looks funny as hell with the writers on board and I love adventure games.
Yeah, I'm defintely looking forward to this. I still have fond memories of Escape From Monkey Island; gone are the days where games weren't about just shooting, racing, or sports. I miss adventure/comedy games.
Grim Fandango, Monkey island series, Full Throttle, Sam & max, The discworld game (Which was imho a great adaptation of the book series by one of my favorite authors) and many others.... Great games. This will be a must buy since he quoted those and I loved them all. hope this causes a good revival of classic PC games that is needed.
this could be very good. jus hope if it is, it will get reckonised.