229: A Gentleman and a Scholar

[Jordan Deam]

A Gentleman and a Scholar

In videogames, there are your wisecracking anthropomorphic critters, your angst-y androgynous teens and your adrenaline-fueled space marines - and then there's P.B. Winterbottom, a time-traveling pie thief stuck in a '20s-era silent film. Jordan Deam speaks with Matt Korba, President and Creative Director of Winterbottom developer The Odd Gentlemen.

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[PrototypeC]

OK, why does everyone keep making such a big deal about Clank's time levels? Anyone who has ever played Blinx on the Xbox has been making time clones, rewinding and replaying time for years. Having one Blinx stand on a button and have another flip the switch as the third stands on the shaky side of a platform to keep it balanced so a fourth Blinx can actually get through the door, hop on the platform and make it out of the level... this is old, old stuff.

Though, of course, improvements on old concepts should not be underestimated either.

 

[Rock 'n' Soul]

It sounds really interesting. I would play it. But, I'm sure it's going to make me very hungry...

 

[PlasticTree]

What Nintendo did with their casual stuff is the most revolutionairy idea in the game industry for years, but the opportunity that xbox live and Wiiware gave to Indy developers is definitely enough for a second place. There are so many wonderful games that most gamers, myself included, never would have played otherwise.

I can't wait for this one.

 

[ClockWork]

Oh my god, I have been waiting for this game since Korba first made it as a student project. And that was about two years ago, and i've been waiting with bated breath ever since, this game is going to be so AWEOME!!

 

[Bato]

This is made of so much win.

 

[BenzSmoke]

Time-traveling pie thief trapped in a silent film? Sounds amazingly originial! I'm getting this.

 

[Calobi]

OK, why does everyone keep making such a big deal about Clank's time levels? Anyone who has ever played Blinx on the Xbox has been making time clones, rewinding and replaying time for years.

Thank you for mentioning Blinx. When the article brought up recording time it started driving me crazy that I couldn't remember that name.

 

[Valiance]

I'd like it.

I doubt I'd pay for it.

I doubt I'd pay for an Xbox to play it.

And it's definitely not the first game with the 'recording' thing. Hell, Braid even had that (when you got far enough), and I can think of some flash games that had it before that.

But it sounds good!

 

[The Random One]

Go go indie games, always pushing the boundaries where all others fear to thread. Even if after the boundary there is but a bottomless abyss, at least we'll know it.

The recording mechanic does sound stale... there was a really silly game on Alt+Escape a few weeks ago that did the same thing, only with donkeys (wha?). But with an aesthetic like that, it could've been a straight-up platformer and it would still appeal to me.

 

[LeonLethality]

"The beauty comes form the style" I found a typo!


anyway I fell in love when it had winterbottom in its name and had collecting pies as its objective...

 

[RebelRising]

I love silent films. Too bad it costs money, or I would definitely try it out.

 

[AvsJoe]

Time-traveling pie thief trapped in a silent film? Sounds amazingly originial! I'm getting this.

My thoughts exactly. Go Winterbottom!

 

[AshuraSpeaks]

OK, why does everyone keep making such a big deal about Clank's time levels? Anyone who has ever played Blinx on the Xbox has been making time clones, rewinding and replaying time for years. Having one Blinx stand on a button and have another flip the switch as the third stands on the shaky side of a platform to keep it balanced so a fourth Blinx can actually get through the door, hop on the platform and make it out of the level... this is old, old stuff.

Though, of course, improvements on old concepts should not be underestimated either.

To this day I've never defeated the final boss, which is partly because to get to him you have to re-defeat several other final bosses, some of which were very hard to beat, and he's already sucked away your crystals (which power your abilities) forcing the first few minutes to be a scramble to recover.

I've seen the ending though. Good stuff.