The Needles: Find Your Own Way Home: The REO Speedwagon Game Review

[Andy Chalk]

The Needles: Find Your Own Way Home: The REO Speedwagon Game Review

Andy Chalk is surprised that a game based on 80s hit-makers REO Speedwagon doesn't suck.

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[rta]

i'm gonna keep on playin' youuuuuu...cause it's the only thing i wanna dooOOooOoOoo...i don't want AoC...I just wanna keep on playin' you ooOOoooOoooooo...

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Hmm.. well i may have considered at least trying the damn game but the fact that it center's around REO fuckmothering Speedwagon killed any interest for me

 

[tendo82]

Maybe this will inspire Journey to make a similar hidden object game wherein you take on the role of Neil Schon and try to find the real lead singer of your band, Steve Perry.

Along the way there could be misleading clues that lead to game ending dead end singers like Steve Augeri and Arnel Pineda.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

Messhof is gonna release a Nirvana game called "You Got the Shotgun!" Supposedly the only person who can beat the game is Dave Grohl. >

 

[Curious Sense]

Andy - It was I who had the idea of making a videogame based on REO Speedwagon and managed to talk other people into helping make it happen. Maybe more impressively, I inspired you to write a good review about it by surprising you with its lack of sucking. The choice of REO Speedwagon was based on a few things: 1) their audience is a great fit with the 35+ female-skewing downloadable game audience; 2) the band had recent milestones we could align with (e.g., their new Christmas Album (which the NYT likes a lot); 3) REO is part of the Azoff Music Mgmt family, home to scores of the biggest bands in music. We've been delighted by an amazing response from significant news organizations: the NY Times, NPR, Forbes, USA Today, etc. - they picked up on our story of an innovative way to market a band, and to engage with their existing fans. I'd be happy to tell you more about the game, and our plans for continuing the Classic Rock Casual Game Series with... (at least one of the bands mentioned above will be in the series).

Thanks again for a nice review,

Adam Blumenthal
Curious Sense
Durham, NC

 

[Andy Chalk]

I can't tell you how great it feels to know that I fit in so well with the 35+ female-skewing downloadable game audience.

 

[wilsonscrazybed]

Andy - It was I who had the idea of making a videogame based on REO Speedwagon and managed to talk other people into helping make it happen. Maybe more impressively, I inspired you to write a good review about it by surprising you with its lack of sucking. The choice of REO Speedwagon was based on a few things: 1) their audience is a great fit with the 35+ female-skewing downloadable game audience; 2) the band had recent milestones we could align with (e.g., their new Christmas Album (which the NYT likes a lot); 3) REO is part of the Azoff Music Mgmt family, home to scores of the biggest bands in music. We've been delighted by an amazing response from significant news organizations: the NY Times, NPR, Forbes, USA Today, etc. - they picked up on our story of an innovative way to market a band, and to engage with their existing fans. I'd be happy to tell you more about the game, and our plans for continuing the Classic Rock Casual Game Series with... (at least one of the bands mentioned above will be in the series).

Thanks again for a nice review,

Adam Blumenthal
Curious Sense
Durham, NC

This is pretty much the singularly most awesome comment I have ever seen on this site.

 

[Curious Sense]

I can't tell if Wilson is being snarky, but thanks anyway. We make games and digital experiences with bands. The experience has to suit the audience - and the hidden object genre is a good fit for REO's audience.

 

[Susan Arendt]

I can't tell if Wilson is being snarky, but thanks anyway. We make games and digital experiences with bands. The experience has to suit the audience - and the hidden object genre is a good fit for REO's audience.

He's not, I assure you. This game has been the subject of much discussion here at Chez Escape. Andy and I both played it and were both really pleasantly surprised by how good it was. It's one of the few...perhaps only...advergames I've ever played that didn't constantly club you over the head with "BUY THIS BECAUSE IT IS AWESOME". And, more importantly, it took the game part seriously. The game part can stand on its own and go shoulder to shoulder with any HOG released this year, and is, in fact, better than a lot of them.

My hat is very much off to you for managing something that I wasn't sure was actually possible.

 

[wilsonscrazybed]

I can't tell if Wilson is being snarky, but thanks anyway. We make games and digital experiences with bands. The experience has to suit the audience - and the hidden object genre is a good fit for REO's audience.

What impressed me about the comment is that someone associated with the game came here to make it.

I am also glad The Escapist is a place where I can come and read about a game I wouldn't know anything about otherwise. In short, I wasn't trying to be snarky, though I bet a lot of people are less than nice about a game like this because they don't see how important it is for the industry to continue attracting new customers and broadening appeal in general.

 

[Curious Sense]

Thanks y'all. Did you see that the NY Times, NPR, Forbes, etc. etc. had great stories about our game? It's been awesome validation for our strategy of using games to help bands attract new fans, and give their current fans something new and cool to play with. Playing with Music. More to come!

 

[Pipotchi]

"Now its time for the greatest Stadium rock band in the world R-E-O Speedwagon!"

If Alan Partridge loves the Wagon then it must be great