Bob's Game: Nintendo Talks Back

[Keane Ng]

Bob's Game: Nintendo Talks Back

Robert Pelloni, the guy who made his own DS RPG and then tried to lock himself up in a room for 100 days when Nintendo didn't give him a dev kit, made a lot of noise earlier this year. Now Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime's telling his side of the story.

Robert Pelloni thinks Nintendo gave him a raw deal. He claims he poured 15,000 hours into the creation of locking himself [http://www.bobsgame.com/] in his room in protest and claiming that he's "far better than Miyamoto, Itoi, Kojima, Carmack, and Wright COMBINED."

You can't blame the guy for going a little crazy after all that he went through, but the fact of the matter is, we haven't heard the other side of the story yet. MTV's Stephen Totilo recently prodded [http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/04/02/nintendo-finally-comments-on-bobs-game/] Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime to shed some light on this unfortunate saga, and Fils-Aime was ready to share.

Pelloni definitely wasn't making it all up, that's for sure. "He did submit to be a licensed developer," Fils-Aime said. "We have an evaluation process. We evaluated the opportunity." Apparently after evaluation, Nintendo decided, for whatever reason, that Pelloni "did not meet the requirements to be a licensed developer."

So what are the requirements to be a licensed developer, then? Can't you just be a normal guy and have a quality product? Fils-Aime seems to think so, pointing to the example of 2D Boy's success with World of Goo on WiiWare. Contrary to Pelloni's accusations, Nintendo doesn't have any problems with the little guy. "We love taking big ideas with small budgets and bringing them to life," Fils-Aime said.

What makes 2D Boy different from Robert Pelloni then, Totilo wondered. Was it 2D Boy's credentials, being a team with ex-Electronic Arts employees? Fils-Aime doesn't think so. "My hope is that any developer who has a compelling idea will reach out to our licensing organization and share their idea and go through the process of becoming a licensed developer for the Nintendo platform," he said. "And we have a legacy of supporting that type of development."

So sorry, Bob. It's just never going to happen. He already knows that - he ended his 100 day protest in January. Pelloni's going homebrew all the way, and has already released a demo of Bob's Game that you can access here [http://www.bobsgame.com].


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[oliveira8]

" protest and claiming that he's "far better than Miyamoto, Itoi, Kojima, Carmack, and Wright COMBINED.""

You dont need to be that good to top them all combined!! Oh oh oh!

Also what did the guy expect? If the suits didnt think he wasnt good enough, he wasnt good enough end of story...

 

[oliveira8]

" protest and claiming that he's "far better than Miyamoto, Itoi, Kojima, Carmack, and Wright COMBINED.""

You dont need to be that good to top them all combined!! Oh oh oh!

Also what did the guy expect? If the suits didnt think he wasnt good enough, he wasnt good enough end of story...

Usually the business men are the ones who don't look for quality so much as things that sell well.

I think the reason is that the game won't appeal to people. But I say neigh!

Title: Bob's Game: Something kind and friendly to the American market, a name that strikes up comforting memories of a time when non-whites were beaten and denied rights.

Wasnt good enough to sell, thats were I was trying to get.

Also saw the gameplay videos and the only thing worth the hype, its cause its made by one man.

 

[Jumplion]

""We have an evaluation process. We evaluated the opportunity." Apparently after evaluation, Nintendo decided, for whatever reason, that Pelloni "did not meet the requirements to be a licensed developer."

If that was true then why the hell do you have crap like "Imagine: Babyz"!?!?!

 

[Cousin_IT]

shovelware like imagine does sell. Infact it appeals to a giant potential market: clueless but wellmeaning parents with young children. Nintendo have that niche completely cornered with such products

 

[Maverynthia]

I'm sure there is a LOT of corporate BS going on here that Nintendo isn't telling you. Then again I took a look at the "Bob's Game" and thought the "trailer" I saw ...sucked really :/ The beginning was...bizarre...then there was this long ass boring cast roll I could care less about (I want to see gameplay) then something that was live action that didn't relate to the game it seems, not only that the fact that he's pompous enough to say he's better than established developers when he's just a new blip on the radar is ..well.. doesn't make me want to buy his game any more. I'm sure World of Goo sold was because it had previous sales.

 

[ironfist86]

yeah, i'm not gonna knock the guy, but i will say, he should have tried the whole demo approach before contacting nintendo. that way, he'd have some figures to back up his claim, to show that people will want to play his game. i mean really, what did he think would happen? nintendo would cave under the pressure of an unknown? he should feel lucky they didn't send a couple of italian plumbers with poor mustaches to his house to jam mushrooms up his arse. ha!

 

[oliveira8]

yeah, i'm not gonna knock the guy, but i will say, he should have tried the whole demo approach before contacting nintendo. that way, he'd have some figures to back up his claim, to show that people will want to play his game. i mean really, what did he think would happen? nintendo would cave under the pressure of an unknown? he should feel lucky they didn't send a couple of italian plumbers with poor mustaches to his house to jam mushrooms up his arse. ha!

I laughed out loud...damn it...stupid Mario jokes...

 

[Vern]

But think about it, with a mushroom up his ass he'd only grow larger, and take TWO hits to kill!

 

[Capo Taco]

That guy is the nuttiest nut since the walnut.

 

[super_smash_jesus]

sounds like a stand up guy, throwing a hissy fit in his room. I don't blame nintendo for dropping him.

 

[Nimbus]

Now that he is realeasing it on homebrew and I watched the videos on his site, I'm thinking the "protest" was nothing more than a viral ad, considering that his "protest" and his "meltdown" and all that is a part of the game's storyline... the lines are getting a bit blurred here people!

 

[KDR_11k]

The last time I've seen the requirements spelled out they were along the lines of having an office and a company (you can found one of those by filling out a simple form at some govt department, not as hard as it may sound) that is capable of keeping trade secrets. These are hard requirements and Bob failed to fulfill them. His approach to protest didn't make him seem very reliable either, I certainly wouldn't hand him any trade secrets or even a devkit after he has shown how he approaches problems. In fact I'd probably blacklist him for the stunts he pulled. Wouldn't want the guy to throw a tantrum by releasing important data the next time he doesn't get the flavour of dessert he wanted.

The guy's just an idiot. If he wanted his game to be commercially viable he should have made sure he got the license BEFORE starting development and, if he can't get one, choose a platform that doesn't require a license (he could probably have made it for the PC and sold it on Steam without trouble). Then again since most of the time spent on the game GOT to be spent on assets it shouldn't be impossible to rewrite the code for the PC and publish it on Steam now. Then he can see how much of a "genius" he really is.

 

[Svenparty]

They replied AGES ago this was I think before he went more annoying with his Aliens etc

He comes off as Vain not crazy though, despite not claiming to have made the best game ever anymore he acts like he fooled EVERYONE with his amazing Fail.

 

[fenixrising]

Hey fuck him, the world don't owe him shit.

 

[bkd69]

Why Nintendo? I mean really, if he really really wants to rely on the largesse of corporate overlords to publish his game, well really, doesn't he deserve what he gets?

He could always publish as homebrew, or publish for the PC, and neither of those options requires relying on a permission slip from Nintendo.

I think it speaks volumes to his business sense that he developed a full and complete title, as opposed to a demo, before securing publishing rights, and hence, perhaps, a reason Nintendo declined to sign him as a dev.

 

[hmmmm]

It would appear that nobody in this thread (OP included) knows anything about Bob's game.

Do yourself a favor and actually spend 10 minutes on some research before you post:
http://www.bobsgame.com

 

[PhoenixFlame]

It would appear that nobody in this thread (OP included) knows anything about Bob's game.

Do yourself a favor and actually spend 10 minutes on some research before you post:
http://www.bobsgame.com

Actually, I've been following the Bob's game thing for a while, mostly from the Escapist.

Unfortunately the criticisms are still relevant. Even if it was one giant viral marketing campaign to create buzz, the problem is that the lines were too gray to tell whether this was a part of the game promotion or the developer actually feeling this way. A vigil of days locked up in a room, regardless of whether it was a promotion or not, is still a little bit off the rails.

Viral marketing only works if at some point there is a clear defined line between viral and real, and this whole saga blurred the lines too much, so now we're not even sure what's real and what's not anymore. While that's "cool" in some sense, it's damn confusing in others, and if Nintendo turned him down in part because of that, that's Bob's own fault.