I've got a question that I hope to get a few answers to.
Has there ever been a game that has been released because the fans took action? If fans are hoping for a sequel to an excellent creative game, how can they best assist in its creation?
I am part of a group of gamers who long to see a sequel to Evil Genius (now owned by Rebellion Studios). The last we heard EG2 was on their road map, but they had other games in the works first and no publisher would sponsor them for that project just yet.
Evil Genius (for those who have not played it) is a creative combination of Dungeon Master and The Sims, where you are an evil genius bent on world domination. You need to build a hidden base, send minions on missions to acquire money, objects, and fame build traps, and foil the forces of justice as they land on your island. The entire game was bathed in an excellent (and hilarious) 60's 'Austin Powersish' atmosphere, a thick and immersive style graphically, musically, audibly, even mechanically. As far as I have seen there has never been a game with this style before or since.
My theory is that the game was too creative which was both its strength and its downfall. It does not follow any set generic path, it is a risky investment because it doesn't clone the success of other more generic mainstream games. The game fulfills a certain niche, which makes it not mainstream, which means that the average gamer won't like it as much. In some respects it was just too creative and too innovative. It also had a pathetic marketing campaign which made it flounder in sales.
But we really want Evil Genius 2. So we've decided to raise awareness of the first game (as well as their facebook app) and gather up the fans to put them to work. We're creating a game advert for youtube, and I'm researching to find out if something like this has happened before and succeeded as well as for effective advertising tips.
Maybe I need to boil it down some... What are constructive ways for average gamers like myself to assist in the creation of a project that I have neither the technical expertise nor money to directly get involved in?
Any assistance would be much appreciated.
Greg
Has there ever been a game that has been released because the fans took action? If fans are hoping for a sequel to an excellent creative game, how can they best assist in its creation?
I am part of a group of gamers who long to see a sequel to Evil Genius (now owned by Rebellion Studios). The last we heard EG2 was on their road map, but they had other games in the works first and no publisher would sponsor them for that project just yet.
Evil Genius (for those who have not played it) is a creative combination of Dungeon Master and The Sims, where you are an evil genius bent on world domination. You need to build a hidden base, send minions on missions to acquire money, objects, and fame build traps, and foil the forces of justice as they land on your island. The entire game was bathed in an excellent (and hilarious) 60's 'Austin Powersish' atmosphere, a thick and immersive style graphically, musically, audibly, even mechanically. As far as I have seen there has never been a game with this style before or since.
My theory is that the game was too creative which was both its strength and its downfall. It does not follow any set generic path, it is a risky investment because it doesn't clone the success of other more generic mainstream games. The game fulfills a certain niche, which makes it not mainstream, which means that the average gamer won't like it as much. In some respects it was just too creative and too innovative. It also had a pathetic marketing campaign which made it flounder in sales.
But we really want Evil Genius 2. So we've decided to raise awareness of the first game (as well as their facebook app) and gather up the fans to put them to work. We're creating a game advert for youtube, and I'm researching to find out if something like this has happened before and succeeded as well as for effective advertising tips.
Maybe I need to boil it down some... What are constructive ways for average gamers like myself to assist in the creation of a project that I have neither the technical expertise nor money to directly get involved in?
Any assistance would be much appreciated.
Greg
