Everyone knows that you're not allowed to say anything bad about ICO. Or REZ for that matter. Or Lumines. But right now, we're talking about ICO, the game where a boy with a horny hat drags a girl around a castle.
Now please understand, SPOnG's staff in the main really likes ICO. This writer does more than perhaps anything else she has played for some time. It is delicate and fascinating and strangely touching. Scott Miller, CEO of 3D Realms, however, disagrees.
In a posting on his site, Miller slams ICO. He criticises its length, design, marketing, structure, characters... Read for yourself:
Now please understand, SPOnG's staff in the main really likes ICO. This writer does more than perhaps anything else she has played for some time. It is delicate and fascinating and strangely touching. Scott Miller, CEO of 3D Realms, however, disagrees.
In a posting on his site, Miller slams ICO. He criticises its length, design, marketing, structure, characters... Read for yourself:
The Ico syndrome
Quite often I see discussions among developers who use Ico as the poster child for critically stellar games with underwhelming sales. But while Ico is often lauded as a great game, it never surprised me with its lack of success.
A few factors that contributed to Ico's under-performance:
Meaningless name. Just seeing/hearing the name tells you nothing about the game. So, the name itself did nothing to help position the game.
Oddball hero. Doesn't the boy have horns? If so, this game has the same problem that the Oddworld games have, a quirky hero that's hard to relate to.
Short game. Probably a victim of rental, and gamers just wanting more for their money.
Non-compelling subject. This may be the heaviest anchor. Ico seems to be a generic fantasy, save the girl story without anything buzz-worthy to sell it. Yes, the hook is that you grab the girl's hand and guide her, but on the surface that doesn't sound like an excitingly new hook. And even playing the game I didn't find this all that compelling. Really, the only thing eye-opening about the game was its visuals, but again it's still overall generic, just nicely done.
Kid's game. This ties into the previous point, but it also stands on its own. To Joe Gamer holding the Ico box in his hand, it looks like a game for kids. There is no obvious coolness to the concept. This game is a tough sell to the teenage/adult gamer.
Ico has many game developers shaking their heads in dismay, because it's a game with stellar production values, gameplay uniqueness and overall terrific execution, and yet it didn't become an unqualified hit. The game was poorly positioned, both from a branding perspective and from a game concept perspective. Ico's main character, generic setting and kid level story did not lay a compelling foundation for a game.
Practically all games that are critically acclaimed yet fail to realize expected potential have similar problems. And generally it's a problem that's easy to avoid.
Quite often I see discussions among developers who use Ico as the poster child for critically stellar games with underwhelming sales. But while Ico is often lauded as a great game, it never surprised me with its lack of success.
A few factors that contributed to Ico's under-performance:
Meaningless name. Just seeing/hearing the name tells you nothing about the game. So, the name itself did nothing to help position the game.
Oddball hero. Doesn't the boy have horns? If so, this game has the same problem that the Oddworld games have, a quirky hero that's hard to relate to.
Short game. Probably a victim of rental, and gamers just wanting more for their money.
Non-compelling subject. This may be the heaviest anchor. Ico seems to be a generic fantasy, save the girl story without anything buzz-worthy to sell it. Yes, the hook is that you grab the girl's hand and guide her, but on the surface that doesn't sound like an excitingly new hook. And even playing the game I didn't find this all that compelling. Really, the only thing eye-opening about the game was its visuals, but again it's still overall generic, just nicely done.
Kid's game. This ties into the previous point, but it also stands on its own. To Joe Gamer holding the Ico box in his hand, it looks like a game for kids. There is no obvious coolness to the concept. This game is a tough sell to the teenage/adult gamer.
Ico has many game developers shaking their heads in dismay, because it's a game with stellar production values, gameplay uniqueness and overall terrific execution, and yet it didn't become an unqualified hit. The game was poorly positioned, both from a branding perspective and from a game concept perspective. Ico's main character, generic setting and kid level story did not lay a compelling foundation for a game.
Practically all games that are critically acclaimed yet fail to realize expected potential have similar problems. And generally it's a problem that's easy to avoid.
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Comments
ash 15 Jul 2005 21:22
1/3
This guy basically has it right from a marketing perspective. The mainstream gamer who plays Madden will most likely not be attracted to this game. What ICO did was tell a beautiful, interactive fantasy story w/ a wonderful take on platform gameplay and follower AI. How would you advertise this game if you were the developer and handed it to a publisher and asked for them to sell it?
BlkStarr 16 Jul 2005 03:55
2/3
Ha, and yet despite those valid reasonings, ICO is STILL the game that a developer's wishes he could create, but has his balls in too tight of a grip to actually accomplish.
config 18 Jul 2005 10:01
3/3
One really shouldn't give this guy Miller a moment's thought.
Face it, 3D Realms have a perfectly good, highly marketable "cool" character, and a shedload of "witty" back story with which to build a half-baked tale to entice the Joe Shmo.
Nevertheless, 3D Realms has proven, to date, completely incompetant at producing the goods; namely Duke Nukem Forever - now in its seventh year of "development"
So, Mr Scott Miller, CEO of 3D Realms, tell us; What use is having all that marketing s**t if you can't create a decent game?
Face it, 3D Realms have a perfectly good, highly marketable "cool" character, and a shedload of "witty" back story with which to build a half-baked tale to entice the Joe Shmo.
Nevertheless, 3D Realms has proven, to date, completely incompetant at producing the goods; namely Duke Nukem Forever - now in its seventh year of "development"
So, Mr Scott Miller, CEO of 3D Realms, tell us; What use is having all that marketing s**t if you can't create a decent game?