Darwinia
Thanks to DQ reader William Barnes for a link to an interview over at Next Gen with Darwinia's lead designer Chris Delay. I've already written about it extensively (check the April 2005 archives for a post titled "Darwinia"), but in brief: one of the best games of 2005, absolutely brilliant, and so visually stunning that it qualifies as art.Art. A game. I'm amazed just writing that.
Incredibly, though, they can't find a U.S. publisher. Why? Well, the first answer is usually the best, so let's go with the obvious: U.S. publishers are dumbasses. There's plenty of room for innovative, unique titles like "Splat Renegade Paintball" (Take-Two) or "Swamp Buggy Ultimate Bayou Challenge" (I made that one up), but there's no room for freaking Darwinia?
Here's what's so shockingly stupid about that. Even if Darwinia doesn't sell through the roof, Introversion is going to make a game in the future that will sell a million copies. They're the next big thing. Peter Molyneux has a reputation as the great innovator, and I like his games even when they fail, but Darwinia is far more innovative than anything Molyneux has done in the last five years.
If Molyneux had made Darwinia, had made the exact same game that Introversion made, it would have sold over a million copies. So instead of signing the very expensive name who misses as often as he hits, why don't you sign the talent and give them the exposure they need to become a name?
Here's a link to the article over at Next-Gen:
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=987&Itemid=2.
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