Psychonauts v1.03 Update Patch

[RainOfTerror]

Majesco has released a new patch for Double Fine's action/adventure Psychonauts. This update brings your retail game to v1.03, but oddly enough, the readme lacks any details as to what it fixes.

A deranged scientist is abducting students from the Psychonauts boot camp and a powerful new cadet named Raz stands alone against the lunatic. Raz must develop and unleash an arsenal of paranormal powers, including the ability to launch himself telepathically into someone else's mind -- and take on their inner demons, nightmares and secret memories.You can grab the Psychonauts v1.3 patch (http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=27266) (8mb) over at Worthplaying.

[kizke]

I'm currently playing through this game (on Xbox, so the actual article isn't all that pertinent to my comment.)

Suffice it to say it's the most enjoyable game I've played since MGS3 or Katamari Damacy.

[Redline]

But did anyone actually buy this game? It was in prodution for quite some time. I'm wondering what it's figures are like (out of pure curiousity).

[jeffool]

I bought it. And loved it.

[mister_slim]

But did anyone actually buy this game? It was in prodution for quite some time. I'm wondering what it's figures are like (out of pure curiousity).
Hopefully good enough that Tim Schafer can spend another five years making another great game. I know Majesco was disappointed, and the sales were bad enough to negatively impact their profits.

[Kelegacy]

Easily the best 3D adventure (or whatever the platformer genre is called nowadays) that I've played all year. I feel bad that Majesco has been going down the shitter. It always works out that way. Good publishers/dev teams die or dry up and guano-mongers like EA thrive and flourish like bacteria around my scrotum.

Go buy Psychonauts, Phantom Dust, Nanostray, or another of their games to support them! (they are publishing A Boy and His Blob remake too...so you'd better hope they dont go tits up anytime soon)

[Gpig]

I just bought this game Friday when I traded in Mercury and Twisted Metal for my psp. I have the xbox version and I've only beaten the first world so far so I can't really say too much about how it is. I've spent about an hour running around the camp right now seeing what there is before I go to my next mission. It really feels like a Tim Schafer game. It's not Grim Fandango, but it feels like it was made by the same person. I'm liking it(not on the same level as Grim Fandango mind you, but what is?).

[AbeLincoln]

Easily one of the best games in recent memory. It's a new classic for me.

[Kelegacy]

collecting the Figments became a chore. There are just way too many of them and most are right there in the open for the grabbing. It really wasnt worth it after a while. But other than that, I had a fun time. The characters are very memorable (my favorite being the little protective hat-wearing, squirrel-speaking, Dooben--or whatever his name was). Also, the voice work was so top-notch I felt I was watching/playing an animated movie. It was excellent and Invader Zim's voice actor was incredible as Raz. Hell, everyone rocked...make this a cartoon series NOW! Camp Candy meets Nightmare Before Christmas...that's what the world felt like to me.

[Kelegacy]

Easily one of the best games in recent memory. It's a new classic for me.

Huh? I dont get it.

[AbeLincoln]

Huh? I dont get it.

/me waves a copy of it at Kelegacy

[Kefkataran]

But did anyone actually buy this game? It was in prodution for quite some time. I'm wondering what it's figures are like (out of pure curiousity).

I bought it also. Loved it. Curious as to what this patch fixes, so I probably won't download it until I hear.

[Rafer]

But did anyone actually buy this game? It was in prodution for quite some time. I'm wondering what it's figures are like (out of pure curiousity).

There's a thread over at Gaming-Age (http://www.ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=58239) that claims it sold just over 28'000 copies on PS2/Xbox... so it kinda flopped, great reviews and word of mouth though, suppossed to be one of the best games of the year, only had time to play a little of it myself though.

[danhoo]

I bought it, directly from the Double-Fine website to show my support. Bought the PS2 version, and the port is ok, but the control felt better on the XBox version. Overall a good quality platformer, although I felt the final level got a little tedious.

[TrackZero]

But did anyone actually buy this game? It was in prodution for quite some time. I'm wondering what it's figures are like (out of pure curiousity).

I picked it up at launch. The EB I shop at actually recommends the game to lots of people who come in, so hopefully it's getting out there. It's a fantastic game.

[eatme]

There's a thread over at Gaming-Age (http://www.ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=58239) that claims it sold just over 28'000 copies on PS2/Xbox... so it kinda flopped, great reviews and word of mouth though, suppossed to be one of the best games of the year, only had time to play a little of it myself though.

Says through June-- when did it come out for PS2?

(Admittedly, not good numbers even for XBox.)

[Varsity]

I gave up waiting and imported from Double Fine on Saturday. The Euro release isn't until October, plus Majesco's difficulties...

Curious as to what this patch fixes, so I probably won't download it until I hear.
http://majescoentertainment.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?postid=15788

So, uh, nothing?

[Oblivion]

the game was great, but why did it flop in sales? weak marketing?

[dartt]

It so happens that I was up until about 2am last night (or this morning) playing this game, I just got hooked in the story line but had to pack it up when I realised how tired I was and because of the risk of waking people up with my laughter.

It's a very funny game with humour that you might not at first expect glancing at it's 'cartoony' graphics. Great voice acting and dialogue with a rewarding storyline and original settings, leaping from person to persons mind allows the developers to offer varied and unique environments representative of the hosts personality as well as mechanics such as the little safes that you bust open to reveal memories that have been locked away provide interesting and often amusing insights into a charachters background.

One of the most original and entertaining titles I've had the pleasure to play in a long time!

[TRiLoGY]

I will have to pick this up when It comes out in the UK :)

[Lodin]

From another forum:The game cost USD 11.8 million and 4.5 years to produce.

At its peak, team consist of 42 full time and 5 contractors. A bit of trivia about this game, lines of code: 166,781 in 381 files in C++, game script: 332,650 in 2,433 files in LUA, lines of code tools: 81,260 lines in 445 files in C++/C#, 11,318 lines in 51 files in Python.

The outcome? The game sold a combined 15,000 units (Xbox + PS2) in June, with the PC version faring no better. Such fucking sad news. :(

[TrackZero]

the game was great, but why did it flop in sales? weak marketing?

I'd have to say it certainly didn't have the best marketing. Many people have not heard of the game at all.

[Roc Ingersol]

I really was hoping Microsoft would treasure and champion this thing. Stupid bastards.

One of the best games I've bought in the last few years. In the platformer genre, easily the best in recent memory. Damn f#@king shame.

[Nerv]

I love Schafer's work, and I've been dying to play thiss since production, but Majestico have et to release it in Europe, I'm still waiting on the copy I ordered from Canada.

And they're wondering why sales have been bad?

[Cupelix]

The poor sales of this title mean that we probably won't see a sequel. That's really too bad, because I'd love to see further adventures of Raz and the Psychonaut team. I was looking forward to one day seeing what happens when Doogan takes off his tin-foil hat.

[fahrvergnugen]

Adding my name to the register of those in this thread who have played and adore Psychonauts.

I thought it was merely above-average, and then I got to Lungfishopolis and The Milkman Conspiracy and started laughing so hard I kept dying.

[netcraazzy]

I bought this game a few weeks ago but I have not played much past the first training level. It's a good game but WoW's siren call keeps me from playing it.

[vladthedog]

i just bought/beat it. freakin killer game. def recommend it.. curious as to what it fixed... i didn't have too many problems

[AbeLincoln]

I'd say it was lack of marketing that made for bad sales. I only got it because I saw a glowing review in one of this site's "weekend gamer" posts.

[Kelegacy]

*tugs Abe's beard.

Yup, it's real. So is the fact that Psychonauts got a raw deal. The game really was excellent and gamers who havent played or bought this game yet should be flogged for their oversight.

[lun]

This game was just as good, if not better than, Beyond Good and Evil. It's a shame that creative works like these don't sell as well as "Popular Sports Figure Name Here" Sports game, or Grand Theft Auto XI: Lets Shoot a Bitch and Steal Another Car.

While the argument could be made that it's an issue of taste in genre, I lean more towards the thought of People think a game cannot be fun without having some sort of adult nature to it. Obviously when games like this come out and they don't sell, it tends to make a company shy away from taking creative venture risks and we end up with clone after clone because after all it is a business, and that's what sells. It is truly heart breaking for the true gamers deep at heart.

I'm not a Nintendo Fan boy, and I don't want to start some huge discussion or thread jack, but a lot of people give the big N heavy shit, because they make "kid games" or "hardware gimmicks", and the fan boys try to defend with "It's Innovation!"

I love playing my DS. Nintendogs is a neat game, and really is fun to play. Warioware Twisted is INSANELY fun and amusing. Pikmin was an incredible puzzle game. Some of the things that Nintendo does may not necessarily be innovation like the fan boys claim, but it's different! and artistically creative! (Windwaker) and just fun to play. The dreamcast also had great things going for it. VMU mini games kicked ass! Seaman was kind of hokey, but a neat idea! The PS2 and XboX are not without their merits as well, but it's not an issue of which console is better like most people move the focus to, it's a game design issue. It's the software developers!

I'll just wrap it up by saying that it sucks to see all the lame games like GTA get press, albeit bad press, and hype, which shy the light away from better games like Psychonauts that deserve to be played and enjoyed.

Sorry so long winded, and if you made it this far thanks for listening to me vent.

- a disheartened gamer

[Kefkataran]

Iun, I agree with you in a lot of respects, and the game industry can certainly be a frustrating place for those seeking artistic innovation over shiny graphics. Unfortunately, though, as observers all we can really do is try our damnedest to get the word out. Let everyone you know know how awesome Psychonauts and other games like it are and urge them to buy them new/not used, just like everyone on this thread is urging people who haven't yet picked the game up to do.