Beyond Good and Evil's Future is Up in the Air

[modeps]

http://evavhost.com/i/news/bge_jade.jpg

In a recent interview with IndustryGamers (http://www.industrygamers.com/news/interview-ubisofts-detoc-on-turning-gamers-into-players/2/), VG247 (http://www.vg247.com/2009/07/23/ubisoft-working-on-beyond-good-and-evil-stuff-but-its-future-is-uncertain/) was quick to note that there was a bit of troubling information spewed by Laurent Detoc, Ubisoft's North American prez.

“I didn’t say there’s definitely going to be another game. I said something had leaked, which means we’ve been working on some Beyond Good and Evil stuff, but whether there’s going to be another game or not, that’s something for the future. But getting to your question as to why there’s work on the IP again, it’s a creative people business; the creative talent is interested in it and possibly exploring how to do it from a new angle.

So basically that trailer we saw a bit ago wasn't really anything worthwhile... and could have just been some artists screwing around...

[MasterEvilAce]

Sucks. BG&E is the only game I can think of where I would preorder immediately.

[Morpheus]

Orh, man. I was really looking forward to it. The first one is brilliant in every way (maybe except the stalth parts).

Now I'm sad:(

[Cleaner7]

Well I think they were doing some brainstorming/pre-production for a new BG&E game, but may have run into complications and are now backpedaling by saying nothing was officially announced.

[Syl]

Make it exist, take some people away from the outrageously large Assassin's Creed team!

[Demo_Boy]

That's about as firm a "Not gonna happen" as you get without reading it in a Twitter leak.

[lost]

That video might have been leaked movie footage since Ubisoft is getting themselves big into that lately.

[brandonjclark]

That video might have been leaked movie footage since Ubisoft is getting themselves big into that lately.

A fucking movie? OMG, this is disappointment number 99 for me today, but definitely tops the list.

[dirtbag]

so how many months did it take for them to deny that a game was in the works? It sounds a bit suspicious to me . . .

[Rangoth]

I am shocked...a quality original game gets canned while franchises like Halo and Guitar Hero get whored out until every drop of originality are removed.

Next someone is going to tell me what Hollywood is going back and remaking classic 80's franchises like Friday the 13th and Nightmare On Elm Street...

[KidNicarus]

Fun fact: Although the internet swears that the original game was amazing, none of you actually purchased it. Games are expensive to make and Ubisoft was taking a huge risk producing a game that costs 10-20 million dollars that no one would actually buy.

I'm sure they entered preproduction and did some mockup/target videos to showoff what the game could be, but that might be as far as it goes.

[spdiscus]

Fun fact: Although the internet swears that the original game was amazing, none of you actually purchased it. Games are expensive to make and Ubisoft was taking a huge risk producing a game that costs 10-20 million dollars that no one would actually buy.

I'm sure they entered preproduction and did some mockup/target videos to showoff what the game could be, but that might be as far as it goes.

I bought the first, and (IMO) it didn't live up to the hype. It was good, but not earth-shattering. I'd pay $30 or $40 for a follow-up.

There is middle ground. I hate that some people have become convinced that games fall into only two categories: indie two-mans and AAA $10-20 million games.
Take a handful of resources, put them aside for the 'critical darlings,' and accept that the end products won't be graphical powerhouses, but that they'll faithfully revisit loved universes and provide entertainment - that's all I ask. Produce something canonical using some input from the creators, and I'll buy pretty-much anything from about a dozen dead franchises. Make a $20, six-hour BG&E2 with a cheap licensed engine, and I'll buy day-one.

[modeps]

Fun fact: Although the internet swears that the original game was amazing, none of you actually purchased it. Games are expensive to make and Ubisoft was taking a huge risk producing a game that costs 10-20 million dollars that no one would actually buy.

I'm sure they entered preproduction and did some mockup/target videos to showoff what the game could be, but that might be as far as it goes.

I bought it new.

[Pitpig]

I didn't think the first was that great either. The platformer parts were dull, and the non-human characters were goofy. I never understood what was good about it. Maybe I missed the point.

[Syl]

I bought the original BG&E new for the Gamecube, i then REBOUGHT it years later for $10 through steam.

[Zetsuei]

I love it when people claim speculation as fact. (i.e. - You didn't buy the game when it came out.)

Just like when people claim that they won't buy a game because of some sort of bullshit, and people say, "you'll still buy it." I can name about 10 games I haven't bought because of bullshit, and I can name another 10 that I bought on day 1 that you could claim I didn't buy as well.

[MasterEvilAce]

Fun fact: Although the internet swears that the original game was amazing, none of you actually purchased it. Games are expensive to make and Ubisoft was taking a huge risk producing a game that costs 10-20 million dollars that no one would actually buy.

I'm sure they entered preproduction and did some mockup/target videos to showoff what the game could be, but that might be as far as it goes.

Big FU to you, pal.
I bought the game from Steam, because sadly I never heard about it until it hit Steam. The characters, the music, the story... I loved it all. People who have played it know how good it is. The higher ups in the companies make the decisions, though, and so creativity has to go out the window... so it looks like 6 more years of Tom Clancy.

[NilreMK]

Sounds like they are still in conception. In order to progress, the team will have to demonstrate that they have a good vision, that they can deliver it and that it will be profitable. There are also external variables, for example perhaps an IP that Ubisoft absolutely want to exploit (like King Kong) turned up, or maybe Ubisoft feels that it has already enough action/adventure titles planned for the next couple of years.

So it could be due to a number of things... but at least it shows that Ubisoft has not entirely given up on the franchise (yet).

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

Someone needs to be bitch slapped.

Too bad its not a game that caters to film grain and dark colors with big guns and blue lights. Fucking assholes.

[TeeCakes]

The funny thing is I showed the PC BG&E to all my summer computer camp kids (since it's really the only game I had to show off that was not rated M), and ALL of them loved it and are probably bugging their parents to head to Gamestop to buy a copy as we speak.

None of them had heard of the game until I introduced it to them, yet 99.9999% of them consider themselves hardcore gamers (to give you an idea, they all brought PSPs/DS's with Monster Rancher/Pokemon for late night multi-player sessions as is highly endorsed by iD Tech Camps-- or when I'm on overnight duty, at least!)

If Ubisoft would just market quality games as much as they peddle their big franchises they'd easily pull in similar numbers. I'll never understand why game producers have to do things like the Hollywood blockbuster system, a good game is worth 10-shitty ones when you factor in the used games market that everyone seems to be get so pissy about.

[TeeCakes]

...a good game is worth 10-shitty ones when you factor in the used games market that everyone seems to be getting so pissy about.

Or "worth 10-overhyped, big-budget games" would probably be a better wording. Since these are the ones that get resold to GS on launch day by disappointed pre-orderers, and resold used with $5 knocked off the new price.

[the soUL TRAder]

Fun fact: Although the internet swears that the original game was amazing, none of you actually purchased it...

The fact that you play a girl with normal boob structure and basically take pictures for a large part of the gameplay is why very few purchased it. The fact that most who purchased it really enjoyed the game, inspite of playing a girl who took pictures is why the game was amazing.

Now run along and blow something up, tool.