As most of you know, our little
April fools joke was actually real! but for those unaware Tommy and i are currently in development on Super Meat Boy : The Game, a touch based, mobile remake of Super Meat Boy, from the ground up! 100% new everything!
In our last update we touched on what super meat boy : the game was, and wasn't. still early in development our main focus is currently to really examine the mobile playing field to see what companies do right, and what they do wrong. As many of you may have noticed, there is a whole shit load of wrong out there these days, from abusive and manipulative money making tactics, to flat out stealing. To us the core of what is wrong with the mobile platform is the lack of respect for players, it really seems like a large number of these companies out there view their audience as dumb cattle who they round up, milk and then send them on their way feeling empty or at times violated...
There is an on going theme these days to use a very basic video game shell and hang a "power up carrot" in front of the player. the player sees this carrot, and wants it! all the player needs to do is a few very rudimentary repetitious actions to attain it, once they get to it, another drops down and asks them to do more... but then the catch... instead of achieving these "goals" by running on the tread mill, you can instead just pay a single dollar and you instantly get to your goal! better yet pay 10 and unlock all your goals without even having to ever play the game!
words can not express how fucking wrong and horrible this is, for games, for gamers and for the platform as a whole... this business tactic is a slap in the face to actual game design and embodies everything that is wrong with the mobile/casual video game scene.
i've gone off on a tangent a bit but what im trying to get at is, we are approaching development to SMB:TG with very open eyes, we want to make a game that WE would love to see on the platform, a feature length reflex driven platformer with solid controls that doesn't manipulate you with business bullshit in order to cash in. We want SMB:TG to show the player we respect them, not only by not manipulating them, but also by understanding they want a real challenge and they want a real sense of fulfillment when they have achieved something that's difficult... you know, like real games do.
So as an extra tease, here is the 1st full shot of the chapter screen in SMB:TG, The Green Hills!
Dont let the fact that there are only 8 level pads make you think that SMB:TG will be bite sized, its content will rival the original, but in very different ways... more on that later.
(also yes there will be dark worlds!)
----------------
In other Meaty news...
Official Super Meat Boy Toys are now in stock in the Team Meat store! (almost sold out)
The full set features Bandage girl, Meat Boy and a big bloody saw (also stickers and a signed sketch) but they can also be purchased
separately.
The extra cool part is these were all designed, produced and hand painted by Danielle's mom, she actually quit her day job to keep up with the demand. 100% of the profit goes to her, so by buying you are also helping another indie artist live their dream as well :).
All Plush toys are currently out of stock but Danielle is telling me to say that they will be back June 1st :)
Ive taken a bit of a hiatus from "the internet" lately, removing myself from twitter and the like (hiding from the looming
indie game the movie storm), but now that things are moving again in Team Meat land, expect a lot more blog posts here!
-Edmund
