Comments on: The Tyranny of Stickmen

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:27:03 +0000

Great article, Jason! i’d expect nothing less from you guys. What’s the status of (the absolutely gorgeous) Lila Dreams? Last i heard it had been cancelled?

By: jason

jason — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:45:05 +0000

I agree that visuals are not just fluff.

More support of that: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/indefenseofeyecandy/

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:58:38 +0000

@Jim: Too far in the other direction and you end up with the mess that Sonic’s in, though!

@Ryan: True, they’re not ownable. But as we’ve seen, that hardly matters in the Flash world…

I think scale is important here. OK, I agree, a big company trying to build a media empire would want their IP locked down as much as possible. But an indie?

@TFernando: Hmm, good point. Fans would recognise them, but most people would not see them as part of a brand.

By: Jimmy McBrand

Jimmy McBrand — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:14:09 +0000

“but we’re talking about brand strength here.”

But what is brand strength?
Pixar has an extremely strong brand, but they keep making new IP.
Pixar has a license to print money, because their brand is creating awesome animated films.

Given the success of the Wii (in no small part due to Wii Sports),
and the success of the Wii Balance Board,
Nintendo should focus more on their new Wii brand “we make amazing innovative games”
rather than their older failing Gamecube brand “let’s put Mario in something”.
I don’t think Nintendo’s take on Little Big Planet Multiplayer
“New Super Mario Brothers Wii” gets anywhere near the excitement of Sackboy.
Their “license to print money” is doing the opposite.
I believe “Super Mario Galaxy” and “New Super Mario Brothers Wii”
would sell more and become legendary if they eliminated Nintendo’s thoughtless licensing.

While they didn’t sell extremely well,
“Dead Space” and “Mirror’s Edge” have strengthened EA’s brand.
Both are somewhat legendary
and people are starting to think of EA as a maker of great games
(rather than iterating franchises to death).
I believe “Dead Space 2″ and “Mirror’s Edge 2″ are going to sell extremely well as a result.
THAT’S branding.

Any idea why they keep calling Mario “Super Mario”?
Has there ever been a non-super Mario. Is he crippled?

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:01:07 +0000

Thanks, Rasmus. i find people repond really positively whenever i draw scribbly stuff like the logo monster, or the Bloat. monsters. i definitely want to do at least one game in that style. We’re currently working on a graphic adventure game for a client, and we own the engine, so it might be a style i’ll visit when we make our first original graphic adventure game in the new year.