Adventure Forums - View Single Post - Gray matter: official site / hype / marketing and publishing

Simo Sakari Aaltonen · 02-28-2008, 06:29 AM

Everyone knows that practically speaking it is a good idea for a publisher to promote their product. All I am saying is that that does not oblige them to do so. I have been pretty clear about the fact that I am talking about the minimum definition. That definition still does not include releasing a set number of trailers, screenshots, press releases, or personal e-mails.

See, for me this is a larger issue than just Gray Matter. I dislike the current hard-sell culture of mass entertainment. I would love to see a no-nonsense adventure game publisher who simply did a fantastic job with the actual games. I do not particularly need a dedicated website, mailing list, forum, reviews, reminders, pop-ups, ads, threads, commercials, or demos. I want a great game.

Now having said that, this does not mean that I would not love to see something like what they had in the golden age of Sierra. They had not just fantastic games but also amazing packaging. Their demos were nice. I still derive a great deal of enjoyment from all the various publicity materials they released back in the day, but that is because they had a sense of fun and they had heart. And of course they had InterAction, which was something very special. You can download a few issues from Ken Williams's Sierra On-Line fan site.

But those levels of craftsmanship and artistry are simply not there anymore in the PR materials we generally see these days. There is no sense of adventure or character. They have lost the most basic sense of simple fun. Easily the bigger part of these materials is cranked out from a conveyor belt and there are no particularly loving operators manipulating the levers.

* * *

So yes, of course I would love to see great communication on all levels from Tonuzaba and ANACONDA/dtp. Nor would I be averse to any tasteful teasers, though in truth we have already had quite a bit and asking for more seems a bit greedy. Surely we want something left for the game itself.

But we are still not entitled to any of this. Anything the creators do not want to give or are not in a position to give, that is their choice. It is the misplaced sense of entitlement that I am arguing against. We do not own any piece of Gray Matter except any individual copies of the end-product we may purchase. An overbearing fan with an exaggerated sense of entitlement is an offputting thing.

It is also worth bearing in mind that this is Jane's first game with Tonuzaba. Things are bound to get rough at some point in getting something this big off the ground, especially when this is basically a Transatlantic collaboration. I want to give them all the time and space they need to do what it takes to get it right without anyone sacrificing their health or well-being in the process.

* * *

We simply do not know what the situation is and trying for a moment to imagine myself in their position, I realise it would make no sense to release any info about a possible further delay until they could give something pretty firm about the eventual release date.

Besides which I would point out that we are still in the first quarter of 2008. Everything is still on the tentative schedule. But for my part I would not mind a further postponement. Just let them get it right.

Simo Sakari Aaltonen
(simoadventurecompanion.com)

www.adventurecompanion.com

02-28-2008, 06:29 AM	#84
Simo Sakari Aaltonen Banned User Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Finland Posts: 447	Everyone knows that practically speaking it is a good idea for a publisher to promote their product. All I am saying is that that does not oblige them to do so. I have been pretty clear about the fact that I am talking about the minimum definition. That definition still does not include releasing a set number of trailers, screenshots, press releases, or personal e-mails. See, for me this is a larger issue than just Gray Matter. I dislike the current hard-sell culture of mass entertainment. I would love to see a no-nonsense adventure game publisher who simply did a fantastic job with the actual games. I do not particularly need a dedicated website, mailing list, forum, reviews, reminders, pop-ups, ads, threads, commercials, or demos. I want a great game. Now having said that, this does not mean that I would not love to see something like what they had in the golden age of Sierra. They had not just fantastic games but also amazing packaging. Their demos were nice. I still derive a great deal of enjoyment from all the various publicity materials they released back in the day, but that is because they had a sense of fun and they had heart. And of course they had InterAction, which was something very special. You can download a few issues from Ken Williams's Sierra On-Line fan site. But those levels of craftsmanship and artistry are simply not there anymore in the PR materials we generally see these days. There is no sense of adventure or character. They have lost the most basic sense of simple fun. Easily the bigger part of these materials is cranked out from a conveyor belt and there are no particularly loving operators manipulating the levers. * * * So yes, of course I would love to see great communication on all levels from Tonuzaba and ANACONDA/dtp. Nor would I be averse to any tasteful teasers, though in truth we have already had quite a bit and asking for more seems a bit greedy. Surely we want something left for the game itself. But we are still not entitled to any of this. Anything the creators do not want to give or are not in a position to give, that is their choice. It is the misplaced sense of entitlement that I am arguing against. We do not own any piece of Gray Matter except any individual copies of the end-product we may purchase. An overbearing fan with an exaggerated sense of entitlement is an offputting thing. It is also worth bearing in mind that this is Jane's first game with Tonuzaba. Things are bound to get rough at some point in getting something this big off the ground, especially when this is basically a Transatlantic collaboration. I want to give them all the time and space they need to do what it takes to get it right without anyone sacrificing their health or well-being in the process. * * * We simply do not know what the situation is and trying for a moment to imagine myself in their position, I realise it would make no sense to release any info about a possible further delay until they could give something pretty firm about the eventual release date. Besides which I would point out that we are still in the first quarter of 2008. Everything is still on the tentative schedule. But for my part I would not mind a further postponement. Just let them get it right. Simo Sakari Aaltonen (simoadventurecompanion.com) www.adventurecompanion.com Last edited by Simo Sakari Aaltonen; 02-28-2008 at 06:36 AM.