Boogers at work
 

Let's talk notoriety. :D

Obviously the subject matter was designed to grab attention, and it did. I'd forgotten how much press the game got when it was first released. The gaming media seemed to love it even as the adventure genre was starting to lose ground. But I was really surprised to see (on the DVD) that it was even covered by mainstream press (what was the show - Good Morning, America?)

Can you take us back to 1996 and tell us a little more what the reactions to the game were originally? Good, bad, shocked, horrified, repulsed, fascinated? On what scale?

As the "welcome" thread has already shown, clearly the issue still has potential to stir up strong feelings on the matter.

The game got the visceral reaction we dreamed about...it was not only raw and edgy, it was different...initially we were going for the gross-out thing, but as time went on it became less about grossing people out than it did about realism and grit. People reacted more to the gameplay than anything else. Though that rat did grab a lot of attention. We did get some people who hated it and thought that roaches were just untouchable subjects for games. I guess ripping people's heads off and blasting their brains onto the walls is ok, but roaches are off limits for some...what a strange world.

Yeah, the game isn't even remotely gross in terms of gameplay focus, and is actually a helluva lot more poignant than 99% of other games. But it must be the realism and grit that actually touches people on a more passionate level that they can't overlook.

If I remember correctly, you were originally going to make a "cute" bug game, but abandoned that for the realistic approach. What was the motivation for the shift in focus?

It wasn't so much "cute" as it was cartoony. Remember Joe's Apartment? That MTV short and ill-fated movie? Well, that's what we were thinking. But we didn't want to go that direction. That's not what we are all about. David Lynch, that's what he were into...