[SoccerDude28]

Why was I attracted to Beyond Good and Evil? Well I think it was the sum of its parts.
First the characters. Jade in my opinion is the best video game female protagonist of any game. She has personality, she has passion, but most importantly she is human. The rest of the characters are also memorable. From the very caring uncle, to double H. Hell even your inventory has a great personality with Segundo (sp?).

The story is very interesting and you always want to know what happens next.

The graphics are alive and vibrant, with the green hew given the game a great alien feel.

The gameplay is fun and varied and doesn't get too repetitive. One moment you are racing in your car, the next you are running around taking pictures, the next you are sneaking into an alien complex, and then you are busy button mashing. There is no frustration found in many platform games, and all of Jade's jumps connect. This might make the game easier but it removes a lot of the frustration found in most of the platform games.

Why the game didn't sell is another story. The biggest reason is the lack of market for these types of quirky games. Just like Psychonauts, some people dismissed this game because it had animals that can talk. It's really tough to sell a game like that to the current demographic. Also the lack of marketting. Think how much marketting a game like Kameo had as compared to this one. Microsoft kept showcasing it as the 360 family game. The only reason why I knew about BG&E is because I heard about it from people here. I think publishers have a long way to go in selling quirky games. Instead of marketting them even harder because they are tougher to sell, they don't invest in them as much, due to their fear that they will lose even more money. And one more thing Ubisoft should have done was make a sequel. The game has a cult following, and a lot of late comers who bought the game at budget price like myself, will jump on a sequel the moment its announced.

[samIamsad]

Originally Posted by SoccerDude28

Why the game didn't sell is another story. The biggest reason is the lack of market for these types of quirky games. Just like Psychonauts, some people dismissed this game because it had animals that can talk. It's really tough to sell a game like that to the current demographic.

Maybe it's really that's it's hard to sell something like this. Remember: These games have lots and lots and lots (and even more) competition. Why should I invest my hard earned money in this game in particular instead of all the other hundreds of titles (of which some are promising immediate excitement*, somehow)? Of course, there are some "tricks"....

Originally Posted by T. Schafer

Well, I'm not in sales, but I did learn one thing from Full Throttle. Put a big explosion on the box!

Quoted from an interview found on Gamespot. But as said, I wasn't attracted to BG&E for a loooooooooong time myself...

*I think it doesn't have anything to do with <aaargh>genres</aaargh>, or, to be more specific game mechanics so much. That's... overrated. IMO at least. Every game can have this special something that appeals to a large amount of people.

[TM3]

Originally Posted by RLacey

...very much aimed at entertaining me rather than simply burning vivid images onto my retinas.

I remember Michael Ancel saying in an interview (Official U.S. Playstation Magazine) that he and the team were thinking like entertainers and less like gamers when making BG&E...so who knows?
Awesome, beautiful, quirky, polished, and a whole list of generic-praise words. A really well-done game. What got me into it was checking up on it in magazines and seeing "The Trailer" from the offical site. That one really hit the nail in my head (huh?). I had to get the game! And in the end it was better than I expected. The widescreen, atmosphere, powerful music, voice work, and the characters did it...but the gameplay did it even more! All the things I've mentioned "fit" with the gameplay very well. Yes, it had linear path but there was a nice illusion of a non-linearity without making you feel dissapointed. Besides I always enjoy a game whree I don't miss out on anything and is kept on a straight path. There was some sidequests to complete there, wasn't there? No worries. Never have I played a game that mixes different genres into one-seamless package (with the exception of Deus Ex). Or played a game where the NPC sidekicks were "alive"! Sequel please?

[Jackal]

Originally Posted by SoccerDude28

The biggest reason is the lack of market for these types of quirky games.

To me this is a chicken-and-egg statement, and I'd argue the opposite. You may actually be right, but I don't think we KNOW that yet. Until we get enough quirky games that are appropriately marketed over time, how can we know what market there is? It's not enough to point to the rare game that dares to be different, is poorly marketed, and naturally flops.

As Sam said, I think it IS hard to sell something that doesn't fit neatly into marketable packages. Games belonging to established genres ("genre" either referring to gameplay or theme here) already have their first massive hook. Games that defy easy traditional categories are starting at ground zero, so they better find their hook, and fast. My impression of marketing for BG&E and Psychonauts, for example, is that even THEY couldn't really figure out what they were. Or at least, how to pitch their identities in an attention-grabbing way. I sympathize with the dilemma. It's a style issue when your strength is substance. But that's the game, and you at least need to TRY.

Look at BG&E. First of all, what the heck kind of name is that? Generic word-match #632. And beyond that, it doesn't match the game. The box art isn't too bad, actually (both of them shown here). But as was mentioned, you've gotta have Ancel's name on there prominently - or maybe "Rayman", instead. And pitch the thing brashly as a Zelda killer! or some such preposterous thing that at least makes people take notice. Let gamers FIND all the extras you've got under the hood, but marketing's job is to make them LOOK.

Psychonauts... well, no matter what anyone else says, and it seems I was the lone minority... the box art sucked. EDIT: (And I mean sucked as a game-selling feature, not some abstract artistic reference.)

[Deckards]

In a recent article on EDGE magazine (in the UK), I read that the developers had to change most of their initial game design and they considered their game was 'Beyond Good & Evil 2' compared to what they wanted to make.
I was quite disapointed by this game. The visual style is great and I really think the game could have been much more than what it ended up in the end.
It seems that most people here enjoyed the story and the characters of the game. I think that 'talking animals' was a very bad idea for the character design because it removed all the credibility of the characters that the devs strived to create.
I didn't care at all for the characters and their world. I didn't feel like being in their world and didn't know much about any of them anyway. The 'coup de theatre' was so predicitible that it made laught so loud
I see a lot of people who claim that the game is not linear. Howether, as it as also been said, the game world is just a tunnel as in Sonic Adventure... It could have been so much more

Spoiler:

When I got the ship and noticed I could go anywhere in the game world, I felt like being more part of the world but it was a short feeling as most of the places are just.. 'background visuals' and the game world was in fact limited to what I already knew about it

[eriq]

Ahhh BG&E, one of the most atmospheric games ever created. Sometimes I just load one of my saved games where Jade is in the ship and I just sit in the water watching the fishies jump around. It's THAT good. I absolutely adore this game.

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by Jackal

Psychonauts... well, no matter what anyone else says, and it seems I was the lone minority... the box art sucked. EDIT: (And I mean sucked as a game-selling feature, not some abstract artistic reference.)

I'm not sure you are; I agree, the box art for Psychonauts utterly failed to convince (and the back is really badly worded too). I feel that the European box art is at least far superior in terms of the colour choice. Faced with generic greens and blues or bright purple and yellow, the box I pick up is going to be the latter...

[eriq]

So many developers stumble on their box designs. Psychonauts deserved something really fantastic like a holographic spiral design with embossed and debossed artwork. There were so many great ideas in the game that could have been put on to the box and promotional materials. Instead we got flat uninspired illustrations. I am curious what Double Fine will come up with next! They are one of a kind!

[SoccerDude28]

I would also like to pimp gametap. This service is AWESOME. It is like XBOX live arcade, but with much much more classics. I stayed till 2 AM yesterday playing a game of Yar's revenge. And what roxors the most is that the controls are pretty simple. Just use the analog sticks and a button and that's all. They also have Prince of Persia and Prince of Persia 2 (The original ones), and something like 4 sonic games or more. What's also cool is that you don't have to worry about all that emulation bullcrap or Dosbox. They just work. I just wished they had some Nintendo stuff, but with the revolution backward compatible and all, I guess they want to make their own buck.

Anyway, gametap is great value for your money. You guys should definitely check it out.