[tsa]

Originally Posted by ozzie

Right. I guess Duke Nukem Forever is undead then.
"Some time" may also mean "for eternity".

Yeah, GM and DNF are just like Linux on the desktop: always just around the corner.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by inm8#2

Gray Matter could be the mother of all adventure games!

Then why, based on this disappointingly weak trailer, is Anaconda/DTP/whateverpublisher not treating it as one?

If, according to the AG preview, Jane Jensen wanted to reach out to a wider audience (not just hardcore adventurers) why has she allowed the publisher to not only release next to no sustained updates to generate buzz across the gaming spectrum, but also to put out what looks to be a sub-par trailer that "...was nothing more than some concept sketches with music that was already on the website for eternity," as ozzie aptly put it?

Seems to me that if you are trying to grab a larger market you'd be more consistent with news of progress and be more passionate in how the game is marketed. It's a Jane Jensen game, for cripes sakes! Where's the respect? LOL!

[kadji-kun]

Originally Posted by ozzie

Right. I guess Duke Nukem Forever is undead then.
"Some time" may also mean "for eternity".

The game was almost done, plus it would cost more money to start over....so time will tell.



It really pisses me off though with all the assinine comments on the teaser.

One of my favorite cutscenes are done in the same fashion.

Thief 2 Cutscene 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tEXI...eature=related

and Thief 3 Cutscene 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzCv_hFv5nc

Something doesn't have to be animated up the wazoo just to get that same feel.

[UPtimist]

I'm a bit... Surprised at the responses here. I mean, I understand the frustration that some people have over not actually seeing anything that shows progress here and so on, but then it seems that some people are venting that frustration by aggressively announcing how the game will never be released, how stupid everyone who is developing the game is and so forth. The latter (here obviously exaggerated) still goes, it's just stating one's opinion (and hoping for achieving a change), but if you think this game is never going to be released, then why bother constantly battling those who do think it's going to be released at some point at least? Why is it so bad to have a little optimism? If you don't think there is a game then let those who have hope talk about it and just wait for there to actually be some news one way or the other. If you say once that you don't think it'll be made, fine, but there's absolutely nothing to be gained by going on to an endless debate about whether a trailer (and not much else) proves that the game will never be released or not.

I don't see what's so bad in living in a little hope. It's nice to have something good to look for in the future, even if the wait ends up being longer than expected or for vain.

And this is not Duke Nukem Forever, there's a huge difference here. Saying what has happened to DNF doesn't automatically apply to Gray Matter. Obviously you can make comparisons, but I don't see how you can just say: "DNF never will be made, so Gray Matter will never be made."

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Then why, based on this disappointingly weak trailer, is Anaconda/DTP/whateverpublisher not treating it as one?

How should we know?

Though I don't see this as "the mother of all AGs". Perhaps the mother of all AGs of this decade... The mother of all AGs was obviously GK 3

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by ozzie

If the game is nearly finished, why do they show something that suggests that they just started production? The answer maybe very incompetent marketing, but I'm not sure.

Hmm...

Originally Posted by official game site

Gray Matter: Entwicklerswechsel zu Wizarbox - Release 2009

Gray Matter wird 2009 veroffentlicht

- http://www.graymatter-game.com/

If this game has just been announced to release next year, why does the official site still say the above? You would think DTP would immediately update the information and post news. Or do they not consider this game worthy of being pushed out there more?

[AndreaDraco83]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

If this game has just been announced to release next year, why does the official site still say the above? You would think DTP would immediately update the information and post news. Or do they not consider this game worthy of being pushed out there more?

Alas, I must agree that... uh... some aspects of DTP marketing policy are... uh... hard, let's say, to understand and the website (or lack of it) is just... uh... an unfortunate toll.

Anyway, there were rumors that a new site was being developed by Wizarbox and not DTP. We'll see...

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Competent marketing, hype, and public relations indeed.

[3rdFloor]

Originally Posted by UPtimist

I'm a bit... Surprised at the responses here.

I do agree with you, but I think the overall frustration comes from Jane Jensen fans considering the game is being treated with no respect at all. Personally, I couldn't care less about the delays. I'm 32 years old and I can wait all my life for this game, really it matters not.

What I do care about however, is proper and respectful handling of news and marketing. It truly hurts when you put a lot of heart and effort into something, and then see your publisher isn't bothered in the slightest about promoting that labor. And I speak on this as a young filmmaker who's had his share of troubled experiences with lazy distributors. They funded my projects and gave me good resources, but they never talked to any of their partners, dismissed important events, refused to update their website (which contained many obsolete information) with small trailers I sent, and they didn't found it necessary to properly announce the premiere night. As a result, no one from the press even showed. It was like "Er... guys? Why did you even fund me if you don't care about the project?"

So to me it all boils down to respect and proper representation of something you funded. Let me put it this way: dtp chose to publish Gray Matter, no one forced them to do so. And my message to them is this:

"Please show some care. This game is your little child now. For God's sake, love it and give it a hand, it needs you! It can't do it all by itself! Because in the end, and regardless of how good the game turns out to be, putting Jane Jensen's name on the box won't guarantee a safe return of your investment (with all due respect to you, Mrs. Jensen). Spread the word, update your websites, and allow Wizarbox to give interviews and share content with the fans."

Responsibility. Care. Love.

[Henke]

That's a business decision. Marketing things costs money. Webpages, trailers and press kits isn't being made for free. I rather see that the budget is being put into the project at hand then to actually marketing the thing before it's done. If it's good I'm sure the product will sell itself, the word spreads fast thanks to something called the internet.

[Fien]

Sure, marketing means spending money. And no marketing means no sales.

The first dtp-wizarbox adventure, So Blonde, got much more publicity etcetera than Gray Matter long before its release.

[Henke]

Which game that gets what at what time is up to the publisher. Judging by how many people here that gets excited or upset based on the little we've seen from the game makes me think that they're not totaly clueless about what they're doing. Do you think that equal amounts of people would be this curious about So Blonde if it have had the same small amount of marketing? Besides we still don't know exactly when Gray Matter will be released. It might still be plenty of time for them to launch a big marketing campaign if they think it's worth it.

[Ascovel]

I remember someone from Telltales PR saying that the almost before release announcement of Tales of Monkey Island was a way of avoiding long term marketing costs.

[ozzie]

Anyway, there's a funny thing in the product catalog from dtp that I got from the GamesCom.
They quote Adventurecorner.de with "One of the hottest candidates for the title adventure game of the year 2009".
And to the left of the quote you can read the release date "Q1 2010". Uh...I guess they didn't knew what they were talking about, what?

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Jeezus Finnegan Cripes, is this DTP actually a PROFESSIONAL publisher?!!

[inm8#2]

I don't think anyone's questioning the quality of the trailer itself, but it really doesn't give us any impression that progress is being made on the game's development.

As for the DNF references, there was a trailer for DNF in the fall of 07, and about a year or so later the game production was pretty much dead. Nobody is proclaiming Gray Matter is dead because of this, but I think it is false to dispute the fact that for such a highly-anticipated game, developers would give the fans a little more than what we saw in the trailer to reassure us that progress is underway and the game is nearing completion.

[3rdFloor]

All this talk of DNF and missed opportunity has depressed me. I need a drink.

[kadji-kun]

Originally Posted by inm8#2

I don't think anyone's questioning the quality of the trailer itself, but it really doesn't give us any impression that progress is being made on the game's development.

As for the DNF references, there was a trailer for DNF in the fall of 07, and about a year or so later the game production was pretty much dead. Nobody is proclaiming Gray Matter is dead because of this, but I think it is false to dispute the fact that for such a highly-anticipated game, developers would give the fans a little more than what we saw in the trailer to reassure us that progress is underway and the game is nearing completion.

Its not there job to reassure fans that the project is still alive. Its an incentive.

[tsa]

This discussion has been going in circles a few times already.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by inm8#2

I don't think anyone's questioning the quality of the trailer itself, but it really doesn't give us any impression that progress is being made on the game's development.

As for the DNF references, there was a trailer for DNF in the fall of 07, and about a year or so later the game production was pretty much dead. Nobody is proclaiming Gray Matter is dead because of this, but I think it is false to dispute the fact that for such a highly-anticipated game, developers would give the fans a little more than what we saw in the trailer to reassure us that progress is underway and the game is nearing completion.

What amuses me is how some of us continue to make excuses for what truly is embarrassingly incompetent marketing by a publisher.

[ozzie]

Originally Posted by UPtimist

Why is it so bad to have a little optimism?

I see that your forum name is UPtimist, so I guess you're a very convinced optimist.
I don't want to get into a pointless philosophical discussion about mentalities, but I want to say that hope isn't an endless resource. Fans already waited and hoped for Gray Matter for years. At some point, when information gets thin, the release pushed back again and again without any explanation, when the game seems to develop backwards rather than forwards from the looks of screenshots or the trailer, then doubt might start taking over.

Personally, I think it's likely that Gray Matter will be released...someday, in some form. I'm sure that Andrea knows what he's talking about and Wizarbox is a competent developer. But then, dtp is the one responsible for release, and if it will overall handle the title as badly as with marketing, then it might never see the stores!