So, like the article on the front page says, EA has created a sub-company of 20 year old devs to simulate indies. Discuss. As a start-up question, though, I have a question. Does 8lb Gorilla have total free reign or do they still have to ok every single one of their ideas and details through corporate EA? I don't see how they can compete directly with indies if they can't take feedback from consumers and apply it directly to the game.
Heya- I'm Mike Pagano, the guy heading up 8 lb Gorilla. I'm listening here and on twitter: http://twitter.com/8lbgorilla. Hope you will like the game and love to hear any and all feedback. I want to make kickass games for you and me (I like to make games I want to play- they turn out so much better with enough love!) As a cheat commando once said: Rock, Rock on. -Mike
hello mike, welcome to toucharcade game looks great by the way, cant wait for it i just have one question has it already been submitted? or is it about to be submitted? just read your name been a member since oct 208, so i guess welcome back to toucharcade? ha my bad
this is gonna be great! Hey welcome to TA, and i can't wait for Zombie&Me as well as your future projects!
lmao. have u guys seen the dude in the comments saying the game is crap and that eli is paid off? lmao. idiot
Alright, this is awesome that you guys are focusing on the $0.99 market, cause that's perfect for my budget (especially if it'll be monthly). Zombies & Me seems like a really good pick up and play type of game which is great. Oh and I'm now following you guys on twitter.
Thanks for the warm reception, all! The game has been submitted- should be coming in the next few days. Can't wait- seriously. Original games are so much damn fun to make.
Hi Mike! I just read the front page story and watched the gameplay video, and I don't know if I'm missing something, but that kind of gameplay doesn't seem to appeal to me that much, especially for something I'd have to pay for. I only recently got an iPhone so I haven't been in the market from the beginning, and maybe I'm spoiled by a lot of the 99 cent games/sales, but here are my thoughts on the situation- As a consumer, I am in nirvana. There are just SO many OUTSTANDING games that are 99 cents that are polished, amazingly fun, addictive, and both quick to play or totally entertaining for hours (depending on how much I feel like playing at the moment). Here are some examples: Flight Control/Harbor Master, Battle of Pirate Bay, Draw Race, Stone Loops, Doodle Jump, Eliss, and so on. While a couple of those are on sale for 99 cents, the point is the same--each one manages to take what's special and unique about the iphone/ipod touch's control mechanisms, and perfectly create an engaging gaming experience out of it that is completely addictive and fun and non-repetitive. I could literally play any one of those games either for a few minutes or for 1-2 hours and not feel bored (maybe some more than others). From what I saw with your zombie game, it's basically just tapping on the screen and moving a bunch of zombies to a target and waiting for a missile to blow them up, rinse, repeat (albeit with a few more zombies as time goes on). To me, and I may be alone (or maybe not), that just does not even come close to comparing to the gameplay available on just the titles I gave as examples above, which are all 99 cents (a couple temporarily 99 cents). In fact, I have several free games that seem to offer a lot more depth, fun, and compelling gameplay than the zombie game does. I don't mean this to be negative, quite the contrary. I hope this feedback enables you to perhaps revisit titles you may be working on for the future and to examine what makes the really successful 99 cent games 'tick' in the hopes that you can create equivalently compelling and fun content at that pricepoint. There's just so much out there that's so much BETTER than the video posted of the zombie game that I really don't see a reason to spend even 99 cents on it (and I know, I haven't played the game yet, but if it's 99 cents, I probably never will in its current form). I hope this helps you guys out in the future as I think the idevices are a truly great platform for really fun games when done right.
All these games are relatively simple gameplay mechanics. When I first saw Flight Control before I played it ("it's just drawing lines"), I wasn't impressed. So, I don't think you can make such certain judgements so quickly. I'm sure there will be plenty of user reviews once the game comes out, so you can make a decision. arn
Isn't Flight Control, Harbor Master, and Battle of Pirate Bay just tapping and drawing a line? Isn't iDracula and MiniGore just swirling tour thumbs in a circle? The control mechanic isn't what defines the game, it's the gameplay of the game itself You have to herd zombies with no means of forcing them to do what you want. You can only use yourself as bait to lure them into the path of a missile while avoiding the blast radius... sounds like a perfect idea to me. Now I don't know if a tap and move mechanic would be the best control for the frantic pace... I think analog would be more appropriate as it would let you weave through zombies where tap and move would mean death. Just my thoughts though
Arn, I agree--but, all those games have something 'special' about them also. They are deceptively simple yet engaging at the same time. When I heard about Flight Control, I didn't pay much attention to it. When I saw a video of Flight Control, I was impressed. I knew the premise was simple enough, but the challenge and perfectly tailored controls made the game amazingly fun. And I hope I'm wrong about the zombie game (who doesn't want more cheap and fun games?), but the video really did nothing for me. It was just 'simple', without that something 'extra' that makes other seemingly simple games so much fun and addictive, like Flight Control. I will certainly look forward to reviews, and I hope they release a lite version and that I am proven completely wrong about my statements above, but I just hope "simple, but not fun and engaging" doesn't take precedence over "simple AND fun and engaging" at 8lb Gorilla, since they really do have the opportunity to do some seriously cool work with the resources they have.
thats kind of what i have been thinking people have been saying the game doesnt look good because there is no depth but other games like flight control are really popular and are just as simple so i dont see why they wont even give this game a chance
I think that the fact that the team's actually coming onto the forums is a good sign. At least EA has learned something instead of being like Gameloft and spewing out games that recycle the same gameplay mechanics over and over again (not sure about CoF, though, still gotta check that out). And hey, let's start judging the game when it comes out. If a game in the industry can generate a lot oh hype and end up being a massive dud (e.g Prototype), is it really fair just to label this Zombie game off as a pre-failure? At least it's a decently original concept, instead of making a platformer and slapping unergonomically (always wanted to use this word) healthy virtual joysticks on it.
heh. you're basically telling them to make games that don't suck... which hardly needs to be said. the combination of all the little details to make a great game are elusive. I suspect there's a lot of trial and error involved. I'm sure that even without your asking, their goal is to make "fun" games. arn
I'm kinda with red9 on this one. The gameplay video doesn't do it for me. Although, I do hope that I'm wrong. I had the same issue with Flight Control, but I took a chance and ended up loving it. Maybe the same thing will happen with this game. Even though I'm not completely won over yet, I hope that you guys are successful in whatever games you make.
I dunno...the video looked pretty cool to me. I could definitely see this becoming a popular title as long as the controls are fluid. There's a lot of 99 cent crap out there, and this seems better than most of them already with respect to production value. What I'm more worried about is how this will affect indie game developers. With EA backing 8lb, and a goal of a new title every month...where will that leave the little guys, not to mention higher priced titles? What will happen if other big companies decide to follow suit? The next few months are sure to be interesting....
You say this like you've already played the game. If you had a chance to preview Flight Control before you played it, you would probably think the same thing: Simple but not fun and entertaining and not special in any way. You shouldn't give opinions on the gameplay before you actually play the game. Flight Control is very simple and most people don't know why it's special or would've even thought about it before they played it but look at it now. Wait till you play the game before judging its gameplay and appeal.
I fully admit the first time I saw Flight Control it was completely beyond me why anyone would want to play such a simple game.
