A welcome twist of fate
What could a Grammy award R & B singer named Raphael Saadiq and a podcast hosted by two nuns POSSIBLY have in common? Chances are, you might say to yourself, slim and none that they would have ANYTHING in common. Right?
Wrong…oh so very wrong.
Truth may be stranger than fiction, and some adages older than dirt, but as Fran always says, there are no coincidences. If that is true, then this is truly a much welcome twist of fate.
As our regular readers and listeners we are (albeit self appointed) champions of independent game development, there being fewer of them these days as multi-national media giants lumber across the land, gobbling up studios. In our opinion (O.K. “our” opinion only after we interviewed Dr. Richard Bartle about it for a previous show) some of the most innovative changes in video games will come from studios that probably couldn’t put together enough employees to make up a good football team.
I told you all that to tell you this
Most people have heard of “Murphy’s Law”. Let me introduce you to “Julie’s Axiom” – if you announce a guest on your show, or even a topic, in advance (even by the smallest amount) things will not only go wrong, they will go horribly wrong. In fact the first time we tried to interview this guest schedules went wrong. Before I tell you all who it is we are interviewing, let me extend a special thanks to a new “person who knows a guy” we have been dealing with of late: you know who you are. You have put up with our incessant emails to arrange interviews. For that we thank you.
When I first read the name of this video game developer it just did not ring a bell. And so, as I always do, I researched our subject and guest ahead of time. At least now…I learned my lesson the hard way recently. (Thankfully our guest was kind enough not to say anything and so you will never know how I embarrassed myself.) No, the name of the company did not ring a bell – but the name of their first game sure did. Now I don’t know if the game in question is still in production. We will certainly find that out on the day of the interview. However, throwing caution to the wind (and hoping it doesn’t fly back in our collective faces here at No Prisoners, No Mercy)…
The name of the company is Illfonic and the name of the game is Ghetto Golf
“THOSE GUYS!” , I announced to two dogs and a parrot (the only people in the room at the time). Now I will be the first to admit that there was once a very large hole in the ceiling above my chair where we produce the show (just ask Bill Roper) from my jumping to conclusions. So I looked into the whole “Ghetto Golf” concept as part of my research. Here is a description of the game:
“IllFonic currently has two games in development. Ghetto Golf, announced at GDC in 2009, is a multiplatform release. Ghetto Golf is a rapid mixture of third person combat, sports gameplay and comedy, dedicated to those players that have always wanted to wield an Uzi with their 9 iron. In addition to a deep single player campaign, Ghetto Golf offers a robust multiplayer mode including Golf Gangs and Team Deathmatch. In keeping with IllFonic’s philosophy of bringing the AAA experience to downloadable titles, Ghetto Golf will include an original soundtrack from top artists and producers plus feature voice talent from some of the best names in urban comedy.” – Illfonic
Raphael Saadiq
My first thought was that Mr. Saadiq (pictured at right)must have lost his mind. Then I looked deeper and found some remarkable things. The first of which is this statement from one of their news releases:
“Lately this industry has seen a loss of amazing games and talent due to publisher retrenchment and fear of risk. IllFonic wants to remind gamers that art and entertainment are what make games great, not milking franchises to death. We stand as the alternative,” - Co-Founder / President / Programmer Charles Brungardt.
Even though this was published on February 4, 2010 it’s almost as if their lead programmer must have a crystal ball in the back of their offices . When their co-founder was finished predicting the near future, the same new release has a statement by our interviewee:
“To me, game development is a form of art. But, only if the entire team and I are getting their hands dirty in the creative process. Our games are the working proof that small teams can still do big things. One man armies, cool people, and a passion for creating dope stuff. The work techniques we developed create an experience that feels like art – not software,” said Co-Founder / Lead Designer Kedhrin Gonzalez. (emphasis added)
My first thought here is that I intend to email a copy of the interview to Roger Ebert (although I would rather tattoo a transcript to his forehead in reverse so he can read it in the mirror each morning). For those who don’t know why read here .
So as Sherlock Holmes once said, “The game’s afoot”. And before you think that the folks at Illfonic lost their minds, read the next article on No Prisoners, No Mercy. You just might find out that the only reason you think the concept is nuts is because you just haven’t heard of the real life version yet.
More later…
(posted by The Webmaster for Julie Whitefeather)