May 26, 2017
Psychonauts - Spaff
With Psychonauts 2 now in full development, it's about time you finally played the game that everyone's been talking about non stop for more than 10 years now!
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An odd feeling – this thing we prayed for for years, and which seemed such an impossibility, is now happening. And not just happening: it felt like a foregone conclusion from the second it was announced. With $3.35 million pledged by crowdfunders and investors, it looks like Psychonauts 2, Double Fine’s sequel to their acclaimed 2005 adventure-platformer, will become a reality at last.
Following the recent announcement of a crowdfunding campaign for Psychonauts 2, Double Fine and 2 Player Productions put out a three-part documentary about the origins of the original game. It s a lovely, candid look at how Tim Schafer and co. scraped together their first platformer without much of a clue how to pull it off. I ve yet to watch part three which just came out, but based on the previous installments it will be a fascinating combination of old footage from the game's development, other stuff from Double Fine s early years, and some hokey Tim-Schaferisms.
Rarely does the public get quite this sort of inside look at game development, particularly these days. A particular note of interest: Psychonauts was actually cancelled after leadership roles shifted at Microsoft, and some of their feedback said that the game might be too funny for a wide audience. Luckily, Double Fine finally secured a deal with Majesco to publish.
Watch the Psychonauts Retrospective: The Color of the Sky in Your World, parts 2 and 3 below.
Remember back in 2012 when Notch was like, “I could fund a Psychonauts 2!” and Double Fine were all, “Cool! $18m please!” and Notch was all, “Shiiiit, I was thinking more 25p, and – wow, look, an octopus on a tricycle!”? Well, that’s all history now.
Double Fine are looking to make Psychonauts 2. They’re after $3.3m from backers, alongside their own investment, plus external funding from a mysterious, possibly legal party. More Psychonauts! There’s a trailer too, of sorts.
Psychonauts 2 was announced at The Game Awards today, albeit in a roundabout way. It's not officially guaranteed to happen yet, with a $3,300,000 crowdfunding campaign underway on Fig. But Fig will only provide one portion of the development funds. Double Fine will be providing a big portion of the funds themselves and an unnamed outside partner will be providing the remainder.
The campaign page is live now, and is ticking up at a pretty quick rate. Rewards are doled out in tiers, similar to Kickstarter, and you can pick up the game, once/if it's completed, for $33 bucks. Donate enough to be an official investor, and you can pick up a piece of the profits.
Be sure to watch The PC Gamer Show next Tuesday, as we'll be talking to Tim Schafer himself. Join us as we try to take a peek into the industry veteran's mind about Double Fine's surprising endeavor.
Watch the pitch video below.
Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.>
Tim Schafer’s last great game? Oooh, there’s a statement. Whichever way you fall on that, it’d be hard to argue that Psychonauts [official site] weren’t a wondrous thing.
