Sidhe, New Zealand's largest game production studio, today announced its new original title, Shatter™, which will debut on PlayStation®Network later this year. Shatter is a retro-inspired brick-breaking game that merges familiar action with a modern-crafted production approach.
“We were inspired by classics in the genre, but were very aware of the limitations that most examples don’t overcome, which means they don’t reach the full potential possible,” said Mario Wynands, Managing Director of Sidhe. “We stripped brick-breaking back to the base elements, and rebuilt it from the ground up. The result is a much more connected and visceral experience.”
Shatter will remind players of classic brick-breaking games, but with twists that make it modern and unique including:
· Innovative controls, physics effects, power-ups, special attacks, and boss battles which combine to provide an experience that is always interactive
· Standard, Boss Rush and Bonus game modes enhanced with leaderboards and trophies
· Vibrant 3D style presented across 10 distinct worlds in 4xAA 60fps HD
· A fully scored soundtrack featuring more than 90 minutes of original music
Shatter continues Sidhe’s moves to self publish a range of original, high-quality titles for the console download market. For more information on Shatter, visit: www.shattergame.com
hmm...looks broken. lols.
hmm...looks broken.
lols.
Not sure about broken, but I
Not sure about broken, but I imagine its one of those games that might be great when you pick it up, but hard to describe otherwise.
Shatter =
Shatter = "broken".
*sigh*...explaining sarcasim on the internet once again.
Sarcasm and the net never
Sarcasm and the net never work as well.
Sarcasm conveyed through
Sarcasm conveyed through text never works as well.
"Shatter continues Sidhe’s
"Shatter continues Sidhe’s moves to self publish a range of original, high-quality titles for the console download market."
I feel more companies in this region should focus on original IP for the download market, rather than leaning on risky american licence titles.
But how profitable is the download market ?
Those American license
Those American license titles are the stablest part of the proverbial house of cards that is the games industry. Getting together an original title that does well with both the critics and the consumers (or even just the consumers) is a much, much more difficult and risky undertaking.
Both are good
Both types of projects have their merits.
Movie - Series - whatever-else game licences are stable projects. It's unlikely that EA-Games would can a lord of the rings game as, regardless of quality of game in question their market analysis's have predicted X-number of sales and profit. Which is great to show the shareholders. And developers get the same benefits as publishers, licensed titles are usually stable ones.
And just because it's licensed doesn't mean it has to suck. The chronicles of Riddick series is pretty good. And that's a based off a Vin Deasil movie franchise. Yes you'll get projects like a bratz DS game. But if that bothers you to a great deal remember no one is forcing you to work at that studio. :)
Original IP ventures can reap rewards in both development morale and if it's a hit then you've secured your studio for a couple of years creating sequels and spin-offs for that project. But you need a competent development team and a publisher with a lot of patience for your IP to get off the ground. The guys who worked on the Conduit for the Wii went for a long time of their development without a publisher.
Both original IP and Licences come with benefits and draw backs. And different studios suit different projects.
Sidhe trying the download market
That part of the press release caught me a bit by surprise - personally, I thought Sidhe were one of the more capable developers working on last-gen machines. They have top notch art direction and they've always produced great solid work. Unfortunately, the types of licenses they've had to work on were either too niche or just didn't end up having a huge market (Melbourne Cup Challenge, Jack Ass, Speed Racer etc). It's too bad they've never had that one title to really hit it out of the park so they could grow, make bigger deals, work on current-gen stuff etc.
For casual or downloadable games, Sidhe are probably overkill for that, but I'm certain they're gonna do some kick ass stuff. Shatter looks pretty awesome.
"..so they could grow, make
"..so they could grow, make bigger deals, work on current-gen stuff etc."
Sidhe has been doing all of that for several years, they just seem to have been going about it quietly. They've shipped successful titles on on PS3/360, and I believe were the first developer in Australasia to ship anything on PS3 (not retail maybe - but if Shatter proves anything it's that retail in and of itself can prove to be something of a false idol).
"For casual or downloadable games, Sidhe are probably overkill for that..."
But why exactly? Sidhe obviously don't think so. Do a lot of developers think these types of games 'beneath' them? Why? I'd much rather work on successful casual and download games than half-arsed AAA-wannabe retail flops.
Shatter is currently sitting at 87% on Metacritic and going strong.