Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack has made a heart-tugging statement explaining why he's stuck with Too Human, despite its notorious problems.
Say "Too Human" to any gamer right now and you can expect a retort tinged with a hint of cynicism. Because of the huge development time that's spanned almost a decade, not to mention the infamous Silicon Knights vs. Epic lawsuit and Dyack's own inflammatory statements, it can be argued that this is a game more famous for its controversy than anything else.
Dyack could have been forgiven for just scrapping the whole debacle, but he has stuck to his guns throughout, convinced in the potential that Too Human has. For those unable to fathom one man's devotion to his creative baby, let Mr. Dyack tell you the reasoning himself, which comes after the jump:
"Growing up, when I was younger, I’ve had so many people telling me that I can’t do x or I can’t do y. When I was in grade school, I didn’t do particularly well in a couple of classes and the teachers told me I’d never grow up … and never get out of high school. I ended up becoming more educated than they did. I have three degrees. I got a Masters degree in computer science.I think it comes down to never let anyone tell you you can’t do something. I really mean that for everyone. It is so easy to be cynical. It is so easy to be negative. And it’s so easy to say, 'This is not going to be good' or 'This is going to be trash.'
And I think about Too Human and some of the rough spots we went by or just recently came through and I think about the documentary on the making of the Titanic where they're interviewing the actors. Because if you remember the movie Titanic was completely panned by the press before coming out. It was going to be the next 'Waterworld,' a terrible movie. And when we were going through the tough times and before we had shown anything for Too Human we were watching that and going , 'Wow, we kind of relate to those guys. We really believe in what we’re doing.' You just can’t stop believing."
That's the spirit, Dennis! You've got to hold on, hold on to the dream! With Pikachu by my side, ANYTHING's possible. Our hearts are one and our spirit is true and Team Rocket's blasting off again!
Sarcasm aside, I kind of feel bad about all the times we've poked fun at the guy now (and note I used "we" to try and pass some of the blame onto everyone else). This is a guy who clearly believes in his game, and thinks it's worth sticking by through both the easy times and the trying times. Okay, he's done a lot of buck-passing and whining, but at least he's not letting himself get discouraged. Fault him for many things, but you can't fault him for that.
You can view a video of Dyack's tearjerking performance on MTV's Multiplayer Blog, but only if you have a US IP address, because MTV is a hive of racism.
Keep on trucking, Dennis! Keeeeep on truckin'.
I hope this guys game turns out great and I do look forward to trying it out. I guess only time will tell and time is a stingy bitch. Trust me, I know.
But this game isn't out yet... :(
Also, prematurely releasing info about a game with a poorly managed development cycle spells problems. Sounds like they have a mismatch of ideas over there.
So, I fail to see how this game is going to be any more revolutionary than say... Crackdown or Gears of War (which it appears to me to be a mish-mash of both.)
That said, I'd really be interested in it when it comes out if it can truly live up to it's expectations. And my expectations for this game right now are about as high as AC were at this same point in it's dev cycle.
When game companies delay games years, I tend to get over the game fast.
I've heard Dennis and some of the guys at 1up talk about the game and it seems a lot of people get the wrong idea of what the game will play like. A lot say it looks like a devil may cry game but the game is supposed to me more of a Diablo 2 on consoles (Tech trees, millions of items, simple controls, classes, co-op) than a standard action or shooter game.
Oh wait, this is the internet. Sorry about that.
-europe
Plus, all the recent videos on this game look horrid. Just some random bald guy sliding around, performing stiff looking combos on generic robot bad guys.
His game is crap and he should have had the respect for himself and his company, to just can the damn thing.
When the hell has anyone wanted a futuristic spin on Norse mythology? Especially from some blowhard like Dyack?
It's just retarded, he's just saying that he's sticking to his guns and to "follow your dreams", but there'll be some weak ass cop out when the game fails. "At least I tried" he'll probably say. Fuck that.
Maybe he should work on pulling the Legacy of Kain series out of the toilet and not creating an all new franchise of failure.
and if its not what have i lost... maybe 10 hours? D.D. has more then a few years of his life invested in this.
Please make it good.
I don't want this guy to end up sounding like Uwe Boll, violently defending his shit work.
If it sucks, it sucks. If it's good, it's good. But if it's great, then I can't WAIT for every single person on the Too Human message board to say that they supported Dyack from day one. Just like the Smash fans who loved Sakurai until Geno & Ridley didn't make it and now "SAKURIA SUCKS" and so forth (yes, the "Sakuria" error is intentional, there are a LOT of people that make that mistake).
Go Denis. You've got a buy from me if it comes out when I have money.
This game is striving to do things differently, for example, right analog combat. Yes, all combat is done with the right stick. Have you seen that in this type of game before? It's also been called a "FANTASTIC diablo clone" by one of the EGM guys who previously disliked the game (referred to it as a "Brute Force".) Diablo on the console. That is awesome. Add in the same co-op abilities found in Diablo and you have a great game to play with friends.
Not only that, previews have already stated that the story is very good and the production values are amazing.
"When the hell has anyone wanted a futuristic spin on Norse mythology? Especially from some blowhard like Dyack?"
I do. That debunks your generalized opinion already. And insulting the guy? Kind of pathetic. Denis Dyack has achieved a lot and him and SK have given Canadian game development a good name. He's put his heart and soul into this and I for one will at least give the game a chance before writing it off.
BAH! This game will be crap. I would like to be proven wrong, but so far..... I see nothing but fail.
If anything you have to give Dyack credit for putting his balls out there.
HAHAHA, exactly.
allthough I do realise that this is becoming a harder feat with the day...
HOLD ON TO THAT FEEE-LIII-II-I-IIIIING. "
Glad someone else got that impression....
Yes, cue the Journey
Cause I'm a gamer.
How am I going to develop this game that everybody seems to hate already? Yeah, I know! I gotta believe!
I don't know though, without other people seeing rare awesome looking armour, will I even care?