Sadness game for Wii is real, no it isn't, yes it is
by John Bardinelli 
{ Apr 12th 2007 at 9:58AM }
Some games have all the bad luck. Stick the word "Forever" on the end of your title and the development period will last about that long. Name your console "Phantom" and it will vanish like a ghost. Nibris should have took that into consideration when naming black-and-white WWII horror/adventure game Sadness. All we've seen is concept art and already the game's development is a tragic tale.Last year Nibris announced a publisher (Frontline Studios) had picked up the game. Time passed and no news came out of either company. A forum member at IGN decided to investigate and contacted Frontline. The response? "[We are] no longer interested in developing Sadness game based on Nibris' concept." How ... sad.
The folks at Kiff News weren't satisfied, so they investigated a little further and got in touch with Nibris. The company confirmed the split with Frontline and insisted that Sadness and other projects are in development. One of the company's leads has been out sick, which was the reason behind their silence.
It still sounds fishy to us, but only because we don't want to get our hopes up if this falls through. Next time, use the working title Happiness: On Shelves Now for better publishing karma.
[Via NintendoWiiFanboy]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Daniel @ Apr 12th 2007 10:05AM
I sure hope this game 1) comes out, and 2) isn't disappointing.
I'm not holding my breath, though.
The concept seems like it could be either really fun, or waay too gimmicky.
SuperSneaky @ Apr 12th 2007 10:08AM
If this game ever, EVER comes out, I will eat my hat.
In the event of it actually coming out, I'll double or nothing that it's a steaming pile of shit.
SUMMER 2008 ! SADNESS: TASTE THE HAT....
Hmmm.
Jack of No Trades @ Apr 12th 2007 10:20AM
Please stop with the WW2 knock offs. Get more creative.
Make a B.C. game that takes place in a desert or jungle setting, that requires you to hunt animals, train animals, protect yourself from other tribes and nature, expand your tribe across the continent, gain power. Make it 3rd person.
vidGuy @ Apr 12th 2007 10:24AM
You do know this game has nothing to do with WWII other than the timeframe, right Jack?
If this game was done properly it could easily be a million+ copy seller. The problem is overhyping it, like Red Steel. If the publishers fall through, Capcom should pick it up, help develop it, slap its name all over it, and sell for a huge profit.
sheppy @ Apr 12th 2007 10:25AM
Jack, I don't think the market is crowded with WWII era survival horror games based on scandanavian myths. But I could be wrong.
Jack of No Trades @ Apr 12th 2007 10:28AM
The timeframe is over-used in games. If they design it well it will be good. I was annoyed at first when I found out that Resistance took place in the same era as WW2 but it ended up being a great game.
Todd @ Apr 12th 2007 10:29AM
I'm very interested in this game. Would love to see production move forward and, ultimately, and eventual release.
NNTPgrip @ Apr 12th 2007 10:30AM
How about that Happiness game. You play as the Philip Seymour Hoffman character, however they do let you play Dr. Maplewood for a level so you can shoot the people in the park like the movie.
That movie is seriously messed up. But on my Top 10 all time.
Phil @ Apr 12th 2007 10:36AM
Face it guys, this game is never going to come out, and if it does, it will be awful.
DSmeet @ Apr 12th 2007 10:35AM
Correction to the article: it's pre-WWI, not WWII.
Z @ Apr 12th 2007 10:35AM
Although the game is pre- WWI, which hardly makes it a WW2 knockoff... we're talking 30-40 years difference here, like 1974 to 2007.
Sadness has always sounded like a cool idea if done right. Sadly we might not get to see it done at all!
SuperSneaky @ Apr 12th 2007 10:36AM
Lol, very funny sheppy.
You know full well that many of the smaller, niche games like FPS and GTA clones often don't get onto the market these days due to it being over clogged WWII Era Survival Horror Scandanavian Myth based games !
You cheeky chappy.
HotShotX @ Apr 12th 2007 10:47AM
"Make a B.C. game that takes place in a desert or jungle setting, that requires you to hunt animals, train animals, protect yourself from other tribes and nature, expand your tribe across the continent, gain power. Make it 3rd person."
Hey JoAT, that would be Pokemon. Diamond/Pearl hits stores on April 22nd, you may wanna pick up a copy.
KozWiz @ Apr 12th 2007 10:49AM
Ok... how can you guys be so harsh of a company who is publishing for the first time several games. Its not like EA where they make you slave 18 hours a day to finish a game. Back in poland, we actually work and make the game great...
oh and one more thing. Since it is coming out on a nintendo console, then this quote deserves to be here: "A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever" by Miyamoto... I'm sorry that some people are impatient, but great games take time, and they take even more time if its a small team. Look at metal gear and halo, look how long those games take, and how many times they've been delayed in the past.
so why don't you guys give them a chance...
Jack of No Trades @ Apr 12th 2007 10:52AM
HotShotX
lol thanks but no thanks
John @ Apr 12th 2007 10:54AM
My biggest problem with Nibris is that they just plain lie. They presented images that were quite clearly paintings as "in-game" development screen shots. They also posted screens for their DS game RotR, but the dimensions were completely off from one screen to another. Lies.
Prof_Chaos @ Apr 12th 2007 10:55AM
I'm willing to give these guys a chance. They've made pretty good strides considering they were just a bunch of Nintendo fans that wanted to develop a Nintendo game. Now they have several in development and some decent concepts among them.
The only thing I wonder is that are they dividing their resources among too many projects. As stated it is a small team and unless they can show significant movement on a project they will continue to lose publishers.
sheppy @ Apr 12th 2007 11:00AM
Actually, Jack. The game you described is already in development. By Peter Molexenysiue. But liek all of his games before, he's promising the Earth, Moon, Sky, and Universe while delivering Bejeweled 3: The Jeweling.
I'm super excited for that game. I heard he's pushing innovation one step further. Not only has he eliminated the GUI, but he's removed all content from the screen entirely. You can only tell what's going on in the game through a dog in the screen who uses sign language. INNOVATION!
ssuk @ Apr 12th 2007 11:01AM
A creative horror game and it's on the Wii? This game gets my backing 300% and surely hope that this game comes through, may be the determining factor for my purchase of a Wii.
Jack of No Trades @ Apr 12th 2007 11:03AM
sheppy
Yea Fable 2. It looks good.
Jon @ Apr 12th 2007 11:17AM
For a company that has ZERO track record and no games, there seems to be a hell a lot of coverage of Nibris by various video gaming blogs. Why is that? There are even Sadness fanboys around proclaiming that this would be a great game. How do you know? All we have seen are recorded footages and artworks.
They may not be fake, but until some kind of proper gameplay video appears, I would consider the game a vapourware.
Quando @ Apr 12th 2007 11:22AM
Sadness has been delayed because the team is working on other titles:
Sickness
Boredom
Waiting and
Frustration of the Lagg.
KozWiz @ Apr 12th 2007 11:27AM
what is this??? Nibris is a brand new company, that is creating their first games. Look back at all the other companies.
And also remember Retro Studios making metroid prime in first-person??? Everyone was like: NOOOOOOOOOOO. But that game turned out to be one of the better metroid games.
The damn blogs are messing with your minds lol (no offense to joystiq of course)
KozWiz @ Apr 12th 2007 11:31AM
oh and one more thing.
What About Duke Nukem Forever. If anything you guys should be complaining about whether that game is going to come out or not. 10 years and one recent screenshot.... hmmm thats really suspicious
sheppy @ Apr 12th 2007 11:48AM
"And also remember Retro Studios making metroid prime in first-person??? Everyone was like: NOOOOOOOOOOO. But that game turned out to be one of the better metroid games."
There is a significant difference. Retro was founded and staffed by several industry veterans, specifically from the firt person genre. Nibris is an unknown entity with zero track record and just a desire to make Nintendo games. Personally, my own development studio is making their start with casual games and moving up from there. For an unknown to come out and say "We are making X, X, and X games" with incredibly unrealistic goals (fall 2007 for The Sadness) doesn't bode well. Now if they came out, announced a couple for DS while hinting at a project for Wii, I would be more inclined to have faith. But as it stands, this entire endeavor reeks of Romero scale clusterfucking.
Jack of No Trades @ Apr 12th 2007 12:20PM
Stop jacking my fucking name.
Jake @ Apr 12th 2007 12:28PM
Haven't we kind of known since this game was first "announced" that it either would never happen or would turn out to be a steamy pile? Do some people believe this will be a kickass game? I'm confused.
OhJustSomeRandomGuy @ Apr 12th 2007 1:10PM
No real screenshots, and some "first-time" company has supposedly announced 4 games due to come out.
I called bullshit before, I still call bullshit. This isn't happening.
pete @ Apr 12th 2007 1:50PM
I call shenanigans. Fall 2007 with no publisher, zero in game footage, shenanigans all the way.
Peace
Paul Gale @ Apr 12th 2007 2:29PM
I hope that we'll see some Sadness footage at E3 this year. I know that Nibris has been working on it for quite a while and that they're confident in their project, but giving us a little sneak peek would be very much appreciated. Either way, I wish them luck with it.
sheppy @ Apr 12th 2007 3:21PM
@Jake,
You forget. This is a Wii exclusive game. It could be a horrid piece of shit or even confirmed vaporware, but to the Nintendo crowd, it's a dark, mature game being exclusive to the Wii so they'll love it all the same.
LongshotX @ Apr 12th 2007 4:38PM
@ sheppy
So true...lol.
jenbug @ Apr 18th 2007 3:51PM
You know, I've gotten to the point where a survival horror game could take place in a Foot Locker and I would be thrilled. They barely ever come out with new ones and when they do the selection is incredibly varied. And yet action gamers have such a glut of titles to choose form they can afford to be picky with this 'Oh don't deign to condescened to us with yet ANOTHAH WW2 era game, I shall simply die if must play another!' I comb the freaking net for any sign of a new S/H game. When Rule of Rose came out I took a day off work. When Fatal Frame 3 came out I had a party. You do know how good you have it right? I would LOVE for this game to come out, but it probably won't.