One of our favorite marketing conceits is "average guy makes game," and it's out in full force for this announcement trailer of a video game adaption of TV's #1 crab fishing docu-drama, Deadliest Catch, coming to Xbox 360 and PC. In the extremely media-light trailer, Captain Sig Hansen says he was inspired to "find a team to create a video game based on our crab fishing experiences."
We'd love to live in a world where burly crab fishermen take breaks from risking life and limb to give us commoners, bodies enflabbened by the succulent harvest Hansen and crew procure, a taste of what being a real man is actually like. Alas, we'd be more likely to believe "Hey, would you crab fishermen like some free money?"
Side note: Does this sound like the sort of game you'd want to play?
First I love this show... Second I don't know about the game... But I'd give it a shot...
Third they only crab fish for 1-2 weeks out of the year then go back to their other jobs if they have them. Average 2 week pay varies between 20,000 to 50,000 or more (Depending on the size of catch and quotas) so not all of them have other jobs.
Honestly, I love the show.. Its great. I grew up fishing (not craps though), and I do appreicate the show they do. I would certainly give this game a shot, cause I love the content. As the previous comment poster said, the King Crab season is only 2 weeks or so, but there are other crap seasons (Red Crab, Snow crab)... Most of the people who own the boats, including the Hansen brothers, fish 8 months out of the year. The other months they do less exciting regular fish (like Cod or something), but there fishing most of the time...
But Yes, I would buy this game (or atleast rent it) to support them
I suppose that it depends on the type of gameplay. are we talking about a "crab boat manager" type of game where you're the captain making all the decisions and telling your crab fishermen minions what to do or more of an action-type game where you start out as a crab fisherman newbie trying to earn the respect of the old salts and avoid getting thrown overboard by a rogue wave during a nasty storm??
by the way, points for using the word "enflabbened" in a sentence. its a very cromulent word.
If done properly then yeah, awesome. I'm thinking...FPS, first level of CoD4 with the ship and all, quick thinking, fast reflexes, non-stop fishing action :)
I love the show to death, but this game just has me worried. I used to like American Chopper too, but Paul Sr. sold out, and made two really crappy games. I don't picture Sig as a sell-out, so hopefully I'll be wrong.
I can't wait for the next season of Deadliest Catch though. It just gets better and better each year.
The best part about that show is that they use the Supersuckers song "paid" as its music. Anybody here who isn't cool enough to listen to the supersuckers, do a quick search on youtube and check them out!
Use the Star Control formula, add in some mini-games (cook in heavy seas,chop that bait!), craft a world like a wet Oblivion, keep in mind that it is a squad-based endeavor, and sprinkle on some Capitalism. Boat upgrades, fleet rivalries, assist-the Coast-Guard missions, maybe some smuggling or bootlegging? How about a poaching option? And, the perfect opportunity for some cheap innovation, a dozen or so live web-cams, available in game when the character accesses a point of interest (geo feature, processing ship, home harbor, North Pole)
I can see it now.You have to pilot the ship, do balance minigames to make sure the spray doesn't knock you off your feet, pound buttons to haul them crabs in, and have a frenetic swimming game where you fight hypothermia to get back aboard your ship, (or rescue another drowner), with gameplay interrupted every few seconds to go rescue a capsized ship.
Gameplay would be largely focused on getting to the good crabs first, balancing good deeds with getting the most money, and risking a nasty gale for the big buku's worth of crabs. And at the end of every season, you spend the money you earn on better equipment, a safer boat, skilled crewman, and buying food.
As I love the show (it's actually pretty dramatic, and not so full of carp like the rest of reality tv), I do think it has a better chance of being a playable game than "trading spaces" or "Survivor".
Sig and his brothers are my partners in the video game. They are one of the most honest and hard working families around.
Can you imagine fishing 10 months out of the year on the Bering Sea, spending much of your time at home working with a development team on a video game, and having some blogger mock you with words like the one's in your post above?
Just a few words from your post:
"We'd love to live in a world where burly crab fishermen take breaks from risking life and limb to give us commoners, bodies enflabbened by the succulent harvest Hansen and crew procure, a taste of what being a real man is actually like. Alas, we'd be more likely to believe "Hey, would you crab fishermen like some free money?"
- Justin McElroy
We are an independent publisher working on a potentially innovative game. We don't claim our game is "Halo 3" or "Gears of War." So why is it that you just decided to rip into Sig and our game?
Isn't it interesting how the video game media experts love to talk about "indie games" to create the illusion for their website visitors that anyone can create a game? This encourages the dreaming masses to come back to the websites.
In reality, when it comes right down to it, the media experts love to rip into anything that wasn't made by someone who fits their criteria of a qualified game expert. Innovation often doesn't come from the top or the experts, it comes from the grassroots.
Other issues about your post are questionable. Why would you mock fourth generation fishermen who risk their lives 10 months out of the year on the Bering Sea to feed their families? Where does it say that a "blue collar" guy can't inspire a great video game?
Are you that jaded? What are they minimum criteria for you to consider someone as capable to inspire a fun game? Please post these criteria, so we and your other website visitors can be enlightened.
Don't forget to rip into Liquid Dragon Studios without considering their work. In an industry that exceeds $20 billion annually worldwide, their team has created the best wave effects ever in a video game. This doesn't guarantee a great game by itself, but it is no small achievement. At least you can agree to that.
Perhaps you didn't see the real gameplay footage (not pre-rendered) of the Hansen's family crab boat, the Northwestern, in open seas after Sig's intro. Perhaps your prejudice blinded you, or perhaps you didn't even bother to watch the entire video. We would welcome a post on your opinion of the real game footage of the waves, or maybe you will just blow that off too?
We welcome and appreciate objective and fact based criticism of our game from somebody who's at least watched the entire first promo video, or better yet, played the game.
However, we won't stand by and let you mock the man, his brothers and his crew, who risk their lives everyday on the Bering Sea. The man who inspired the game. The man who invested a substantial amount of his family's money in the game to get it started and make it happen. We also won't let you mock our development team, who has done an outstanding job.
You haven't done your research on this game. You just "shot first and didn't bother to ask any questions." Is that sound journalism, or are you just a blogger trying to attract attention?
When Sig returns to Seattle from risking his life on the Bering Sea in the next few weeks, we invite you to come down out of your Ivory Tower and fly to Seattle, at our expense, and read your post face-to-face to Sig and his crew. We will video the event, and let you post it on Joystiq.com.
You will also have the chance to actually play the game. No doubt, you will take this chance to rip the game even more to prove your "hard core" gaming credentials. That's your right to freedom of speech, which we respect greatly. We just ask that your review be based on objective facts, not prejudice.
We have no animosity or ill will; we just want people of influence, like yourself, to have some accountability for what they write. Like anyone else who dreams of making a game, we also just want a chance for people, like the visitors to Joystiq.com, to judge our game based on the game itself.
We look forward to your trip to Seattle and your objective and fact based feedback. We will gladly buy you a few rounds at a local fishermen's bar, so you can hear about "real life" from Sig and other fishermen. At the very least, you will understand that no one involved in this game is getting "free money."
Who knows, if guys like you don't kill our chance to let people decide for themselves about our game, we might be making another one. We would gladly invite your ideas about how we can make the next game better.
Just post the dates when you are free to come to Seattle between March 19-28th. Once Sig gets back from the Bering Sea, we will arrange the trip. Looking forward to your visit and objective feedback.
I got your reply a few weeks ago, but it didn't include any text or message. If you are Justin, who posted the blog, please follow up with me, so that we can arrange a visit to Seattle. You will definetly have a good time.
I would be very interested in the game as someone who loves the show, I just hope it's done right by the developers. It needs to have a mode where you can work from greenhorn to captain, work on deck, maintain the boat, run it from the wheelhouse, work as a captain and all that. Maybe even work on different boats and also assist with Coast Guard rescuing minigames for pulling pots, surviving rogue waves and things of that nature.
As long as they get enough stuff in there for it to be replayable this could be a very fun game. I just hope it's not rushed or corners aren't cut.
