SabreCat

Actually, I wouldn't recommend getting involved. I can't come up with a way to put it nicely, but the host of these events is not pleasant to pay attention to in person.

"I don't see why independent programmers feel the need to name/base their games and projects after already existing games."

Instant name recognition = more downloads.

I would guess.

Methinks that was six /minutes/, not hours.

The literal case? So I've been playing games made by birds all this time?

It's up on Gametrailers now, much faster.

Well, new creative things with a huge established company name behind them, at least.

(I don't disagree with you, but I do wonder if a smaller outfit with a similar project would enjoy similar success.)

In the Joystiq blurb Guillemot is quoted as saying BG&E was "probably a little too difficult for the general gamers at that time". That's what I was remarking on, more than any more general comment about hardcore/casual accessibility.

I can't dispute the dodgy stealth sequences, as a couple of those--plus the final boss, mentioned above--were what I had in mind when mentioning difficulty spikes.

But pearl "grind"? Really? The way I recall it, you picked up a few as a matter of course, and then you got huge freaking piles of them handed to you on a silver platter once the plot got moving. I think I had to actively hunt down maybe half a dozen at most, to get the final upgrade needed to progress to the boss area.

I guess if you just wanted to play through without any side-questing, those half a dozen would feel onerous. But I suspect if you went back today and persevered for maybe another hour of play, you'd not have much trouble.

Huh. I don't actually remember the first BG&E being all that hard, and I'm more of what Joystiq likes to call a "mid-core" gamer. There were a few difficulty spikes, but were they really so notable that Ubi could actually point to their playing a part in the game's poor sales?

I've noticed the resemblance too. The facial structure is remarkably similar.