Nintendo fans made Eternal Darkness a cult classic. It's easiest to reach those fans first. That's most likely why this is coming to Wii U. It also doesn't hurt that there's next to no competition on the platform for this kind of game.
There's no doubt in my mind that Dyack, either at Silicon Knights or at Precursor Games (both?), pitched this project to Nintendo who refused even when Shadow of the Eternals easily could have been Eternal Darkness 2: Shadow of the Ancients or Shadow of Eternal Darkness. An Eternal Darkness sequel is looking at Eternal Darkness-esque sales. Probably not good enough for Nintendo even though they keep extending the ownership of the trademark. Still, I doubt Shadow of the Eternals could even be released period without Nintendo's blessing otherwise Precursor Games would have been served a cease and desist notice. This is the same Nintendo that let Silicon Knights off the hook to work on Too Human with Microsoft. Shadow of the Eternals is not even remotely subtle about how close it is to Eternal Darkness and Nintendo holds those rights so Nintendo is letting this happen. Precursor Games has to have an eshop license.
Dyack really plays up the crowd funding, community, and episodic aspect of this project, but really, what choice did he have? This was the only way the game was going to get made though he's acting like this was the plan from the beginning. He's really selling this idea that the community should get involved and suggest ideas. How much time would they even have between episodes to implement those changes and ideas without severe delays? More importantly, how much confidence can you have in your own project if you're already relying on your audience to fix ****? In the interview, Dyack says, "With episodic content, we have a chance to, you know, bring this out in stages and not only gauge a reaction, but allow the gamers to create the games as well." That's not my responsibility. You, sir, should build a game that doesn't suck. That said, I'm not really buying that whole dealie. At best, it's a sales pitch (You're helping to make the game, helper-person"). At worst, it's...
And I find it a bit strange that Dyack talks about how different Eternal Darkness was back in 2002 and how Shadow of the Eternals is trying to be different from what's out today and from Eternal Darkness. "It's got some of the same spirit of Eternal Darkness." Really, Denis? Everything you've shown is essentially Eternal Darkness. I'm pushing the shenanigans broom on that. About the only thing different so far are that the graphics are nicer and the cast of characters. That is, until you look at the last two silhouettes in the Cast section of the website.
Look familiar?
Pay attention to the end of that interview when Ryan McCaffrey asks if there will be any references or cameos and Dyack says, "I think anything is possible." Get your tinfoil hats ready, everyone.
It's important to note that the crowd funding is for the Pilot Episode only. Is this an audition? Does Precursor Games really want to gauge interest of players or Nintendo? If they really wanted to make something different from Eternal Darkness, they could easily make something different from Eternal Darkness. I'm under the impression that if Nintendo offered the use of Eternal Darkness in exchange for exclusivity (obviously), Dyack would drop the PC version and give up this "spiritual successor" posturing in a second. "We couldn't pass up the opportunity to work on Eternal Darkness." It wouldn't be the first time an unrelated game became a Nintendo franchise. Honestly, that's the only way I see all 12 chapters ever coming out.
Topic: Shadow of the Eternals and Eternal Darkness sequels thread (Read 31429 times)
