Developer reveals that Myst DS struggled to find a publisher
We can't imagine why
Speaking to MTV Multiplayer, Manny Granillo of Hoplite Research has revealed that most of the "top publishers" turned Myst DS away, despite the logical certainty of its success.
As well as being a developer, Hoplite Research is an "interactive think tank" that ruminates on the games industry and then comes up with neat little syllogisms like this one:
Premise a: "Myst is very, very popular with women..."
Premise b: "...and we've found that a lot people specifically bought the DS to play games like Brain Age who don't normally play video games."
Conclusion: "We feel it's a direct connection with Myst. We feel it's totally an overlap of the same personality who would be into puzzles and adventure."
After initially struggling to get the original game working satisfactorily on a DS, Granillo took to the streets with his brainchild. Astonishingly, he met a series of refusals.
"Most publishers understood the Myst brand, but did not understand design," Granillo seethed. "It is one of the primary issues in the industry that is driven by marketing and sales people for acquisitions decisions."
"Even though the brand is one of the most well-known games in the world," he fumed on, "[publishers] were concerned about the technology being dated. What they failed to realize is that great games are not about technology; it's about the design, the story, the premise and the overall experience."
So true. It's a real mystery why Granillo had so much trouble finding a publisher for – oh wait, actually.
