colinp

I'm waiting for my copy to come in through the mail. Love the idea of running into only all new pokemon for the entirety of the main game!

Yeah I ran into that Sylvanas problem, too. But I'm definitely a Bliz fanboy and agree with you Forbin. WoW 4.03 is fantastic. The small niggles will be worked out in time. They've really done an incredible job revamping the game.

Ahahaha, I know exactly what you're talking about! Coooooooconut Monkey! Damn, that was a long time ago.

Noyb, glad you liked it! Here's an update from Hot Monkey! "Simimal DM ++" went on to sell 9,079,644 units. A new company record! We released "Pop Move It +2" (the Motion Pop star sequel to the hit PlayStatus game, "Pop Move It ++") right before Christmas, on Y16 M12 W3. Right after it received a score of 36 points from the critics was the World Game Awards ceremony. Hot Monkey managed to capture the Best Design and Best Music awards again (that's SIX years running for Best Design!) AND "Pop Move It +2" even won the Runner Up award! It hadn't even hit the street yet but it won the award! You can't buy that kind of marketing my friends. Needless to say, the award boosted the hype even more and now, at Y17 M2 W2, "Pop Move It +2" is breaking company sales records every week, currently standing at 12,701,801 units sold. Hot Monkey, never ones to rest on our laurels, is deep in development of a Motion Town game (our first!) for the Intendro DM. Will we manage to get a GOTY award before the end of Y20??? I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I recommend against having them ever do a job twice in a row. They're super fresh that way and are excited to put their all into it when you next give them the chance on the third game. So true about the crap shoot that is outsourcing! Lost some review scores and sales because of those overpriced hacks.

Haha, I won Worst Game twice. Back in Y5, I think it was. Yeah, that was pretty painful, too. But I came back with a vengeance! It helps to hire Hackers (they have crazy high stats), but to get Hackers you need to send out the Hollywood Agent when hiring. They don't come cheap! And you aren't guaranteed to find one for hire when you go that route.

This game is incredible. Hot Monkey Studios started life making niche games without finding much of a market, living title to title with middling to low review scores and selling 500-900K units per game. This gave me enough to develop further but always made it difficult to pay for the ever increasing licensing costs to develop for new consoles. When the PlayStatus (Playstation) was released in Y12, Hot Monkey Stds had to do contract work to save up enough for the 10,000 K license fee. We lost fans because we did not release many games during this difficult time. With 11,100 K in the bank I was finally able to buy the license. With just 1,100 K in the bank I chose to develop the cheapest game I could to get some quick revenue before moving on to something bigger: a reversi puzzle game titled "Reverser?!" for 1,010 K. This left me without enough money to go to GameDex, the annual trade show, and in fact I ended up pushing the game out early with a few bugs. It was panned by critics (25!), and went on to be my first million seller, ultimately moving 1,553,801 units and coming in at #1 on the charts. YES! Looking back this was a bit of a turning point for Hot Monkey Stds, but not before a few wrongs turns as the next three games failed to light up the charts. My Town Puzzle game ("Townpzzler?!") and Historical RPG ("Ancient Samrye") were maybe a bit too ambitious for their own good. In fact, "Townpzzler?!" was voted Worst Game at the annual World Game Awards, and ended up putting me in the red (they take money away if you win the Worst Game award). Hot Monkey reached a new low when my Robot Action RPG ("Robo Quest") moved a disappointing 422,020 units. Hot Monkey was getting desperate, and in a bit of a panic turned its talents to try a Cutie Simulation game, and in Y13 M6 W2 "Q.T. XXX" was released for the PlayStatus. Critics were positive, earning 32 points (a company first), and the public ate it up as it went on to sell 3,571,118 units and debut at #1. Eager to catch the wave, just four months later (Y13 M10 W1) Hot Monkey released the sequel, "Q.T. XXX Two!!", with reviews again earning a positive 33 points and debuting at #1 (we used some blimp marketing). Perhaps it was a bit too soon after the first as it only went on to sell 2,834,413 units. Convinced that there was something to this Cutie craze, Hot Monkey started development on the Cutie RPG "Q.T. Fantasy", released just two months after "Q.T. XXX Two!!" in Y14 M1 W1. Reviewers weren't thrilled, but it got a respectable 29 points. It debuted at #1, but only went on to sell 2,198,597 units. I have to admit it was a bit disheartening. There were layoffs and some fresh blood was brought in to the studio to liven things up (I went to an expensive Hollywood agent to try to get some new talent). But Hot Monkey is nothing if not tenacious, and we still believed in the PlayStatus. Throwing caution to the wind we started development for a Pop Star Simulation game, and in Y14 M4 W4 "Pop Starz +" was released to a score of 33 pts (woo!). It debuted at #1, and went on to sell 3,233,512 units. Hot Monkey was back and this time it knew what it wanted. Eager to exploit this new Pop Star craze, we immediately started work on the sequel, "Pop Starz + @2", and less than three months later, Y14 M8 W1, it was released and earned our highest score at the time, 35 points. The fans acted in kind, and it debuted #1 and went on to sell 5,661,039 units. We were ecstatic. We started advertising on the moon and hiring famous guests to help draw crowds to our booth at GameDex. But the team wanted to try something different, so, as a follow up, we started work on a Town Simulation game ("SimTown+"). Released just in time for the Christmas rush, Y14 M12 W1, it went on to sell 6,395,058 units and earn 34 points from reviewers. "Simimal Deluxe", an Animal Simulation, was released Y15 M3 W1 and moved a respectable 3,398,822, before we decided to develop a sequel to SimTown+, titled "SimTown+ (2)!" which scored 35 and sold 6,524,690 in Y15 M6 W1. Worn out from the Simulation scene, Hot Monkey decided to return to the Cutie scene, this time making a Cutie Motion game ("Q.T. Move It!+") released Y15 M9 W1. Critics were floored as we earned 37 points and went on to sell 7,145,090 units. Reflecting on company trends, Hot Monkey next turned out a Pop Star Motion game ("Pop Move It ++") in Y16 M1 W1 that went on to sell 7,839,819 units. During development of Pop Move It ++, Intendro released the Intendro DM portable. It features dual screens. DUAL SCREENS! Hot Monkey immediately bought a license after Pop Move It ++ was released and started to bring a Cutie Motion game to the portable device, releasing "Q.T. DM ++" to the system on Y16 M5 W2. Critics gave it a 36, and 8,752,492 units were moved. We have lift off! We immediately started work on our next game, a return to the Animal Simulation genre but now for the Intendro DM, and released "Simimal DM ++" on Y16 M8 W3, just three months and one week after Q.T. DM ++! It has currently moved 9,012,435 units and is still busting up the charts as we speak. It is now Y16 M10 W2 and Hot Monkey is midway through development with their next game, bringing the hit PlayStatus "Pop Move It ++" sequel to the Intendro DM. That's right, the Motion Pop Star genre is hitting the Intendro DM! Right now it looks like the Fun is going to be off the charts, and the Graphics, Creativity and Sound aren't far behind. This just might be our biggest seller yet! Goodness this game is absurdly amusing. At the World Game Awards I've managed to win Best Design for the past five years running, Best Music for the past three, and Runner Up to the Grand Prize for the past three. I want the Grand Prize damn it!

Congrats Chris! Fuck Chris. Wonder where he'll end up. Irrational? Epic? Rock Star? Bethesda? Harmonix? Must be Harmonix, eh?

I remember that podcast. It was the best damn podcast I've ever read. PLEASE COME BACK THUMBS!