Psychonauts PC Demo out

[nsps]

Wow, Chris, your attempts to spread the word of Psychonauts have certainly gone better than mine. I was at a barbecue the other day and there was an 11-year-old boy there who was playing with his toy and then got excited when he found out that the guy hosting the party had "Half Life 2" on his computer. He and his dad were savvy to the super-trendy games.

I patiently waited for an opportunity, then when the kid said he had an Xbox, I said, "There's a really cool game coming out for the Xbox, it's called Psychonauts…"

"There's a really cool game called Grand Theft Auto San Andreas!" he interrupted.

And that pretty much sunk things. He went on to tell me about how you could see naked girls, with the help of the host, who asked what his dad thought of that. He doesn't know, the kid said. Once the dad came in, I tried to plant the idea in his head to buy the game, but I think they were all too hypnotized by the headline games. Oh well.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

You didn't tell them that in Psychonauts you get to go inside people's brains and fight stuff and solve all their psychological problems?

[netmonkey]

You should have told him, "Hey, you're not supposed to be playing that game for adults, you little prick!".

You should have known that GTA III 3 is a) not on XBOX yet! not coming out tomorrrow c) you can't get into people's minds.

[nsps]

I did make a brief effort to describe the premise, but they really didn't seem to care how brilliant the concept was. I regret that I was only prepared to tell them how awesome Psychonauts was and not why it was 30 times better than all their other games.

[MrHoatzin]

Mmmm, Psychonauts...

Shite, fellers, I have never been this antsy over anything. I mean, I patiently waited for the game for three years and now...

[nsps]

Not to mention the other secret announcement that Tim ensures us isn't just the game.

[tabacco]

It's the Double Fine Company Store

[CanarDuck]

The Psychonauts demo is great and all but... I am the only one to see a pattern here? Let's see:

- Story is about a bunch of kids who have 'special' powers and are brought to a 'special' school to develop said powers.

- The storyline involves both local kiddy quarreling between 'good' and 'bad' kids; and some probably more ominous overall plot.

- Gameplay is a platformer; you look for various collectibles which are kept track of in a nifty inventory display. Completing dungeons allows you to gain more special powers necessary to progress and unlock hidden stuff.

- Tim Schafer spontaneously admits in a Gamespot interview having read J.K. Rowley's books :

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6120427/p-5.html

To wrap up: it all seems like "Psychonauts" is "Harry Potter" -- on acid.

[David]

Except it's good.

(Actually, you might have a point. Still, there's black velvet and entirely more punching! And goggles!)

[nsps]

It's the Double Fine Company Store

Shit, I was hoping it would involve a pony, perhaps even a ponycam, which would be mounted on the pony. Maybe the Doublefine Store will have a ponycam.

[Marek]

Shit, there's at least ten items from that store that I want to have.

[Wormsie]

... J.K. Rowley...

J.K. Rowling.

[Wormsie]

They've got patches!

YAY!!!!!!

[Tanukitsune]

A link would be nice since I can't seem to find the store.... :\

[Intrepid Homoludens]

http://69.20.91.22/index.asp

Not all goodies have their pics up yet.

[Simon]

I feel bad looking at the site before it's been officially announced, but wow, I'm wanting a lot of stuff there, it is all mighty tempting. Not least the floaty pen:

Double Fine Floaty Pen

Oh man. I can't even talk about this one I'm so excited! I have wanted a $#@%#& floaty pen ever since they cheaped-out on Monkey 2 and cut them from the marketing budget, and then turned around and got them for Sam and Max. Ooh, I'm still mad about that.

[Tanukitsune]

Signed games!?! No fair! I already ordered mine!

Sooo tempting... But my budget for this month is already set...

[Redwall]

$40 for a signed (pc) copy? I haven't preordered.

Oh, and yeah, the demo's fun.

[JoeX111]

The Psychonauts demo is great and all but... I am the only one to see a pattern here? Let's see:

- Story is about a bunch of kids who have 'special' powers and are brought to a 'special' school to develop said powers..

X-Men?

- The storyline involves both local kiddy quarreling between 'good' and 'bad' kids; and some probably more ominous overall plot..

Except this kind of plot has been around for.....ages. Lots of stories featuring children are based around this basic premise. Watch the Disney Channel. The same thing was going on in the Aliens Ate My Homework series I read when I was in elementary school, which was long before Harry Potter rolled around.

- Gameplay is a platformer; you look for various collectibles which are kept track of in a nifty inventory display. Completing dungeons allows you to gain more special powers necessary to progress and unlock hidden stuff..

Lots of platformers are like this. The Sly Cooper games come to mind. I don't think Harry was the first game to put this concept forward, although I honestly couldn't tell you which was the first to use this exact style of platforming.

- Tim Schafer spontaneously admits in a Gamespot interview having read J.K. Rowley's books :

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6120427/p-5.html.

Well, Tolkien studied and did translations of Beowulf. Does that mean that Lord of the Rings is just Beowulf on acid?

Not trying to start a flame war here, just contesting some of your points a bit. I can see the point you are trying to make, but I think Psychonauts is less derivative of Harry Potter and more a byproduct of a conventional "epic children's story" ideal that has been around for quite some time.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I can see the point you are trying to make, but I think Psychonauts is less derivative of Harry Potter and more a byproduct of a conventional "epic children's story" ideal that has been around for quite some time.

Yeah.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Hey, they got girlie style t-shirts too!! Now that's more like it!

And Wormsie, they got size small in all t-shirts for the shrimpie guys like us! Woooooo!!

Hmmm, the hoodies are expensive.

[netmonkey]

- Gameplay is a platformer; you look for various collectibles which are kept track of in a nifty inventory display. Completing dungeons allows you to gain more special powers necessary to progress and unlock hidden stuff..

Lots of platformers are like this. The Sly Cooper games come to mind. I don't think Harry was the first game to put this concept forward, although I honestly couldn't tell you which was the first to use this exact style of platforming.

What? What? Um, Harry Potter is originally 1) Not a movie 2) not a game based on the movie. It's a book, remember?

Besides, it sounds more like Mario, to me, you know? the game that defined the platform genre? Perhaps a bit of Zelda.

I agree that Psychonauts is not like 100% original, it's a a conglomerate of a lot of things wrapped around an "epic children's story", but the way the game is executed is what's more important. Just try to compare the forced Harry Potter movie-based game with Psychonauts and understand what I'm talking about.

[Jake]

Psychonauts is 100% a ripoff of Harry Potter! Good work, CanarDuck, you totally got him! Schafer will never escape now from the horrible stigma you've heaped on him with this shocking revelation. Except maybe the fact that there are other stories about groups of kids with unique abilities other than Harry Potter, and as you will discover if you play the game past the first introduction bits, the storyline doesn't progress at all in the style of a Harry Potter story. It follows the guidelines of an adventurous comedy story, yeah, but ... well you'll see. Unless you're lame.

I agree that Psychonauts is not like 100% original...

Hehe correct

What Schafer game is 100% original? Grim Fandango is a ripoff of the Day of the Dead, and Casablanca! And it's totally just a graphic adventure game like the others. Erm yes.

The whole point with Schafer games is that he takes a huge pile of different influences and makes them his own, so the final product -- while you can recognize many of the parts that went into it from elsewhere -- is its own original whole.

[Lechimp]

OMG guys, I just heard a radio commercial for the game psychonauts. Actually it was for the psychoportal website thing. I don't think that the commercial seemed that effective though.

[Wormsie]

And Wormsie, they got size small in all t-shirts for the shrimpie guys like us! Woooooo!!

They do? They do?!

I ... I love you, Tim. :\