Opinions on how TCR & FG are dealing with AAMFP criticism

[Paddy™]

Their P.R. manifesto apparently consists of just one line, written in 72pt bold caps: maintain a smug air of disingenuous frustration at all times.

In the case of AAMFP not only have they dismissed all of the criticism (ALL of it) they've actually been misrepresenting it by claiming that everyone who criticised the game just wanted another TDD, or words to that effect. That they refuse to accept responsibility for creating that expectation themselves is what annoys the hell out of me:

Pre-release

Spoiler below!

"If we don't get as many cool YouTube videos of people having fits, then I'll be disappointed," Pinchbeck jokes.

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And for all those Amnesia fans brave enough to return - can they expect a game at least as scary if not more so in A Machine for Pigs? Do you see that as a challenge for the next game?

DP: Yeah, I think if we don’t go all out to scare the living hell out of people then we’re doing something wrong.

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RPS: What kind of things have to be in a game for it to be an Amnesia game?

Pinchbeck: It has to be absolutely, bone-shatteringly, terrifying.

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"The thing is, if we don't frighten people as much as the original, then we've failed."

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"We want this game to be absolutely skin-crawlingly, heart-shatteringly, and nerve-jarringly terrifying -- that's the target. Everything is geared around that. Just turning people to complete ice and making them have complete meltdowns," he added.

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From the start, the plan has been to outdo The Dark Descent – a game that, while Pinchbeck loved, he felt frustrated by when it “held back” on occasion. “In a couple of places Frictional pulled up a bit short,” says Pinchbeck. “And I thought, no, you can really really push this.”

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“People are really hungry for more Amnesia content,” says Pinchbeck, “and I think it would have been dishonest to basically say, ‘This is an Amnesia game,’ and then radically change the core of what Amnesia is about. There are tweaks, but Amnesia is standing there and slowly peaking around a corner, or hiding in a cupboard because you thought you heard a noise. We want to keep that core – the very psychological gameplay – or it wouldn’t be an Amnesia game, and that would be disrespectful to the fans.”

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Post-release

Spoiler below!

Dan and I were talking about it yesterday, and he said "actually, I didn't want to make it as scary".

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@ChineseRoom I like the new Amnesia because it feels more like a game than its predecessor. But I got much less creeped out as a result

@C418 yes, we wanted people to finish the game so had different priorities to the first. Glad you liked it

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All of this:

http://www.edge-online.com/features/the-...g-concept/

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Every single tweet from TCR which has responded to criticism - too many to paste here; too irritating to re-read at this early hour.