New Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy-game by Hothead Games

[Tjibbbe]

Hothead just announced a new game based on Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. They set up a small teaser site (is that the voice of the original Arthur Dent, Simon Jones?): http://www.thenewhitchhikersguide.com/. Not much is known about the title just yet, but with E3 so close it wouldn't surprise me if more information is coming very soon.

On the one hand I'm very happy that there's a new Hitchhikers game, but I'm not sure if Hothead is the right company for it. What a Hitchhikers game needs, above all, is extremely good writing. I'm not sure if Hothead has writers that can come near Douglas Adams's level. Their games are pretty fun, but the writing (I guess I can only look at Deathspank, because every word of the Penny Arcade games was written by Jerry Holkins) is, in my opinion, pretty bad. And even if you enjoy Deathspank's humor, it's nothing like the kind of comedy you'll find in the Hitchhiker radio plays/books.

Anyway, maybe I'm being too pessimistic. I'm happy that this game is coming out at all, so let's stay positive for now.

Oh, and if someone from Telltale is reading this: get the Discworld license before Hothead gets their hands on it. Terry is still alive, and there are more movies and a television series coming soon, so get it before the rest of the videogame world realises what a perfect franchise it is.

[Rather Dashing]

Honestly, not all that psyched for this. The original text adventure is, by far, the best possible game for this series. I honestly can't imagine a great Hitchhiker's game that is NOT a text adventure. I might be wrong, or too axed on the book iteration of the series, or too fond of text adventures, though. I'll pay attention when it comes time for them to release more details, but for now I am just left wondering why I should care.

[RetroVortex]

Originally Posted by Tjibbbe

Oh, and if someone from Telltale is reading this: get the Discworld license before Hothead gets their hands on it. Terry is still alive, and there are more movies and a television series coming soon, so get it before the rest of the videogame world realises what a perfect franchise it is.

Quoted for truth.

I loved the old Discworld games, and would love to see more of the series.

EDIT: I also thought the Hitchhiker movie was pretty good as well.

[RAnthonyMahan]

Not sure how to feel about this.

As far as I'm concerned, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy should've died when Douglas Adams did. Adams had a very unique sense of humor, and it'd be difficult for any other person to properly imitate it. I'll give the movie a pass since Adams wrote most of the script before he died, but the very idea behind "And Another Thing..." just doesn't sit well with me.

I wonder if this new game will be an adventure game. And perhaps more importantly, will it be as ridiculously difficult as the old Infocom text adventure?

[Tjibbbe]

I think you can do more with Hitchhikers than just the text adventure. I never really liked any of the games Douglas Adams worked on, because he was better at thinking of funny concepts for games than he was at thinking of games that are actually fun (or at least, not completely frustrating) to play. This goes for Hitchhikers, Starship Titanic and Labyrinth.

The only way that I could be really interested in this is if they somehow got the surviving members of the original voice cast of the original radio series that the first couple of books are based on. I can't count the amount of times I've listened to those tapes (and later cd's). Like many fans I started with the books, but after discovering the radio series it's hard for me to go back to just the books (although I still like those as well).

If no one from the original series (or even Dirk Maggs, who did a brilliant job with the new radio series back in 2004 and 2005) is involved, I guess I'm not interested as well, for pretty much the same reason why I avoided the new book by Eoin Colfer.

[Falanca]

I'm hyped for this. Haven't played DeathSpank but I greatly enjoyed Penny Arcade Precipice episodes. I'm pretty sure they'll nail the humor and the characters on this one, too, from what I've seen the writers working in Hothead are pretty clever gents. It won't probably be something classic, but from Hothead Games I expect something really entertaining.

[Rather Dashing]

I disagree entirely. Hithchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Starship Titanic are among my favorite games of all time. Labyrinth, well, less so, but Adams' ideas for it were simply brilliant, including an opening sequence that plays entirely differently and more narratively than the rest of the game(a Wizard of Oz moment if there ever was one). Starship Titanic had a level of interactivity that is entirely unmatched in games of its type, an ingenious parser, and is simply one of the most impressive games ever developed. The games are absurdly difficult,but they're not "unfair" by any means. At least, not for the majority of the run of it.

[Ribs]

I never understood the hate for the film, as it was my introduction to the Hitchhiker's Universe and I've only recently started reading the books (onto Life, the Universe, and Everything now), so I'm excite. Martin Freeman isn't busy, is he? (that was a joke)

[Tjibbbe]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

I disagree entirely. Hithchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Starship Titanic are among my favorite games of all time. Labyrinth, well, less so, but Adams' ideas for it were simply brilliant, including an opening sequence that plays entirely differently and more narratively than the rest of the game(a Wizard of Oz moment if there ever was one). Starship Titanic had a level of interactivity that is entirely unmatched in games of its type, an ingenious parser, and is simply one of the most impressive games ever developed. The games are absurdly difficult,but they're not "unfair" by any means. At least, not for the majority of the run of it.

Funny? Yes. Good games? No. Even Douglas himself admitted that he never really liked any of the games he worked on. I really enjoy reading about his ideas for the games, and they make for pretty great reads, but playing those games isn't an enjoyable experience, at least for me. They felt like the Hitchhikers television series to me: a lot of great ideas (the documentaries on how they created the special effects on that series are amazing), but without the proper execution it's all just a bit of a mess. Douglas was always at his best on the radio or on paper (it's a terrible shame he couldn't join Stephen Fry on the television sequel to their 'Last Chance to See'-radio show, probably the best thing he ever created). The only game I liked to play was Bureaucracy, I have fond memories of that one. The game being impossible was actually part of the experience in that game.

I can't imagine a new game being just text, even if Douglas was alive today. He was always going on about the beauty of new technology. Probably the reason why his ideas tended to be a bit ahead of what was possible a that time.

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by Ribs

I never understood the hate for the film

The distaste is very well-explained here, in both short and analytical long-form, if you are actually curious.

[nOmArch]

Originally Posted by Ribs

I never understood the hate for the film, as it was my introduction to the Hitchhiker's Universe

That's exactly why, try reading the books and enjoying the radio series and to a lesser extent the TV series for 20 odd years and you'll see why the movie, which did have a couple of redeeming features I'll give you, was to most people bloody awful.

the entire Magrathea sequence was breathtaking and I always enjoy it when I get to that bit but what they did to the 'lying in the mud' scene was quite simply unforgivable to reduce such a great piece of writing to Ford turns up with beer still makes me weep.

[Davies]

No. Just no. Douglas Adams has passed on (R.I.P.) and his works are sacred. Sacrilege I say, sacrilege.

P.S. The movie sucked donkey balls big time. Long live the books, radio and TV series.

Bah! Humbug.

[The Gentleman]

Hothead did a great job on Penny Arcade Adventures. Why can't they just continue that?

[DrRocketGenius]

There doesn't seem to be much information out, but is this going to be an actual adventure game or a Penny Arcade Adventures style game?

[Irishmile]

I am happy

[nOmArch]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

The distaste is very well-explained here, in both short and analytical long-form, if you are actually curious.

Brilliant! He mentions the mud scene!

I get your stance on BTTF now, I felt exactly the same way about the movie and refused to listen when anyone said differently; often very loudly and for rather long periods of time.

btw thank you for that link it's one review I'd not read before and was well worth it. Definitely the closest I've found to why I feel the movie failed.

I hope the developers have read that review.

[Ribs]

Hrm. I enjoyed the movie when I rewatched it late last year, but then again I'm just getting to the books now. Maybe the next time I watch it I'll look down on it more, but I will say I did like the BBC TV Show version more then the film, if that's anything.

[nOmArch]

You are in for such a treat. I wish I could read them for the first time again.

[Remolay]

I Started with the books, And then the radio series, then the TV Series, then the movie. I still love the movie, My favorite is the radio series, Mostly because of Marvin playing Pink Floyd at one point. I don't think the movie is at all bad, because it feels like it's exactly what Douglas Adams would have done.

In all honestly, I thought the gift of beer was better than Mr. Prosser lying down in the mud.

[RAnthonyMahan]

Originally Posted by The Gentleman

Hothead did a great job on Penny Arcade Adventures. Why can't they just continue that?

The fact that Telltale has done episodic gaming right can sometimes cause us to forget that other developers have done it...not as right.

Many episodic series (Penny Arcade Adventures included) are made with only enough budget for one or two episodes. So the developer makes those episodes, then assumes the money made from sales of the early episodes will pay for the later ones. This usually doesn't work out.

Episodes 1 and 2 of Precipice didn't sell well enough to justify Episodes 3 and 4. From what I understand Gabe and Tycho found the whole game design process pretty exhausting too.