Giant Bomb News

Bob's Game Gets Serious

Indie/homebrew DS developer stages a lock-in to get Nintendo's attention.

Remember Bob's Game? It's a DS game that's been developed by one man over the course of five years. Now he's finished with it, and wants to put it out commercially. There's only one small hitch... he hasn't been able to get approved as a licensed DS developer. So, faced with an increasing amount of silence from Nintendo's different developer resources, than man--25-year-old Robert Pelloni--has locked himself into a room with limited contact to the outside. That always works.

Maybe it's just the design of the site, but he's starting to really come across like a scary dude. Like, I'm starting to feel like if this 100 day lock-up doesn't work, he's going to kill Jodie Foster to get Reggie Fils-Aime's attention or something.

The thing I don't understand is what, exactly, he's hoping to do with the game if he gets ahold of Nintendo's official development tools. Is he willing to self-publish? Can he afford to pay the manufacturing costs associated with the minimum run of DS carts? Instead of bashing his head against the big Nintendo wall, why hasn't he found a third-party publisher that already has the means to produce a commercial product? With the weird level of buzz that this project has gotten, it seems like, at the bare minimum, someone like D3 or Atlus would think about picking it up. He's also stated that he might be willing to put it out as a downloadable DSWare game when the DSi becomes widely available, so maybe that might work for a one-man project?

Then again, he's also mentioned that he's working on a port of the game to Google's Android OS for phones. Since that's more of a self-publishing-friendly environment, that seems much more feasible than getting Nintendo's attention.

Still, despite feeling a little self-indulgent, the game does look kind of neat. Here's a video from August:

  

Jumpifyon Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:17 p.m.
Why have I never heard of this...
JJOR64 is online on Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:21 p.m.
TO Jumpify

Same, never heard of it either.
Sparky_Buzzsawon Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:24 p.m.

Seriously?  Developing your own game is cool and all, but being self-righteous about publishing isn't going to impress too many people.  Anyone remember the super-nerd from Grandma's Boy?  I'm having serious flashbacks of that nutjob.

goldenmnkon Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:25 p.m.
why so serous?

... COME ON DUDE NOT COOL .... NOT COOOL HE DIED MAN!!!
Kraznoron Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:27 p.m.
So, what kind of game is it exactly? Hopefully its not just a series of fetch quests.
Lepukeon Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:31 p.m.
Huh, it's an odd quirky little thing but it could have potential. Possibly a more modern Earthbound-like RPG?
TheHBKon Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:32 p.m.
What the hell?  What am I supposed to notice about the batteries?  I dont get it.
Drykeron Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:32 p.m.
Ummm... how does that look interesting? Well, the fact he made it by himself is cool. Good luck.
Jimboon Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:33 p.m.
Bob cuts himself in the last level and then cries himself to sleep.  It's very sad  :'(
MB moderator on Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:34 p.m.
This is sort of funny...dude dedicates fives years of his life to creating this game, and Nintendo is all like..."Nah, we're good."
Tarsier is online on Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:36 p.m.
Bob sounds like a douche.
Snailon Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:40 p.m.
Ah, assassination jokes.. you kill me Jeff.

Had never heard of the game and seems nothing special, so even if it gets published I won't probably get it. Maybe 50 years from now, when it is restored and sold in some sort of weird compilation for the PSP 20.
Weltalon Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:40 p.m.
Tarsier said:
"Bob sounds like a douche."
My thoughts.
Also, Bob's Game looks like something developed with RPGMaker...
jakob187on Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:40 p.m.
Well, the dood's site does seem a bit scary, but at the same time...I mean, dood, he took five years BY HIMSELF to make this game.  I'd be a bit emotional about it as well.  Then again, I'm sure that people like Greg and Carrie and Alex had to work pretty hard at getting into the business as well...and they didn't lock themselves up in their rooms or whatever.  So I don't know.
The video makes the game look interesting, and it's definitely looking like a high-quality game.  The thing I'm curious about is how the game uses the touch screen...if it uses it at all.  If not, then it's virtually a glorified GBA game, amirite?  I couldn't find out on the site because my Chrome apparently hates Flash today and shuts down every time I go to that site for more than 30 seconds...
Endogeneon Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:49 p.m.
Are you not supposed to look for a publisher early in dev stage?
FotherMuckeron Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:54 p.m.
He seems extremly butthurt.
Cronoon Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:56 p.m.
Bob doesn't seem to realize the problem; which is simple.

It is Bob's Game.  So enjoy your game, Bob.
thedeusmachineon Dec. 22, 2008 at 2:57 p.m.
Sanity never got anyone anywhere, so this seems like the proper course of action.
StaticFalconaron Dec. 22, 2008 at 3:28 p.m.
Locking yourself in your room, because that gets business done.
The_Dudeon Dec. 22, 2008 at 3:39 p.m.
Crazy...
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