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Games for Health 2014 includes keynote by Papo & Yo dev
Vander Caballero, the creative director at Papo & Yo developer Minority Media, will be giving a keynote speech at this year's Games For Health conference. Caballero's speech will focus on his work creating Papo & Yo - which was based largely on Caballero's experiences growing up with an abusive, alcoholic father - as well as Minority's upcoming game about bullying (and terrifying crow people), Silent Enemy. This year is the 10th for the annual Games for Health conference, which aims to "foster awareness of, education about, and development of games that make a positive impact on the health of communities and health care," according to the official site. Games for Health will run June 18 - 20 at the Back Bay Events Center in Boston. Registration is now open for those hoping to attend. [Image: Minority Media]
Papo & Yo dev replies to fan's 'moving letter'
Let it never be said that the developers at Minority Media - the team behind Papo & Yo and a studio you should get to know - are out of touch with their fans. After receiving a handwritten, 5-page letter sent in by an anonymous fan, Community Manager Rommel Romero posted an open letter response. The text is heartwarming and thoughtful, and shows a kind of thinking it would be nice to see more of. It reads, in part: "I read your moving letter the moment it got to our studio and felt that the team would love to know about you. So, we called a meeting and I read them your gripping story out loud. I had to stop every other paragraph to regain my composure; your story is an overwhelming one and your courage is inspiring. Being a small company, our path is filled with many challenges and the energy we get from our community of fans helps us push forward. When I was finished reading your letter to the team and I looked back at them, I saw in their faces that you had given them strength." The original letter isn't posted anywhere, but it's clear that it touched on some very deep and personal issues. "In your letter, you spoke of your father and about how he tells you that your thoughts are worthless," Romero wrote. "I am writing you to tell you that we disagree: your thoughts are powerful. I will pin your letter on a board in everyone's view, so that you may constantly remind us why we do what we do."
Humble Indie Bundle X offers up Joe Danger 2, Surgeon Simulator, and more
Who's humble and ready to bundle? Is it you? Are you sure you're humble enough? The tenth Humble Indie Bundle launches today, offering up to six DRM-free, cross-platform PC games for a buyer-chosen price. All bundle buyers will receive Steam-redeemable copies of Hello Games' motorcycle stunt sim Joe Danger 2: The Movie, Freebird Games' elegiac RPG To the Moon, Minority's fantasy-themed adventure game Papo & Yo, and Gaijin Games' autoscrolling rhythm-platformer Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien. Chip in a little extra cash to beat the bundle's average purchase price and you'll also receive Bossa Studios' super-gross/super-hilarious Surgeon Simulator 2013 and Abbey Games' planet-shaping strategy game Reus. Humble Indie Bundle X also includes a collection of soundtracks for all featured games, and if past bundles are of any indication, a bonus game or two are likely to be added at a later date.
Beyond, Heavy Rain creator David Cage loves games with 'soul'
Since he's answered so many questions about Beyond: Two Souls, and since the PS3 game comes out next week, I decided the time was right to ask Quantic Dream CEO David Cage about some other games. Specifically, the ones he admires and that emotionally affect him. "I love games where I can feel there is someone behind [it] ... whatever that means!" Cage said. "Sometimes you play [a game] and just feel like, 'Oh, this is just nice software developed by 200 people and it's nice, and the technology's great,' but there's no soul. And sometimes when you play a game you can feel the soul of someone behind it, and that's what I love. For me, Journey was something like this. For me, Papo & Yo was something like this. [In that game] there's really someone talking about these personal feelings that he experienced, and that's what I really love." Cage added that he tries to put soul into the games he makes; he's both the director and writer of Beyond: Two Souls, as he was for Quantic Dream's previous PS3 game, Heavy Rain. At a BAFTA lecture last month, Cage cited Journey, Papo & Yo, Rain, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Gone Home, and The Unfinished Swan as representative of an indie community compensating for a lack of resources with creativity, and he's clearly a proponent of indie games. I asked him if there were any major games in which he saw a similar auteur quality to what he admired in Journey and Papo & Yo. "There are a couple," said Cage. "I think the games by Fumito Ueda. They are not indie games per se because they were produced by Sony, but there is definitely an auteur behind them, that's for sure. In Ico and Shadow of the Colossus you can feel there is someone with a soul behind them."
Steam weekly: They Bleed Pixels, Papo & Yo, Shuggy, Waking Mars
Steam's weekly deals kicked off yesterday, but players in the US were probably too busy lounging poolside with a plate full of hamburgers to notice – and hey, Steam users outside of the US could have been doing the same thing. It's cool; we don't judge. This week's Steam deals last until June 3 at 10 a.m. PT, and it's a big batch: Greed: Black Border, Waking Mars, Papo & Yo, They Bleed Pixels, The Guild 2, Angry Birds Space, The Adventures of Shuggy, Flatout: Complete Pack, Worms: Ultimate Mayhem and Tower Wars. All of these games are up to 75 percent off, clickable here. And again, Steam's news post says these deals last until a day in the past, this time "May 3." Don't tell anyone, and maybe we'll get these super sales for an entire year.
PSN Tuesday: Sleeping Dogs free on PS Plus; Papo & Yo on sale
United Front's open-world action game, Sleeping Dogs, is now available for free to PlayStation Plus members as part of Instant Game Collection. Papo & Yo is available for $9 this week (or $12 if you want the soundtrack tossed in), while Retro City Rampage is down to $7.50. Fatal Frame 2 joins the PS2 Classics list, and a multiplayer demo for Fuse teases Insomniac's latest shooter before its launch later this month. Check the PlayStation Blog for the full list of new content.
Papo & Yo's howls, grunts, steps and chirps are straight out of Panama
"I can watch any five-second clip and think about the amount of hours that were put into it to make it sound just that way."Papo & Yo Sound Designer Brian D'Oliveira isn't exaggerating – he traveled to Panama to capture unique, authentic sounds for the game, with a pledge to not use any pre-existing or canned noises. If Quico, the main character in Papo & Yo, ran across a tile roof in the game, D'Oliveira and his team actually walked across a tile roof. The same went for mud, water, dirt, foliage, the ambient jungle noises, animal sounds and ticking cogs throughout the game.D'Oliveira trudged through the tropics for some of the noises, and for others he brought the tropics to the studio, to record in a controlled, aurally clean environment. The result is a complex blend of nature noises, befitting an emotionally complex game. Papo & Yo is out now for PC, currently on sale on Steam for $13.50 through April 28.
Exclusive launches are sometimes necessary, Papo & Yo creator says
Papo & Yo cost developer Minority Media $1.5 million to make, and its exclusive release on PS3 in 2012 earned back some of that cost. It came to Steam last week, and during GDC creator Vander Caballero told us the PC launch should "cover the whole cost of the game." If it weren't for Sony and that exclusive PS3 launch, however, Papo & Yo may have never seen the light of day."If you are an independent you have zero marketing money," Caballero told Kotaku. "You have nothing. Then you need someone to support your project. So, if someone asks you for exclusivity and it's going to help you to bring out your product into the market, I think that can be good. Sometime, I think it's the only way to get something out."Caballero's next game with Minority is Silent Enemy, an exploration and puzzle game set in a harsh, mystical Canadian tundra, but with a message about bullying. Minority doesn't have any platforms locked down for Silent Enemy just yet, but Caballero is considering PS4, PC, tablets and Ouya.
Pre-order Papo & Yo PC for discount and free soundtrack
Though Papo & Yo deals with larger, more important issues, it doesn't hurt to give a bit of thought to saving money when planning to play even such an affecting, personal game. The PC version is up for pre-order now on several download stores, including Steam, Amazon, GamersGate, Green Man Gaming, and Desura, discounted 10% to $13.50 through April 17.Additionally, if you buy the game through any of those stores before the April 18 release date, you'll get a free copy of the soundtrack. It will sell for $5.99 by itself when the game is out.
Papo and Yo devs confront more monsters in next game, Silent Enemy
Minority attempted to make its next game a departure from the emotional, draining experience of its first project, Papo & Yo, by crafting a hunting-survival, documentary-style game set in the harsh tundra of Northern Quebec. Somewhere along the development process, that turned into a game about bullying.Silent Enemy still takes place in the frozen wasteland of Northern Canada, but its message, mechanics and impact have shifted dramatically. Papo & Yo creator Vander Caballero and Minority Design Director Ruben Farrus are collaborating to weave a subtle story about the hopelessness, weakness and determination that victims of bullying regularly face. That message, however, is covered in piles of snow and steeped in legend.It's an exploration and puzzle game in mind for PC, tablets, Ouya, PS4 and possibly other platforms by the end of the year, but with no concrete plans so far. The prototype uses an Ouya controller, since its touch pad makes sense for the gameplay, but that doesn't guarantee it will launch on Ouya, Caballero said.Silent Enemy takes place in a world of permanent winter, where springtime is a legend, the bedtime story grandma tells the children to help them fall asleep. Once, animals and humans flourished in the spring, but one species hated such a fruitful time: the crows. They chased springtime away, leaving behind only glowing gold fragments of the season, now hidden throughout the landscape. Players find these orbs and trail them around, using a mix of magic and logic to navigate the whitewashed world.Yes, it's still a game about bullying.%Gallery-184378%
Papo & Yo sales 'good' on PS3, but didn't cover development costs
Papo & Yo was a top seller when it launched on PS3 in August, and creator Vander Caballero is satisfied with its numbers, even though sales haven't covered all of the game's development costs, he told Joystiq at GDC. Papo & Yo will hit Steam for PC on April 18, and that extra push should cover the gap left by PS3, Caballero said."Despite the good sales, the cost of the game has to be covered," he said. "We have covered already parts of the cost of the game, but when it comes out on Steam, we'll make money. Then we'll cover the whole cost of the game."Caballero was excited about the coming Steam launch, which will begin accepting pre-orders on April 4. Those who buy it between April 4 and 17 will receive a 10 percent discount ($13.50), plus the game's original soundtrack for free. "We're really happy, since all the people who heard about it will actually be able to play it now," Caballero said.
Papo & Yo coming to Steam on April 18
The emotional journey of Vander Caballero's Papo & Yo is coming to Steam. Speaking with Game Informer, Caballero revealed that the game, which was inspired by his life experience dealing with the struggles of parental abuse, would arrive on Valve's digital distribution platform on April 18.Papo & Yo originally launched on the PlayStation Network in August 2012 and was released with the help of Sony's Pub Fund. The Joystiq review noted the gameplay in Papo & Yo was lacking, but felt it to succeed on an emotional and autobiographical level.Caballero told Game Informer that he still receives letters from others dealing with similar abuse and hopes a PC version will encourage more people to find ways to cope.Update: An original version of this story cited SCEA as the publisher of Papo & Yo. The game was self-published by developer Minority and released with the help from Sony's Pub Fund. The story has been corrected.
Comforts of violence in Papo & Yo
Writer Colette Bennett examines the tragic, emotional violence of addiction explored in the PSN-exclusive Papo & Yo, reconciling it with her personal experience with alcoholism. There are some spoilers for the ending of the game included in this article. My mother is an alcoholic. Growing up with her meant living in a flurry of contradictions. She was overwhelmingly sweet, beautiful, gregarious, and fun to be around, sometimes willing to be just as much of a child as I was. She was also absentminded, stubborn, and selfish. I learned at an early age that if something captured her fancy, she'd chase after it with all the tenacity of a cat pursuing a fluttering bird. I used to be the central object of her attention. Eventually, she ran after something else, leaving me behind to watch her silhouette fading away in the distance.Papo & Yo (or Papo y Yo, loosely translated to Dad and Me) is about a different type of alcoholic relationship than the one I had growing up, but all the same, I recognize my ten year old self in it.%Gallery-150408%
PSN Tuesday: Papo & Yo, YouTube app, free PS Plus games
This week's PSN update is pretty substantial, headlined by the launch of Papo & Yo, the result of Vander Caballero's childhood with his abusive and alcoholic father. Papo & Yo is available right now for $14.99; $11.99 for PS Plus subscribers.In addition to Papo & Yo, a revamped YouTube experience emerges on PS3 today, allowing users to control on-screen content using their phones. PS Plus subscribers will find two more free downloads available for their digital libraries: Outland and Bloodrayne Betrayal. The full list of this week's content can be found at the PlayStation Blog.
Papo & Yo review: Father knows beast
The abuse of a child by a parent is one of the worst betrayals a human being can face. Our families are meant to be the one guaranteed bit of love we have in this often cruel world – people who will support and embrace us even when the rest of creation has turned its back. But the tragedy of an abusive parent (usually driven by alcohol, drugs, or their own traumatic experience) casts a person that's meant to be a child's loving caretaker into the role of an enemy. Parental abuse turns what's meant to be one of the purest relationships of love into one of anger, distrust, and violence.Papo & Yo is a game about that tragedy. It's about a relationship that is by turns loving, gentle, and even playful, but can instantly turn into something ugly and full of violence and pain.As a video game, Papo & Yo can be lacking – the mechanics are simple, and while the technology is capable of creating some beautiful moments, it's just as capable of being frustrating. As an expression of autobiographical emotion for creator Vander Caballero, however, and a rendition of the complicated relationship between a young son and his abusive father, Papo & Yo succeeds in the strongest ways.%Gallery-157413%
PSN Tuesday: Sound Shapes, The Walking Dead
It's a great week for PlayStation Plus subscribers, who can grab the first two episodes of Telltale's The Walking Dead adventure game for free on the PlayStation Store today. As we noted earlier, Sound Shapes ($15) also launched today, and those that buy the PS3 version of the game get the Vita version for free. Oh, and PS Plus subscribers also get that game 20% off.Joining Sound Shapes are Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 ($50) and The King of Fighters XIII ($30). Payday: The Heist's Wolfpack DLC is out this week for $10 as well, and can be purchased with the game in a bundle for $20. Sound Shapes launches as part of the PSN Play promotion, which includes a bonus theme for those that pre-order Papo & Yo ($15), next week's PSN Play game. What's more, PS Plus members can do just that for 20% off.
How Papo & Yo takes more than inspiration from South American graffiti
Papo & Yo's gorgeous South American-esque world is punctuated by graffiti – from the cartoonish to the abstract. During a preview at E3, I found myself stopping to gawk at giant birds and other creatures for many moments, often resulting in the game's handler asking if I needed any help. What I should've said was, "Yes. Can you tell me who made these incredible images throughout your imaginary favela?"Thankfully, developer Minority realized that the art is incredibly appealing, and wrote up a post on the US PlayStation Blog detailing the history of the graffiti. As it turns out, rather than using source images and recreating a facsimile of South America's street art, Minority worked with three renowned South American artists to develop images for Papo & Yo's world.Sebastian Navarro (AKA Charquipunk), Simon Paulo Arancibia Gutierrez (AKA La Robot de Madera) and Inti Castro (AKA INTI) are all collaborating on the game. One such example of their contribution is just above, though I saw several different, very impressive pieces in just the 20 minute demo at E3. Of course, we'll all get to take a closer look when the game launches on August 14 on the PlayStation Network.
'PSN Play' launches Sound Shapes, CS: GO, Papo & Yo, and The Expendables 2 across August [update: release dates!]
Sony is gearing up for its second annual big summer digital launch promotion, which we're dubbing "PSN Play 2: Digital Sale-a-roo." Between July 24 and August 27, the following four games will launch on the PlayStation Network: Papo & Yo, Sound Shapes, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and The Expendables 2 Videogame (yes, we recognize that one of those is potentially less thrilling than the other three).Moreover, if you buy any combination of those games, you'll get some virtual bucks back to spend on PSN. The more you buy, you the more you get back (two games gets $3, all the way up to all four getting $10 back). And if you're a PlayStation Plus member, things get even better – each game is reduced by 20 percent just because.Update: Sony announced the dates of all the PSN Play games in a press release (after the break). The promotion begins with The Expendables 2 on July 31. Sound Shapes follows on the previously announced date of August 7, then it's Papo & Yo on August 14 and Counter-Strike on August 21. Pre-orders for each game will be available before release, granting exclusive PS3 themes.
Papo & Yo gets a suit and a new trailer for E3
Our main little man from Papo & Yo got himself a fancy new suit to go with his fancy new E3 trailer, it seems. We'd like to tell him that the new duds are anywhere near as impressive as the sweet new gameplay clip, but that'd be a straight up lie. See both for yourself, just above.%Gallery-157413%
Papo and Yo and dealing with tragedy
Everyone has a coping mechanism for those times they have to endure pain and tragedy. Papo & Yo creator Vander Caballero grew up with an abusive and alcoholic father, and we're learning about it through the game's goals and imagery. Caballero's father is represented by a companion and monster (who recently received a redesign). It can sometimes be a comforting figure, but when consuming frogs (metaphor!) it becomes a literal beast.%Gallery-150408%
