Hello Games' Joe Danger crash lands into his first screens
click to Danger-size
Yesterday, Hello Games introduced its new game, Joe Danger, to the world. As promised, we now have screens of the game for you and a few more details as to what we can expect from the upcoming downloadable title. "It's a racing game, but it's secretly a platformer," Hello Games' Sean Murray tells us. He says comparisons have been made to games ranging from Crazy Taxi to Excitebike, though he says "I think we're our own game."
Murray says the idea arose when Grant Duncan (another of the four guys working at Hello Games) brought in a box of toys, including an old Evel Knievel. "We just sat and actually played with it, building bigger and bigger ramps, launching it out of windows, down corridors ... we started to build this little character around who this hapless guy was -- the world's most determined stuntman."
We should be getting our hands on the game sometime next month, but in the meantime you can peep the screens below. For even more details on Hello Games and the conception of Joe Danger as described by Hello Games' Sean Murray, hit the break!
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Pitch us the game!
It's a racing game, but it's secretly a platformer, and also one where you are holding a combo and constantly thinking about your score as well as exploring. Some of the press who have spent time with it have said they don't really know what to compare it to – but landmarks like Crazy Taxi, Excitebike, Sonic, Super Monkey Ball come up a lot. Which we totally love, but I think we're our own game.
We want to recreate that childish joy of the first time you took a toy motorbike, doused it in lighter fluid, lit it, and launched it at high speed over your carefully constructed ramp out a second story window. You are Joe Danger, the world's most determined motorbike stuntman. You live to thrill the crowd and break World Records.
Take on your friends or race against your rivals – the reckless Team Nasty. You'll laugh in the face of danger, and it'll laugh back, as you bounce from boulder to boulder, towards a pile of mousetraps
On the origin of Hello Games:
When I joined the industry, it was absolutely my dream job. I'd been making games since I was a kid and this was an amazing opportunity. I loved it, but I've never thought of doing anything except starting up on my own. I think that's the same for all of us. Dave and Grant used to make Doom levels together as kids, I was always tinkering with some game or other, Ryan is the same. We didn't even discuss it that much to begin with, it was just assumed, we'll work together and start a new company. We had that instant connection when we met, that is so rare.
On the conception of Joe Danger:
Grant had a box of toys he brought down from his attic. Something kind of beautiful happened when he brought those in. There was an instant power to demonstrating your latest game idea with Optimus Prime in your hands. But we kept coming back to one toy, an Evel Knevil stunt cycle. We just sat and actually played with it, building bigger and bigger ramps, launching it out of windows, down corridors. We started to build this little character around who this hapless guy was. The world's most determined stuntman. It kind of tapped into the character you imagined as you played with those toys as a kid. Designing the game from there just flowed naturally.
