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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's next game is a love story set in the Amazon
Minority Media, the studio behind Papo & Yo and the upcoming Silent Enemy, have announced another upcoming game designed to tug at your heartstrings. According to the Canada Media Fund database, Cali tells the story of Massi, a young boy from the Amazon who becomes separated from his group and discovers a pixie-like creature named Cali. Game Informer reports that creative director for Minority Media Vander Caballero did not give many details during the game's announcement, only saying that the game would tell a story of "what it would be like to fall in love with an AI avatar." The CMF database also notes that, "while Cali is the secret to Massi's future success, there is a deadly reason why she cannot, or will not, help." Game Informer also reports that Caballero confirmed the game would be heading to "new-gen consoles," while the CMF database describes the game as in development for iOS, Android and "the Cloud." [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."
Silent Enemy teaser designs some bullies
The next project from Papo & Yo developer Minority, Silent Enemy, tackles another sensitive topic: bullying. Many of the developers were bullied and that history affected the design and development of SIlent Enemy.
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.
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.
