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Stories we tell in quiet houses and alien invasions
Video game experiences aren't wholly relegated to what designers have deliberately laid out for you; through gameplay, a unique narrative emerges. We all have our own stories: a car chase in Grand Theft Auto V, a battle within a hidden cave in Skyrim, an ore-rich chasm in Minecraft. These discoveries highlight the promise that, if we just keep looking and keep testing a game's boundaries, we might find something that's uniquely ours. Thanks to franchises like BioShock, Fallout and Grand Theft Auto, the idea of player-driven narrative is being explored in different ways. From collectibles to character customization and sprawling open-worlds, video games today are littered with tools people can use to manufacture stories that belong only to them. But that doesn't mean the role of the developer has been in any way diminished. On the contrary, designers now have more work to do than ever, subtly and precisely tailoring their games so that players can get a full experience without feeling like they're being led by the nose.
Gone Home going to Wii U, says Nintendo manager
For more on Gone Home, check out our review. (The Unite 2014 video is below the break as well as the text from the image for anyone who has difficulty reading it.)
Gone Home developer rebrands as 'Fullbright,' just Fullbright
The Fullbright Company, development studio of Gone Home fame, is nixing the "company" part of its name and is now simply called "Fullbright." The developer released a new logo to mark the occasion – we feel a strange thirst for root beer for some reason. Fullbright also announced that it's hiring. After Johnnemann Nordhagen left in June to form his own studio, Dim Bulb Games, the group requires a replacement programmer. Fullbright is also seeking a character animator. It would seem that, unlike Gone Home, future projects from the team will feature moving characters. The multiple changes don't mean a shift in attitude, though. In the announcement post revealing the news, it's stated that the company ... er, group ... will continue to focus on "creating immersive, unforgettable story exploration video games." We're okay with this. [Image: Fullbright]
Gone Home Boxed Special Edition goes international on July 3
Those who haven't already enjoyed the critically-beloved Gone Home via digital distribution can pick up the game at retail in a new "Boxed Special Edition" which arrives on July 3. Developer The Fullbright Company has teamed with Merge Games to release the Boxed Special Edition to stores in the UK, Ireland, Italy, and Benelux and Nordic countries, alongside international releases in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Czech Republic. If you live outside of these regions but still want to get your hands on the Super Nintendo-inspired packaging, Merge Games will also offer the Boxed Special Edition via its website. Alongside a DRM-free version of Gone Home, the Boxed Special Edition includes that snazzy packaging, a Steam key, sticker, poster and art book. Pricing varies based on location and retailer discretion, but Merge claims the game will be available in the UK at £19.95, other European regions at €24.95 and in Australia for $29.95 AUD. [Image: Merge Games/The Fullbright Company]
Gone Home and Papers, Please sweep Games For Change Awards
The Games For Change Festival hosted its annual awards ceremony on Wednesday night, honoring socially conscious games in three categories: Most Innovative, Most Impactful, and Best Gameplay. Game of the Year, the fourth and final award, was given to a game that embodied all three categories. Some 140 games were nominated, and a panel of experts in gaming, media, education and philanthropy whittled those selections down to eight finalists. Lucas Pope, though not in attendance at the awards, dominated the stage. Papers, Please, Pope's brutal game about playing a border crossing guard in the fictional communist nation Arstotzka, won both the Most Innovative and Best Gameplay awards. Speaking with Joystiq via email after the awards, Pope shared his thoughts on why his game seems to resonate so strongly with players. "It puts players in an unfamiliar position and asks them to make difficult decisions with no easy answers," said Pope. "The subject matter is unique enough to get people interested, so the challenge for me was to hook them early with the core gameplay, then build on that with an interesting story." Most Significant Impact, the award given to games about social issue that also encourages players to develop empathy and respect for the subject, went to Electric Funstuff's The Mission US: A Cheyenne Odyssey. Mission US simulates life for the Northern Cheyenne tribe as it confronted the institution of Native American reservations in the 19th century. The Games For Change Game of the Year award was given to The Fullbright Company for Gone Home, their divisive first-person adventure. Steve Gaynor and Karla Zimonja accepted their award in a brief video message which, as the ceremony's host put it, may have been the first ever selfie acceptance speech. Papers, Please and Gone Home both received year-end accolades from Joystiq and numerous other outlets. Lucas Pope offered some insight into why games that address social issues are gaining traction amongst players. "I think the changing audience is related to generations and technology," explained Pope. "I grew up playing games my entire life so they're a natural form of expression and entertainment for me. I don't necessarily look to games for only straight up fun times, and I'd say most of my generation is the same way. At the same time, the tools and resources to create games have exploded in the last five years. It's much easier now to make smaller games that reflect personal experiences. With more games like this being made, there's naturally going to be an audience to play and enjoy them."
Papers, Please, Gone Home, and more named finalists at the 11th Annual Games for Change Awards
The 11th Annual Games for Change Festival kicks off in New York on April 22, shining a spotlight on video games and developers pushing the medium not just as quality entertainment or educational tools but as venues for social justice. On Tuesday the organization announced its finalists for the Games for Change awards, honoring eight games for their gameplay, innovation, and their impact in highlighting specific issues from underage drinking to the dangers faced by migrants crossing the US-Mexico border. At least two nominees were amongst Joystiq's favorite games of 2013.
Gone Home headed to consoles this year from Majesco's indie label
Indie developer The Fullbright Company announced that its landmark first-person adventure game Gone Home is coming to consoles this year. Majesco will publish the console version of Gone Home via its recently-launched indie label Midnight City. Specific release platforms have not been announced, though writer and designer Steve Gaynor notes that further details will be revealed in the coming weeks. Gone Home placed at #6 in Joystiq's "Best of 2013" rankings, with our senior reporter Jess Conditt calling it "a deeply personal, moving story" and "a feat of subtlety and game storytelling." [Image: Majesco / The Fullbright Company]
Gone Home finds 250K sales, most on Steam
Gone Home, the emotional exploration game from indie studio The Fullbright Company, has sold 250,000 copies, founder Steve Gaynor tells Joystiq. Roughly 80 percent of those sales were through Steam, he said, and 50,000 of them were in the first month. Gone Home was a favorite of ours last year, hitting No. 6 on our Best of 2013 list – but not everyone shares our taste for suburban mystery and familial letter-writing. On our first DICE podcast this week, Gaynor discussed the suggestion from some players that Gone Home "isn't a real game," during which he shared the following story: Gone Home Designer Karla Zimonja was heading home on the train in Portland, and she had an email from Gaynor open on her phone with the game's name in the subject line. Someone read it over her shoulder and tapped her arm just to say, "Oh, Gone Home? Yeah, I don't think that's really a game." Hilarity ensues on the podcast after that tale. The first DICE podcast also features Rami Ismail of Vlambeer and Davey Wreden of The Stanley Parable (a game that suffers from a similar player response). [Image: The Fullbright Company]
Dorkly unleashes a trailer for Gone Home's ideal DLC, Gun Home
Gone Home - it's a nice enough experience. We guess. We said you'd leave it "with a spring in your step" in our review, but you know, like, whatever, man. Still not a game. You know? Games are about fun and stuff. Thank goodness Dorkly is here to reveal Gone Home's (totally not really being made) DLC, "Gun Home." Go on, click through and watch it after the jump. Now this looks like a game. In Gun Home, Katie returns home again ... and this time, it's personal. Katie's sister has been kidnapped by terrorists, and it's up to Katie - backpack full of shotguns and kick-ass - to get her back. OOO-WA-AA-AA-AA Go home, everyone (see what we did there?). 2014's Game of the Year is already here, and it's not even real.
Fanmade Gone Home demake given the Fullbright blessing
The Fullbright Company's Gone Home has garnered plenty of fans since launching in August, but one fan in particular has parlayed his enjoyment of the game into an inspired development venture. Fan Seth Macy is in the process of developing a demake of the nostalgia trip, recreating the experience as a 16-bit RPG using the PC software RPG Maker XP. "I got the go-ahead to continue on with my @GoneHomeGame JRPG demake," Macy tweeted, indicating that even The Fullbright Company is anticipating the game's translation as much as we are. Gone Home tells the tale of a sister visiting her family after a semester studying abroad. Greeted by her family's unfamiliar new home, the young woman explores the quiet house and soon uncovers a deeply personal story surrounding her sister's whereabouts. The Joystiq review of Gone Home lauded Fullbright's debut, noting the game represented "a snapshot of a time and family gone by in your absence, but one that is expressed in a way that is practical, restrained and unique to the premise."
Hit List Q&A: Gone Home's Steve Gaynor
In the "Hit List" from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the video game industry's top talents describe their current gaming addictions, their most anticipated releases and more. This week: Steve Gaynor, co-founder of 'Gone Home' developer The Fullbright Company. Steve Gaynor is co-founder of independent game studio The Fullbright Company. He was the writer and designer of the Company's critically lauded first game, Gone Home. Prior to this, he worked for a number of years as a designer on the BioShock franchise. At the 2014 DICE Summit, Steve will deliver a talk entitled Strangers in a Strange Time: "We live in a strange time. Is it a golden age, or a gold rush? The landscape is changing – because we're at the crest of the wave of first-generation indie success, and the indies that made those breakthrough games are now about to release their second titles. What does this mean for new indies now entering the field – and for the rest of the games industry?"
Gone Home plus four in-game albums bundled for $25
The Fullbright Company has released a new Record Collection bundle that includes a copy of the studio's interactive short story Gone Home and four full albums by artists featured throughout the game. For $25, buyers will receive downloadable tracks from Calculated by Heavens to Betsy, Pottymouth by Bratmobile, and The Youngins are Hardcore by The Youngins. The package also includes Gone Home's original score, composed by Chris Remo. Fans who already own a copy of Gone Home can purchase the albums separately for $15.
Gone Home began as an Amnesia mod, and you can play it
Amnesia: The Dark Descent developer Frictional Games revealed that The Fullbright Company's indie hit Gone Home began life as an Amnesia mod, but switched to the Unity engine after plans to license Frictional's HPL2 engine fell through. As a standard practice, Frictional Games co-founder Thomas Grip declines all HPL2 licensing requests, due to the engine's lack of documentation and support. After inquiring about licensing, Fullbright's Steve Gaynor received the same response from Grip, who advised the team to begin building Gone Home with Unity instead. After following up with Gaynor in the months after Gone Home's release, Grip received a copy of Gone Home's original prototype version, which is now available for download as a mod for Amnesia. While it's still in an early state, the prototype retains many of Gone Home's distinct themes and mechanics. "The prototype is quite short and very basic; it is really more of a proof of concept," Grip explains. "But it still gives a very good sense of the game, and having played the full version, I could recognize quite a bit. It does feel a bit awkward to play an early test like this though. Gone Home is a very personal game, and playing this prototype felt like a meta version of the game's voyeuristic thematics."
Gone Home adds Commentary Mode, now 50% off on Steam
The Fullbright Company's first-person interactive story Gone Home has updated with a new Commentary Mode, giving players an excuse to make a return trip through the Greenbriar family's labyrinthine dwelling. Gone Home's free Commentary Mode adds more than 90 minutes of audio content to the game, and features voiceovers from developers Steve Gaynor, Johnnemann Nordhagen, Karla Zimonja, and Kate Craig. Additional commentary is provided by Sarah Grayson (the voice of Sam), composer Chris Remo, and Sleater-Kinney singer Corin Tucker, whose former band Heavens to Betsy is featured throughout the story. The mode itself works similarly to Portal's commentary, and can be accessed via a series of clickable icons located throughout the Greenbriar's house. Explore thoroughly enough and you may shed some new light on the much-discussed Christmas Duck sidequest, among other juicy secrets. For the next 48 hours, Gone Home is available for 50 percent off of its regular price on Steam and via its website.
Gone Home developer preparing free commentary track
The Fullbright Company is working on a free in-game commentary track for its inaugural outing, Gone Home. "We're working on a commentary mode right now, and we're going to release that as free DLC," Fullbright's Steve Gaynor told RPS. "If you have it on Steam, you'll just get it. We don't have a date for it yet, but it'll be relatively soon. We're aiming for the short-term, and we've already recorded most of it." Commentary will involve "background stuff," some easter eggs and Corin Tucker, riot grrrl musician, speaking a bit about her involvement with the game. In our review of Gone Home, we lauded the game's restrained environmental storytelling and well-voiced letters. Gone Home launched in August and, over the course of its first month, has sold 50,000 copies. The game is currently available on Steam for $20, for the PC, Mac and Linux.
Gone Home sold to 50,000 occupants in a month
"Where is everyone?" house exploration mystery Gone Home, which is available through the game's site and Steam, has sold more than 50,000 copies since its launch on August 15. "We hope people will find it encouraging to know that," said Steve Gaynor, one of the founders of Fullbright Company. "Along with the positive critical response we are continually grateful for and humbled by, we are also doing alright as far as sales numbers go!" To talk about Gone Home is to take away from the experience of it. However, our review said: "Gone Home offers its revelations in quietness and purity, and that's why you'll leave it with a spring in your step."
The artists behind the SNES cart art in Gone Home
In your search for clues in Gone Home's big ol' house, you may have spotted a few forgotten games in the cupboard. The fictional SNES games of yesteryear were each concocted by established video game artists. Adventurous The Cat Returns, created by Double Fine artist Lee Perry, is the easiest cartridge to find, developer The Fullbright Company notes in a blog post. Perry's directive was to create "an overly 'cool' Bubsy-esque character" and we'd say he nailed it. Journey of Crystal, seen above, was clearly created by Supergiant Games art director Jenn Lee. This hypothetical JRPG sequel to Secret of Time Crystal is chock full of the fantastical, with a towering castle beckoning off in the distance. Check out the Fullbright post for the rest. Gone Home, currently available for PC, Mac and Linux on Steam, has you returning home after a year abroad, only to find no one there to greet you and a cryptic note on the door. You explore and examine the house interior to piece together the story of the people who live there.
Gone Home review: First-Person Snooper
You have returned and found your house bereft of its family, but littered with material proof of their lives. If you've ever been left alone to ponder mom and dad's unexpected absence (always leave a note!), you'll know the mystery can swing between the wild and the mundane: Burglars. A late-night ice cream run. An ambulance. Ghosts. Kidnapping. The Rapture. Wait, isn't that just kidnapping the nice people? Gone Home is a game about what happened while you were gone. Your co-identity in exploration is Kaitlin Greenbriar, the older sister who drops her bags on a Portland porch after a year-long trip to Europe. What you imagine her finding in drawers, on bookshelves and in crumpled notes – the physical counterparts of everything she's missed – is going to be grander and far colder than what develops here so elegantly: a warm, uplifting relationship that outgrows the very place built to enshrine it. Effective world-building, it turns out, can start with a single house and a tender voice inside it.
Gone Home finds out who's there on August 15
Gone Home, the first game from three ex-BioShock developers at The Fullbright Company, launches on Steam and the game's site on August 15 for PC, Mac and Linux, priced at $20. Gone Home is an exploration game set in the Pacific Northwest in the 90s, starring a teenage girl returning home from a year abroad to find her house empty. Players dig through every drawer and crevice in the house to figure out who her family is and what happened to them. In the name of authenticity, Gone Home features music from the 90s Riot Grrrl movement, including the bands Bratmobile and Heavens to Betsy. Music is a huge influence on the life of any teenager, and Fullbright uses it to tell a real, emotional story, studio co-founder Steve Gaynor says. "It's really goddamn amazing to have the opportunity for this music to be in Gone Home," he says. "Authenticity is our No. 1 priority, and the inclusion of tracks by Heavens to Betsy and Bratmobile really drives home the era and the place and the feelings surrounding the story of Gone Home. We're psyched."%Gallery-195217%
Gone Home sets the stage with two original Riot Grrrl bands
Gone Home uses an atmospheric, introspective exploration game to tackle one of the most mysterious, emotional and twisted phenomena of human existence – being a teenage girl in the 90s. Trust us, it's terrible.Regardless of gender or decade, one thing that alleviates the confusion of adolescence for millions of teenagers worldwide is music. For Gone Home's narrative, a teenage girl discovering herself in the 90s Pacific Northwest, this means Riot Grrrl. Riot Grrrl is a feminist punk movement that hit Washington and Oregon beginning in 1991, which spawned an influx of new bands and written publications focused on female empowerment.Developer The Fullbright Company – formed by three ex-BioShock developers – snagged two original Riot Grrrl bands, Bratmobile and Heavens to Betsy, for Gone Home. It's an important get for Fullbright co-founder Steve Gaynor."It's really goddamn amazing to have the opportunity for this music to be in Gone Home," he says. "Authenticity is our No. 1 priority, and the inclusion of tracks by Heavens to Betsy and Bratmobile really drives home the era and the place and the feelings surrounding the story of Gone Home. We're psyched."%Gallery-183348%
