Geist - What Happened?

Summary

Dans cet épisode, le créateur explore le jeu Geist de 2005 sur GameCube, une tentative unique de Nintendo d'innover dans le genre FPS. Développé par nspace, le jeu permet aux joueurs de posséder des personnages et des objets pour résoudre des énigmes, mais a été confronté à des retards de développement et à des critiques mitigées. Malgré son potentiel et la collaboration étroite avec Nintendo, Geist n'a pas réussi à capter l'attention du public, se vendant mal et devenant rapidement une note de bas de page dans l'histoire des jeux vidéo. Le récit souligne les défis de l'innovation dans l'industrie du jeu.

Takeaways

• 😀 Geist est un jeu vidéo développé par nspace, sorti sur GameCube en 2005, et est souvent considéré comme un titre atypique dans le catalogue de Nintendo.
• 🤔 L'idée originale du jeu était de permettre aux joueurs de contrôler un fantôme capable de posséder des personnages et des objets pour résoudre des énigmes.
• 🎮 Le développement de Geist a commencé après que Nintendo ait demandé un jeu de tir à la première personne innovant, loin des tendances classiques du genre.
• 👻 Le concept a évolué grâce à des collaborations étroites avec Nintendo, notamment avec des contributions de Shigeru Miyamoto, qui a proposé d'intégrer la possession d'objets inanimés.
• 📅 Bien que prévu pour une sortie en 2003, Geist a connu de nombreux retards et n'est finalement sorti qu'en 2005, avec une perception mitigée de la part des critiques.
• 🔍 Les mécanismes de jeu ont changé au fil du temps, passant d'un jeu de tir traditionnel à un mélange d'énigmes environnementales et d'action à la première personne.
• 📉 Malgré des idées prometteuses, Geist a souffert de ventes décevantes, ne parvenant pas à se classer parmi les meilleures ventes sur GameCube.
• 👥 Le protagoniste, John Raymie, a été redéfini comme un scientifique ordinaire plutôt qu'un héros militaire, ce qui a modifié la dynamique du personnage principal.
• 🚫 Nspace a tenté de poursuivre l'innovation avec des projets ultérieurs, mais a finalement connu des échecs commerciaux, menant à sa fermeture en 2016.
• 🎉 Malgré son échec commercial, Geist a laissé une empreinte dans la culture populaire, apparaissant dans des références comme Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Q & A

Quel est le principal concept de *Geist*?

Le principal concept de *Geist* est de permettre aux joueurs de posséder des personnages et des objets, offrant une approche unique par rapport aux tireurs à la première personne traditionnels.

Comment la collaboration avec Nintendo a-t-elle influencé le développement de *Geist*?

La collaboration avec Nintendo a été très influente, notamment grâce à des conseils de Shigeru Miyamoto, qui a encouragé l'intégration de la mécanique de possession d'objets, enrichissant ainsi la complexité du gameplay.

Pourquoi le développement de *Geist* a-t-il été marqué par des retards?

Le développement a connu des retards en raison de divergences entre la vision de nspace, qui le voyait comme un FPS, et celle de Nintendo, qui le considérait comme un jeu d'aventure avec des éléments de tir.

Qui est le protagoniste de *Geist* et comment son personnage a-t-il évolué?

Le protagoniste de *Geist* est John Raimi, qui a évolué d'un agent aguerri à un scientifique civil, permettant aux joueurs de progresser avec lui en compétences et en expériences.

Comment *Geist* a-t-il été reçu par la critique à sa sortie?

À sa sortie, *Geist* a reçu des critiques mitigées, les critiques soulignant sa jouabilité répétitive et un manque de finition tant dans les éléments de FPS que d'aventure.

Quelle a été la performance commerciale de *Geist* après sa sortie?

Commercialement, *Geist* a échoué à se classer parmi les 20 meilleurs jeux lors de son mois de lancement et a été éclipsé par des titres plus populaires tels que *Madden 2006*.

Quelles leçons peut-on tirer de l'expérience de développement de *Geist*?

L'expérience de développement de *Geist* souligne l'importance de l'alignement entre les visions créatives des développeurs et des éditeurs, ainsi que les risques associés à l'innovation dans le jeu vidéo.

Qu'est-il arrivé à nspace après le lancement de *Geist*?

Après le lancement de *Geist*, nspace a continué à développer des jeux sous licence avant de fermer ses portes en 2016, après plusieurs projets sans succès.

Quel impact *Geist* a-t-il eu sur l'univers de *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*?

*Geist* a trouvé une place dans *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* sous forme de trophée, bien qu'il soit considéré comme un élément moins connu de l'univers Nintendo.

Quels sont les éléments clés qui ont contribué à la vision originale de *Geist*?

Les éléments clés de la vision originale de *Geist* incluent le mélange d'éléments d'horreur et de puzzle, ainsi que l'idée d'un protagoniste qui apprend et grandit en utilisant ses capacités de possession.

Outlines

00:00

🎮 L'histoire de Geist : Développement et Concept

Ce segment présente le développement de *Geist*, un jeu classique de la GameCube sorti en 2005, créé par nspace. Le projet a débuté en tant que collaboration avec Nintendo après le succès de *Metroid Prime*. Initialement conçu comme un jeu de tir à la première personne avec un agent invisible, le concept a évolué pour inclure une mécanique de possession de fantômes, permettant aux joueurs de contrôler des êtres vivants et des objets inanimés. Malgré une collaboration positive avec Nintendo et une experimentation approfondie, le jeu a subi d'importantes révisions pour s'aligner sur la vision de Nintendo, le transformant en un jeu d'aventure avec des énigmes environnementales plutôt qu'un simple tireur. Le personnage principal, John Raymie, a également été réimaginé, passant d'un agent aguerri à un scientifique lambda, permettant ainsi une évolution du joueur tout au long du jeu.

05:03

📅 Retards de Sortie et Réception

Dans cette partie, on aborde les retards de la sortie de *Geist*, qui devait initialement faire partie de la programmation de Noël de Nintendo, mais a finalement été lancé en août 2005 avec des critiques mitigées. Les critiques ont jugé que la mécanique de possession devenait répétitive et que l'aspect de tir à la première personne manquait de finition. En conséquence, *Geist* a échoué à atteindre le succès commercial, ne figurant pas dans les classements des ventes et incitant nspace à retourner au développement de jeux sous licence. L'épisode se termine par une note humoristique sur l'héritage du jeu, y compris sa représentation mineure dans *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*.

Keywords

💡Geist

Geist est un jeu vidéo de tir à la première personne développé par nspace et publié par Nintendo pour la GameCube en 2005. Le terme 'Geist' signifie 'fantôme' en allemand, ce qui est pertinent car le jeu tourne autour de la possession d'êtres humains et d'objets. Ce concept de possession est central au gameplay, permettant au joueur de résoudre des énigmes et d'interagir avec l'environnement de manière unique.

💡nspace

nspace était un studio de développement de jeux vidéo basé à Orlando, connu pour ses titres sous licence pour PlayStation. Dans le contexte de 'Geist', nspace a été choisi par Nintendo pour développer un jeu FPS innovant. Leur collaboration avec Nintendo a entraîné des changements significatifs dans le gameplay et l'histoire du jeu, soulignant l'importance de l'expérimentation dans le développement.

💡Miyamoto

Shigeru Miyamoto est un designer de jeux vidéo légendaire chez Nintendo, connu pour avoir créé des franchises emblématiques comme Mario et Zelda. Dans le développement de 'Geist', ses idées sur la mécanique de possession d'objets ont été cruciales pour enrichir le gameplay. Miyamoto a encouragé nspace à explorer des concepts plus créatifs, ajoutant une dimension unique au jeu.

💡Possession

La possession est une mécanique de gameplay centrale dans 'Geist', où le joueur peut prendre le contrôle de différents personnages et objets. Cette capacité à posséder des êtres vivants et des objets inanimés permet d'explorer des énigmes et d'interagir avec le monde d'une manière novatrice. Cela souligne le thème de l'identité et de la transformation, car le protagoniste, John Raymie, devient plus versatile à travers ses possessions.

💡FPS

FPS signifie 'First-Person Shooter', un genre de jeu vidéo où le joueur voit à travers les yeux du personnage et utilise des armes pour combattre des ennemis. Bien que 'Geist' se positionne comme un FPS, le script souligne que le jeu a été redéfini pour inclure des éléments d'aventure, ce qui a conduit à des critiques concernant l'équilibre entre les deux styles de jeu. Cela reflète les défis auxquels nspace a été confronté en essayant de plaire à Nintendo tout en conservant l'essence du FPS.

💡Énigmes

Les énigmes sont des défis que les joueurs doivent résoudre pour progresser dans le jeu. Dans 'Geist', la mécanique de possession est utilisée pour résoudre des énigmes, transformant le jeu en une expérience plus axée sur la réflexion plutôt que sur l'action pure. Cela montre comment le jeu a évolué pour se concentrer sur des aspects de gameplay moins traditionnels, ce qui le distingue des autres titres de l'époque.

💡Délai de sortie

Le délai de sortie fait référence aux retards de publication que 'Geist' a subis avant son lancement final. Initialement prévu pour 2003, le jeu a été repoussé à plusieurs reprises, ce qui a affecté son succès commercial. Les retards sont attribués à des divergences créatives entre nspace et Nintendo, ce qui a contribué à la perception du jeu comme étant mal équilibré et peut-être trop éloigné des attentes des fans.

💡Réception critique

La réception critique se réfère aux avis des journalistes et des joueurs concernant un jeu. 'Geist' a reçu des critiques mitigées, beaucoup notant que bien que l'idée de possession était originale, l'exécution du gameplay manquait de la polissage et de l'impact présents dans d'autres FPS populaires. Cette réception a eu des conséquences durables sur la façon dont nspace a été perçu en tant que développeur après la sortie du jeu.

💡Nintendo

Nintendo est une entreprise de jeux vidéo japonaise réputée pour ses franchises emblématiques et son innovation. Dans le cas de 'Geist', Nintendo a joué un rôle clé en guidant le développement du jeu, ce qui a conduit à un changement de direction en termes de gameplay et de conception des personnages. La relation entre nspace et Nintendo est un exemple de collaboration dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo, bien que le résultat final ait été contesté.

💡Échec commercial

L'échec commercial désigne la difficulté d'un produit à atteindre ses objectifs de vente. 'Geist' a été un échec commercial à sa sortie, ne parvenant pas à figurer parmi les meilleures ventes de la GameCube. Cela a été attribué à plusieurs facteurs, notamment les retards prolongés, le manque de marketing efficace et la concurrence de jeux plus populaires à l'époque.

Highlights

N-space originally focused on developing games for the PS1, including titles for the Olsen twins and Duke Nukem.

The concept for *Geist* emerged as a twist on standard FPS games, featuring a ghost that could possess characters and objects.

Nintendo encouraged n-space to experiment with possession mechanics, expanding the gameplay to include inanimate object possession.

The protagonist John Raymie was transformed from a gruff super-soldier into an everyman scientist to allow player growth.

The collaboration with Nintendo was described positively, despite major redesigns and delays in the game's development.

Initial gameplay involved FPS mechanics, but shifted towards environmental puzzles as nintendo's vision of the game evolved.

The game faced significant delays, missing its original holiday 2003 release date and finally launching in August 2005.

Despite its unique mechanics, *Geist* received mixed reviews, with critics citing repetitive gameplay and lack of polish.

The game was considered a commercial failure, failing to crack the top 20 sales charts during its release period.

n-space shifted focus to developing licensed titles after *Geist*, including portable adaptations of *Call of Duty* and *James Bond* games.

In 2012, n-space attempted to return to original IP development with *Heroes of Ruin* for the 3DS, which also underperformed.

The studio ultimately closed in 2016, following a series of unsuccessful projects including *Sword Coast Legends*.

Although it failed commercially, *Geist* is referenced in games like *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*, contributing to its legacy.

The game's unique possession mechanics and story provided a distinctive take on the FPS genre, albeit with execution issues.

The development process with Nintendo emphasized creativity and experimentation, leading to notable gameplay innovations.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

welcome back to another episode of what

happened the show that semi regularly

makes you say oh yeah that game speaking

of which let me present to you the 2005

gamecube classic geist i told

was nintendo trying to make the metroid

prime lightning strike twice was it

their halo killer no or was it just an

oddball fps destined to live alongside

odama and future tactics uprising at the

bottom of the bargain bins well expand

your mind and attach your soul to a dish

of dog food it's time to find out what

happened to geist

it's about time

the tale of this perilous paranormal

project starts with nspace an orlando

studio originally financed by sony

computer entertainment of america to

develop games for the ps1 which they

very much did cause these games were

playstation as bug riders duke

nukem land of the babes danger girl and

a copious amount of olsen twins titles

ashley i don't think we're in kansas

anymore

no kidding mary kate now i know there

are two schools of thought here but

they're both wrong sweet 16 license to

drive was a massive improvement on

magical mystery mall

that's just facts so i started out on

mary kate ashley which was great fun

anyway scea didn't actually own nspace

and somewhere between mary kade and

ashley titles they heard that nintendo

of america possibly due to the success

of metroid prime had put out a call for

a first person game that wasn't just

following shooter trends nspace

higher-ups caught wind of this and

immediately started brainstorming a

concept to sell they came up with

multiple ideas but settled on one that

while appearing to be a standard fps at

first glance had a hidden twist in a

2005 interview with planet gamecube now

nintendo world report and space

president eric dike explained one of the

ideas we liked was an idea about plane

and invisible agent like an invisible

man that would use guns and because

they're invisible they would be able to

scare and intimidate people some people

liked it some people felt something was

missing we came up with a variation on

it that basically says what if you're a

ghost and if you need a weapon you

possess a person that has a gun or if

you need a pair of hands you possess

someone who can do manual work from

there it kind of snowballed also the

ghost aspect still gave us a voyeuristic

scare and messing with people aspect

that we liked about the invisible idea

as for a name the team were looking at

the straightforward but marketable fear

but apparently had to abandon it because

of the no fear clothing line with that

one shot down they then arrived at geist

which was another name that they had

been considering after landing on this

concept they self-funded a prototype

with the explicit goal of getting

nintendo's attention which they

absolutely did nintendo of america felt

like the idea had plenty of promise and

their japanese hq known as nintendo

co-limited or ncl felt the same once

they got their hands on it nspace would

spend the next six months in an

experimentation phase working together

with ncl fleshing out new ideas and even

getting a lot of insight and feedback

from shigeru miyamoto himself miyamoto

found the possession mechanics

interesting imagine that and brought up

the idea of possessing inanimate objects

in addition to the meat puppets already

controllable in the earlier builds

miyamoto had immediately commented on an

idea of object possession when the team

had first heard they didn't know exactly

what he meant they kind of thought he

might just be joking around apparently

he has that kind of sense of humor in

the workplace eventually miyamoto san

just said i think the possession aspect

of this game is great and i want to know

what it's like to not just possess

humans and animals but what it would be

like to possess a box or what it would

be like to possess a plant during one of

ncl's visits it became a priority to do

some experimentation with object

possession and then figure out how to

fit that into the game we were already

developing that was a little bit of a

curveball it added some work onto things

but were really happy where it ended up

nintendo felt what they had was good

enough to show out their e3 2003 show

and their press release for geist stated

that it was going to be part of that

year's holiday lineup which it would

famously miss

by a lot in fact guys would actually

take almost two more years to start

haunting gamecube disc trays

[Music]

in that same planet gamecube interview

eric dike elaborated on what caused this

series of delays going from winter 2003

to 2004 to its final release in summer

of 2005. according to him ncl and nspace

saw the game in two different lights to

end space it was a first person shooter

with a possession mechanic whereas

nintee saw an adventure game with some

first person shooting since nintendo is

calling the shots much of the game was

redesigned over time to be more in line

with their vision doubling down on all

the ghostly aspects instead of levels

where you were running and or gunning

through enemies occasionally possessing

a guard or engineer along the way much

of geiss's gameplay started revolving

around environmental puzzles ted newman

further explained how this readjusting

of the core gameplay elements took a lot

of trial and error there would be times

where they would ask us to add something

to the game that nintendo staff thought

of sometimes we would just scratch our

heads a little and say well we're not

quite sure how that's going to work but

nintendo is very big on experimentation

and a lot of times they want to put

something in the game to see it and sure

enough just about everything they did

ask us to add we got to the point where

it was in the game and we got to play it

that we said wow that does work now

something that's interesting overall

about geiss's development is that

despite massive delays and spoilers

eventual failure at retail and space

staff routinely described the process of

working so closely with nintendo very

positively expressing that the

partnership was genuinely good for the

game while regarding geist as a truly

shared product and that the development

process was a wonderful experience which

doesn't happen too often on this show

while the gameplay was getting

overhauled big changes were also coming

to the story and its protagonist john

raymie nspace had initially gone with a

gruff battle-hardened agent citing jack

bauer as a major source of inspiration

that would explain everything

[Applause]

nintendo however felt the character

should be more of an every man with very

little combat experience allowing him

and the player to grow together as the

game went on this meant that jon went

from super soldier to super nerd being

rewritten as a civilian scientist with

the new idea being that when he

possessed characters he would take on

their traits or skills positioning him

as more of a blank slate the story and

style of geist was also pretty cinematic

especially for a game published by

nintendo aside from outliers like

eternal darkness elaborate cut scenes

were rare offerings from the publisher

and they typically didn't splurge on

well-known voice actors at the time

either geist however was no exception to

that last one this is something that ted

newman explained actually we were really

lucky to have a contract with a local

radio station called real radio 104.1

it's all talk radio we approached them

and said listen we want to see if you

want to audition for the voices we've

got a couple of hosts from several of

the shows i think there is like four

shows that go on throughout the day we

thought they did a great job

did they though

the rift it's it's collapsed

the simulation is ready to initialize

sir

man

i'm having a bad day

by march of 2005 geiss was finally

coming together and was locked into a

specific but also vague june release

date once june rolled around nintendo

informed websites and retailers once

again that geiss was going to see

another delay this time to its actual

final release dates of august 15th in

north america october 7th for europe

november 3rd for australia and never for

japan

looking at the big picture here geist

was absolutely nspace's most ambitious

game to date marking their first attempt

at actual unique ip unfortunately this

still manifested very little fanfare and

only just mixed reviews despite the

ghostly gameplay hook possession was

routinely cited by critics and fans

alike as an element that grew formulaic

since you were mostly doing the same

things over and over to progress most

also felt that the fps action was

middling and half baked and lacked a lot

of the impact and polish scene and other

successful fps's of the day in terms of

graphics and performance guys was also

considered an underachiever nspace were

still using a custom engine that they

had originally built for the playstation

1 which may have limited their ability

to fully reach the graphical benchmark

that folks expected from major gamecube

releases and while geist's ideas

received plenty of praise it was felt

that the two gameplay styles didn't mesh

very well with neither feeling

particularly polished now despite nspace

staff apparently happy with their

intimate nintendo partnership the split

focus would ultimately deliver a title

that couldn't satisfy either half of the

gameplay premise

now on to the topic of sales well geist

was

dead on arrival

[Laughter]

[Music]

[Laughter]

what was i laughing at now according to

npd group geist failed to make the top

20 for both a month of its release and

the subsequent months as well even more

damning is that it also failed to crack

the npd's top 10 gamecube only charts

which were printed in nintendo power at

the time heavy hitters like madden 2006

and mario superstar baseball were

topping those charts with guys placing

below stuff like charlie and the

chocolate factory and even years old

evergreen titles like animal crossing

kirby air ride and pokemon coliseum

scanning through nintendo's investor

reports for that fiscal year guys has

only ever mentioned twice with both

those instances just being the release

dates for north america and europe

that's not great n-space for their part

seemed to be trying to move forward with

geist regardless rumors of a nintendo ds

version were circulating at the time and

were then later confirmed genuine when

people cracked open the files for the

nspace developed call of duty 4 for the

nintendo ds obviously nothing came of

this and before too long space we're

back to doing grunt work for other

studios it would focus mostly on a

surprisingly well regarded string of

call of duty and double 07 portables

among others this conveyor belt of

licensed games continued until 2012

where they would get to work on their

first original ip ever since geist this

time under square enix some of you out

there might remember the unmemorable

heroes of ruin for the nintendo 3ds an

incredibly generic co-op dungeon crawler

tested by yours truly while it was well

made and mechanically solid with a

robust online mode to boot it generally

didn't resonate with a good percentage

of reviewers who collectively scored it

a nice 69 average on metacritic dan

o'leary nspace ceo even publicly said

that he felt the 3ds's low install base

at the time contributed to the game's

commercial failure personally i feel the

bland art style and lukewarm reviews

were more to blame but this was back

around the time the 3ds was only finally

recovering from its rough launch period

so it's probably a nugget of truth in

his statement somewhere times were

getting tough for nspace as evidenced by

their last two titles firstly a wwe

mobile game of some kind wwe champion

supercard i don't know i can never keep

those two straight and then secondly and

lastly sword coast legends a d d

licensed game developed alongside

digital extremes which wasn't received

much better in fact it was even worse

and very much did not save the company

in 2016 they announced they had closed

their doors before the console versions

of sword coast legends had ever even

come out this was a bit of a weird one i

ain't gonna lie while nintendo were

clearly hoping to capture the same magic

metroid prime had conjured john raymie

ain't no samus and possessing a bowl of

dog food isn't quite as compelling as

navigating a morph ball maze it wasn't

the most marketable game and its

multiple delays may have pushed it too

far out to make much of an impact while

it failed to resonate with the

mainstream audiences though at least

geiss's memory lives on and smash

brothers ultimate as

oh what

oh no it's this trophy like like at all

there's not even any spirits

oh

oh if you know of any other ghostly

gambles let me know in the comments

below over on my twitter wait wait wait

hang on if you change the language of

smash ultimate to german

sakurai you mad man you did it again

or come haunt the halls of the flophouse

vip patreon to nominate what you want to

see in the future see you next time and

thanks for watching

[Music]

[Music]

you