NEWS
Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty gets new trailer; sales will determine future of the series
Today brings some fresh batches of news regarding Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty!
For those not in the know, Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty is a remake of Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, an imaginative puzzle-driven platformer from 1997. It features new 3D visuals, as well as remade music and sound effects. Both Abe's Oddysee and its sequel, Abe's Exoddus, were childhood favorites of mine that I continue to revisit to this day. Later on, the Oddworld universe played host to two more games: Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee and Stranger's Wrath.
To begin with, Oddworld Inhabitants has released the GDC 2014 gameplay trailer for New 'n' Tasty, which shows off a lot of slick new footage:
But it doesn't end there. Oddworld series creator Lorne Lanning has stated that if Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty ships 250,000 copies, he'll also remake Abe's Exoddus. Even more excitingly, if New 'n' Tasty ships 500,000 copies, he'll begin development on a brand-new Oddworld game.
The all-new Oddworld title would probably be the Brutal Ballad of Fangus Klot, a game that was previously cancelled. Lanning believes kickstarter isn't really an option, since the game would need a budget of at least $5 million. He explains: "People keep asking me, 'Why don't you Kickstart Oddworld? You could get at least $1 or $2 million.' And I'm like 'What would I do with a couple million on Kickstarter on a new Oddworld title?' Not much. I could redo Exoddus for a couple million. I could do that. But a new title, which means new characters doing new things and controls that are great - that's where the real time and expenses come from." Converting a game that's already done is much less expensive than building a new title from scratch.
Lanning also revealed that he's continued to tinker with Fangus Klot, even though it was canned. "Over the last year and a half, I've designed Fangus extensively. And I would like to be able to move into Fangus as soon as a new IP in Oddworld." He did clarify that the studio has other ideas as well, so Fangus Klot is not guarenteed to be the new game. Either way, the remake of Exoddus would be developed first.
The digital re-releases of the original Oddysee and Exoddus sold a combined total of over a million copies. Combined that with Stranger's Wrath HD, Munch's Oddysee HD, and the Oddbox collection, not to mention the original games, the series has shipped over seven million copies overall. (Interestingly, Stranger's Wrath HD sold more than the retail release of the original Xbox game.)
New 'n' Tasty is expected to launch for PC, Wii U, and PS4 sometime in 2014. Hopefully it'll ship enough copies for the Abe's Exoddus remake, as well as the potential new title.