Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Go Nintendo's RawMeatCowboy recently received an email from an anonymous, shadowy figure calling themselves "rabbits can't be sad." That's pretty weird, but stranger still, the email contained something we almost never expected to see: footage of Nibris' "vaporware" title, Sadness. Despite the unconventional method of its delivery, it definitely looked like the real deal.

We say "looked" because now it's gone, pulled down by RawMeatCowboy, who (we're guessing) was asked to remove the footage. In his amended post, RMC simply writes: "Sorry for the inconvenience, but I unfortunately have to remove this post. That is all I can say at this time."

So after being relentlessly mocked (not least by us), has Nibris actually been making a game all along? Really, really slowly?

[Update 1: Some enterprising soul grabbed the footage before it was pulled, and added it to YouTube -- thanks, DaisukeKiriyama!]


[Via Go Nintendo]

Hold on, what's all this? A Sadness rumor that actually came true? This can't be right -- and it sort of isn't. The website is there, and it's got stuff on it, but the stuff is old and it's a pretty amateur attempt at a website. It's just, you would think that the creators of the most talked-about Wii game pretty much ever would make the effort to put together a good show, but it looks somewhat awful.

The screens are old and tiny, the text is formatted all wrong (and translated poorly), and there is no trailer, although it will be "Coming soon (this vacation maybe)." Maybe? Maybe? Whatever.

To top it off, the release is scheduled for Fall 2009. That is, over a year from now. On the plus side, Nibris representatives will be attending the Leipzig Game Convention this year, so if nothing turns up at E3 we might find something there.


[Via GoNintendo]

There's nothing left to say. Sadness is the definition of sadness, and it always will be. We'll post about this "news", oh yes -- but until a physical copy of the game is actually in a Nintendo Wii console, right in front of us and running properly, we won't be certain of its existence. Forward motion is a myth.

The latest on Sadness is thus: the official website will be launched next week, along with some new images. A chap from Fog Studios (because they're so damn hazy on the details) says it's all real, and Nibris is still working away without a publisher. The lack of a publisher means a lack of a release date. If the game exists.

Rest assured, if any of the above actually happens, we will let you know. We know what a promise from anyone remotely associated with Sadness is worth, so don't hold your breath.


[Via GoNintendo]

Yes, it's back, in IGN-forum-rumor form: Sadness, the game that ain't, or may be eventually. Back in April, after an appearance by poster "nibris" in the IGN Wii Lobby when a screenshot surfaced, we were expecting more media and a trailer by the end of May. Well, Twiilight_Prince recently returned, with an all-new possible screenshot (seen above), and a statement that the website was supposed to go live by the end of May. A third of the way into June, it's nowhere to be seen ... but should we expect more from a company that apparently has some dude on the internet doing their PR?

Sadness makes us, well, sad. We're sad because it's such a great idea and because it seems to be going nowhere ... or, if it's going somewhere, it's really, incredibly slow about it. On the one hand, we would be almost tempted to cut a new dev a little slack. Making games is hard (notice we're not doing it), and making a game that sounds cool is even harder. But damn, y'all. Stop making promises already, since you've yet to keep a single one. If they'd just do that, we would probably be more inclined to believe it when something does surface. Because we want to believe. As it is, however ... we just don't.

But let's talk about this possible screenshot. Real? Fake? Awesome? Not? Tell us.

See also: A look back through time: Sadness

[Update: Corrected the spelling of the poster's name.]

Could it be -- possible forward motion on Sadness? According to a recent press release, Polish developer Nibris has licensed Emergent's Gamebryo platform for the long-discussed, never-seen title ... and word is that the recent screenshot was real. Gamebryo is the base of several recent and forthcoming titles, including Civilization IV, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Fallout 3. Of course, it's also being used for Chiquititas.

But don't get excited just yet. Nibris has been promising screenshots and video from purported black-and-white thriller Sadness for two years now, but according to the press release, they've only recently chosen the Gamebryo engine and have been working on the title for "several months." They recently said we'll see something concrete next month, and while we're not holding our breath, we will be pleasantly surprised if the game actually seems to be under active development.


[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Most companies choose to issue media via press releases or exclusive articles. But here we're talking about companies with actual games, not just a campaign of windbaggery and empty promises. Nibris, where they tend to focus on the latter, apparently feels releasing what is purportedly the first and only screenshot of Sadness to date (two years late, mind) to some random dude on the Internet is what makes for good PR.

The IGN Wii boards have blown up over the past few days due to the unending campaign of one Nibris supporter, a single purported screenshot, and a few cryptic remarks from the Nibris president himself, who is long known to frequent message boards. The numerous threads are a mess, so we'll attempt to sum up: user Twiilight_Prince posted the above, stating it was an actual in-game screenshot from Sadness and that he had received it from Nibris. He then apparently received messages from the user posting as Nibris, asking him to remove it. He did. Someone else also posted it, and received similar messages. Eventually, the reported PMs were posted. In them, Nibris (who we assume is president Piotr Babieno) did in fact ask for the shot's removal ... and also promised that there would be screens from Sadness and a trailer next month.

Now where have we heard that before? It's same to assume we're not holding our breath around here -- but here's the apparent screenshot for your perusal.

[Thanks, Joe!]

Thanks to a GoNintendo reader who called up Nintendo and asked about the status of Sadness, we have a new entry on our Sadness Timeline of, well, sadness. 2008: Nintendo says that Sadness "has yet to be announced for release on the Wii console," at least in any form to which Nintendo pays attention.

The Nintendo rep then suggests that, since they're not publishing it, it's probably the responsibility of one of Nintendo's third-party licensees. And that indirectly brings up the reason Nintendo doesn't have any official word about the game. Sadness doesn't actually have a publisher -- only a licensing company, who isn't on the licensee list and therefore probably won't be publishing the game.

As far as Nintendo (and all outward signs are concerned), Sadness is starting 2008 as an incorporeal game. We're a little surprised that the Nintendo rep made no indication of ever having heard of the game, but it's not surprising at all that no official announcements have been made.

There were several things in 2007 that made us sad. Super Smash Bros. Brawl was delayed, Project H.A.M.M.E.R. got canceled, then it didn't, then it did, and now we're just stuck with rumors that it might exist, somewhere, in some form. People told us that the Wii Zapper would make us kill our families. We got no hard drive love. Reggie didn't kick any ass, though he might have taken (down) some names (we're not sure). But the thing that's made us saddest of all is the ongoing saga of the aptly-named Sadness, the Nibris vaporware game. For all we know, we could be playing it right now; their idea of a game may be centered around stringing us along for a couple of years. It's fun for the whole family!

Or, y'know, sad. So grab your tissues and journey with us through a timeline of Sadness.

*Not actual Sadness concept art, because Nibris hasn't bought/commissioned it yet from artist Mark Ryden.

Nibris has released their long-awaited Sadness ... Christmas card. Proving that somebody does something relating to Sadness occasionally, Nibris sent this Sadness-themed Christmas card to GoNintendo. "Merry Christmas and Happy Sadness," it reads, as a grey thing leans on a giant ball ornament with the Sadness logo. At least we think that's what's happening -- there's either a 'noise' effect applied to the whole image or it's just a really easy Magic Eye picture.

If this was the game, it would be out now. Maybe Nibris should change their plan and release Sadness as a small collection of holiday greeting cards, instead of their overambitious plan to release a video game.

NIBRIS' Sadness tweaked our interest from the get-go, but we'd be lying if we said the ... uncertain path of its development so far didn't concern us. Since it was announced, one publisher has jumped ship, the game has been delayed on more than one occasion, and we've been dripfed information and media (none of which hints at there being any real content) at a painfully slow pace.

As we see it, NIBRIS has either been monumentally unlucky, work on the game has ground to an ignominious halt for the time being, or Sadness -- gulp -- doesn't actually exist.

Things aren't about to get any rosier, either. In an email received by a NeoGAF poster, NIBRIS revealed that Sadness wouldn't be on shop shelves before 2009 (let us not forget the game was once slated for a Q4 2007 release), and that its website would be updated soon with more news. Call us cynical curmudgeons all you like, but holding your breath for said update probably isn't a good idea in this case.

It's a tremendous shame, really, as we want Sadness to be the real deal, and we want it to be fantastic. The premise, design and concepts we've heard so far all hint at a promising, unique project. Needless to say, if NIBRIS does manage to pack as much intrigue into Sadness as we've seen during its development, we'll be perched on the very edge of our seats come release day.

Even with a diminished E3, there's no controlling the wave of rumors that hit the Internet every year before the show. Why fight it? From now until E3 hits, we'll be posting one piece of wild speculation every day. Some may be patently ridiculous, and others just might turn out to be true. Even some of the ridiculous ones might turn out to be true! Rest assured, everything will be totally made-up and unfounded. Except, of course, when we speak about all the ass Reggie is going to kick. That part? Totally true.

Rumor: NIBRIS won't show anything! And if you come back with memories of a NIBRIS presentation, they probably sedated you and planted the memory! Sorry.

The game that is ... then isn't ... then is again has been quite secretive for quite some time, which of course provoked our skepticism in the first place. On top of some recent artwork released by developer NIBRIS, we now have some interesting gameplay details.

• The game will total around twenty hours in length.
• There will be two playable characters: a thirty-year old woman of Polish-Hungarian descent, and her son.
• There are eighteen species of monsters; which ones you see will be determined by how you play the game.
• The game will feature no (i.e. real-time) loading.
• Voice acting will be a prominent feature.
• The graphics will contain copious amounts of fog, to match up with that artwork.
• Last night's Heroes episode was totally awesome.

Okay, so that last bulletpoint is just us geeking out. Whatever, we do that. Here's to Sadness (clinks wine glass)!

Oh, Nibris. We recently had some real-looking videos of what appeared to be a real game on the DS. But all we've had about their Wii game Sadness recently is bad news (and responses to bad news). Well, they seem to be back on track with Sadness, or at least they're back on their uniquely Nibris track of showing a few tidbits of artwork, but no screens and no evidence that there is any game at all.

For what it's worth, the artwork looks okay. We're glad work is being done on this game at all. Do you think the issue with Sadness is that Nibris has been unusually transparent with the earliest stages of their game design, leading to the impression that it's been a really long time without seeing anything? Or is it just that they're really late getting to showing any real content? Check out the artwork after the break, and feel free to discuss what has become an impromptu Wii Warm Up in the comments thread.

The folks at Kiff News were not satisfied with the latest news and rumors surrounding the intriguing Sadness and the split between Nibris and Frontline Studios -- so they investigated a little further. The e-mail they received from Nibris confirms the break from Frontline Studios, but they also insist that Sadness -- and their other announced games -- are in development, and that they've been quiet on the situation because their head has been out sick. We wonder if he has a doctor's note.

They also acknowledged that their silence was probably the source of the rumors surrounding Sadness, and offered an apology, as well as the promise of an official statement within the week. They also report that there is a new developer working on the game. We hope they'll not only work fast (and thoroughly), but be forthcoming, as well. We've been in the dark on this one for a long time.

We are definitely sad about Sadness. That was really something we had high hopes for, as the gameplay sounded truly revolutionary, and thus perfect for the Revolution Wii. But it's probably easy to talk up something that may or may not even exist. Still, the Frontline/Nibris split, and the delays on Nintendo's most-anticipated first party titles, plus what we've seen so far ... well, frankly, sometimes it makes us a little concerned. While a lot of the added-waggle ports have been surprisingly good so far, we're not seeing a lot of right-here, right-now, pop-'em-in-the-Wii original games for our shiny original system. At some point, we just have to ask ... is developing fresh, new games with sensible motion sensitive controls (like Wii Sports, but bigger) really so difficult? Some of these games have been years in the making, after all. And we're all for the wait, mind you, if it results in a more perfect gaming experience, but we're still a little anxious at times when we see fallout like this.