The Unthinkable - Gametap cans Derek Smart

I was amazed a few months ago that Gametap (or any other publisher, for that matter) would ever sign this guy again.

Well, I guess they learned their lesson:

February 14, 2008

GameTap Cancels Galactic Command Publishing Deal

GameTap Cancels Galactic Command Publishing Deal When Gamasutra recently spoke to GameTap content VP Ricardo Sanchez to discuss his advice on the episodic content trend, we also got the opportunity to ask the exec at the Turner-owned PC game subscription service a few questions about the state of its union and its future plans.

Sanchez is pleased with the performance of Sam & Max and very enthusiastic about the upcoming unveiling of American McGee’s Grimm. But last year, GameTap announced it would bring Derek Smart’s Galactic Command: Echo Squad to the series – and when we asked him how that game was coming, we learned that it actually isn’t.

“It was a good game, it was very solid, but as we were going through, it ended up not being the right title for our audience,” says Sanchez. “It was a tough call. I think it’s one of the strongest games ever made. We put a lot of effort into it… I honestly think it’s one of Derek’s strongest games.”

So why kibosh it? Sanchez says ultimately his team decided the space shooter just wasn’t the best fit for GameTap’s somewhat more casual audience. “We could put a lot of promos behind it, but it wouldn’t resonate too strongly with our audience… We thought it would succeed better with Derek’s core base.”

Smart still plans to release the game, Sanchez adds – just not through GameTap. At the time the partnership was announced, Smart indicated he was hoping to bring the title to Xbox Live.

GameTap hired Derek Smart?

So it’s too complex for Gametap’s casual audience but not too complex for Xbox Live? What?

A Derek Smart game, too much for a casual audience? Unpossible!

I can’t believe he’s going to try to get this game through MS cert.

Then again, I couldn’t believe Two Worlds was going to try… and it made it… and look how that turned out.

I have a feeling that a Derek Smart 360 title will make Two Worlds look like Oblivion.

That sounds like the polite, don’t inflame the crazyman, don’t get sued way of saying that Smart was way, way too hard to work with.

Derek Smart? Has this guy ever actually released a complete, finished game?

Never knew that they had hired him, but the denouement is hardly surprising.

I think it’s one of the strongest games ever made.

Um…

I think they probably meant “one of the strongest games he’s ever made”.

Y’know, despite all of the Derek Smart silliness, it always seemed like there was the kernel of a decent game in there somewhere, and that with enough development and polishing, you might actually have something good. Yet when I see something like Universal Combat (or whatever the latest iteration is) in the store, I still don’t feel compelled to test that theory…

I love Derek Smart Stories, I was doing some work at Take 2 when they canned him and *had to release his half assed shit to recoup their losses.

Zep–
*Yeah…they should have just sucked it up and ate the losses…but, ya know.

It’s been a couple of years since he really publicly sounded off, I’m looking forward to the next “smart bomb”.

Here’s some video from the “completed” game. I dunno, looks ok if a bit in the European, X3-ish rough-around-the-edges, we-don’t-really-know-how-to-do-space-combat way.

desktop commander.

All I think I can safely say is that I’m surprised people are picking up on this now, as I’m pretty sure both Derek and Rick (disclaimer: Rick is my boss’ boss, but that doesn’t mean I have insight into Gametap deals and whatnot) made statements about this topic back in mid-January.

That looks fucking shit. Also, notice one of Derek’s socks got the first and only comment.

Most importantly, have all fifty GALCOM fanboys over at the 3000AD forums cancelled their Gametap accounts in protest?

Man, I remember my first Pink Floyd laser light show…

THQ needs to pay Interplay the $28.75 it’d require to reacquire the FreeSpace licence for Volition, and make a real space sim for the consoles.

The freespace license has no value. Hell I don’t even think wing commander has much value anymore. They just need to make a space sim, period.