• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Pollen Sonata: TEH INNOVATIVE

The M.O.B

Member
A small development team from Denmark is hoping to get their game published on the Wii. You can check out the first trailer (with game footage) below.

Pollen Sonata

The Music and look of it reminds me of the Cloudgame.
I could see them definitely getting a small publisher.
 

Neo Child

Banned
The music did remind me of that. Not sure about the ball rolling elements, but the style while flying in the air is really nice.
 
That's whzt Im talking about. Wii + small, unknown game developer + very interesting concept.

I read that Gamecock's Mushroom Men, that GAF drooled at sometime ago is also coming to the Wii and DS, exclusively.The Pollen Sonata guys should try Gamecock.
 
Nintendo should listen to their own PR and be actively scooping up devs like these and the Crossbeam Studios guys who have interesting ideas and desperately want to put their games on Nintendo platforms, like Sony did with the Fl0w guys. Yes Nintendo, take a page from Sony's book. Not the chapter on pricing though.
 

Neo Child

Banned
BrodiemanTTR said:
Nintendo should listen to their own PR and be actively scooping up devs like these and the Crossbeam Studios guys who have interesting ideas and desperately want to put their games on Nintendo platforms, like Sony did with the Fl0w guys. Yes Nintendo, take a page from Sony's book. Not the chapter on pricing though.

Erm, but it's still better than Nintendo's VC pricing. Their DL's anyway..
 

Kiriku

SWEDISH PERFECTION
I'm all for more indie devs getting recognition, but this teaser didn't exactly excite me about the game.
 

Jaagen

Member
Looks interessting and different from the other roling games I've seen. Downloading the demo now, so I can see for myself how the game is.
 

The M.O.B

Member
I can't believe I missed the official site when looking for info_Oh well,here is a few things about it

Philosophy

Our wish is to create a game that gives the player a unique experience that feels like a fresh breath of air from current games in the market. We are striving for innovation in gameplay and story. The feeling and mood of the game is poetic and serene, unfolding like a beautiful piece of music.

Games overview

The game's world view is that everything has its purpose. Our destiny has been sealed. Everything plays a part in forming the bigger picture that is the cycle of life. Even the smallest pollen grain is part of Nature's being and has its purpose. The game is about them. They have dreams that inform them of the role they have to play in the bigger picture to fulfil their destiny.

What is the game?

Pollen Sonata is an adventure-simulation game. Gameplay involves player flying from flower to flower in a micro world by adjusting a pollen's forms corresponding to various wind conditions. Folding and changing form is the primary way to float, glide, collect more pollens and navigate in the air.

Where does the game take place?

The game world takes place in the micro world of green park.

What do I control?

The player control the pollen to fly from flower to flower. He or she has to gather other pollens and command them to fly. Whatever form your pollen has changed affects other pollen forms as well.
 

The M.O.B

Member
Well I tried out the demo for about 10 min.

I liked the style they used.(don't know why they used the source engine though)
The music was very nice
Hard to fly when the wind is almost constantly changing directions
With the demo it didn't really feel like I had a real goal.

There are a lot of kinks that I think they need to improve on,but I could definitely see me purchasing this off steam for $10 or anywhere else as a downloadable title.
 

xxaavvii

Member
North european sensibility ... lovely style :)

Although I'm not sold yet on the gameplay, I Hope they find a publisher and develop the ideas here insinuated.

EDIT: oh wait.. on their website the afirm the game is already finished!
 

VideoMan

30% Failure Rate
Played the demo. Eh. It's kinda like Flow in that it's more about the experience than the gameplay. All you do is collect pollen and bring them to the bee. The End. If I had paid for it I'd feel ripped off.
 
For those interested there is an interview here with one of developers.

On Nibris *cough*:
playWii.de: Since the announcement of the Wii, there were two other young developers in the headlines: Nibris and Crossbeam Studios. How do you judge your colleagues and is it hard to gain ground as an indie developer? Are you supported from Nintendo for instance?

Lena Marguc: It is a bit hard if you don’t have a big publisher backing up. We don’t know the actual situation over at Nibris and Crossbeam, as for ourselves, we don’t have any palpable from Nintendo’s side.

On publishing:
playWii.de: In the moment, you’re searching for a publisher. How big are the chances to effectively find Pollen Sonata on shelves in the near future? Or do you consider other ways of distributions such as the Shop Channel? With “Impossible Mission” from System 3 there already seems to be a title taking this way.

Lena Marguc: It’s difficult to say anything. We get many requests. But there are no concrete agreements yet.

On Wii:
playWii.de: How emerged the idea to develop Pollen Sonata and probably move it to the Wii?

Lena Marguc: The idea to produce a pollen-game came from our game designer. It was clear to us in the early stage that this game is dedicated for the Wii. There are many possibilities to use the controller as pollen wings.

On E3:
playWii.de: Do you plan to be present at bigger tradeshows this year like the Games Convention or even E3 in order not only to present the game but also to socialize with publishers?

Lena Marguc: This definitely is a possibility.

Definitely a possibility or a definite possibility?!
 

BDGAME

Member
I miss this thread... BTW, looks a good and unic game. Hope they can find someone to publish this game soon!
 
We got quoted on their site:

Quotes taken from NeoGAF:

"Looks different enough to be cool." - Buttonbasher

"the style while flying in the air is really nice" - Neo Child

"very interesting concept." - titiklabingapat

"Looks neat" - mugwhump

"Nintendo should listen to their own PR and be actively scooping up devs like these" - BrodiemanTTR

"I liked the style they used. The music was very nice. " - The M.O.B

"North european sensibility ... lovely style" - xxaavvii

I'm first and therefore the most famous of us all.

http://www.pollensonata.com/press.html
 

fresquito

Member
I wish Nintendo would open the gates of the Wii Shop for projects like this. There's no way this game can have a chance at retail shelves. But on the Wii Shop on the other hand...
 
Very unique and it stays with you. With some extra help from Ninty it could easily look as good as Dewy in a short time. Some character design help and over world and we have a seller.

To bad Nintendo is getting all emo these days :/ I'd love for them to snatch up small groups like this. You gotta start somewhere.
 

Monk

Banned
fresquito said:
I wish Nintendo would open the gates of the Wii Shop for projects like this. There's no way this game can have a chance at retail shelves. But on the Wii Shop on the other hand...

You are saying that it would be accessible to more people via wiishop? This is what i mean by a niche title. It is aimed at a very small market, if they released it as online only you would be selling to a small market inside a small market.
 

fresquito

Member
Monk said:
You are saying that it would be accessible to more people via wiishop? This is what i mean by a niche title. It is aimed at a very small market, if they released it as online only you would be selling to a small market inside a small market.
This is only partially right. The other side of the story is that with a digital distribution the game won't disappear from stores in a month time to never been seen again. Besides, with digital distribution you can have a more competitive price, since you don't need to increase it because of handling, distribution, fees to stores and physical production. Finally, games that appear on a timely basis (like VC games), get their fair share of free PR and attention.
 

GDGF

Soothsayer
Damn. Missed another good thread.

This game looks awesome. This is the kind of concept that the Wii was built for. I hope these guys find a publisher soon.
 

Mdk7

Member
Woah this game's just incredible...
So emotional, so stylish, so pure... i think Wii has found its own flOw, and i DO hope the guys find a publisher for this unique project...
Thumbs up + respect.
 

Bo130

Member
Some of you might know this by now, it's a few days old. The project has been cancelled:

The dream is over. I have decided to leave project Pollen Sonata, as I no longer believe it will be completed.

Things were beginning to run in an engine working on actual hardware, but without strong support from the rest of the team it is meaningless to go on.

Some might go on with the project at a later date, but for now nothing will happen and I'm no longer involved in any eventual continuation of the project in its current form.

I hope that some day I will be able to do something similarly beautiful.

Jimmy
 
Top Bottom