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[Hanmik]

Tokyo 42 is launching on PS4 today, it has been out on Xbox One and Steam for some time. The small development team behind the game, thought they would try to "promote" the game in a different way.

Paul Kilduff-Taylor is one of the main people behind the game..

Back in May Paul tweeted about the game. And a person named Mark Followill started tweeting this.

He claimed that Tokyo 42 was a clone of his old game Tokyo 41.

nobody seemingly caught onto this,... and nothing happened.

And In June he tried again..

now he even had pictures as proof... still nobody cared about this.. even though it was pretty crazy that someone was claiming that the new game was a blatant copy of a old ZX Spectrum game..

August 11th. Mark tweeted again, and now he had a video as proof of his claims.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2YnOUDLhJo

He even made a blog about it. https://mfractorblog.wordpress.com/2017/08/11/tokyo-41/

Over the next couple of days a lot of smaller indie devs and friends of Paul, started tweeting about this. Like Mike Bithell

I never trusted @mode7games.. and this just cements that low opinion

and now the journalists started to notice.

PcGamesN wrote this:
https://www.pcgamesn.com/tokyo-42/is-tokyo-42-hoax-tokyo-41

We reached out to Mode7's Paul Taylor, with questions about Followill's claims and he said he had no comment at this time.

However, there's a lot about this that seems extremely strange. For a start, I can't find any articles referencing Tokyo 41. Most Spectrum releases, even the ones where no copy of the game remains, will be documented somewhere online by fans. Nor is there any reference to a game developer called Mark Followill. There is an Omen Barn listed on MobyGames but the page has no games linked to it. Nor does Followill's partner, Michael Hernandez, appear in any games articles.

I asked Followill if he would send me the ROM of Tokyo 41 so I could verify it was a real game, to which he said "I am not able to release a ROM currently as I do not want the game to get out into the public even further."

Then there's the footage of the Tokyo 41 ROM in action. The music and sound effects are clearly more than a Spectrum could create - Followill writes in the blog post that he has "restored some of the original sound effects and music to modern standards." There is also the fact that the game refers to mouse buttons in the video, though the Spectrum didn't have a mouse. Followill says on Twitter that this is because it had joystick support and the build on show is actually "based on the original IBM-compatible version and also I made some updates." I mean, that's plausible, right?

Until Followill releases a ROM of Tokyo 41, you would be best to take all of this with a pinch of salt. And, who knows, maybe it's all a strange ploy to reveal a Spectrum demake version of the game. One can dream.

and ArsTechnica
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017...ous-case-of-tokyo-41-and-tokyo-42/?comments=1

While the parties involved are doing a great job of staying in character, it should hopefully be clear by now that the story surrounding Tokyo 41 is an elaborate marketing hoax. The lack of any sort of contemporary paper trail or Internet memory of the game seems utterly implausible for a game that a Mode 7 developer would know enough about to steal. The "emulated" footage also seems much too sophisticated for a late '80s PC release in a number of ways ("some changes" notwithstanding).

Followill's relatively recent Internet presence and the timing of his accusations are suspicious enough, but if there's still any doubt, the end of Followill's e-mail to Ars reads like thinly veiled marketing copy for the "copycat" game he's attacking. "There is a lot of focus on me now and I will say that I only want recognition for my work, not to intefere [sic] with the forthcoming PlayStation 4 release of Tokyo 42 tomorrow, which as a fan of games I am looking forward to even though it will be bittersweet for me." While some in the indie game scene are playing along with the story on Twitter, many seem to be in on the joke.

And today a new video emerged,..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x551miB6IuA

followed by a blog by Paul.
https://medium.com/@mode7games/fun-with-tokyo-41-e44e6a74ae87

We did something silly this week to mark the release of Tokyo 42 on PSN. It was a collaboration with the INSANELY awesome Bonerman. You should get his games to say thank you for being so fantastic.

I invented a developer called Mark Followill who had a bee in his bonnet about the fact that Tokyo 42 was a clone of his “original 1987 ZX Spectrum and IBM-compatible title” Tokyo 41. Marben aka Bonerman produced the demake and we started leaking information about it.

One of the weird things about this was deliberately breaking obvious PR rules in order to fuel the story. Here’s what I decided to do, all of which is bad practise:

Quote-tweet the allegations
Immediately respond to-and-fro with the “developer” by nit-picking over details creating an interaction which people would follow to see how everything went down
Instead of leaving things on a definitive note and then stepping back, I left it all open and said I was going “off twitter for a while”

The reactions were great: some people were outraged, others started combing the internet for references to the game, some people instantly called it as a marketing stunt. It was good to see how fast my friends turned on me (some of them were in on it of course)!

I started to get more into the character of Mark, with his strange diction and slightly absurdist bent — I do slightly wish I’d been able to run with it a bit more but I decided to wrap stuff up quickly, dropping in some very blatant references to the forthcoming launch of Tokyo 42.

What is the Moral of this Sordid Tale, Paul?

It’s incredibly hard to get attention for a smaller game these days, especially for a new platform release of something which already exists, so I felt like I had to push the boat out a little bit.

It’s also frustrating for developers when “industry drama” is at the forefront of discussion rather than games themselves. There is, obviously, absolutely nothing to be done about this: scandal and outrage are embedded at the core of the human brain.

I do worry a bit about more extreme PR tactics becoming commonplace in games — it’s something I’ve written about before. I do like stunts and silliness but there is a really fine line with this stuff: people are angry with me about this even though I was extremely careful to make everything about it scream “PR STUNT”. I’m now being told that it’s a shitty joke, that I’m taking attention away from important issues in the world, that I’m a shameful liar and so on. I can’t imagine what this would have been like if I’d really pushed things.

So it was all a funny Hoax to get people to notice their game.. I like the way he did it, it was funny and relevant.

What do you guys think about this PR Stunt?

 

[chrominance]

Well, first, it didn't work on me, because this is literally the first time I've heard about the stunt.

Second, this makes me not want to buy Tokyo 42, because it's pretty fucking stupid to pretend that you've stolen someone else's creative ideas when it's still something that happens on a regular basis in video games.

 

[Savantcore]

Nice idea I guess but didn't seem to have the desired impact.

 

[atomsk]

Tokyo 42 is a neat game that didn't get enough attention.

It's hard out there for just about any indie game though, I see so much good stuff fly under the radar.

 

[WonderzL]

This is ridiculous. Plagiarism is an important subject that has a lot of studies and conflicts about it.

Also nobody was aware of this. Pat your backs and keep that game to yourselves. Shitty attitude from start to finish. Dumb children are making games now?

 

[Phawx]

Well, first, it didn't work on me, because this is literally the first time I've heard about the stunt.

Second, this makes me not want to buy Tokyo 42, because it's pretty fucking stupid to pretend that you've stolen someone else's creative ideas when it's still something that happens on a regular basis in video games.

I can't tell if this post is real or if it's a part of the Tokyo 41 ARG.

 

[danowat]

Tokyo 42 is a neat game that didn't get enough attention.

It's hard out there for just about any indie game though, I see so much good stuff fly under the radar.

It was mediocre at best, there were a number of glaring control issues that suck any of the fun out of it for me......I played it for a bit at launch and binned it shortly afterwards.

Shame, because the aesthetic is amazing.

 

[2blackcats]

I can't tell if this post is real or if it's a part of the Tokyo 41 ARG.

Ha, that's what I was thinking.

Anything a bit different is at least deserving of some recognition.


I mean we're talking about it now.

 

[Artemis-Thoth]

They were thinking outside of the box on how to get more marketing going. Yeah it didn't work as intended, but there was no malice behind it.

The game IS fun though, I reviewed it for Gamespace, giving it an 8.5/10:

http://www.gamespace.com/tokyo-42/review/

 

[Bony Manifesto]

I don't get it. Is the post mortem about how this stunt blew everybody's minds and got everybody talking also part of the act? Because as far as I can tell, nobody gave a shit.

 

[CHC]

Wow, what a terrible idea, really falls flat. I could see something like this working as an ARG or whatever for a game people are already excited about, but as a new studio, it gives the same impression as some drama club kid trying to get everyone's attention in the cafeteria or something.

Also that initial quote with the three comparisons reads almost like parody. "It's like X met Y and cheated on it with Z" type quotes are a blight on gaming writing.

 

[Piston Hyundai]

A ploy for attention that doesn't actually bring attention can't be considered anything but a failure, and considering the recent shitstorm surrounding Alex Mauer, claims of theft probably aren't the best idea.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Well, first, it didn't work on me, because this is literally the first time I've heard about the stunt.

Second, this makes me not want to buy Tokyo 42, because it's pretty fucking stupid to pretend that you've stolen someone else's creative ideas when it's still something that happens on a regular basis in video games.

This and this.

it's shady as shit and was for nothing anyway cos no one noticed.

 

[midasmulligan]

Well, first, it didn't work on me, because this is literally the first time I've heard about the stunt.

Second, this makes me not want to buy Tokyo 42, because it's pretty fucking stupid to pretend that you've stolen someone else's creative ideas when it's still something that happens on a regular basis in video games.

Pretty much this ^

 

[Nitpicker_Red]

In hindsight, maybe they should have stuck to selling it as a classic "revival of Tokyo41" to ride on fake retro nostalgia (and putting more effort on the fake),
just like that imaginary PS1 JRPG game people in this very place were reminiscing about several months ago (which was finally about an upcoming game).

Framing it as theft might have scared people away from jokingly participating to the hoax, while attracting more serious investigators. So they end up with not enough people being in on the secret to spread it, and more people actively defusing it.

 

[Backfoggen]

Thanks, Bonerman.

 

[arturo2666]

I don't get it. Is the post mortem about how this stunt blew everybody's minds and got everybody talking also part of the act? Because as far as I can tell, nobody gave a shit.

I also had not heard about the stunt, but it's hard to argue with him getting extra articles about his game on relatively big publications.

 

[Tarps]

Silly stunt, which hopefully doesn't hurt the sales at all.

Paul is a talented developer, and I hope this goes on to do well. Loved Frozen Synapse in all it's iterations.

 

[Unclebenny]

I was really interested in this game based on the trailer but never pulled the trigger.

Don't see the harm in this, you have to do something to differentiate. the fact they had a Spectrum- like version of their own game made is pretty awesome. Also getting other developers involved.

Think about all the tedious nonsense that counts for games news normally and this at least piques the interest, even if it didn't take off initially.

 

[Aselith]

Well, first, it didn't work on me, because this is literally the first time I've heard about the stunt.

Second, this makes me not want to buy Tokyo 42, because it's pretty fucking stupid to pretend that you've stolen someone else's creative ideas when it's still something that happens on a regular basis in video games.

But you DID hear about the stunt so it worked. Literally the point of these stunts are to get eyes on the game. It's an interesting alternate approach and considering the game on PC only sold a little over 1k I think, they kinda needed a hail mary.

The game looks really cool and watching the Giantbomb Unfinished made it look even cooler.

 

[MrS]

Silly stunt, which hopefully doesn't hurt the sales at all.

I won't be buying the game. If Paul needs to go to such lengths to get eyes on his game that he fabricates stories and creates fake controversy, that speaks volumes about his faith in the quality of the game.

 

[Hanmik]

I won't be buying the game. If Paul needs to go to such lengths to get eyes on his game that he fabricates stories and creates fake controversy, that speaks volumes about his faith in the quality of the game.

it didn't work on you like he intended

Cloning is a big topic, as is the issue of a whole huge stretch of early game development being forgotten or ignored (particularly the UK ZX Spectrum scene). People were also concerned for my welfare, which was lovely! I tried not to milk it too much on Twitter, and I did reach out to anyone who seemed worried so as to not cause too much concern, but this was probably the most difficult aspect. I also did not want to trivialise the experiences of people who do have to deal with difficult issues like this — again, keeping everything light and silly was important here — but I did also have to sell it to make it work. I hope that people generally were able to take this in the spirit it was intended.

 

[Vitor711]

I won't be buying the game. If Paul needs to go to such lengths to get eyes on his game that he fabricates stories and creates fake controversy, that speaks volumes about his faith in the quality of the game.

lol whut? It's a great game. Critics loved it. The Mode7 guys are also super proud of it and just wanted to get more people to play the game. That's completely fair.

It was a transparently dumb marketing move but didn't hurt anyone.

 

[Fancolors]

Well, it didn't work on me as I only found this now.

 

[danowat]

lol whut? It's a great game. Critics loved it.

http://opencritic.com/game/4416/tokyo-42

Maybe 'loved' is a bit strong.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

They tried

 

[FairFriend]

Honestly, it was clear to me that Tokyo 41 was a demake. Spectrum gamed did not look that good and certainly not as smooth. Weird that not even games journalists would notice that. I guess that using a limited color palette (not even sure whether the colours are the right ones) did the trick...

edit: taking a 2n look at the video, it was abundantly clear that it could not be an original spectrum game. Even the resolution is off.

 

[Granjinha]

I won't be buying the game. If Paul needs to go to such lengths to get eyes on his game that he fabricates stories and creates fake controversy, that speaks volumes about his faith in the quality of the game.

Silly stunt, which hopefully doesn't hurt the sales at all.

Paul is a talented developer, and I hope this goes on to do well. Loved Frozen Synapse in all it's iterations.

It's not Paul's game. They are just publishing it.

 

[Sora the Cat]

Well, first, it didn't work on me, because this is literally the first time I've heard about the stunt.

Second, this makes me not want to buy Tokyo 42, because it's pretty fucking stupid to pretend that you've stolen someone else's creative ideas when it's still something that happens on a regular basis in video games.

I mean, it Cleary worked since we are all (you included) talking about it in neogaf and there were articles from popular websites talking about the story. So yeah, it really worked to some extent.

 

[JP]

I saw it and ignored it, it didn't really seem to be anything to me.

 

[Baron_Calamity]

I would like to play Tokyo 41

 

[Tarps]

It's not Paul's game. They are just publishing it.

My mistake, the OP read like Paul might have developed the game.

Just demonstrates to me how attention starved so many indie games are that don't make it onto people radars. Can't blame developers / publishers for trying to think outside the box.

I felt it was a pretty benign stunt, akin to stuff you might see on April fools day.

 

[Visualante2]

British humour. I think it was pretty fun and only at the expense of easily outraged people.

 

[nampad]

First time I am hearing of it so the PR stunt was somewhat successful.

 

[Blablurn]

Had no idea its already out in Steam

 

[TheSpoiler]

I don't think the execution was that bad, but there was nothing to sell me on the actual game itself.

 

[killroy87]

I love a good example of what happens when there is no PR agency involved. What a dumb, misguided idea. And so much work went into it too!

Marketing costs a lot of money, but there's a reason people are paid to handle it.

 

[mclem]

Honestly, it was clear to me that Tokyo 41 was a demake. Spectrum gamed did not look that good and certainly not as smooth. Weird that not even games journalists would notice that. I guess that using a limited color palette (not even sure whether the colours are the right ones) did the trick...

That's the CGA colour palette, with the implication that it was a Speccy/PC title, and that's the PC version; I'd like to see what they imagined the 'Spectrum' version would look like...

(Wouldn't have worked on me, anyway, because while I might not be hot on early CGA PC titles, I sure as hell know my Spectrum!)

 

[Shifty]

Neat idea. Kind of a shame that it didn't take off, but they could probably have stood to sow a little more fake background evidence around before kicking off the Twitter dialogue.

I didn't have a good time with the game though.

I mean, it Cleary worked since we are all (you included) talking about it in neogaf and there were articles from popular websites talking about the story. So yeah, it really worked to some extent.

I feel like they may have overshot the hype window by a small margin.

 

[chrominance]

But you DID hear about the stunt so it worked. Literally the point of these stunts are to get eyes on the game. It's an interesting alternate approach and considering the game on PC only sold a little over 1k I think, they kinda needed a hail mary.

The game looks really cool and watching the Giantbomb Unfinished made it look even cooler.

Though it's funny, the thread was active for about two hours and then disappeared off the front page.

I actually knew about Tokyo 42 from a while back, and the big reason why I didn't buy it was just because I have a backlog. But I'm not really a big fan of these kinds of marketing campaigns (also see: Arcade Fire) and it does sour me on the game a bit. Inventing fake Twitter drama, pretending you stole someone else's ideas, pulling a "PSYCH WE FAKED THE WHOLE THING" on everyone--it all feels like a big stunt and doesn't really say anything about your game. And we live in a world where truth and earnestness are increasingly rare commodities.

I mean, more power to the devs if it sells their game, I definitely don't begrudge them the sales or anything. I agree that it's really hard to stand out in the business these days. I just wish they didn't try to stand out in this very particular way, is all.

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

Is the post mortem about how this stunt blew everybody's minds and got everybody talking also part of the act? Because as far as I can tell, nobody gave a shit.

Lol exactly.

 

[vpance]

So.. does this have 4K support on Pro?

 

[FairFriend]

That's the CGA colour palette, with the implication that it was a Speccy/PC title, and that's the PC version; I'd like to see what they imagined the 'Spectrum' version would look like...

(Wouldn't have worked on me, anyway, because while I might not be hot on early CGA PC titles, I sure as hell know my Spectrum!)

Ah yes, that makes more sense. Thought the fake developer was implying that he had capture the footage straight out of the Spectrum.

 

[Screaming Meat]

Nice idea. Shame it didn't catch on.

The video was a dead giveaway though. No ZX game was that good looking.

Looking to get this at some point.

 

[Lijik]

The criticism I saw of this on Waypoint seemed pretty measured in contrast to some of the posts in this thread claiming anyone who doesnt like the joke is just easily outraged or whatever