Its Fishin...Only its Online...and Massive Multiplayer...!

#1 wee, im gonna go get it then drive my boat into all the serious fishermen

mwuahhaha

#2 1'm starting a ub3r PK fishing clan. All ur bass r belong to us n00b.

#3 LOL! NO WAY! Ok, this fishing game thing has got to stop! It was fun in Ocarina of Time, but seriously now! I like the idea of PKing and crashing into boats. That'd be sweet. Doubt microsoft put anything cool like that in it tho...I mean, we ARE talking about the XBOX. "XBOX" and "cool" dont generally make it in the same sentence with me....except this one I guess.

#4 I would give anything to have "Outdoor World" a fishing/hunting game here at GG. It is not aimed at you guys making fun of it. It is aimed at adults. Over 50,000,000 people in the US fish. They have money and computers and they buy games.

We sold over 2.5MM units of Trophy Bass. You guys just don't get it.

Jeff Tunnell GG

#5 Hmm.. the Hunting / Fishing MMORPG

Make it a persistant world, no "zoning"........

Cash rewards based on your catch, stores that sell better equipment. Take a page from WoTC's MTG Online and allow people to buy in-game cash with real world cash.

You'd probably have a hit game.

#6 Jeff is right, and that's the sad part. Deer Hunter swept away all of the cool and good games with its sales. I think only Myst sold more, but I'm not following the industry too close, so I may be wrong.

The appeal of these games is that they:

a) are very easy to learn
b) relate to something the average joe knows and understands

It's just a completely different market segment. A much larger one, btw.

I still think they're stupid, though. Their target audience most likely doesn't own an xbox since they don't view themselves as gamers.

#7 I own and have played numerous Hunting and Fishing games. Liked them all. The sad thing is most of them have better environments (read: art) than your standard FPS and cost a fraction of a FPS to purchase. Most are even heads above bargain games in the FPS or RTS genre on the market. Add that and the fact most of them have far more hours of gameplay (as opposed to relying exclusively on online play) and you've got a pretty solid title that would sell relatively well. Especially to the 'Average Joe' who loves these games.

Taking these types of games to the next level will prove very profitable. For example: cooperative hunting online with a group of your hunting buddies, would prove to be a great asset to a hunting game. Depending on how indepth you'd like to pursue it... they could plan their trips, figure out cost and purchase their equipment, then practice hunting together in a virtual world. Possibly even camp, come back and take up where they left off from the previous time.

Now I'm just waiting on Professional Plumber. Virtual buttcrack and all. :D Virtual Mechanic would be another one to bank on. ;)

#8 @Tyler,

I always find it humerous when the titles people suggest as jokes are better than 99.5% of the titles in development.

The virtual mechanic and plumber ideas are great. Funny characters that go into a virtual environment to solve puzzles with maybe a little action thrown in.

@Everybody else:

Just because you don't understand a category does not mean it is sad that it sells. There is nothing sad about a fishing or hunting game selling. They sell to a different audience and have no effect on the games that you seem to think are the "one and true path".

Jeff Tunnell GG

#9 I fail to see how a fishing/hunting game is any less valid than any other genre.

Personally, I'd rather be on the team that came up with a mult-million selling product (ref Trophy Bass), than the one that says "yo yo thet idia is st00pid."

Oh, and Microsoft didn't get to where they are by being stupid. Hate them, or love them.

Edited for clarification.

#10 Jeff, that joke was two fold, exactly what you were stating. I saw Professional Bullrider and heard that it did relatively well. Hell, look at the game we're working on. It started as an offhanded joke. I just took it up a notch. I'd work on a virtual mechanic game in a heartbeat, but one thing at a time. ;)

#11 I hate hunting games, I hate sports games, I hate wrestling games, I hate racing games, but some people like them, making them a perfectly reasonable game to make. I got nothing against that, I just think it's funny that its a MMO, that one never crossed my mind as a possibility, but if people want it, then its worth making.

I didn't say ANYTHING about microsoft. I respect them. But they shouldn't have made a console since every PC game they made before XBOX released suck donkey ballz. XBox has only had like a couple hits (Halo) which will be released on PC anyway. In fact ALL hit XBox games will make it to PC eventually. Not knowing for a fact, I'd bet my left nut that they use DirectX to code on the XBox, making it an easy port, with a huger market of sales.

Important note: GTA can't go on the XBox until like 2004 (around the time PS3 will be designed) since Sony bought the rights. Besides, I can't fit an XBox on my entertainment center, I only have a few feet per slot...

#12 I usually try to keep out of forum discussions, but I think people should heed Jeff's word here. It's not like he hasn't been in the industry for some time now...

As for fishermen or hunters not considering themselves gamers, why would anyone think that? My brother is an avid hunter, and he is *very* into games. Looking at a segment of population and determining that they don't like games due to their like of another hobby/sport isn't too logical, and blinds you to that market-share.

I laughed when I saw the game too, but more in the way of "Oh my God, that's so cool!". Cool in an Atari sort of way. Simple, even a bit cheesy, but crap if you can't spend a lot of time playing something like that...

#13 I like this idea!

The hunting and fishing MMOG is a great idea. I have to say I was disappointed when I saw this is an xbox game since don't have one and don't want one.

I'm a huge fan of massively multiplayer games.. just not of the RPG variety. Its just not my thing... I am very curious to see how many developers expand on the MMOG idea since the possibilities are really endless. I've had some good ideas myself but I don't even know where to begin on the netcode for a MMOG let alone have the funds to run a server pool.

#14 These hunting/fishing games (I call them "hobby games" enjoy a long-lived store shelf life. I still see the same fishing and hunting games at best buy and walmart long after many of the FPS shooters released at the same time are only a memory.

What do you get your dad for fathers day along with that new computer that mom bought him? A fishing game.

What do you buy for Bubba who is bedridden from a bizarre hunting accident? A hunting game.

I notice the same appeal with Vegas Gambling type games as well. There is a HUGE online Spades following.

What about a Virtual Vegas MMPOG? You would probably rake in more money that a real casino lol.

#15 Yeah I'm a die hard FPS shooter fan so I usually don't play much else and I bought Zelda 64 just for the fishing aspect of the game. I could see a Torque fishing game being a big hit. People would probably be playing it at work longing for a weekend fishing trip. :)

#16 If I had an Xbox I'd get into it. It'd be cool to ride around and fish with others on-line. Even fishing alone could be fun. I remember playing hours upon hours with some fishing game for the NES... ;-)

#17 I think just about anything can be fun. In most industries (such as film) they say that there is nothing new under the sun, and that all you can do is tell the same story with different twists. Games are much more versatile however and there are probably thousands of things that have not been done yet. These are interesting times we are living in for our industry :)

A couple of things that have not been done yet (that I know of)
By Entr0py
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- Ernest Borgnine Invaders - Hordes or Ernest Borgnine are attacking the Earth! Shoot them out of orbit before they have a chance to land.

- Borgnine Bass Fishing - Experience a virtual bass championship at lake Borgnine half a mile south of the Borgnine nuclear facility. All the fish happen to have mutated and look exactly like Ernest Borgnine.

- Borgnine-hole Putt Putt - A virtual putt putt golf park based on the hunk of a man, Ernest Borgnine

- Startrek:Borg Nine - The kooky misadventures of a rogue group of Borgs who resemble Ernest Borgnine.

- Grand Theft Borgnine - Steal and drive around in various models of Ernest Bornine, but watch out, the Borgninetino Crime Family is after you!

#18 Entropy, those are by far the most intelligent and creative game ideas I've ever seen! I would like to buy those games. Make them now so I can buy them! (C: Actually, those didn't show your point very well. U said games are a unique industry because they don't suffer the problem of "Doing the same thing with different twists", yet that's exactly what ur ideas do. I know you had your heart set on making millions of dollars on them, but I'm afraid it just won't pan out for you. (C:

#19 Yeah thats the joke, get it?

#20 hehe