“I knew it was risky, and I didn’t want to do it. It didn’t make sense. I mean, there’s the whole culture of smack talk that goes with games and especially the FPS’s, and that was something I was known for,” said Romero as he looked back on the infamous “Suck it Down” advertisement that ran with the ill-fated Daikatana game, released in 2000.
In an interview with Gamesauce magazine, he discusses the problem of arrogance and overconfidence associated with the failure of Daikatana. But most of all, you can really sense just how badly he wishes he could take it all back.
Romero remarked, “You know, I never wanted to make you my bitch, not you, not them, not any of the other players and, mosy importantly, not any of my fans. Up until that ad, I felt I had a great relationship with the gamer and the game development community and that ad changed everything... I regret it and I apologize for it.”
While Romero states that the advertising campaign was so hyped up that “only a game like Quake or the original Doom could have saved it,” there were several problems with the development inherent with Daikatana, anyway. “It’s a miracle the game was even released. Everything was going wrong,” he said.
Daikatana is remembered as one of the major commercial failures of the gaming industry. After Romero’s initial hit with Doom, he was “on top of the world back then,” but with Daikatana, he saw the effects of what terrible marketing choices can do to help ruin a game even further. He blames arrogant and foolish behavior, acting too much like a rock star to focus on the development of the game. “The game insulted nearly everyone who read it. It was a terrible marketing decision. I apologize for letting it loose in the first place,” he said.
“I should have stopped it,” he lamented. Today, Romero remembers the problems that the advertising caused, and how his boasting worsened sales and reviews. “I didn’t [stop it] and I’m sorry for that. While the game could have been better on a number of levels, that ad and the hype that preceded and followed it was clearly a marketing failure.”
How does it affect him these days? “Well, I’m resigned to it. There is no use in challenging and fighting everyone that puts the game down. I mean, it’s only one of my games…it really doesn’t hurt anymore.”
1 Comments
May 24, 2010
Daikatanas multiplayer demo was fun. If the game only turned out as good as that was, it would have been great. Honestly, as a PC gamer, we're getting roughed up on the good games front, from lack of decent single player to broken multiplayer titles and overall lack of polish and quality. If Romero could make a new generation "Doom" title or "Quake" or anything with the quality that the classics had in a refreshing and solid package in this day and age, especially given the last two of those series just didn't cut it. I'd gladly be his bitch.