Line Rider on it's way to the DS and Wii

[GagaMan]

www.official-linerider.com/news.html

INXILE ENTERTAINMENT AQUIRES CONSOLE RIGHTS TO HIT INTERNET GAME LINE RIDER™!
Nintendo DS & Nintendo Wii Games Scheduled
For Spring 2007

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Dec. 20, 2006 – Having already amassed a worldwide cult following on the internet, inXile entertainment announced today that it has acquired the rights to the hugely addictive ‘toy’ Line Rider™ and that the popular game will soon be available for both the Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo Wii. Since its first appearance on the Web (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/40255643/) on September 23, 2006, Line Rider has attracted over 15 million viewers to date and has spawned over 11,000 video posts on YouTube.com. Anticipated to ship in Spring 2007, Line Rider for the Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo Wii from inXile entertainment will retain all the fun and thrills of the addictive Web version, but will also include new added features.

Line Rider has received accolades from media worldwide. Time.com commented, ‘Line Rider is becoming one of the most popular flash games on the web’, and The Wall Street Journal called Line Rider ‘Online gamers’ new addiction’. The Toronto Star noted that Line Rider was ‘a deceptively simple online game’ and stated that it has become “the latest Internet addiction”.

“I have been around the interactive entertainment industry long enough to have seen similar phenomenon like Tetris and Bejeweled become massive international hits, and Line Rider has all the elements to do the same,” said Brian Fargo, chief executive officer of inXile entertainment. “Line Rider is like a fully animated Etch-A-Sketch® and will be perfect for the Nintendo DS and Wii.”

Fargo continued, “The amazing thing is that it has appeal to almost everyone. I’ve watched 6 year-olds and adults play Line Rider and both were thoroughly entertained and captivated. Easy to pick up and play, and highly addictive, we are very pleased to be bringing Line Rider to video game players.”

Described as a ‘toy’ by its creator Bostjan Cadez, Line Rider allows players to construct their own track filled with as many ramps, hills, and jumps as they can imagine utilizing a pencil tool. Once the player is done creating their course, they can send a virtual sledder down the route until he wipes out. The possibilities in Line Rider are only limited by physics and the player’s imagination with an almost endless number of variations and replay.

"Line Rider began its life as a project I did for illustration class," commented Bostjan Cadez, who created Line Rider in his native Slovenia. “As much as people see it as a game I think of it as a toy because there is no score and no one wins or loses while playing Line Rider. I’m looking forward to working with inXile entertainment on the new Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii versions as they will bring added gameplay and features."

Holy heck, who saw this coming? I alays imagined how funky this little game would be on the DS and Wii, but now it's actually gonna happen. This would make a fantastic Virtual Console release.

[Evan]

Damn. DAMN.

That's amazing! I'm very happy for the guy.

[Squiggles the Chao]

Line Rider is fun for a few minutes, but it's not something I would pay more than $5 for. I really can't imagine this doing well.

[Evan]

I must agree on that, in any case--I was just amazed it even got this popular.

If it were a VC title or something that'd be cool for sure.

[王泥喜]

Internet indie games being picked up for consoles?

Indie devs, go make some more Cave Stories or something. Surely if this guy can win at it, you can too!

[GagaMan]

Indeed, this isn't the only one either (flOW for the PS3)!

[Squiggles the Chao]

gagaman said:

Indeed, this isn't the only one either (flOW for the PS3)!

Which is being treated more appropriately as a download title. Now, I find flOw to be extremely well-designed, and it has more depth than Line Rider, but it's still not enough to justify a full console game. When I plunk down $50 for a console game, I expect substantially more than is feasible for an online Java/Flash/Shockwave/whatever game. But while Cave Story is something I would willingly buy — and hate me if you will for saying this — this is precisely why I did not buy Chu Chu Rocket. It's not that Chu Chu Rocket was easily available on the Internet at that time (it was not), but it was the kind of game that was more suited to playing for free, or a small fee, on the Internet.

[Ashuku]

Ever since line rider became a "Fad" in our computer class, me and my friend steven, who usually spend that class playing tetris against eachother on our DS's have always said, "I'd actually play that game if it was on DS"

But now that its actually going to happen... I doubt I'll buy it.

[Keith T. Hemari]

As it stands on that site, I probably wouldn't. But if they decide to add more elements and features to it for the DS/Wii version, then I would be interested.

Maybe even a few challenges ala The Incredible Machine for the PC where you have to get our sled guy from point A to point B with only so many lines.

[Squiggles the Chao]

keithhemari said:

As it stands on that site, I probably wouldn't. But if they decide to add more elements and features to it for the DS/Wii version, then I would be interested.

Maybe even a few challenges ala The Incredible Machine for the PC where you have to get our sled guy from point A to point B with only so many lines.

Perhaps, but there's no way that they'll be able to duplicate the game's most popular feature: making videos of your course and posting them on the Internet. They might make some sort of course trading feature, but that will not make the runs easy to post to YouTube.

I could see some TIM-like challenges, but the problem is that the line length is really undefined, unless you have a TIM-like toolbox. Further, TIM had an incredible physics engine, and Line Rider would need some work to get up to that standard.

[Keith T. Hemari]

Yeah, well, like I said, if they improve it, it would make a good product.

[Ashuku]

I wont even think about buying this game if it doesn't have an eraser tool..

But yeah, they could do a trading thing, like mario vs donkey kong 2..