Revolution 60 is a breakthrough game for iPad, using the strength of the touch interface to tell a short, intense story. It features gorgeous animations using the Unreal engine and has gameplay that is accessible to the casual iOS user. It is fully voice acted, starring anime legend Amanda Winn-Lee of Evangelion.
It’s amazing what developers are doing with games on the iPad. This doesn’t come out for a few months, but watch the video.
I’m anxiously awaiting the “this is sexism writ large” camp to chime in. Every single female in the game is wearing a skirt, or skin-tight body suit. Looks good though.
I watched about 2 seconds of the trailer… I just did not like the character design style.
Hey, Dan. I’m the head of development. I’m very used to this critique.
For what it’s worth, if there is another professional team in gamedev that’s all women, I am unaware of it. The reason for the form fitting outfits is, we’re pushing the iPad as hard as it can possibly go. Our girls have extensive hair animation, something most games skip. So, as an engineering choice, we made their outfits as low poly-low joint as possible.
To give you a comparison, Cyrus in Infinity Blade 2 has 22 bones with a level 2 joint influence. We have 78 at level 3, and as many as 5 characters on screen at a time. This is a non-trivial framerate problem.
To be honest, I think it’s tremendously telling about where the industry is that so many people see the characters as sexual objects first. We wrote Holiday to be very competent and very capable. If you were to actually play the game, you’d see how hard we work to make them well-written, compelling people.
I think the game play is where all the intrigue lies. The design is fine for me. I actually don’t want full PS4 looking graphics on my phone, simpler is better. You can see lots of work went into this, I’m very looking forward to it.
Thank you very much, Raineer. You’re not kidding that a lot of work has gone into this game. We took no shortcuts. Every animation in the game was made by hand. We made new sets for every single scene. Every line is voice acted. When you play it, I think you’ll fine our passion shines through.
Upworthy; interesting, and I see the necessity there then. An all woman production studio doing this takes me aback and I’m interested to see how the world reacts. Good to see these are real models with real impetus to make them that way. Just ENSURE the planet understands.
This game is still in development? Over a year ago the dev was spouting claims on App,net that it was coning out soon. Yet the games remains to be seen in the wild. The website has not received an update in two years. I’m far from encouraged. From the video example the game looks to be years from complete. Horrendous graphics that somehow are being touted as “gorgeous animations.” I am willing to wager that the game will either never see the light of day or will be an enormous failure. “Accessible to the casual iOS user” simply means this will be another forgettable iOS title that is only worth playing for a few minutes, if even that long. The comment below from Raineer is laughable. ” I actually don’t want full PS4 looking graphics on my phone, simpler is better.” If these graphics were simple I might agree with you. However, they are far more amateur than simple. They lack detail and definition. These are not graphics designed to be reminiscent of a bygone gaming era like the semi-recent 8-bit and 16-bit craze. This is simply a bad looking game made by people who are no doubt working hard but lack the ability to put out something truly polished. I would take simple, but I will certainly pass up bad. Revolution 60 certainly fits the latter description. And please do not let me get started on the statement “[t]he game is a deliberate mixture of two games, Heavy Rain and Mass Effect”. The very idea that this atrocious looking game will achieve any of the lows, let alone the highs, of those two games makes me roll in the aisles with a mixture of pain and laughter. If Revolution 60 does ever come out I will relish the aftermath of its release. Terrible, terrible, terrible, and obviously so.
The argument “we are a team of all women devs” does not fly when attempting to assuage the feeling that the representation of women in the game is sexist. Simply because you are a woman, and your colleagues are women, does not mean you are incapable of producing sexist and problematic imagery. Yes, it is sad and telling that the automatic response to female characters is “that is sexist.” However, you need a better rebuttal than “we are women.” Furthermore, perhaps you should spend some time contemplating why your animations engender such a response rather than providing technical explanations as to why they look the way they do. Claims that your game is sexist calls for a deeper more nuanced discussion than you seems to provide. It is also possible for your game to, unintentionally, contribute to a culture of sexism. Do you engage your audience with questions about why they think the way they do? Or does your game simply contribute the same overused visual traits attributed to women in video games? No one claims that to avoid sexism one must dress their characters in concealing clothing. Sexy is not sexism. But are you conscious of this fact, are you playing with this notion? Does your game contribute something that helps push gamers toward thinking about the characters less as objects? I know you will cite story, but with no working game or even a demo we cannot rely on the narrative to provide an intellectual varnish to the images at this time. And the same will apply come release time. Graphics will sell the game on the App Store, for pictures are what market the game. Who will purchase your game, why and what will be their motivation. Perhaps the legions of smart gamers who want to play something like Mass Effect or Heavy Rain and that you imagine will flock to your game will be turned off by an initial reaction to what they feel are problematic representations. You will not be able to explain away the problems with technical comparisons or by entreating people to “actually play the game.” If they are put off by an initial impression they will never progress to the point of playing the game.
If you’re gonna be an ass, you should at least be succinct/concise about it.
I’ve followed this game through 2013 and I’m as excited as ever to play the game in March. The devs seem to have found a way to bring the best of Mass Effect and Heavy Rain to the mobile platform without compromises.
To those criticizing the visuals, I’d challenge them to make anything that looks as good with the same indie budget. You’re entitled to your opinions, but bashing an unreleased game you haven’t played isn’t really fair.
No one has played it because it has yet to be released. Over a year ago it was soon to be released. Hopefully the graphics will be far improved by the time it is released.
Being indie is not an excuse for substandard aesthetics. Lots of wonderful products have been made on a limited budget. My criticism extend to what information has been released about the game so far. Do tell Brian, what aspects about the game have you followed over the past year? The website has not received an update in years. No new videos or updates have been released. The devs talk up the game quite a lot on App.net but in my year spent on App.net and in conversation with one of the devs I have seen nothing new released. Revolution 60 is nothing but a game stuck in development hell unless some miracle delivers it to the masses. What I find entertaining is the fact that you seem to think that “[t]he devs seem to have found a way to bring the best of Mass Effect and Heavy Rain to the mobile platform without compromises.” Do tell Brian, how do they seem to have done this? Have you played the game? Have you seen extensive sections of the game script? From where do you pull your information? Your praise of the game is far thinner than my objections to it. I am basing my feelings on concrete visuals that are available on the game site. You are basing your praise on assumptions about aspects of the game you cannot possible have a take on until you have played said game.
I love that I can respond to your wall of text with this simple truth: I have played the game, and it is awesome.
Do you always get this emotional about games that you don’t care for and have no intention of playing? You apparently can’t stop checking the website multiple times over a two year period – why is that? You hate the game, and yet you follow it so feverishly? Why come back to this site to post THREE times about this game? You need to fill that hole in your life with something productive and not this obsession over a game you don’t even want to play.
Prey tell, what was not succinct about that statement? It was short and to the point. Your lack of ability to follow points of an argument are not my concern. And who says I am being an ass? It is an ass move to point out that the dev’s response to the questions of sexism is lacking? Is it an ass move to want a more engaged conversation about sexism in video games that is not simply “we are women so end of point”?
Revolution 60 started as an exciting project. Over the years nothing has come out of the project other than some vague hints that it is still coming and frequent rebuttals to criticism in the form of anti-intellectual standoffishness. I appreciate that the devs are working hard but they have an opportunity to engage gamers, who are frequently far too sexist, with something more substantial that what they have so far. They should stand up for their characters, discuss what sexism means, where their ideologies stand and make this a real conversation about problematic imagery and progressive game development.
And if you want to see more on the game, I believe they’ll be at PAX East.
Actually I would love to play the game. I have discussed it many times with the dev. I have also discussed the areas of sexism and representation in games with the dev. And I was always met with the same standoffish attitude. I gave up on the dev and the game, completely writing it off. Until I saw it linked to on The Loop. I could not believe that there was nothing new to show. I thought there would be a game ready for the App Store by now. The sad thing is that I was once extremely excited about this game but the dev’s ability to talk up a storm without ever delivering, and an penchant for dismissing any and all real discussion and criticism put me off completely.
I’m glad for you that you have had a chance to play the game. I am glad you enjoyed it. But I fear that the vast majority of people will never have that chance.
And to answer your question about being emotional, yes. I get payed to be emotional about media. I wrote my dissertation on video games. My students discuss representation in media, especially film and games, and engage critically with the products that entertain them. It pays to care about what you consume, and it pays even more to care about what you create. I simply wish there was more substance to to what these devs are producing and that they would engage more critically about their art.
Jeff, our deadline with our publisher is March 15th. We’re in great shape to hit it. We’re understaffed and shipping a very ambitious game. It takes time, and I’d appreciate your patience.
I don’t see any “Jeff’s” in my email from the press that have requested to play my game that we said no to. If you did contact me, and I didn’t get back to you, I’d ask you to understand, we only have 100 UDID slots through Apple. I am deluged with requests, and we have to use them selectively.
Clearly this upset you to the point of taking over this article’s comments with many extremely negative opinions. For the record, I’m always willing to engage people who are polite about my game and about the subject of videogames in general.
For a game “stuck in development hell”, I sure do get a lot of updates on its progress…like almost weekly.
I get the sneaking suspicion that you don’t know what you’re talking about, you’ve never had any contact with anyone involved in this game’s development and whatever your problem is…it has nothing at all to do with this game.
You should sort out your issues, bro. Seriously.
I work in mobile games in SF and saw this booth while I was at PAX East. Thought it was cool that it was an all-girl dev team so I’ve been stalking them in the background 🙂 Personally I could care less about the sexism discussion. So tired of it and I know some might but I don’t see an issue with sexy characters, but that’s just me, male or female dev. Maybe I need my own head checked since I cosplay (daddy issues? attention whore much? lol) 🙂 But I think the biggest problem with the image of this game is that the main dev on it who’s responded to these comments has hyped the game unrealistically. In all, what she and her colleagues are doing IS admirable because those of us who work with ugly tech limitations on the mobile side of game dev are impressed no matter what. BUT the biggest problem for me is that the dev is focusing on trumpeting over and over the animation and art style when ultimately none of those things will matter (or will be cared about by anyone but art and tech folks) if the gameplay isn’t fun, and even by their own admission, this is more an “interactive movie” than it is a game. I feel that the main market that does care just about what you’re doing with art and animation will probably not be your main market on iOS. Also, in depth storylines with multiple endings is also outside the scope of what most iOS target audiences care about (at least to the point that it’s not clear whether or not you’ll be able to turn a profit from all your hard work). Me personally?… I like my iOS games like I like my men…. short and stupid?! Wait that’s not right… ;D Seriously though, does it mean you shouldn’t try it because it hasn’t been done? Absolutely not, but treading a bit more lightly when gassing up the hype train would probably be a good move, otherwise you attract more “Jeff’s” of the world whose interest in your product looks more like a personal hate for the “hype-message-marketing” behind the product versus what it’s actually delivering. I don’t think anyone who hasn’t tried developing a game should minimalize the work or passion involved or make it a sneak personal attack just because. But some of it could be fixed by GSK trying a more viral or nuanced approach versus “HEAVY RAIN-MASS EFFECT_HAD A BABY NEVER BEEN DONEMOST ANTICIPATEDLOOK AT THE IMPORTANT ARTICLES WE’RE IN AND PEOPLE WE’RE MEETING WITHALL PEOPLE MUST BOW TO OUR AMAZINGNESS!” approach. The proof is in the pudding, though right? We’ll see once March rolls around if they shut everyone including me up 🙂