Bob's Game DOA

So Bob of Bob's Game has thrown in the towel. After 5 years and over 15,000 hours of development, he is moving on to greener pastures without ever releasing the game. Simply put, he couldnt get Nintendo to sell him the Software Development Kit for their DS handheld device, which would have enabled him to finish, publish and sell the game at retail stores, even though he met all of Nintendo's qualifications. Its truly a sad story. As Bob himself puts it:

In reality, if Link approached the castle gate, a guard would just throw him out. It doesn't matter how much courage he has. It doesn't matter how talented he is with his sword, or how pure hearted he might be. He's wearing a dirty tunic and he has no credentials. "Get out of here, you stupid kid." The evil kingdom of Ganon spreads across the land, Zelda dies, and the credits scroll. Game over.

Personally, Im very disappointed in Nintendo. It costs them nothing to sell this 1 man development team the DS SDK so he can publish his game and earn a freaking living, yet they refuse to do so. The number of pure shit games on the Nintendo DS boggles the mind, every day a new freshly baked turd like Homie Rollerz is squeezed out into the market, and yet gems which have tons of care and time put into them are disregarded because they arent perceived as marketable enough. How do you market a game that mimics real life? Shenmue was one of the greatest games of all time, yet it failed to save Sega because it was a "life" game that didnt resonate with American gamers - at least not in sales. Rather than take a chance on something like Bob's game, Nintendo is content to milk its cash cows and allow larger 3rd party developers to flood its handheld with licensed fluffware and shovelware.

Shame on you Nintendo. You should be going out of your way to support independent developers like Bob, just as Microsoft has done with their XNA software and Community Games service. I dont own a Nintendo DS, but if Nintendo ever decides to give Bob his due and sell him the DS SDK so he can release his game, Ill buy one. Otherwise, they can take their stylus and shove it where the sun dont shine.

EMAIL NINTENDO ABOUT BOB'S GAME