Man.
Besides my perpetual state of waiting for Star Wars, I think I’ve been waiting for this game longer than anything else. Jonathan Blow is a demi-god in the world of independent gaming. He’s such an amazing commodity. He’s on such an enormous pedestal in my own mind that I haven’t even TRIED to contact him for an interview. And if you know me at all, I’ll contact pretty much anyone about anything. I just will. But Jonathan? Nope. No calls. No emails. Not anything. I’m just quietly waiting, and watching and hoping. Well, regardless, The Witness is coming out finally.
To that end, the other day, Jonathan released something he’s calling a “long screenshot”, which are basically just pans from one end of his game to the other. One is an overhead shot. The other is a swipe along the coastline. Both are flipping gorgeous. This thing is coming out in 12 days, on January 26th. I’ve already told my wife and my boss and his wife, and my team, and their spouses, and their pets, that I’m planning on spending the week holed up at home with the blinds closed and the house on lock down. May just move the whole family to the local Motel 6 until I beat the thing. We are hearing that the average game play duration is upwards of eighty hours. EIGHTY. Average hundred million dollar Call of Duty duration? 6? 8, MAYBE. On a GOOD day. Eighty hours? Yeah, I’ll see you all in February sometime.
Anyway, here are the gorgeous “long screenshots” – wish there was a way to loop them in Youtube. Oh, nevermind. I’ve downloaded them – and they are looping on my desktop presently. Thanks for thinking about me though!
If you haven’t seen the trailer for the game yet – please do so – and then go throw piles of cash at this thing. I mention it, only because, this game is going to be so genre breaking, that it won’t be enjoyed nearly as much as it should be. And that, my friends, is a shame.