‘GoldenEye’ Developer Proud To Plug Wii’s Barber-Game Genre Gap

April 23rd, 2009, 17:20 Posted By: wraggster

What does one of the chief creators of “GoldenEye” do for his Nintendo console encore? He makes a barbershop game in which players cut the branching locks of shrubbery-creatures.
Martin Hollis, lead designer on the famous 1997 Nintendo 64 James Bond first-person shooter doesn’t mind if players don’t make the connection between his old classic and his team’s firs Wii game. “Bonsai Barber,” released as a $10 downloadable game for Nintendo’s WiiWare service three weeks ago, is a very different thing from the legendary “GoldenEye.”
One’s a spy game. One’s about giving vegetables haircuts.
“I’ve been moving, over the years, to trying to make games that are progressively different from anything else,” Hollis said during a telephone interview with Multiplayer from the Cambridge, U.K. offices of his development studio Zoonami today. “I tend towards preferring the really new and creative ideas over somebody else’s universe.”
A barbershop game — even if it didn’t star vegetables in need of a trim — is new for games.
A barbershop game — even if it didn’t star vegetables in need of a trim — is new for games. “It’s just a complete blindspot for the whole development community,” Hollis said, noting that he was aware of only two “shaving” games before “Bonsai Barber,” both of them mini-games in “WarioWare” titles. “I think there’s so much virgin territory. But many developers are choosing to instead stay in these ruts.”
Hollis’ game is polished and simple, a first-person grooming game that allows the players to wield their Wii remote like scissors or an electric razor as they snip and shape the branches and leaves sprouting out of the fruit and vegetable characters’ heads. They must sculpt specific styles. The trickiest mechanic is that the cutting a branch too low can knock out half a “hair-do,” just as recklessly cutting a bush in a garden might cause the shrub to lose its form. Thankfully, a spritz of water grows branches and leaves back. Skill and dedication to returning customers is rewarded.

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/...ame-genre-gap/

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