Okay, so based on the voice of the People, it looks like regular wipes of the PAIN Leaderboards is a no-no or at most something that we should do infrequently. With that in mind, we are looking into solutions like weekly and/or monthly Leaderboards in addition to the all-time boards we have now. Until we’re able to make that happen, other than the wipe that will coincide with the Japanese release, we will NOT be doing any wipes of the boards without consulting you first unless it’s a situation where it’s absolutely necessary. Yes, it’s true – we listen to you all.
So now that we’ve got that out of the way, you’re asking, “What’s next?” Well, getting the Japanese version of PAIN out the door is our main priority now (It’s called “Mr. PAIN” in Japan, by the way). The reason this is so vital is because we are very much a “global” title, and when we release Online Multiplayer, we will release it in North America, Europe, Japan, and the rest of Asia all at once. In order to do that, all of those regions have to test it, and all must release content at the same time. The good news – we’ve already been testing functionality here in the States for a while, and it’s looking pretty good. The bad news – Japan will still have to test the localization once their initial release passes final testing (any day now), so Online Multiplayer obviously isn’t coming in January (shock!), and is going to be a few more weeks away. My guess is that this is the part where you’re shouting expletives interspersed with something about me, livestock, hot pokers, and all sorts of other awful things.
Now, how can I redeem myself after hitting you with some bad news? I suppose I could tell you about some of the goodies that we have planned for the rest of this year. In addition to some other changes to Modes, we’re going to be adding Timers to the mix. How does that work? We’re going to give you a target score (say, 2,000,000 points), and your task is to reach that score as quickly as possible. Oh, and it’ll come with its own Leaderboard, so you’ll be able to see where you stand against the other Mutan…errr….the other PAIN players. There are other modifications like this that will be coming as well. For example, how much do you think you could score if we gave you two launches and your score was cumulative? Just asking….. Then there’s the bug fixes, the Zombie pilot, a wardrobe change for Tati, more celebs, a couple more environments..... All in all, some good things coming.
OK, so what have we learned? 2009 is going to be a good year for PAIN. Perfect? Nope. We’ve never been perfect and will never claim to be so. What we will PROUDLY claim to be is a game that is fun as hell, has loads of replay value, has loads of content available, and will continue to have loads of content coming. Call me a sappy sucker, but we really do love you guys, and as long as you dig what we’re making, we’re going to keep it coming as best we can.
Oh, and here’s a look at a couple of the XMB avatars that will be coming:
