After a good 22 years The most delayed game ever has finally been releasedmoreover developed in Italy. His name is Kien and it’s a 2002 project for Game Boy Advance, which until now had never managed to see the light of day. Now it’s even available on cartridge and is playable with the original hardware.
The story was told by Patricia Hernandez on The Guardian, who reconstructed the event by interviewing Fabio Belsanti, one of the five original authors of the game (who remained alone). Kien’s initial goal was to be the first GBA game developed in our country. Unfortunately, the five had limited resources and little experience. Over time, the group frayed, but Belsanti never gave up.
It is worth noting that his company, AgeofGames, has continued to work in the world of video games, creating highly successful educational products such as Scacciarischi, a title that promotes safety at work.
As explained, the delay was not intentional. Kien had been complete for years and some publishers had even come forward to publish it. Unfortunately, market analysis led one of them, the one that had been chosen, to abandon the project due to the high cost of the cartridges.
Kien is an action game from the ruthless difficulty and the deep historyso much so that Belsanti sees it as a sort of Dark Souls ante litteram.
Why Kien was released now? Recently the retrogaming market has expanded a lotalso incorporating new productions for old systems and recoveries of games in development that were never completed. In the meantime, the cost of producing cartridges has dropped. In short, a large niche has formed that has made the enterprise possible. Incube8, Kien’s publisher, is specialized in games for classic consoles and has created a truly precious package for Kien which, in addition to the cartridge, also contains a very rich manual.
“It’s like the rebirth of vinyl records,” Belsanti explained, “a return to the simplest forms of the past. Releasing the game on its original platform is magical.” It seems that his dream has finally come true. Consider that he is so convinced of the game that he is already working on a sequel. Let’s hope it doesn’t take 22 years to see the light.
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