What is “Medium”?

 Nibris and Sadness

Here’s the intrigue so far. Let’s go back to 2006, when Nintendo’s “Revolution” hadn’t yet been revealed. Possibly the first game ever announced for the system would never actually see release. Here’s how Wikipedia succinctly summarizes the sad tale of “Sadness”:

Sadness was a psychological horror video game in development by Nibris for the Wii console and was one of the earliest titles announced for the system. While the game initially drew positive attention for its unique gameplay concepts, such as black-and-white graphics and emphasis on psychological horror over violence, Sadness became notorious when no evidence of a playable build was ever publicly released during the four years it spent in development. It was revealed that Sadness had entered development hell due to problems with deadlines and relationships with outside developers, leading to its eventual cancellation by 2010, along with the permanent closure of the company.

Concept Art for Sadness

Bloober Team

Now, that might have been the end of Nibris, but some of the members of the team who apparently did get along managed to regroup and create a new development studio called Bloober Team. Whereas Nubris was focused completely around Nintendo-development, Bloober team included a variety of platforms. Proving that they were more competent than Nubris in finishing games to completion, they managed to release seven games, most of them downloadable titles.

Medium

A week before E3, some interesting postcards that were sent to members of the press (via GoNintendo). The post card shows a futuristic city setting, much akin to Blade Runner. It pointed to this website, which has a bit of a teaser on it: http://medium-game.com/. The site lets you know “Remember…You have only seen half so far…”

 Phone Calls in the Middle of the Night

This was the first time gamers heard anything about this game called Medium. The concept behind it seemed to revolve around two alternate versions of the same world. One was more futuristic and the other seemed almost like a spooky ghost world, or a spiritual world. Both of them showed the same man, with something glowing in his chest. Presumably, he acts as a medium who can communicate between both worlds when needed.

Then, two days before E3, RMC of GoNintendo received an ominous phone call in the middle of the night. A man said, “Have you heard about Medium? If not, you will…” This was obviously a phone call from the developers, who were trying to stir up some intrigue before E3. The fact that they sent the phone call to GoNintendo management implies that the game will be for a Nintendo system.

Some sleuthing was done, and it was determined that the teaser site for Medium was registered by Bloober Team.

On an E3 email that went out, Medium was mentioned for the first time. This is what it said:

“Medium

Completely new model of gameplay. New genre. The game is coming for WiiU or PSvita/PS3 and also for X360, iOS, Android and PC.”

A Gamer Does Some Extra Digging

Unfortunately, nothing was seen of the game during E3. So, does the story end there? Well, it seemed like it might have until one IGN user, known as Twiilight_Prince, decided to do some more digging.

As soon as the original cryptic messages went out, TP started to send them emails asking for more info and mentioned to them Nibris and Sadness for the Wii. He wouldn’t leave go until he got a reply from them:

“Randy, Medium is a completely new IP and has nothing to do with Sadness. You will see more soon! Regards, Medium.”

2 days later he got a random email from them saying:

“Follow the signs, 8X8:”

E3 came and went, and Medium wasn’t shown. Twiilight_Prince decided to email them a heartfelt message begging them to show signs of life for Medium. He didn’t want to see the project abandoned, like with Sadness. A few days later, he got a message from them together with a special gift — a new piece of artwork for the game. To date, no one else has received this artwork except for him and he decided to share it with us. So, here’s the message and artwork he received:

“Randy, First of all, thank you for your email, keep in mind this has nothing to do with Sadness. One tip for you, look at our website tomorrow. And im sending you also a small gift from me, ill be in touch with you.”

Click to Enlarge

So, what does all this mean? The first thing I’m hoping for is that whatever Medium turns out to be, it goes beyond concept art, cryptic messages, and a teaser site. Don’t let this suffer the same fate as Sadness. It looks promising, and I like the concept of alternate worlds, including the medium to a spirit world. And having the Wii U Gamepad serve as your window into the spirit world seems like it would make for very immersive gameplay.

Whatever the case, we will keep you updated as we get more news about Medium. A big thanks to Twiilight_Prince for sharing his sleuthing with us. And let us know in the comments what you think of all this.