So CING has filed for bankruptcy. Which already makes this month the worst in the history of recorded time.

Since I really, really like their games, I'll fill you in on why. You could say that this post is mainly a love letter to CING.

"Who is CING?", you ask? Why, you truly despicable human being, first of all, shame on you for not instantly recognizing the name of this factory of awesomeness.

CING is the developer of such titles as Another Code/Trace Memory, Hotel Dusk and Little King's Story.

"Oh, I haven't played any of these titles!", you say. Which is why you are part of the problem.

So, what are those games about? Apart from Little Kings Story, which is a somewhat different beast (a critically acclaimed beast though (whose exact development history is a little complicated)), all those titles are adventure games.
But not any ordinary adventure game. Those games focused so much on their story and their characters that some call them interactive stories moreso than mere "games".

Sure, many games have "great stories". You hear all the time that Final Fantasys story is amazing - but if you're honest, they really aren't. They are somewhat okay for JRPG-standards, but come on. "Let's find magic rocks! Although you'll have to excuse me every cutscene, for I am the SADDEST PERSON EVER who will gladly tell everyone about my suffering. Also, I'm madly in love with predictable-love-interest 17b who joined our party five minutes ago!". Gah.
If we're honest, few "real" games have stories that amount to more than simple scenarios that exist to give a framework so that the rules of the game make sense. There are a few that truly excel, that go beyond what we expect and truly make us feel for the characters, maybe even after the game is done, but those are the rare exception. How many games can you name with a story that truly, definately had a strong impact on you, maybe even approaching the realm of other form of entertainment, where stories can be told much easier (literature, movies, ...).
No, maybe CINGs games didn't reach quite that standard. I won't pretend that their writing was better than the classics of literature. But apart from maybe the AceAttorney-series (which, funnily enough, is also often claimed to be "not a game"), I cannot think of a game in which the story not only took such a prominent spot, but which also told a tale so gripping as those games did.

For me, personally, Hotel Dusk stands out as their best (which, I'll admit, wasn't that hard to guess, given my avatar). I love how all the characters in there seem to have a purpose, a goal, a backstory and who act accordingly. In a nutshell, it's a story of an angry cynic, who without really wanting to do so helps out other people. In this extremely broad way of generalizing, it doesn't sound like much, but its writing, sometimes funny, sometimes touching, makes it much more. I remember finishing it, thinking to myself how nice it ended, and realizing later that actually, you didn't solve all their problems, which gave it a somewhat more realistic feel. It's fully of "coincidences", sure, but it does a nice job at staying believable. I'd love to write more about its ending, but actually, if you're interested at all in it, then just go and buy it. I envy you for your ability to play it for the first time.

Another Code... I don't like that franchise as much as I love Hotel Dusk, mainly because for my tastes, it drifts out to unbelievable science-fiction (altering memories? really?) or unbelievable other stuff (Ghosts!?) too often. But when it doesn't, theres still a charming main character (who, surprise, acts according to her age :O) and a nice story. Another Code: R for Wii is a million times better than it's predecessor for DS (that I didn't like that much). For reasons unknown, that Wiigame hasn't been released in America, so for all you guys it might be a little difficult to play it, but it's definately a great game.


So... there you have it. A great company who made games with fantastic stories and characters... gone.



This is really horrible news