Call me deluded but I'm pretty optimistic when it comes to "vaporware" software. The quotes are there since sometimes these things do become solid. It paid off with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, so yeah, I'm still hopeful that Nibris' Sadness would turn out the same.

It's starting to look like Nibris has some kind of system wherein they only release info about Sadness once every three months. The last update we got was in April, so it's high time for another one, if we're to follow the three months schedule. Anyway, the developer has finally updated the game's official website with more game info and GASP! Is that a release date? Find out in the full article.

Good news, Sadness fanatics! Seems Nibris' black-and-white thriller for the Wii has just been saved from getting tossed into the vaporware bin thanks to Emergent, who announced that the game is currently being developed using the Gamebryo engine. More in the full article.

It's still very early to tell, but will Nibris' Sadness end up gracing the yearly lists of vaporware titles that online news mags come up with? A concerned fan, reminded of the game thanks to Nibris' Sadness Christmas card, decided to ask Nintendo about its current status. Nintendo's answer at the full article.

We've heard good things about Nibris' development on Sadness for the Nintendo Wii several months back, but right now, the title that promised plenty of "Adult Only" rated scares is believed to be far from finished. One poster over at the NeoGAF forums claims he received an e-mail from Nibris stating the delay of Sadness to 2009.

"Nibris is alive and well," according to the e-mail. With that, Sadness is apparently still in development and slated for release in 2009. The scrolling shooter Raid Over The River (ROTD) for the Nintendo DS is also in the works, and it's expected to hit the shelves come Q3 2008. Another DS title, the bloob-filled adventure Double Bloob, is scheduled for Q2 2008.

We'll wait for confirmation regarding this piece of news (whether good or bad). Until then, we'll put the said release dates under rumor. Stay tuned.

 

Nibris' Sadness is starting to get a lot livelier, at least on the news front. The folks at Cubed managed to pick up some new artwork and info on the game, and it's definitely pointing towards intense psychological drama as well as tons of dead people.

First off, the characters. According to the new report, the young woman (whom we know as Maria) is of Polish-Hungarian origin. She also spent her childhood in England, and that's where grew up and started a family. As far as we can tell, Maria is also the same person who has a son in this game, though the new report doesn't say much about it. Furthermore, most of the game time will be spent on playing her, so you might as well get attached to her life story while you're at it, especially since the secondary character will most probably be her son.

Related to this are the monsters they'll be encountering. You'll encounter 18 different species of monsters in the game, with some of them being friendly or hostile depending on your choice of actions throughout the storyline.

Now for some gameplay tidbits. One playthrough is now expected to last 20 hours, with a short portion of that spent in Poland. If we're lucky, that might also mean that we'll be able to relive the events of the train wreck that started most of the storyline in this game. They also mention that there won't be any loadtimes, and that the graphics will involve a lot of fog effects with the quality of most visuals being near that of the artworks they've presented to the public thus far.

More importantly, they're planning to pull out all the stops for dramatic effect. In addition to getting voice acting onboard as part of the game's initiative, they'll also be working with an orchestra to get the most effect out of the game's story. Bad news or no, Nibris' game has certainly got our interest piqued. Keep checking QJ for more updates to this intriguing release.

 

A couple of days ago, we reported on the Sadness' bleak future as FrontLine Studios answered an email saying that they are "no longer interested in developing Sadness game". Today, Cubed3 has received comment from the Polish game developer Nibris on the status of the game.

The developer is still enthusiastic about the Sadness' progress and they say that the break up is not a problem. Nibris attributed the end of the partnership (last March 17) to artistic differences. And they have apparently got themselves a new partner - the question of "who" still goes unanswered. The company had this to say, "We would like to apologize for rumors and doubts that might have arisen. We want to assure, that Nibris Ltd. makes great effort to make our projects completely innovative and meeting highest quality standards."

Certainly good news for the players who have been waiting for this dark and creepy title. Let's hope we don't have long to wait for the Sadness to gloomily stalk into the shelves. Stay tuned for more updates on this one.

Shocking development for the over-21-only (and with perfect health, too) Wii shocker Sadness. A member of the IGN Boards sent an email to FrontLine Studios asking if they were "programming" Sadness, and received an answer to disappoint those waiting for the game.

Of course, he sent the email to the wrong guys - it's Nibris handling "programming" - but FrontLine's answer suggests that they could have been the undisclosed publisher for Sadness. Well, not anymore. Reply:

I can confirm that FRONTLINE is no longer interested in developing Sadness game based on Nibris' concept, and also Nibris is not authorized to claim anything on behalf of FRONTLINE.

Best regards,

Marcin Machel

Could said IGN Boards member be pulling a belated April Fools'? Unknown. On the other hand, those who've visited the FrontLine website noted that there are no references to Nibris or Sadness anymore, so it's quite plausible he's claiming what is true. Will this lead to the game being canceled? Unknown. There are other options, including self-publishing, but that would depend on

• how well Nibris markets to potential publishers or investors, and
• generating enough gamer buzz to pull this game into publishing reality by demand, making it even more appealing to publish.
  

Even though Sadness is hands down one of the most eagerly anticipated games this year for Nintendo's Wii console - or perhaps because of it - Nibris hasn't exactly been very generous in releasing details regarding this title. Maybe that's why somebody just had to come up with some alleged beta footage of Sadness.

While the footage is very interesting and all, the main thing here is that it's not actually from Sadness at all. Apparently, the perpetrator of the hoax just used some footage from a PC title called Infernal and made it grayscale so it would look like actual Sadness footage.

Oh well, guess it's back to waiting for Nibris to finally feel sorry for all of us and letting us in on a few new details. You can check out the fake footage below. Muchas thank yous to ssjfox3 for the heads up on this bit of news.

 

Well, well, look what the French brought in, eh? NGC France has some new concept art for Sadness, one of the new Wii games being developed by Nibris, and they look all too eerie for comfort.

Taking place in the Balkans, Sadness places you in the shoes of Maria Lengyel, a mother whose blind child is afflicted with something otherworldly. As you can see from these concept art shots though, you've also got your share of troubles with the otherworldly, including a guy with some very nasty teeth.

We'll let you know more as we hear about the game. For now, expect Nibris to release the demons from their cages in 2008.