History DoingItForTheArt / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' suffered from this, with [[DevelopmentHell years of]] [[TroubledProduction prolonged development]] (and the issue that led to the lawsuit over the [[UsefulNotes/GameEngine Unreal 3 Engine]]) making it one of the most expensive games ever made ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_most_expensive_video_games_to_develop&oldid=757983888 8th place]] as of 2nd of January 2017).

** Given how many other companies have tried and failed to duplicate Nintendo's success with casual video games, this seems to be a case of Much Harder Than It Looks.

* ''VideoGame/SteelBattalion'' presents a GoneHorriblyRight example. Atsushi Inaba and company had to have realized how commercially infeasible such a HardCore RealRobot [[SimulationGame simulator]] would be, requiring a US$200 controller bundle and an original UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} if you didn't have one already, and [[SaveGameLimits the Roguelike approach to saving and death]] and [[BladderOfSteel no pause feature.]] [[spoiler:Unless you unplug the controller.]] And yet they STILL managed to release it for us to enjoy...

* ''VideoGame/TheConduit'', a FPS for the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}, started in development without a publisher (meaning they had nobody to actually sell the game to stores yet), because the developers were sick of what they felt was developers shafting the system (they were known for making [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames licensed games]] for years, but that was more what's known as PayingTheirDues). From the interviews and the extensive soliciting of ideas and feedback, it's clear they were ''thrilled'' to finally get to do it for the art.

* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' was released near the ''extreme'' end of the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor's lifetime (2001), and was put out by the then-unknown Creator/WayForwardTechnologies. The main character was based on random sketches from the creator's wife. The game features crazily detailed and fluid 8-bit animation, using a truly insane number of sprites (in some areas, Shantae is built out of several sprites so she can utilize multiple color palettes), and was done up in classic, "hardcore" {{Metroidvania}} format despite its cutesy cover. Did the game sell well? No. Did critics adore it? ''Yeah!'' For years, [=WayForward=] had been trying to make a sequel, and couldn't find a publisher, so they published it themselves on UsefulNotes/DSiWare. [=WayForward=] have made a name for themselves by doing whatever they felt like doing, their way. For example, they generally make licensed games for other companies in order to stay afloat and earn enough money to afford making their original productions, yet keep in mind that their licensed games should be [[SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames genuinely enjoyable beyond being a simple marketing product]].

** Sonic's other co-creator Yuji Naka has gone on record to say that he doesn't like working on sequels, preferring to make all-new games in order to keep things fresh and interesting. Despite Sonic's massive success, he had to be coaxed into working in ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Sonic 2]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles 3 & Knuckles]]'', and this was one of the reasons Sonic Team produced various non-Sonic games focused on innovation from the [[UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn Saturn]] era onward (most famously the cult classic ''VideoGame/{{NiGHTS|IntoDreams}}''), only getting back to the series and [[VideoGame3DLeap bringing it into 3D]] in the late 90s. It also explains why he eventually left Creator/{{Sega}} to form an independent studio that focused on new [=IPs=].

* 2019 indie horror game ''VideoGame/{{DARQ}}'' was mostly created by a single developer, Wlad Marhulets, who knew nothing about game creation before he decided to make the game and had to learn everything about coding and 3D modeling from scratch. It attracted a lot of attention and became one of the most-anticipated upcoming releases on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}. This led to Wlad receiving an offer of a considerable sum of money from Creator/EpicGames to sell the game exclusively from their much-maligned Epic Games Store (an offer which many publishers of other highly-anticipated games had accepted, prompting ''great'' backlash), which Wlad politely turned down as he'd given his word the game would have a Steam release and thought the exclusivity was a bad thing, gaining him considerable support. After ''DARQ'' was released, it was generally well-received, with the biggest criticism being that [[ItsShortSoItSucks it was too short]]. In response, Wlad began work on a series of free expansions for the game, because his only concern is making ''DARQ'' the best gaming experience it can be.

* In 1997, Creator/LookingGlassStudios began work on ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'', the sequel to the 1994 game (which sold decently, but wasn't much of a moneymaker). The team hired for the project only had a year to complete their project, working with an unfinished graphics engine (the Dark Engine, which would be used in the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series of games). They had to endure staff walkouts, which arguably made the remaining team members become closer as a result. The game also codified many elements of the action genre in one game--branching character paths, an open-ended gameplay experience, a constantly-changing environment, RPG elements and a extreme infusion of horror--something unheard of at the time. The game ended up being regarded as one of the scariest video games ever made, resulted in critical accolades and awards that continue to this day, received a SpiritualSuccessor in the form of ''VideoGame/BioShock'' and ''Franchise/DeadSpace'', and the creators still release materials related to the game (Ken Levine released design sketches and concept art, while composer Eric Brosius released the entire soundtrack to a fansite) more than a decade later.

* azurelazuline, the co-creators of ''VideoGame/CopyKitty'', have been working on the game for over 6 years, putting in more detail than is perhaps healthy for an indie shooter. Instead of being traditionally drawn, all the sprites have been converted from custom 3d models and scanned to give everything a sterile, precise look with smooth animations. The game's main gimmick that lets you copy up to 3 powers which you can combine to create a fourth unique power is simply staggering in complexity. There's over 175 unique powers, more than a dozen extra upgrades that give an elemental change to your power, every ability has unique and colorful animations, over 172 main levels with an unlockable bonus world, a [[NintendoHard Hard difficulty]] that does more than simply ramp up the damage, enemies have completely unique patterns, there's quite a few new types and bosses you've not seen before, lots of extra powers on top of what's already there, an endless mode that generates random enemies and environments, and has a LevelEditor for fans to create their own missions. There's a story mode that has a wealth of background lore. In most 2d run and guns, the plots tend to be minimal at best. Here, there's an entire universe created with fleshed out ecologies, planets, alien cultures, and WorldBuilding with enemy bios and in-universe blog postss by the main character, with over a hundred pages of writing. Did you know the main character is part of a race called Kitera that are partially colorblind, live underground in caves, digest gems, and meow as a form of echo location? The environments change depending on what you destroy, grass will light on fire if you use a laser, ice will crystalize the plants, lightning will cause electrical lighting to stutter, and so forth. The vast majority of players won't see any of this as it's a legitimately engaging gameplay experience, but not even Touhou (see below) has this much universe depth. When they put the game on Steam, they could've long since declared the game complete, but they put it on Early Access on a system that's infamous for shovelware and continue to update the game with more content and balancing tweaks to make it as polished as they can.

** Eiji Aonuma, producer of the current Zelda games, [[WordOfGod stated]] that he doesn't look at sales when he makes a Zelda game, but rather, how to give a compelling package that provides the players with memorial and compelling experiences, meaning all the Zelda games he worked on fall under this trope.

** Turned UpToEleven for the ''VideoGame/TheLastGuardian'', a game that took an entire decade to complete and unfortunately lead to the effective dismantlement of Team Ico due to Fumito Ueda's uncompromising vision for it. It's amazing that the game even released, and that Sony continued to fund its development all the way though even with the previous games in the series having lackluster sales figures.

** Turned UpToEleven for the VideoGame/TheLastGuardian, a game that took an entire decade to complete and unfortunately lead to the effective dismantlement of Team Ico due to Fumito Ueda's uncompromising vision for it. It's amazing that the game even released, and that Sony continued to fund its development all the way though even with the previous games in the series having lackluster sales figures.

* Team Shanghai Alice, which is one guy named "ZUN", made the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}} Project'', a whole series of {{Shoot Em Up}}s that has become perhaps the best known among the anime crowd. The one series alone spawned dozens, if not hundreds of doujin circles, creating music, videos, and manga. He's very generous with the copyright as he let's others make whatever they want, provided that they don't call it an "official" work. This may be the reason why he doesn't care so much about commercializing his series. He's even said that while he's pleased people like the games, he's mostly making them for himself, and even if they didn't sell, he'd continue making them anyway.

* In 1997, Creator/LookingGlassStudios began work on ''VideoGame/SystemShock 2'', the sequel to the 1994 game (which sold decently, but wasn't much of a moneymaker). The team hired for the project only had a year to complete their project, working with an unfinished graphics engine (the Dark Engine, which would be used in the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series of games). They had to endure staff walkouts, which arguably made the remaining team members become closer as a result. The game also codified many elements of the action genre in one game--branching character paths, an open-ended gameplay experience, a constantly-changing environment, RPG elements and a extreme infusion of horror--something unheard of at the time. The game ended up being regarded as one of the scariest video games ever made, resulted in critical accolades and awards that continue to this day, received a SpiritualSuccessor in the form of ''VideoGame/BioShock'' and ''Franchise/DeadSpace'', and the creators still release materials related to the game (Ken Levine released design sketches and concept art, while composer Eric Brosius released the entire soundtrack to a fansite) more than a decade later.

* Creator/YokoTaro sees no point in merely copying what mainstream [=JRPGs=] have been doing for the last 3 decades, and thus opts to make his games [[DeconstructorFleet as different from them as possible]] and attempts to create [=JRPGs=] geared for [[DarkerandEdgier older JRPG players]], even if it means that his games end up being niche titles with comparatively small budgets. What's even more remarkable is that after ''VideoGame/NieR'' sold modestly well in Japan but ended up being a bomb stateside, Square Enix became aware of its cult status and liked the game so much themselves that they not only funded [[VideoGame/Drakengard3 another entry]] in the ''Drakengard'' franchise, they also gave the go-ahead to [[VideoGame/NierAutomata a sequel to]] ''[=NieR=]'' itself... with some of the absolute best talent in the Japanese industry, including staff from Creator/PlatinumGames (of ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Rising|Revengeance}}'' fame) and Akihiko Yoshida, the character designer for ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''. All of this to make a sequel to a niche game that lost them money. Even Yoko himself thinks Square Enix must have been insane to greenlight the project.

* If the notes in the ''[[AllThereIntheManual Mega Man Original Complete Works]]'' art book are any indication, it's obvious that Creator/KeijiInafune cared a ''lot'' about the ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' series. After all, it might not have gone beyond the first game without the dedication of people like him.

* Creator/ArcSystemWorks seems to put a quite of attention to their fighting games. Both ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' and ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' have high resolution 2D sprites with various animation, voice work, music that depends on character matchups. ''[=BlazBlue=]'', ''Guilty Gear Xrd'', and ''VideoGame/DragonBallFighterZ'' deserve mention to the use of 3D technology, as ''[=BlazBlue=]'' rotoscopes its 2D sprites off of 3D models, while the latter two games use the models, but animate them slightly choppy and custom colored per frame to maintain the old animated sprite look.

* The ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' series. There's a good reason why only three ''MOTHER'' games have ever been made, and why they have such a devoted fanbase. All Creator/ShigesatoItoi wanted from this series was the chance to experiment with telling a good story in a new, different medium. All that's likely to bring him back to the series is feeling that he has a new story to tell for it. Actually, this extends to most things Itoi has ever done and the purpose of his current work, the [[http://www.1101.com/ Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun.]]

** Sonic's other co-creator Yuji Naka has gone on record to say that he doesn't like working on sequels, preferring to make all-new games in order to keep things fresh and interesting. Despite Sonic's massive success, he had to be coaxed into working in ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Sonic 2]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles 3 & Knuckles]]'', and this was one of the reasons Sonic Team produced various non-Sonic games focused on innovation from the [[UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn Saturn]] era onward (most famously the cult classic ''[[VideoGame/NightsIntoDreams NiGHTS]]''), only getting back to the series and [[VideoGame3DLeap bringing it into 3D]] in the late 90s. It also explains why he eventually left Creator/{{Sega}} to form an independent studio that focused on new [=IPs=].

* Creator/YokoTaro sees no point in merely copying what mainstream [=JRPGs=] have been doing for the last 3 decades, and thus opts to make his games [[DeconstructorFleet as different from them as possible]] and attempts to create [=JRPGs=] geared for [[DarkerandEdgier older JRPG players]], even if it means that his games end up being niche titles with comparatively small budgets. What's even more remarkable is that after ''VideoGame/{{NieR}}'' sold modestly well in Japan but ended up being a bomb stateside, Square Enix became aware of its cult status and liked the game so much themselves that they not only funded [[VideoGame/{{Drakengard 3}} another entry]] in the ''Drakengard'' franchise, they also gave the go-ahead to [[VideoGame/NierAutomata a sequel to]] ''[=NieR=]'' itself... with some of the absolute best talent in the Japanese industry, including staff from Creator/PlatinumGames (of ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Rising|Revengeance}}'' fame) and Akihiko Yoshida, the character designer for ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''. All of this to make a sequel to a niche game that lost them money. Even Yoko himself thinks Square Enix must have been insane to greenlight the project.

* Creator/TaroYoko sees no point in merely copying what mainstream [=JRPGs=] have been doing for the last 3 decades, and thus opts to make his games [[DeconstructorFleet as different from them as possible]] and attempts to create [=JRPGs=] geared for [[DarkerandEdgier older JRPG players]], even if it means that his games end up being niche titles with comparatively small budgets. What's even more remarkable is that after ''VideoGame/{{NieR}}'' sold modestly well in Japan but ended up being a bomb stateside, Square Enix became aware of its cult status and liked the game so much themselves that they not only funded [[VideoGame/{{Drakengard 3}} another entry]] in the ''Drakengard'' franchise, they also gave the go-ahead to [[VideoGame/NierAutomata a sequel to]] ''[=NieR=]'' itself... with some of the absolute best talent in the Japanese industry, including staff from Creator/PlatinumGames (of ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Rising|Revengeance}}'' fame) and Akihiko Yoshida, the character designer for ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''. All of this to make a sequel to a niche game that lost them money. Even Yoko himself thinks Square Enix must have been insane to greenlight the project.