Pixelsocks: So what is Enviro-Bear 2000?

Justin Smith

Justin: It’s a bear driving a car. You eat fish and you hibernate. You do it over and over again, just like a real bear—except for the car part. That’s the gist of Enviro-Bear.

Pixelsocks: I have to level with you, this is a simple game idea with incredibly frustrating controls. It obviously wasn’t by accident, so is this commentary on the culture of accessibility?

Justin: Yeeeah. No. The game isn’t really about anything; it’s just that the controls make a challenging game. Most games have easy controls, and it’s the levels that are challenging, but the controls are all I have.

Pixelsocks: So what gave you the idea for a one-handed driving sim?

Justin: I have no idea—just nutrinos shooting through my head. There was a competition to make cockpit-themed games. I just thought, “hey, a car is a cockpit; maybe I’ll do a car.” Then I thought… bear… I don’t know how this happened. It was a very strange period of time.

Pixelsocks: An interesting part of the game is that everything that can go wrong does go wrong.

Justin: Oh, but not if you’re very careful. If Enviro-Bear is a commentary on anything, it’s choices in life. If you’re not careful in life, your metaphysical cockpit gets full of crap. If you’re very careful and you do one thing at a time, you can finish the game easily. It’s actually rather boring if you do it that way. You want a nice halfway point between interest and chaos.

Pixelsocks: Another interesting thing about Enviro-Bear is the community, like in the iPhone reviews.

Justin: Oh yeah, those guys went nuts!

Pixelsocks: It’s true, and everyone seems to violently love or hate the game.

Justin: That’s a good thing to have; it creates an interesting dialog. It wasn’t my goal at all. I thought the game would be a total failure, a blip that’s then forgotten.

Pixelsocks: Are you happy with the stir you’ve created?

Justin: Yeah. It’s better than no stir.

Pixelsocks: So what’s left in life after Enviro-Bear?
Justin: I don’t know. That’s why I’m at the GDC, actually. When I go home after the show, I want to start on another major project. Maybe it’ll make a stir.

Pixelsocks: If you don’t mind me asking, would you say Enviro-Bear has seen commercial success?

Justin: Yes. For the time I’ve invested into it and the return I’ve gotten, it’s been ok. It’s not Spider, but it’s not one of the thousands of games on the App Store.

Pixelsocks: What do you think made you get noticed on the iTunes Store?

Justin: Well, just look at it. It has a crazy name, graphics that gouge your eyes out. One guy started a thread that blew totally out of proportion, and that just bumped it up.

Pixelsocks: Thanks so much for your time, I’ve learned a lot about Enviro-Bear and about life.

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Tags:   enviro-bear 2000 · GDC · gdc2010 · IGF · IGF 2010 · justin smith · nuovo award nomineeNo Comments

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