Ideas
When we go looking for a new idea for developing into a game, we usually so what everyone does when faced with the pain and uncertainty of creativity: we outsource to ChatGPT. But as it turns out my account was limited for jailbreaking or something silly. So we did what the big boys, the creative giants, do when they don’t have any original ideas: remake an existing property.
The great discovery was when I found an old blank VHS in a garage sale “free” box. After I wrestled the tape away from the owner (Hypocritically objecting to be taking everything in his “free” box each time he hosts a garage sale – what’s the point of a free box if it isn’t actually FREE?) I took it home and watched it. It was an old, unreleased movie from the mid-90’s called CHOP SHOP – a goofy, grungy, delightful action romp about a butcher with a monster friend, chopping up building-sized rubbery creatures and selling the meat, while staying one step ahead of the law.
I was hooked. After mom forced me to stop watching it over and over again, I talked to the Hermit Gamesmiths board of directors, and we immediately dug up everything we could about the making of the movie, ultimately purchasing the rights for only $3 Million – A steal, especially when you consider how difficult and painful it is to come up with original ideas, and how utterly impossible sitting alone with your own thoughts is these days.
Along with the movie rights, we obtained the original website assets, full 90’s boom-bap music soundtrack, and the holy grail: unreleased code and sprites from a game which was planned, but cancelled. Digging into it more, it is said the CHOP SHOP shareware was passed around reverently from game developer to game developer, and inspired such games as Tapper, Mario, and Polybius. After extensive and costly research, it turns out all of these claims are absolutely verifiable and true.
We took these assets and got to work making a game which really captures the spirit (and, hopefully, the cult following) of the original movie. At some point we will digitize and share the original CHOP SHOP movie, but since we only have one copy we want to be careful about that process.
If you’re a fan of the original movie or looking for a fast-paced action shopkeeping game, wishlist CHOP SHOP on Steam.
