WHAT HAPPENED TO CROW 64?

So this package arrived today and it contains a game... One that I think basically no one has ever played. But before we try it out I need to tell you the weird tale that's behind it. But just how easy is it to play Nintendo 64? The controller looks like it could be used on some kind of military jet. Just a few years ago *this* was state of the art: flat and two-dimensional. Now Mario lives in a 3D world and you can make him go wherever you want. Ahh the N64 era: an innocent time. The 3D platformer was king And out of the dozens of so-called "Mario clones" My three favorites still hold up. But what if I told you there was one more forgotten game on that list? A game that never had a chance to enter our childhoods... A game that fell into more than just development hell... and a game that cost its troubled creator...everything. The game I'm talking about is "Catastrophe Crow". Nope I hadn't heard of it either. That is until I was flipping through some of my old N64 magazines: Catastrophe Crow was the highly anticipated project from Manfred Lorenz: a veteran German game designer, avid sailor, notorious perfectionist and founder of Opus Interactive. Announcing the game at Space World '97, the team promised "fearless exploration" of "unfamiliar worlds" and something "groundbreaking" called an "eternal revival system". (Probably just a bad translation) With the eponymous crow based on his daughter's own design, Lorenz was considered eccentric for taking his kid-friendly games so seriously. In one of his few interviews he claimed that Catastrophe Crow was "beyond a game" and that it would "push the boundaries of player experience". Of course, this may just be hype... ...a more European version of "John Romero's about to make you his *gu-huh* But I do think Lorenz was on to something. As the game's Christmas 99 release drew near, journalists got their hands on a playable version. One reviewer said it was "bigger than Banjo", another said "move over Mario 64". I mean, even from a jaded gamer's point of view – somebody whose seen thousands of games – they've done things where I've sat up and said "wow, this is pretty neat stuff!" But then something went wrong. The release date got pushed back a few months, then a few months again... ...until it started getting worryingly vague. Rumors began to circulate that something had happened to their lead designer. Manfred Lorenz was seemingly taking more and more control, with programmers left in the dark and artists making hundreds of strange assets without knowing what they were for. Soon a series of forum posts appear from disgruntled anonymous staff. One suggested that Lorenz's home life had completely broken down, saying that he "hadn't seen his family in months" While a tester claimed that he had "found something" in the game, something that Manfred had unintentionally created. In a post from February 2001, over a year beyond their original release date, one staff member said he approached Manfred directly pleading with him to "think of the player" and let them release the game. To which Manfred replied: "the player is gone". By now Opus Interactive had spent nearly 10 million dollars on the project and could no longer pay their staff. Lorenz had everyone dismissed and barred himself inside the offices. There he stayed, we imagine, still working on the game... Then at the end of 2001- the N64 era finished. And the debt collectors came calling. But when they arrived at Opus, Manfred – for probably the first time in years – was not there. All the development hardware and backups had disappeared. Manfred wasn't at home either, and they learned that his wife had left the country over six months ago. The only clue left was that his car, and the sailing boat normally hitched to it, were gone. Two days later, and Manfred's boat was found floating a few miles off the coast of Cuxhaven. There was no sign of him or the stolen equipment... Only a neat pile of clothes, and a note: Addressed to his wife, the note makes no mention of the game or his debts... only that he had "finally gone home". Catastrophe Crow disappeared with him. No one would ever play it. After five years of development, what the game really was and what had obsessed its creators so relentlessly would remain a mystery lost to the depths. Or so I'd thought... Because since I first began this video, I've been checking eBay every day for any sign of the game. And two weeks ago I found this: What appears to be a genuine development cart from Opus Interactive. The seller said he'd found it in his attic but didn't seem to really know what he had. So I bought it and now it's here. What might be the only surviving copy of Catastrophe Crow. And we're gonna play it. Um, I believe it should work fine on my PAL N64, and if it doesn't we'll try something else... but for now I just thought we'd do a playthrough. Okay. wow err, let's see this actually seems to be working i can jump yeah it's got the cool triple jump that was in the demo all right let's um see what's in here i guess i guess i'm meant to go this way it's kind of mario style camera controls sorry i'm not very good at talking while playing so no i'll put a vo in afterwards okay back here let's see if uh okay try the other way

Channel: AdamButcher

Views: 692,619

Rating: 4.9462852 out of 5

Keywords: nintendo, 64, n64, nintendo 64, adam butcher, crow 64, catastrophe crow, game, playthrough, let's play, rare game, unboxing, development, video game, hell, nostalgia, mystery, creepy, creepypasta, horror, spooky, haunted, cart, forgotten, rare, scary, horror game, ps1, old, retro, retro gaming, vintage, 90s, early 3d, low-poly, 3d

Id: irEb9TS9yEk

Length: 13min 23sec (803 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 14 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/2LateImDead]

Wow, this is really good. I hope to see more. Guessing it's a Mario ROM hack, maybe the creator will release it some day if there's more to see than just what's here?

[u/_Little_Ember_]

this reminds me of the early (10?) episodes of petscope... just a lot more on the nose with it's narrative! And that it's spread across several channels gives it a nice "feel" too it?

[u/SquidsInATrenchcoat]

It's cool how much effort went into this, but imo, the footage jumps into creepypasta territory too quickly. It would have been cooler if we got to see more of the "normal" game, considering how long it was supposed to be in development.

That said, the spooky creatures in this video are wonderfully unpleasant to look at!

[u/abuggyreplay]

Holy Polycarp, this is really well done!

The German at 4:20 says something like this, although it's hard for me to read the handwriting:

Marta, 30781354841

You were always in the right - and are so until today. [Crow Picture]

It is impossible to look in the heads of the people, about their behavior to [??], and bring out how we are so together and [??]. We have done both, what we held to be correct - and could what each other of the insane visits. You have taken me. And I You.

So that the world can see, [??] myself my way. I have - finally - gone home.

-M

Edit: At 11:05, all the textures are briefly changed to brain scans. I wonder what that could mean?

Edit 2: Looks like there's slight differences between the various videos too (like the jump sound, music, and "catastrophe crow n64 playthrough"'s chess pieces moving while the original video did not). Every copy of Catastrophe Crow is personalized.

Edit 3: The scrambled letters are a simple replacement cipher. Credit to 7k's comment on catastrophe crow n64 playthrough for the following key.

A-S

B-F

C-T

D-?

E-L

F-Q

G-U

H-I

I-R

J-V

K-Y

L-O

M-?

N-C (From Catastrophe Crow!: N64 Gameplay)

O-E

P-?

Q-M

R-H

S-W

T-N

U-P

V-B (From Let's Play Catastrophe Crow Ep. 2)

W-A

X-D

Y-?

Z-G (From Let's Play Catastrophe Crow Ep. 1)

Edit 3: There's a subreddit called r/catastrophecrow. Further work will be documented there.

[u/BirthdayMouse]

There are some gameplay videos scattered on YouTube. They seem to have some codes in them. There's definitely some things hidden. Very weird/cool?

[u/Haruk0_haruhara]

This is made in unity. I know its an arg, and a very well done one, but.. It really irks me when they don't get the lighting right in fake n64 games, the lighting just gives it all away. Since.. Well.

The n64 didn't have very good lighting, usually. Most games were just fully lit, shadows under bridges were emulated and such with textures. You can tell in one of the thumbnails that its actually a lighting effect, not an emulation of lighting.

[u/romeowomeo]

OP, I just want to say, thank you so much for introducing me to this series. It's only been a day and I'm already deeply invested in this simply for the surreal story and aesthetic.

[u/ProfessorCreepypasta]

Parts of this remind me of Ben Drowned. I love it!

[u/Metandienona]

Sounds like a fun ARG to get into. Thanks for posting this!!