When I say “Hello Games”, chances are that the game that comes to your mind is No Man’s Sky. Before the ambitious space exploration game though, came something very different, in the form of Joe Danger - the studio’s first game, in which you control the titular daredevil and navigate various time-limited courses. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s charming nonetheless, and it first released on PS3, before later making an appearance on Xbox Live Arcade, as well as PC, Android and iOS.
Well, seemingly randomly, the game relaunched in glorious remastered form on iOS today, complete with improved visuals, frame-rate, and gamepad support. But, it turns out the reasoning was far from random - it was actually all thanks to a piece of fan mail that the devs received from the parent of Joe Danger’s biggest fan. And man, is it wholesome.
ICYMI... check out the 5-year anniversary trailer for No Man's Sky below.
“I am writing this letter on behalf of my son, Jack. Jack is 8 years old, is about the sweetest kid on the planet, and has been diagnosed with Autism,” the parent wrote in the letter. “Jack LOVES Joe. He loves everything about him. He has a collection of toy motorcycles that are his ‘Joe Dangers’, every motorcycle we see on the street is ‘Joe Danger’.
“Not only has Joe Danger helped Jack with friends, but it has become an important coping mechanism for him. […] The problem is that ever since iOS updated a while back, Joe Danger hasn’t worked with the new versions, and one isn’t even able to find it on the App Store anymore. As children with autism have difficulty with change, any other version just won’t do.
“If nothing else I want to thank you and the team for the endless hours of entertainment and joy that you have provided my son […] Helping children with disabilities may not be something that you realised you would be doing when you made Joe Danger all those years ago, but it [is] something that you do, and I am grateful for it.”
Has anyone else got something in their eye, or is it just me? Well, clearly it touched the hearts of the dev team, too, because they really went and did it.
“As game devs it's so easy to underestimate the impact even your smallest games can have. It blows my mind that something you make can be someone's first game they played, hit at an important time or even be their favourite thing for a while,” tweeted Sean Murray, the founder of Hello Games.
So, there’s your dose of wholesomeness for the week. I’m sure that Jack will be having a blast today.
Featured Image Credit: Hello GamesTopics: Hello Games, Mobile Games