For months on end emotions ran high in one man’s quest to see his masterpiece video game to publication.  As a carefully planned viral campaign raged on, true rage grew among the onlookers – who did this guy think he was?  What egotistical madman would face-off against the largest video game company in the world, claiming the power to destroy them with the self-proclaimed “greatest game ever made?” The answer both is and is not Robert “bob” Pelloni.  As bobsgame.com revealed itself as a viral ad for Pelloni’s “game by one person,” most onlookers realized that the “bob” they had loved to hate was nothing more than a character.  Despite this, many still vented their frustration, harshly judging a game that nobody had ever played.

Those who hold a grudge against the previously unseen “bob’s game” might want to brace for reality: early this morning Robert Pelloni released the first playable demo of “bob’s game” – and it shows a lot of promise.

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We’ve written a lot about “bob’s game” in the past – covering protests, threats, forfeits, revivals, and zany antics – but never dug beneath the surface of Robert Pelloni’s masquerade of hype.  What exactly has Pelloni been up to?  Reader speculation ranges from a carefully designed marketing campaign to an insane, self-absorbed brat with an overblown sense of entitlement – but neither is exactly true.  It’s hard to pinpoint where the reality of where “bob’s game” ends and where the fantasy hype machine begins.  I contacted Pelloni privately to find out, and what I found added context and sanity to the entire ordeal.

For those of you not up to speed, Robert Pelloni is the sole developer of “bob’s game,” an independent retail-length adventure game for the Nintendo DS.  And independent is an understatement – bob’s game was introduced without a publisher, without official developer, and without Nintendo’s license – all hurdles Pelloni vowed to overcome, confident that “bob’s game” would see retail release.  According to his website, Nintendo rejected his application for developer status – but in the midst of our dialogue, Pelloni suggested otherwise.

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