Come on, Shuhei Yoshida. This is no time to be infuriatingly cryptic. Are there more Escaping Apes in our future? The world just doesn’t know… yet.
It’s quite rare that there’s actually an air of mystery left in the gaming industry these days. High-profile leaks are far too common, to the extent that Kingdom Hearts III’s Tetsuya Nomura has stated that he may reconsider simultaneous worldwide releases for his titles in the future. Oftentimes, we know far too much, arguably more than we really should, when we hop into a much-anticipated release.
Who can blame the directors, developers and producers of the video game world for being a little secretive where they can, then? Who can blame Hideo Kojima for being hilariously, bafflingly vague with his efforts to hype up Death Stranding? Oh, the teasers. It sure has been a wild ride there. Speaking of teasers, Ape Escape fans, Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida has just let slip that a new Ape Escape release may, just possibly, be in the works.
If you’ve been gaming long enough to remember the very first DualShock controller’s release, you’ll probably remember one particular game that was designed to make use of it: 1999’s madcap PS1 platformer Ape Escape. The cartoon madness centered around a young boy named Spike, who set out across time to capture wayward monkeys who… well, there’s a ridiculous plot involving a time machine, an intelligence-enhancing helmet and more than a whiff of Planet of the Apes. Pulitzer-worthy stuff, really.
All you really need to know is that the original was remade for the PSP in 2005, and a couple of spin-offs and sequels appeared, but nothing captured the magic of the original. We haven’t seen a new release in the series since 2011’s PlayStation Move Ape Escape, which was all kinds of questionable. With all the buzz around the series’ 20th anniversary, however, it looks like something may be shaping up.
Which brings us to the interview with Yoshida. On the subject, he told Famitsu (via ThePlayStationBrahs): “While I do feel proud that Ape Escape was a landmark game in that gaming era, I have never thought of the Pipo Monkeys as SIE’s mascot characters. However, I know that they have continued to be loved by some fans, and regarding that, I’m really happy.”
The inevitable follow-up question was whether we’d see another Ape Escape release in the future. Yoshida’s answer? “As there hasn’t been a new game in a long time, we’ve heard the voices of many people asking for a new Ape Escape title.”
So, there it is. As is par for the course, he couldn’t have been any more non-committal if he’d tried. As is also par for the course, though, franchise fans have started to take that comment and run with it. What do we think? Another remaster package? A reboot? An actual sequel? A full-on remake, MediEvil-style? As of right now, there’s no telling, but the Japanese Ape Escape 20th anniversary Twitter account sure might be one worth keeping an eye on.