There is no joy in Rossville.
We all thought it was an April Fools' joke when Bob Ross Inc. and developer AGFRAG announced that a Wii and DS game based on the late Bob Ross's The Joy of Painting public television show. It turned out not to be, and there was much rejoicing.
The status of the game has taken a turn for the worse, though. Developer AGFRAG has posted a notice on their website stating the following:
"I'm sorry that we have disappointed so many people on a certain project.
Please realize we did what we felt was best, with the cards that were dealt
to us and the situation we were in. We have learned from the experience and
we won't make the same mistakes twice. The companies we dealt with were
professional in every way and we enjoyed working with them while we did and
appreciated the opportunities they presented to us.
You won't hear anything about our next game until it's almost on shelves."
Does this mean we'll never get to paint happy trees with the Wii remote? To find out, GameSpot contacted AGFRAG's head man Joseph Hatcher to ask about it. "We are not saying it is canceled in anyway," he said. (It should be noted that he made that statement before the notice was posted on the developer's website.)
While this is not exactly a flat cancellation announcement, as of now the Bob Ross Joy of Painting game doesn't have a publisher and doesn't have a developer. All that's out there is the concept, and unless Bob Ross Inc. shops the idea around we may need to stick to drawing not-so-happy trees with Pictochat.