Screenshot Inconsistencies
Before I go over the prerelease images one by one, there's something that needs to be addressed. Put simply, I'm not sure they're actual screenshots. Please, stay with me while I break out my
corkboard and red marker.
Let's start with an easy one. This screenshot is simply too tall. It's 240x180 (4:3), which is 20 pixels taller than the Game Boy Advance's 240x160 (3:2). There is no evidence to suggest that the GBA was ever intended to use a screen of this size. As far as I can tell, all of
the GBA developer kits outputted in 3:2 resolution. (In fact, as far back as 1995, Nintendo was
rumored to be developing a handheld console with a 3 inch by 2 inch screen.) It's possible that the game was originally being developed for a different system, but from what I've found, I don't think a single console in 2000/2001 used a 240x180 screen.
The image isn't stretched, either. There are visual artifacts that suggest it's made up of 8x8 tiles, most notably around the edges of the hut in the upper right.
As such, I don't see any way that this could be a legitimate screenshot. But, of course, that doesn't prove that any of the other screenshots are fake, does it?
Let's move on to the Brakas screenshot. This one is odd in a few subtle ways. First, The Unnamed Bird Rahi is in the first frame of its diving animation, and its shadow is offset slightly to the right. In the demo build, the shadow is directly below the bird at all times. Second, the Brakas is dropping a boulder, whereas in the final game it throws Madu fruit. Third, the Brakas sprite here is larger than in the final game:
Don't talk to me or my son ever again
None of these things by themselves are proof that this screenshot is fake. All of them could be explained away as minor differences between builds. However, there's something else about this screenshot that I have a hard time justifying. The "camera" is simply too high.
The image above shows the screenshot overlaid on the map as it appears in the final game, with grid lines spaced 8 pixels apart. (The game uses 8-pixel tiles, as is standard for GBA games.) Takua's position on-screen varies between all of these screenshots, but the general rule – as in the final game – is that he's roughly centered on-screen. So it's curious that in this image he appears far closer to the bottom of the screen, especially considering that the camera could easily be one tile lower. For reference, here's how the camera is positioned in the final game when Takua stands in roughly the same spot:
In fact, in the final game, the camera never pans up on this screen. The only way I can see this screenshot being legitimate is if the bottom row of tiles was added later in development – but there's no good reason for the developers to do that.
Let's move on to the other Le-Wahi screenshot. Once again, there's something strange about the birds: they don't have shadows. The easy explanation is that they don't have shadows when they're over empty space, but in the final game, they do:
It's hard to see, but it's there.
It's also interesting that the two spiders use the same sprite, just mirrored. The same is true of the birds. If a developer faked this screenshot, it would be easier for them to paste the same sprite twice and mirror one than to copy and paste two different sprites. (I'll grant that I wouldn't find this suspicious if I weren't already looking for evidence of forgery.)
This screenshot is the most complicated to explain. The Volo Lutu Launcher's grapple ball is attached to a bush on the shore, and it has the shockwave effect around it that appears in the final game when the launcher is used. However, we can see that the launcher isn't equipped to either of the shoulder buttons, and Takua is jumping, not being pulled towards the grapple ball.
Three Madu fruits are also on-screen. The logical assumption is that they were thrown by Takua, but the angles they would have to be thrown at seem unlikely:
Considering how fast the Madu fruit moves in the final game, it's practically impossible that the player would be able to throw three of them from such odd angles in such a short duration that they all appear on-screen. A possible solution is that these projectiles come from the large bird Rahi, rather than from Takua:
However, Madu fruit thrown by enemies uses a different color palette than if thrown by Takua. Below is a comparison, side by side with the fruit seen in the screenshot:
The left side uses the upscaled but blurry GameReactor screenshot as a base; the right uses the 1:1 scale but jpeg-y IGN screenshot. The Madu fruit in the center with the blue shadow is the kind thrown by enemies, and the one on the right with the dark shadow is the kind thrown by Takua. I'll admit that neither is a perfect match, but the fruit in the screenshot looks closer in color palette to the Takua variant.
As a final note, the two birds use the same sprite, but mirrored, and the Madu fruit all use the same sprite. Once again, this could be evidence that the sprites were copy-pasted.
The natural response to all of this is probably "Jesus, dude, so what?" You see, originally I was planning on analyzing all of these screenshots as if they were accurate representations of what the game looked like at some point, and now that's out the window. I still plan on analyzing them one by one, but now I'll do so in the same way I'd look at concept art. As to why the devs would fake screenshots of their own game, well, look at the GBA developer kits I linked up above. Probably it was easier for them to just paste a few sprites into Photoshop than to take a good-quality screenshot off one of those things. (I mean, they used a
camcorder for the demo footage, for goodness' sake.) And, frankly, who would notice?
Anyway, hopefully you can see the merit to what I'm saying, and it doesn't seem like too much of a goofy conspiracy theory. If not, well, I'll gladly accept my role as the community crank.
Next time: something less ridiculous!
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