Prometheus
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2008
- Messages
- 9,472
Hah. That just makes me feel a bit queasy. What worries people is the notion of a "dark and gritty" reboot that would abandon everything we like about the series.
Ok, not going to lie, if it weren't a Bomberman game, if they'd tried making an original game instead of shoehorning an old classic into their brand new mould, I think it could be a pretty fun game. There's a lot of things that are like that, games, movies, and books, where they should be able to stand on their own but for some reason the producers tack on some existing IP.If you haven't heard of Bomberman: Act Zero (and I'm frequently surprised by how many people don't know about it), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEKmgPLqD1Q. Even though it looks like a parody made by people who have become cynical about "dark and gritty" reboots of beloved franchises, this is actually a real game. It really exists. You can really buy it. And this is what they tried to reboot Bomberman into.
I must admit, I celebrated.
It was going to damage the series terribly (just look at how it was disrespecting the mythos, and was solely aimed at immature grown men who never learned to treat their possessions with respect - indeed, the latter was outright admitted by Capcom, and disrespecting your mythos is one thing you NEVER do with a franchise that has one, because the audience will notice and it will damage your brand; Quite apart from that, it was on hardware where the audience for it wasn't anyway, which is a mistake Capcom has made before and been met with poor sales for as a result), and they did the right thing by cancelling it.
No, Battle Network didn't do that at all - it was always outright stated that it's part of an entirely different continuity. (For the uninitiated who probably have no clue what we're on about here, there are two continuities in the series. The main continuity is based around robots and currently goes Classic > X > Zero > ZX > Legends, whilst the alternate continuity is based in a world where networking technology took precedence instead, and goes Battle Network > Star Force.)Well you are right in the fact that it would have ruined the series mythos, but didnt battle network already kind of do that? dont get me wrong i do like the battle network series but its just not rockman. and im a longtime capcom fan, and the idea of a game in megaman style where he could become ryu! thats just a childhood dream right there :wub:
Actually................................... Wait for it.............................it's just embarrassing when they do it to things like Bomberman. What next, Hello Kitty: The Bitch is back (15 - contains partial nudity and scenes of a sexual nature)?
I saw a good video that took a look at that "lowest common denominator" thing to a degree, just yesterday. It basically compares the design of a couple of Mega Man games, to modern titles, and examines where approach of the modern titles fails whilst the Mega Man one succeeds. It's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM. It's almost 20 minutes long, and well worth taking the time to watch if you're even remotely interested in good game design. Note for those viewing at their workplaces: There is some NSFW language.It's a sad fact that a lot of games companies will turn their back on a well loved original, or franchise, by trying to make it appeal to the lowest common denominator in an effort to maximise their profits, rather than just having faith in the strength of the original as it is.
Two words sum up half of this problem: Focus groups.I expect a lot of market research is undertaken and all the wrong people are asked, and none of the original team are brought in to make it, and we end up with something smelly.
Sadly, sometimes things that have a cult following end up consigned to the bargain-bin, too, when the people behind them fail to bother telling anyone that they even exist.Ironically all of these efforts to make something with a cult following appeal to the masses usually ends up utterly mediocre and consigned to the bargain bin within months of release, meanwhile a lot of loyal fans are left with a feeling of having been swiftly kicked in the ghoulies.
Sure thingYep, I knew that. But thanks muchly for the tip-off, nonetheless.