by TheNesta » Fri Apr 27, 2012 7:48 am
Since I'm in such a writing mood, allow me to put my actual two cents into this discussion.
Firstly, while no one can predict how this will pan out, if I had to bet money on whether this game was successful, or even good, I'd bet against it. And here's why:
- Sony just doesn't have access to enough memorable characters to make this work. This has been brought up on more important occasions then the success of a character brawler. The fact of the matter is this, Nintendo has something that Sony and Microsoft fantasize about. They have a staple of beloved characters and franchises. Sure, Sony and Microsoft both have franchises that are popular, and sell well, but nothing like Nintendo has. Nintendo can, and will always be able to rely on the fact that they can put a Mario game out there and it will move units. Software and Hardware. They can do that with Zelda too. And the rest of their catalog isn't too shabby either.
Sony and Microsoft have spent years bumbling with this. Aside from Halo, and God of War, neither of them have been able to carve out a franchise that spans multiple console generations. At least, not in the same way Nintendo has. For a long time, Sony thought "mascot" characters were the key. Maybe they were, who knows. But the problem is that there wasn't enough push for things like Crash Bandicoot to stay relevant. And at this point it doesn't even matter as far as those go. Because the majority of people who buy PS3 and 360 games are in it for third party software. Most of it leaning towards the Mature variety.
At present, that doesn't really matter, because they're doing fine supporting things like Modern Warfare. At least, none of it matters until you either need to launch a new console without any heavy hitters, or... are, I dunno, making a character brawler?
- This is, admittedly, probably unfair to make an assumption, but, I get the feeling that the game isn't going to be very good. Mechanically speaking. It's being developed by a new studio called SuperBot Entertainment - which, to be fair, could go either way. Hell, they could hit it out of the park with their first release and laugh all the way to bank. But... maybe I'm just being cynical, but I'm thinking that's probably not going to be the case.
Let's assume for a moment that it is good though, or at least, it plays well. There's still no way, at least, not realistically a way that this will match the quality of a Smash Bros. game. Now, that's not really important so much as long as the game is fun, and people like it. But, think for a moment about the Smash Bros. games. Particularly Melee and Brawl. Look at all the love that has been poured into them. The familiar environments, the classic music, the nods and winks to all these Nintendo franchises. Look at all the Trophies and Stickers. Think about the amount of effort that went into maintaining Smash Brothers Dojo, and the daily updates that people lost their shit over.
All that said, it is highly unlikely that Playstation All-Stars Battle Royal is going to have that same kind of passion behind it. And, again, I guess I should note, it doesn't necessarily need it if it's good, but you can see where this starts to feel like more of a cash-in, and less of a celebration of a companies rich history.
- Finally, who is this game for? As I mentioned before, the majority of the audience on the Playstation 3 are people who are invested in third party games, and as for the few first party games Sony puts out that are beloved, mostly feature characters that are a strange fit for a game of this type. On that note, why would any of these people care if Colonel Radec is in a a family friendly character brawler. Even though it's a Killzone character, this isn't anything like Killzone. Joe Wal-mart isn't going to give a shit that Nathan Hale or whoever is fighting Sly Cooper. In fact, "what the hell is a Sly Cooper?" ~ Joe Wal-mart.
With all that said, I just think that it looks grim for the game seeing any real success. Like, I dunno. How well did Playstation Move Heroes do? A 53 on metacritic, and it certainly didn't chart on NPDs. But, who knows, I could be eating crow later this year when it is released to rave reviews, and makes the Number 5 slot on the NPDs below Black Ops 2, Bioshock Infinite, New Super Mario Bros. 2, and Mario Kart DS.
Still... to play Devil's Advocate for a moment. What characters could Sony potentially bring to the table?
Likely Candidates: The EyePet, Other God of War characthers (Zeus?, Aries?), Nariko (Heavenly Sword), Cole MacGrath, Jak & Daxter, Ellie, or Joel (The Last of Us, would make sense to tie them together so close to each other), Sackboy (LittleBigPlanet), LocoRoco, Patapon, Ratchet & Clank, Nathan Hale (Resistance), Nathan Drake (Uncharted)
So, I honestly believe those are the only other characters we're actually going to see in this game. And they make the most sense. Now, I dunno about you, but I don't really care about most of those characters. If I had to pick, more characters from God of War, Nariko, and Nathan Drake would at least be good characters. EyePet, Jak, Daxter, Sackboy, LocoRoco, Patapon, Ratchet, and Clank all make sense for the kind of game it is. I just personally don't have any fondness for any of them. Ellie and Joel could be interesting, as it is the new Naughty Dog franchise, but they don't look particularly interesting. And I'd rather rub two sticks together in a mock battle than play as Cole of Hale. At least the sticks would have more personality.
These would be good, reasonable choices, but we probably won't see them tier: Ape Escape characters, Free Realms characters (like, I dunno, a fairy?), Kat (Gravity Daze), Hot Shots Golf characters, Ico, MuuMuus (Jumping Flash), Lemmings, Sir Daniel Fortesque (MediEvil), Wanderer (Shadow of the Colossus), Gabe Logan (Syphon Filter)
Alright, so things get a little better here, and I think Sony would have a chance of hitting a few good notes by including some of these guys. Obviously, right off the bat, anything from Team Ico would make people lose their shit, like, all of it. Rightfully so too. Kat from Gravity Daze is another really good choice, because that's a new series, and she has a great character design. Next up we have Team "Hey Remember Us?" which consist of Ape Escape characters, MuuMuus, Lemmings, Sir Daniel Fortesque, and Gabe Logan. I think that Sony could really be onto something if it brought in some of those characters, maybe spark a little of that nostalgia. Finally we have Team "Uh... Probably not" with Free Realms, and Hot Shots Golf. Now, before you scoff at that, you should realize that both of these franchises are extremely popular and they'd probably mesh well with the game thematically. Assuming we're not all just a bunch of gun toting dickbags.
The if you put any of these characters in the game, I will buy this game when it goes on sale during Black Friday tier: Arc (or other characters from Arc The Lad), Maximillian, Monica (Dark Cloud 2), Maiden in Black (possibly other characters from Demon's Souls), That elf lady from all the Everquest covers (or maybe those lizard people), Jeanne (Jeanne d'Arc, I'd say other Jeanne d'Arc characters, but if they put like Liane in instead of Jeanne, I'd put an upperdecker in Kaz Hirai's toilet or something. Seriously. I'm not joking.) Rose, Meru, and Lavitz 'Fucking' Slambert (Legend of Dragoon), Vahn, Noa, Gala (Legend of Legaia), Lang, Maya, Kazan (Legaia 2), Lord Stanley Hihat Trinidad XIV (Okage: Shadow King), Something from Planetside, Someone from PoPoLoCrois, Kisala, Lilika Rhyza (maybe other characters from Rogue Galaxy), LITERALLY ANY GOD DAMN CHARACTER FROM ANY WILD ARMS GAME EVER.
So, okay. Now, I'm starting to build up false hope for the game. Cause, man, look at all that shit. I'm serious though, if Sony acknowledged anything here in the game, I would buy it, you have my guarantee. Just in case, let me break it down for you. First up, we have the really obscure stuff, like Evil Stan, PoPoLoCrois characters, probably the entire Legaia cast, but keep that in mind RollCasket . Then we have some just as unlikely characters, but ones I'd really like to see, like Max and Monica from Dark Cloud 2, Arc The Lad characters, Kisala, Lilika, and possibly other Rogue Galaxy characters, and Maiden in Black. Following that we have team "SoE" which consist of that pretty Everquest lady, and literally anything from Planetside. I'd probably buy the game on launch day if they had like, idk, a Vanu Heavy in there. And finally we have team "Pre-ordered my copy" which consist of Jeanne, LAGDCFAWAGE (Though, preferably Rudy, Jack, and Cecilia) and finally the long since forgotten by most, Legend of Dragoon characters.
A brief bit about that last one. There is a tiny, small, bitsy, bitty, microscopic, mini, minute, negligible, slight, teensy-weensy, trifling, wee, yea big, literally 0.1% chance they could put Legend of Dragoon characters in there. I say that because it's kind of a cult classic (even if it really isn't that great, I still consider myself one of the lovers) and because Sony is releasing the PSOne classic on PSN in May. So, pretty much anyone from that game would be cool, but obviously it'd be best if it was Rose or Meru. if it was Lavitz "Fucking" Slambert, henceforth LFS, I would declare this my Game of The Year. I fear for anyone who has the misfortune of actually speaking to me if this occurs, because I will constantly be saying LFS's name, over, and over, and over, and over.
The if this game has any of the following I will buy two copies of the game, at launch. One for me, and one for Farore and RollCasket so that we can play together online with these characters everyday for the rest of our natural born lives tier: A used copy of Fantavision, long since forgotten by the masses as time flows like a river, A Giant Enemy Crab (Genji: Days of The Blade), Literally any vehicle from Gran Turismo, The Intelligent Cube, Either character from Kung-Fu Rider, a dragon that you can only control with a SIXAXIS™ (Lair), The game includes the full version of The Last Guardian, The track creator from ModNation Racers, Any character from Pursuit Force because HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes makes a comeback and surpasses World of Wacraft subscribers, The soundtrack from Wipeout HD.
Those are all pretty self-explanatory, so, I'll leave it at that.
Before I wrap things up, I'd be remiss not to mention the possibility of third party characters. It could happen, and the results could be good. I'm just sayin', like, if Kaine were in this game for some absurd reason, and then it sparked some sort of revitalization of Cavia, and they made NieR 2: The NieRinning, I'd name my firstborn Kratos Playstation All-Stars Battle Royal Hirai. Just sayin'
Finally, one last point. I don't think Parappa is that bad of a choice guys. He's more appropriate for this sort of thing than some Killzone character no one can remember the name of. Also, I thought it would be really cute/funny if he was like, 2D like Mr. Game & Watch, in a 3D world.
