TMNT: Smash-Up

[Ninjinister]

Okay, here's the rundown on how this game is flowing through my head:

We know squat about it so far. We don't know if it will pull characters from one universe, multiple universes, or create its own. We don't know anybody in it except for the four Turtles. We don't know the art direction for the characters and environments. We don't even know, 100% for sure, whether it's going to be an action fighter like Smash Bros., or a more traditional one in the vein of Street Fighter.

We can speculate all we like, but at this point, it would be silly to judge it. We can predict whether we think we will enjoy it or not based on what we know, but there's just too little data on it to be able to say for certain.

Anybody who's been playing video games as long as I have knows that you can't judge a game solely on what console it's being released on, or what companies are involved. Every console has its merits and disadvantages, and companies have several different development teams that work on different kinds of projects. You don't see Ed Boon's crew working on everything Midway puts out (or anything at all, possibly these days, for that matter, ha ha). Kojima Productions doesn't have a hand in everything Konami was made. And in regards to "shovelware", companies churn them out because they're relatively easy to make, and they sell. Wii and DS are popular dumping grounds for these games because they're easier to develop for, and they have high install bases. It doesn't mean that everything released by said company or on said console is going to be crap. Or even every development team. Even if they had their usual "shovelware" team on this, it's not a guarantee that it'll be rubbish.

And as far as we know at this point, this game will only be on the Wii. It doesn't mean that it won't be on other consoles, it's just that it's the only one confirmed for now. Remember, MegaMan 9 was once (twice!) said to be a Wii exclusive.

[sdp]

Originally Posted by Peanut

It's the truth. Even with mediocre third-party licensed games like Spider-Man 3, the Wii version is always a complete disaster.

Thats when they decided to port games to every console and the Wii gets stuck with the PS2 version with random waggle controls. When games are developed as Wii titles they usually come out fairly well, that example is just a crappy PS2 game with waggle controls which is the main problem for the wii. Even the gamecube was a lot more powerful and got better looking games than the ps2..

However there are plenty of exceptions to the "licensed games are crap" rule, like capcom's disney games, chronicles of riddick, etc. Also IMO licensed games only need one thing to be good, be entertaining. People buy a licensed game to play as their favorite character in a universe they like, as long as the game isn't broken or horrible the fan will be happy, they aren't expecting it to be the next Super Mario Galaxy. Which is why sometimes reviews aren't accurate, if you don't like said franchise maybe the game is nothing special for you but if you do like the franchise then fans may like it a lot.

This...this doesn't make any sense. It flies in the face of what is undeniable fact. You even gave two perfect examples.

Have you played either game?
Clone Wars and Speed Racer were pretty good games, look them up on metacritic, they got mixed reviews but they weren't slammed like most licensed games.

[Peanut]

Yes, I've played them. Yes, they are both junk. You don't have to attempt to lecture me on the ins and outs of the videogame industry. I think I have myself covered.

Saying there are exceptions to the licensed based games being sh*t argument is just that. It's an exception, and a very rare one at that. The facts and evidence are right in front of you. Third-party licensed Wii games are usually a complete load of junk. Most Wii games are absolute throwaway trash as it is, adding a license to it is only going to make it worse, in most cases.

This really just sounds like a huge case of denial to me.

Originally Posted by The Ninjinister

Anybody who's been playing video games as long as I have knows that you can't judge a game solely on what console it's being released on, or what companies are involved.

Then you need to play games longer, or take a bigger and more in-depth look at the industry. People can try and give games the benefit of the doubt all they like, but the fact is, more often than not, you can get a pretty good reading on how a game will turn out simply by looking at who's involved in it.

Certainly, you can't outright say "this game will be complete sh*t," far from it, but what you can do is make an educated guess, and set your expectations accordingly. Just take a look at the TMNT games released last-gen. They were mediocre at best. And everyone here can b*tch and moan about it, but they were. Now, we transport the license to the Wii, a console infamous with it's amount of absolutely sh*tty third-party games, exclusive or not. Look at the track record here, how is it possible be positive about this possible outcome? The only reason this game hasn't already fallen off my charts is because of the caliber of developers working on it.

The best news I can hope for is a multi-platform release. At least that way, we'll be guaranteed the ability to play the game without the inevitably horrific waggle controls.

[Ninjinister]

Originally Posted by Peanut

Then you need to play games longer, or take a bigger and more in-depth look at the industry. People can try and give games the benefit of the doubt all they like, but the fact is, more often than not, you can get a pretty good reading on how a game will turn out simply by looking at who's involved in it.

I think 20+ years of playing them and following the industry is enough to offer my own valid opinion. I try not to pigeonhole things just because of the history that's gathered behind it. What I wrote out was merely thinking out loud; it wasn't directed towards anyone at all. And besides, weren't you in the "Just because Ubisoft develops some crap and is publishing this game doesn't mean this will be useless" camp a page ago? That was the driving force behind what I was saying; it's not going to innately fail because of the name printed in the bottom-right of the game's case. I also was defending the Wii a bit because of the almost 20 consoles I own (including the 360 that is technically mine but not yet in my possession), it's number three of my favourites list - but that was just a little bit.

The bizarre thing about this, is between this and other places I've seen, I haven't seen this much arguing about something nobody involved knows anything about since the "Nintendo showed squat on the DS - it's going to rock!" vs. "Sony showed quite a bit of what the PSP is capable of - it's going to suck!" While I can't comment on either, having not ever owned either, and having playing each one very little - both have had massive surges of popularity. But that's besides the point. Way too much drama on something this arcane, even for the internet. All I know is I've successfully got half of my office pre-ordering this motha.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by The Ninjinister

And besides, weren't you in the "Just because Ubisoft develops some crap and is publishing this game doesn't mean this will be useless" camp a page ago?

I was speaking about the developers, not the company making it. And of course this topic is going to be bigger here than other places, it's a Ninja Turtles message board.

I also was defending the Wii a bit because of the almost 20 consoles I own (including the 360 that is technically mine but not yet in my possession), it's number three of my favourites list - but that was just a little bit.

SIGH. So, the amount of consoles you own = knowledge of the industry. I'll keep that in mind.

All I know is I've successfully got half of my office pre-ordering this motha.

SIGH again.

[ThirdMarioBro]

Originally Posted by Peanut

The best news I can hope for is a multi-platform release. At least that way, we'll be guaranteed the ability to play the game without the inevitably horrific waggle controls.

I hope so as well. Technically, it is possible the title could wind up multi-platform seeing as I doubt Nintendo Power would actively go out of their way to promote PS3/360 versions actually existing since they know anybody with the ability would sh*t-can the Wii version as fast as they could for twin analog sticks.

[Ninjinister]

Originally Posted by Peanut

SIGH. So, the amount of consoles you own = knowledge of the industry. I'll keep that in mind.

When did I even say that? Odds bodkins, do you just skim other poster's paragraphs and pick out things that you can argue about? I had said that within my post where I was thinking out loud, I backed up the Wii a little bit because I like it. I like the Wii. Period. That had nothing to do with knowing the industry. NOTHING! You defend what you like in the Video Games section all the time. How is this any different?

Originally Posted by Peanut

And of course this topic is going to be bigger here than other places, it's a Ninja Turtles message board.

What in Sam Hill did this have to do with anything I said?

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by The Ninjinister

When did I even say that? Odds bodkins, do you just skim other poster's paragraphs and pick out things that you can argue about? I had said that within my post where I was thinking out loud, I backed up the Wii a little bit because I like it. I like the Wii. Period. That had nothing to do with knowing the industry. NOTHING! You defend what you like in the Video Games section all the time. How is this any different?

What in Sam Hill did this have to do with anything I said?

Throwing in the number of consoles you own just seemed unnecessary and looked like an e-peen move. Amount of consoles backs up your knowledge type of thing. Sorry about that, old chap. Didn't mean to get you angry.

And that other part got f*cked up as I was writing it. It was supposed to reference something you said in your second paragraph. I thought you had said that you haven't seen so much arguing over something no one knew anything about etc. etc.. I meant to take it out, but I guess I left it up there.

[Ninjinister]

Originally Posted by Peanut

Throwing in the number of consoles you own just seemed unnecessary and looked like an e-peen move. Amount of consoles backs up your knowledge type of thing. Sorry about that, old chap. Didn't mean to get you angry.

And that other part got f*cked up as I was writing it. It was supposed to reference something you said in your second paragraph. I thought you had said that you haven't seen so much arguing over something no one knew anything about etc. etc.. I meant to take it out, but I guess I left it up there.

All right, all right... I'm chilling out... I'm just so used to people just throwing stuff in my face with the "my opinion is right and yours is wrong" chant.... Maybe I just need to go to bed... this has been a long week :p

The console number was basically to give an idea of where it stands in my favourites. If I only owned three or four consoles and indicated that the Wii was my third favorite... well that would look a little silly, no?

And I do admit, yes, my knowledge of the industry is a little rusty these days... I don't have the time or motivation to follow it as closely as I did in the days of yore. But every once in a while I'll still shake a tree and some Nintendo, Microsoft, Valve, Sucker Punch, or something programmers will fall out, or a close friend of the Penny Arcade dudes, and I'll interrogate them for the latest information.

But yeah... the post I did at the top of this page... if anyone else is wondering, I was thinking out loud. Running commentary if you will. Maybe I should have finally logged into one of my old blogs and stuck it there, I don't know. What's there is there.

EDIT: Justification for convincing my co-workers to pre-order this game:

To bind the company as a whole - there are many insanely stupid rivalries between some of the employees, some of us been trying to find a game that most of us would be able to play and enjoy together - you know, like a team building exercise. Five or six guys play World of Warcraft, but most of us hate it. About four or five have been playing Left 4 Dead on PC, but most of us either don't care for that sort of game or don't have powerful enough PCs. One guy has a 360, one guy has a PS3, and everyone else that games has a Wii or something from a previous generation. Since the Wii has a higher install base with the office's employees, we tried looking for a Wii game. Brawl's online makes Baby Jesus cry, and not everyone's into Mario Kart or Animal Crossing. When I mentioned a new TMNT versus fighter for 4 players that supposedly has better online support than Brawl, you could almost see exclamation points popping up above people's heads, ala Metal Gear Solid. Finally, there was something that, even sight unseen, enticed a majority of the game playing staff.

[Archon_Turtle]

Originally Posted by Peanut

e-peen

This is my word of the week. XD

[trustno1]

i remember murphy saying on his blog that it was being made for the wii

[IamtheKnight]

I wish that it was made for the 360 -_-

[Ninjinister]

Originally Posted by cybershredderrulez

I wish that it was made for the 360 -_-

That's the thing, dude, we don't know for a fact if it will or won't be on 360. There's been no announcement yet.

[VaughnMichael]

I love the holiday season, such happy folks.

[Archon_Turtle]

Originally Posted by The Ninjinister

That's the thing, dude, we don't know for a fact if it will or won't be on 360. There's been no announcement yet.

I can pretty much promise you it will get ports to just about everything. You can't properly milk a license without porting the game after all!

[Ninjinister]

Originally Posted by Archon_Turtle

I can pretty much promise you it will get ports to just about everything. You can't properly milk a license without porting the game after all!

That may be, but we don't have an official announcement from anybody yet.

[Kid Icarus]

Originally Posted by cybershredderrulez

I wish that it was made for the 360 -_-

Welcome to my life, N64-GCN era.

Something people need to keep in mind is the reason the 3rd party Wii games are usually total ****. It's the developers the publisher puts behind it. They've gotten into this mindset that "oh, hey, we'll go ahead and put our crappiest team behind this game!"

It pry also helps when you have both Reggie and Shiggy slamming publishers for doing that ****, but it's not going to be fixed over night.

Anyway, lets wait and see what this game's all about before we rip it apart. We don't even know what the play style is... I'll be more then happy to slam the developers and Ubisoft if they screw this one up.

[shuriken]

Originally Posted by Kid Icarus

Anyway, lets wait and see what this game's all about before we rip it apart. We don't even know what the play style is... I'll be more then happy to slam the developers and Ubisoft if they screw this one up.

That was beautiful. I totally agree.

[Ninjinister]

I'm still trying to ponder (and am hotly anticipating) any hint of the game's cast. Konami's efforts were rather... *ahem* unusual, to say the least, in scope (April cosplaying as Blaze Fielding, Aska, Sisyphus, Sleeg, Monster). Will this game repeat the trend? Or will it have more well-known characters and variations thereof?

[trustno1]

i am half hoping that it will be based in the comics as the cast in that particular universe seems to best suit a fighting game especially if they do not want it tied to a movie or anything like that. you could have triceratons radical complete carnage metalhead shredder karai foot soldiers foot elite marlin rat king robobaxter renet savanti romero gameraph minidon in his robot body utroms leatherhead. the list could go on for ages