When A Video Game Reboot Goes Wrong

Ever since Pong arrived on the scene around four decades ago, there have been titles that stood out like a few golden needles in a massive stack of bland hay. This was possible by possessing unique, and sometimes original, features for such games, whether they involve gameplay, art style, or story. But as the years went by, such unique titles have been set aside as the video game industry moved on in technology and popularity; they are still remembered fondly by long-time gamers, sold in specialty stores, and sometimes re-released on anthology disks and in digital stores. Yet companies, often publishers, still search for ways to continue making money off of those titles. One fairly common way of doing so is by rebooting those titles. Reboots of this sort tend to be done by making considerable changes to gameplay mechanics, level design, graphics, art style, and storytelling while maintaining the core concepts of what made the original games special in the first place, reinvigorating them for both old fans and newcomers. While there have been success stories, there have also been many cases in which video game reboots went wrong, tarnishing the reputation of the franchises and, in the worst cases, destroyed the companies responsible for making them. As a more detailed description of this scenario, the following list contains of some the most infamous reboots in video game history, a good number of which have been mentioned in most top five or ten lists of the worst video game reboots around the Internet. It should also be noted that this list is not set in any particular order.

A Connecticut Town’s Plan on Collecting and Destroying Video Games: A Sign of Moral Panic

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on January 4, 2013)

Last night, I read a Gamespot article that briefly describes how community leaders at Southington, Connecticut are planning to have volunteers give away violent video games, CDs, and DVDs for destruction in exchange for “a gift certificate to a local restaurant, the Lake Compounce amusement park, or a bowling alley.” This is in the wake of last month’s shooting at the neighboring town of Newport that left 20 children and 6 adults dead. While they are not directly linking the games to the tragic incident, the organizers said that this is “suitable time for parents to engage their children in discussions about whether or not playing violent games is appropriate” when “there’s evidence that [they] cause increases in aggressiveness, fear, anxiety and desensitization about actions of violence.”

Scapegoating Video Games in the Wake of the Connecticut Shooting

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on December 21, 2012)

Yesterday, I read a Gamespot article about Senator Jay Rockefeller introducing a bill that would call the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to study the violent effects of video games on children, an area in which numerous studies have been done in the past that are either poorly designed or show no correlation between violent video games and aggression. This came in the wake of the recent shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, which raises some serious questions. What does children’s exposure to video games, violent and otherwise, have to do with the actions done by the mentally unstable man responsible? Professional studies and works like Grand Theft Childhood by Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl K. Olson have consistently found no link to playing video games and psychological instability. Yet, there are still a few politicians pressing for more studies to find a link between the two, which I consider to be a waste of time and money.

Kung Fu Superstar: One of the Most Interesting Video Game Ideas of This Generation

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on July 5, 2012)

Tonight, I have read a Gamespot article interviewing Kostas Zarifis, a former employee of game company Lionhead Studios (known for its Fable franchise of role-playing games or RPGs), about Kung Fu Superstar, a motion-controlled video game being made for the Xbox 360 and its Kinect motion-controlled peripheral by his recently established independent company, Kinesthetic Games. The game would place players in the role of Danny Chang, a practicing martial artist who dreams of becoming a star in his own martial arts movies. Using the Kinect, players would increase Chang’s skills as well as learn real martial arts moves and skills in what Zarifis called ‘the ultimate RPG.’ Since I play video games and am currently studying karate, I would have to say that Kung Fu Superstar is one of the most interesting video game ideas of this generation. That’s not to say it will replace martial arts schools when it comes to studying martial arts .At the moment, there are no details as to how the Kinect motion-controls will function in the game and when it will be released. I will have to keep an eye out for new information on Kung Fu Superstar as news of the game develops.

The Business of Making Video Games and Buying Them

(Originally posted for The Voice Of Heard on May 6, 2012)

When you want to buy a video game, what factors do you take into consideration? Would you pay $60 for a new game after launch or buy a used copy at a cheaper price? Would you be willing to pay extra for downloadable content? Do you prefer a game made by a major well-known company or one made by an independent and less well-known company; to be more specific, would you rather have a game developed by people working under a strict corporate hierarchy or one by people who follow their own creative principles? Do you want the game to strictly follow a formula, complete with clichés and traditions, that has been established and followed for a number of years or do you want it to bring something unique and innovative to your gaming experience? Upon reading all of this, I’m certain a single question immediately pops into your mind: why ask so many questions about buying video games? To put it simply, my questions stem from a few recent articles I read that raised some interesting and concerning issues regarding video game development, marketing, and sales.

The Latest Info on DmC: Devil May Cry, My Latest Thoughts, and My Conclusion on the Game

(Originally posted for The Voice Of Heard on April 19, 2012)

Seven days ago (or perhaps eight days by the time this was posted), a new trailer and gameplay footage of the video game DmC: Devil May Cry, set to be released sometime this year, have been revealed at Capcom’s annual Captivate event. After viewing them a couple of times, all I can say is this: my impressions are mixed at best and sour at worst. While the graphics (at least those in the demonic-dimension Limbo) and character modeling have been updated and polished since last year, the gameplay looks recycled, slow, and dumbed-down. Ever since the gameplay footage from last year, the enemies seem easier to fight that the ones in the past Devil May Cry games; the “small-fry” in this game seemed like even lesser enemies when compared to the marionettes from the original Devil May Cry and the sin scythes from Devil May Cry 3. The enemy design doesn’t appear too threatening either. Before I get into the latest details regarding the story, I would like to briefly touch upon a movie I’ve seen just a few days ago. That movie is called They Live, a science fiction action film made in 1988, staring professional wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and directed by John Carpenter. The film itself is a parody of consumer culture in which all-powerful aliens from a distant planet are running Earth and manipulating the human population from behind the scenes via consumer products, the media, and the government. This is done with constant bombardment of one-to-three-word messages hidden in signs, labels, and magazine pages, saying things like “Obey,” “Submit to Authority,” “Stay Asleep,” “Marry and Reproduce,” and “No Independent Thought.” Now what does all this have to do with DmC: Devil May Cry, you ask? The story in this game, when taken as a whole, is going to be a consumer culture parody in which all-powerful forces (in this case, its demons from Limbo instead of aliens from outer space) manipulate and control humans via consumer goods, the media, and the government from behind the scenes. When Dante gets dragged into Limbo, messages appear on billboards and signs saying things like “Spend,” “Submit to Debt,” “Gluttony is Good,” and “Homeless for You.” The Captivate trailer also revealed another antagonist that Dante goes up against: a news anchor for the Raptor News Network, a sort of parody of real-life news anchor Bill O’Reily and the real-life news network Fox News, who refers to the main character as a terrorist of the worst kind and “a sexual deviant.” In the latest game demo featured at Captivate, a plot device that strongly suggests a major role in the story is Virility, an energy drink presumably engineered by the demons as another means of subduing the humans. The newly revealed story details I just discussed is sure to raise questions as to originality and, for that matter, actually telling a dark mature story as the game is said to tell.

The Latest Update on DmC: Devil May Cry and My Suspicious Impressions

(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on March 4, 2012)

The design of Dante's trademark arsenal, the sword Rebellion and the set of handguns named Ebony and Ivory, has been revamped for the upcoming DmC: Devil May Cry.

Just a few days ago, Side Mission, a blog for the gaming website Gametrailers, posted an entry regarding newly revealed information about DmC: Devil May Cry, the latest production of one of Capcom’s most famous video game franchises under development by Ninja Theory and due sometime this year. That information consists of a few new details regarding the past of the game’s revamped protagonist, Dante, and his trademark arsenal, a sword named Rebellion and a pair of handguns named Ebony and Ivory. Dante has been described by Capcom as “[An orphaned] young man with no respect for society in general…[and who is also] caught between the worlds of humans and demons, [making him feel like] an outcast.” As for the arsenal, the design philosophy behind it has been described by GregaMan on the Capcom-Unity blog as:

“[Creating an] impression that they were crafted a long, long time ago and since their creation they have sent innumerable demons to their doom.”

“Ebony & Ivory have straight, clean looking barrels that make them look like contemporary firearms, while the addition of ornate embossing is used to give the guns a feeling of mystique and uniqueness. As you move into the grip you can see that the guns have a more fluid, liquid-like look that adds further mystery and a demonic flavor to their design.”

“Rebellion is designed to look like a powerful sword, with the detailing in the handle giving it a feeling of historical significance coupled with a demonic heritage. The same design ethos that was used for the Ebony & Ivory grips is also true for Rebellion’s hilt, making the weapons match stylistically.”