[PA Comic] Monday, April 30, 2012 - The Back, Back Catalogue

Geth · April 2012

The Back, Back Catalogue
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/04/30

RMS Oceanic · April 2012

I want to play as the secret car from Wipeout 2097.

Its special move is driving off the edge of a cliff because I don't have the reflexes to control its awesome power.

GiraffeLover · April 2012

Looks like someone needs an old-fashioned kick in the nads.

Golden Yak · April 2012

This reminds me of that one comic like this, but it was about EA.

This one:
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/02/09

It would be pretty cool to see Kratos fight that guy from God of War though.

Aegeri · April 2012

This comic sums it up perfectly really.

godmode · April 2012

Why no Snake?

Dark Raven X · April 2012

Snake's not a Sony IP, he even appeared in Brawl. Though with MGR:R coming out soon, I imagine Cyborg Raiden will be in, if they do plenty of 3rd parties. :3

Also, Shadow of the Colossus is a Sony IP.

The game has bigger problems than a potential roster, anyway. It lacks the perfectly blended style of Smash Bros, they all look like they stepped out of their own games, with a layer of dirt added.

Maz- · April 2012

Yeah, the game itself might be fantastic (or it might not), but they could never put together a compelling roster like Nintendo can.

Taramoor · April 2012

RMS Oceanic wrote: »

I want to play as the secret car from Wipeout 2097.

Its special move is driving off the edge of a cliff because I don't have the reflexes to control its awesome power.

Shorty · April 2012

I love Loudmouth Polo Shirt Guy

I must have more of him

Good Looking Fat Guy · April 2012

As a proud donner (sp?/is that even a word?) of said polo garments, I hang my head in shame that this loudmouth is a member of the Polo Tribe.

Darkewolfe · April 2012

Taramoor wrote: »

RMS Oceanic wrote: »

I want to play as the secret car from Wipeout 2097.

Its special move is driving off the edge of a cliff because I don't have the reflexes to control its awesome power.

Is this a real thing?

Oddfish · April 2012

It appears that it is not restricted to Sony IP?

So, I think Crash Bandicoot is up in this shizz? Maybe?

If it includes all the characters I think it will then I might just have to make friends with someone who owns a PS3. Or, at least better friends. Like "come over and play Playstation Three with me!" friends.

We would be such fine friends.

Yessssssssssss...

KoopahTroopah · April 2012

I popped in Brawl last night with a couple friends. A few games turned into two hours pretty quickly.

Vahnara · April 2012

It's going to have Sly Cooper, that is enough to make me interested.

InXplotch · April 2012

That fact that it has PaRappa the Rapper in it is pretty exciting. But let the fact that Fat Princess is in the game be testament to how much scraping of the IP barrel must be going on.

(also it seems the game is limited to Sony first party. So I am blindly rooting for Characters from thatgamecompany, Such as the Clothmen from journey)

Jasconius · April 2012

perhaps spyro the dragon?

fearsomepirate · April 2012

Spyro's not a Sony IP. The fact that people keep coming up with third-party characters shows just how non-iconic Sony's stable of first-party IP is. (I said "weak" originally but actually, Sony's 1st-party games are usually pretty solid.)

peacekeeper · April 2012

this is classic pa

InXplotch · April 2012

fearsomepirate wrote: »

Spyro's not a Sony IP. The fact that people keep coming up with third-party characters shows just how non-iconic Sony's stable of first-party IP is. (I said "weak" originally but actually, Sony's 1st-party games are usually pretty solid.)

Spyro might not be, but Crash bandicoot and Jax & Daxter are.
Actually, now that I look at it, Sony has a pretty good collection of IPs. There's just not all super iconic.

Pony · April 2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Computer_Entertainment#Owned_franchises_and_properties

so, just going off that list they could have:

A dude from Demon's Souls
Some EverQuest guy
Someone from Fat Princess
The guy from the Getaway
Kratos
The dude from InFamous
Jak and/or Daxter
Some guy from Killzone
LittleBigPlanet sackboys
Ratchet and/or Clank
Some other guy from Resistance who is totally different from the guy from Killzone
The Shadow of the Colossus guy
Sly Cooper
The poor man's Sam Fisher from Syphon Filter
Sweet Tooth from Twisted Metal because he's the only iconic character in the series
A car from Wipeout or Gran Turismo?

that's all i got man

yeah

that sure does rank up there with Sonic and Mario and Link and Pikachu

fearsomepirate · April 2012

InXplotch wrote: »

might not be, but Crash bandicoot and Jax & Daxter are.
Actually, now that I look at it, Sony has a pretty good collection of IPs. There's just not all super iconic.

Correction on Crash: "Was." Activision owns the Crash IP now. See how hard this is?

-Tal · April 2012

Ratchet, Jak, Sly, Crash, and maybe Spyro could give a couple good characters

the rest are too many Shoot Dudes with a few decent Sword Dudes

Henroid · April 2012

See, part of the issue with this idea for a game is illustrated by Pony's post. And this isn't a jab at you Pony, because the point I'm making is in the way you're able to describe the characters. It's either "some guy" or "I guess this character because there wasn't anyone else." Some industry writers (yes yes I know, lol games journalism) have said over the last few years that Sony has never had to build up their own brand before, and six years later that's still the goddamn problem they face. And I think they're making a massive miscalculation with this game. This isn't the kind of product you put out in order to build up brand recognition. It's what you put out when you do have a brand put out. Nintendo is the obvious example here. Yes, some characters in Smash Bros (like the Ice Climbers) had some people confused, but overall that's an undeniably recognizable brand. Square was able to put out their version of this kind of game too. They very much have a brand.

So the reactions we're seeing for the most part is "copying Nintendo," which is something Sony has been accused of over the last seven years (starting before the PS3 launched), so they're not doing themselves any goddamn favors with this. And another issue is that Sony is more or less being 'that guy' who declares they've 'won' a political argument or whatever despite it being ongoing, in that they're just jumping up with this game saying, "WE HAVE BRAND RECOGNITION NOW!" even though they really don't yet. Yes, they have confidence, or are feigning it, but that's only a virtue in the business world when it is actually present and supported. Not just because one says so.

cloudeagle · April 2012

Henroid wrote: »

See, part of the issue with this idea for a game is illustrated by Pony's post. And this isn't a jab at you Pony, because the point I'm making is in the way you're able to describe the characters. It's either "some guy" or "I guess this character because there wasn't anyone else." Some industry writers (yes yes I know, lol games journalism) have said over the last few years that Sony has never had to build up their own brand before, and six years later that's still the goddamn problem they face. And I think they're making a massive miscalculation with this game. This isn't the kind of product you put out in order to build up brand recognition. It's what you put out when you do have a brand put out. Nintendo is the obvious example here. Yes, some characters in Smash Bros (like the Ice Climbers) had some people confused, but overall that's an undeniably recognizable brand. Square was able to put out their version of this kind of game too. They very much have a brand.

So the reactions we're seeing for the most part is "copying Nintendo," which is something Sony has been accused of over the last seven years (starting before the PS3 launched), so they're not doing themselves any goddamn favors with this. And another issue is that Sony is more or less being 'that guy' who declares they've 'won' a political argument or whatever despite it being ongoing, in that they're just jumping up with this game saying, "WE HAVE BRAND RECOGNITION NOW!" even though they really don't yet. Yes, they have confidence, or are feigning it, but that's only a virtue in the business world when it is actually present and supported. Not just because one says so.

I've said this before elsewhere, but I think part of the problem with the game reveal is the fact that they didn't try to illustrate how they're different from Smash Bros. Hell, the Brawl reveal clearly showed new game mechanics and a crazy twist people weren't expecting (Snake). Even though it was the third Smash Bros. game, the Internet exploded. With this, the entire concept of the reveal was "holy crap a bunch of PlayStation dudes beating the crap out of each other, isn't that awesome?" Considering the game leaked months ago, simply doing that didn't cut it. And combine that with what you said about Sony's IPs (on the whole) not being as universally recognized or consistently used, and you get the fairly large amount of "meh" from this announcement, even though the game itself could wind up being great.

RainbowDespair · April 2012

Really, it wouldn't be hard to make a fun cast of characters from Sony's IPs.

Ape from Ape Escape series
Shibito and Kyoya Suda from Siren series
Robot (Mechanized Rabbit with the ability to jump really high) from Jumping Flash! series
Kat (anime girl with the ability to control gravity) from Gravity Daze
Fat Princess from Fat Princess
Giant Loco Roco from Loco Roco
Parappa and Lammy from Parappa the Rapper series
Nariko from Heavenly Sword
Wander from Shadow of the Colossus
Arc from Arc the Lad series
Cole from Infamous series
Horde of Lemmings from Lemmings series
Jak and Daxter from Jak and Daxter series
Jeanne from Jeanne d'Arc
Rose from Legend of Dragoon
Sackboy from LitleBigPlanet series
Sir Daniel Fortesque from MediEvil
Ari (ordinary boy whose shadow is possed by Evil King Stan) from Okage: Shadow King
White Knight from Popolocrois series
Ratchet and Clank from Ratchet & Clank series
Sly Cooper from Sly Cooper series
Kratos from God of War series
Sweet Tooth from Twisted Metal series
Jaster Rogue from Rogue Galaxy
Keats and Ellen from Folklore
Nathan Drake from Uncharted series

There, now you have around 30 characters for your fighting game and that was just from thinking about it for a few minutes. Admittedly, many of the characters aren't iconic in the way that say Mario & Link are, but this kind of roster would be great for a fighting game since you have a wide variety of fighting styles.

2 Marcus 2 Ravens · April 2012

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Really, it wouldn't be hard to make a fun cast of characters from Sony's IPs.

Ape from Ape Escape series
Shibito and Kyoya Suda from Siren series
Robot (Mechanized Rabbit with the ability to jump really high) from Jumping Flash! series
Kat (anime girl with the ability to control gravity) from Gravity Daze
Fat Princess from Fat Princess
Giant Loco Roco from Loco Roco
Parappa and Lammy from Parappa the Rapper series
Nariko from Heavenly Sword
Wander from Shadow of the Colossus
Arc from Arc the Lad series
Cole from Infamous series
Horde of Lemmings from Lemmings series
Jak and Daxter from Jak and Daxter series
Jeanne from Jeanne d'Arc
Rose from Legend of Dragoon
Sackboy from LitleBigPlanet series
Sir Daniel Fortesque from MediEvil
Ari (ordinary boy whose shadow is possed by Evil King Stan) from Okage: Shadow King
White Knight from Popolocrois series
Ratchet and Clank from Ratchet & Clank series
Sly Cooper from Sly Cooper series
Kratos from God of War series
Sweet Tooth from Twisted Metal series
Jaster Rogue from Rogue Galaxy
Keats and Ellen from Folklore
Nathan Drake from Uncharted series

There, now you have around 30 characters for your fighting game and that was just from thinking about it for a few minutes. Admittedly, many of the characters aren't iconic in the way that say Mario & Link are, but this kind of roster would be great for a fighting game since you have a wide variety of fighting styles.

This is definitely true. I'm reading this list and thinking, "Man, this could be a whole lot of fun."

But most of those names really aren't iconic at all and so they likely wouldn't make the cut.

Which leaves us with Kratos and some guys with guns, which couldn't be less appealing.

But, who knows? Might be awesome. I'll keep a curious eye on it anyway (while I continue to play Brawl)

syndalis · April 2012

Darkewolfe wrote: »

Taramoor wrote: »

RMS Oceanic wrote: »

I want to play as the secret car from Wipeout 2097.

Its special move is driving off the edge of a cliff because I don't have the reflexes to control its awesome power.

Is this a real thing?

The answer is yes.

Fighters Megamix was a fucking crazy game.

Taramoor · April 2012

Darkewolfe wrote: »

Taramoor wrote: »

RMS Oceanic wrote: »

I want to play as the secret car from Wipeout 2097.

Its special move is driving off the edge of a cliff because I don't have the reflexes to control its awesome power.

Is this a real thing?

Yes, yes it is.

Fighters Megamix was an actual game released for an actual console by an actual company, and one of the playable characters was a Car.

A Dabble Of Thelonius · April 2012

If by "aren't iconic in the way say Mario & Link are" you mean " I don't even know who half of those people are".

Anywho, I love this and desire more angry polo guy.

Jasconius · April 2012

It's not like Captain Falcon was some marquee character

People are coming down on this a little harder than I expected.

It looks like a really fun game and I think the PS3 needs more purebred multiplayer games

2 Marcus 2 Ravens · April 2012

Jasconius wrote: »

It's not like Captain Falcon was some marquee character

People are coming down on this a little harder than I expected.

It looks like a really fun game and I think the PS3 needs more purebred multiplayer games

Oh, for sure! But the reason Nintendo could get away with putting a bunch of obscure characters into Smash Bros was by having a whole bunch of the most iconic characters in the industry right alongside them. Now they've managed to make even those lesser known characters much more well known and admired as well. It's an all around win.

Sony just doesn't have any of that going for it. I mean, it's probably going to be a super fun game. Sony first party, while not known for iconic characters, is known for pumping out consistently high quality games. It's just that this one doesn't seem to fit with their brand.

Edit: I'm not saying that it shouldn't exist. I'm all for it, if it turns out to be good. But I think that's the reason for all the backlash.

RainbowDespair · April 2012

Well, also keep in mind that they could be leaning heavily on third party characters as well. If say, they cut a deal with Square-Enix to get Lara Croft and Cloud Strife, that would be a pretty big boost as far as having iconic characters on the roster.

Not high profile, but NIS has a longstanding relationship with Sony. I would certainly not object to having Etna and her army of Prinnies as a playable character in this game.

Athenor · April 2012

I don't think you will see any of the truly iconic characters transfer over like everyone is expecting. For one thing, Microsoft could very easily blacklist a publisher from the 360 for such a move... Or even threaten to do so. Further, if the game ends up not being amazing, it could devalue the 3rd party IPs - another potential risk that negotiators would bring to the table. Finally.. a lot of the characters people have been calling for could easily be in their own developer-specific fighting games. So why give Sony money?

Again, this is all just things going through my mind, not necessarily what will happen.

RainbowDespair · April 2012

You really think Microsoft would blacklist a publisher for having a cameo in a Sony exclusive game? Seriously? That's so unlikely, it's laughable.

NibCrom · April 2012

Aegeri wrote: »

This comic sums it up perfectly really.

peacekeeper wrote: »

this is classic pa

Probably my favorite PA comic in many months.

Maddoc · April 2012

So hey

Since we're discounting like every suggestion someone brings up for characters that could go into this game due to their lack of iconicity

Tell me how iconic Ice Climbers are

Or Mr. Game & Watch

Houk · April 2012

Athenor wrote: »

I don't think you will see any of the truly iconic characters transfer over like everyone is expecting. For one thing, Microsoft could very easily blacklist a publisher from the 360 for such a move... Or even threaten to do so. Further, if the game ends up not being amazing, it could devalue the 3rd party IPs - another potential risk that negotiators would bring to the table. Finally.. a lot of the characters people have been calling for could easily be in their own developer-specific fighting games. So why give Sony money?

Again, this is all just things going through my mind, not necessarily what will happen.

MS wouldn't blacklist any publisher/developer for something like this, and I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that other devs/pubs would be giving Sony money to put their characters in the game. It would be the opposite.

Darkewolfe · April 2012

What's her face from Everquest is one of the most iconic brands in gaming, in that almost anyone recognizes pictures of her as "that lady from the Everquest boxes."

B:L · April 2012

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Really, it wouldn't be hard to make a fun cast of characters from Sony's IPs.

Ari (ordinary boy whose shadow is possed by Evil King Stan) from Okage: Shadow King

I fuckin' love Okage: Shadow King.

Snake should be a shoe-in, as he's appeared in non-Smash Smash Bros' before. Fighting against Kratos isn't that different from fighting against Optimus Prime.

Big Red Tie · April 2012

Maddoc wrote: »

So hey

Since we're discounting like every suggestion someone brings up for characters that could go into this game due to their lack of iconicity

Tell me how iconic Ice Climbers are

Or Mr. Game & Watch

after appearing in melee/brawl with Mario, link et. al?

more than 80% of the playstation list

Penny Arcade

[PA Comic] Monday, April 30, 2012 - The Back, Back Catalogue

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