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This Week in Games - Bowsette Bows In


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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4410
PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:31 am Reply with quote
From what I've been reading, supposedly Telltale pinned hopes of keeping the company afloat with a partnership with some other companies that backed out shortly before the layoffs. Even if that was the case, it is incredibly unfair not to tell employees that the company is that close to the edge. I also can't really blame those potential partners for declining. They likely realized that they were going to fund games that weren't selling. Skybound, one of the partners for the game and the company that has the IP, tweeted that the closure came as a surprise to them. It seems like the new management that was brought in decided that hiding information was the way to go.

Supposedly, something is in the works with "potential partners" to finish the Walking Dead, but I'm pretty skeptical. The staff that was working on it is gone, and if what I've been seeing is true, Telltale's games were on constant sales decline, so unless somebody decides the goodwill of being the company that saved the game is worth the cost of doing it, I don't know what anyone else would get out of it because it doesn't look like they'd get their money back.
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 5887
PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:35 am Reply with quote
Quote:
I'm not sure how many games would have that sort of sway over Sony policy.


Which will look it all the more funny when the Fortnite hype dies down in a few years.

Quote:
Some might remember that Dracula X saw a rather clunky 3D remake on the PSP,


Seems a bit unfair to call out Dracula X Chronicles out for something that virtually all the Castlevania games prior to Symphony Of The Night had Razz.


Quote:
which will no doubt please folks who want to play the PC Engine original but not pay out the nose for it.


Requiem will cost 20 dollars (16 with a PS Plus account)

Dracula X Chronicles (which features the original game) costs 15 dollars. That's pretty steep for two games from 1993 and 1997 (and which may not feature the aforementioned Chronicles or the newer additions Chronicles added to it's SOTN port).

Quote:


Of course, this begs the question: Simon and Richter are in Smash Ultimate, so why no Switch version? The answer, as my friend GSK pointed out, might have something to do with whether or not Symphony of the Night is running via some sort of console emulation:


Apparently that and this
https://www.destructoid.com/castlevania-requiem-is-a-ps4-exclusive-because-sony-partnered-with-konami-524637.phtml



Greed1914 wrote:
Even if that was the case, it is incredibly unfair not to tell employees that the company is that close to the edge.


They wouldn't have needed to tell them given they just did layoffs nearly a year ago.

https://www.polygon.com/2017/11/7/16619444/telltale-games-layoffs


Last edited by BadNewsBlues on Fri Sep 28, 2018 1:50 am; edited 2 times in total
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:45 am Reply with quote
Quote:
I usually try to keep the focus here on Japanese- and Japanese inspired games, but Telltale's horrific implosion really deserves some words here.


They're still a game company, Japanese or not. Their story needs to be heard, and I'm glad you brought it up.

Quote:
Suffice to say, the whole thing is disgusting: hardworking employees got screwed with little notice and jackasses on social media seem more concerned that a game is being cancelled than for the livelihoods of the people who made it. It's clear at this point that Telltale became too big and expected to be buoyed by a handful of hit games for way too long, but – as usual – the people suffering from the dumb decisions to flood the market with Telltale product and churn out content on harsh deadlines aren't the ones affected the most.


Well you're not wrong. There has been a serious lack of empathy for one's fellow man in the last decade and it's gotten progressively worse over time. The type of people you described seem to ignore the fact there are actual human beings working on these titles; they just don't care as long as they get what they want, much like the spoiled rich kid stereotype you'd expect. Their reaction is usually "Meh, not my problem. I don't work there. I just want the game." Unfortunately, you can't fix a crap attitude.

Valkyria Chronicles 4: After the disappointment that was Valkyria Revolution, it's nice the series has returned to form. I've already heard a lot of good things about it, but some folks are also saying it feels like a rehash of the first game with small additions. As for VC3, there's always the first Project X Zone if you want to get to know Kurt, Riela, and Imca in English; sadly, though, that's as official as it gets for now. It is truly a shame Sega never made the effort to localize it.


Last edited by belvadeer on Thu Sep 27, 2018 1:22 pm; edited 3 times in total
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russ869



Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 422
PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 12:23 pm Reply with quote
I don't see what's so sickeningly "stupid" or "selfish" about it. That's the way everybody is about basically everything. You're telling me someone is a horrible scum of a person if they enjoy something without constantly, deeply thinking about and empathizing with everyone who ever contributed anything to creating it? Doesn't that seem like kind of a high bar? Most people don't even know who directs their favorite anime.

It certainly seems that Telltale employees were being mistreated in some way. But just because someone isn't "outraged" at the Telltale management doesn't make them an asshole.
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ATastySub
Past ANN Contributor


Joined: 19 Jan 2012
Posts: 639
PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 1:01 pm Reply with quote
russ869 wrote:
You're telling me someone is a horrible scum of a person if they enjoy something without constantly, deeply thinking about and empathizing with everyone who ever contributed anything to creating it? Doesn't that seem like kind of a high bar?

It’s literally the lowest bar possible. To be able to say that the lives of real people are more important than a work of entertainment should be incredibly easy. It’s the basic concept of empathy. It’s not about knowing exactly who they are or what they do but the very simple baseline of acknowledging they are also human beings that deserve to be treated as such.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4410
PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 1:16 pm Reply with quote
Most of the concern about the completion of the game that I've seen has come down to people who bought a season pass wondering what is going to happen since they paid for four episodes, and it seems pretty likely that two of those won't be delivered. Then again, I've stuck to the Telltale forums, and people there seem to have a pretty level head about the situation.
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 1:28 pm Reply with quote
russ869 wrote:
You're telling me someone is a horrible scum of a person if they enjoy something without constantly, deeply thinking about and empathizing with everyone who ever contributed anything to creating it?


That's not what I'm saying at all, and you're blowing it out of proportion phrasing it that way. All I'm saying is people should show some empathy for their fellow man instead of thinking another person's livelihood is less relevant than their own when they go through some difficult times.
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John Hayabusa



Joined: 30 May 2012
Posts: 1270
PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 1:36 pm Reply with quote
Nintendo made a "no comment" statement with regards to Bowsette.

https://gonintendo.com/stories/319137-nintendo-has-no-comment-on-bowsette

>Telltale laying off a lot of people

Guess those former employees will live to tell the tale.
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AiddonValentine



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 2201
PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 2:09 pm Reply with quote
-Bowsette: This has proven to be one of the most amusing fan creations in recent memory. Especially since it bled over into essentially making a series of Mario Monster Girls.

-Fortnite: Yeah, Sony had to be dragged kicking and screaming into this. even their official press release seemed passive-aggressive.

-Telltale: Yeah, this is scummy from top to bottom and what's left of them trying to win brownie points by claiming they'll finish TWD is pathetic. From what I understand, the company had been mismanaged for years, ballooned too fast, and they kept making unprofitable projects. Just another example of incompetence in the games industry.

-Dracula X: Yeah, this was a wonky announcement. Amusingly it launches on the premiere of the second season of the Netflix show, but not being able to put it on the Switch despite the major Castlevania representation in SSBU is pretty infuriating, especially since SOTN was on XBLA years back.

-DBFZ: Not gonna lie, the DLC for FighterZ has been pretty lackluster. All of the choices are painfully obvious and it's a total sausage fest. This was just begging for Kale or Caulifla to show up.

-VC4: My biggest complaint is the lack of my armored techs. Still, it's VC and more VC is good (although Raz sexually harassing Kai is not endearing)

-Dragalia: Played some of it. It's fine, it's a typical action RPG. An annoyance, however, is that they make you download stages one by one for some reason. A bit odd
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Levitz9



Joined: 06 Feb 2007
Posts: 1022
Location: Puerto Rico
PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 2:14 pm Reply with quote
What's more about Telltale is, they're getting sued for alleged labor law violation. I hope they get the book thrown at them. Video game companies have been damned unreasonable for a good long while, what with the crunch pandemics, no royalties for anyone involved, and unreasonable working conditions for devs. This needs to become a turning point for the industry where things get better all-around for game developers.

That, or make a union. Peoples lives got flipped up but bad with what Telltale games pulled.

About Bowsette: Heidi put up some points I really didn't consider. I had completely forgotten about copyright law. And you know what, it's okay. I appreciate that Bowsette likely won't appear in a game. She's fun, she's having her 15 minutes of fame. We don't need more than that. spoiler[Hear that, Waluigi crowd?]
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LightningCount



Joined: 04 Mar 2018
Posts: 228
PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 2:34 pm Reply with quote
I've been following this Castlevania story for a while as it developed as a rumor/"leak" back before E32018, where it was part of an intriguing larger rumor. In essence, every part of the larger rumor to some extent has come true now: Simon, Isabelle, Ridley, Ice Climbers, and Snake have all debuted or come back to Smash, and there is now officially a Castlevania collection headlined by SotN (albeit a small collection). So, the last part of the rumor/"leak" said the next announcement, whenever it happens--and it could be a while since we had to wait about three months to get to this point of confirmation--is that there will be a NEW Castlevania game, and that it may be coming to Switch. So, stay tuned...

BadNewsBlues wrote:

Quote:
Some might remember that Dracula X saw a rather clunky 3D remake on the PSP...


Seems a bit unfair to call out Dracula X Chronicles out for something that virtually all the Castlevania games prior to Symphony Of The Night had Razz..


I think what she's referring to, perhaps, is how the new 2.5D version of Rondo seemed to run a little slower in the gameplay department than the original game, rather than the game design itself. Richter's walk and backflip and attacks were seemingly a bit more sluggish. She may also mean how it added a new "collectathon" element that couldn't be completed without rescuing certain maidens.

Quote:
...and still others will remember that it got a strange port to the SNES. This set's Dracula X, however, looks to be neither of those, which will no doubt please folks who want to play the PC Engine original but not pay out the nose for it.


The original Rondo game, untranslated, has also been made available for the Wii Virtual Console. But yeah, rather than "strange port," at this point I think it's fairer to say that Castlevania: Dracula X was a full-on reimagining for SNES. (One that I enjoyed quite a bit for its more arcade-like flow, painterly visuals, and a designated "correct" path to get the best ending that Rondo lacked.) I know the history of why it's sometimes mistaken for a port, but it's about as much a port as Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth is a port of Castlevania: The Adventure. They're two separate games that share a few elements.
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Lord Oink



Joined: 06 Jul 2016
Posts: 876
PostPosted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 3:53 pm Reply with quote
ATastySub wrote:
It’s literally the lowest bar possible. To be able to say that the lives of real people are more important than a work of entertainment should be incredibly easy. It’s the basic concept of empathy. It’s not about knowing exactly who they are or what they do but the very simple baseline of acknowledging they are also human beings that deserve to be treated as such.


That's kind of the Catch 22. If someone is making a bad show/game/product, and you think they should stop, you're essentially saying you want them to be fired/unemployed, which is 'heartless', which means the "moral" option is to accept tons of bad products in the market and support them since they are someone's livelihood. Which basically means all the people complaining how Sword Art Online got a new season are some pretty heartless people since I guess they wanted the staff to go under and not get any work Laughing

Personally, I don't care about Telltale. The only games they did that I had any interest in were Sam & Max and Monkey Island, which were below-average games at best and hardly any kind of successor to their legacies. It doesn't help those two were the minority in terms of gameplay, and most of their catalog were poor-man's 3D visual novels. I don't really like calling them visual novels though, because in visual novels you usually have different routes and choices and a multitude of endings usually. Even eroge are more diverse.

I'm going to go on a limb and say if they didn't work excursively on IPs people care about, like Walking Dead and Batman, nobody would have ever noticed their games. Their "success" was that they mined people's nostalgia and fandom with licenses. If they made original games, they probably wouldn't have made it as far as they did.
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Aca Vuksa



Joined: 22 Mar 2018
Posts: 643
Location: Nis, Serbia
PostPosted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 2:45 am Reply with quote
The closure of Telltale Games was a bit of an heartbreaking, i remember playing Sam & Max on it, we only got an demo version, so we never brought an full version of that time.

As for the Bowsette one, she seems to be more looking like an Peach in such an human design (because Japan loves human looking people because they created this as a unique design).

And for the Nintendo's first smartphone game they prodced, this is kind of an interesting, but i don't have a smartphone, so i don't know if i'll get it one and play it.

(sorry for my poor English)
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Chrono1000





PostPosted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 11:33 am Reply with quote
Bowsette appearing in a Nintendo game does seem unlikely since they would have to pay for the character and because Nintendo sticks to a standard formula for Mario which is why the characters don't even have spoken dialogue. The Mario franchise is made for kids and while those kids grow up the Mario franchise itself continues to be made for kids. It would be nice to see Nintendo innovate more with their core game franchises but that probably won't happen anytime soon.
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kenatsu



Joined: 25 Jun 2013
Posts: 30
Location: LA
PostPosted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 3:03 am Reply with quote
idk why i read the XBOne as the X bone. That was truly one of the dumbest decisions Microsoft have ever done
Laughing
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