Some Days I Just Don’t Know Why I Get Out Of Bed

May 29th, 2008

Good: They’re making Beyond Good & Evil 2!

Bad: Beyond Good & Evil 2 won’t remotely resemble Beyond Good & Evil 1.

Look, it doesn’t really surprise me that Ubisoft isn’t interested in creating a new version of a game that was by all accounts a complete commercial failure.  I didn’t even like the game that much in the first place, although I suspect I’m in the minority.  But what on earth makes a company decide to create a sequel that completely eviscerates the characteristics that people enjoyed in the first case?

Here’s the thing.  People who liked Beyond Good and Evil would really love a game that revisits what they liked so much about it.  People who didn’t play it couldn’t care less.  So if you’re going to make a sequel that caters to casual gamers, you’re going to 1) piss off potential fans who enjoyed #1, and 2) do absolutely nothing to interest everyone else, who might even be turned off by the fact that the game is a sequel to something they’re completely unfamiliar with.  I can’t see the logic here in the slightest.

Posted in Business, Geoff, Idiocy |



      

12 Responses to “Some Days I Just Don’t Know Why I Get Out Of Bed”

  1. used cisco Says:
    May 30th, 2008 at 7:56 am

    I agree.

    #1. What are they thinking with going for a hyper-realistic look for a game that features a talking pig. The highly stylized look of the original worked incredibly well.

    #2. If they are targeting the “balance board crowd” why does it look this game will not being coming to Wii?

    I’m at a loss here.

  2. Rob Says:
    May 30th, 2008 at 4:46 pm

    I think it’s too early to make judgments. We’ll see how it turns out.

  3. used cisco Says:
    May 30th, 2008 at 7:50 pm

    @Rob,

    For sure.

    Oh, and having reread my post, I realize the phrasing comes off as rhetorical questions. They weren’t meant that way. I’m honestly curious what they’re thinking with the new visual style and honestly curious why they would target what sounds like “the wii demographic” while potentially not supporting the Wii from day one.

    Some other questions this raises:

    1. Is this “new” direction towards the casuals reactionary to the way the market APPEARS to be shifting? Or was this planned from the get go?

    2. Depending on the answer to #1, is their yet potential for support for the Wii? Or have we just not heard about it yet because it was started later, once the Wii started getting legs?

    3. Am I over analyzing a teaser? ;)

  4. laesperanzapaz Says:
    June 1st, 2008 at 12:04 am

    Baby Party.

    nuff said

  5. laesperanzapaz Says:
    June 1st, 2008 at 2:49 am

    Hope you dont mind me doing this, but sometimes i’ll pop in free indie games I think are impossible to not play. THis is one of them:

    http://www.crazymonkeygames.com/fullscreen.php?game=5-Differences

    http://www.crazymonkeygames.com/6-Differences.html

    It’s a casual, straigthforward, SPOT THE DIFFERENCES games. The first is 5 differences, it is simple, bold, stylized art, and easier.

    The second is a sequel, 6 differences, realistic photos, and harder.

    The dev is apparently http://ivoryboy.com/

    PS: games like this continualy proves PC is the best platform of innovation and accessability ^_^

  6. laesperanzapaz Says:
    June 1st, 2008 at 2:53 am

    Forgot to say: play in full screen mode, with music on. If you get stuck, just click around. Make sure you make yourself some time to play until the end, it may take up to hour. Really relaxing, laid back, atmospheric, where what you are DOING is less important than what you are EXPERIENCING. Like Knytt stories and its sequels, and Endless OCean

  7. Rob Says:
    June 1st, 2008 at 7:39 am

    I have no idea what your single relevant comment means.

  8. laesperanzapaz Says:
    June 1st, 2008 at 6:43 pm

    Rob:

    http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=302566&highlight=wii+exclusive

    and then

    http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=303799

    ah yes, Ubisoft and teh ‘casual’ crowd. I totally agree with what Jeff wrote, but i’m just notating here exactly what Ubi sees in the bastard Wii.

    epic lulz

  9. laesperanzapaz Says:
    June 1st, 2008 at 6:44 pm

    If you are not a gaf member: take out &highlight=wii+exclusive from the URL.

  10. Jeff Says:
    June 2nd, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    cisco-

    So negative on the Wii? Remember that the Wii has yet to be fully unleashed… perhaps those ARE Wii screens…

    Ahem… We can dream, anyway.

  11. Rob Says:
    June 2nd, 2008 at 7:23 pm

    So negative on the Wii? Remember that the Wii has yet to be fully unleashed… perhaps those ARE Wii screens…

    Everyone says this, yet most Wii software continues to be shite. How long until this argument stops holding water?

  12. Jeff Says:
    June 2nd, 2008 at 8:03 pm

    Rob-

    I was hoping that my comment would clearly be sarcastic. Sorry if I failed that. =)

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