Topic: PlayStation All Stars: Better than Super Smash Bros Brawl!

[BlackNMild2k1]

Looks like Sony is hard at work on a Smash Bros. clone for PS3
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-11-25-what-is-superbots-very-amazing-playstation-3-exclusive

Word of the mystery brawler first emerged on The Paul Gale Network, which claimed it featured a number of Sony mascots, including Parappa the Rappa (Parappa the Rapper), Kratos (God of War), Sly Cooper (Sly Cooper), Nathan Drake (Uncharted), Sweet Tooth (Twisted Metal), Colonel Mael Radec (Killzone) and Fat Princess (Fat Princess).
The report also mentioned a Sandover Village stage (from Jak & Daxter), Hot Shots Golf characters in stage backgrounds, a LittleBigPlanet stage and a Buzz! trivia mini-game. A James Bond character is also mentioned.
Current speculation points to SuperBot Entertainment, a Culver City, California-based studio confirmed to be working on a "very amazing PS3 game" for Sony Computer Entertainment America, as developer of the game.
SuperBot's website describes the company as "an exclusive developer of Sony Computer Entertainment America" and reveals it is "currently in production of a yet-to-be announced PS3 title".

and PaulGale Network has some of the supposed details
http://paulgalenetwork.com/home/2011/11/18/title-fight-developer-name-might-be-revealed-soon-but-for-now-a-few-more-answers/




This thread has been sponsored by S-U-P-E-R

[NWR_insanolord]

That's just kind of sad.

[broodwars]

If this game becomes reality and turns out to be a PS3 game, I am so schooling you all as Sly Cooper (my favorite Sony character).   

I'll be interested to see how this game would differentiate itself from Smash Bros.  Perhaps an actually-good Single-Player component, something that the Smash games have tried valiantly to do but have never quite gotten right?

If this turns out to be a real game, it could be terrible but I'd like to be optimistic on this one.  Sly Cooper at first glance seems a pretty blatantly Mario clone, but it turned out to definitely be its own experience in the end (and its sequels even more so).  The same goes for other Sony franchises like Ratchet & Clank, too.

On the downside, the last time Sony tried to combine several of its main franchises in Playstation Move Heroes, that didn't turn out well...in any conceivable way. 

[Morari]

Sly Cooper at first glance seems a pretty blatantly Mario clone, but it turned out to definitely be its own experience in the end (and its sequels even more so).

I always thought it looked to be more of a stealth title than a straight-up platformer. Not much like Mario at all, in fact. Still, I'd rather see a Sega All-Stars 2D Fighter.

[NWR_insanolord]

I would totally buy a Sega-based Smash Bros. clone and kick all your asses with Ryo Hazuki.

[S-U-P-E-R]

It's no DMTV World Fighters

[nickmitch]

I'd rather just see more Power Stone. Sorry, that was Capcom. I just associate it Sega because of the Dreamcast.

[TJ Spyke]

What is the Paul Gale Network and why should their rumors be believable?

[BlackNMild2k1]

What is the Paul Gale Network and why should their rumors be believable?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=16688.msg667943#msg667943

But he's been in the industry for atleast a decade and supposedly has contacts at several devs like Retro.

[TJ Spyke]

K, I asked because sometimes I will see these random websites that have no credibility posts "news" or rumors and people act like they are reliable.

Anyways, this would not be the first Smash Bros. clone. Hell, we just had a very good one with Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion (and the XL directors cut).

[Adrock]

The world doesn't need another Smash Bros-esque game because we already have Smash Bros. Come up with some original ideas, Sony.

[nickmitch]

Maybe something with a decent online mode will further inspire Nintendo to beef up their online system.

[SixthAngel]

Anyways, this would not be the first Smash Bros. clone. Hell, we just had a very good one with Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion (and the XL directors cut).

Jump Superstars and Ultimate stars as well.  They were Japan only though.

The biggest problem to me seems to be the lack of Sony characters.

So Sackboy, Nathan Drake, Kratos and Sly Cooper according Brood.  Who else?  Most of their games are third party and even Crash isn't actually owned by them.
The game could end up being good but they just don't have the characters to make a game like this I care about.  The whole point of Smash Bros. was bringing iconic characters together and Sony just doesn't have the icons.

[Adrock]

Jak and Daxter. Ratchet and Clank. Twisted Metal. Resistance.

Sony has a ton of characters they can pick from any of their franchises.

[UncleBob]

Marvel Vs. Capcom, DC Vs. Mortal Combat, Street Fighter vs. Tekken...


Nintendo Vs. Sony?

Never happen.

[broodwars]

Jak and Daxter. Ratchet and Clank. Twisted Metal. Resistance.

Sony has a ton of characters they can pick from any of their franchises.

The thing that worries me if this did come to pass was how Sony would depict these characters in a single game.  For example, Sly and Bentley are cel shaded characters in the Sly Cooper games.  But because the the Jak and Ratchet characters weren't, they redesigned the Sly characters to fit the art style of the other characters.  The result was just...BLEH!

From this:



To this:



Plus, they swapped out Sly's iconic cane for a g-damn whip, because that makes sense.

I can't even imagine how they would try to do a standardized "look" for the characters when you start throwing in Resistance and Killzone characters.  And I don't want to see it.

[nickmitch]

They'd likely just go the Smash Bros route and keep in character in their own style. It worked with Toon Link being cel shaded and Solid Snake being there. I mean, I hope they would.

Also, art style aside, all of those heroes have pretty much the same look.

[broodwars]

They'd likely just go the Smash Bros route and keep in character in their own style. It worked with Toon Link being cel shaded and Solid Snake being there. I mean, I hope they would.

Also, art style aside, all of those heroes have pretty much the same look.

One would hope so, but something tells me that Sony would be stupid enough to try to do a "war has changed" gritty Sly/Ratchet/etc. to have them conform to something like the Killzone art style.  They've already screwed up two team-up games (Heroes on the Move, All 4 One), so I wouldn't put it past them to screw up a 3rd.

[S-U-P-E-R]

Jak and Daxter. Ratchet and Clank. Twisted Metal. Resistance.

Sony has a ton of characters they can pick from any of their franchises.

Yeah but... is anybody really falling all over themselves to have them in a fighting game? These guys don't sound very interesting to play as, except for Parappa and Kratos. Maybe. I don't think Sony will be able to count on their properties to make the game good, or sell it. I mean, Buzz trivia? What the ****?

On the other hand, I am generally happy that another group is taking a shot at making a 4-player fighter, because its a niche that could stand some moving forward.

SuperBot's website describes the company as "an exclusive developer of Sony Computer Entertainment America" and reveals it is "currently in production of a yet-to-be announced PS3 title".

According to a job advert, SuperBot is after a senior combat designer with "a strong familiarity with fighting games and fighting game theory".

Another job advert asks for a lead designer with "a strong familiarity with online mode and matchmaking design as they apply to console gaming".

Haha, well, they're in the right region for finding a fighting game wizard, at least.

So do they even have anyone noteworthy at SuperBot working on it yet? Being a new company potentially full of nobodies does not fill me with confidence.

[Adrock]

Yeah but... is anybody really falling all over themselves to have them in a fighting game? These guys don't sound very interesting to play as, except for Parappa and Kratos. Maybe. I don't think Sony will be able to count on their properties to make the game good, or sell it. I mean, Buzz trivia? What the ****?

Did anyone know they wanted a Mario racing game before they got one? If you put a bunch of recognizable characters together in the same game, it immediately attracts attention. I'd at least be interested if it was more than Smash Bros. with Sony characters.

And no company, not even Nintendo, can count on their properties to make any game good.

[Chozo Ghost]

Jak and Daxter. Ratchet and Clank. Twisted Metal. Resistance.

Sony has a ton of characters they can pick from any of their franchises.

The thing that worries me if this did come to pass was how Sony would depict these characters in a single game.  For example, Sly and Bentley are cel shaded characters in the Sly Cooper games.  But because the the Jak and Ratchet characters weren't, they redesigned the Sly characters to fit the art style of the other characters.  The result was just...BLEH!

From this:



To this:



Plus, they swapped out Sly's iconic cane for a g-damn whip, because that makes sense.

I can't even imagine how they would try to do a standardized "look" for the characters when you start throwing in Resistance and Killzone characters.  And I don't want to see it.

Why does the art style need to be standardized anyway? Have you ever seen the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit? In that movie there were cartoons interacting with live action people. Why can't there be a video game just like that? Leave the cell shaded characters as they are, and leave the realistic looking characters as they are. Just put them together but don't standardize their art.

[S-U-P-E-R]

Did anyone know they wanted a Mario racing game before they got one? If you put a bunch of recognizable characters together in the same game, it immediately attracts attention. I'd at least be interested if it was more than Smash Bros. with Sony characters.

Attention is not sales. There are popular characters in WWE Crush Hour, Wu Tang Shaolin Style, and DMTV World Fighters and I'm reasonably sure they sold like ass (those games being bad/okay/good, respectively). I'm skeptical a game like this is a good investment for Sony unless they're paying the SuperBot guys peanuts. Actually, I bet this game will have a pretty short dev cycle...

I'm certain that only Nintendo's core characters can move copies of an awful game on star power alone. Well, maybe also Master Chief and 50 Cent. Sony doesn't have those guys.

And no company, not even Nintendo, can count on their properties to make any game good.

Thanks for the insight!!! But they can count on them to make them sell. I don't think Sony can.

[Adrock]

Attention is not sales.

Thanks for the insight!!! Point being, the game will sell better with recognizable characters than it would without them. Recognizable brands are recognizable. What a novel concept.

There are popular characters in WWE Crush Hour, Wu Tang Shaolin Style, and DMTV World Fighters and I'm reasonably sure they sold like ass (those games being bad/okay/good, respectively). I'm skeptical a game like this is a good investment for Sony unless they're paying the SuperBot guys peanuts. Actually, I bet this game will have a pretty short dev cycle...

You just addressed your own issue with those games. Bad games typically sell badly. You're assuming Sony's Smash clone will suck and you're basing this on nothing. It may very well suck and suck badly. That's not the point. I'm not saying the game is guaranteed to sell well. However, a bad game is guaranteed to sell better than a bad game deserves if the developers throw in a bunch of recognizable faces and names.

Thanks for the insight!!! But they can count on them to make them sell. I don't think Sony can.

Ha, okay. Save your sarcasm because you brought it up first. "I don't think Sony will be able to count on their properties to make the game good, or sell." So you don't think Sony can sell a game based on their characters. What are you basing that on? Is it the fact that they aren't as popular as Nintendo's. I disagree with that. Sony's IPs are plenty popular on their own. I don't see how Nintendo can sell a game based on brand awareness but Sony can't.

[S-U-P-E-R]

Point being, the game will sell better with recognizable characters than it would without them. Recognizable brands are recognizable. What a novel concept.

It's not a question of whether it will sell better, it's a question of whether it will sell well enough to turn a profit.

You just addressed your own issue with those games. Bad games typically sell badly.

DMTV and Wu Tang are not "bad". This sort of game ("party fighter?") is a hard market to crack if you're not Nintendo or like, the most popular anime ever made. People ask why nobody else tries to make a Smash killer, but there's actually a mountain of them and they're mostly flops.

You're assuming Sony's Smash clone will suck and you're basing this on nothing.

Where did I say it will be bad? I'm hoping they hire Dave Sirlin and Mike Z's manbaby to design it and make the best fighting game ever made.

It may very well suck and suck badly. That's not the point. I'm not saying the game is guaranteed to sell well. However, a bad game is guaranteed to sell better than a bad game deserves if the developers throw in a bunch of recognizable faces and names.

What, pray tell, is "the point?"  I'm certainly not arguing for them to *not* use Sony characters. What I'm saying is that if it's the only selling point, it's gonna bomb.

Save your sarcasm

Never

So you don't think Sony can sell a game based on their characters. What are you basing that on? Is it the fact that they aren't as popular as Nintendo's. I disagree with that. Sony's IPs are plenty popular on their own. I don't see how Nintendo can sell a game based on brand awareness but Sony can't.

We'll have to agree to disagree here. I don't think Sony's characters have the popularity or appeal to the demographic that wants to buy a party fighter. It's certainly not something I would be quick to associate with the PS3.

[Adrock]

Okay, now I get what you're saying. The only thing I really disagree with here is I think this is a good investment for Sony. As long as the game isn't awful, I see no reason why it shouldn't perform well enough to turn a profit but I will agree to disagree.

On a related note, no one should be trying to make a Smash killer. They should worry about making an original name that plays very differently from Smash Bros. I'd certainly be more interested in the game because I don't need a Smash Bros. clone because I already own Smash Bros.