Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale Announced
 

Smash Bros? Never heard if it...

So lets get this out of the way early on. Sony's just announced Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale looks a lot like Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. But any game of this type - a 4 player fighter - is going to look a lot like Smash Bros.

Fighters seen so far include Kratos, Sweet Tooth, PaRappa and Fat Princess. Look for it on the Playstation 3 later this year.

Source - Playstation Blog

Two things;

1) Thats a long name.
2) After all these years of charactersm, they open up with fucking PaRappa, Fat Princess etc? Really, do we not have a better lineup?

So, no Vita version?

Do they actually want their goddamn handheld to fail?

There will be more coming but those 4 are the ones shown in the demo. I'm sure you'll see Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, Sackboy, Sly Cooper, Infamous Dude and more in it at launch.

I know, but it's just amusing me that the showcase seems to be lacking most of the more popular Playstation exclusives.

It sounds kind of cool in concept, but it's just a Smash Bros copy, and I didn't exactly like Smash Bros. The potential for characters is there, they've got a ton of them (if they could work in that awful polygon head from the early PS1 ads that'd be great), but other than fan service, meh.
There's more than just that trailer:

I loved Smash Bros but that trailer left me cold. It's missing the charm of SSB.

I used to be a big fan of Smash Bros. so this is welcoming news. An entirely new collection of players as well as usable online functionality means I may coax a few friends into picking up their own copies.

Needs wise cracking Nathan Drake.

Wow. They're really following the Smash Bros model to a T.

So what other characters could they include? Ico? It'd be interesting if they manage to get Solid Snake in there, too, even though MGS isn't a Sony exclusive.

One of the Yakuza characters will likely make an appearance. Personally, I want to see Rolf from Phantasy Star 2.

I want to see a Locoroco and a Patapon fighting. Jumping Flash vs Gabe from Syphon Filter. Daxter vs Clank.

Fuck Nathan Drake, add more Elena!

Heh, yeah, it would be interesting if they got Solid Snake so they'd have a character that's been in both this and the real Smash Bros.

5 lawyers died after reading Peanut's post!

I can't see the video, but I'd rather somebody did a new, ripped off version of Powerstone than SSB.

Well I'll be damned, that doesn't look half bad.

1.) About frickin time

2.) I hope this does well and Capcom follows up with a mega mix of their own with Smash inspired gameplay. (or even like Powerstone)


Also: I plan on kicking someone in the face with Master Onion.

Sly is actually shown in some of the video. Nice list though. I bet they'll have Nathan Drake too. If they are smart, they'll have the Valkyria Chronicles leader and his girlfriend too. Dante may or may not be included as DMC didn't stay on one platform.

1. I'm surprised the Playstation bench of characters is so thin. Honestly, Parappa was a pretty shitty rhythm game that got a lot of attention for being very new (if you ignored the better rhythm games on the Dreamcast). I guess Microsoft's would be even more thin and really adult. . . Masterchief, Sheperd from Mass Effect, I guess you get some Viva Pinatas, Banjo-Kazooie, and maybe Conker (if they really want to mine Rare to death). Then you'd get the Fable hero from Lionhead, but they seem to have been choked out by Microsoft (only allowed to make a known money-maker and then rushed to release before it was done - probably why Molyneux has jumped ship. . . Microsoft making Kinect bullshit also hurt as all their work on Milo and Kate was useless with the cheap product Microsoft chose to build), so only the one character from Lionhead. Yeah, Microsoft couldn't do this kind of game. They seemed to be a fairly supportive and game oriented publisher at the start of this generation, but when they got behind Kinect, they started losing money and trying to make up for it by fucking their software developers.

2. Fat Princess is annoying in the video because they turned her into a fighter. She should work like the pokemon trainer and all her moves should be her summoning wizards, archers, and warriors to fight for her. She should never take direct damage and you have to kill her by picking her up and ringing her out by throwing her. The player of Fat Princess can focus on moving her around to eat power-ups so that she is harder to fling and her minions should pick up and bring back cake power-ups that they find. Having her spinning around, doing belly-bumps, etc. totally disrespects the source fiction. The others seem okay, but we didn't get in depth and the poorly handled Fat Princess makes me worry the others will be just as bad.

3. I don't like Super Smash Bros., so I'm not excited about this either. Still, I know Super Smash Bros. was popular and I am excited for you guys.

Well, they have tried something like that before...

This is what came to mind when I read this news.

http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/2..._Q4CSY-L-2.jpg

Except they actually have a ton of characters, so that doesn't really apply.......

Yeah I can name like one guy from that franchise, basing an entire fighting game around them sounds like a terrible idea. If they expanded the roster to accomodate their more popular characters I'm sure plenty of people would buy in. Mega Man, Zero, Viewtiful Joe, Dante, Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Puzzle Fighter versions, Resident Evil, Strider, Captain Commando, Okami, etc.; I would love to see that game.

It's funny listening to this guy describe the game and the ideas behind it without saying the words Super, Smash or Brothers.

Named characters, yes. Classic, endearing ones like those that were a major part of what made SSB so awesome? No.

Sweet Tooth. Sweet Tooth.

Oh I know it's there, I just always wanted to see that number of Capcom characters in a 4 player free for all Smash Bros. style game. They don't even have to copy Smash they could release a game in the same style as Powerstone and I think it would still work well.

I know. :) The video was just begging to be posted, though.

I guess that's different for everyone, then. The Smash Bros characters have a leg up for most of us because we grew up with them, so I guess these would appeal for different reasons. It's not nearly as bad as random EA created characters that nobody would care about, though. At the very least they're recognizable and hold some value for most gamers.

EDIT: Let me be clear, though: the game itself looks awful. Something like Power Stone or a more traditional 2D fighter would have been much better, something developed by an experienced fighting game developer. For example, like the Persona 4 fighter being developed by Arc System Works would have been awesome. I have a strong feeling this game is going to suck. Hard.

The Nintendo characters also mix a bit better stylistically

I didn't expect the gameplay to be such an exact copy and paste of SSB. Reminds me of the first time I saw Simpsons Hit and Run.

Anyone remember Fighters Megamix? I wanted this just to play as the Daytona USA car.

Lets hope it doesn't come to this.

Finally got to watch the video.

Awful, awful interview, but I really liked the level designs.

I always wanted to play that, another reason I wish I'd owned a Saturn instead of just renting one many times. Man, renting game consoles, that seems so weird now.

Anyway, that was made by the Virtua Fighter team, wasn't it? Am I thinking of something else, or was that also called Fighting Vipers?

This is...interesting. Add to which, as a huge Smash fan, I'm interested in it -- and hope it succeeds. It does look like it's trying too hard to be Smash Bros, with what can only be a Final Smash-type move featured. That's one of the weaker aspects of Smash, and it's unfortunate they are pursuing it. Also disappointing is that Fat Princess looks and sounds like she'll be Half-Peach, Half-Olimar. That formula could very well succeed for Sony, but it'll be an utter lack of creativity.

Anyway, I've been saying this for a long time, but Smash is a huge franchise with a huge following, and if everyone could make a successful clone, they would. Problem is, they can't. And nothing's ever come close, in design or following. This looks like the first real contender.

Not sure since I never played it. Both games were at either end of the control spectrum, though. You had Virtual Fighter which was notorious for having long, drawn out special move commands and Fighting Vipers which depended mostly on the "hold [blank] + direction on d-pad" model of fighting.

I thought there were more fighters from other games, but it looks like there weren't.

I haven't been able to watch the video, but the description makes me sad to not own a PS3. Hopefully they can capture the magic that SSB had (Melee, not Brawl). These games have immense potential for fan service while still being a good, balanced fighter.

From the initial concept, I wanted to like this game. Now, seeing it in motion, I'm completely underwhelmed. Every inch of a Smash Bros game just gels with itself, whereas this game looks like some exec turned Sony upside down and shook it into a box. I'm hopeful for future updates to get me more excited. Count me in for a Vita version if it happens, especially if it integrates nicely with the PS3 version.

It definitely comes across as a SSB knock off, but I'm kinda okay with that. I also really like the narrative concept of having each level be a mashup of two different universes. That's something I had really hoped SSBB would have, especially since the single player story mode was all about the universes colliding. Instead, we got generic shadow monsters...

Eh, anyone else feel like Sony just doesn't have the roster nor history to do this? The game could be great, but it doesn't get me all tight in the pants like when I found out you can play as characters like Mewtwo or Meta Knight. Not to mention they won't have any of those brilliant retro levels and abilities due to their shorter existence. It also doesn't help that it looks to be exactly like SSB to a T.

I really wish Square-Enix would expand on Dissidia and make it for consoles and 4 player capable. That is something to get all steamy over.

I think they do only because the rosters are gauged merely by personal preference. Personally, I don't care for Nintendo franchises anymore. I would still play Smash Bros. with friends though as that is where the fun lies as far as I'm concerned, the interaction. If this game keeps the mechanics and add a functional online component, this will already be chosen over SSB for regular play.

I'm not sure that the same AM2 team that did Virtua Fighter did Fighting Vipers but I know that they did do Virtua Fighter Kids.

Sony just doesn't have the history in gaming that Nintendo does and Sony wasn't a game company, just a big mega corporation that joined late in the game. Most of Nintendo's characters appeared in games 10 to 15 years before the first Playstation unit was ever on store shelves.

The kind of gamers that this will appeal to the most IMO are people who just started gaming during the PS2 age.

Nintendo had been making games for 18 years when Super Smash Brothers came out. (Donkey Kong in 1981 to 1999)

Sony has been making games for about...18 years. (Playstation announced in 1994 in Japan). Cred's about the same.

What irritates me is that it's the exact same "ringout fighter" type game. There's no reason to copy the genre so exactly. Also, the guy talking in that interview is the worst.

edit: I don't think Sony's franchises are as iconic as Nintendo's, for the most part. Also, no mention of Crash Bandicoot for the initial announcement cracks me up. Looks like you lost that war with Mario, Crash.

I'd agree that most aren't as iconic, and none of them have been around as long as Mario or Zelda. Of course, some are iconic for reasons I still don't understand, like Kid Icarus. A lot of games and franchises Sony has made over the years don't have iconic characters by design, like Gran Turismo, Colony Wars (my god I want another), WipEout, etc..).

If you think about it, though, Smash Bros didn't feature a ton of iconic characters. Many became popular because of Smash Bros. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Link, and Zelda were by far the biggest, and those are from only two franchises. When SB launched Pokemon was pretty new, nobody knew Fire Emblem or Earthbound characters, the guy from F Zero was thrown in, and.... I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but you get the point.

With Crash, that was one of Sony's biggest mistakes with the PS1: they don't own the IP. It would be nice to see him in there for sake of history, but they don't own him. Same for Spyro, another franchise from Sony that was pretty big on the PS1.

Well, I didn't really mean time served in the industry, but what eras of the industry Sony has particpated in. There will be no genre defining characters nor retro themes in this game because they entered the market so late in comparison.

In addition, the strength of the PS brand up to recently was always their third party support. Solid Snake, Cloud, and Dante are the types of characters I associate with PS history.

I expect a lot more characters to be announced. Wouldn't be surprised to see Crash, Cloud, and Sonic make eventual appearances.

You're obviously a racist. Amirite?

For about a decade, Sony's whole shtick was being all about third-parties. Cheap SDKs, lower licensing fees, cheaper media, and no Nintendo Seal of Approval bureaucracy.

Obviously, it worked out for them. But that model has its drawbacks. Chief among them is when second- and third-tier personalities are trotted out for this. Clearly, the likes of Fat Princess has to be the bottom of the barrel. We're talking about a character with only one three year old download-only release.

Nintendo could have done so much more with Smash. The first game didn't have any villains. They could have spun off a Pokemon only series with hundreds of characters. They developed their lesser-known properties, like Mr. G&W, Ness and even Captain Falcon. They developed a true Nintendo property (with a soundtrack that's worth the price of admission alone), instead of just a smaller crossover like a Mario Sports/Kart/Party title.

This is the original cast from the N64 Super Smash Brothers:

• Mario
• Luigi
• Samus Aran
• Yoshi
• Pikachu
• Jigglypuff
• Donkey Kong
• Captain Falcon
• Fox
• Link
• Kirby
• Ness

With the exception of Captain Falcon and Ness, those were all iconic characters already. If you were a Nintendo fan you definitely knew the rest. The original Pokemon had been out in America for a year already, and the series was super-hyped at the time and had its own popular cartoon show.

Melee and Brawl definitely added more obscure characters, but the original was loaded with popular ones.

Yeah - and they did that pretty well with Melee. With Brawl, they had some opportunities to really revitalize a lot of their franchises, and they didn't. Lucas is in the game, and there's still no NA Mother 3 release. :(

Seriously, talk about wasted potential. Smash is the perfect multi-franchise marketing machine, and Nintendo wasted the benefit of Brawl so badly.

Also: With Crash, I do very well think he could get into the final version of this game. However, I'm just noting how far the franchise that was once Sony's centerpiece has fallen.