http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/23/ratchet-and-clank-animated-movie-headed-to-theaters
A animated Ratchet and Clank movie is headed to theaters.
Hopefully won't be added to the Bad Video Game movie list.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/23/ratchet-and-clank-animated-movie-headed-to-theaters
A animated Ratchet and Clank movie is headed to theaters.
Hopefully won't be added to the Bad Video Game movie list.
I enjoyed the cutscenes and humor in Ratchet and Clank because they were funny and well-animated by the standards of most video games.
Beyond that…yeesh.
If I empty my brain, shut out ANY thoughts that Ratchet and Clank was a video game franchise, and convinced myself that this was just another standard quirky Dreamworks-esque CG film….THEN I might be able to stomach this.
We have YET to see a video game movie that hits bullseye with the original source material (closest being Silent Hill...imo), but now that I see this trailer in action...this might come the closest. Thank god too...I feared they were going with live action or something...hahah...
I am excite! Trailer hits all of the right notes for me.
I helps that the writer for the games is also doing the writing for the movie
This is going to bomb so hard. If it had come out five years ago, it might've had a chance, but the franchise has zero momentum left.
16 characters of meh
Picks a Ryno V and start shooting everywhere
The game had some good humor and writing, but the market is way too dry. Hell, I lost track of the series in 2004 after I finished Up Your Arsenal. I did not even realize they had released 5 more games since then.
The game had some good humor and writing, but the market is way too dry. Hell, I lost track of the series in 2004 after I finished Up Your Arsenal. I did not even realize they had released 5 more games since then.
It's probably best to just pretend that Up Your Arsenal was the last in the series.
If they downplay the fact that this is a "video game movie" and try to appeal to the general audience, it does have a chance in succeeding as a movie despite being a mostly dormant franchise.
Heck, maybe Sony is trying to revive this franchise by giving it more public exposure.
I did not even realize they had released 5 more games since then.
2 was spin-offs tho and another one was short… so I guess yeah, 5 full-on titles more.
Whoa. That's a game per year. Are Insomniac taking marketing advice from Activision?
It was most certainly not "a game a year".
People who didn't play Tools of Destruction and Crack in Time are doing themselves a disservice.
It was most certainly not "a game a year".
People who didn't play Tools of Destruction and Crack in Time are doing themselves a disservice.
Tools of Destruction was an early gem for the PS3, though I didn't think it measured up to Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal.
Crack in Time…eh, the puzzles were clever the first time through, but a.) they felt like Insomniac's too-late attempt to cash in on puzzle-platformers like Braid, and b.) they KILLED repeated playthroughs, which was always one of my favorite parts of the original games, since the puzzles didn't change and you still had to go through the whole sequence (though, thankfully, you could skip the actual puzzles).
Then they followed this up with All 4 One, a too-late attempt to do their version of a four-player co-op game that was buggy as hell, and Full Frontal Assault, a fairly half-assed tower defense version. Ceased caring then.
This might find a new audience for kids now–could at least see it getting its own CG TV series for the younger demographic--but can't see it kickstarting the series again, unless it's a Spyro Skylanders-style revival, where the name gets stamped on a whole new game direction.
My god, why is everyone so antagonistic of this series here?
I think if Insomniac distance themselves from the fact it is a movie based off a game, I could see them reviving some pep in the series if they follow this up with a new game almost immediately, along with a huge marketing push.
Since this is probably going to be a retelling of the first game (with better writing hopefully) I think it will be able to get a good audience. Sony just needs to treat it like a new movie, and give it the attention of a new IP. They must really push the advertisements and get word out, and not just rely on the existing fanbase to spread the word about this.
The way I see it, Sony's looking to make Ratchet the face of the gaming division, since he is the closest thing they have to Mario. They just need to be more assertive with getting his name out there.
Tools of Destruction was an early gem for the PS3, though I didn't think it measured up to Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal.
Crack in Time…eh, the puzzles were clever the first time through, but a.) they felt like Insomniac's too-late attempt to cash in on puzzle-platformers like Braid, and b.) they KILLED repeated playthroughs, which was always one of my favorite parts of the original games, since the puzzles didn't change and you still had to go through the whole sequence (though, thankfully, you could skip the actual puzzles).
Then they followed this up with All 4 One, a too-late attempt to do their version of a four-player co-op game that was buggy as hell, and Full Frontal Assault, a fairly half-assed tower defense version. Ceased caring then.
This might find a new audience for kids now–could at least see it getting its own CG TV series for the younger demographic--but can't see it kickstarting the series again, unless it's a Spyro Skylanders-style revival, where the name gets stamped on a whole new game direction.
Too late this, too late that. Who cares? A game's a game, and people found the Future series great in their own right.
And why wouldn't this revive the series if it was handled well? One of the writers of the series is working on this film, so that's already a step in the right direction. The film is retelling the first game, so it's going to be accessible to newcomers and the like. The only thing I put into question is Sony's marketing campaign. But again, this could have a chance.
I'll let this be my last comment on the R&C situation, since I don't want to bog down the movie thread. I will, of course, read anything you have to say about it:
The big problem I've seen with Insomniac is that they've become an altogether reactive company when it comes to creating new games. It's arguable that they started this way–Spyro the Dragon being a pretty typical though well-made 3D Platformer--but they really created something pretty different with the original Ratchet and Clank, which blended combat and platforming in a new way. They perfected the formula in the next two games. Deadlocked/Gladiator did some damage to the franchise due to its rushed feeling and lacking content compared to earlier games, but it was understandable in its own way. Tools of Destruction was fine in its own way, and it did pretty well.
From this point on, yee. Quest for Booty was an early attempt to capitalize on the downloadable games market, and it felt like it, recycling most of its weapons and reducing the number substantially. A Crack in Time centered its marketing almost entirely on its puzzle gimmick, which I covered above, and the actual combat/gameplay was scaled back from earlier full games. All 4 One and Full Frontal Assault were both glitchy and rushed (the much ballyhooed PSV port of the second has yet to arrive after half a year) and half-assed attempts to cash in on middling market trends.
The problem with this approach is that it's effectively watered down the franchise and it hasn't worked. Tools of Destruction did well enough, but A Crack in Time didn't even crack the Top 20 of NPD sales in the first full month of its release. All 4 One, at last check wasn't even sniffing a million sales, and it was billed as a full-fledged game in the series. I was a huge, huge fan of the series, and even I haven't felt compelled to finish Full Frontal Assault. Insomniac has been its own worse enemy with the series by releasing too many games and going further and further afield from the series' original identity.
This is even worse considering they've done it elsewhere. Resistance: Fall of Man was generic in many ways, but the atmosphere and weapon-choice set it apart from a scad of other gray-tinged FPS's; plus, it had one of the last great arcade-style multiplayers out there. So, Insomniac decided to abandon all that in the second game to go for a more typical CoD/Halo style, including in its multiplayer, and the third game undersold the second despite being pretty bloody good. It's gotten to the point where Insomniac seems to be fighting an uphill battle to drum up any interest in Overdrive/Fuse or whatever it's called now, their latest effort to get in on co-op shooters.
As far as I can tell, Insomniac are some of the good guys in video games. They haven't adopted the abysmal work practices of many major video game developers, their CEO seems like he's actually a human being, they run a good community. It just seems like they've become far more concerned with market trends and their brand than they have keeping in touch with what made their games so great in the first place. I'll still support them and hope this movie does well, but from now on, I approach everything Insomniac releases with caution rather than optimism.
Whoa. That's a game per year. Are Insomniac taking marketing advice from Activision?
Not quite.
2002 - Ratchet & Clank
2003 - Ratchet & Clank 2: Going Commando
2004 - Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal
2005 - Ratchet: Deadlocked
(no games released in 2006)
2007 - Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (PSP w/ later PS2 port)
2007 - Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
2008 - Secret Agent Clank (PSP w/ later PS2 port)
2008 - Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty (PSN [tho released on disc in other territories] and shorter than the other games)
2009 - Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
(no games released in 2010)
2011 - Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One
2012 - Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault
The two PSP games were developed by High Impact Games, a developer that spawned off Insomniac. At this point Insomniac really doesn't seem to know where it wants to go with the series as the last two releases have been experimental. All 4 One was a co-op (up to 4 people) focused game but played like a regular R&C game (and allowed single player without AI partners) while Full Frontal Assault is… a tower defense game with an emphasis on multiplayer.
It's almost worse that they were releasing more than one in a year. I guess a couple of those were smaller games, but I don't think I've ever seen that kind of release schedule work outside of episodic games.
2015 huh.. I'd much rather they spend those 2 years making another game.
@Wes:
2015 huh.. I'd much rather they spend those 2 years making another game.
Insomniac isn't making the movie.
Interesting, but this movie will really need good writing.
Maybe this has a chance to have an entry on the very short list of good movie based video games
@Wagomu:
It's almost worse that they were releasing more than one in a year. I guess a couple of those were smaller games, but I don't think I've ever seen that kind of release schedule work outside of episodic games.
Mario?
@SSM:
Mario?
Mario's a completely different story. Nintendo is big enough that they have multiple divisions working on multiple Mario games. At this point, the Mario label is mostly a thing Nintendo developers slap onto their ideas to make them sell.
Insomniac doesn't have even close to the same amount of resources as Nintendo has to throw at anything that vaguely resembles a stocky plumber in a red hat. More than one game per year is spreading themselves thin.
Mario's a completely different story. Nintendo is big enough that they have multiple divisions working on multiple Mario games. At this point, the Mario label is mostly a thing Nintendo developers slap onto their ideas to make them sell.
First time I've seen anyone say that about the Mario series.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
It was most certainly not "a game a year". People who didn't play Tools of Destruction and Crack in Time are doing themselves a disservice.
I guess I'm doing it half-way since I've only plaayed Crack In Time and unlike some enjoyed it more so than GC and UYA not that those were bad or anything.
Insomniac doesn't have even close to the same amount of resources as Nintendo has to throw at anything that vaguely resembles a stocky plumber in a red hat. More than one game per year is spreading themselves thin.
Insomniac is a pretty big studio. They actually have two campuses now, one in California, one in North Carolina, so they're making a serious effort to expand to game-a-year capabilities.
First time I've seen anyone say that about the Mario series.
I'm not even sure what you're trying to get at with that sentence. I'm not knocking the process, but it is a thing.
Insomniac is a pretty big studio. They actually have two campuses now, one in California, one in North Carolina, so they're making a serious effort to expand to game-a-year capabilities.
Yeah, I guess, but I don't think the people working on Ratchet & Clank are a big enough group that they can easily be spread across multiple releases in the same year.
Iirc the people who did All 4 One wasn't the main team. Id imagine the same could be said for Secret Agent Clank and Quest for Booty ( which is barely 1/4 the size of a regular release)
I hope it's good, but I don't think expectations should be high for this one.
I'm not even sure what you're trying to get at with that sentence. I'm not knocking the process, but it is a thing.
I didn't mean anything by it it's just that was first time I had heard anyone anywhere mention that process and the Super Mario franchise in the same sentence.
I remember playing a trial version(?) of Rachet and Clank in my PS2 when I was a kid. I like the whole Crazy-frogish graphics (meaning the whole pseudo steampunk and futuristic theme).
Man, this movie looks great, even if you little or no knowledge about the game! I hope it's not going to disappoint.
I dunno about this. :ermm: Love the games but I just have no idea what this could give to fans that games can't. Even the graphics are exactly same so it's just like the game except that you can't play it.
Well this could offer the first story in a more compact form, and with the updated art style as well.
Ratchet and clank is a good series. I haven't played the last few games, but I hit up all the earlier stuff. However I can't really see this being amazing. Preferably a simple whacky plot, hilarious villains and action. I don't want it to be something it's not ya know.
Side note: quark is the jar jar binks of the group. shudders
Movie now has a release date: April 29 2016
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/05/13/ratchet-clank-movie-releases-april-29-2016-in-us/
Also announced some celeb voice casts. Thankfully, the series staples, Ratchet Clank, Quark and Nefarious (!!!!!!!) are still voiced by their game actors.
New trailer! April is too far away >__<
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/ratchetclank/
Was that Nefarious in there? I never thought the day I would see him together with Drek would come.
LoL human Nefarious…I mean, alien. Great idea.