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| 4 | %% Please don't add an image to this page without discussing it in Image Pickin' first. |
| 5 | %% IP thread for reference on overall decision for trope: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1446882910010776800 |
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| 9 | [[ExecutiveMeddling You have to do what the bossman says sometimes]] or [[GameOver your game is over]], man. |
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| 11 | ---- |
| 12 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 13 | |
| 14 | [[folder:Activision-Blizzard]] |
| 15 | * According to ousted creative leads Jason West and Vince Zampella, Creator/{{Activision}} demanded that Infinity Ward produce another ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' game. Given eighteen months to work on a title they didn't want to do in the first place, they made ''Modern Warfare 2''. That was supposed to be the full title until Activision forced ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' onto the package to retain brand identity, despite Infinity Ward intending ''Modern Warfare'' to be a SpinOff. Depending on whose story you choose to believe, Zampella and West apparently started talking to other game developers (which Activision frowned upon), which caused their dismissal, or they were held in their offices by security and interrogated (along with their colleagues) because of their refusal to follow Activision's demands. This incident caused a number of major knock-on effects: |
| 16 | ** Zampella, West, and roughly three-quarters of IW's staff left the company afterwards (including most of the creative and writing team behind the ''Modern Warfare'' series) and went to form Respawn Entertainment, creators of ''VideoGame/{{Titanfall}}'' and ''VideoGame/ApexLegends''. West left the studio shortly after the founding and went to work for Creator/EpicGames in 2019. Although Respawn was purchased by EA in 2017, the publisher largely avoided interfering with Respawn's projects, possibly because EA is afraid of pissing off Zampella again. |
| 17 | ** Activision is as of this writing, still releasing ''Call of Duty'' games on an annual basis, rotating between three internal Activision studios: Treyarch, Infinity Ward, and Sledgehammer Games. Sledgehammer was very briefly taken off the development cycle in 2019 after infighting with Raven caused the game that would eventually become ''Videogame/CallofDutyVanguard'' to be in a barely-functioning state at the halfway mark of development. |
| 18 | ** Neversoft, another Activison studio most famous for ''VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater'' was shuttered and merged into Infinity Ward in 2014. |
| 19 | * On a lighter note, the reason there hasn't been a ''Call of Duty'' movie yet is not because no studios want a go at it, but rather because Activision, fearful of [[Main/VideoGameMoviesSuck the usual reputation video game-based movies have]] and how that would affect the franchise, has shot down every offer. |
| 20 | * ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'' was affected by executive meddling quite badly. One of its publishers, Activision, attempted to turn the game into a ''Guitar Hero'' sequel, among other things. ''Brütal Legend'' was treated so badly by Activision that Double Fine claimed that Activision was purposely sabotaging the game in order to preserve its ''Guitar Hero'' franchise, which was on its way out of popularity. (Activision, as a response, claimed it was axed because it was over budget and late with everything and what they had, wasn't very good.) As a result of this, Tim Schafer estimated that the game was only one third as large as it was intended to be. Activision dropped ''Brütal Legend'' entirely, and it was later picked up by Creator/ElectronicArts. Naturally, they weren't completely done with some form of meddling after the move - see the EA folder for more. |
| 21 | * The Platform/PlayStation game ''VideoGame/SpiderMan2EnterElectro'' had the final level originally take place [[http://web.archive.org/web/20070902143554/http://www.game-rave.com/psx/playstation_perfect_guide/features/feature_spiderman3/index.html on the top of the World Trade Center]]. This is confirmed by the original level title, "Top of the World", and dialogue spoken by Peter Parker during the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUrXPnIDkC8 original cinematic]] prior to the final level. After the events of 9/11, the game was pulled from shelves (it had been released in North America in late August) and delayed in territories where it hadn't been released, and the level designers placed a bridge between the two towers to make the comparison to its real life counterpart less obvious. Given the fact that Activision and Vicarious Visions feared the content might have been considered "insensitive", their meddling was obvious. |
| 22 | * Thankfully, Activision was more or less entirely hands off with ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'', basically letting Creator/FROMSoftware do their thing. The only request Activision made was the subtitle - "Shadows Die Twice" was intended to merely be the TagLine for the teaser trailer. |
| 23 | * ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch 2}}'' itself fell victim to constant corporate interference from from executives according to former Tracy Kennedy. During the development on the sequel, Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick would often halt progress by pulling developers away to develop side projects that ultimately went nowhere, wasting months of their development time. Blizzard was also mandated to add new monetization features like a battle pass, unlockable heroes and a free-to-play release strategy. Subsequently the constant interference and dissatisfaction with the new corporate-mandated direction lead to high turnover rate, including the losses of director Jeff Kaplan and executive producer Chacko Sonny, and the game launching in a barebones state with features like the PvE mode arriving later and in a pared-down state. |
| 24 | [[/folder]] |
| 25 | |
| 26 | [[folder:Capcom]] |
| 27 | * ''Franchise/MegaMan'' was plagued with meddling from the get-go. The franchise was originally known as ''Rockman'' in Japan and most of East Asia. However, when trying to export the game to the US, the head of Capcom USA vetoed, threatening that he will not allow publishing the game stateside unless the name is changed (and by extension, the MusicalThemeNaming is removed) over the petty reason that he ''hates'' the name ''Rockman''. |
| 28 | ** ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' had its share of meddling. First, Keiji Inafune was forced to redesign the character of X because he feared the drastic changes to the original Mega Man's looks would prevent fans from relating to him (the original concept would later evolve into Zero). Then when Inafune intended ''X5'' to be the definitive end to the ''X'' series, Capcom went ahead with ''X6'', causing a bunch of {{plot hole}}s as a result that Inafune had to alter the ''[[VideoGame/MegaManZero Zero]]'' series' initial plot to avoid total discontinuity. |
| 29 | ** The villain of the first ''Zero'' game was supposed to be the real X. Meddling forced the change to Copy-X because they felt it would have been too dark to have the [[SuddenSequelHeelSyndrome previous series' hero suddenly turning into]] a KnightTemplar Zero would ultimately put down. |
| 30 | ** It's said Inafune originally planned to use the ''Zero'' series to explore Zero's past, using ''X5'' to introduce the idea, and was forced to ditch that outside of ''Zero 3'' [[spoiler:with the revelations of Omega's existence]], and even that only really explored what went down between the TimeSkip of the ''X'' and ''Zero'' series. |
| 31 | ** ''Zero 4'' was rife with meddling. Inafune intended for ''Zero 3'' to be the finale, but the execs demanded a fourth game. They were able to work with it since ''Zero 3'' still left the unresolved plot point of [[BigBad Dr. Weil]] [[TyrantTakesTheHelm in control of Neo Arcadia]], and directly set up the ending so that it would be continued into ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' without hope of another game. In addition, the original fate of the Guardians was that they would be too busy fighting a three-man war protecting the people of Neo Arcadia from Weil's machinations to be able to aid Zero. It was decided that they were to be [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killed by Omega's blast, despite having an obvious method of escaping safely and being further away from the source of it than Zero]]. |
| 32 | ** All this is believed to be the reason why Inafune quit Capcom upon ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends 3'''s announcement. Which was cancelled by Capcom too. |
| 33 | * ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'': |
| 34 | ** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'' originally wasn't going to have much of a story other than "the mansion is haunted and you must find a way out to survive". Shinji Mikami wanted players to be engaged by the horror and fear alone, but Capcom told that he had to include a detailed story to make the game more engaging. The overturned decision paved the way to the ''Resident Evil'' franchise everyone knows today. |
| 35 | ** When the first trailer for ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' featured Chris Redfield, a white character, mowing down a sea of black Majini (zombies), cries of racism ensued, led by ''Newsweek'' game reviewer N'Gai Croal. While producer Jun Takeuchi and Capcom claimed not to be influenced by the moral panic, the following trailer depicted a more racially diverse Majini, and a female African sidekick. |
| 36 | * ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': |
| 37 | ** If it weren't for those meddlin' executives, we'd be short one poker playin' hobo. After completing work on [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney the original trilogy]], the series' creator, Shu Takumi, wanted to make another ''Ace Attorney'' game, but with a new cast of characters. Capcom pressured him to keep Phoenix Wright in the game since they believed his name and image alone would sell a ton. Takumi still wanted to go with his image of a new cast, but to make Capcom happy, he threw in Phoenix as a man who got disbarred from court and no longer practices law while newbie defense attorney Apollo Justice replaces Phoenix's role. The meddling may explain why only The Judge, Phoenix, Ema Skye, and [[spoiler: Gumshoe and Mike Meekins via flashback case]] appear in the game while everyone else from the series beforehand are mysteriously missing without any word on what happened to them. |
| 38 | ** The meddling is also the reason why Apollo's history is barely explained while Phoenix still pulls the strings for most of the game, making Apollo look like a big idiot that just yells all the time. Because of this, fans didn't like Apollo's character and wished Phoenix was still the main character. This was made up in later games where Apollo is given a ''lot'' more backstory and spotlight to develop his character to the point where he's nearly popular as Phoenix among fans. |
| 39 | ** The series also has an in-universe case of executive meddling where lawmakers pushed for the court system to settle cases within 3 days in order to speed up trials and to prevent them from lingering so long while heavily favoring the prosecution, because it's usually easier to rule guilty than non guilty. |
| 40 | * For a while, the team that worked on ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' said that they'd love to make ''Darkstalkers 4'', but Capcom didn't want to work on anything that wasn't a CashCowFranchise (e.g. ''Franchise/StreetFighter''). ''Street Fighter'' producer Yoshinori Ono has been trying to drum up interest in a ''Darkstalkers'' sequel in order to prove to Capcom that it would be worth making, starting with ''Darkstalkers Resurrection'', a [=XBLA=]/[=PSN=] compilation of ''Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge'' and ''Darkstalkers 3''. Unfortunately, this didn't work. |
| 41 | * Ironically, Capcom's been on the receiving end of this, particularly from their crossovers with Creator/MarvelComics |
| 42 | ** ''[[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3 Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]'' |
| 43 | *** One of the newly added characters is Comicbook/DoctorStrange. Capcom notes that of all of the Marvel characters they have worked on, Dr. Strange was the only one that Marvel sent a list of specific things they had to do and what they couldn't do with the character. They even dictated what sort of hand gestures Dr. Strange uses. While Capcom managed to get some changes in, citing technical difficulties, most of their creative decisions for Dr. Strange were overruled by Marvel. There is speculation that this had something to do with the then-upcoming ''Film/{{Doctor Strange|2016}}'' film. |
| 44 | *** During discussions of what characters went into ''Marvel vs. Capcom 3'', Marvel had the final say in what characters of theirs they didn't want in, such as Venom. The only exception is Shuma-Gorath, whom Marvel didn't want in, but Capcom protested, and they agreed he could be in but only as DLC. |
| 45 | *** In a positive example, Capcom wanted to include a ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' character but had trouble making all of the members viable.[[note]]Human Torch's flame effects ate up RAM and caused slowdown, all their ideas for the Thing made him a virtual clone of the Hulk, and they couldn't think of enough moves for Mr. Fantastic or the Invisible Woman.[[/note]] Marvel stepped in and suggested they use the Super-Skrull, a villain who possesses all of the Fantastic Four's powers at the same time, which handily solved all their earlier issues while streamlining the roster in the process. |
| 46 | *** Another case: Originally Capcom wasn't going to include ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}, due to a miscommunication. They thought he was on Marvel's "blacklist" of rejected characters due to being unpopular. When Marvel found out, they explained that Deadpool is actually ''extremely'' popular and that he wasn't on the blacklist, but rather on the list of characters that they absolutely wanted to see in the game. |
| 47 | ** ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'': |
| 48 | *** Marvel refused to allow any ''ComicBook/XMen'' characters, forcing Capcom to utilize only characters from the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse and X-Men [[{{Expy}} expies]] instead. [[ReplacementScrappy This went over about as well as you'd expect.]] It's theorized this decision has something to do with 20th Century Fox bogarting the ''X-Men'' film rights and Marvel wanting the game to promote the MCU. |
| 49 | *** Tying in with the MCU influence, Capcom was instructed by Marvel to adopt a more realistic art style and redone character theme music to evoke the style of the MCU. The game's visuals have been pretty heavily ridiculed by fans, especially the way it clashes with reused character designs and models from the previous game, while the music is more divisive. |
| 50 | *** According to a pro-player who helped create the game's character trailers, Marvel refused to allow their fighters to be beaten up by Capcom's. The only time a Marvel character would get hit is if it was another Marvel character hitting them. |
| 51 | *** When casting voices for the game, characters from the opposing companies were not allowed to be voiced [[ActingForTwo by the same actor]]. For example, since Creator/LauraBailey was already set to voice Black Widow, she wasn't allowed to reprise her role as Chun-Li. This also likely explains why, despite a lot of the Avengers' voice actors coming from ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'', including Bailey, Creator/RogerCraigSmith who reprises his ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' role as Chris Redfield ''didn't'' reprise his ''Assemble'' role as Captain America. |
| 52 | [[/folder]] |
| 53 | |
| 54 | [[folder:Electronic Arts]] |
| 55 | The behavior of Creator/ElectronicArts over the last two decades reads like a laundry list of what ''not'' to do as a video game publisher. Meddling in the affairs of studios it gobbled up in deals with parent companies, executive fiat in several notable franchises and a general lack of regard for anyone besides investors are just the tip of the iceberg. Even the mere mention of their name can act as a BerserkButton for [[http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Mojang-Notch-EA-Indie-Minecraft,15546.html well-known developers]]. |
| 56 | * Creator/OriginSystems (responsible for the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' and ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' franchises) was acquired by the company in 1992. Five years later, the company became an online-only developer that shifted its focus to ''VideoGame/UltimaOnline'' (to the point that the developers of the then-recently released ''VideoGame/UltimaIX: Ascension'' wrote a number of stealth insults into the game as a way to get back at EA for cutting corners, rushing the game for a holiday release and sidetracking the company). As a response to ''Ascension'''s poor retail performance[[note]]which probably contributed to the [[https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/EA/history?period1=943398000&period2=945990000&interval=1d&filter=history&frequency=1d 26% drop in EA's market valuation]] two weeks after its release[[/note]], the company then cancelled all of Origin's planned projects (including the ''Ultima Online'' sequel, ''Privateer Online'' and ''VideoGame/HarryPotter Online''). The final nail in the coffin was the development of ''Ultima X: Odyssey''. EA forced relocation of development from Austin, Texas to California, leaving developers who couldn't make the move due to family issues out of work. This subsequently led to the project being scrapped altogether. The Origin trademark was later reintroduced as a digital distribution platform. |
| 57 | * Westwood Studios was acquired by EA in 1998, which subsequently resulted in at least half of the studio's employees quitting in protest. EA's increased control resulted in restrictive demands on many of the team's projects, and led to rushed and unfinished games, including: |
| 58 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Nox}}'' (a project three years in the making), which was intended to be a multiplayer fantasy battle game that was taken over by EA and turned into a single player [=RPG=]. Despite the game's good reception, the company lost the IP rights to EA, who immediately shut down the game's servers and cancelled plans for an expansion and sequel. |
| 59 | ** The ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' franchise, which was inexplicably turned into a first-person shooter in 2002's ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRenegade'', over the objections of its development staff. The game subsequently missed several shipping dates and was criticized for straying from the series' strategy roots - and when it didn't sell as well as expected, EA promptly shifted all the blame on Westwood and liquidated the company entirely. |
| 60 | *** ''Tiberium'' was to be the second FPS set in the ''C&C'' universe. It had a solid, original concept at its heart: you play as a GDI Forward Battle Commander, actively leading your AI-controlled troops from the front lines. It had a terrific art style; everything in the game world had a realistic, hard sci-fi look to it. It had the fans of the series salivating with anticipation... and then was suddenly canceled with no reasoning cited other than "failing to meet quality standards." Shortly after the game's cancellation, several disillusioned developers of the game began posting on [[http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20462 Gamasutra]], and from these testimonies comes a rather depressing tale. It seems that the project was doomed by its leadership, or lack thereof. According to the posters at Gamasutra, many of the lead producers (and there were apparently several) were less experienced than many of their subordinates and were only later promoted to their positions. There was much jockeying for power, with each producer trying to outdo or replace the work done by their predecessors (including gutting the FPS/RTS mechanic at its core). At least one poster claims these managers were actively trying to sabotage the project and thus save face rather than have a broken game released with their names attached. Even if only half of it is true, it's a fact that this game was in development for a good 5 years, got nowhere, and no one seemed to want to save it. |
| 61 | *** ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianTwilight Tiberian Twilight]]'' was also a huge victim. The game originally started out as a multiplayer-only project, meant for quick, direct matches in cybercafes and for tournaments. It would be set in the Tiberium universe, but the mechanics were revamped for its short-match multiplayer focus, and to be fair, they were good mechanics for the kind of gameplay they were going for. However, executives wanted them to shift the product and expand it into a full, story-integrated sequel to Tiberium Wars. Its progression system was ill-balanced for campaign play, and its mechanics did not give players the kind of single-player mission experience consistent with earlier titles in the series. Moreover was the gameplay itself - despite this being a game in one of the progenitors of the RealTimeStrategy, EA forced the game into [[FollowTheLeader riding on the coattails]] of the then-burgeoning Real-Time Tactics subgenre in the wake of ''VideoGame/CompanyOfHeroes'' and ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar''. This ended up giving it a Metacritic score of 64, which under the FourPointScale is one of the lowest a major game can expect to get. The average user review was several times worse than that. |
| 62 | * ''VideoGame/ThrillKill'' winded up a victim of EA's wrath in 1998. Virgin Interactive was set to release the game in the summer of that year, even after having to make some edits to tone down some of the game's content for an M rating by the ESRB. However, when Virgin was acquired by EA, the latter cancelled ''Thrill Kill'' a few weeks before its official release date because they didn't want to be associated with a "senselessly violent game". EA even refused to sell the rights of the game off to another publisher. Fortunately, they did allow the developers to keep the engine, which was used to create ''Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style''. |
| 63 | * ''VideoGame/HarryPotter'': |
| 64 | ** [[https://twitter.com/bgolus/status/1230637316764385282 The developers generally weren't allowed]] to include events from [[Literature/HarryPotter the books]] that weren't in [[Film/HarryPotter the movies]]. Peeves appears in the first game only because [[https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/6urjpf/comment/dlvgeba/ Warner Bros. didn't tell the developers he was cut from the movie until the final month of development.]] The Platform/GameBoyColor games based on ''[[VideoGame/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone Philosopher's Stone]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets Chamber of Secrets]]'' were able to be closer to the books, [[https://www.neogaf.com/threads/rttp-harry-potter-game-boy-rpgs.743011/#post-95347786 since EA paid little attention to them compared to the console and GBA games, and whenever the developers showed their progress EA would just be impressed at what they managed on the GBC hardware.]] |
| 65 | ** For unknown reasons, Creator/WarnerBros [[https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/6urjpf/comment/dlvy03i/ forbade Hedwig from appearing in the first PC game...]] and ''only'' the PC game, as she appeared in every other version of the game. |
| 66 | ** The developers of the PC ''[[VideoGame/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets Chamber of Secrets]]'' game [[https://youtu.be/0w7lbizbPUQ wanted to make it so that the other houses could win at the end,]] but the EA executives forced them to rig it so that only Gryffindor could get the House Cup. The final Chamber of Secrets level was also much more elaborate with difficult puzzles and enemies, but the producers demanded it be simplified to running past fire-breathing snake statues because they thought the original idea was too hard for kids. |
| 67 | ** The ''[[VideoGame/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' Platform/GameBoyAdvance game was hit hard by this. EA didn't trust the former GBC team at Griptonite Games to create quality GBA art, and ended up forcing them to completely change the art style halfway through development. With only half the time to complete the game, the developers had to cut many features and work crunch mode for the rest of development, including weekends and holidays. |
| 68 | * As mentioned in the Activision folder, EA acquired the rights to ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'' after Activision dropped the title. EA didn't meddle with the game development like Activision did, but they only advertised the game's action elements, completely obscuring the RTS elements that make up the core of the game's mechanics, leading to the game receiving some undeserved criticism. Then came the patch Double Fine was going to release for the Platform/PlayStation3 version, which would fix the muffled sound effects and the 99% completion glitch, but because EA only likes to support games that sold well, they would not let DF release the patch whatsoever, even though the patch was ''finished''.\ |
| 69 | \ |
| 70 | Executive meddling was also the reason the game did not get a PC port until early 2013. Schafer originally made the game for consoles in mind, but was willing to port it to PC. EA, however, would not allow this due to poor sales. It wasn't until EA dropped all publishing rights to the title that DF was finally allowed to port it to PC. |
| 71 | * Several of Creator/BullfrogProductions' (led by Creator/PeterMolyneux) games were rushed to stores in an unfinished state by EA in order to meet the season, including ''Magic Carpet'', which went to stores over Molyneux's repeated objections that the game wasn't finished yet. |
| 72 | * Maxis was bought by EA in 1997, and the publisher slowly exerted control over the developer in the ensuing years. It has been said that the company was only saved from being destroyed outright initially by the success of ''VideoGame/SimCity 3000'' (which was expected to be a flop). The company subsequently had its offices shut and its employees moved to EA's offices, where they commenced work on ''VideoGame/TheSims'', which (as even the Wikipedia article for the company says) had its company logo superseded by EA's as more expansions and DLC packs (mandated by the publisher) were released. |
| 73 | ** EA put the restrictive Securom UsefulNotes/{{DRM}} on all retail copies of ''VideoGame/{{Spore}}'' (which had a maximum number of "activations" and a litany of security holes) against creator Will Wright's wishes. The game was subsequently pirated more than 500,000 times in protest after advance copies leaked, and it became one of the most pirated games in history. |
| 74 | ** The development team for ''The Sims 2'' complained about how EA executives pressured the team to use more particle effects in the game so they could put that as a bullet point on the box. So, we got people walking around with green smoke coming out of their arms when low on hygiene, green smoke coming out of food that had gone bad, and so forth. Unrealistic it may be, it at least came in handy as a visual aid. Ironically, many users also found such effects "annoying", and there are multiple user-made hacks available to eliminate them. |
| 75 | ** The "always-on" internet connectivity required to play ''VideoGame/SimCity2013'' was [[http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/12/simcity-server-not-necessary/ thrown]] into the game by EA to force players to stay online, despite company representatives claiming otherwise. This connectivity issue led to a truly disastrous launch for the game - many review outlets and fans were unable to play during launch week, Amazon temporarily suspended sales of the game, and EA ended up issuing a patch that cut core features like achievements and the "fast-forward mode" to decrease the pressure on their servers. It is also believed that the debacle, [[http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/03/18/as-simcity-fires-burn-john-riccitello-steps-down-as-ea-ceo/ in part]], led to EA CEO John Riccitello resigning from the company in March 2013 and Maxis' eventual shutdown in 2015. |
| 76 | * In 2004, the publisher was sued in two separate class-action lawsuits by designers and employees in the parent company who alleged that they were forced to work extremely long hours without overtime benefits. This resulted in a $30 million-plus judgement against EA. |
| 77 | * ''[[VideoGame/TimeSplitters TimeSplitters: Future Perfect]]'' was published by EA after the previous two games were handled by Eidos Interactive. As part of the deal, EA wanted a game that played like a more typical first-person shooter, which resulted in a game that was slower paced and less indebited to ''[[VideoGame/Goldeneye1997 Goldeneye]]'' and ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' like the earlier ''[=TimeSplitters=]'' games were. EA also wasn't enthusiastic about the game as a whole, and placed most of their marketing focus on ''VideoGame/DoubleOhSevenFromRussiaWithLove'' instead. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools It wasn't all bad however]]; EA also requested that the game feature a story mode more involving than the [[ExcusePlot Excuse Plots]] of the previous two games. The result was a hilarious romp through time that is often seen as the game's strongest element. |
| 78 | * After the success of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', EA pushed Creator/{{BioWare}} to release ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' much sooner than the game's development team expected, due to the ''Star Wars'' MMO ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' missing its projected deadline. The game's composer, Inon Zur, [[http://kotaku.com/5780870/ever-wonder-why-dragon-age-ii-came-out-so-soon later admitted]] in an interview that the score was a rush job and that the game was pushed hard for a March 2011 release, while [=BioWare=] lead designer Brent Knowles (who had been with the company for over a decade) [[http://blog.brentknowles.com/2010/08/15/bioware-brent-year-10-fall-2008-summer-2009/ quit the company]] over the decision to rush development. There have also been rumors that the game was released in an "[[ObviousBeta alpha]]" version, and that the game was a standalone title for a completely different concept that was repurposed as the sequel due to production problems. Later on, a planned expansion pack for the sequel (that apparently resolved the story arc set up by the game itself) was cancelled unceremoniously. |
| 79 | * According to Chris "Stormwaltz" L'Etoile, who wrote for ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' and ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', Legion's fascination with Shepard as well as its salvaged N7 armor was a decision imposed upon him by "someone who got paid a lot more money than him" after he saw the concept art. L'Etoile said that he didn't want AI to [[BecomeARealBoy want to be human]] and that they should want to better themselves rather than change themselves (and that Legion's "obsession" would require emotion, something Geth weren't supposed to have in his words). He was later reassigned, and a plot point he wrote about the Reapers trying to forcibly [[BrainUploading upload the memories of sapient species into their memory banks]] rather than harvesting their DNA was dropped. |
| 80 | * ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': |
| 81 | ** According to [[http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/5695/article/ since-deleted]] forum posts on the Webcomic/PennyArcade forums posted by the account of Patrick Weekes (writer of the Tuchanka arc and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Blasto trailers]]), executive producer Casey Hudson and lead writer Mac Walters went behind the writing team's back and rewrote the controversial ending of the game by themselves. |
| 82 | ** The lead writer of the first two games in the series (Drew Karpyshyn) was reassigned to another [=BioWare=] project (''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic''), during development of the third game. This led to an original major plot point (about dark energy) being dropped and eventually replaced with the more controversial one. |
| 83 | * ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' got hit with this even worse. EA, in all their wisdom, mandated that [=BioWare=] Montreal use the Frostbite engine for the game, an engine designed for FPS [[CripplingOverspecialization and having no real support for any other type of game]]. This, along with the inexperienced dev team wasting several years and millions of dollars attempting to implement ''VideoGame/NoMansSky''-style procedural generation to no success, led to the [[ObviousBeta disastrous launch]] that would [[CreatorKiller kill [=BioWare=] Montreal]]. |
| 84 | * Then there's ''Star Wars: The Old Republic'', which itself was targeted for a March 2012 release and instead got forced out the door early in December 2011. Predictably, the chief complaint was the lack of endgame content for the MMO. |
| 85 | * Creator/{{Suda 51}} and Creator/ShinjiMikami went to EA to work on Suda's game idea, ''Kurayami'', an adventure game based on the works of Creator/FranzKafka. EA agreed to produce the game, but then they decided that Suda's proposal wasn't profitable enough by itself, so they had their own people retool ''Kurayami'' into a horror-themed third-person shooter that barely resembled what Suda had in mind. The resulting product, ''VideoGame/ShadowsOfTheDamned'', ended up being disowned by Suda. The game sold terribly thanks to EA refusing to actually market it. |
| 86 | * Since 2013, EA has mandated that all of its major studios must use the Frostbite Engine. In an unusual case, this decision reflects both the [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools positives and negatives]] of executive meddling. On one hand, not only does the engine provide the best graphics on the market, but the universal adoption of a single proprietary game engine allows the company to avoid the licensing fees and legal hassles from using third-party engines while also letting the different EA subsidiary studios easily exchange ideas, mechanics, and assets with one other. On the other hand, the Frostbite Engine suffered from CripplingOverspecialization as, since it was originally designed for shooters and racers, it lacked many of the necessary tools for other genres like [=RPGs=] and third-person action games, forcing several studios to design their own components. Sometimes everything works out as seen with ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' while other times things mess up as seen with ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda''. |
| 87 | * ''VideoGame/Anthem2019''. |
| 88 | ** After the success of Bioware's ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', EA mandated that Bioware continue using the aforementioned Frostbite MediaNotes/GameEngine. However, the engine's over-specialization and lack of technical support contributed to the game's tumultuous development cycle. Not helping matters is that the Bioware management and leadership gave conflicting direction and a lack of vision for the final product. |
| 89 | ** In a strangely ''positive'' example, EA executive Patrick Söderlund essentially got Bioware to actually get to work. After Bioware's leadership squandered years of development time, he personally stepped in to offer feedback and input. Söderlund's request for a demo led to Bioware creating one that was not well-received. He apparently tore it apart, and on Bioware's second attempt, his previous feedback made them actually stick with some design ideas (which the Bioware leaders were apparently not doing at all) -- flying in particular. Flying is the one aspect of Anthem to be generally positively received. |
| 90 | * Ironically, EA itself has been on the receiving end of meddling from other companies, namely media giants like that licensed out their properties for game development. Their deal with Disney to make ''Star Wars'' games has led to many instances of Disney and Lucasfilm executives stepping in during game development. |
| 91 | ** According to [[http://www.videogamer.com/ps4/nextgen_battlefront/news/eas_future_star_wars_games_could_make_use_of_the_force_awakens_characters.html this article]], Disney and Lucasfilm warned EA about screwing with ''Star Wars'' canon, hence why ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront2015'' lacked anything related to [[Film/ThePhantomMenace the]] [[Film/AttackofTheClones prequel]] [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith trilogy]] or ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', aside from a single Jakku map for the latter. In all fairness, this is rather standard practice among licensed movie tie-ins as most video game and toy companies could only create content based on initial concept art to avoid spoilers. |
| 92 | ** [[https://kotaku.com/the-collapse-of-viscerals-ambitious-star-wars-game-1819916152 Another article]] revealed that what led to the death of ''VideoGame/{{Ragtag}}'' was the constant demands made by EA and Lucasfilm. EA demanded that the game should reach a 90% aggregate score on Metacritic and be comparable to ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' in quality. Lucasfilm representatives had to approve every single creative decision made by the team; notably, finalizing costume designs took ''months'' to complete due to the constant demands. |
| 93 | ** In response to the microtransactions controversy surrounding ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017'', Disney executive James Pitaro personally contacted EA CEO Andrew Wilson and demanded that the game's microtransactions be disabled at launch. Disney apparently didn't want the game's fiasco to overshadow the release of ''Film/TheLastJedi'' and the then-recent announcement of a new ''Star Wars'' trilogy. |
| 94 | ** Respawn Entertainment's Senior Designer Justin Perez revealed that people can't be dismembered in ''VideoGame/StarWarsJediFallenOrder'' due to interference from Disney, despite it being a relatively frequent occurrence in the movies and previous games. However, since this mandate only applies to ''human'' enemies, [[LoopholeAbuse droids, animals, and cyborgs]] are still dismembered in [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe rather]] [[OffWithHisHead spectacular]] ways. |
| 95 | * After Electronic Arts acquired Criterion Games prior to the release of ''[[VideoGame/{{Burnout}} Burnout 3: Takedown]]'', they mandated that the game feature EA Trax, their branding for licenced music as also used in their sports titles as well as the ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'' series. This resulted in the composed soundtrack being jettisoned and replaced with a [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece very 2004]] licensed PopPunk soundtrack. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools This is generally considered to be a positive change]]; while the replacement soundtrack is not without its detractors, many consider it a massive part of the game's nostalgic charm, either [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic legitimately]] or [[NarmCharm with begrudging admiration]]. The original soundtrack would later be featured uncut in ''VideoGame/BurnoutParadise'', for those who prefer it. |
| 96 | [[/folder]] |
| 97 | |
| 98 | [[folder:[=LucasArts=]]] |
| 99 | * The story goes that one of the designers of ''VideoGame/FullThrottle''--a game about a biker who kicked the crap out of people and was investigating the brutal bludgeoning murder of an old man by a ruthless corrupt corporate executive who had also ordered the old man's daughter killed, and had further framed him and his gang for the foul deed--had an idea where the lead goes on a peyote-fueled quasi-dream sequence that took place inside his own head. The executives at Creator/LucasArts said no, as that would be "inappropriate" material. [[Creator/TimSchafer That designer]] nonetheless held onto the seed of the idea, and eventually created ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}''. |
| 100 | * ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' was meddled rather thoroughly by [=LucasArts=]. First they rushed the development [[ChristmasRushed to make a Christmas release date]], meaning quite a lot of stuff (including ''the actual ending'') got DummiedOut due to time constraints. Then it turned into straight-up ScrewedByTheNetwork when Obsidian offered to put together a patch to restore the missing content and [=LucasArts=] refused on the grounds that the Xbox version wasn't Xbox Live-enabled and couldn't be patched. Fortunately, the modding community has managed to fix most of it, and the Platform/{{Steam}} release of the game now has [[GameMod Workshop support]] primarily to allow players easy access to the content-restoration mod. |
| 101 | * The third game of the ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront'' series, developed by Free Radical Designs, was pretty far into its development cycle. A leaked trailer showcased impressive features at the time such as being able to jump into a fighter and fly from a ground battle into space, all in real time. At some point during development, the management at [=LucasArts=] changed hands. The new CEO, Darrel Rodriguez, made it a point to cut costs as much as possible, and ''Battlefront 3'' was costing money. This ended up being another kick in the [[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-05-04-free-radical-vs-the-monsters long series of such events]] that eventually led to Free Radical closing its doors. |
| 102 | * The cancelled ''[[VideoGame/ThirteenThirteen Star Wars 1313]]'' was plagued by development issues when overseen by Creator/GeorgeLucas himself. Originally envisioned as a tie-in to a TV series, the game was delayed repeatedly and only became greenlit after said series was cancelled. Lucas initially wanted the game to star an original character as the main bounty hunter protagonist only to later demand that Boba Fett be the main star. Of course, these demands proved to be frustrating to the developers who had to scrap entire assets just to accommodate Lucas's demands. Even after Lucas departed the company following its sale to Disney, the ''1313'' project was ultimately cancelled and the development staff laid off. |
| 103 | [[/folder]] |
| 104 | |
| 105 | [[folder:Microsoft]] |
| 106 | * This is the reason for the original Xbox's infamously over-large "Duke" controller. Higher-ups at Microsoft outsourced the design for controller's internal circuitry before they even hired the designer for the exterior. The resulting interior electronics consisted of one big circuit board instead of multiple smaller ones like other controllers used, which necessitated that the exterior casing be extra large in order to accommodate it. The Duke controller was poorly received upon release, especially in Asian countries like Japan where it played a large part in contributing to the brand's AmericansHateTingle reception there[[note]]Microsoft launched the Xbox in Japan with the smaller, redesigned "Controller S" that eventually supplanted the Duke worldwide, but the damage was already done from pre-release promotional materials[[/note]]. |
| 107 | * Microsoft requires all Xbox 360 games to have a list of achievements for the players to unlock. This may explain why some achievements are a waste of time or are super easy to get. In addition, any out-of-the-box game has to have exactly 1000 gamer points, though add-on content can up this. |
| 108 | ** Ostensibly, this is a way for Microsoft to give gamers a permanent sense of achievement (no pun intended) in playing the games, though it's also become like leaderboards, where they matter mostly for bragging rights. Some games have well thought out achievements that are unlocked when you complete a certain section of the game or reach a certain story event, while some don't. And then some games have intentionally ludicrous ones, such as the achievement you get in ''The Simpsons Game'' for pressing the Start button (though the game itself is an AffectionateParody of the entire video game medium and industry). |
| 109 | * The Platform/{{Xbox 360}} itself suffered meddling from Microsoft during the manufacturing period in late 2005. Microsoft pressured builders to cut corners and skimp on parts in order to rush the console onto the market in time for the Christmas season and to get ahead of Sony's plans to release the Platform/PlayStation3 in 2006. This would bite Microsoft back ''hard'' a year or two later since the infamous Red Ring of Death plagued around 20%-30% of people who owned the console. As a result of the aforementioned corner-cutting and Microsoft's focus on making the outer shell of the console slimmer than the famously bulky Platform/{{Xbox}}, the initial design of the 360 had a poorly made heatsink and its outer shell couldn't release heat quickly enough, which caused the CPU to quickly fry and cause 3 red rings to light up by the power button to signify there was a hardware error. This particular configuration of lights meant the console couldn't be turned on again without being repaired. Microsoft lost around a billion US dollars replacing all the fried consoles, giving consumers an extended warranty on their new consoles, and then having to manufacture a new design that fixed the issues. The final estimate of affected consoles came to around 50%, indicating that essentially half their first run of Xbox 360 consoles were unintentionally built to last little more than a year, if that. That number got pushed to 64% later on according to Microsoft, as apparently refurbished consoles would fail just as easily. |
| 110 | * Microsoft's acquisition of ''VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}'' was likely what saved it from forever being {{Vaporware}}. It was originally Chris Roberts' first attempt at realizing his vision of a fully dynamic, open-world space simulator, but dragged on for several years before the MS execs took over, took a machete to the feature list, and polished it up for release. Despite its much more limited scope and delay-induced graphical obsolescence, the game was critically and commercially successful. (It remains to be seen if Roberts' second attempt, ''VideoGame/StarCitizen'', will succeed where ''Freelancer'' failed.) |
| 111 | * Whether it was a more executive decision or not is unknown, but apparently the 'Meat Flag' multiplayer game mode for ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar 2'' by Creator/EpicGames was renamed 'Submission' at the behest of the PR team at Microsoft. |
| 112 | * ''[[VideoGame/PerfectDark Perfect Dark Zero]]'' started out on the [=GameCube=], then Microsoft bought Rare from Nintendo in 2002 so they had to restart the development of the game for the Xbox. When they were almost done, Microsoft asked them to transfer development to the Xbox 360, and they wanted it to be a launch title. So, Rare was rushed while they were making the game, and they had to have 700,000 discs ready before the Microsoft certification was complete, to meet the Xbox 360 launch date. Rare also did not have the full development kits for the 360, and the one they had was only capable of around 1/3rd of the 360's graphical capabilities. Overall, because of all of this it took Rare five years to make this game. |
| 113 | * Microsoft has a policy for patches on games where developers have to pay a fee to be allowed to upload a patch for everyone to download. The cost ranges in the tens of thousands of dollars, so constant patching can get ''very'' expensive very quickly. On top of that, it is said that Microsoft also restricts how large a patch can be, which means developers are either forced to cut back on what they can push out for patches or don't bother patching at all. The patch fees are likely the reason why many games go unpatched for years and are left in a broken mess while their PC counterparts don't have to jump through the patch fee hurdles. |
| 114 | * While the details are unknown, the infamously despised ''VideoGame/BatmanDarkTomorrow'' was originally going to be an open world sandbox game with Batman interacting with the environment like Spider-Man in the ''VideoGame/SpiderMan2'' movie-licensed game and be released on the [=GameCube=]. Then Microsoft expressed interest in releasing the game on the Xbox and stated they were going to make needed changes to the game, including fixing the "broken combat". A brief trip to development hell later and the final version became known as the worst ''Batman'' game ever, with several issues regarding linearity, combat, platforming and the lack of clues to get the real ending. |
| 115 | * Games developed on Platform/XboxSeriesXAndS must have all the full feature parity (excluding graphical options) between Series [=X=] and [=S=], as many developers found out the latter console's technical issue and weaker than the [=X=]. There are exceptions to the rule which developers can drop the features: |
| 116 | ** Originally Larian was forced to include "seamless drop-in, drop-out co-op" feature in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' on the Series [=S=], which is why the date is delayed with no release date. [[https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/baldurs-gate-3-will-be-coming-to-xbox-this-year-with-split-screen-removed-for-series-s/ However, the agreement with Phil Spencer allows to drop the split-screen co-op on the Series [=S=], while keeping the promised feature on the Series [=X=].]] |
| 117 | |
| 118 | [[/folder]] |
| 119 | |
| 120 | [[folder:Nintendo]] |
| 121 | * When online gaming was starting to pick up in the early 2000s, Sony jumped on board a bit later with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' which made the Platform/PlayStation2 the first console for Sony to have online capabilities. The [[Platform/SegaDreamcast Dreamcast]] and the Platform/{{Xbox}} incorporated online gaming long before Sony. The Platform/{{Nintendo GameCube}} was designed for online play, but very few games were made with this feature in mind and Creator/{{Nintendo}} had openly stated that they thought that online gaming would be just a passing fad. This resulted in the [=GameCube=] having an Internet connection that would never be used except for as LAN in a couple games. |
| 122 | * The Platform/{{Wii}} was originally going to have the controllers built with a more complex and accurate motion sensor, but Nintendo ordered that they be simplified to make the controllers cheaper. Cue thousands of complaints from gamers and even developers about how inaccurate and annoying the Wii's motion controls were. Eventually Nintendo released an add-on, the Wii [=MotionPlus=], that restored the original capabilities, but only during the console's final years, resulting in only a handful of Wii games that support it. |
| 123 | * ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' is the result of this. Originally, the game was to be titled ''VideoGame/DinosaurPlanet'' and had no ties whatsoever with the ''Star Fox'' franchise. Krystal and a male wolf named Sabre were the main characters. However, after Star Fox creator and Nintendo's creative head Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto saw a likeness between Sabre and Fox [=McCloud=], he gave the idea to Creator/{{Rare}} of turning it into a ''Star Fox'' title, despite the game and its gameplay having no relation or similarities with the series beyond that and some scifi elements, with Rare ultimately agreeing because of the increased sales potential of using the Star Fox brand. Sabre was axed, with his role being given to Fox. Also, a rushed release date due to Microsoft buying out Rare during production caused characters and plot to be changed around to get the game out before the deadline, including aging up Krystal and making her a DamselInDistress instead of a {{Deuteragonist}} and completely cutting what could have been a climactic boss fight with General Scales. |
| 124 | * ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing'' was originally going to be a new IP with original characters, but Miyamoto randomly decided to make Rare put Diddy Kong in it, which resulted in the game becoming a ''Donkey Kong'' title. According to an interview with the lead composer, it was because Nintendo wouldn't have a release ready in time for Christmas and pressed Rare to slap established characters into the existing project to ensure sales. Another reason might be the fact that Miyamoto doesn't like Nintendo starting new franchises or making original games without old Nintendo characters, as evidenced in [[http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/super_mario_galaxy/0/0 interviews]]. Rare ''did'' have [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie an N64 game]] slated for the holiday 1997 release date that Nintendo was seeking, but it was decided that it wouldn't be able to meet that release date, and was delayed to a summer 1998 release. ''Diddy Kong Racing'' ending up having to be rushed to release in its place, and this is reflected in the final version, which has content not properly implemented[[note]]for example, segments of incomplete racing tracks can be found in the game's code; a few songs exist in the game's soundtest that aren't used anywhere else; and one of the animals that was mind-controlled by Wizpig is missing in the celebration sequence prior to the credits[[/note]]. |
| 125 | * Continuing the trend, ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'' was originally going to be an original title starring Prince Fluff, but the execs noticed that the player character looked similar to Kirby and made the developers turn it into a ''Kirby'' game. Similarly to Krystal in the ''Star Fox'' example, Prince Fluff was still kept, but demoted to a secondary character. This is why the title plays so differently from the rest of the games in the series, with Kirby even missing his signature ability of sucking enemies and stealing their powers. |
| 126 | * ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'': The Spring Breeze mode was not intended to include copy abilities, which would have made it a more faithful remake of ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand''. Director Creator/MasahiroSakurai reluctantly added them at the request of one of Nintendo's producers. Sakurai revealed in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkeETXCSn5M&t=332 an episode]] of ''WebVideo/MasahiroSakuraiOnCreatingGames'' that he still believes Spring Breeze should lack copy abilities (at least on the first playthrough), feeling that copy abilities make it too similar to the second game in the compilation, Dyna Blade. |
| 127 | * ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'' was originally intended to be a straightforward VideoGameRemake of ''Kirby Super Star'', until Masayoshi Tanimura, then-president of Creator/HALLaboratory, asked for the scope to be expanded, leading to extra sub-games being added. A beneficial move, as it allowed Shinya Kumazaki, director of the remake, to establish his directorial style for the series going forward, including using the new Revenge of the King sub-game to give Dedede a HeelFaceTurn that stuck from then on. |
| 128 | * Platform/PhilipsCDi system: |
| 129 | ** The notorious ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDiGames The Legend of Zelda]]'' and ''VideoGame/HotelMario'' games on the Philips CD-i system were a result of several years' worth of executive meddling. During the early '90s, just as NEC and Sega were coming out with CD-ROM add-ons for their consoles, Nintendo decided to develop [[Platform/{{SNESCDROM}} one for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] with Sony, one that would be able to play new, 32-bit CD-based games in addition to the original SNES library. A while into their co-operation, however, Nintendo realized that letting just anyone develop games for the CD add-on meant that Nintendo would lose their absolute control over the games released on their systems. More importantly, they also realized that the contract with Sony contained a clause that the latter would own the rights to all games developed for the add-on. Nintendo decided to give Sony the cold shoulder and, completely by surprise, announced that they were going to work with Philips on the CD add-on from there on. Nintendo's CD add-on never saw the light of day. To compensate Philips, Nintendo gave the former the rights to publish four games based on Nintendo characters for the [=CD-i=]. The worst part for Nintendo? [[CreateYourOwnVillain Sony continued the project by themselves]], eventually creating the Platform/PlayStation. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero This would put Nintendo into a slump]] from which they wouldn't completely recover from until the Wii was released. |
| 130 | ** Furthermore, both this specific event and executive meddling in general had everything to do with Square's falling out with Nintendo, as well. Square was a ''huge'' supporter of the CD peripheral, as they had plans to use it, and loudly criticized Nintendo's decision to drop the project. As a result, Nintendo punished Square by refusing to allow expanded ROM sizes for some of their ambitious projects late in the Super Famicom's life cycle, like ''VideoGame/BahamutLagoon'' and ''VideoGame/RudraNoHihou''. Furthermore, Nintendo was convinced that disc-based game systems were a fad, since the SNES did better than its competitors without one, leading to their next game console, the Platform/{{Nintendo 64}}, being cartridge-based as well. Square quickly realized that the [=N64=] and its cartridges weren't capable of running the games they wanted to make, so they decided to develop games for the Platform/PlayStation instead. |
| 131 | * ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' came into being because Nintendo of America didn't think [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels the original Japanese game of that title]] was [[MissionPackSequel different enough from the first one]], as well as considering it [[PlatformHell too hard for American audiences.]] But [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools the result paid off]], with the game selling very well and many foreign elements, such as Shy-Guys, Bob-Ombs and Birdo, all originally ''[=SMB2=]''-specific characters, have [[CanonImmigrant since become staples]] of the Marioverse ensemble. Also, ''The Lost Levels'' got a Western release some years later anyway. |
| 132 | * Nintendo of America in the early '90s with their heavy censorship: |
| 133 | ** The original North American release of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' had several important scenes inexplicably removed, a falling blade trap changed to a falling metal ball trap (apparently it's ok to get squished to death, but not sliced in half); ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' had a couple of female summoned creatures' sprites altered to show less skin, and both games had religious references removed (changing "Holy" to "Pearl", etc.). In addition, the porno magazines in ''Final Fantasy IV'' and ''VI'' were also both edited out in their initial Western releases.[[note]]The Platform/GameBoyAdvance version of ''VI'' lets it stay, but calls it "Bushido in Bed" to avoid any direct references.[[/note]] |
| 134 | ** ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' received a [[{{Bowdlerise}} neutering from Nintendo of America]]. The SNES version of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1992'' had the blood changed to sweat, and the fatalities were severely weakened.[[note]] For example, Johnny Cage punches his opponent's head off in the original version; in the SNES version, he delivers a hefty kick to the chest.[[/note]] The Platform/SegaGenesis port was technically inferior, but ended up being the most popular because it contained all the gore that made the game popular in the first place. Realizing this, Nintendo of America released ''VideoGame/MortalKombatII'' on the SNES in all its gory glory. |
| 135 | ** With the release of the Switch, Nintendo seems to have quietly adopted a "hands off" policy for censorship. While their first and second-party games are still mostly family friendly fare, a number of games that could be considered "adult" such as ''[[VideoGame/GalGun Gal*Gun 2]]'' and the 18+ rated ''Waifu Uncovered'' have been released uncensored on the Switch. There have even been cases where games released on the [=Playstation 4=] were censored, but the same game was uncensored on the Switch. |
| 136 | * ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'': |
| 137 | ** Originally, the premise of the [=N64=] ''Conker'' game was supposed to be vastly different: playing out to be like a more childish ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', or in-series, ''Conker's Pocket Tales''. However, the executives at Rare started to become fearful that fans may not like the platformer because it was too childish, and after a very negative critique during the testing stages, Rare retooled the game, causing it to be aimed at a more mature crowd, including sex references, alcoholic beverages, and lewd behavior. While Nintendo was fine with this new direction, they weren't comfortable advertising the game in their usual marketing outlets in order to maintain their family-friendly image, with the avoidance of gaming outlets in favor of ads in adult magazines and late-night commercials in North America being partially blamed for the game's poor sales. |
| 138 | ** The UpdatedRerelease, ''Conker: Live and Reloaded'' heavily censored a significantly larger portion of the game's foul language (as mentioned above, combined with the gore, the foul language was the entire point of the game, [[{{Irony}} though by this point it had actually become less taboo; also, despite Nintendo being perceived as a more family-friendly company, the Nintendo 64 version was less censored in comparison]]). |
| 139 | ** Originally, the "It's War!" chapter was to feature a scene where a captured soldier would appear going through live surgery at the hands of the Tediz, akin to the human experimentation performed by the Germans and Japanese during [=WW2=]. Nintendo themselves stepped in and requested that this scene be taken out upon finding out about it, as they apparently felt it was too grim even by the game's standards (on a lesser note, a brief TakeThat at the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series was also removed, although the Pikachu tail used therein remains in the code). |
| 140 | * A positive example was with ''VideoGame/BattalionWars'', who's developer Kuju Entertainment is largely known for doing mid-budget contract work. Nintendo's strict supervision and quality control was not something the developer was used to, but is also the main reason the final games are so polished. |
| 141 | * Creator/Level5's president Akihiro Hino saw ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheCuriousVillage'' as something in the AdventureGame tradition, and promoted it as such, something Nintendo of America respected. Nintendo of Europe, however, saw the opportunity to market it as a simple puzzle compilation for casual players, to Level-5's objections. Surprisingly, this ultimately worked out for the best: The Nintendo DS' huge casual owner base bought the game up on the premise that it would be in the same vein as ''VideoGame/BrainAge'', after which they stayed for the deeper character-driven adventure game elements. Europe became ''Professor Layton'''s biggest market by far thanks to this initial bit of clever marketing. |
| 142 | * ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' had a story built around the game that didn't interfere with the gameplay and gave players an insight on Rosalina's history. Most players liked the concept. However, when the developers tried to do it again for ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto himself stepped in and wanted the story aspect to be scrapped because he wanted the game to be more focused on the gameplay itself like the NES games had done. |
| 143 | * [[http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/papermario/0/0 This happened again]] with ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'', with Miyamoto saying a deep story wasn't needed and requesting that they only use existing Mario characters, albeit "[[ExactWords as much as possible]]" rather than coming up with new ones. He also felt the demo played too much like ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', which led to the battle system being completely revamped. After the divisive ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'', many fans were hoping for a game that returned to the style of the first two games, so ''Sticker Star'' was met with cries of TheyChangedItNowItSucks. ''VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash'' had similar issues, though not as much. The restrictions were felt by the developers just like it was by the players, which makes it a big deal when ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'' makes [[spoiler:the sheer volume of near-identical Toad [=NPCs=] in the series]] an actual plot point. |
| 144 | * According to [[https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/interviews/paper-mario-origami-king/ an interview]] with producer Kensuke Tanabe released the day before the ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'' came out, as well as various other interviews, from ''Sticker Star'' on, Creator/IntelligentSystems was no longer allowed to "modify Mario characters or to create original characters that touch on the Mario universe". This means they could no longer make Toads/Goombas/Bob-ombs with alternate proportions like most characters in the first two games (though mainline species "characters" can still wear outfits). There is also no exceptions for classic ''Paper Mario'' characters of mainline species created prior to ''Sticker Star'', so characters like Kammy Koopa and Goombario cannot return as long as the mandates are in place. |
| 145 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': |
| 146 | ** From ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' on, the developers have tried to include more complex and detailed stories in ''Zelda'' games, only to be forced to backpedal and simplify the plot, even excluding major plot points in some cases that were only elaborated on through an official timeline. |
| 147 | ** The original ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' was supposed to feature a dual sci-fi/fantasy setting, where you would time travel between a technological future and a magical medieval past, and the Triforce were electronic chips that would form a supercomputer. Nintendo thought this was too complex for an 8-bit Famicom title, so they axed the concept in favor of a simple fantasy setting. |
| 148 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' also was originally going to feature this setting, but Nintendo again axed it in favor of the Light World/Dark World mechanic the game has instead. Miyamoto lamented in an interview in the Japanese ''ALTTP'' strategy guide that Zelda was forced to have a purely fantasy setting, thinking it was hindering the franchise. Nintendo also axed his plans to have multiple playable characters in ''ALTTP''. The recurring theme of AdvancedAncientHumans in later games, particularly in the GenreThrowback ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', may be remnants of this idea. |
| 149 | ** At one point, there were plans for a GaidenGame similar to ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', taking place in the same setting as ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' and reusing a lot of assets, but doing its own thing story-wise. However, Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto deemed that the scope of this project was ballooning to be far greater than what he originally requested, and so rejected this proposal in favor of suggesting a TechDemoGame revolving around the Wii Zapper. He continued to vetoed the idea of any kind of story elements or longer stages as development on this version of the game continued, and was even against the game featuring boss fights. The game was eventually released as ''VideoGame/LinksCrossbowTraining'', which did include two boss fights, but almost none of the initial planned concepts otherwise made it in. |
| 150 | ** The crossover game ''VideoGame/CadenceOfHyrule'' was a result of this. Developer Brace Yourself Games originally sought out permission to just use ''The Legend of Zelda'' characters [[https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/03/21/how-an-indie-developer-is-making-an-official-zelda-game as Nintendo-exclusive DLC]] for ''VideoGame/CryptOfTheNecrodancer'', which was the small studio's first and only release at the time. Nintendo ended up being so enamored with the idea however, allegedly thanks to Creator/EijiAonuma being [[https://youtu.be/GOOblUsPxuc?t=652 a big fan of the game]], that they encouraged BYG to expand the idea into a full-blown sequel/crossover title. |
| 151 | * The NES version of ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'' went through a number of changes at the request of Nintendo of America. To mention a few: A statue of a classical reclining nude was removed, because hey, no nudity allowed in Nintendo games. A scrawling on a wall says "For a good time" followed by a name and a phone number. [=NoA=] felt that was offensive... somehow. Their objection was specifically that it was offensive, not that it had sexual connotations. The end credits of the game originally mentioned "NES SCUMM system", which stands for the NES version of ''Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion'', the game engine that Creator/LucasArts used for their adventures. Apparently the people at [=NoA=] felt this could be understood as calling the NES "scum", so that was also removed. As for what got into the finished product... Either they did not care or somehow completely missed the fact that in the game you can kill a pet hamster with a microwave oven. If you want more details, the person who headed the porting on [=LucasArts=] side has written an article about it titled [[http://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/maniac.html The Expurgation of Maniac Mansion]]. Some versions go the extra mile and remove nuking the hamster as well, complete with custom responses from Razor and Syd ("No way, man. Too much cholesterol."). All versions leave behind the useless and game-ending keypad on the second floor for no good reason[[note]]it served as copy protection in the computer versions[[/note]], as it ends your game since there's no valid combination. |
| 152 | * This was what killed the ''VideoGame/{{Clayfighter}}'' series. ''Clayfighter 63 1/3'' had a long and troubled development history, with the biggest issue being an abrupt porting from the VaporWare M2 gaming system to the Nintendo 64. Since the N64's cartridge limitations couldn't handle fluid 2D animation very well (mind you, this is when an N64 cartridge was typically only 64 or 96 Megs), many corners were cut: the animation was stripped down, many of the game's planned fighters were cut from the final game, etc. Plus, Interplay was rushed to get the game out in time for the 1997 holiday season, resulting in [[ObviousBeta a clearly unfinished game with numerous glitches and undercooked gameplay mechanics]]. Meanwhile, the [=PlayStation=] was supposed to have its own ''Clayfighter'' game called ''Clayfighter X-Treme'', but it was scrapped at the last minute for being behind schedule. The ''Clayfighter 63 1/3'' debacle was so bad that, about six months later, Interplay released a rental-only update titled ''Clayfighter: Sculptor's Cut'' that addressed some of 63 1/3's problems but wasn't enough to save the series from becoming the laughingstock of the fighting game genre (and not in the way Interplay intended). |
| 153 | %%* ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' didn't exactly ''suffer'' from executive meddling, [[http://kotaku.com/5955223/what-went-wrong-with-silicon-knights-x+men-destiny but the company's attitude]] towards design and management is and was rather draconian, and it was only due to Nintendo demanding and enforcing a product that was up to the brand name's standards that the game was as good as it is. |
| 154 | * Nintendo and Website/YouTube subscribers have quite a history. For years, Nintendo didn't say or do anything in regards to people using Nintendo's [=IPs=] in their own videos nor was anything said about making money off of them. Around 2014, Nintendo decided to claim the rights to ''any'' video that contains Nintendo's properties, but they also chose to simply just take the ad revenue from the user rather than completely block the video in order to have some good faith with the community. The [=YouTube=] community was extremely livid and many popular [=YouTubers=] stated their incomes would be in jeopardy due to the loss of funds while other users refused to create any more videos with Nintendo's products out of protest. Nintendo eventually backed down, but not before they created a program where anyone who signs up for it can still make money off of Nintendo's games in their videos, except Nintendo would still take a cut of the revenue as stated in the agreement. People didn't like the program, stating that they would still be losing quite a bit of money since [=YouTube=] already takes a cut of the revenue. It wasn't until near the end of 2018 that Nintendo finally gave up on that program, implicitly recognizing it would impede the launch of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''. |
| 155 | * A positive example with the Wii U port of ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'': when Creator/PlatinumGames was designing a [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]] costume for the heroine, their first draft was uncharacteristically modest out of fear that Nintendo would see something HotterAndSexier as disrespectful. However, [[http://i1.wp.com/venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/bayonetta-link-art.jpg when Nintendo sent the design back to be revised]], their comments were ironically along the lines of "There's no way Bayonetta would wear an undershirt with something like this!" |
| 156 | * Do you know why the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive port of ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterII Street Fighter II: Turbo]]'' is called ''Street Fighter II: Special Championship Edition'', and has different box art too? It's because of the famous Nintendo and Sega rivalry that was going on back then. Nintendo ordered Capcom to name both versions differently (and give them different box art) so that gamers would think ''Turbo'' was the superior game and buy that one instead, even though they're both the same game. |
| 157 | * Due to the developers and publishers aware of the Platform/NintendoSwitch emulators like Yuzu and Ryujinx lowing the sales of their games (even in protected PC games, while the Switch version are unprotected), future Switch games now implemented [[UsefulNotes/DigitalRightsManagement Denuvo]] in their games, [[https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/denuvo-security-is-now-on-switch-including-new-tech-to-block-pc-switch-emulation/ to prevent emulators for booting up the games, while forcing players to buy an actual Switch hardware and the legitimate copy of the effected games.]] |
| 158 | * After Retro Studios finished making ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'', they wanted to move on and make other games outside the ''Metroid'' franchise, but Nintendo wanted them to make a third ''Metroid Prime'' game (namely ''[[VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption Corruption]]''), this time on the Wii to showcase the console's motion controls. |
| 159 | [[/folder]] |
| 160 | |
| 161 | [[folder:Sega]] |
| 162 | Many poor decisions made by Creator/{{Sega}} executives in the '90s are what led to [[CreatorKiller its downfall as a console maker]]. |
| 163 | * The Platform/SegaSaturn was plagued with executive meddling that in the end, majorly [[ScrewedByTheNetwork screwed it over outside Japan]] and was a major player to Sega leaving the console business: |
| 164 | ** The most infamous example of executive meddling in all of video game history was the botched surprise launch date for North America, moving the Sega Saturn's original release date from September 9, 1995 in North America (dubbed as "[[{{Pun}} Saturnday]]") to May 11, 1995, announcing the switch ''that very day'' at their E3 1995 conference. This ''heavily'' backfired on Sega for several reasons, some listed below, and played a giant role in the failure of the Saturn. |
| 165 | *** Many companies were left out of the loop, and were unsurprisingly pissed off as a result. This included most (American based) third-party developers, who were still developing Saturn games at the time, intended to be released on the original release date; and large retailers such as Wal-Mart and KB Toys, who felt excluded by Sega from the launch of the console (four other major competing retailers had the console at launch). [[EnemyMine This caused developers and the aforementioned retailers to retaliate by dropping support for Sega and support their rivals as a result]]. |
| 166 | *** Because of the lack of available third-party software and in addition to that a lack of imported Japanese games, only ''six'' titles (all of them first-party titles) were available at launch as a result. |
| 167 | *** The Saturn was released at a then-staggering price point of $399, which coupled with the small number of games doesn't really give one much of a reason to buy a Saturn right then and there. This also gave Sony the chance to upstage the Saturn at their conference later by [[NiceJobBreakingItHero doing nothing more]] than announcing "[[TakeThat $299]]". |
| 168 | ** A main reason why many high-quality Japanese Saturn games [[NoExportForYou never saw release in the U.S.]] and why many American third-party developers avoided the system like the plague was specifically because [[PointyHairedBoss Bernie Stolar]], then newly-installed CEO of Sega of America, [[ItsAllAboutMe blocked any game he personally did not want on the system]] with his "five-star game" policies. This blacklisted most 2D games, despite them consisting of 90% of what was worth playing on the Saturn, Japanese [=RPGs=] at a time when they were starting to break out of their niche, and miscellaneous third-party titles from appearing in the console's lineup, in favor of first-party and sports titles. A ''very'' odd CEO choice considering that he just got fired from Sony over similar circumstances. To this day, Stolar is still largely derided by Sega fans for almost single-handedly screwing the console over in North America by himself. |
| 169 | * Although it's a lot less known than [[Platform/{{SNESCDROM}} Nintendo's aforementioned ordeal with the company]], Sega of America held a short-lived yet strong partnership with Sony when the latter, [[EnemyMine after being left at the wayside by Nintendo]], approached the former to help each other develop a CD-based video game console. This partnership culminated in Sony proposing the jointly-marketed "[[WhatCouldHaveBeen Sega/Sony hardware system]]" that presumably would have gotten off the ground had it not been for the head of Sega of Japan, who outright said partnering with Sony, who he believed was incapable of producing video game-related software or hardware, [[ItWillNeverCatchOn was a stupid idea]]. HilariousInHindsight doesn't even begin to describe the [[HumiliationConga aftermath]]: Sony's Platform/PlayStation not only bested [[Platform/SegaSaturn their own effort at a CD-based console]] ''and'' dominated [[MediaNotes/TheFifthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames the fifth video game generation]], but also laid the foundation of Sega [[CreatorKiller admitting defeat and pulling out of the console wars]] [[MediaNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames at the start of the next generation]] - despite Sega trying their best to WinBackTheCrowd with the Dreamcast, distrusting gamers reserved their cash for the highly anticipated Platform/PlayStation2, leading to the Dreamcast underperforming and Sega, in order to stay in business, discontinuing the Dreamcast and going third party well before Nintendo's [[Platform/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] and Microsoft's Platform/{{Xbox}} hit shelves! |
| 170 | * ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': |
| 171 | ** This was the reason ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'' was made. The executives understood that Mario became one of the video game characters with which video games would become associated. In the hope of having their own Mario, Sega decided to hold an internal design contest to see if there was a character they could use as someone to compete with Mario. In the end, Naota Ohshima won the contest with his design of a hedgehog character named Mr. Hedgehog.[[note]][[CommonKnowledge Contrary to popular belief]], the character was never referred to as "Mr. Needlemouse"; this is simply a rumor sprung from BlindIdiotTranslation due to the Japanese word for "hedgehog" (''harinezumi'') translating literally to "needle mouse".[[/note]] After some minor changes were made, Sega turned to Yuji Naka, who was best known for working on ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' at the time. Along with Hirokazu Yasuhara, they begun developing the project into what later would become Sonic the Hedgehog as we know him now. This is also the reason why the franchise had so many characters. There were many mascots to choose from and Sega gave some of them appearances in the series because they thought they were too good to go to waste, but not good enough for their own game. |
| 172 | ** All the [[DubNameChange name changes]] and alterations to the storylines of the classic games were a result of executive meddling on Sega of America's part. The developers were completely against them, feeling that franchise didn't need to be "Americanized" to appeal to Western audiences, as it had been specifically designed to cater to them from the beginning. This was why the original Japanese names and storyline were adopted globally following the release of ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', with some [[HandWave handwaving]] being used to explain the inconsistency regarding the villain's name. |
| 173 | ** The developers of the GBA version of ''Sonic 1'' were disallowed from using the original game's source code, and had to work with an earlier Java Mobile port. [[PortingDisaster Oops]]. |
| 174 | ** ''Sonic X-treme'' is notorious for its executive meddling. First, the main game and boss levels were broken up and given to two different teams, which ended up building them into essentially two completely different games. At some point after the main engine had been developed to fairly advanced state, [[ScrewedByTheNetwork Sega of America ordered the team to write a whole new one from scratch for some unexplained reason, despite the game nearing the deadline]]. Then, when the Sega of Japan execs came over to check up on the progress, they were appalled by how primitive the current main engine was (which is to be expected, seeing how work on it had just began; not that they had been informed of this), so they demanded that the entire game be made with the more advanced boss engine, even though the team was dangerously close to deadline and short on men due to arguments about the game's direction. As a last resort, the team making the boss levels, after being shown a demo of the then-in production ''[[VideoGame/NightsIntoDreams NiGHTS into Dreams...]]'' game, requested for the engine ''[=NiGHTS=]'' ran on so they could use it for ''X-treme'' and finish the game in time for the deadline. Sega complied only to take the engine back a couple of weeks later because they didn't ask ''[=NiGHTS=]''/''Sonic'' creator Yuji Naka if they could use it.[[note]]Naka threatened to quit Sega on grounds of plagiarism if the ''X-treme'' development team continued to use the ''[=NiGHTS=]'' engine for this very reason.[[/note]] It finally took the remaining programmer for the game coming down with pneumonia before the plug was finally pulled. |
| 175 | ** Sega replaced the voice cast of the ''Sonic'' games with their ''Anime/SonicX'' counterparts ''without telling the original cast''. Reportedly, Sonic's original voice actor Ryan Drummond actually had to call Sega to find out when he needed to be back in for recording for ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' before he found out about the switch. Similarly, the 4Kids voice actors were also uninformed when they were replaced in turn, as Jason Griffith tweeted that he had no idea about ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' when it was announced and hadn't been contacted at all. |
| 176 | ** Sega decided that it was a good idea to release ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' [[ObviousBeta without thoroughly bug testing it]][[note]][[http://www.giantbomb.com/sonic-the-hedgehog/3030-20584/ Reports exist]] that Sonic Team, in their haste to get the game finished by its deadline, ''ignored reports'' of the game's technical problems found by their Quality Assurance team[[/note]] and not editing the manual to remove mentions of half-finished game mechanics they had taken out so that the game could be [[ChristmasRushed released around Christmas]] ([[MilestoneCelebration and in time for the series's 15th Anniversary]]) and make a profit (not that there weren't other [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading problems]] with the game. But making it ''work right'' when you made the characters do something could have taken the sting off a little). Say, didn't ''Sonic X-treme'' have the same deadline problem? |
| 177 | ** ''Sonic 06'' was originally going to be released on the Platform/{{Wii}} as well, with Sega expecting the Wii to be on par with the Platform/PlayStation3 and Platform/Xbox360 in terms of technology. But when Sega learned about the Wii's limitations compared to the other two consoles and the Wii Remote controller's capabilities, they instead decided to make an original title for the Wii based on the Wii controller's capabilities. This resulted in Sonic Team being split up in two groups, with the newly formed group starting work on what would become ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheSecretRings'' and the other group continuing work on ''Sonic 06''. So ''Sonic 06'' and ''X-treme'' also shared the same team management problem in a sense -- though at least in ''X-treme''[='=]s case, the two teams were still working on the same project from the start; ''Sonic 06'' saw ''half'' of its development team yanked from the project well into the game's development. |
| 178 | ** And then there's the ''[=NiGHTS=]'' sequel ''[=NiGHTS=]: Journey of Dreams'', which Sonic Team originally wanted to develop on the Xbox 360, until Sega came butting in and decided that the game would be shoehorned onto the Wii with its brand-new motion controls. |
| 179 | ** The notorious [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent "Werehog"]] [[ScrappyMechanic nighttime gameplay]] of ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' was created by Yoshihisa Hashimoto, the game's director and game designer. Hashimoto is on record for explicitly stating that he was aware of the potential backlash its presence would generate with fans, yet decided to implement them into the game anyway. The result was a game fans and reviewers claim could have been excellent had the Werehog aspect of the game never made its inclusion. |
| 180 | ** The fragments of known history behind the beleaguered development process for ''[[VideoGame/SonicBoom Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric]]'' indicates that the game's development ended up being thrown under the bus so the game could be released [[ChristmasRushed in time for the holiday season]] and so that Sega could quickly fulfill the Sonic-exclusive Nintendo contract they revealed in 2013 [[note]]The deal had Sega releasing their next three console ''Sonic'' titles exclusively to the Platform/{{Wii U}}; a deal Sega presumably decided to quickly eject from when the [[VideoGame/SonicLostWorld first two]] [[VideoGame/MarioAndSonicAtTheOlympicGames Sonic games]] of the deal sold below expectations; partially a result of the console's low install base.[[/note]]. This is notable due to the game running on [=CryEngine=] 3, an engine that isn't officially optimized for the Wii U console. Developer videos have shown development kits of the [=PS3=] and 360 in the background-which may have been the originally intended platform development for the game. Despite ''Rise of Lyric'' reportedly going gold in July, the final release [[ObviousBeta most certainly indicates it wasn't ready to see release]]. |
| 181 | * ''[[VideoGame/StreetsOfRage Streets of Rage 3]]'': |
| 182 | ** The game had many changes applied in the North American and PAL versions. The game's story was changed to the point where it made little sense: |
| 183 | *** The Japanese version had the story involve Mr. X's henchmen planting nuclear bombs throughout the city and then capturing a general while replacing him with a robot duplicate in order to initiate a war between the United States and a fictional country. |
| 184 | *** Level 7 on the bad ending route takes place at the White House. Sega of America and Europe decided that the story wasn't in good taste, so they changed the story to have Mr. X planting bombs throughout the city in an attempt to take over and captured the Chief of Police to while replacing him with a robot copy in order to further the agenda. The White House backdrop in Level 7 is still there, but now the sign says City Hall, despite the fact that the background is clearly the White House. |
| 185 | *** Some of the dialogue was changed as well, but it also created inconsistencies and plotholes. One example of this is at the end of the first level where Blaze hints towards the group that she knows where to go next, but doesn't say what gives her that intuition. The Japanese version explained the party's path choice much better. On top of all this, the color palettes for Axel, Blaze, and Skate got changed overseas in order for the characters' clothing to look more "gender neutral", which makes little sense to begin with considering the characters had their color schemes in every appearance before the game. |
| 186 | ** Miniboss Ash was also cut out from the game and was replaced with TheDragon from the previous game (who also reappears as a boss later) due to Ash's character being a gay stereotype (though a positive of this decision was that the secret that the first boss was playable after beating him was retained). The female mooks in the Japanese version wore revealing clothing, but their sprites were edited overseas to cover them up. Many fans consider the Japanese version of the game to be the superior version due to the story making more sense and having less content cut or censored. |
| 187 | * The cancellation of ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarUniverse'' for the PC and [=PS2=] is one of the many nails in the coffin for fans of the series. Sega cited the lack of subscribers... after the ''PSU'' team did everything possible to ensure that the developers outside of Japan received no support, no updates, and so on...even their paychecks would likely have been slashed, if it were legal. This is similar to the ''PSO: Blue Burst'' closings two or three years prior, too. First off, "adding new content" for the North American/international server was months behind the Japanese server... when all of the content already existed on the game's disk. Secondly, Sega of Japan had to approve every thing Sega of America did with the server, including vital technical fixes. When the billing server went haywire in the middle of a major, limited-time event and started locking players out, Sega of America immediately put out a notice saying "don't worry, we'll fix the billing server and extend the event to make up for it!" because they'd get quick permission to fix such a huge issue, right? Wrong. Due to [=SoJ=] taking their time giving [=SoA=] the thumbs-up to take action, about a month went by (and the event ended) before fixing even began, and the fix was "just turn the billing server off and let anyone play for free." Only months later was the billing issue truly fixed and the promo event re-run so finally everyone got to play. |
| 188 | * Fans of the ''Streets of Rage'' series got together to create a remake called ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRageRemake'' that would faithfully include characters and elements from all three games, along with new gameplay concepts. The project started in 2003 and was finally finished in April 2011, ''[[DevelopmentHell eight years later]]''. During development, the developers supposedly contacted Sega about the project and were given the green light to proceed since the game wasn't being made for a profit. Days after the final version was released, Sega ordered a cease and desist on the developers, forcing them to yank the download link off their site. This mirrors a similar case years back where Square Enix issued a cease and desist to a fan who finished developing a remake of ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. Luckily, fans who had downloaded the ''Streets of Rage'' remake have [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes uploaded the game to various sites]] for all to obtain. |
| 189 | * For a long time, it seemed that ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'' spin-off games ''VideoGame/{{Judgment}}'' and ''VideoGame/LostJudgment'' would probably [[NoPortForYou not get a PC version]], due to ongoing disputes involving Sega and the talent agency that employed Takuya Kimura[[note]]Johnny and Associates, aka Johnny's, who's known to pull off these kinds of schtick[[/note]], the actor the main character uses [[InkSuitActor the likeliness of]]. Kimura's talent agency is extremely controlling in regards to how their media is distributed, especially online and overseas, going as far as having their talents' appearances censored outside of their own exclusive means of distribution. Because a PC version of the game would mean loosening their grip over their talents' images, they denied Sega from releasing the game outside of consoles. However, Sega's current business plan places importance on the PC market, and if they're forced to make the ''Judgment'' series console exclusive because of their lead actor's talent agency, they are seriously considering [[FranchiseKiller ending the series]] over it. Only time would tell if all of that above will actually happen, and in the end, both games received digital PC ports on September 14, 2022, roughly one year after the initial release of the second title. |
| 190 | * At E3 1998, a game that would have been Sega's ''Franchise/StarFox'' called ''Geist Force'' was shown and was intended to be a launch title for the North American release of the Dreamcast. Unfortunately the game was canned with varied reasons claimed [[TroubledProduction including disagreements among employees, failing to meet deadlines, and lack of confidence of the game.]] However an [[https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/12/yuji-naka-killed-dreamcasts-star-fox-says-former-sega-producer interview]] by one of the game's producers Mark Subotnick, claims that it was Yuji Naka who had the project cancelled. Apparently he came to visit their office one day to look at their tools and engines, spoke in Japanese assuming that the developers didn't understand him but they did. Naka talked about what parts to take to use for the development of the new Sonic game and had every employee of Mark's fired except for one who knew how to develop for the system who would then be used to develop for Sonic. Because of how expensive ''Geist Force'' was and that it would take several months for Mark to rehire and ramp up production, his only other option was to consult with Visual Concepts which was the only other North American Studio who had experience with the Dreamcast. Unfortunately they were busy with their own launch titles ultimately leading to the game's cancellation. |
| 191 | [[/folder]] |
| 192 | |
| 193 | [[folder:Sony]] |
| 194 | * It is widely believed that Sony Computer Entertainment America had a policy of rejecting licenses for 2D-based titles on grounds of "low quality", as the head executive there wanted ''only'' 3D titles. This in fact ''was'' the case in the [=PS1=] era, due to the head at the time being the notorious Bernie Stolar (who refused to publish Japanese [=RPGs=] at all until ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' came out and made a lot of money; he was later fired, and took his policies to Sega and onto the Sega Saturn when ''they'' hired him fresh from being fired from Sony - and we all know how well that went), and is part of the reason that Creator/{{Capcom}} made ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends''; Sony would only let them make the 2D ''Mega Man'' games they wanted if they made a 3D installment. Sony's stance on 2D games changed (though not fully) when Capcom threatened to not release ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' on the [=PlayStation=] if Sony didn't allow them to release a 2D ''Mega Man'' game on the console. The anti-2D policy is still in slight effect to this day. Not as bad as it was in the 1990s, but Sony will still implement it time to time. Rumor has it that this is one of the reasons the Xbox Live ports of ''VideoGame/GarouMarkOfTheWolves'', ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match]]'', ''The King of Fighters 2002: Ultimate Match'' and SNK's other 2D fighters never made it to the [=PS3=]. |
| 195 | * Sony originally had a standing rule that requires all games released in North America to have an English voice track. Because of this, many popular low-budget games like parts of the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' Original Generation franchise [[NoExportForYou will never see the light of day in North America]]. Sony has since lightened up on this though, with the release of ''VideoGame/Yakuza2'' on the [=PS2=] being in Japanese with subtitles, and no English voice work in sight. Many other games released in Sony's library since would do the same. |
| 196 | * When Factor 5 developed their [=PS3=] launch title ''VideoGame/{{Lair}}'', just before release, it was mandated that since the [=PS3=]'s Sixaxis controller had motion controls, they therefore had to be shoehorned into the game at all costs. This resulted in a near-uncontrollable game which, by the time the option to use the actual controller part of the controller was given to players, had [[CreatorKiller already done all the damage it needed to do]]. |
| 197 | * Something similar happened to ''Warhawk'' on the [=PS3=]. Motion control was forced in at the last minute which resulted in an embarrassing showing at E3 for an otherwise very good game. [[http://www.wired.com/2013/11/playstation-4/ According to this article,]] it was the moment that Shuhei Yoshida, now President of Sony's Worldwide Studios, realized that things needed to change. |
| 198 | * When Sony announced trophy support for the [=PS3=], there were cries that they'd be just like achievements. Not so, cried Sony: trophies were entirely optional for the developer. Fast forward to 2009, and trophies are now required in all new [=PS3=] games. Although they lack gamer points (trophies are instead merely ranked as Bronze, Silver or Gold depending on difficulty in obtaining them), games that are released on the Xbox 360 and [=PS3=] at the same time (or on the Xbox first) are exactly the same, requirements and all, with the only difference being that [=PS3=] versions tend to have a Platinum "complete all achievements" trophy that the 360 versions lack due to the way they work. |
| 199 | * SCEA has a bad history of refusing to localize {{video game remake}}s and [[UpdatedRerelease re-releases]] unless they have a certain amount of new content added. Such was the case of the PSP version of ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIII''. There is a ''full English version'' of the game, but it was released only in Europe. |
| 200 | * Meta example: when the Sony PSP's firmware updated to 6.31, all instances of the PSP Action Replay vanished, it was ''removed from its homepage'', and the AR devices themselves have been pulled from every distributor (such as [=GameStop=]) that had supplied them. |
| 201 | * Lammy, a character from the ''VideoGame/PaRappaTheRapper'' universe, was originally meant to be younger and actually resemble a lamb/sheep. Sony's higher-ups did not approve, so they forced the developers to radically alter her design to make her sexy and older, and remove all sheep-like traits except for the antlers, pointy ears, and round nose. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools The end result turned out to be a success]], as her final design got lots of praise from critics, gamers, and the MediaNotes/FurryFandom. |
| 202 | * Creator/NaughtyDog originally intended for [[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot Crash Bandicoot’s]] tall pretty girlfriend, Tawna, to be much more of a [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/crashban/images/2/20/Tawna2.gif/revision/latest?cb=20090907175705 Jessica Rabbit-esque bombshell]] than she turned out to be in Crash 1. However [[https://www.crashmania.net/en/backstage/interviews/jason-rubin/ the marketing director of Universal Interactive was not happy with the voluptuous concept art]] and chastised Crash’s co-creator, Jason Rubin, for creating a design that she felt was demeaning to women. The design bothered her so much that she even took to reprimanding the female employee whose outfit had inspired the concept art. Her criticisms allegedly spooked the President of Universal Interactive enough to make him force Naughty Dog to give into her demands and tone down the character. Naughty Dog didn’t like this “1800s safari” version of Tawna and so they retired her in favor of the much less controversial [[Main/TeenGenius Coco Bandicoot]]. |
| 203 | * When Sony allowed [=NetherRealm=] Studios to include [[VideoGame/GodOfWar Kratos]] in the Platform/PlayStation3 and Platform/PlayStationVita versions of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', it came with the mandate that Kratos could never appear cowardly. This became a positive example, as Kratos' unique reactions to Fatalities, such as swiping at Freddy when shoved into a furnace, or challenging Ermac when reduced to mouse-sized instead of running away, made him stand out from the crowd. |
| 204 | * Starting around the late 2010s, it's been revealed that Sony has adopted a policy of censoring (or "toning down" as they put it) violence and sexual content in games released on their platform, both in the United States as well as Japan. While they still aren't anywhere near as censorious as Nintendo was in the 90's (see their folder above), it's still ironic considering A) Sony made their name with a "come one, come all" licensing policy back in the 90's/2000's, which led to a lot of adult/older teen content being released on their consoles ''specifically'' to differentiate themselves from Nintendo, and B) a number of games that have been censored on the [=PlayStation 4=] have been released uncensored...on the ''Nintendo'' Switch! |
| 205 | * Sony has a policy for patches on games where developers have to pay a fee to be allowed to upload a patch for everyone to download. The cost ranges in the tens of thousands of dollars, so constant patching can get ''very'' expensive very quickly. On top of that, it is said that Microsoft also restricts how large a patch can be, which means developers are either forced to cut back on what they can push out for patches or don't bother patching at all. The patch fees are likely the reason why many games go unpatched for years and are left in a broken mess while their PC counterparts don't have to jump through the patch fee hurdles. Sony removed patch fees for all developers starting with the Platform/PlayStation4. |
| 206 | * When Creator/{{Bethesda}} announced that console versions of ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' would have mod support added after release, Sony blocked user created content for the [=PlayStation=] 4 version of the game, meaning while anything users could imagine can be added to the Xbox and PC versions, any user created mods must use only assets already in the game. |
| 207 | [[/folder]] |
| 208 | |
| 209 | [[folder:Others]] |
| 210 | * ''BMX XXX'' was originally intended to be the third game in the ''VideoGame/DaveMirraFreestyleBMX'' series, until Creator/{{Acclaim}} decided to go risqué and controversial by adding nudity and crude sexual humor, which instantly put Mirra off of the project. He demanded, possibly influenced by his corporate sponsors, that his name not be used to advertise the game. Acclaim did it anyway, and was forced to stop via a court order. Adding insult to injury, Toys 'R Us and Wal-Mart, two of the biggest game sellers in the U.S., refused to stock it. The poor sales of ''BMX XXX'' contributed hugely to Acclaim's bankruptcy. There are [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2002/10/18/ other theories]] about how this game came to be. |
| 211 | * There've been way too many [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames movie-based games reduced in quality]] due to a rush to release them in synch with the release of the actual movie, and video games in general being rushed to meet the holiday shopping crunch. The most memorable has to be ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'', whose final fate in a New Mexico landfill and subsequent contribution to MediaNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 resulted from such a push. Creator/{{Atari}} previously produced several times too many cartridges, even for a successful game.[[note]]They ordered 4-5 million copies of ''E.T.'' produced. It only sold 1.5 million of them and many were returned as well.[[/note]] |
| 212 | * The Atari 2600 port of ''VideoGame/PacMan'': |
| 213 | ** Atari produced 12 million copies, 2 million more than copies sold of the 2600 itself. They thought the game would help sell more consoles, but that's still stupid, especially in hindsight. Even if the game ended up being as amazing as ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'', there was no way it would push that many consoles out of shelves. |
| 214 | ** The infamous color palette and blue background was a result of Atari forcing all games that weren't set in space to ''not'' use black backgrounds in order to showcase the color capabilities of the 2600. |
| 215 | * The end result from ''VideoGame/InheritTheEarth'' was ''defined'' by executive meddling. Originally intended to be a [[MatureAnimalStory mature game]], the publishers saw that the main character was a fox and forced the developers to cater to the 8-12 market at every turn (Because every FunnyAnimal story is kid-friendly, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids right?]]). Then they refused to let the developers create a sequel. |
| 216 | * For its North American release, the European game ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}'' had its title changed to ''Indigo Prophecy'' to avoid confusion with the Creator/MichaelMoore film ''Fahrenheit 911'', and to avoid the dreaded "Adults Only" rating, they excised the game's two sex scenes. Apparently, the cinematic, subdued [[ValuesDissonance sex is adults-only material]], but opening the game with the main character hiding his tracks after [[ValuesDissonance unwittingly committing murder]] is just RatedMForMoney! Interestingly enough, the game's director has said on occasion that he actually likes ''Indigo Prophecy'' better as a title, and wishes every region carried it (and the game continuously uses ''centigrade'' to signify temperature; in either case, rereleases have used the ''Indigo Prophecy'' name in some form). On a different note, the apparent reason for the game's story [[GainaxEnding taking a nosedive into Crazyland]] is that the developers ran out of time and money before the could finish it the way they wanted. The remastered version of the game is uncut, but only carries a "Mature" rating this time around. |
| 217 | * Creator/{{Arika}}: |
| 218 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TetrisTheGrandMaster Tetris the Grand Master ACE]]'', as well as the ''TGM'' series in general, was a major victim of executive meddling. Since mid-2005, Henk Rogers of The Tetris Company mandated that to be licensed, all Tetris games must have certain gameplay aspects, including [[GameBreaker infinite rotation]] and the (extremely complex and unwieldy) "Super Rotation System". As a result, what was supposed to be a console port of the [[NintendoHard most challenging commercial Tetris game ever made]] ended up in a PortingDisaster that required developers to completely rewrite the engine to accommodate the Super Rotation System, resulting in a much easier, watered-down game that lacked virtually all the staples of the ''TGM'' series, including the famed difficulty that made it so popular in the first place. |
| 219 | ** Conversely, Arika is very stingy about fans making clones of their games to counteract the lack of a proper console ''TGM'' port, due to blaming clones for the cancellation of at least two TGM games (TGM for Platform/PlayStation2 and [=TGM4=]). If you decide to upload a video of yourself playing the clones ''Heboris'' or ''Texmaster'' on Website/{{YouTube}}, prepare to remove all references to TGM and either game's title unless you want Arika to have your video taken down. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDJQP1xg5EY&fmt=18 This video]] sums up Arika's and the TTC's meddling, and, as a TakeThat to said meddling, showcases a variety of ''Tetris'' clones in a catchy music video. Ironically, people playing ''Tetris'' clones have since then put [[http://tinyurl.com/tgmFLAGGED "this fan game video will be flagged"]] in their videos' tags as a ShoutOut to that video and as a secret handshake to other fans looking for ''TGM'' videos. In May of 2009, Arika asked Youtube to wipe out videos of ''Lockjaw'', another ''Tetris'' clone. Even if said videos are of people playing the "40 Lines" mode, which has almost ''nothing'' to do with Arika or TGM. |
| 220 | * ''Franchise/TombRaider'': |
| 221 | ** The series had some meddling in its early life. After the huge success of the first ''VideoGame/TombRaiderI'' game, producers wanted to make Lara Croft [[MostGamersAreMale more appealing to the male demographic]] and they also allowed many magazines to publish issues with the Lara Croft character in provocative poses while advertisements for products with Lara endorsing them followed a similar suit. Toby Gard, the game and character's creator, hated the idea of changing Lara just to [[PanderingToTheBase appeal to the fans]] and he felt like he had less control over his creative ideas. His only other option Eidos Interactive gave him was to port the original ''Tomb Raider'' to the Nintendo 64, which Gard did not agree with either. He wound up leaving Core Design in disgust. He would later return to aid in the development of ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderLegend Legend]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderAnniversary Anniversary]]'', both of which saw drastic modification in Lara's character from the previous games. What made the whole thing ironic is Eidos decided to have more control over the use of the Lara character in various media and were very selective on what products she could be plastered onto in order to preserve the character. They outright objected to the idea of having Lara in underwear and they also issued a cease and desist on a magazine that published images of Lara in the nude. |
| 222 | ** ''VideoGame/TombRaiderTheLastRevelation'' was supposed to be the final game in the series, signified by Lara's supposed death in the collapsing tomb at the end of the game. Core Design was done with the series, but Eidos was apparently very upset by Core Design's attempt to end the series and demanded that they fix it. They pushed Core Design to pump out ''VideoGame/TombRaiderChronicles'' for a quick buck while prepping for the development of ''VideoGame/TombRaiderTheAngelOfDarkness''. This may explain why the appearance of Larson and Pierre (Lara's adversaries from the first game) and the time period they appeared in with Lara confused many fans on the continuity. |
| 223 | ** The entire franchise under Eidos's control was completely rife with meddling from them. Ever since the first game became a huge hit, Eidos demanded that a new game had to be made every year, which gave the team ''very'' little time to rest since they had to spend the majority of the year to produce just one game. While most of the games in the classic timeline were considered good, the rush jobs became more apparent with each game released; common criticisms were dated game mechanics, nothing new being added to the gameplay, and the stories become more ridiculous. ''Chronicles'' was considered to be the weakest game in the series due to a nonsensical story and the game feeling more like a cheap expansion pack instead of a sequel. ''VideoGame/TombRaiderTheAngelOfDarkness'' was delayed due to massive problems with the game and then Eidos had the game ChristmasRushed with the threat of firing Core Design if they missed the release window again. The game was released with bugs and glitches up the wazoo, and [[ShootTheShaggyDog Core Design was fired anyway.]] |
| 224 | ** ''Anniversary'': |
| 225 | *** ''Anniversary'' had some meddling from the ESRB during development. Originally, Lara was supposed to be impaled if she fell in a pit of spikes, but due to the game having much more realistic graphics compared to the original 1996 game, the impalement would have been seen as too graphic and wouldn't be suited for a T (Teen) rating. In order to keep the game rated T, the developers had to make Lara rag doll upon death, which meant she would bounce off the spikes as if they were made out of rubber. |
| 226 | *** ''Anniversary'' was originally made by Core Design as their bid to get at least part of the franchise back and was entirely their own project to cash on the 10th anniversary of the franchise. Eidos seized all the assets, citing copyright infringement (never mind Core Design was the studio responsible for creation of the franchise) and... passed said assets to Crystal Dynamics, which joined the bid for the rights to make the anniversary game, even if most of the programmers were busy making ''VideoGame/TombRaiderUnderworld'' at that moment. This all led to the game being postponed so much it missed the anniversary by ''[[EpicFail almost a year]]'', extremely rushed production with sizable part of work done by out-sourced studio (but not Core, even if it was more than eager to participate in the project) and marketing so badly misaimed it managed to turn a highly-anticipated 10th anniversary project into a complete financial bomb barely making production costs back. To date, it's the lowest selling title in the franchise. |
| 227 | |
| 228 | * ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' had heavy meddling done to the series. ''Xenosaga II'' where Ziggy's back story was removed and made into a cell phone game that was only available in Japan. Plus the strange decision on Namco/Bandai of America's part to remove blood in ''Xenosaga III'' despite the previous games having had blood with the same T rating. |
| 229 | * ''VideoGame/Fallout2'''s Temple of Trials, a ForcedTutorial that is infamously long, rather difficult for certain builds, [[TutorialFailure does a garbage job of teaching the player]], and makes little sense from a story perspective, was added at the demand of the marketing department. Most of the developers hated it and it was clearly created in a hurry. |
| 230 | * ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'': |
| 231 | ** The title has little to do with the actual game (in which good and evil are pretty obviously defined, and there's nary a dying god or abyss gazing also in sight). The title, however, was a result of meddling. The game was originally announced as "''Project BG&E''", with the "BG&E" standing for "''Between'' Good and Evil". The title was originally meant to be a reference to the way a [[FirstPersonSnapshooter photograph]] can fall anywhere on the sliding scale of character alignments. The higher-ups didn't like it, and the Nietzsche reference was shoehorned in. |
| 232 | ** The actual gameplay got meddled, too. The game was trapped in a mild DevelopmentHell, and was originally intended to be ''much'' longer. It was intended to stretch to cover other planets, instead of the one planet and its moon in the final game. Concerns over development time cut the whole game short, so that the brand-new IP that no one knew how to handle could be released right alongside the highly-anticipated ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime''. |
| 233 | * ''VideoGame/{{DJMAX}}'' games from ''DJMAX Portable Black Square'' onwards (save for ''DJMAX Technika'') have an "auto-correct" feature that will hit the correct note for you if you hit the wrong button. It's speculated that Pentavision implemented this feature to avoid legal issues with [[VideoGame/{{Beatmania}} Konami]]. |
| 234 | * At some point after releasing ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia'', Namco (and after the merge, Bandai Namco) decided not to localize any other 2D ''Tales'' game. For that reason, many great ''VideoGame/{{Tales|Series}}'' games never got to North America (except for ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' due to special reasons), such as ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny2'', ''VideoGame/TalesOfRebirth'', and ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts''. ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia'' even got a PSP port in 2005, but despite the fact that said port was released in Europe no North American version is in sight. |
| 235 | ** ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' itself is likely a major source of a lot of meddling. When the [=PS3=] version was announced, even ''before'' the European version for the 360 was released, with ''abnormally'' high amounts of new content, a lot of Japanese fans decided to poke about the DVD and discovered traces of these "added" contents were present in the code already. Then there is the ingame remarks like [[http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/09/21/bandai-namco-shamelessly-lied-to-xbox-testers/ this]]... and the new character having identifying marks all over the 360 source code. All fingers are pointing at Sony and Namco for this one. |
| 236 | ** Regarding ''Tales of Eternia'', there's actually a different reason for that. It was originally changed to ''Tales of Destiny II'' because of potential copyright infringements with the ''Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse'' toy line. Some have suspected this was the reason for the PSP port not getting a North American release, but on the plus side, at least the PSP is region-free; and it's possible to get an English version. |
| 237 | * Back in 2001, there were ''Pajama Sam'', ''Freddi Fish'', and ''Spy Fox'' remakes in development which looked promising. You know what the Humongous Entertainment executives did with them? The games were cancelled. The rights to the three series were sold off to Majesco, which eventually published them to commercial success. In fact, Humongous wanted to sell all the franchises... but the MLB, MLS, NHL, NBA, and NFL did not let the ''VideoGame/BackyardSports'' series get away. |
| 238 | * ''Creator/{{Disney}}''[[note]]See Capcom and Electronic Arts above.[[/note]]: |
| 239 | ** ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'': |
| 240 | *** A case of ''good'' executive meddling: Disney wanted to reinvent Mickey Mouse, so they asked Warren Spector to make a game with him in it. The result? ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'', which aside from some problems, is otherwise ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. |
| 241 | *** There is a negative example too. One highly-touted mechanic was Mickey changing appearance depending on his KarmaMeter, changing him into the old-school prankster or the modern heroic Mickey if the player is bad or good respectively. Several test players were upset by early images of an angry-looking, rat-like "Scrapper" Mickey, and in order to not alienate them, Disney asked that Spector remove this aspect of the game. |
| 242 | ** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' suffered badly from this, as adapting newer films with their creators still around meant Creator/TetsuyaNomura constantly had to deal with feedback and outside hands touching his stuff. The beloved ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' crossovers ended up being left by the wayside and reserved for DLC, and the ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' world in particular became a ScrappyLevel as it was a tedious 1:1 retelling of the movie with Sora and his friends OutOfFocus. |
| 243 | ** In an interview leading up to ''VideoGame/StrangerOfParadiseFinalFantasyOrigin'', Nomura admitted that Disney would very frequently step in to prevent Sora from undergoing any kind of noticeable redesigns, character development and personality shifts as they wanted him to remain a marketable and easily recognizable protagonist. This is the reason why Sora's growth over the course of the series remains fairly understated while every other character developed drastically around him because Disney didn't care to exercise the same control over the other Keyblade Wielders or Organization members (and was part of the reason Nomura made Jack in ''Strangers of Paradise'' so angry, with the intent to give him a proper character arc to vent his frustrations about this trope with Sora). |
| 244 | * ''Franchise/MortalKombat'': |
| 245 | ** Prior to their bankruptcy, Creator/{{Midway|Games}} wanted to release a new game in the series annually. |
| 246 | ** Sony didn't want [[VideoGame/GodOfWar Kratos]] to look weak in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9''.[[note]]He's a {{guest fighter}} in the [=PlayStation=] versions of the game.[[/note]] As a result, he keeps his famous angry look on his face even when [[DefiantToTheEnd being at the receiving end of fatalities]]. This was widely agreed to be a great design choice as it looks very cool. |
| 247 | * ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'': This is why the series (and in fact all of the KOEI ''Warriors'' games) have their infamous voice acting; the localizations have to be done on schedule regardless of quality, and the international subsidiaries need the permission of KOEI Japan to use the original voice acting; that hasn't been the case in America since ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' in 2004, and ''Dynasty Warriors 3'' before it. |
| 248 | * ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriorsOnline'': |
| 249 | ** ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriorsOnline'', after being in "NoExportForYou" mode, [[CultClassic not for bad reasons mind you]], for 5 years finally got translated to English but with undubbed voices, averting the issue with ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors''. However there still is an issue. For some reason the game is updated with all weapon in the original version, but what weapons are available for players is cut back, presumably to keep players hooked waiting for their wanted weapons like the Japanese gamers were. The original release had a very messed up schedule for weapons trying to balance "fixed releases" with "giving players verity", quite a few solutions passing through. Eventually they settled on releasing one new weapon every so often after the players got about half, which is still plenty mind you, of the weapons released. The English version is still behind the original noticeably, though. |
| 250 | ** The game had been closed down due to a large number of problems. Obvious bugs, constant disconnection problems, and lag being a normal thing all heavily hurt the game. The localizers, Aeria, claim it was because Koei simply wouldn't send the fixes for the bug. Few people actually believe this, due to the company's history of this happening with almost every game they've dealt with, and Koei saying they were never made aware of the bugs does not help Aeria's case. |
| 251 | * ''VideoGame/MetalGear'': |
| 252 | ** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' was subject to executive meddling both in Japan and countries outside of Japan: for Japan, it ended up having to edit the torture scene so Strangelove would use a device called "laughing rods" that would essentially tickle the victim in order to keep its rating in Japan, and future references to the torture were either omitted or just vaguely referenced for the same reason as well, to which Creator/HideoKojima expressed disappointment in his Twitter account. This actually leads to an interesting role reversal, as the countries outside Japan actually get the torture scene unedited. Countries outside of Japan also have similar cuts due to executives, although nowhere near as drastic. You know the Tortilla Chips, Lime Soda, Zero-Calorie Soda, Spicy/Great/Future Curry, and Men's Cologne recovery items as well as the ''Solid'', ''Liquid'', ''Solidus'', and ''Super Magazines''? Well, in the Japanese version, those were actually [[ProductPlacement real life products]] (namely Doritos, Mountain Dew, Pepsi NEX, Bon-Curry/Bon-Curry Gold, AXE Body Spray, and various Japanese magazines, respectively), but their names were changed because of the strict trademark laws outside Japan. |
| 253 | ** ''Peace Walker'' actually has actual executive meddling in-game (or rather: executive branch meddling). In both EVA's discussion tapes and Strangelove's memories, it delves quite a bit into the Mercury Project that The Boss participated in. For one thing: things were going smoothly for the project up until the Department of Defense, primarily out of fear and an extreme sense of competition against Soviet Russia due to then-recent intelligence suggesting that they actually will send a man into space, had the Mercury team install a window into the spacecraft that she was going to be launched in at the last moment (well, close to it anyway), using the whole "She's been irradiated once, and thus she will be immune to the radiation in space" to justify their decision, to which Strangelove never bought since she knew due to her rational and logical nature that her being irradiated once would actually achieve the exact opposite effect. Turns out that the entire thing ended in complete disaster. While The Boss did end up seeing the Earth and ultimately spawned her will, the spacecraft, due to their rushing the project to beat Yuri Gagarin into space, ended up crash-landing far beyond the recovery point, nearly causing her death, and frying her a lot in the process. She ended up in a coma for six whole months. Also, thanks to the DOD's failure, Yuri Gagarin was officially the first man in space, even though The Boss beat him by a few seconds, and as a result, the DOD and everyone else in the military brass/government started hating her [[NeverMyFault despite the fact that the whole failure]] was ''their'' fault. |
| 254 | ** In March 2015, Konami underwent an inexplicable change in brand management policy, with all indications pointing to the higher-ups becoming frustrated with games becoming associated with the studios and certain people, especially Kojima, who actually developed the games rather than the Konami brand. As a result, they started to remove all mention of studio and director names from advertising and the front of game boxes.[[note]]Including [[OrwellianRetcon games already released]].[[/note]] Kojima Productions was affected the most by this change. Naturally, this clashed ''violently'' with Kojima's AuteurLicense, which led to a fallout. Kojima left Konami a month after ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' was released and Kojima Productions was disbanded entirely and renamed into a generic "Konami" studio. Konami has stated that they will continue to develop ''Metal Gear'' games. |
| 255 | * Konami and Capcom refused to license out Solid Snake and classic Dante, respectively, for ''VideoGame/PlayStationAllStarsBattleRoyale''. Which is how the game got both the rebooted Dante and Raiden instead. |
| 256 | * ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'' video game, under the hands of publisher Atari, was heavily meddled to the point of being unacceptable (even developer Creator/CDProjekt Red thinks so). The North American version got a BlindIdiotTranslation script, removed adult content and a DRM scheme that CD Projekt Red never intended to put in. Not until the Enhanced Edition and 1.5 patch released by the original developer were things fixed: it reworked the entire script, removed the DRM scheme, and many other fixes to make the game the way it was intended to be, helping make CD Projekt a well-known and well-regarded name and leading to a well-beloved franchise. |
| 257 | * Creator/CDProjekt Red themselves came under fire after the [[ChristmasRushed disastrous launch]] of ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077''. The developers [[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-18/cyberpunk-game-maker-faces-hostile-staff-after-failed-launch shifted blame]] to the board of directors for setting unrealistic deadlines and spreading the lie that the game was "complete and playable" back in January when it was far from true. |
| 258 | * Originally, the villains for ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'' would have been the Chinese. However, due to fears of offending China (specifically, the Chinese Ministry of Culture), the villains were instead changed to a North Korea where [[ContrivedCoincidence absolutely everything went in their favor]] to make them a threat comparable to China. This led to the game being banned in Korea, one of the most gaming-addicted nations on Earth - it's debatable whether this outbalances being legal in China. |
| 259 | * The unfortunate case of the fan game ''VideoGame/MyLittlePonyFightingIsMagic'' is a perfect example. In 2013, the EVO fighting game tournament held a "charity poll" to determine the 8th official game.[[note]]Participants had to make a charitable donation in order to vote.[[/note]] When ''Fighting is Magic'' was nominated, the game's development team begged fans to support ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'' instead since ''Fighting Is Magic'' was still an incomplete alpha; EVO's staff made a similar request, adding that they didn't want the developers to feel pressured into rushing the game just to get it out in time for the tournament. Fans didn't listen and continued voting in record numbers, which forced EVO to just outright disqualify the game from the polling. Unfortunately, this incident drew the attention of Creator/{{Hasbro}}, the owners of the ''My Little Pony'' franchise, who shut down ''Fighting Is Magic'' with a cease and desist order because they had to protect their copyrights. It's even been suggested that Hasbro was perfectly content with letting ''Fighting Is Magic'' exist [[WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings until it got nominated for EVO.]] |
| 260 | * According to internal sources, ''VideoGame/LANoire'' was fraught with executive meddling when Rockstar Games joined Team Bondi to help get the game out of DevelopmentHell. Rockstar executives would constantly veto Bondi's ideas, citing them as "insane". This battle for creative control poisoned relations between the two companies to the point that they essentially cut ties with one another. However, since the game was SavedFromDevelopmentHell and received positive reviews shortly after Rockstar's intervention, opinion varies on whether this is a case of good or bad meddling. It should be noted that there were already problems in Team Bondi even before Rockstar's intervention which is why the game was under development for seven years. From Rockstar's perspective, it worked out great as the game was a huge success and they retained the rights to the series, so they ended up with another CashCowFranchise. For Team Bondi, things didn't work out quite as well and the studio closed its doors mere months after the game was released. |
| 261 | * In an interview two months after the release of the ''[[VideoGame/SilentHill2 Silent Hill]] HD [[VideoGame/SilentHill3 Collection]]'' for the Platform/Xbox360 and Platform/PlayStation3, Tomm Hulett (the producer) explained that the source code Konami gave to the team wasn't from the final version of the game, as Konami had apparently ''[[https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-05-29-silent-hill-hd-collection-ported-from-unfinished-code lost the source code]]'' from the original release at some point. Despite that, the team was forced to recompile many source files and work around issues that had already been solved by the time the game was originally launched in order to release the new edition. |
| 262 | * The remake of the game ''Videogame/{{Splatterhouse}}'' was plagued with both examples of good and bad executive meddling. To start with, Bandai/Namco simply asked that the game be made to emulate the original Splatterhouse game. However, the chief executive, Jay Beard, refused to do so and, behind the backs of Bandai/Namco, ordered the people making the game to make it more as he saw fit while pretending he was doing as he was told. When they eventually learned what was really going on, Bandai/Namco quickly fired Jay Beard and did their best to fix the game. |
| 263 | * Oh, ''VideoGame/TabulaRasa'', how shall we count the ways? From the revamps of the game ''before'' to the total reset to the back-and-forth switch between free to play and subscription, with servers which wouldn't hold a connection for more than an hour... well, eventually, the whole multi-million dollar MMO, right when it was ''finally'' getting off its feet, was shut down when [=NCSoft=] forged a resignation letter from Richard Garriott. Evidently the LordBritishPostulate applies to the real man's career, now, too. For added chutzpah, they revealed this particular claim while he was ''in space.'' Additional points: His space trip was being used to advertise the game! However, considering that Garriot managed to win $28 million from [=NCSoft=] in a wrongful termination lawsuit, he didn't come out of this situation all that badly. |
| 264 | * ''[[VideoGame/MasterOfOrion Master of Orion 3]]'' was considered hit extremely hard by this. There was an interior clash between two developers, one who worked on the two highly-successful games, and a new developer. Eventually, the old face was worked out of the equation of development, resulting in his work being destroyed. The new changes were designed to create more realism in the game, however resulting in {{Game Breaking Bug}}s and [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality why you shouldn't design a game that at one point had over 100 GUIs]]. The development itself was best described as "doing taxes", but then things went downhill. UsefulNotes/{{DRM}} was introduced to combat piracy of the game, but was designed in such a manner than any CD drive that could burn [=CDs=] wouldn't read it, resulting in many legitimate users from not being able to play. Finally, the support for the game was bare bones, as most developers had moved on...resulting in bringing in employees with no knowledge of code to determine where bugs were occuring. |
| 265 | * ''VideoGame/PostalIII'' was affected badly by this. When Running With Scissors partnered with Akella for development and production, Akella ''immediately'' began meddling, forcing a Russian release to take priority over western release, demanding that the much touted Free Roam mode be axed (only allowing it to be put back in via patch after a ''lot'' of back and forth), and cutting corners at every chance they got, most infamously ''refusing to let the ESRB rate the game'', just to save money (this consequently meant they also refused to let it be sold ''anywhere'' outside of Russia except through the RWS website until three months after it had actually come out). Running With Scissors has even ''apologized'' to the fans over this, now referring to the game as "Russian Postal" or "Akella's Postal spin-off" and disowning it. |
| 266 | * ''VideoGame/{{Forza}} Motorsport 4'': |
| 267 | ** Porsche had to be removed from ''VideoGame/{{Forza}} Motorsport 4''; in the middle of development, EA, who holds the rights to use Porsche in their games, told Turn 10 (the developers) that they couldn't use Porsche in ''Forza 4'', despite the cars being in ''Forza 3''. Surprise, surprise, EA was coming out with yet another ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'' game, featuring Porsche. Instead of featuring Porsche, ''Forza 4'' uses Ruf cars, which are Porsches with bigger spoilers and some extra stuff bolted on to the engine; like what Saleen is to Ford's Mustangs. This resulted in the number of Porsches effectively going down form a couple dozen down to a pathetic 3 cars, all of which are souped up 911 Turbos. |
| 268 | ** DMC were irked by Clarkson's comments regarding the [=DeLorean=] in the Autovista mode, and an update caused it to be mysteriously removed without mention. The commentary still exists in print in the booklet shipped with the ''Forza 4'' collector's editions, however. You can also still view it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLn8QO8zjgw on YouTube]], though note that, as with anything people actually want to watch on Website/YouTube, they tend to disappear without warning. |
| 269 | * ''VideoGame/SolatoroboRedTheHunter'' spent 10 years in DevelopmentHell due to [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco Bandai]] insisting that, if Creator/{{CyberConnect2}} wanted to release a SpiritualSequel to ''VideoGame/TailConcerto'' (which did not sell as well as they'd have liked), then they had to polish and refine the [[WorldBuilding world]] and gameplay. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools The result truly shines, even if it is late]]. |
| 270 | * ''VideoGame/Superman64'' is known for its reputation as a horrible game with glitches and bugs up the ass, but most of the problems didn't come from the developers themselves; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JHCn3THgGU the beta version was notoriously better than the final product]]. The people that held the license, DC Comics and Warner Bros., kept interfering with the development on the game for "political reasons". They wouldn't allow Superman to have his powers naturally (making them have limited use instead of having it all the time and at will) nor did they allow Superman to attack people, so they limited his moves to just silly looking punches and granted invincibility to [=NPCs=]. The last part is also why the game takes place in a virtual world Lex Luthor created, instead of the "real" Metropolis. The developers of the game were extremely frustrated by the higher ups meddling in their project and stated that the final version does not even come close to what they had originally envisioned the game to be. |
| 271 | * Atari insisted that ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2''[='=]s first and only DLC, ''Mysteries of Westgate'', ship with a UsefulNotes/{{DRM}} scheme. This caused the adventure pack to be delayed almost two years. By the time it finally came out people had lost interest. A few months later, Atari took the DRM off the game, expansions, and ''Mysteries''. The original campaign was hit pretty hard by this too. Atari demanded that the game have a Christmas release, forcing Obsidian to rush to a finish, cutting out a lot of characterization for your party members and two romance arcs in the process. The worst part, though, was that they hadn't finished working all the kinks out, so when the game was released it was horribly buggy and hindered by bad gameplay. Later patches fixed that problem, but the fandom is still seething. |
| 272 | * ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'': |
| 273 | ** Over time, the franchise hasn't been allowed to use ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'' because Namco Bandai reportedly had "big plans" for it, which has led to fans speculating that it'll make its grand return in the finale of the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ'' series alongside the second half of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn''. This is no longer the case: fans have suggested that ''ZZ'' might be sidelined because Creator/KazukiYao, who voices ''ZZ'' protagonist Judau Ashta, has been having vocal problems of late, which caused his character Franky to have a reduced role in current ''Manga/OnePiece'' adaptations. |
| 274 | ** It's commonly believed that Bandai pre-merger with Namco forced developer Banpresto to include the then-popular ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' into the final ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' game, scrapping the original plan to feature the full ''Manga/GundamSentinel'' storyline for the first time. While current series producer Takanobu Terada has all but confirmed that ''SEED'' was put into the lineup by executive order, incomplete ''Sentinel'' sprites found on the ''Alpha 3'' disc were ''also'' present in ''Alpha 2'', suggesting that its removal from the former had nothing to do with it being "bumped" by ''SEED''. |
| 275 | ** Banpresto originally planned on bringing back ''Anime/GiantRobo'' (which previously appeared in the first ''Alpha'') and averting the anime's infamous GeckoEnding with an all-new storyline, which saw [[BigBad Big Fire]] managing to usurp the FinalBoss of ''Alpha 2''. However, the death of ''Giant Robo'' creator Mitsuteru Yokoyama caused his estate to raise the licensing fees on his work by an astronomical level, shelving the plans; while Yokoyama's ''[[{{Anime/Gigantor}} Tetsujin 28]]'' later appeared in the ''Super Robot Wars Z'' series, ''Giant Robo'' is unlikely to ever return because it's a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover between practically '''all''' of Yokoyama's works, meaning Banpresto would have to pay licensing fees for all those works on top of the core ''Giant Robo'' license. |
| 276 | ** Atlus stated that the main reason they didn't do a translation of ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration Super Robot Wars Original Generations]]'' was that Sony was demanding that all [=PS2=] games come with an English voice track, which they couldn't afford to do with [=OGs=]' large cast. |
| 277 | * For a game that was ''born'' from executive meddling, we have the ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'' franchise in all its glory. In order to compete with the companies of [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] and VideoGame/{{Sonic|TheHedgehog}}, Sony realized that they needed to appeal to the "kids market" in gaming, considering most of the games in the late '90s for the [=PlayStation=] were [[RatedMForMoney teen and adult oriented]]. So with the aid of Creator/InsomniacGames, they created a game with a cute dragon. Funny thing is, Insomniac never had the full rights to the franchise, in which it was sold off to Universal Interactive Studios after the release of ''Year of the Dragon''. Only then did it become a franchise zombie. After the release of ''A Hero's Tail'', Creator/{{Sierra}} bought the franchise, and gave it a severe {{continuity reboot}} (''The Legend of Spyro'' series), which due to insufficient man power and funds, created a controversy of the quality of the games. Needless to say, Activision bought out Sierra and let them keep the franchise in hopes "to have promising results," which costs Sierra its better, older franchises like ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'' and ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest''. |
| 278 | * When the developers (Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III, these days running their own development house Toys for Bob) and publisher (Creator/{{Accolade}}) of the first two ''VideoGame/StarControl'' games parted ways, Accolade retained rights to the name, while the developers held the rights to all of the actual creative content. A few years later, Accolade wanted to squeeze out ''Star Control 3'', but Ford and Reiche were unwilling to allow their creations to be used. Accolade stated that the game was going to be made under the Star Control name regardless of them. If they had to create new content with zero ties to the preceding games, then so be it. In the end Ford and Reiche relented, figuring that at least allowing continuity was the lesser of two evils. |
| 279 | * ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'' had a very convoluted history surrounding its release, all of which is better detailed on its page. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools The game still went on to being considered one of the greatest action-RPGs of all time, but there are still some things that could've been improved.]] |
| 280 | * Creator/{{Sierra}}: |
| 281 | ** A series of buy-outs, a massive financial controversy by Cendant, the forcing out of company founder Ken Williams, and then Vivendi. Vivendi closed Dynamix, the studio that developed all of Sierra's simulator titles, (including the highly-regarded ''Aces'' series) and essentially forced the company to abandon the development of AdventureGames. Two of its last adventure titles of the '90s era, ''VideoGame/KingsQuestMaskOfEternity'' and ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryV'', were both severely affected by Executive Meddling individually (suffering rushed productions and game-breaking bugs) and the lukewarm reception to both was part of the justification for shutting down adventure game production entering the 2000s. |
| 282 | ** The same happened with ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarryMagnaCumLaude''; according to the game's lead designer, they were ordered to "make Larry relevant to the 19-22-year-old set" by executives who called adventure games "old-fashioned" and "dead". The team did the best that they could within these constraints, but ''MCL'' is still considered an InNameOnly ''Larry'' game at best...though that's '''still''' better than the reception its sequel, ''Box Office Bust'' received. |
| 283 | * ''VideoGame/RaymanLegends'' was to be set for a late Feburary release date until Creator/{{Ubisoft}} decided to push the game back until September 2013, a year after its intended release date, and make it multiplatform. |
| 284 | * Creator/{{MicroProse}}: |
| 285 | ** Showing that Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad, the original ''[[VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense X-COM]]'' was planned to be a ''Lazer Squad'' sequel. The publisher, Microprose, wanted a game on a grander scale, so they asked that the game incorporate elements from ''{{VideoGame/Civilization}}'' like research and the [=UFOPaedia=], requested the addition of the game's overarching planetwide strategic gameplay and a number of additional layers to the tactical gameplay and, because Pete Moreland was a huge fan of ''Series/UFO1970'', change the setting to an alien invasion. |
| 286 | ** Played straight with (probably) ''Enforcer'' and definitely ''Apocalypse''. Microprose had at this point been bought up by Hasbro, who decided to kill the franchise to not draw attention from their core product line. Microsoft bought the IP and attempted to revive it with ''Interceptor'' which was... not good either as a strategy game or a space sim, to put it mildly, and changed the lore around enough to alienate the existing fan base. |
| 287 | * ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'' was originally planned to have a single, ambiguous ending, and expected the player to infer what happened based on their actions. However, higher-ups didn't like this and pushed for the developers to include a good and a bad ending. This is actually an example of executive meddling being a good thing, as many players like the good ending. |
| 288 | * ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'': |
| 289 | ** Creator/CrypticStudios is not allowed to include things to the game without CBS's explicit go-ahead. These include the Tier 5 refit ships (modeled after legendary ships such as [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration the Enterprise-D]]). As well, while many of the franchise's classes could be altered to make new ships, a number of them are explicitly off limits, the biggest one being the [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS Constitution Class]]. |
| 290 | ** Because of the strange rights problems between CBS and Paramount, the game is explicitly forbidden to reference anything from J.J. Abrams' ''Film/StarTrek2009'' series with the sole exceptions of the destruction of Romulus and Spock Prime and Nero's disappearance. |
| 291 | ** Cryptic held a fan design competition to design the USS ''Enterprise''-F, but CBS vetoed the winner in favor of the ''Odyssey''-class cruiser, which wasn't even in the top 20. This, among other things, understandably led to a massive backlash that made certain it would be the last time such a contest would be held. |
| 292 | * Sony and Microsoft have a policy for patches on games where developers have to pay a fee to be allowed to upload a patch for everyone to download. The cost ranges in the tens of thousands of dollars, so constant patching can get ''very'' expensive very quickly. On top of that, it is said that Microsoft also restricts how large a patch can be, which means developers are either forced to cut back on what they can push out for patches or don't bother patching at all. The patch fees are likely the reason why many games go unpatched for years and are left in a broken mess while their PC counterparts don't have to jump through the patch fee hurdles. Sony is attempting to avert this by removing patch fees for all developers with the Platform/PlayStation4. |
| 293 | * OVERKILL Software: |
| 294 | ** OVERKILL Software, the developers who made ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'', had some internal meddling due to the then director David Goldfarb. Goldfarb wanted to make ''PAYDAY 2'' an first person shooter with RPG elements (different skills, stats for guns, etc). While the rest of the team didn't exactly disagree with Goldfarb's decisions, Goldfarb was proud at the fact that he'd get the rest of the devs to see his side and have his ideas be used no matter what. Later on, Goldfarb did a revamp to the game's stealth mechanics, which caused a big backlash from the player base since most felt it was a major nerf.[[note]]Previously, stealth mostly entailed to killing all the guards, answering their pagers, and then having no more resistance. An update changed stealth to summon another guard if four guards are killed and some maps threw in extra guards to prevent players from doing a total clean sweep of the map.[[/note]] Not only did Goldfarb not care about the criticism he was given, but he also went out of his way to block anyone who even remotely annoyed him on Twitter. After a while, Goldfarb left OVERKILL to create his own game and his departure allowed the rest of the team to update and make the game the way they wanted it to. |
| 295 | ** However, things didn't exactly go well for OVERKILL in the next two years. The number of weapon pack [=DLCs=] became more and more frequent, causing the community to worry that the game would start using microtransactions or even go free-to-play like ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''. During the Crimefest 2015 event, one of the rewards was microtransaction styled weapon skins where players could find a safe in the game and then use real money for a drill to unlock the safe and get a random weapon skin for it. Some weapon skins could also have stat boosts as well. The community exploded in fury due to Almir Listo, the head producer, stating previously that the game wouldn't have microtransactions, only to go back on his word years later. Almir later stated that the DLC packs weren't exactly making the company enough money, which would also mean that the game would have less support unless they did something to change that. Almir then said that microtransactions were here to stay and there would be more coming in the future to keep the game running. The backlash from the community grew so huge that they dropped the game's review scores to low numbers and contacted several video game media outlets to spread the news further. Almir eventually apologized for his and the company's actions (though he never exactly said he was sorry about putting in microtransactions) and vowed to be more open with the community. For most, the apology was too little too late. |
| 296 | ** Later on when the 100th update came out, Almir released another apology video with him stating that the microtransactions were Overkill's ideas alone and thought said ideas would be something the community would've liked. In response to the overwhelmingly negative reception of the microtransactions, Almir stated that all safes would be completely free and can be opened without a drill, though the old generation safes would still require drills. He also announced more developers would be joining the forums to answer questions and concerns the players had and had other developers dedicated to bug report forum to help get bugs fixed quicker. On top of this, the developers also revamped the skill trees to make it more fun to use and create different builds, released a heist that lets players rob a train, released modding tools to let players create custom weapon skins, rebalanced all the guns, added more graphical options, released more weapons as community items instead of paid DLC, and made the 2016 Crimefest event purely free content instead of having to do insane challenges to unlock each reward. The long awaited customized safe house was also finally released during Crimefest. For all the meddling that was done to the game, the developers seem to be trying very hard to keep their promise on turning a new leaf. |
| 297 | * In the early 1980s, Nintendo was poised to bring [[Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem their new video game console]] over to the United States but were not willing to do it themselves, as they felt it was too risky a venture, so they sought out an established American company to provide support. Enter Atari. By 1983, everything was in place and Nintendo sent a team of representatives to the Consumer Electronics Show with contracts in-hand to be signed. During their tour of the show floor and its exhibits with Atari execs, the group came across Coleco demonstrating a prototype of ''Donkey Kong'' for the Coleco Adam computer. The Atari reps were ''furious'', claiming there was an arrangement in place where the only version of ''Donkey Kong'' that was to be shown at CES was theirs, and accused Nintendo of doubledealing.[[note]] The truth is actually a bit more complicated, but in the simplest terms: back in those days, console and computer publishing rights for games were separate things, and negotiated and sold as such. While Coleco had the ''console'' rights to ''Donkey Kong'', Atari had the ''computer'' rights, so Coleco were actually operating the demo outside of their contract.[[/note]] Shouting and cursing ensued (this was later recalled as one of the few times then-Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi, normally a very stoic man, ''completely lost'' his cool, tearing into both Atari CEO Ray Kassar and the Coleco delegation for their accusation and breach of contract, respectively) and the Nintendo group, shocked at what was happening, quietly left the show. Nintendo would attempt to keep the deal afloat, but - even if Atari hadn't been trying to tie up the deal in red tape for as long as possible to save face rather than admit they didn't have the money for it, as was later revealed - by that point Atari's president was ousted and Atari itself, along with the rest of the American industry, was [[MediaNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 in free-fall]]. Nintendo would go on to release the Nintendo Entertainment System in America themselves, and the rest is history. |
| 298 | * ''VideoGame/TouhouHisoutensokuChoudokyuuGinyoruNoNazoOOe'' was originally intended to have a roster consisting of stage 1 to 3 bosses, such as Wriggle, Cirno, and Nitori, but Tasofro, the company helping ZUN (creator of the series) produce the game, felt that such a roster was boring to work with, so the latter replaced some of them with higher level bosses like Sanae, Utsuho, and Suwako. |
| 299 | * One of the artists working on ''VideoGame/BattleChess'' found a way around this -- he knew that the executive would feel obligated to do ''some'' meddling no matter what, so when he was animating the Queen, he added [[CensorDecoy a completely superfluous pet duck]]. The executive looked at the final product and declared that the duck had to go. |
| 300 | * ''VideoGame/TheLionKing'' was infamous for its [[ThatOneLevel unreasonably difficult second level]]. That level was originally planned to be all puzzles and no actual danger, but a mandate from above declared that the game needed to be hard enough that renters wouldn't be able to complete it before the return date, [[RevenueEnhancingDevices giving them an incentive to buy it instead]]. |
| 301 | * The second ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' RPG was to be subtitled "The Butthole of Time," but due to retailers refusing the sell a game with such a moniker, Trey Parker was forced to contemplate an alternate name, innuendo still being on his mind, and the result being ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole''. |
| 302 | * The developers of ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' weren't planning to bring back either Nu-13 or Lambda-11, but had to due to fan demand. Interestingly, this did then lead to them both getting larger character arcs showing how they each [[BecomeARealBoy Became A Real Girl]] in their own way. Unfortunately, this also resulted in half of Nu's StanceSystem moveset being gutted so Lambda could have her old one back. |
| 303 | * On September 21, 2018, Creator/TelltaleGames ended up suddenly and unexpectedly folding up, firing all but 25 members without severance. As it turns out, that was against the law, leading to a class-action lawsuit against what's left. |
| 304 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'' games have both suffered this pretty badly. |
| 305 | ** The first game was originally set to be published by Creator/ThreeDRealms, but their time at the helm saw problems such as a limited budget ($15,000 a month at best) and 3D Realms leaving the team be for months on end before suddenly showing up to look over what the team had and demanding arbitrary changes. Monolith would eventually split with them and move on to GT Interactive to publish the game. |
| 306 | ** ''Blood II: The Chosen'' would suffer even worse under GT Interactive. For starters, the team didn't even want to ''make'' the game - they were more interested in making [[VideoGame3DLeap a new 3D game engine]] and already had [[VideoGame/ShogoMobileArmorDivision a game in mind]] to introduce it - but they were forced into making a second ''Blood'' at GT's behest. This ended up with the developer effectively split in half, one team working on the game they wanted while the other tried to work on ''Blood II''. It got so bad that their official game plan was to [[ChristmasRushed push out]] ''Shogo'' as quickly as possible so its team could fold back into the ''Blood II'' team and help finish it by the deadline - a plan which backfired catastrophically due to ''Shogo'' only coming out two months before ''Blood II''. Several story and gameplay elements had to be altered or cut to meet the deadline, and then GT being bought out by Infogrames meant that the developers were only able to patch the game by bundling patches with an expansion pack. |
| 307 | ** In the years after, the first ''Blood'' would become a CultClassic in the vein of several other Build-engine games of its time - and it would stay that way for a very long time, as Infogrames' (now Atari) hold on the series would see them actively stymieing efforts to get a proper rerelease. In particular are their iron grip on the rights - Creator/DevolverDigital and Night Dive Studios both approached them with offers to buy the series, but were quoted a ridiculously-overinflated cost for no particular reason - and their strange refusal to release the source code, meaning source ports have to rebuild the code from ports of other Build engine games and even Night Dive, when they were finally allowed to remaster the game in 2019, having to rebuild the game from the ground up on their proprietary Kex engine rather than work with the original code. |
| 308 | * A positive example of this trope happened in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel IV''. The developers of the game wanted for the players to [[spoiler:do all of the sidequests in order to obtain the GoldenEnding.]] Toshihiro Kondo, president of Creator/{{Falcom}} vetoed that idea, citing experiences the players had in ''[[VideoGame/{{Ys}} Ys Origin]]'' where players couldn't [[spoiler:get to the third route unless the first two routes were finished.]] He and the staff then compromised where [[spoiler:the players will have to view the normal ending first before they're allowed to obtain the GoldenEnding.]] The end result: ''massive speculation in the VideoGame/TrailsSeries lore'' on why this happens. |
| 309 | * A minor example: ''VideoGame/CitiesSkylines'' was initially going to be named "Colossal Cities" by its developers, Colossal Order, but Paradox Interactive, their publisher, wanted to name it "Cities: Skylines". It's impossible to say how much, if any, influence this had on the popularity of the game, but Colossal Order themselves agreed that the name change was a good idea. |
| 310 | * The dating sim ''VideoGame/SummertimeSaga'' is an independent production that relies on Patreon subscriptions to support its ongoing production and development. However, its original conception, that went on until well into the development and release history of the game, involved elements Patreon decided they were not at all happy with and which the company considered were bringing Patreon's reputation into disrepute/ [[note]]The "dating sim" elements originally had no limits and the player character could pursue incestuous relationships with his mother, aunt and sister. Patreon demanded this be dropped.[[/note]] Several female characters originally designed as family members were hastily rescripted so they were no relation whatsoever - in the text, at least. Visibly, however, the PC lives in a house with an older woman who has a physical resemblance suggesting she could be his mother, and a girl a couple of years older who also has a physical similarity but is also completely unrelated. How this bizarre coincidence came about is hand-waved in the game notes and is treated as One Of Those Things. |
| 311 | * Creator/TravellersTales: One of the things that infamous Platform/PlayStation dud ''VideoGame/{{Rascal}}'' was most criticized for were its cumbersome TankControls and poor level design. However, the game was never originally meant to have tank controls, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHCFMQIzzwo prototypes of the game]] show that the game originally had normal directional controls, so what happened? It turns out the executives saw how successful the ''Tomb Raider'' games were with their tank controls and coaxed Traveller's Tales the developers of ''Rascal'' into implementing them into this game as well, apparently thinking that the success of ''Tomb Raider'' was entirely due to its control scheme and a game that played like it would be an instant success. The problem was that ''Rascal'' was a 3D platformer whose game engine and level design were not designed to feature tank controls or a fixed camera, nor was there any time left to redesign the game to compliment tank controls either. So in the end, what was originally a very promising-looking game with some good ideas was turned into a clunky, poorly-controlling, and frustrating mess due to executives desperately wanting to FollowTheLeader by cherry picking one thing that leader did. |
| 312 | * ''Descendent Studios'' successfully [[Website/{{Kickstarter}} crowdfunded]] a new ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}'' game. However, they encountered some problems during Early Access on Steam and made a deal with a game publisher named ''Little Orbit''. Two years later, ''Little Orbit'' demanded some massive changes to the gameplay, turning it more into an arcade game, [[VideoGame/{{Overload}} because of low sales of a similar six-degrees of freedom game]]. ''Descendent Studios'' refused to comply because it will betray their playerbase and vision for the game. ''Little Orbit'' retaliated by refusing to publish the game. ''Descendent Studios'' website was shut down leaving fans in the dark. In January 2020, ''Little Orbit'' launched a lawsuit on ''Descendent Studios'', citing "breach of contract, negligent representation, fraud, and libel". The libel seems to be in response to personal forum posts by a Descendant Studios developer citing troubles with ''Little Orbit'' as why things have gone dark. |
| 313 | * ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'': |
| 314 | ** Many pieces of champion art were changed to their Chinese counterparts, including removing Graves' cigar from his champion art due to China being tough on smoking being presented in games marketed towards children. Fans protested for a long while, which had the cigar returned in North America and Europe. |
| 315 | ** Taliyah was originally intended to be the game's first transgender champion. However, this was scrapped when higher-ups were warned by Tencent that a transgender champion would likely be BannedInChina. |
| 316 | ** Writer Runaan revealed she wrote Twisted Fate and Graves as a married couple in the cinematic ''Double Double Cross'', but this was also rejected by higher-ups. To Runaan's frustration, the same higher-ups were glad to claim the HomoeroticSubtext of the pair's closeness was "intentional", suggesting Riot deliberately went for a [[BaitAndSwitchLesbians bait-and-switch]] to court the LGBT community, but actually including a gay couple was too far. |
| 317 | * Brady Games went through some trouble when it came to writing the strategy guide for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. Square demanded that the majority of the strategy guide's contents be moved to Square's [=PlayOnline=] service. Brady Games protested and argued that doing so would piss off the fans, but Square wouldn't budge on the decision. Brady Games couldn't push back due to contract agreements and risking losing the rights to publish a strategy guide for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' if they protested. |
| 318 | * ''VideoGame/NickelodeonAllStarBrawl'': |
| 319 | ** Accounts from developers regarding the first game following its release suggest that the developers and publisher were held on a very tight creative leash by Nickelodeon: |
| 320 | *** Although the developers had few plans to integrate many live-action Nickelodeon properties in the game, wanting it to be more of a celebration of the Nicktoons, one live-action character they ''did'' consider was [[Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack Alex Mack]]. However, Nick said no. A reason was not given, but one theory is that it would have cost too much to pay royalties to Alex's actress Larisa Oleynik. |
| 321 | *** The developers were disallowed from inventing new dialogue for the characters, nor giving them original [[PaletteSwap alternate colors/costumes]] (developer at Ludosity Thaddeus "Repiteo" Crews specifically mentioned that they wanted to give [[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants SpongeBob]] palettes based on Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs), so the characters' spoken dialogue in the single-player mode's cutscenes consists of canned dialogue they once spoke in their source material while their palette swaps consist entirely of outfits or accessories they wore in their home series. (To drive home how far the developers had to reach because of these restrictions, [[WesternAnimation/HeyArnold Helga's]] first released alternate color was pulled from a miscoloration of her dress on a Nicktoons-themed commerative Christmas cup.) Ironically, a later crossover game, ''Nickelodeon Extreme Tennis'' for Apple Arcade, was released without any of these restrictions, something that did not go unnoticed by the playerbase nor the developers. New dialogue would only be implemented when voice-acting for the characters was added in a later update. |
| 322 | *** The developers practically had to beg Nickelodeon to include some characters in the game's roster, with specific mention going toward [[WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys Nigel Thornberry]], [[WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters Oblina]], [[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Powdered Toast Man]], and even [[WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse Lucy Loud]] (the last of whom had previously appeared as a playable character in the ''VideoGame/NickelodeonKartRacers'' series without apparent issue). Nick also pushed for the developers to use the 2012 incarnations of the ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' before the developers were able to convince them to let them use the characters' original 1987 incarnations instead. |
| 323 | *** A Fair Play dev responded to player complaints about WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom's [[OffModel awkward character model]] by explaining that they ''did'' want to give Danny a better, more show accurate character model, but were only allowed to base it on a 3D sculpt provided by Nickelodeon. |
| 324 | ** The game's sequel saw the developers being given ''much'' more creative freedom with the characters, including being allowed to create new dialogue, though some meddling was still involved. One of the sequel's [[UnexpectedCharacter more oddball newcomers]], [[WesternAnimation/HeyArnold Arnold's Grandma Gertie]], was revealed by Repiteo to have actually been a roster addition requested by Nickelodeon themselves. Luckily, the devs were more than happy to include Gertie and figure out a moveset for her, with Rep comparing it to "selling blood to a vampire". |
| 325 | * It's suspected that this trope was responsible for the inability to name Pals and the PlayerCharacter in the console version of ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'' until the 0.1.5.0 update as well as the swear filter on both PC and console versions that was introduced at the same time. |
| 326 | [[/folder]] |
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