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Wha Happun? (Matt McMuscles)

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NesClassic Meh-meh!? from Flyover Country Since: Dec, 2012 Relationship Status: In another castle
Meh-meh!?
#751: Jul 15th 2021 at 7:35:42 AM

I mentioned it before, but my top pick for an episode is the Coleco Chameleon. It was pitched as a "retro-style video game console" and even got funding and branding from Coleco, but all the prototypes showed at conventions turned out to be reshelled SNES boards. The way the project heads defended those sorts of Blatant Lies against a community of retro game enthusiasts calling foul was quite the spectacle to follow.

I also wouldn't mind seeing FusionFall at some point, given I grew up with it. From a bizarre concept (anime-style Cartoon Network MMO about an alien invasion from a Genius Loci) to the game outliving its original company's bankruptcy before shutting down a few years later... I feel like there's a lot to talk about there.

🏳️‍⚧️she/her | Vio Rhyse Alberia
powerpuffbats The crabby fussbudget Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The crabby fussbudget
#752: Jul 15th 2021 at 11:11:11 AM

I’d also say that the PS Vita would make a good topic to discuss why that handheld did very poorly outside Japan.

I know why it was most successful in Japan though. Because Japan is very skewed towards handhelds and mobile devices for gaming as not only Japanese homes really small and have only one TV, but also people in Japan are out of the house more often so portable devices work better than consoles or PC.

AAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!
ShinyCottonCandy Everyone's friend Malamar from Lumiose City (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Everyone's friend Malamar
#753: Jul 15th 2021 at 11:52:22 AM

A game that I unironically like that is still notoriously flawed and had Troubled Production? Crash Twinsanity comes to mind, though that game does have more than me who are fond of it despite how rough it is in some parts.

My musician page
fasoman1996 Google "big ears" from Argentina (A.K.A. Naziland) Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
Google "big ears"
#754: Jul 16th 2021 at 7:14:05 AM

Did he do Metroid Dread? He is probably saving it until the actual game comes out on October

Uni cat
Lyendith Since: Mar, 2011
#755: Jul 16th 2021 at 7:38:15 AM

Why would he do a game that hasn’t even come out yet?

Weirdguy149 Former King from Lumiose City Since: Jul, 2014 Relationship Status: I'd jump in front of a train for ya!
Former King
#756: Jul 16th 2021 at 7:57:42 AM

Because Metroid Dread has been a concept for a long time but it never got any traction until now.

The legend has returned.
BOOXMOWO Since: Mar, 2013
#757: Jul 16th 2021 at 11:03:56 AM

He has a few times done Wha Happuns on cancelled games, which is what Metroid Dread was assumed to be for years. Of course even then it wouldn't have made good Wha Happun material because of the lack of information. Honestly there still isn't that much info about the earlier versions, but now we at least know what the original concept was and why it was shelved the first time.

RacattackForce (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#758: Jul 16th 2021 at 12:26:24 PM

Dread is weird, because it certainly feels like we know a lot. It first entered development for the DS around late 2004/early 2005, there may have been a prototype shown behind closed doors in 2008, got scrapped twice, and was then shelved until 2018, with MercurySteam reviving it with the core gameplay and story ideas mostly intact.

But the actual specifics of any of that early stuff that would make a good Wha Happun? Nothing at the moment. You could make a good video about the history of leaks and rumours surrounding it, though. (Found this one last night, and its super through.)

Edited by RacattackForce on Jul 16th 2021 at 3:27:26 PM

NesClassic Meh-meh!? from Flyover Country Since: Dec, 2012 Relationship Status: In another castle
Meh-meh!?
#759: Jul 18th 2021 at 4:22:32 PM

This week's episode is brought to you by a Kickstarter for a documentary on the First-Person Shooter genre of video games- and hey, Matt's gonna be in it! If you're interested check the link out in the description, if you want a kickass montage watch the first few minutes of this episode, and if not skip to around the 3:45 mark.

Anyways, Matt takes a shot at Prey 2! An ambitious sequel to a beloved, critically-acclaimed, and wholly unique shooter where everything seemed to be going right for a while... until eventually it was cancelled. Where did it go wrong?

Bethesda, of course!

Initially they took a (seemingly) benign interest in Human Head Studios and footed some of the bills for Prey 2, but after a while tried to stage a hostile takeover of that studio. They did so by using clauses in their contract to strongarm Human Head into working with them- Prey 2 was the only game they were contractually allowed to develop at that point, so the options were pretty much either accept Bethesda's takeover or refuse it and be bled dry with no other ways to fund themselves. (They tried to get around it by working as support on titles like Bioshock Infinite, but those jobs didn't make too much money.) Thus several years went on without any updates from the once-hyped Prey 2, causing rumors to fly about it being cancelled or having its development handed off to Arkane Studios, which was a subsidiary of Bethesda at that point. Bethesda's Pete Hines denied these rumors.

Then emails from within Arkane leaked showing they were indeed handling a new Prey game and had scrapped pretty much everything Human Head did. Arkane's not really at fault here, mind- this was all upper company politics from Bethesda proper.

(And also notably, reporting on these email leaks is the entire reason why gaming news site Kotaku is now blacklisted by Bethesda. Such is life.)

Anyways, those years of silence from Human Head turned out to be them stalling out until their contract with Bethesda expired. They lost the Prey IP in the process, but at least managed to retain their freedom... for a time. The studio never quite found success after that, eventually filing for bankruptcy in 2019. Employees from Human Head would, ironically enough, then form a new studio under Bethesda's wing.

🏳️‍⚧️she/her | Vio Rhyse Alberia
RacattackForce (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#760: Jul 18th 2021 at 5:00:46 PM

Wait, so after all that, the end result was...

Yeah, definitely one of the more frustrating situations covered in a Wha Happun? to-date.

Ookamikun This is going to be so much fun. (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
This is going to be so much fun.
#761: Jul 18th 2021 at 9:33:10 PM

HOWAAARD!

ShirowShirow Dinosaur Hunter from Land of Maple Syrup (Old as dirt)
Dinosaur Hunter
#762: Jul 18th 2021 at 10:20:59 PM

This one's just depressing.

You are not alone.
Zeromaeus Since: May, 2010
#763: Jul 18th 2021 at 10:32:04 PM

Yyyyeah. Civvie covered some of this in his video for Prey. It was all around just terrible. Bethesda basically set out to bleed Human Head dry and, ultimately, succeeded in doing so.

Edited by Zeromaeus on Jul 19th 2021 at 7:16:18 AM

Lyendith Since: Mar, 2011
#764: Jul 19th 2021 at 8:25:17 AM

Wow that’s… Wow. Is Bethesda trying to steal EA’s "Worst Videogame Company" crown?

Ultimatum Disasturbator from The Wiggle Room (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#765: Jul 19th 2021 at 8:26:08 AM

its not a crown its a bucket with eye holes

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#766: Jul 19th 2021 at 9:34:03 AM

[up][up]Nowadays it's more of a hot potato that keeps getting tossed around between AAA game publishers.

Heck, CDPR held it too given their really shady Cyberpunk 2077 bullshit. Not to mention pulling Devotion off of GOG, proving they'll cave to CCP pressure like a lot of corporations.

What makes this notable is that Bethesda's rep was still decent when they pulled this crap. In other words, they were always kind of shit even before Fallout 76 revealed that the Emperor was nude.

Edited by M84 on Jul 20th 2021 at 12:36:33 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#767: Jul 19th 2021 at 10:07:19 AM

And the moral of this story? If a big game studio offers to help your smaller company, even if it's just a small amount of money, DON'T TAKE IT!

I remember people actually being glad that Bethesda was bought out by Microsoft since they might be able to reign in some of their bad tendencies, whether they can (or will) remains to be seen.

fredhot16 Don't want to leave but cannot pretend from Baton Rogue, Louisiana. Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: Too sexy for my shirt
Don't want to leave but cannot pretend
#768: Jul 22nd 2021 at 7:49:50 PM

...Odd moral...

Trans rights are human rights. TV Tropes is not a place for bigotry, cruelty, or dickishness, no matter who or their position.
Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#769: Jul 22nd 2021 at 9:17:17 PM

You saw the Prey video, right?

Ookamikun This is going to be so much fun. (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
This is going to be so much fun.
#770: Jul 22nd 2021 at 9:19:19 PM

I don't like the "worst video game company" monicker because it's the usual short-sighted mentality of gamers.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#771: Jul 22nd 2021 at 9:21:22 PM

It also varies depending on how you define "worst". Is one talking about the quality of their games, their treatment of customers, their treatment of employees, their treatment of smaller studios, their treatment of fan content...

For example, I'd say Blizzard currently has the "honor" of being the worst in terms of how it treats female employees.

Edited by M84 on Jul 23rd 2021 at 12:22:52 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#772: Jul 22nd 2021 at 9:23:57 PM

[up] Most triple A companies would fit most of those criteria.

AyyItsMidnight Look, just be decent to one another ok? Since: Oct, 2018
Look, just be decent to one another ok?
#773: Jul 22nd 2021 at 9:35:08 PM

Yeah like M84 said, it's like all these companies are scrambling and stumbling over themselves for the title of the worst of the lot. Depends on the day and what bits of news and revelations are out there on the public's minds.

Self-serious autistic trans gal who loves rock/metal and animation with all her heart. (she/her)
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#774: Jul 22nd 2021 at 9:48:45 PM

Relevant to Wha Happun, one of the main ways to define a game publisher as the "worst" is by how often they kill games, just like how Bethesda killed Prey 2.

This is one of the reasons EA is garbage (among many) — their predatory business practices lead to the deaths of many a game IP, usually followed by resurrecting them as some shambling zombie version of their former glory.

Edited by M84 on Jul 23rd 2021 at 12:49:40 AM

Disgusted, but not surprised
Zeromaeus Since: May, 2010
#775: Jul 22nd 2021 at 11:56:44 PM

EA is notorious for killing IPs and studios. They'll buy a studio, have them crank out games until they fall off their desired profit growth, then dissolve the studio and never use the IPs again.

Edited by Zeromaeus on Jul 22nd 2021 at 2:57:09 PM


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