What is the price of failure? What leads a video game to make such a big mistake that it can destroy an entire successful franchise? At 3DJuegos we want to pay tribute to the great failures of the industry that took away great sagas in the history of video games. What are your last words?
It does not fail: you think you are at the top, you trust yourself and you fall . And the fall is never a small thing: it is always a true pandemonium of scandal, one that takes years to recover and that, sometimes, many do not achieve it. It happens in real life, but also in the world of cinema, comics or, of course, in video games. There are many failures that have ruined mythical franchises, and although the name behind the brand is of an authentic category, it does not always serve to avoid the bullet, which ends up causing a scar that does not always heal .
Failure is painful, because in the case of big names, it always comes by surprise and unexpectedly, and the results are not limited to public disappointment : it can have very serious consequences for the company involved or the brand itself. In addition, there is a circumstance in the world of video games, and that is that the fan is very spiteful and it is difficult for him to forget . The reconquest, sometimes, is not an option, and as we will see today, the attempts to regain the confidence of the player, if they do not end successfully, bring an even worse situation for the saga, the developer and, of course , the game.
What is the hall of fame of failure in our leisure? They are neither all there nor are they all, but our selection illustrates how difficult it is to get back up after a category stumble in an industry and entertainment as demanding as the video game.
NBA Live – 20
Okay, Pro Evolution Soccer seems to have recovered the playable touch after what -for many- has been one of the sports sagas that has had the worst time in the decade … but many of those who say it is because they do not remember the story Recent NBA Live . Suddenly, your arachnid sense kicks in: “NBA Live! Does it still exist? ”, A good question. The last game canceled in the series was NBA Live 20 last October after seeking “a new approach” for the franchise that never came to be. To understand us, the luck and good hand of EA Sports with the FIFA franchise is not what it has with basketball.
But the history of NBA Live and its failures in its prodigious decade goes back a long way … Remember NBA Elite 11 ? To understand each other, it was the beginning of the end . A demo was released that was the laughingstock of the basketball and video game community in general, prompting EA to delay the game first and cancel it later. The release with NBA Live 13 wasn’t much better, but at least it was stable. However, how difficult can the failure of a company be for the competition to make fun and the joke to be celebrated by the fans ? 2K didn’t even think about it, and fans laughed at the derision.
The consequences …
Well, it seems that Electronic Arts does not give up, and its intention is to release the new generation with a new basketball production. The plan is identical to that of the beginning of the current generation … Will it have the same and terrible results?
Ninja Gaiden – 3
In all fairness, Ninja Gaiden 3 isn’t that it was a bad game, far from it. Its problem lay in the eternal comparison with its two previous installments, which condemned it to become a mediocre game that was vilified by its followers without any compassion. It also didn’t help that Tomonobu Itagaki wasn’t on the team already, focused on his new development after his painful departure from Team Ninja . Tecmo noticed the absence, and although he signed correct chapters of Ninja Gaiden or Dead or Alive, his fans did not want anything: they wanted to continue enjoying the great products they had always enjoyed … and that was a long way off in the era after Itagaki.
Ryu Hayabusa’s new adventure was embarrassing to many of the decisions he made in the playable and narrative, and although something improved in the Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge review , it was not enough to correct the misstep taken by the fiercest ninja from hack and slash . The charisma and class of the saga was replaced by bad taste and a lot of ineffective content, which did not match the delicate palate of its followers. Since then, and beyond some grotesque appearance in the DOA saga or the Musou of the moment , Ryu Hayabusa waits to take out, again, his Dragon Sword and cut back in two whoever gets in front of him.
The consequences …
Team Ninja did not raise its head for many years. NiOh put them back on the map and its sequel has also been a success. They have not stopped reiterating their desire to launch a new Ninja Gaiden in recent years, but nothing confirmed for now.
Capcom Fighting Jam
In the early 2000s, Capcom was clueless with fighting games, reusing so many sprites from past works in its quest to save work that it reached surreal levels of underperformance. To give you an example: the Morrigan from the first Darkstalkers , created in 1994 for the CPS-2 board , endured without changes or aesthetic touches until the beginning of the 21st century, appearing as one of the Capcom VS SNK 2 fighters in Naomi, a recreational system. of Sega far superior to that of Capcom in the mid-nineties. Did the displayed face matter or embarrass its developers? Not at all: I could still curl the curl .
From the ashes of the canceled Capcom Fighting All Stars project , a rather ambitious and promising three-dimensional software with characters from different sagas from the Osaka firm, Capcom Fighting Jam was born , a shameful fighting game that buried the genre in the company for many years. It mixed the heroes and villains of Street Fighter 2, Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter III, Darkstalkers and the unknown CPS-3 game Red Earth. Morrigan wasn’t there , but the medley of gameplay and graphics styles ruined what seemed like a lousy idea that ended up putting the final nail in the coffin of 2D fighting at Capcom.
The consequences … You get out
of the drug. From Capcom Fighting Jam too. Capcom knew how to reinvent itself and returns to fighting territory with absolute success with Street Fighter IV . Although the reception of Street Fighter V was not optimal, time has ended up building a great video game.
Metal Gear Survive
The project was surreal, but I always thought Konami had too much confidence in one of the most excellent sections of the always controversial Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain : its exquisite playability. Could you hide a game on it alone and add elements of tower defense and fighting the undead and other surreal paranormal threats never seen before in the Metal Gear franchise ? The response was a clear, blunt and loud no from the community, which ruined any chance of success for the title, which no longer had Hideo Kojima and his team on the boat.
Without a doubt, Konami’s nil mourning after Hideo Kojima’s traumatic departure from the company and the painful cancellation of Silent Hills affected the reception of the game, which was terrible from the fans. Did users miss something? Not really: it passed without pain or glory and the reception from the critics was just as mediocre. Clearly, Metal Gear is a top-tier franchise in the video game industry, and gamers weren’t keen to see Konami zombify it as it had already done other of its famous brands. The game was forgotten shortly after its release.
The consequences…
Konami’s roadmap in recent years has been surreal, true. But it is clear that Survive marked a point in the history of Metal Gear. What plans are there for one of the most important franchises in the history of the sector? It is a real mystery.
Duke Nukem – Forever
Man, Gearbox , you over here. It seems that the success of Forever was in its mere launch , but it would not be a fair argument with what the Texan team put on store shelves. It is true: they did what they could, but it should not be mistaken that the thing came out successfully drinkable. Duke Nukem Forever , without the surreal circumstances that led to its eternal development , would have gone down in history as a lousy production and far from what the franchise was supposed to be in the 90s. it had during its development, leaving the Metacritic average at a poor 54.
The premiere was dressed as something historic, as something that many users thought they would never see, but the reality is that the impact of Duke Nukem Forever dissipated within days of the premiere. Lazy, sad and old-fashioned , the Gearbox shooter was an indecent end for one of the great icons of the FPS. Since then, the character has only been used for dirty jokes and the occasional appearance in a second-rate game … like Arevalo , but in the world of video games and without Bertín Osborne accompanying him in the most cañí comparsa in Spain. Sad.
The consequences …
Duke is practically dead. There has been speculation about comebacks and a supposed movie starring John Cena … but who would want to see a Duke Nukem movie in the new decade? But hey, if Rampage had a movie with The Rock, anything can happen.
Tony Hawk’s – Pro Skater 5
Things were tense with Tony Hawk before the premiere of the fifth part. We talk about two grotesque attempts with Tony Hawk Ride and Tony Hawk Shred , who mutilated a successful saga by betting on a surreal peripheral that was not even going well. The sales were terrible, the critics worse if possible and it was forgotten within weeks of the premiere, forever burying Tony Hawk and his legendary career in video games. Forever? Do not! Suddenly, Activision rushed to release a new installment because the license was ending and the intention was to bring back the saga with the controls and ideas that made it great in its day. Did they make it? Not at all, absolute failure.
Although at E3 2015 I was able to try it for a few minutes and be excited about what I enjoyed … the reality is that when you put yourself at the controls in the tranquility of your home, everything dissipated. The game was technically and playably out of date on all levels , promoting grotesque mechanics that ruined what once made the Tony Hawk experience great. The fifth part of the mythical saga ended up being one of the punching balls of the year 2015 and becoming, without a doubt, one of the worst games of the decade. A nightmare that deserves to be forgotten and that ended up burying a whole series of success and prestige .
The consequences …
Now there is talk of the return of a new installment, but since 2015 there has been no possibility of resurrection. Can the saga be rebuilt from a stick as big as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 ? It seems complicated.
Final Fantasy – XIV
No, make no mistake: we are talking about THE OTHER Final Fantasy – XIV . The original, the one that launched in September 2010 and staked its cards on very good intentions … and terrible playable decisions that ruined the experience. The game was blamed for an alarming lack of content, but also an absurd bet to show a spectacular graphic section of its Crystal Tool … which prevented crowds of players ! It was an MMO that looked like anything, but not massive, of course. The constant feeling of looking like no one was playing Final Fantasy -XIV in the first days ended up becoming a reality: the massive abandonment of players and a decaffeinated premiere on PC first and console later.
Well, clean slate, right? Not at all: Final Fantasy – XIV was not a minor bet from Square Enix: the investment and the hopes placed on the production put the brand in serious trouble after sagas like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest , and they were forced to come up with something that could replace the original version of the game, but it was not a straightforward or simple process. It caused the delay in various Square Enix developments and could cost the company to close . The worst thing is that nothing made sense. Square Enix came from the success of Final Fantasy XI , one of the few video games that managed to hold the type to Blizzard and World of Warcraftin its golden age. How could they forget all the good that was done and blow it up in such a short time? The failure was so great that it had merit to do it so badly wrong.
The aftermath …
Naoki Yoshida was rescued from another development to save Final Fantasy XIV. The game was re-released with a new engine and universe two years later and managed to save the furniture. A happy story to end today’s failure story.
