Friday, July 1, 2011

Split/Second Taken Out Via Disney Powerplay!!!

Black Rock Studios, the developers behind explosive racer Split/Second, have been shut down by owners Disney. Those laid off have already formed two new studios, called Roundcube Entertainment and ShortRound Games...




SEGA VICTOLY!!!
(just pretend it is)


DISNEY!!  YOU BUNCH OF EVIL C***-SUCKING ANTI-SEMITES!!  YOU KILLED THE GREATEST RACING DEV EVAR!!  ALSO BLUR AND RED DEAD REDEMPTION STOLE SOME OF THIS GAME'S SALES!!  SHAME ON YOU ALL!!  RACING GAMES ARE AWESOME!!

Or maybe Split/Second just sucked, lol.

Well, it's still sad that people have been put out of work (albeit temporarily) over this.  That's not funny.  Seeing the demise of this game is though.

Anyway, check out the Kotaku article.  Scroll to comments and click on All (refresh if you can't see any).  I love reading all the comments that mention the words sad, sucks, or shame--as if no one has anything better to say than "dude, that sucks" or "that's sad."  I found some neat comments from this pile though, check it out (AND NO, I'M NOT GOING TO INSULT ANYONE):


...
However, I believe you can make the argument that Grand Theft Auto 3 killed the racing genre. People still love racing games, but the simple fact is that people no longer need to buy a racing game to play a racing game. So many open world titles include vehicles and racing to a degree which satisfies the vast majority of the audience for racing games. These open world, jack-of-all-trade style games are the Wal-Marts of the industry, damaging or outright killing off once distinct genres as they absorb those gameplay elements into their blockbuster releases.

Now, there is only Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport, essentially providing a singular, more realistic experience of racing on their respective consoles. GTA and its ilk do not provide this kind of realism and attention to detail, so they can exist without the implied competition arcade racers feel from these video game supermarts. Arcade racing has been turned into a boutique event, maintaining an ever shrinking footprint in an industry and all fighting for the tiniest crumbs left of the racing pie. 



See, I told you so!  Racing games are a "joke" genre nowadays.  Seriously, go into a room full of gaming nerds and declare that your favorite game/genre is a racing game.  You'll get laughed out of the room.  Like really, when I walk into FIEA for the first day of classes and everyone gathers around to hear what their favorite games are, when I say "Daytona USA," I'll get blank stares.  It already happened to me before!

I think the main problem is no one appreciates the beauty of handling a car eloquently around the turns in a non-realistic fashion...it's basically crash, crash, crash and that's all devs can do to sell racers.

And another thing--I do like Grand Theft Auto (not IV) for driving around, particularly Vice City and San Andreas, but whatever little "race modes" they have just plain suck.  Telling you to drive through the little glowy things just doesn't cut it for me.  The cop chases though can be fun...



Seriously. A friend used the soundtracks to get me into Ridge Racer, and I've been.....dismayed to see people only recognize the whole franchise for a bloody MEME now. Games like Ridge Racer 4 and 7 will remain some of my favorite racing memories, and I have no hate for Gran Turismo or Forza, but sometimes you just want ridiculous drifting, y'know?

I'm also upset that the next Ridge Racer is being developed by the guys who made Flatout, and I'm already turned off by the emphasis on vehicle damage. I'll give it a shot, but I'm not jumping to get it like I was for Ridge Racer 7. I even have a 3DS, and the lack of online multiplayer (since NONE OF MY FRIENDS have a 3DS at the moment, can't blame 'em) and a poor soundtrack has me not getting Ridge Racer 3D. That's just sad..


I really feel for this guy.  This guy's like me except he likes Ridge Racer instead of Daytona.  Yes, I do have sympathy for Namco...not as much as Sega, sorry.  Screw all this Burnout crap, he just want a good, clean Ridge Racer and he can't get it, especially without hearing "RIIDDGGGEE RACCCEEERRR!!" shouted in his ear every two seconds.


I played the split/second demo and it was terrible. You press a button to make a bit of scenery fall on your opponent, brilliant.

I don't know how you can say blur had no substance; there was plenty of action within the techniques you required to win. The alt-fire on all weapons provided another dimension to easy-to-grasp-but-hard-to-master drive-and-shoot mechanics. It had a good system for levelling too. Even the menus were awesome.

Everyone I talk to didn't care for split/second, it felt like "big stunts" and disney false promises. Literally all style, no substance.

That being said I only played the demo, and I take it you only played the blur demo, and we both bought opposing games so we're both probably a bit mis-construed in our view of the other. I really don't see what's wrong with it being a "glorified Mario Kart" though, that's not in any way a bad thing. 


FINALLY.  Someone who doesn't kiss ass like everybody else...


[in response to the above post] Sounds like you didn't even play the demo yourself, more liked watch someone else go through it. Split/Second used a lot of timing in execution of the action events in the game. 

I did play the Split/Second demo too and I totally agree with what the above guy saidAnd then I go on to rip the game some more.  Blur is another story...it was good but not great IMO.

EDIT SUPER OLD: Black Rock Studio would've released a sequel to Split/Second had they not been shut down.  Oooh, dodged a powerplay there!  I guess...


That's about all I have to say here.  You might wonder why I don't reply to these guys messages, well Kotaku just plain doesn't work for me and it's easier to criticize people behind their backs (lol jk).  Well, they make good points and I'm just harping on them.  Too lazy to type them up in my own words, that's for sure...

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