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| Prepare for the attack of fanboys |
This article is a bit of a nitpick, but I feel it needs to be made considering some rather mean spirited stuff I've bumped into recently. In case you ignore one of the most fun developers in gaming, chances are you know about Insomniac. Unfortunately all of their good games have been, and will seemingly remain, exclusive to PlayStation. that is until Sunset overdrive, and quite a number of people (especially PS loyal of course) have flipped out because its a perfectly flipped deal where its exclusive to Xbox's side. People find it worth boycotting, take the fact that we're getting an R&C remake as an insult, and actually expect Sony to hold the same grudge and never work with them. That's just pretty insane, and worrying onto obsessive tribal fanboyism. You know, on an emotional basis I'll agree that it sucks and I wouldn't mind having a disappointed talk with Insomniac, but beyond that and where a lot of these comments take things to... its just absurd and I'd like to do a bit of a mini-rant on what should be common sense to this situation. Fact is, Insomniac found their deal and made a great game while working with Microsoft's money just like they've been doing for years with other publishers.
Like I said before, maybe even twice, Sunset overdrive is not just an exclusive people are excited about, but its one of the few exclusives done right for current-gen... especially from Microsoft's end of things. While Tomb Raider is stolen and locked under a timer (and coming to the 360), Ryse and Titanfall move to PCs, and nothing is being done to combat true exclusives Sony has. To be fair, Sony isn't out on their A-game yet either, but they've got a far more promising opportunity. Don't think I've forgotten about nintendo either, they're finally doing a splendid job and I wish I had more money for some good Wii U games. Please let Starfox be good! Still getting back to the subject, Sunset overdrive is the only true and unique exclusive MS has for its xbox one around this time, and it has fueled genuine excitement (except from the haters, which of course is why this article exists).
So that still leaves the question though about why Insomniac did this. It does seem kind of sad and uncalled for that they abandon their loyal audience like myself that they've properly earned over the years. Many wish to believe its a very simple thing: Money. MS offered them a giant check to be exclusive, and they sold out.
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| They warned us it could happen |
uh... actually its not that simple, Check this out. Do you actually remember a time when publishers let developers keep their own IP? Yeah that tends to be a missing era now, but Insomniac didn't get much of a chance even in the past to have their own game. They worked and made it to have another publisher (like Sony or Universal) print their name over it and claim money and direction bits. When it came to a personal passion project like Sunset overdrive, they wouldn't make it unless they truly had control over it. Sony wasn't one to allow that and owns Resistance and Ratchet and Clank already from Insomniac. Activision certainly wont do that as they love owning and manipulating their companies. Insomniac had their chance with EA and flopped with it. Ubisoft doesn't allow that (just ask free radical), and Bethesda is rumored to be rather mean about IPs as well supposedly bullying Human head into owning not just the Ip but the developer. That's not all the publishers, but as you can tell it gets kind of difficult. However... in one of the only moves of respect I have for them to this day, Microsoft does allow ownership of your IP. That's a perfectly normal and reasonable explanation for Insomniac's dream project, even if it is miserably ironic that loyal fans don't get a taste of it unless they were willing to cross over. ...and you know what, even if it was about money, MS played fair in regard to offering the best funding for an exclusive. That's just what kind of happens. Sony has even less of an excuse for being the exclusive owner of the past. There it was just because Insomniac randomly picked it, it was luck of the draw and within reach. Now they've actually got motives to go to exclusive publishing, and their game has more freedom. Insomniac doesn't owe you, me, or sony this game if they had a better deal. It isn't really about that with the whole IP ownership at the mention, but if it were that's not a devious thing at all. Its not like they are selling out on a sequel to an acclaimed iconic playstation character either. Its a new IP that means nothing to us loyal fans, as if it never existed, or if we're lucky and own that console to then its just another addition to our Insomniac collection. That's not betrayal at all. They're still giving us Ratchet & Clank, and I bet they'll continue to do other series as well. They also teased that maybe one day they'll get Spyro back, which is funny because I think I recall hearing something similar about Crash as well.... maybe Sony's up to something behind the scenes. I even have a good suspicion that if there's a sequel to Sunset Overdrive, it'll be multi-platform and they totally can do that if they get a publisher that accepts, which is more likely now that its not a new IP.
So why waste my time with this? Well in part because I don't get why there should be bad blood with fans. The other part is that I am one of those fans, and I'll gladly admit bias here (well funnily enough I am biased towards sony to... yay for conflicting bias?). Insomniac is one of my favorite companies ever. I'd say If you're a true fan, I see no reason to hold a grudge over this matter. We've got a freakin' movie and game coming out of them next year, its hard for me not to be thrilled with the company. Insomniac isn't perfect with their dumb fumbles, and some stupid quotes to have left their studio, but they make some incredible games I adore at the end of the day. They made the series that made me care about gaming. Their games took hours and hours of my spare time and turned it into pure bliss. They gave me what I was demanding in the shooter market at a dark time for the genre. With R&C into the nexus being one of my favorite games of last year, and having enjoyed sharing it with a friend to see him love it the same, I can't say they're dwindling on the whole. Some fans also supposedly wanted this game to fail because it was exclusive, but again that's just stupid and not a decent fan thing to say at all. Insomniac isn't the biggest selling or most acclaimed company anymore. Their games rarely get the sort of attention Sunset Overdrive got, and I'm quite glad the game has done well in reviews and is predicted to sell well with the console. If you're truly a fan of them, you should want them to succeed. You should want them to do well so they can live on and continue making the games they love. ...Or, you could have them go back to focus groups and do another Fuse if you want their passion projects to fail. I can't call these harassers fans at all, its narrow minded console fanboyism rather than heart felt game fans. They refuse to see past the console machines, and instead want a company to hurt... that's not a fan. To reasonable minded folks, its not an us or them struggle, its a matter of good or bad games. Insomniac is far more leaning on the good side. Sony's smart enough to know that, which is why there's no "bad blood' and they let the team make new content for them. They aren't childish enough to fight them over the matter. Congratulations on Sunset Overdrive Insomniac and Microsoft, I hope it sells well. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a movie and game to be excited for next year....
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