280°

Insomniac's Reason for Overstrike's Change In Direction

In this IGN article, Insomniac reveals that focus groups believed that Overstrike's art style was for kids. This contributed to the change of direction for the game, now known as FUSE.

aceitman4219d ago

This is some good reading on insomniacs.

gaffyh4219d ago

I understand the name change, but Fuse is just as generic, if not more than Overstrike. However, I do not understand the change in art direction, because the game looks extremely generic now. The gameplay seems okay still, so I'm hoping it is still good, but I was quite sad to see plain looking characters.

Frankfurt4218d ago

"Overstrike" sounds like a silly,l over-the-top comic book. "Fuse" sounds like generic-game-X, that one you keep confusing with another random game.

wishingW3L4218d ago (Edited 4218d ago )

they changed it because they wanted the game to appeal to an older audience but I still feel that it was due to EA.

FULL QUOTE: “Maybe it was going to appeal to gamers who, we thought at the time, might be in their late teens. The industry’s changed quite a bit… We would focus test the game in front of a lot of gamers, and get their opinion. These are people that regularly play PlayStation 3 and Xbox games. We started to discover that everyone thought this was a game for their younger brother. We would hear this from 12-year-olds. So we decided that we needed to make a game that had an older appeal.”

Human Analog4218d ago

I agree. When we were first shown the game it looked like it had potential. But now it just looks like a Battlefield / C.O.D. copycat with no visual identity. What happened to Insomniac? They used to think outside the box.

-Gespenst-4218d ago

@wishingW3L

FFS that quote... enfuriating.

Clearly they focus tested the game on a bunch of fuck!ng COD playing morons. If they'd showed it to most of the people posting on here, they would have gotten a very different response. But yeah, EA are probably complicit in this.

kneon4218d ago

@wishingW3L

Well I'm in my late teens .... + 30 :)

I much preferred the original Overstrike. While I love a serious, mature shooter, every game doesn't need to be like that. We have enough already.

Overstrike felt fresh and entertaining, so far Fuse doesn't.

snipes1014218d ago

The game looks like straight up garbage compared to the unique, character-driven piece of work that it was going to be. I want nothing to do with this game.

wlchrbandit4218d ago

Yeah they've completely shot themselves in the foot with this one...

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 4218d ago
Jio4219d ago

I understand that the gaming industry is a business and listening to Focus Groups is a good way to tell if a game is going to be successful.

But the focus group was dead wrong here.

bubblebeam4218d ago

Why do developers need focus groups? Focus groups are just to test what they like most, so in other words you are only making a game that pleases the majority, sacrificing originality and innovation.

That is what game designers are for. Ken Levine has more of an idea than and focus group. They are only their to focus on how to make the most money.

How Insomniac could come to this conclusion after the success of their awesome Ratchet series is beyond me. I don't mean to sound like everyone else, but I smell an EA, I mean rat............

OC_MurphysLaw4218d ago

why do they need focus testing? I suppose they dont "need" it but focus testing is a very important tool set the industry has begun to use more and more. often as developers you are too close to the project to see where some mechanics or ideas may be flawed. Focus tests and beta tests are all tool sets to help weed those things out.
If Insomniac was going for a more serious vibe and yet everyone they showed the game to said they felt it was something for young players then clearly something is a miss on the game.

How about everyone judge the final product and not try and judge it based off of 1 early E3 trailer vs recent trailers?

Commandar_Shepard4219d ago

I guess this is what happens when companies like Insomniac leave Sony, especially for companies like EA. I just don't see Fuse doing well at all.

LOGICWINS4219d ago

Insomniac didn't "leave" Sony. Last time I checked, Fuse is also coming out for the PS3.

Commandar_Shepard4219d ago

They were never first party but they used to develop exclusively for Playstation. In developing Fuse under EA they left Sony as a publisher.

LOGICWINS4219d ago

To me, it's irrelevant whether or not they develop for Sony exclusively. Either way, I still get to enjoy their games, multiplatform or not. It's not like Insomniac used their PS3 exclusivity to squeeze the juice out of the PS3 like GG did with KZ2/KZ3.

Resistance 1 and Resistance 3(my fav FPS this gen) were brilliant, but they didn't break any technological barriers.

Carl_Shocker4219d ago

You want to know the reason LOGIC why they didn't want to be bought by Sony...because they liked the way they were free when making their games.

YET...they go to EA, a publisher who known to restrict you the most when making games for them and will end up running your studio into the ground.

Dosen't make sense...if Overstrike was made for the PS3 it would of been kept the same without changing it into a generic third person shooter and the fact it releases in the same month as God of War and Gears shows me that EA dosen't give a crap about Insomniac at all

LOGICWINS4219d ago (Edited 4219d ago )

Ummm...none of us have played the game yet. For all we know, the game would have sucked even if it retained the previous art style. I'll reserve judgement when I play the demo.

Btw, just because the art style is generic doesn't mean that the gameplay will be. *Looks at Resistance* The Internet is crazy these days. People freak out over every little thing and love to pre-judge based on short videos.

sjaakiejj4218d ago

@Carl

"YET...they go to EA, a publisher who known to restrict you the most when making games for them and will end up running your studio into the ground.

Dosen't make sense..."

Unless you introduce a new variable - What if EA does not restrict the developer? Suddenly it makes sense.

DeadlyFire4218d ago

@ Commandar_Shepard
They never left Sony as a publisher. Each game has its own contracted ties and IP ownership varies among titles, but Insomniac did state they are open to working on titles for Sony as well I believe.

As for the art direction. I understand the appeal of cartoony graphics, but its not my thing. I wouldn't judge a game entirely on the graphics. Borderlands and Crysis should be great examples of how graphics compare to each other of the old and new overstrike/fuse art direction.

I wouldn't say its 100% bad idea until I see it in motion in gameplay demos. Because the graphics look more realistic doesn't make me say well damn that is not a video game.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4218d ago
NYC_Gamer4219d ago (Edited 4219d ago )

Insomniac will flop and then come up with excuses why Fuse wasn't successful..EA is one of the worst publishers around they get in the way of studios being creative and unique.

LOGICWINS4219d ago (Edited 4219d ago )

Resistance 2 sold less than RE1 during the same time period.

Resistance 3 sold less than RE2 during the same time period...despite being a better game.

By your logic, Sony must not be very good publishers either.

srcBFMVBMTH4218d ago (Edited 4218d ago )

@LOGICWINS

1. Resistance 2 was not the game everybody thought it would be. Once it was released, pre orders were high but sales took a nose dive after word got out that it was "Not really Resistance".

2. After the confusion that Resistance 2 left, Resistance fans were very wary of Resistance 3 (which would explain why sales were weak again).

Resistance sales don't have anything to do with Sony publishing the games. More like Insomniac messing with the formula.

And what Carl_Shocker said.

"YET...they go to EA, a publisher who known to restrict you the most when making games for them and will end up running your studio into the ground."

And the fact that Fuse will release in the same month as Gears of War and God of War. Combined with no marketing at all.

It will probably fail.

LOGICWINS4218d ago

"Resistance sales don't have anything to do with Sony publishing the games. More like Insomniac messing with the formula."

Bull. Your defending a double standard.

If Insomniac flops under EA, it's EA's fault. But if Insomniac flops under Sony...it's Insomniac's fault? LOL, who the hell are u trying to convince?

srcBFMVBMTH4218d ago (Edited 4218d ago )

LOL

Fuse has ABSOLUTELY NO ADVERTISING what so ever. Not a single gamer I know even knows what the hell Fuse is. LMAO. And the fact that are having it released in the same month as God of War and Gears of War (Especially Gears of War considering it's another extremely popular third person shooter) makes it even worse. Marketing and release is up to the publisher I believe, which is in this case E freakin A! You have to be delusional if you think it won't fail sales wise.

"If Insomniac flops under EA, it's EA's fault. But if Insomniac flops under Sony...it's Insomniac's fault?"

Uhm yea, pretty much. Read the last 2 sentences of the first paragraph.

And it's a well known fact that Sony barely ever (or ever at all as a matter of fact) interferes with what their devs create. All they want is the rights to the IP's. Again, you must be delusion if you think EA doesn't interfere with their devs.

BTW, Both Resistance 2 and 3 both had pretty good/decent marketing. I saw billboards and commercials of them almost everywhere. But the final sales all came down to Insomniac messing with the formula THEMSELVES. There is no denying that.

Fuse flop quality wise? Well we've never played it.
Fuse flop sales wise? LMAO, probably.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4218d ago
Ducky4219d ago (Edited 4219d ago )

Well, they wanted to own their IP, and EA seems to be one of the few publishers that allows it.

That's why you have so many good developers that sign up with EA... but then every once in a blue moon, EA turns into a werewolf and kills off one of their studios.

I do miss the old art style though. Not really digging the new one. Reminds me too much of Syndicate.

OC_MurphysLaw4218d ago

Fair point but EA does not own Insomniac in this case so they cant kill them off. this merely is a tool for Insomniac to make agame that will be their own IP...something Sony hadnt let them do.

ziggurcat4218d ago

@ commander_shepard:

your logic is broken.

1. insomniac isn't owned by sony, so they never "left".

2. just because EA is publishing this game, it doesn't mean that insomniac won't make exclusive PS3 games anymore. epic made bulletstorm, which was published by EA, and you haven't seen them stop developing exclusively for MS, have you?

Blankman854218d ago

They want to own their own IP. They've been in the business for decades and all they have to show for it is a bunch of great games that somebody else owns rights to.
You may think of it as some sort of great betrayal but to those hard working guys at Insomniac, it's a means to finally setting a claim on something they created.
If you don't like it, take it up with SONY for not letting independent studios keep their IP's

Withdreday4218d ago

"If you don't like it, take it up with SONY for not letting independent studios keep their IP's"

That's just silly. Do you know why Sony lost the Crash Bandicoot series? Or why Mass Effect came to PS3? It's because neither owned the IP.

Letting devs own their ip sounds all well and good, but if it turns into a big hit, it'll leave, go muliplat, and make your console look silly in the process.

And if you see how quickly devs jump ship, you'll know why console makers so protective about their IPs.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4218d ago
majiebeast4219d ago (Edited 4219d ago )

Focus groups... What was it full of cod addicts and bro gamers? How can anyone like the generic style of fuse over overstrike. Insomniac must be so happy making facebook games and listening to ea focus groups.

Commandar_Shepard4219d ago

Actually it was full of 12 year olds and EA employees. I wish I was kidding.

Rachel_Alucard4218d ago

incoming generic ADD wubstep shooter #432

MySwordIsHeavenly4219d ago

Are these the same focus groups who refuse to play Borderlands because of the art style?

Show all comments (58)
90°

10 Weirdest Video Games of All Time

Plenty of unforgettable games have completely messed up their players throughout the years, all the way back from the PS1 days to the dark recesses of the modern internet.

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JonTheGod22h ago

Why are the Katamari games not on the list??

130°

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thorstein1d 18h ago

It was worrisome to begin with.

It's a niche genre with only a handful of hits that can stand the test of time.

Cacabunga21h ago

I like the sound of that!! I will for sure never support these gaas games.
Sony must be shocked at gamer's reaction, making them cancel a few of these and hopefully go back to the good heavy hitters they had us used to..
now bring on that PSPro reveal and show us some SP 1st party awesomeness.

CrimsonWing691d 18h ago

What’s to be unsure of!? Look at the ratio of success to failure!

DarXyde1d 1h ago

It's pretty ridiculous.

Imagine having a breadth of data at your disposal to see the statistically low success rate of these games, only to be laser focused on the exceptional case studies.

shinoff21831d 16h ago

Yes. Stop all the live service bs.

jznrpg1d 16h ago

Only a few will catch on. You need a perfect storm to be successful in GaaS and a bit of luck on top of that. But a potential cash cow will keep them trying and some will go out of business because of it.

MIDGETonSTILTS171d 16h ago

Helldivers 2 manages just fine…

Keep production costs low… don’t just make custscenes until the mechanics and enemies are perfected first.

Make so much content that you can drip extra content for years, and the game already feels complete without them.

Most importantly: make weapons, enemies, levels, and mechanics that will stand the test of 1000 hours. This might require more devs embracing procedurally generated leveled, which I think separates Helldivers 2 from Destiny’s repetitiveness.

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60°

The Battle Pass Is The Worst Thing To Happen To Modern Gaming

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got_dam1d 20h ago

Battle passes AND meta gaming both.

DivineHand1251d 18h ago (Edited 1d 18h ago )

I like the way Helldivers 2 does battle passes. It allows you to make purchases on each level of the battle pass and gives you the option of choosing which item to unlock first. The more purchases you make using medals the further you progress. There is no timer and you can earn medals towards purchasing stuff via personal orders and Major orders.

I haven't played much live service games that have battle passes but I remember some games that have battle passes where you progress through it linearly using an exp system. What makes it really bad is that the battle pass will have like 50 or more levels with the cooler stuff being closer to the end. They also have an in-game shop that sells exp boosters so you can reach the end of the pass before it refreshes. Everyone ilse will have to grind their way through.

lucian2291d 17h ago

battle pass in fortnite is perfect; buy one and it buys the rest for every other season as it gives you more money than the first cost. so 8.50 and season ends with you getting 13.00, it pays for the next and you have some pocket change to save up for cash shop. All of which is optional