To Hell with Reboots

Franchises in need of a reboot should be left to die instead, opening up the market for the next generation of fresh IPs.

[wishingW3L]

you just don't reboot games that are still doing well. Why no one gives a crap about the Tomb Raider reboot? Because the franchise was already dead but DMC wasn't.

[Murad]

I think if DMC 2 was the last title to come out, and neither 3 or 4 did, then I would have loved to see a reboot. DMC 2 was a fail in every way, no characterization, bad scrip writing, shoddy and far too easy gameplay and so much more.

[Kratoscar2008]

NO im still waiting for the reboot of FF.

[Godmars290]

That's the thing: every FF under the Squaresoft name *WAS* a reboot. FF1 through 4 were literally the exact same story only with more detail. This is something that somehow was forgotten after the merger.

[Kratoscar2008]

Since now the XIII series has become FF, then its time for a reboot to the series so this article is poison :)

Squaresoft died after the merger.

[mandf]

You are wrong on FF 1-4. The story in the first one is about time travel of a 2000 year loop for someone that wants to be immortal. The second is about an imperial force trying to kill the kingdom. I'm just starting the third tonight and forgot the story and haven't played it in a long time but the stories don't coincide with each other. I'm doing a marathon for the next 2 months playing all the FF games. I usually agree with you, but not this time.

[Godmars290]

Ff1 through 4 boiled down to: four heroes charge/find crystals and save the world. In FF1 they were nameless, but FF4 you had a large cast of characters revolving in and out of the four party slot in an intricate story, but it was still heroes, crystals and saving the world.

[mandf]

That' the same gameplay not the same story.

[N4GDgAPc]

well back in the nintendo days there wasn't much u could do to change the game.

[Megaton]

Gonna end up like Hollywood. Zero imagination, only reboots and ideas stolen from foreign films and anime.

[TheGamingArt]

Seriously....... this referencing DMC. It needed the reboot >.< (this isn't like Spiderman!)

[rocky047586]

Of course it needed the reboot. But people aren't going to see it that way. They want the exact same shit from the PS2 era and nothing different at all. I can legit see why they would complain about it not being like the last ones, how it's a bit slower, a bit more easier to pull off combos, I get all of that. But those things don't make a BAD game though, it makes a more accessible game. 30FPS isn't that bad at all anyway, it's a bit slower and you can tell, but it can still get quite frantic on the screen from the 13 levels I've done so far. It's a really good game and it's a shame that people won't try it out because they are so dead set in their ways of wanting things to remain the exact same.

[Godmars290]

DMC4 needed better coding. Better understanding of either the PS3 or 360 and both since it was offered on both platforms. Six years after the fact, with DmC no less, there are still instances of one version getting the short end of the programming/performance stick but accepts that the issue has been around from the beginning.

[DangerousDAN]

That's the problem. People don't see that this new DmC is not here to replace the old ones. It's here to provide another take on the franchise; creating a new, alternate universe (much like it's done in comic books) for people that maybe found the others unappealing for whatever reason. For me -- though I still played them all because gameplay was awesome -- it was the abundance of anime clichés, so I'm finding this DmC easier to connect with (it feels fresh to me) and I'm sure there are others that feel the same way and are glad DMC won't be just another typical Capcom franchise where they make 7 or 8 instalments of it with stories that seem to go nowhere (RE series).
With that said, I believe sequels are the problem, not reboots. Newer generations, or people that missed the first entries, aren't likely to get into a franchise on its 5th or 6th instalment, especially if it's story-driven. A reboot is better at introducing a player to a franchise he/she probably missed out on the first time around.

[N4GDgAPc]

I really don't think DmC needed a reboot ether but I think Capcom just got scared. DmC4 (even when its ported on PS3 and 360) did almost half of the sales what DmC3 did. From that they probly thought they needed a reboot. At the same time when DmC4 came out PS3 and 360 both were in the beginning stage of there generation which DmC3 came out at the end of ps2 stage were there was a lot more people owned it compared to ps3 and 360.

[FunAndGun]

Sorry, but a more accessible game almost always equals a downgrade for a core gamer.

[Pozzle]

Tbh, I don't think Devil May Cry NEEDED a reboot. Sure, DMC4 was absolutely ridiculous, especially when it came to the backtracking, repeated boss battles and the incoherent plot. But I don't think the game was so un-salvageable that there was no way Capcom could have continued the series without rebooting it completely.

IMO the main thing the original series needed is for Capcom to take it more seriously. They set up a great world, fun characters and a potentially deeper plotline (particularly with the Vergil/Dante rivalry and the Sparta backstory)...but then they did nothing with it. There is so much more that could have been explored, if only Capcom gave it the chance. Instead they went with DMC4 and the Nero nonsense.

[pr0t0typeknuckles]

out of all of the videogames rebooted ive only truly liked 2 of them and they are prince of persia 2008 and splatterhous, besides those 2, the gaming industry really needs to stop rebooting everything and just let great franchises end on a high note and make a new ip instead of using an established name to sell, i fully agree with this article to hell with reboot is right on the mark.

[Tetsujin]

These days a reboot is only going to kill a franchise and/or anger either older fans or newer players with fabricated situations. If this was back in the 90's I'd kill for some reboots using talent back then; now? Make new games and leave the oldies in memory lane.

[DragonKnight]

Reboots are only necessary when you run out of ideas, and in the gaming industry it's only possible to run out of ideas if you're arrogant. Ideas come in the form of fan feedback all the time, most developers choose not to use that area of market research though.

Mortal Kombat was a game that needed a reboot. The story, characters, and gameplay were all getting worse and worse. Netherealm Studios did an excellent job bringing the game back to its roots and listening to what fans missed the most and the result was probably the best Mortal Kombat game ever made.

The problem though is that devs/pubs like Capcom can't conceive of a time when their vision is wrong, so they don't acknowledge their fault in DMC4. Franchises like Devil May Cry had a lot of story left to tell so no reboot was necessary. At least, not in the sense of what DmC offered. Another problem is this industry wide cancer known as "accessibility." When you take a reboot that isn't necessary, and add accessibility, what do you get?

And to those who say that DmC wasn't made to replace the older series, don't be naive. If DmC does well, there will be no DMC5 because it will alienate the new fans if it's in the older Devil May Cry style (and Capcom won't risk the casual bucks) and if it's in the new "accessible" DmC style it will alienate the older fans who were expecting a return to form.

No, Devil May Cry as it was known prior to DmC is dead. If DmC fails financially, then the entire franchise is going to be put on the back burner as Capcom will blame lack of interest instead of themselves.

It's the same with any reboot. Reboots are an excuse to kill a franchise by saying "well, we tried and people just don't like this idea anymore."

[Stoppokingme]

Of course reboots are getting more popular; it's a way to maximize profits with minimum effort.

[Kurt Russell]

I disagree... reboot Road Rash and Primal Rage!