Reboots and the End of Creator Credibility: Or the Adult Do-Over
In honour of this month’s poll (see the right side-bar and cast your vote!), I thought I’d take up the issue of reboots for this Funday Friday article. After all, I’m sure many of you are familiar with my on-going cold war with Konami over their recent reboot of a classic series (*cough*Castlevania*cough*). So of all the Game-Flush Staff, I have some of the strongest feelings about this new phenomenon. However, my opinion on this trend extends far beyond the bitterness over the death of the original cannon for the series that turned me into a gamer.
First, for all of you scratching your head and wondering what I’m referring to by ‘reboot,’ you should get your head examined. I think you have head cancer. Second, the term reboot refers to the blatant disregard, nay, the complete disposal of all events, characters and the like of a given series, in favour of starting from scratch. In layman’s terms, everything is struck from the record books as though it never happened. Or, for you comic fans, everything of the past decade or more in a series was suddenly revealed to take place in an alternate universe.
This is not to be confused with a re-release or even a remake, which stays true to the original. No, a reboot is a complete restart. It’s like hitting the reset button, only for the whole world to see.
This new fashion has invaded the two primary forms of entertainment of this day and age: video games and movies. Comic book-based movies are over-doing this, much to their detriment, and the video game industry has followed suit. Castlevania was rebooted with Lords of Shadow. Crystal Dynamics is working hard on their re-imagining of Tomb Raider. And there are rumours circulating that Capcom ditched their perfect set-up for a Chris Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy team-up Resident Evil in favour of, yes, a series reboot.
Doesn’t this make you want to buy the new Mortal Kombat?
In some cases it doesn’t turn out bad. Truthfully a more realistic Lara Croft makes her less sexist and, in an odd way, more sexually appealing. Though I never played the other games in the series, Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia (2008) was an enjoyable experience. Other reboots seem like desperate attempts by companies to be remembered, like the upcoming Mortal Kombat game. While still other reboots are just plain awful; the first two games in the Xenosaga series come to mind. It wasn’t until Episode III that it even remotely matched up to the complexity and greatness that was Xenogears. In most cases, however, publishers are ditching some great and well-loved games of the past, just to say, like a child in the schoolyard, ‘Wait! That didn’t count. Do-over.’ Do-over?!
It’s not that some publishers and gamers want something new out of the same old thing. It’s not that some titles are in need of a serious face-lift. It’s not even that these publishers restart something that isn’t working. There’s no shame in shelving a project that isn’t quite what it should be or because you need to take a step back for a moment before making it better. But once it’s out there and published? You’ve committed to it and at that point it becomes an issue of confidence and credibility. Confidence, you say. How so, Ninja? Well, as always, my simple-minded friends (not, of course, including our hardcore followers), I will have to spell it out.
Consider this. What if J. K. Rowling had just stopped somewhere around book five in the Harry Potter series (there were seven for you non-Potter-lovers) and said, ‘You know, I don’t really like how this is going. I’m going to start all over again from book one?’ I mean, really, what if she had just cried ‘do-over?’ You think she’d still be credible as an author? You think anyone would feel she had any confidence in her work, good or bad?
Forget J. K. Rowling. Take me, J. M. DeSantis. I’m fairly unknown in most circles. Let’s say my first novel came out and it sold even decently, but showed promise. What’s more, this book was the first in an on-going series. Then the second novel comes out and, good or bad, I turn around and say, ‘It’s okay, but I’m going to start the series over.’ My bet is no one buys the third/first book and the first two immediately go out of print.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – a mix of both great and disappointing as far as reboots go.
And that’s all these reboots really are. Childhood playground do-overs disguised as real attempts at giving something old a fresh new look. So, let’s call them as they are: do-overs.
Given, some of them may be good, or even better than the originals. In some cases we may even wish a reboot would happen (such as for Star Wars: Episodes 1 – 3). But what does it say about these creators that they can’t stick to their original ideas and have the confidence to just say, ‘Yeah, we had some bad games and some good, but going forward, it’s going to be great.’
Hell, if necessary, why not just end the series and begin a new one? And if it is similar, who cares? No one can accuse you of plagiarism if you’re ripping off yourself. Seriously, Capcom, Midway, Ubisoft…Konami…if you don’t have the confidence in the series’ you created, how am I to have confidence in you as a publisher? How can I take you seriously? And why should I bother giving you any more of my time and money, if you’re just going to turn around and say it didn’t count? Do-over!
No related posts.
Loading ...