Biggest Game that Didn’t Leave an Impact aka The "Avatar's" of Videogames?

It's funny to think that as bad of a reputation as it has now, Final Fantasy XIII was well-received (82/83 on Metacritic at launch) and hotly anticipated. Likewise, Resident Evil 5 (83/84) was well-reviewed and sold well, but it's not remembered fondly.

For a game that sold 25 million copies, Kinect Sports sure didn't leave much of a mark. In fact, the Kinect in general seems to have been fairly comprehensively swept into the dustbin of history without a second thought.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

For a game that sold 25 million copies, Kinect Sports sure didn't leave much of a mark. In fact, the Kinect in general seems to have been fairly comprehensively swept into the dustbin of history without a second thought.

My brain wrote everything that wasn't "Xbox On/Off, Take a Screenshot, or Go To (app)" off as far as the Kinect is concerned, apart from Fantasia, which our family really enjoyed. We stick to dance games on the Wii in the bigger room with more space.

Demyx wrote:

http://www.metacritic.com/browse/gam...

It's weird to see so many 90+ reviews for the Tony Hawk series. I don't remember it being so critically acclaimed. Obviously a string of terrible games caused the reputation of that series to be tossed into the dustbin.

Tony Hawk 1, 2, and 3 were YUGE we played those to no end, 4 was more of the same and it strung the formula along too far. People got bored. Then they spilled Jackass in Tony Hawk and everything got stupid, disclaimer, I still played it.

I own GTA IV and the two expansions. I think the shrink wrap is still intact. I've saw GTA V for £24 a few times and walked on by. The praise they receive turns my head, but seeing them in motion makes my shoulders shrug uncontrollably. They seem to impress in a technical sense when they arrive and get a free pass for average writing, stale open world activities, and loose gunplay during the mindless violence that fuels their very existence, because it's a technical marvel, and Rockstar.

I enjoyed GTA III and Vice City. San Andreas less so. After this the novelty wore off as the industry standard caught up, and with better substance around that framework.

Few mention GTA outside of the launch window. It is everywhere for months and then it's forgotten. Red Dead Redemption is talked of for its characters, its story, its world, and its gameplay, even its horses. I see Bully get more tangible praise years thereafter. Not a whole lot, but more than the tumbleweed that is GTA retrospectively.

I assume if I went looking - Google - I could find I am somewhat mistaken. If we go looking we'll find much about most things, though. Those that really leave an impression need no search party.

Damn it. I'm not sure where I was headed with this. GTA just sprang back to mind when I saw it mentioned. I kind of almost want to fire up GTA IV now to see how it is 9 years on.

Also, the impact they make within their launch year may not be lasting, but it is sizable, so there is that.

I don't agree with that GTA V launch window stuff. It's still heavily played to this day.

This is just the PC version on steam.

http://steamcharts.com/app/271590

JeremyK wrote:

I don't agree with that GTA V launch window stuff. It's still heavily played to this day.

This is just the PC version on steam.

http://steamcharts.com/app/271590

Especially with the multiplayer/RP Server thingie happening recently. It's taken off again since then.

Errr...GTA V hasn't dropped out of the monthly NPD Top 10 in over 3 years (EDIT: That's a North American metric, btw.)

It's also the best selling game (in U.S.) since they started tracking in 1995.

For me it is the Roller Coaster Tycoon series of games. They were a huge hit (or everyone I knew at the time were playing them) - and designing theme parks is plain awesome regardless. Then they just stopped for I about a decade before Planet Coaster and the other two just came out last year.

The new Tomb Raider games? Fallout 4?

I haven't played any of them yet so hooray ignorance!

I suppose I should make a distinction between GTA Online and the actual campaign/story mode. Everyone knows about the online. I know people who played it. One completed the campaign. Most lost interest outside of the freedom to screw around in the world until GTA Online was open for business. The rest didn't care about the game at all until the buzz about the online mode had them purchase and jump in, until the novelty wore off.

Ask many (I was going to say anyone but realistically I could be the exception in my circle) on the lasting impression of GTA IV or GTA V and it's the initial oomph when they first landed. Or it's the random, crazy, good time, anything can happen, online found in V. Some mention rubbish shooting mechanics. Some the first person implementation being impressive? I guess if you've never played a first person game before. Spikeout, could talk on the characters and the story. I don't know anyone else who could.

The cynical side of me thinks minus the online, and minus boinking prostitutes, and minus stealing cars, and minus being able to go on murder sprees, there would be a huge drop off. That's the lasting impression it has. A degenerate inspired sandbox. Not much else in terms of character's like a Commander Shepherd, or a Geralt, or a Lara Croft, or an Aloy. I've never heard anything about the story other than tidbits. Maybe it introduced the multiple protagonist mechanic?

It's been a long time since I looked for a stream, or a let's play, or captured footage of GTA V. I only ever found online anarchy or mod inspired goofing around, even closer to its hype pinnacle.

It's a sales monster and is still in rotation today for its online, so it was always a stretch to question any aspect of this one. From the original post it fits as a game that rarely comes up in gaming circles, not unless we're talking sales, or online player base, or launch window impressions. Where is its - not online mode - lasting appeal? Deus Ex is still talked about today. Thief is still talked about today. Mass Effect 2. Metal Gear Solid. Chrono Trigger. Modern Warfare. Red Dead Reception. For the amount of folks who have, or had, a copy of GTA IV or V they never get mentioned. They're forgotten.

detroit20 wrote:

But isn't your Mafia 4 just Grand Theft Auto: Vice City?

Mafia games aren't GTA games. Mafia 2 really suffered unfairly from the comparisons, and people who expected it to be "GTA with fedoras."

The focus in the Mafia series is much more on a cinematic, linear story experience rather than open world f*cking around.

I'd put Elder Scroll Oblivion in this category. Huge game, well reviewed. But so forgettable, especially sandwiched between Morrowind and Skyrim.

Flintheart Glomgold wrote:

For me it is the Roller Coaster Tycoon series of games. They were a huge hit (or everyone I knew at the time were playing them) - and designing theme parks is plain awesome regardless. Then they just stopped for I about a decade before Planet Coaster and the other two just came out last year.

Those things left a huge mark behind in gamers' collective memories. I think part of the reason it took so long before coaster games were seriously revisited is because the first two were just so, so good. Few teams looked at that space and thought they could do it better. The publisher tried to take the series into 3D with a new studio, with somewhat mixed success, but none of the 3D versions ever captured lightning in a bottle the way the first two did.

And, of course, Tycoon games in general were everywhere for a number of years. They just weren't Rollercoaster Tycoon. That may be another reason the name has dropped out of use.... the market was hypersaturated, and it burned the idea up.

Malor wrote:
Flintheart Glomgold wrote:

For me it is the Roller Coaster Tycoon series of games. They were a huge hit (or everyone I knew at the time were playing them) - and designing theme parks is plain awesome regardless. Then they just stopped for I about a decade before Planet Coaster and the other two just came out last year.

And, of course, Tycoon games in general were everywhere for a number of years. They just weren't Rollercoaster Tycoon. That may be another reason the name has dropped out of use.... the market was hypersaturated, and it burned the idea up.

Yes, I think Tycoon games suffered from the fact that so many of them were cheap shovelware and it was difficult for the average consumer to tell bad from good.

It seems like Tycoon style games are slowly coming back though, so that's good news.

Super Mario Sunshine comes to mind. A great game, that was another twist on the Mario formula, but I don't really hear anyone talking about it that much in comparison to the other main series Mario games.

I'm not sure it's fair to say that GTAs IV and V are forgotten. But - as iterations of a well-developed formula - I wouldn't expect them to be at the forefront of gamers' minds or influential in the industry.

However, I have a sneaking suspicion that we'll see elements of IV and V in Red Dead Redemption 2. Perhaps having multiple protagonists, which was the biggest innovation in V from my point of view. I don't think it was hugely sophisticated, but it had a lot of potential in terms of story-telling.

gewy wrote:

I'd put Elder Scroll Oblivion in this category. Huge game, well reviewed. But so forgettable, especially sandwiched between Morrowind and Skyrim.

I'm not sure I'd say that. Oblivion obviously had a huge influence on Skyrim, if nothing else. It's a bit like saying Two Towers is forgotten in comparison to Fellowship or Return.

Clusks wrote:

Super Mario Sunshine comes to mind. A great game, that was another twist on the Mario formula, but I don't really hear anyone talking about it that much in comparison to the other main series Mario games.

Hmm... I think it comes up whenever we get one of it's successors. It's just that we haven't had any of its successors for seven years.

Mario 64 -> Sunshine -> Galaxy -> Galaxy 2 -> Odyssey.

jrralls wrote:
gewy wrote:

I'd put Elder Scroll Oblivion in this category. Huge game, well reviewed. But so forgettable, especially sandwiched between Morrowind and Skyrim.

I'm not sure I'd say that. Oblivion obviously had a huge influence on Skyrim, if nothing else. It's a bit like saying Two Towers is forgotten in comparison to Fellowship or Return.

Agreed. And I do occasionally see Oblivion getting name-checked in articles in Edge and GamesTM.

jrralls wrote:
gewy wrote:

I'd put Elder Scroll Oblivion in this category. Huge game, well reviewed. But so forgettable, especially sandwiched between Morrowind and Skyrim.

I'm not sure I'd say that. Oblivion obviously had a huge influence on Skyrim, if nothing else. It's a bit like saying Two Towers is forgotten in comparison to Fellowship or Return.

So this game always brings to mind a story of an old friend of mine. He was the drummer in our band. His sister and him both loved Morrowind and when Oblivion came out they picked up a new PC. Neither of them were tech people at all so he was showing me how great the game looked and I thought it looked terrible. I had him pause the game and move the video settings from low to high. He went back to the game and was astounded! They had no idea you could improve the visuals from the standard low setting. They both looked at me and said "You mean it can look better?!"

I have never played any of them but that alone was my greatest achievement in game. I put on sunglasses, blasted some Who, and walked off into the sunset.

I’m wondering if Spider-Man will be one? It’s fun, it feels like everyone is playing it and loving it, but it doesn’t really do anything new. I could see it going down the memory hole.

jrralls wrote:

I’m wondering if Spider-Man will be one? It’s fun, it feels like everyone is playing it and loving it, but it doesn’t really do anything new. I could see it going down the memory hole.

I disagree. I think Spider-man will have a huge impact. Its sales will demonstrate that there is a market for licensed superhero games.... (in a way that Batman: Arkham Asylum strangely didn't).

Spider-man is absolutely guaranteed a sequel. And I would expect that Marvel is already fielding enquiries about its other IPs. I think we're likely to see a Marvel Gaming Universe emerging in the next few years.

However, I do agree that it doesn't do anything that we haven't seen before... aside from the traversal system, which is unique to web-slinger, of course.

If Batman Arkham didn’t result in more high end licensed Superhero games, why wiil Spider-Man?

I’d vote for the Shadow of Mordor games. Reviewed well, sold like crazy but I’d say already completely forgotten and will have been viewed by history as a failed franchise known only for causing outrage due to loot boxes.

I've seen some stuff about Assassin's Creed Odyssey saying the nemesis system from the Mordor games had made its way into the game. I suspect Mordor will be one of those quietly influential games, rather than the kind of thing where the entire structure makes its way into a bunch of other games.

Docjoe wrote:

I’d vote for the Shadow of Mordor games. Reviewed well, sold like crazy but I’d say already completely forgotten and will have been viewed by history as a failed franchise known only for causing outrage due to loot boxes.

Which is so odd for me, because the biggest draw for them, the nemesis system, seems to be fairly easy to copy. Spiderman is a great game, but I think it would been even better if it would’ve had a nemesis system, where you didn’t know who was going to be the big bad.

I thought of Shadow of Mordor when I saw the thread title too.

jrralls wrote:

If Batman Arkham didn’t result in more high end licensed Superhero games, why wiil Spider-Man?

Because Batman sucks and doesn’t grab the zeitgeist like Spider-Man does (they’ve made how many movies!?). Batman isn’t a relatable superhero (looking at you Superman). He’s an angry guy in a suit. It’s not escape fantasy the same way the Marvel catologue offers.

Insomniac got the chance to pick whatever Marvel character they wanted, that means Disney wants more. After their debacle with Star Wars Battlefront I can see them handing the keys to the city to Insomniac. My only hope is they’ll also let them tell new stories with the characters.

Someone needs to iterate on the nemesis system. It’s too restrictive in its current form. Red Dead 2 would have been THE PERFECT scenario. Randomly generate cowboy bandits riding you down would be amazing.

It's a series and not a game, but Rock Band. There was a moment about ten years ago (around the same time as Avatar, weird) when everybody was playing it and talking about it. If there was a party, the activity was organized around Rock Band. The bar down the street held weekly Rock Band nights. I bought Rock Band 2 on release day and paid to import the songs from the first one, and my roommates were thrilled to see it.

I'm not even sure why the spell ended. I looked at Wikipedia just now and RB3 was critically well received but sold poorly, at least in comparison to its mega-hit predecessors. (I was much too preoccupied in late 2010 to think about it.) Maybe RB2 was just perfect and couldn't be improved upon without ever more expensive accessories. But then we all stopped playing RB2.