Star Trek is to Star Trek Enterprise...

from Sins Forums

... as the Command & Conquer franchise under WestWood is to the Command & Conquer franchise under EA. I see a trend in how franchises are treated once it passes into new hands. I don't know why there is a, at least subjective, difference, however it seems that often when the passing of hands occurs that the successor does a lousy job at making anything new. Often the original of a series was awesome due to its originality, and in some cases- like Star Trek: The Next Generation - some successor series can even be better than the original, but many successors tend to just take elements from the original and combine them in unimaginative and sometimes stupid ways (like Star Trek Enterprise, Alien 4, AVP, Star Wars Episodes I, II, & III, etc.)  

27,985 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

cnc 3 was good, cnc 4 not

 its a forgone conclusion that when a franchise changes ownership, it won't be as "original" as it was when first created

personally i've seen people complain more about how the new proprietor's product deviates too much from the original

and the star wars prequels were made by the same entity as the first three...

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Depends who takes over the franchise.

If it's EA, anything could happen. CnC 3 was, as stated above, a good game. CnC 4 was a game that I heard wasn't originally supposed to be a CnC game, which was then given the label and "suitable" plot to make it a CnC game. Regardless, CnC 4 was clearly a misguided attempt to make some quick cash from an old series, while CnC 3 seemed to have actually been aimed at past fans of the game, rather than introducing a brand new game mechanic which replaced the one that the CnC games were famous for.

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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

As far as I'm concerned, the last C&C game was Red Alert 2.  After that, they completely lost the spirit of the franchise and became an utterly generic RTS that wouldn't even merit a blip on the radar if they didn't have brand recognition.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

When an original work passes hands to a new entity, it goes from the soul of it's creator to a bean counter.  The people running Paramount aren't the Killer B's, they're accountants, MBA's with no clue how to create artistic works themselves.  They went to college.

 

A guy like Roddenberry has clout, lots of it.  He's created something that makes the accountants a shitload of money.  When he says "we should blow more money on this and less on that" the accountants will often shut the fuck up and let it pass.  When B&B make that sort of statement, the accountants go nuts.  You want to do what?  Marketing says you're insane!  This chick wont draw guys like flies looking like a robot, she needs to be hotter to be worth this kind of investment!  Hence 7 of 9 in a catsuit.  /wrists...

 

Most artists are morons, give them a free hand and they do all kinds of stupid shit in pursuit of their perfect vision.  Unfortunately, most bean counters are morons too, give them a free hand and they do all kinds of stupid shit in pursuit of the perfect product.  They work best when competing against each other.

 

The recent works of George Fucking Lucas would be the other end of the spectrum, an artist with no bean counters telling him no...

 

and the star wars prequels were made by the same entity as the first three...

 

Screw the prequels, just the batshit insane edits to the originals for his remastering jobs are enough to give the guy the chair. :)

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

Darwin, I agree that the last C&C game was early but i would argue that it was tib sun instead. In RA2 even though there where unique missions they mostly, after having completed the first objective, turned into destroy all the enemy forces.

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

First off, TNG is way overated...Will Wheaton flying the ship? A therapist on the bridge?

Only Patrick Stewart and him alone, saved that show from start.

Enterprise is actually alot better than it's given. Like most good music.

The only thing I would have changed is the t/a, to appease the network execs more than anyone else.

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Darvin3, reply 3
As far as I'm concerned, the last C&C game was Red Alert 2.  After that, they completely lost the spirit of the franchise and became an utterly generic RTS that wouldn't even merit a blip on the radar if they didn't have brand recognition.

I rather disagree; based on the demos of RA3 and CnC3, they seem like solid games that, in the case of CnC3, continue the story of the Tiberium Wars.

As "Command&Conquer" titles, I'll admit that I've not really got a clue. But I think that CnC3 would merit recognition mostly for its campaign, while RA3 would get some (probably minor) recognition for its multimode units.