If you could take over a game company...

[Kyanbu The Legend]

What changes would you make? What would you do to improve tho company? How would you handle sales and product quality? How would you treat your employees? And which company would you choose?


This applies to all gaming companies including Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

I seriously didn't know rather or not to put this in gaming. If this is the wrong place for this thread then I deeply apologize for it.


Anyway for me.

If I could take control of a gaming company I would choose SEGA Entertainment. I would adjust product due dates to assure product quality for our games. I would hire more skilled youths and a better marketing team. I focus on getting a new console out (since it's what the 90s JP branch owner wanted before he died). Focusing on gaming and homebrew. And I'd work hard on repairing our image and getting things back into shape. We won't compete with the big 3. But we'll do what we could to build our selves back up to spec.

I'd direct our game design teams towards working on sticking to what we know will work (Sonic sticking to 2.5D ect). As well as release more core games for core gamers complete with decent online (we'll work on improve it as the company's financial status improves). (though I'd still keep releasing shovel ware for casual gamers). And I'd make sure that what happened to the Dreamcast never happens again.

[bluestarultor]

Hmmm...

SEGA sounds like a good one. Their systems were always super-advanced, but they just didn't get games out for them fast enough. Fix that, and the Big Three would become the Big Four.



Or EA. It's not that they make bad games, but they have a bad reputation for buying up talent only to dissolve the studio. That needs to reverse. If they buy a studio, they need to stick with it and keep it open. Sure, that means they don't get to scoop up as much talent, and it might increase competition as smaller studios grow, but reliability is a factor, here. There's a benefit to the public image, namely in the line of perceived job security both for prospective employees and the public at large.

[Kim]

I'd take over Squeenix and fire Nomura.

[Regulus Tera]

I'd take over Nintendo. Then I would give sweet amounts of money to Treasure and make them make a new StarFox. Also, as new head of Nintendo, I'd hire Matsuno and buy him a harem of beauties so he can come back as the king he always deserved to be. I'd also buy the Tactics Ogre and Ogre Battle sagas from Squeenix and hand them to him. Oh, and Ivalice.

Also NonCon had it right. Except replace Nomura in his post with Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama.

[Solid Snake]

I'd take over Atlus and dedicate all our company's resources to making Persona 5 into the single greatest game ever concocted by mankind.

Also I'd churn out excessive amounts of Persona 4 merchandise. And I'd get to write hysterical press releases.

[Regulus Tera]

Oh, also, if I got to be head of Konami: lay Kojima off.

Sure, with a nice jubilation bonus. But still, don't let him near a game unless it's called Zone of the Enders 3.

[akaSM]

I'd take Nintendo, but just to make some changes like:


Hey, this DS thing actually has a GBA inside, but the link cable doesn't seem to fit anywhere, let's take it out
Couldn't they have put a link cable shaped port that could be used for both charging and link play? (DS to GBA or GCN)


I know the Wii has 2 usb ports but, let's make SD cards the only other way to save stuff in it other than the 512MB of internal memory
What about using the USB ports for extra storage? Maybe just with a USB flash drive, or a USB hard drive


The Wii can play music in the photo channel!...but only in it
This was plain stupid, we need a music channel


The Wii has a DVD drive!...only for games
The DVD drive can easily play DVDs (trhough the use of homebrew), so it's not impossible to do it.


Let's put a (crappy) speaker in the Wiimote
A microphone would've been a better idea, the speaker is so crappy that I prefer to have it off


New Super Mario Bros. Wii is great, and they'll love to use the Wiimote's motion sensor to do stuff, too bad they won't be able to use other controller options (GCN controller, classic controller)
Spin jump? "A" button, they've done it before
Controller waggle? (like where you're in a bubble) button mashing
Lifting stuff with controller shaking? Why did they even add this one?
Stuff where you have to tilt the controller? this was wasn't that obvious but the GCN and classic controller have analog shoulder buttons it shouldn't have been impossible to figure this one


Those are the things I thought of right now, but I bet there are a ton more

[BitVyper]

I'll take over EA, continue business as usual, retire after a year with a massive bonus, and spend the rest of my days swimming in a pool of money.

Alternatively, I take over Square, do whatever it takes to get the original Xenogears team together, and make them actually finish it properly this time.

[Regulus Tera]

Alternatively, I take over Square, do whatever it takes to get the original Xenogears team together, and make them actually finish it properly this time.

You would also have to take over Bandai Namco for that.

[BitVyper]

You would also have to take over Bandai Namco for that.

do whatever it takes

I am aware that this might be necessary, although I'm pretty sure taking a few families hostage will work just as well.

[Krylo]

Take over EA, buy Bandai/Namco and Square Enix, and then do what Bit said.

Also buy everyone else and fix all gaming forever.

[BitVyper]

And then take over the world by threatening to let Rob Liefeld reimagine Chrono Trigger.

[Krylo]

If we let Rob Liefeld reimagine Chrono Trigger but completely removed Cross from the continuity... would it be worth it?

[bluestarultor]

If we let Rob Liefeld reimagine Chrono Trigger but completely removed Cross from the continuity... would it be worth it?

No, because Cross was a seed of potential. What we need is to retcon the links from Trigger to Cross made in the DSmake and actually go back and fix Cross up a bit, flesh out the story, fix a few glaring errors, and clean things up so that the cast of Trigger wasn't all nonsensically killed off-screen for no good reason.

I mean, they can still all be killed, but it really should MEAN something. Make Guile Magus as intended and have him comment on things from that perspective, and give the former cast the heroic deaths they deserve, if they end up dying at all (like, the only requirements are actually Lucca and Robo for the sake of Cross' actual plot, and you could easily make it forgivable by treating it with due reverence).

Or, better yet, make that the point of Chrono Break. Cross showed that the past can easily be changed. Have the protagonists of Break go back in time and fix the problems in Cross. I think that Serge getting the power to go do that would actually be pretty cool, and then you could have the old guard return, as well. Just pick out the best few characters from Cross to take with you to combine with the cast of Trigger and off you go.

[mauve]

I'd take over Valve.

Don't get me wrong: I'd pretty much let them do their own thing, since they seem to know what they're doing when it comes to making awesome games. No, my main goal as head of Valve would be to find whoever was in charge of making the next Half Life installment and hit them with a crowbar until they agree to drop whatever it is they're doing now and start making Episode 3. I grow weary of waiting!

[Borealis]

Square Enix.
I would actually listen to the fans of the series. That seems to be the biggest problem for Square Enix now-a-days. All they care about it making monies, and while that's understandable as SE is a buisness just like any other, it's cruel. There are so many loved series that the company has made that have just been abandoned, and that needs to change.

Failing that, Capcom. 'Cause I want my Ace Attorney.

[Kroze Gamegod]

I'd take over Atlus and dedicate all our company's resources to making Persona 5 into the single greatest game ever concocted by mankind.

Also I'd churn out excessive amounts of Persona 4 merchandise. And I'd get to write hysterical press releases.

I don't see how this is any different from what they are already doing...
Well besides having you taking all the credit for it all that is.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

I'd take over Nintendo and fire everyone.

OR, if I decided to not be a jerk, I'd take over EA, see which of the hundred million game licenses they have hidden away in some store cupboard somewhere, abandon half the crap they currently make and start making decent games again, namely SSX and the Strike series for a start.

Then I would remove DRM from existence.

Then I would undoubtedly discover that EA held the licenses to both Populous and Dungeon Keeper, so I'd rally together the original teams, firing my own employees in the process and bring about the next installments in those series' as well.

This would be Year 1 of my master plan to begin the Renaissance of Gaming.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Whoever makes Rock Band and institute cameras which can track player movements to award points for rocking styles while playing. Also I will as completely retooling the singing away from "just sing it pitch perfect" and towards a stylistic judge- I shouldn't be getting points for just hitting notes on a punk song. Needless to say I'll be hiring some wizards to help.

[Meister]

I agree with the above statements on Harmonix and Rock Band and would also have a serious talk with the chief designer about venues and clothes as well as character animations and the extrovertedness thereof. Also I'd reserve the right to personally pick the DLC every sixth week or so.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

The worst bit was when I was singing "Shoulder to the Plow" and in the cowbell section I improved a stirring gothic poem about the plight of medieval peasants in time to my bells and in my most metal voice and I got NO EXTRA POINTS.

I agree with the venues/clothes/band members. It all pretty much the same stuff, not nearly enough variety.
That's what I like about Beatles Rock Band, it starts out with quite normal venues and then suddenely you in fantasy wonderlands as the music starts going there. Good times.

[Nightshine]

I'd take over:


NINTENDO:

-Force them to focus on the hardcore gaming market again, and SHEERLY on the hardcore gaming market.
-Force them to make a new console which has the graphic and memory capabilities of the other current generation consoles...or better, considering the amount of money they have
-Make them ditch all this motion sensitivity crap

SQUEENIX:

-Stop making Final Fantasy games. Forever.
-Make them stop hunting down everyone who makes a Chrono Trigger hack.
-Make a half decent RPG game

HARMONIX/ACTIVISION:

-Never make another Guitar Hero/Rock Band game again. Only DLC, and that DLC will never contain a radio friendly song, ever again.
-LICENSE. LED. ZEPPELIN.
-Hire people who actually know music to make their setlists

SEGA:

-Kill Sonic the Hedgehog off. Start multiple new franchises which are actually decent.
-Never associate with 4kids ever again.

[ZAKtheGeek]

Can I just have the richest one and cash out?

Alternatively maybe I could just find out the Zelda timeline.

[Daimo Mac, The Blue Light of Hope]

I was gonna say S-E =(

Okay then let's see. Nintendo eh...

Remove the restriction on Mother 3 and get that ported over as WiiWare or DSiWare, release Earthbound onto the VC. Start planning the next console to have the capable next gen graphics, a better online mode. Encourage more 1st party games.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

-DLC will never contain a radio friendly song, ever again.
-LICENSE. LED. ZEPPELIN.


What's the point of licensing them if you are not going to use them? Do you just want to fund their retirement?

[DarkDrgon]

Capcom. We will start making more Breath of Fire games, look for interesting Franchises to Continue Capcom VS. whatever, Return Resident Evil to a "HOLY FUCK IM SCARED AND HAVE 4 SHOTS LEFT" franchise, keep DMC going, and officially retcon 2 out of existence. Oh, and keep up the good work with megaman. Im not messing with that cash cow.

[TARDIS]

Square Enix.
I would actually listen to the fans of the series. That seems to be the biggest problem for Square Enix now-a-days. All they care about it making monies, and while that's understandable as SE is a buisness just like any other, it's cruel. There are so many loved series that the company has made that have just been abandoned, and that needs to change.

Failing that, Capcom. 'Cause I want my Ace Attorney.

PLEASE, NOT ALL OF THEM. I AM *SICK* OF FF7 CROPPING UP! Sure, by all means make one more FF7 game, but maek it so THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY OF ANOTHER, and no remakes of that game...

if I also took Sega, I'd listen to *some* of hte Sonic Retro posters and return to Classic Sonic. S3&K to be precise, becuase that's trhe best SOnic game ever. Then there'd be some FF+ Sonic crossover (I'm sure the ATB system could actually WORK for Sonic characters, with came characters from some of the less known games (and OFC, none from FF7.) those giant Rings from Sonic 1 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles could make this possible.

[Living Bobbeh]

Whoever makes Rock Band and institute cameras which can track player movements to award points for rocking styles while playing.

I would love a feature like this, but it would let you mo-cap your own introductions. The little animations that show off the characters when you play the first song after booting it up. I could see something like this happening with that Project Natal thing.

On topic, I would take over Harmonix and decide Rock Band DLC every few weeks and suggest some key features that would help improve the game, such as reduce the damn load times.

[Nightshine]

What's the point of licensing them if you are not going to use them? Do you just want to fund their retirement?

I want them to use them. That's why.

[Mirai Gen]

What's the point of licensing them if you are not going to use them? Do you just want to fund their retirement?

Licensing = getting the song to be used for your game.

[Nikose Tyris]

I would love a feature like this, but it would let you mo-cap your own introductions. The little animations that show off the characters when you play the first song after booting it up. I could see something like this happening with that Project Natal thing.

On topic, I would take over Harmonix and decide Rock Band DLC every few weeks and suggest some key features that would help improve the game, such as reduce the damn load times.

It takes a team of 16 people working Monday to Friday, 10 hour days, for 3 weeks, to bug to publishing standards 1 song.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

...
But that defies the rule of "No radio-friendly bands". My point was the rules were non-consistent, that is why I quoted two of them/

[Nightshine]

...
But that defies the rule of "No radio-friendly bands". My point was the rules were non-consistent, that is why I quoted two of them/

Three words:

Achilles. Last. Stand.

[Krylo]

No, because Cross was a seed of potential.

No. Cross never had good potential.

The plan to kill the original team was terrible.

The plan to have ten million characters was terrible.

The dragons were terrible.

The computer was terrible.

Lynx's entire backstory was terrible.

The VERY BASIC plot point wherein killing Lavos in the original game not only failed to make things better but very objectively made them worse because Lavos is now eating the entire universe instead of just a planet was INCREDIBLY TERRIBLE.

Or, better yet, make that the point of Chrono Break. Cross showed that the past can easily be changed.

No it didn't. It showed the exact opposite.

Trigger showed how easy the past was to change by about a half hour in the game when the past had been changed with no particularly dire consequences with the Guardia line being wiped out due to Marle's existence there, and then it showed that the past was incredibly easy to change again when they fixed that. It furthered this 'time is malleable' viewpoint throughout the game.

Then Cross showed that changing the past actually means that your universe splits into two and entire dimensions start getting devoured.

Cross had absolutely no good potential. Unless one of the songs was called Potential. Or Seeds of Potential. Then maybe.

[synkr0nized]

Blizzard

I'll just introduce more dress-up options for WoW characters and things people need to grind out daily/weekly and roll in the subscription money.

I'll use some of it to start up "WoW-killer" MMOs that will draw players away until a few weeks later when they realize it's not as good/the addiction kicks back in and they come back and spend more money.


Oh, fix things?
Whatever company/companies I own I would make sure they didn't release products early. No more completing the game via DLC and massive updates.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Three words:

Achilles. Last. Stand.

Considering the first place I heard that song was on the radio I don't see your point.
On an old man, classic hits station too.


On topic: Rockstar. Take the GTA games and make one with an actual believable character for once unlike the ridiculous things we have been subjected too who take me completely out of it.
Also I want to put in options where you don't have to solve all problems with huge amounts of violence. Like you can just diplomatise your way through the game and like bribe the cops and things without killing them.
Blackjacks would be crucial too for when talking can't get you out but you don't want the murder.
GTA 4 was very close with its friends system but I would take that system and allow you to use it as contacts- you can get information on your rivals for blackmail and inside info and can use them to work deals. Instead in GTA 4 it was mostly pointless and still all about murder.

[Ecks]

If we let Rob Liefeld reimagine Chrono Trigger but completely removed Cross from the continuity... would it be worth it?

No, because Cross was a seed of potential. What we need is to retcon the links from Trigger to Cross made in the DSmake and actually go back and fix Cross up a bit, flesh out the story, fix a few glaring errors, and clean things up so that the cast of Trigger wasn't all nonsensically killed off-screen for no good reason.

I mean, they can still all be killed, but it really should MEAN something. Make Guile Magus as intended and have him comment on things from that perspective, and give the former cast the heroic deaths they deserve, if they end up dying at all (like, the only requirements are actually Lucca and Robo for the sake of Cross' actual plot, and you could easily make it forgivable by treating it with due reverence).

Or, better yet, make that the point of Chrono Break. Cross showed that the past can easily be changed. Have the protagonists of Break go back in time and fix the problems in Cross. I think that Serge getting the power to go do that would actually be pretty cool, and then you could have the old guard return, as well. Just pick out the best few characters from Cross to take with you to combine with the cast of Trigger and off you go.

Oh no, somebody played the Chrono Trigger/Cross card again...

I think I'm just gonna go hide in some dark little corner.

[Solid Snake]

The thing about Chrono Cross is that it would have been a pretty decent game, if it had absolutely no correlation whatsoever with Chrono Trigger.
...I feel like I made a nearly identical point regarding another Square-Enix RPG and its sequel last night.

...At least this time, Krylo might agree with me! =)

[Krylo]

The thing about Chrono Cross is that it would have been a pretty decent game, if it had absolutely no correlation whatsoever with Chrono Trigger.


And had a few months longer in development and more money and fewer characters.

[bluestarultor]

No. Cross never had good potential.

The plan to kill the original team was terrible.

The plan to have ten million characters was terrible.

The dragons were terrible.

The computer was terrible.

Lynx's entire backstory was terrible.

The VERY BASIC plot point wherein killing Lavos in the original game not only failed to make things better but very objectively made them worse because Lavos is now eating the entire universe instead of just a planet was INCREDIBLY TERRIBLE.

The plan to kill the original team pointlesly and offscreen was terrible.

The plan to have ten million characters was terrible given how auxilliary many of them were due to poor development.

The dragons were terrible, mis-handled boss battles that deserved more story.

The computer was terrible because Robo died, and also because it needed more development.

Lynx's entire backstory was terrible. Seriously, who drowns his own kid? He also should have had a better death.

The VERY BASIC plot point wherein killing Lavos in the original game not only failed to make things better but very objectively made them worse because Lavos is now eating the entire universe instead of just a planet was INCREDIBLY TERRIBLE. It does, however, make it more of a badass enemy and highlights the theme of the game wherein humans fail to understand the impact of their own actions often until it is too late.

No it didn't. It showed the exact opposite.

Trigger showed how easy the past was to change by about a half hour in the game when the past had been changed with no particularly dire consequences with the Guardia line being wiped out due to Marle's existence there, and then it showed that the past was incredibly easy to change again when they fixed that. It furthered this 'time is malleable' viewpoint throughout the game.

Then Cross showed that changing the past actually means that your universe splits into two and entire dimensions start getting devoured.

Cross had absolutely no good potential. Unless one of the songs was called Potential. Or Seeds of Potential. Then maybe.

Actually, I misspoke and meant Trigger. My bad. The point being that if done right, you CAN have your cake and eat it, too, because if a timeline can split, it can also be merged.

And actually, the timeline only split because of Serge. The worlds, as far as I understood, were born of Serge's fate, which is why he was able to travel between the two. Which is why I think it would be appropriate to have him get a hold of the magical macguffin from the first game and go about fixing shit for real. That way, you get to have a sort of redemption for him, and can pick and choose who from the games to include due to the time travel thing going on. That could effectively allow the developers to limit the cast, while also "explaining" why some characters only existed in one reality and not the other.

Thinking of it this way, you could have a cast of:
Chrono
Marle
Lucca
Frog
Robo
Ayla
Magus/Guile
Serge
Kid
Harle
Lynx
Pip
Sneff
Luccia
Dario
and/or etc.

You could have the entire old guard back and take your pick of the best of Cross while leaving less popular/useful characters by the wayside, given for most of them, it's never explained where they are if they don't appear in both worlds.

[Solid Snake]

Blues I don't think I ever disagreed with you more than I've disagreed with your last post.

You're going to try to fix Chrono Cross by throwing Chrono Trigger characters into the mix as playable characters? You're going to take a mediocre game that sucks because it tarnished Chrono Trigger's legacy and...allow it to tarnish Chrono Trigger's legacy even more?

I mean there's just no way you or anyone else at Squaresoft could possibly re-imagine Chrono Cross' storyline to do any justice to Trigger. All you'd really be doing is taking Chrono Trigger -- a perfect game that stands on its own merits and deserves to be left the hell alone and cherished forever as a masterpiece -- and ruining it. What you'd do to Chrono Trigger in your version of Chrono Cross would make FFX-2 look like a comparative gem of a sequel. Your Chrono Cross would throw shit onto the legacies of all the amazing characters in CT in such a way that I'd wish Squaresoft would've just mercy-killed the CT cast off instead.

Magus and Robo and Frog and Crono and Ayla and Marle, interacting with the likes of Serge and the talking voodoo strawman and the baby dragon and the bunny-chick, all of whom have zero character development and zero personality aside from generic accents? Kill me now. (And no, I don't think there's any way you could sufficiently develop the majority of Chrono Cross' cast. The vast majority of them are absolute vacant wastelands of inconsistent accents and cliches and annoying mannerisms.)

EDIT: Also the whole Magus/Guile twist concept is atrocious because Guile was a stupid, generic, bland, insipid character whereas Magus was the very definition of a lovable antihero badass in videogaming and attempting to retcon Magus into the role of Guile is such a terrible idea it literally could induce me to vomit.

[BitVyper]

I wouldn't mind a game specifically centred on Magus' quest to find Schala. Ignore all Chrono Cross continuity and just follow his story. That could be good. Not if it was done by current Square, mind, but if you got the original team back together...

[Solid Snake]

You know what'd be a great Chrono Cross reimagining?

Keep Chrono Cross exactly the way it is for the first eight or so hours. You know, just long enough for the storyline to kick into gear and for every gamer to realize that this piece of crap sucks compared to Trigger and is an absolute travesty of a sequel and would probably maim everything CT once stood for.

...Then, at random, in the middle of a cutscene before an epic battle, have Magus show up.

And have Magus kill everyone.
The end.

(...I'd love it.)

[BitVyper]

Eh, Cross wasn't that bad.

Also a game focused on Lucca doing mad science would have the potential to be fantastic. The PC could maybe be some little robot she made or something.

I would actually listen to the fans of the series.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH AHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Kim]

Chrono Catalyst: Wherein the Chrono Trigger team, being as strong as they were at the end of Chrono Trigger even at level one, have to defend the planet from an entire race of Lavos type creatures.

[Solid Snake]

Eh, Cross wasn't that bad.

The music was amazing, I'll give you that much.
I feel bad for Yasunori Mitsuda though. So much stellar effort invested into a soundtrack for a game that defecated over the legacy of the previous amazing soundtrack he worked on.

I'd say the only work of Mitsuda's that emerged unscathed was Xenogears, but then Disc 2 happened.

In all sincerity though, as I've said before, as a stonealone game and if it had no correlation whatsoever to Chrono Trigger and if it did not pretend to be Chrono Trigger's sequel, Chrono Cross could have been fine. An average JRPG with woefully underdeveloped characters and an at-times ludicrous storyline but a decent battle system and great music. Instead, they chose to maim Chrono Trigger. I do not forgive Squaresoft that egregious offense.

[BitVyper]

Now, what I would like to see is a Chrono sequel where Dalton attacks Guardia, is completely outmatched, and gets utterly wiped out on the first day of his war. Maybe you could play as Dalton himself.

[Wigmund]

Don't know who'd I take over to accomplish this:
But I'd have the company I conquer get hold of the Toady One and hold him hostage with all the resources and assistance I could muster and make him complete Dwarf Fortress with everything he desires and with gorgeous graphics and an easy-to-understand interface.

[Daimo Mac, The Blue Light of Hope]

You know what'd be a great Chrono Cross reimagining?

Keep Chrono Cross exactly the way it is for the first eight or so hours. You know, just long enough for the storyline to kick into gear and for every gamer to realize that this piece of crap sucks compared to Trigger and is an absolute travesty of a sequel and would probably maim everything CT once stood for.

...Then, at random, in the middle of a cutscene before an epic battle, have Magus show up.

And have Magus kill everyone.
The end.

(...I'd love it.)

Goddammit I want to rep you so hard.

[bluestarultor]

Blues I don't think I ever disagreed with you more than I've disagreed with your last post.

You're going to try to fix Chrono Cross by throwing Chrono Trigger characters into the mix as playable characters? You're going to take a mediocre game that sucks because it tarnished Chrono Trigger's legacy and...allow it to tarnish Chrono Trigger's legacy even more?

I mean there's just no way you or anyone else at Squaresoft could possibly re-imagine Chrono Cross' storyline to do any justice to Trigger. All you'd really be doing is taking Chrono Trigger -- a perfect game that stands on its own merits and deserves to be left the hell alone and cherished forever as a masterpiece -- and ruining it. What you'd do to Chrono Trigger in your version of Chrono Cross would make FFX-2 look like a comparative gem of a sequel. Your Chrono Cross would throw shit onto the legacies of all the amazing characters in CT in such a way that I'd wish Squaresoft would've just mercy-killed the CT cast off instead.

Magus and Robo and Frog and Crono and Ayla and Marle, interacting with the likes of Serge and the talking voodoo strawman and the baby dragon and the bunny-chick, all of whom have zero character development and zero personality aside from generic accents? Kill me now. (And no, I don't think there's any way you could sufficiently develop the majority of Chrono Cross' cast. The vast majority of them are absolute vacant wastelands of inconsistent accents and cliches and annoying mannerisms.)

EDIT: Also the whole Magus/Guile twist concept is atrocious because Guile was a stupid, generic, bland, insipid character whereas Magus was the very definition of a lovable antihero badass in videogaming and attempting to retcon Magus into the role of Guile is such a terrible idea it literally could induce me to vomit.

Okay, you know what? Step back from the computer and go take a shower or something. Listen to some music and cool off and then come back and read the rest of this post. I haven't seen an explosion like that since my cousin wired together enough firecrackers to be considered dynamite.




Ready to talk intelligently? Okay. You know what my proposal is? Square saying, "By God, we're sorry and we're fixing this shit." It's the LEAST they can do after making darn sure Cross was canon with CTDS. It would be a 20-hour apology for screwing stuff up so badly in the first place. And it can be done. How do I know? I'm a game writer. I have to think about these things for my own projects. If you're going to retcon, you can definitely do it with style.

To put it this way, I have arbitrarily solved all of your issues:
- the cast of CT is no longer dead
- the number of characters can be limited by allowing you to pick and choose any of them you want and leave others behind with simple and effective excuses
- you get a ton more time to develop the CC cast (if you haven't done so for some retarded reason in the CC remake I mentioned previously)
- Serge gets to redeem himself by saving the CT cast, Luccia and Kid get to see Lucca again, Guile gets to reveal himself as Magus and drop his "role" in favor of being badass again, thereby fixing many character issues



Now if you can drop the holier-than-thou attitude and actually consider that Chrono Trigger is a creation of flawed, squishy humans, and that flawed, squishy humans might actually be able to produce something that can compare and even FIX things you don't like, I think we can get back to intelligent intercourse.

[Solid Snake]

Okay, you know what? Step back from the computer and go take a shower or something. Listen to some music and cool off and then come back and read the rest of this post. I haven't seen an explosion like that since my cousin wired together enough firecrackers to be considered dynamite.

...Uhh...

Am I...missing something?

Because I'm pretty sure there was nothing in my post that remotely resembled an explosion. I mean I wasn't even remotely offended with your post. I disagreed with it? I expressed that I disagreed with it? I made a single sentence of a fairly innocuous joke that simply established that I disagreed with you? And then I kind of dropped you out of the picture altogether, and just critiqued the idea of Chrono Trigger characters appearing as playable characters in Chrono Cross?
But trust me, as someone who just likes playing the role of the CT fanboy who despises the manner in which Chrono Cross destroyed its predecessor: I wasn't remotely upset. Or taking anything remotely seriously.

Ready to talk intelligently? Okay.

That's a little...unnecessarily insulting, don't you think?
I mean the worst I said about you was, what, I disagreed with you? That shouldn't make me unintelligent, bro. =)
(Not quite sure where the 'holier than thou' part comes into play, really.)

You know what my proposal is? Square saying, "By God, we're sorry and we're fixing this shit." It's the LEAST they can do after making darn sure Cross was canon with CTDS. It would be a 20-hour apology for screwing stuff up so badly in the first place. And it can be done. How do I know? I'm a game writer. I have to think about these things for my own projects. If you're going to retcon, you can definitely do it with style.

::shrug:: I mean we'd have to agree to disagree, then. From my perspective, there's really no way you could possibly salvage Chrono Cross, no matter how great a writer you or anyone else is: if you were to attempt to do so, you'd change so many essential plot twists and storyline developments and character progression that the game wouldn't look anything like Chrono Cross anymore. It'd be a fallacy to identify said theoretical sequel as Chrono Cross.

[BitVyper]

I feel bad for Yasunori Mitsuda though. So much stellar effort invested into a soundtrack for a game that defecated over the legacy

Okay if you really can't manage to divorce Trigger from Cross in your mind, I'm gonna say that's your problem. Cross is okay. It's not Trigger, but it also didn't rape anyone's grandma. I mean if they had an FMV of Dalton raping and murdering Marle in front of a crucified Crono, I could see your point, but this? The tie ins to the CT plot are already vague enough that CC could be made into a wholly separate game with only a little bit of work on the script. Get over it. Chrono Trigger is a magnificent game whether Cross exists or not.

The extra ending in the Trigger remake is more offensive than anything in Cross was.

Because I'm pretty sure there was nothing in my post that remotely resembled an explosion.

Honestly? Then reread your post. It may not be a trollsplosion, but it was definitely extreme enough.

Edit: Which isn't to say I think Blues' response is totally merited, but I can see where he's seeing an overreaction.

[Solid Snake]

Okay if you really can't manage to divorce Trigger from Cross in your mind, I'm gonna say that's your problem. Cross is okay. It's not Trigger, but it also didn't rape anyone's grandma. I mean if they had an FMV of Dalton raping and murdering Marle in front of a crucified Crono, I could see your point, but this? The tie ins to the CT plot are already vague enough that CC could be made into a wholly separate game with only a little bit of work on the script. Get over it. Chrono Trigger is a magnificent game whether Cross exists or not.

You know, I think the real problem I'm running into here is that I'm not taking this conversation nearly as seriously as you guys are and that's leading you to feel offended when I melodramatize my points because I'm trying to be funny and elicit laughs.

(For example, if Magus were actually to literally come into Chrono Cross eight hours into the game and kill off all the Chrono Cross characters, in all seriousness, it'd be a terrible game and no one would enjoy it. Even Magus fanboys like myself who delighted at the ending would regret spending $50 on such an RPG. I wasn't trying to make a serious point there. I was going for the giggles, and exaggerating in the hopes other CT fanboys with similar opinions might chuckle at the thought.)

I mean yes, my statements do sort of reflect my personal opinion? But I've tried to include serious sidenotes to the effect of "as a standalone game, Chrono Cross is pretty average" for some time now. The rest is me just playing the role of a Chrono Trigger fanboy, in the same way I've talked up Persona 4 or cravenly bashed the Republican party lately. It's not intended to offend you.

The lesson I apparently should be taking from this is that I just can't replicate Fifthfiend's rather delightful sense of humor on the subject -- but that's kind of what I was going for.

But yes, if I were to put my serious hat on: Of course Chrono Trigger can be divisible from Chrono Cross, of course Chrono Cross wasn't a pile of a shit and of course it didn't negate Chrono Trigger's value as a game -- Chrono Trigger's one of my favorite RPGs of all time, to this day! Of course a theoretical retcon could probably make just about any mediocre-to-terrible game great, and I suppose it's theoretically feasible that a great writer could even make the concept of playable Chrono Trigger characters in Chrono Cross work, though I'd personally deeply oppose the idea. If anything I've said has come out as "holier than thou," then uhh, that wasn't my intention?

[Krylo]

I think we can get back to intelligent intercourse.

Not as long as you continue pretending like Chrono Cross is anything but completely terrible from start to finish.

[Bob The Mercenary]

So Solid, what's your opinion on Chrono Trigger?

[Krylo]

I hear he really liked the extra ending in the remake.

[bluestarultor]

Not as long as you continue pretending like Chrono Cross is anything but completely terrible from start to finish.

Oh, it is in many ways, but it's a fixable kind of terrible in all cases. It's unfinished. What I'd like to do is finish it and fix some of the worse flaws. The seed of a good game is in there. It just needs a bit more TLC.

[Donomni]

Anyways, back on topic? Like, seriously, I thought it was already established CT/CC was a minefield?

I'd take over Banpresto and force them to find a way to localize and make a Super Robot Wars for an international audience(Not any just-OG junk, actual mecha shows beating the shit out of each other).

If there's anything regarding games that irked me the most, it's Super Robot Wars.

[Krylo]

We were having fun, Don.

Well at least I was.

But fine, you go on back to your TOPICS and what not.


ALSO: Disagree about the seed of a good game, thing, unless the only part of the game you're going to pay attention is the tagline that includes "Sequel to Chrono Trigger".

[phil_]

I'd take over Sting and have them make a sequel to Dokapon Kingdom that makes Defense cover physical and magical damage (as opposed to Magic covering magical offense and defense), thus making the best competitive mulitplayer RPG system ever and, by extension, making the only game that could top Dokapon Kingdom in that regard.

Either that, or take over Gamefreak and push for them do another non-Pokémon game because, darn it, their not Pokémon games are fun.

[Mirai Gen]

Chrono Cross was a Chrono Trigger sequel? Huh. I didn't know that. I guess the name kind of gave it away, thinking about it now.

[Meister]

Also I want to put in options where you don't have to solve all problems with huge amounts of violence.
Holy Christ a thousand times this. "Oh no, he's dead! I promised myself I wouldn't kill people here! Oh well whatever, now that I've started I might as well murder everyone in the world."

Also: whichever company gets the license to make a D&D 4E game, you guys are mine and combat will be turn-based.

[Krylo]

Holy Christ a thousand times this.

That would be nice, but I'd probably end up picking the violent options over half the time anyway, just 'cause fuck talking.

I mean, Mass Effect pretty much proved that one to me. "You can either talk to this obnoxious reporter or punch her in the stupid fucking mouth."

Yup. I'm punchin' a bitch in the mouth.

[Mirai Gen]

Kinda related note: I found it especially hilarious in Mass Effect when I maximized my Persuasion skill, and when I got to the final boss Sarrik I skipped by his first form completely by convincing him to kill himself. I told my friend about it and he didn't believe me. These are the kind of non-combat options I totally love.

EDIT: Krylo and I quote Mass Effect for differing reasons. Huh. Odd coincidence.

[bluestarultor]

I'm just going to finish up my portion of the Chrono conversation by making sure what I mean is clear, because it seems people got confused somewhere.

1. Leave CTDS as it is, make it canon.
2. Fix up and flesh out CC, making minor changes for consistency and dignity, adding in more team techs, but otherwise leaving it alone.
3. Make Chrono Break a retcon for CC, wherein Serge systematically goes and rescues the cast of CT from their terrible fates, only taking along a select few of CC's cast, likely with a focus on people not accounted for in CC (Kid, Guile/Magus (in a big reveal where he casts off his persona), Luccia, maybe Lynx under the initial pretense of agreeing to help him achieve his goal and then fostering a relationship between him and Serge as FATE's control loosens and he regains his memories and slowly realizes what he's lost until his eventual redemption. maybe. then you have Starky, Pierre, Razzly, Greco, Grobyc, Irenes, Janice, Leah, Sneff, possibly even Dario, as there's one of him unaccounted for, and, heck, Orlha AND Tia, since one of each is accounted for in the two worlds (Sisterhoods could become a dual tech). probably not all of them, obviously, but you have your pick), then, I dunno, win the Guardia war or something. It means you get to kick Dalton's arse to the moons. ;)

Really, I don't see a problem with mixing the two casts, given the connections between them as it is. Kid and probably Luccia would be happy to see Lucca again, at the bare minimum, and having it be voiced would remove at least some of the Luccia-Lucca confusion. Also, it would help give an opportunity to clear up the Ayla-Leah confusion if Leah got in, and at the very least would make for some pretty sensible team techs between, say, Ayla-Leah, Robo-Grobyc, Lucca-Luccia and/or Kid, etc.

The only real roadblock I can find is the vastly different magical systems, but looking at it this way, if they're going to be time-traveling, anyway, Serge and team are going to end up at the End of Time sooner or later. Just do Serge = Heaven (there is no reason this should not be retranslated), Kid = Fire, etc. for the Cross cast, retain at least the spirit of their skill sets (or, you know, double up Serge and Crono's Luminaires for some REALLY kick-ass combo), and off you go.







Edit: Fuck. That turned out a LOT more in-depth and preachy than I initially intended. Got caught up in it. For that, I apologize, and to prove I'm actually going to shut up about it, I offer the following on-topic addition. :sweatdrop


I'd totally get Square and make them add in a Red XIII-like character to FF13. Like, recall all copies, or add it in before overseas release, because
1. Red XIII is awesome
2. It's effing FF XIII, come on, here, guys
3. They are sorely lacking in certain elements, anyway. What kind of elemental roster is Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth, Holy? I get that FILE has been there since FF1, but we've advanced a bit beyond that and H totally messes that up, anyway. As I see it, the best options would either be Wind or Water, and since Bahamut already has the flying thing going, I could see Leviathan making an appearance and, I dunno, curling up into a tank or gun-boat or something. Or, heck, Kjata. That's one that's sorely under-used and would ALSO probably make a good tank, plus would already fit into the system just by merit of Tetra-Disaster.

Edit: Crud. Forgot they used Kjata as a fal'Cie. Well, maybe name him Kujuta like the actual bull it's based on and just say, "ya-whoops!" Hell, if they can have two Cids in a game, why not?

[Mesden]

Now if you can drop the holier-than-thou attitude and actually consider that Chrono Trigger is a creation of flawed, squishy humans, and that flawed, squishy humans might actually be able to produce something that can compare and even FIX things you don't like, I think we can get back to intelligent intercourse.

ahahaha Snake's avatar makes this so much better.

[Kim]

I'd take Konami, remake Castlevania SotN in HD, but leave the terrible dialogue and voice acting the same. Then, I'd change the ending so when Alucard goes to confront Dracula, they instead have a tearful father son reunion, and then it cuts to a montage of them bonding. Fishing together... Dracula hanging Alucard's crappy crayon drawn picture of him on the fridge... Dracula pushing Alucard on the swings...

I'm pretty sure it'd be the best thing ever.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

I'd totally get Square and make them add in a Red XIII-like character to FF13. Like, recall all copies, or add it in before overseas release, because
1. Red XIII is awesome
2. It's effing FF XIII, come on, here, guys
3. They are sorely lacking in certain elements, anyway. What kind of elemental roster is Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth, Holy? I get that FILE has been there since FF1, but we've advanced a bit beyond that and H totally messes that up, anyway. As I see it, the best options would either be Wind or Water, and since Bahamut already has the flying thing going, I could see Leviathan making an appearance and, I dunno, curling up into a tank or gun-boat or something. Or, heck, Kjata. That's one that's sorely under-used and would ALSO probably make a good tank, plus would already fit into the system just by merit of Tetra-Disaster.


I don't understand what is so good about Red XIII...? Isn't he just like a talking dog?

[shiney]

I think we can get back to intelligent intercourse.
Any intercourse with you is inherently unintelligent. Oh snap!

But seriously dude. I think the word you are looking for is 'discourse'...

[Ryong]

You guys know I'm going to rant, right? Yeah, dang, it can't be avoided.

1. Leave CTDS as it is, make it canon.
2. Fix up and flesh out CC, making minor changes for consistency and dignity, adding in more team techs, but otherwise leaving it alone.

I'd totally do this but focus on the theory that every single ending in CTDS happened, creating multiple timelines/dimensions but there's only a single Lavos through them. Chrono Cross would take place in the timeline after CTDS' "bonus" ending and another one, and Lavos would be trying to fuse all timelines into the one that more easily allows him to kill everything, but this ends up causing certain problems to happen, as elements from one timeline overwrite other ones at random. Or maybe Lavos is systematically destroying each possible timeline instead, Iunno. Some things that should be made, though:
1) Kid is not Schala's clone.
2) Lynx turning into the FATE is weird. So's Harle's existence.
3) Make Guile actually be Magus.
On everyone from the CT cast, keep them as a party - at least Crono, Marle and Lucca, in case time travel doesn't work so well anymore - that's always ahead of your characters, but sometimes misses important things which your characters end up getting. You constantly meet up with them and maybe fight them once or twice, with them thinking you're evil or some such. Make it so the only reason they can't fight Lavos is that they already came in contact with it or some such. But center on them being incredibly awesome, it's a must. Have at least some sessions outside of El Nido, which force you to not use Elements, but you can use normal items. Oh, yeah, no more "consumable" elements, just make those into items and make Elements more random spells you can use but that depend on the allignment of the user - so you can only assign white elements to white element-characters and such - and give battles a rank system to see what items monsters drop, but you level like in CT. Also, you can see enemies coming and everyone just gets ready to fight when you touch something, a la CT. No moving during battles too, so you can have CT's targetting mode. Keep the stamina system though and flesh it out more, which ain't hard. Oh and keep CC's "you can run from EVERY BATTLE" deal.

I don't understand what is so good about Red XIII...? Isn't he just like a talking dog?

Dog?Wolf?Tiger?Coyote?

[bluestarultor]

I don't understand what is so good about Red XIII...? Isn't he just like a talking dog?

Well, he's one of your party's strongest combatants, for one. For two, even as one of the least talkative characters of the game, many people agree he's got the best personality and oddly enough one of the better-developed and most sympathetic personal stories. I personally often found myself feeling more for his plights than Cloud's. Part of it is probably because Cloud's scenes often ended up being overdone, like his speech after Aeris died, where Red just acted more realistically in his scenes.

I can see where a lot of people might not understand why he has a fandom, but he's actually the character with the most true depth from that game, and oddly enough is the one who's been least expanded on, which also leaves him a bit more of a continuing enigma than the rest of the cast.



Edit:

Any intercourse with you is inherently unintelligent. Oh snap!

But seriously dude. I think the word you are looking for is 'discourse'...

I could have, but I technically wasn't wrong in using 'intercourse.'

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/intercourse



And I do want to apologize for snapping like that. It just irks me when people pull the "this is perfect and nothing anyone can do can ever compare" card and I overreacted. Sorry, Snake.

[CelesJessa]

I don't understand what is so good about Red XIII...? Isn't he just like a talking dog?

It's kind of like Geno from Mario RPG. A fan following I don't quite understand, but hey, Dalton from Chrono Trigger is one of my favorite characters so... To each his own.


As for the original topic... Um... the first thing that comes to mind is I would take over Kojima Productions and welll... do more of the same I guess. More prequels. I'd like to see a remake of the old old ones in 3D although I'm sure they would lose something. I just want to see Poisonous Zanzibar Hamsters in HD damn it, is that too much to ask?

[Fenris]

I could have, but I technically wasn't wrong in using 'intercourse.'

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/intercourse

Whether or not you're technically wrong is completely irrelevant. You totally just said you want to fuck intelligently with Snake.

I hear he goes to law school. Better start studying.

[01d55]

...Then, at random, in the middle of a cutscene before an epic battle, have Magus show up.

And have Magus kill everyone.
The end.

(...I'd love it.)

I liked that post better the first time you made it.

(Okay no that's a huge lie)

[32bit-RedMage]

I would take square-enix.

The priority of a company is to generate income. The best way to do this is by milking the Final Fantasy franchise for all it's worth. Although I truly dislike what's become of final fantasy in the last years....I would probably milk the franchise harder than squeenix is already doing.
I would keep making sequels with crappy anime-esque stories and Nomura-designed characters.
I mean .... the kids and the otakus love that kind of stuff, no ? Otakus+kids= $$$$
I would probably remake ALL the good Final Fantasies too... (3D FF6 would be awesome! ;))
I would also make tons of FF spin-offs. Sequels to all games... FF-2,FFII-2,FFIII-2, etc.

Okay ......... Now, with Final Fantasy providing a steady source of income, I would be free to experiment around without worrying about the sales of new games.

I would make new rpg series....
One with a "classical" medival-fantasy setting but with stories filled with high political intrigue, and I would have Kentaro Miura design the characters.
One set in modern times, with really mindfucking stories, and character designs by Hirohiko Araki.
I would also try to revive old rpg series....like, Rudra no hihou, LiveaLive, parasite eve and chrono trigger.
I would also make weird games, like survival horror rpgs or something like that.
More military tactic games.... kinda like Front mission but with more serious stories, also .. another Bushide blade game !!!! :p

[bluestarultor]

Whether or not you're technically wrong is completely irrelevant. You totally just said you want to fuck intelligently with Snake.

I hear he goes to law school. Better start studying.

What for? He's in law school. With all he has to dedicate to his education, he doesn't have any time left to practice and improve. http://i49.tinypic.com/k98909.gif


I'm just joking, Snake. No hard feelings.

[Donomni]

As for the original topic... Um... the first thing that comes to mind is I would take over Kojima Productions and welll... do more of the same I guess. More prequels. I'd like to see a remake of the old old ones in 3D although I'm sure they would lose something. I just want to see Poisonous Zanzibar Hamsters in HD damn it, is that too much to ask?

You know what would be a kickass MGS game? Big Boss's last mission: Finding Zero after waking from his System-induced captivity.

[Loyal]

Don't know who'd I take over to accomplish this:
But I'd have the company I conquer get hold of the Toady One and hold him hostage with all the resources and assistance I could muster and make him complete Dwarf Fortress with everything he desires and with gorgeous graphics and an easy-to-understand interface.For what it's worth. (http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=37440.msg908038#msg908038)

Anyway. I'd get Nintendo to take Rare back. Or get Rare to go back to Nintendo. Whichever is more relevant.

[Solid Snake]

I liked that post better the first time you made it.

(Okay no that's a huge lie)

I've made that post before?
I'm always mind-boggled by the fact that others here seem to have better memories regarding my posting history than I do. I think I remember all of, maybe, five percent of my total posting content.

Unless you're referencing that one time I went on a Magus fangasm that delved into inappropriate, immature material and resulted in me rightfully getting my ass handed to me. Why is it that everyone remembers my worst NPF moments, but not my moments of comparative intelligence, compassion or clarity? Am I that throughly unlikable? =)

Also, Blues: If there's one way to completely eradicate any possibility of hard feelings between us it involves mentioning that Red XIII was awesome and he was the best character in FFVII and Square-Enix needs to start making more characters like him.

I mean that opinion there is just perfect.
(Although your strong lobbying for Red XIII, one of my favorite characters, makes me even more suspicious that you're just trying to impress me because you're still looking for that intercourse. That's what this is all about, isn't it?)

[TARDIS]

oh. one mioar thing if I took over senix...
i'd have FF1 remade with moar HADOKEN, and teh swordchucks.

[Mirai Gen]

I'd take Konami, remake Castlevania SotN in HD, but leave the terrible dialogue and voice acting the same. Then, I'd change the ending so when Alucard goes to confront Dracula, they instead have a tearful father son reunion, and then it cuts to a montage of them bonding. Fishing together... Dracula hanging Alucard's crappy crayon drawn picture of him on the fridge... Dracula pushing Alucard on the swings...

I'm pretty sure it'd be the best thing ever.

Yes, it would.
Unless you're referencing that one time I went on a Magus fangasm that delved into inappropriate, immature material and resulted in me rightfully getting my ass handed to me.
I'm pretty sure he is. The delivery on "and then Magus kills everyone, the end" is solid gold.

[Ecks]

Oh no, somebody played the Chrono Trigger/Cross card again...

I think I'm just gonna go hide in some dark little corner.

MASSIVE TEXT WALLS ARGUING ABOUT CHRONO TRIGGER/CROSS

Glad that's over. I just wish someone had heeded my thinly veiled warning to NOT do the whole Chrono thing again. I've seen the archives, that there's a dead horse ten times over.

[bluestarultor]

Glad that's over. I just wish someone had heeded my thinly veiled warning to NOT do the whole Chrono thing again. I've seen the archives, that there's a dead horse ten times over.

Well, Krylo said it was fun for him, and it was fun for me, so I really don't see the problem. Sometimes it's fun to argue, even if you know it's not going to change any minds.

Especially if you know you're right. :p

[Wigmund]

For what it's worth. (http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=37440.msg908038#msg908038)

:p
We're living in a world of fantastical imaginary situations, don't ruin my one happy thought.

If I wanted to do something more realistic, it'd be the mentioned-before "Take over Valve and flog them so they finish Half-Life 2: Episode 3 and then have them start on Half-Life 3."