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Scalebound cancelled [Platinum Games and Kamiya have commented]

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I'm so much happier now that I'm dead. Technically missing. Soon to be presumed dead. Gone.

And this lazy oblivious and incompetent "Microsoft" company will go to prison for my murder. They took my pride and my dignity and my hope and my money. They took and took from me until I no longer existed. That's murder. Let the punishment fit the crime. To fake a convincing release date for Scale-fucking-bound you have to have discipline. You befriend a local foold, Platinum Games. Harvest the details of his hundrum life and cram him with stories about how development will be "doing fine", how the the game will soon be playable from start to finish. Secretly create some money troubles: forced online co-op, micotransactions, western bullshit. With the help of the unwitting, you bump up your life insurance. Purchase the Xbox One. With the Elite Controller. Generic. Overpriced. Pay cash. You need to package yourself so that people will truly mourn your loss. And I don't know how much you know about Japan, but they truly believe in honor, it's an important part of their culture... You know what's hard? Faking your excitement for this game. First, you pretend to follow all the dishearting news about this trainwerk of a game. Watch every damn E3 showing. From the first CGi vaporware trailer. Wake up at fucking 3.a.m, June 2016 just to see how this game has been resorted to a How To Train a Flying Potato simulator. Then you steal a Recore copy. And you pretend to like it. Voila! The game is nothing like you wanted. You wasted 60 dollars. Happy 3th Anniversary of this game's announcement. But then you go on NeoGAF, and post "wow I loved the E3 demo, MS is doing a great job :)" while you dry off the tears running down your face. Wait for the clueless director to announce the release date. Off he goes... and the clock is ticking. 20 weeks away from the release day and they haven't even shown final console footage yet. You feel fisically ill. A lot. A lot. A lot. You start to post about how the game is likely being saved for Scorpio How the game still retains that Hideki Kamiya-sama magic, even though you know deep in yourself that's one hell of a lie. June. E3 starts and they fucking bring a broken demo on stage. "Well, Platinum has never made a bad game, so there's no reason not to trust them". I repeat to myself. But everyone else playing the demo booths agrees that it is just bad. And because you're you, you don't stop there. You go back. To the day this fucking game was announced. Start with the fairy-tale days. The biggest Xbox One exclusive. A system seller title. From the creator of Resident Evil 2 and Bayonetta. Those are true. After that, you invent. "Scalebound was supposed to relive the Xbox brand" "X1 would likely outsell PS4 when this game gets released... at least in the US" The spending, the abuse, the fear, the threat of violence... burn it, just the right amount. Make sure the fans will find it. Finally, honor tradition with a very special treasure hunt. And if I get everything right, the world will hate Microsoft for killing his beautiful, legacy franchise. And after all the outrage, when I'm ready, I'll go out on to GameStop and buy a Playstation 4 + NieR: Automata bundle. And when my mother finds me investing my precious time trying to bond with this hot anime girl, I'll look straight into her eyes and say "but have you looked at her butt? Have your really looked at her butt?" In that very moment, she knows. She fucking knows. As she handles me the nugget pieces she previously cooked for me, she leaves my room with these words: "NierR is the true savior of Platinum Games". And that's when the people will know, Microsoft dumped Scalebound like garbage, and it floated past all the other abused, unwanted, inconvenient titles like Phantom Dust and Fable: Legends. The Scalebound fans will be gone, but then... we never really existed. We loved a game we pretended to like.

"An Xbox One exclusive".

Gamers always use that, don't they? As their defining compliment: "Quantum Break is a true Xbox exclusive". A true Xbox One exclusive is hot. A true Xbox One exclusive is game. A true Xbox One exclusive is fun. A true Xbox One exclusive never makes its fans angry. It only smiles in a chagrined, loving manner. The Platinum Game fans like what they like, so evidently they're vinyl hipsters who loves fetish Manga. If they like girls gone wild, Claire Redfield was a good example of empowering woman design. Bayonetta is sexist trash.. When I met Phil Spencer I knew he wanted "true Xbox Exclusive experience". And for him, I'll admit: Scalebound truly was it. He created an empty development funded by vapor and nothingness. Microsoft rewrote the concept to fit those Sony esclusive games everyone loves. They put headphones into the game because we all love headphones. They showed the game, semi-regularly. I lived in the moment. The same dragon portion for three years. I was fuckinging game. I can't say I didn't enjoy some of it. Microsoft teased out in me things I didn't know existed. A lightness, a humor, an ease. But I made them smarter. Sharper. I inspired them to rise to my level. I forged the company of my dreams. We were happy pretending to be other people. We were the happiest couple we knew. And what's the point of being together if you're not the happiest? But Platinum got lazy and Microsoft stubborn. They delayed the game. Microsoft actually expected me to love support their Xbox console unconditionally. And before finishing with Platinum, they delayed the game another time. From Holiday 2016, to simply "2017". We knew it was coming. We knew that what the press sneaks were telling us, was true.

You think I'd let Microsoft destroy me and end up happier than ever?

No fucking way.

They don't get to win. I don't know how much the rest of you know about social culture (I'm an expert), but grown-ups work for things. Grown-ups pay.

Grown-ups suffer consequences.

This is fucking gold and I hate anyone not getting the reference.
 
We will probably never know the truth, but Kamiya and Platinum have to carry some blame for this. It will work in their favour though, wonder which big publisher will throw money at this studio where the top senior staff go on holiday in such important times.
 

HotHamBoy

Member
Scorpio is going to be a lukewarm product launch. I don't think it's going to turn their fortunes. The original console is in a distant second and this is a premium-priced premium console in an age where power doesn't seem to be a big priority.

People talk about Scorpio on GAF like it's the second coming of Christ. I don't see how that plays.
 
Oh you bet that Sony would love to get those IP's. The problem is the sort of money it would take to buy the Xbox Division outright would be extraordinary.

Jack Tretton once talked about how badly Sony internally wanted the Halo IP and how they were more jealous of that, than any other IP MS owned.

What would they do with declining IPs?
 

Kiru

Member
its official
http://www.windowscentral.com/xbox-exclusive-scalebound-has-been-canceled
C1wYCVCXEAEgeRT.jpg:large

rip
 
Pretty shitty for Xbox owners. The games announced for this coming year don't give me much to look forward to honestly. Not a good time for Microsoft but hope they can bring some excitement back with future announcements.
 

zarmena

Member
It's a big blow to the Xbox line up. Honestly there's a serious lack of single player story driven games. Well, exclusive ones at least. Everything is literally MP focused. Forza 7, State of Decay, Sea of Thieves, Crackdown...(and I've heard Crackdown isn't going too hot either, though nothing as bad as this).

Unless they have a bunch of first party studios secretly tucked away somewhere (which they don't that I know of), I genuinely struggle to think of what surprises they could have at E3 *as of right now*. Halo 6 is to be expected, and I don't see publishers playing ball much anymore with 3rd party exclusives unless Microsoft gives the Xbox division a huge budget to throw cash around, which I highly doubt. Their major first party IP are on a decline with Halo doing less than before and Gears 4 not selling that well at all relatively speaking (not good enough to sustain a huge studio with that many workers and budget).

What's happening now is the exact opposite of what Xbox fans seemed to want out of a Phil spencer leadership.

I remember when he became head of Xbox and everyone was saying how there'll be tons of new games, but they're still coasting on announcements from 2013-2014 and in that time, games have been cancelled, multiple studios closed including Lionhead...

As a big Xbox fan since day one, I'm not very hopeful for the future. Scorpio won't do anything without software to push it heavily.

I've been wanting to buy an Xbox One for a while but what you said holds me back. My Xbox 360 is still alive and well, and will always hold a special place in my heart but MS's lineup just isn't diverse...at all. It's the same few IPs, same old genres. They desperately need fresh games. I don't even mind exclusive indies. I'm open. Just no more Halo, GoW or Forza.
 

Larkoz

Member
I remember last summer Julien Chièze from Gameblog said that the game was in serious trouble and Nintendo was trying to purchase Platinum Games.
 

Eolz

Member
That's a big shame if true. While the footage until now didn't look too hot, it still was a Kamiya game, and he's great at proving everyone wrong time and time again.
It'll be interesting to see what will be next for him after that if true, and hopefully, let him work on a sequel of one of his games since he wanted that since a long time.
Don't want to say that, but hopefully there'll be no layoffs as well and they'll just sweet to another contract asap.

It's a big blow to the Xbox line up. Honestly there's a serious lack of single player story driven games. Well, exclusive ones at least. Everything is literally MP focused. Forza 7, State of Decay, Sea of Thieves, Crackdown...(and I've heard Crackdown isn't going too hot either, though nothing as bad as this).

Unless they have a bunch of first party studios secretly tucked away somewhere (which they don't that I know of), I genuinely struggle to think of what surprises they could have at E3 *as of right now*. Halo 6 is to be expected, and I don't see publishers playing ball much anymore with 3rd party exclusives unless Microsoft gives the Xbox division a huge budget to throw cash around, which I highly doubt. Their major first party IP are on a decline with Halo doing less than before and Gears 4 not selling that well at all relatively speaking (not good enough to sustain a huge studio with that many workers and budget).

What's happening now is the exact opposite of what Xbox fans seemed to want out of a Phil spencer leadership.

I remember when he became head of Xbox and everyone was saying how there'll be tons of new games, but they're still coasting on announcements from 2013-2014 and in that time, games have been cancelled, multiple studios closed including Lionhead...

As a big Xbox fan since day one, I'm not very hopeful for the future. Scorpio won't do anything without software to push it heavily.

I feel that you're overreacting. Of course some studios are working on other stuff, and other studios are focusing on online just as much, if not more (like Ubisoft for example).

It's a big loss for sure, but not for Xbox as a whole. Scalebound was an online focused game before being a story focused one. The new Xbox division managed to be more interesting again, all while allowing PC players (and thus a bigger userbase) to enjoy the titles that should have been available sooner than that.

E3 will be HW focused for sure, and there's less exclusives than before, but that's the same as the first Xbox, without wasting as much money. I'm a lot more hopeful for Xbox's future than with Mattrick. They'll do better next time, just like they did with the 360 and other ventures.
 
Aaawww man, MS certainly does not need this kind of... well news :(

But yeah, project always just seemed like a prototype and nothing else
 
What the hell is going on at Microsoft. Between this and Fable Legends being announced years ago only to get cancelled, Lionhead shutting down, the bizarre nature of Phantom Dust's announcement and then revival, games underperforming, and too many games that have been announced early on that we've barely seen any of... Shit just seems dire.

I'm kind of worried about what this means for Platinum as well though... I really hope everyone there lands on their feet and that Kamiya and his team aren't too shaken by all this. :(
 
Apparently the cancellation came down to "business decisions", but I hope we can get more information than that one day.

I think more than anything I'm upset for Kamiya. If that tweet is true, I hope he gets well soon.
 

TheOfficeMut

Unconfirmed Member
Such a shame. The OneS is such a beautiful machine. It seemed like they were finally starting to regain some ground on Sony when it was announced and the PS4 Pro underwhelmed... Sony is pretty much the undisputed champ of this generation at this point. Sure Switch is coming, but I don't even know if you could classify that as a competitor. (I know Nintendo is trying to frame it as such, but it seems much more its own thing.)

They never, ever gained ground. Why is that difficult to understand?

As for the box itself, I don't think the cancellation of this game will change much with regard to sales. Whatever it sells in the coming months and year will not be because of this game's cancellation. I don't think its existence/nonexistence will have any noticeable influence on the Xbox One's sales.

With the Switch, I think it'll sell decently.
 

_woLf

Member
I wonder how much this had to do with Platinum working on Every Single Japanese Game Ever lately.

Maybe they bit off more than they could chew.
 

R3TRODYCE

Member
I always preferred Mattrick to Spencer and it looks like that'll continue. I'm glad I'm not an Xbox fan because it must be rough.
 

Requeim

Member
This was one of two MS backed games i was interested in. What a bummer.

The Phantom Dust remaster should still be safe, right?

...
 
I don't expect Crackdown 3 to make it this year at ALL

It just depends what it is.

Personally I'm wondering if its been turned into a F2P multi-player title, or a budge 20-30 dollar game loaded with microtransactions

What would they do with declining IPs?

If Sony had Halo right now, even at the rate Halo 5 sold it would be one of their largest IP's. A 5+ million unit seller. So they would sell millions upon millions of game to their consumers for profit. That's what they would do with it.

But all of this is moot and stupid anyways. None of these IP's are going anywhere. MS isn't going to sell the Xbox brand.
 

Zedark

Member
And there it is. I'll never buy a console for an unreleased game again. The allure of Ori and the Blind Forest was strong, but Scalebound was the main reason I bit the bullet. Not happening again.

To be fair, you never should, although Scalebound is a bit more aggrevating than other cases since it featured heavily until Gamescom 2016 still.
 
It's a big blow to the Xbox line up. Honestly there's a serious lack of single player story driven games. Well, exclusive ones at least. Everything is literally MP focused. Forza 7, State of Decay, Sea of Thieves, Crackdown...(and I've heard Crackdown isn't going too hot either, though nothing as bad as this).

Unless they have a bunch of first party studios secretly tucked away somewhere (which they don't that I know of), I genuinely struggle to think of what surprises they could have at E3 *as of right now*. Halo 6 is to be expected, and I don't see publishers playing ball much anymore with 3rd party exclusives unless Microsoft gives the Xbox division a huge budget to throw cash around, which I highly doubt. Their major first party IP are on a decline with Halo doing less than before and Gears 4 not selling that well at all relatively speaking (not good enough to sustain a huge studio with that many workers and budget).

What's happening now is the exact opposite of what Xbox fans seemed to want out of a Phil spencer leadership.

I remember when he became head of Xbox and everyone was saying how there'll be tons of new games, but they're still coasting on announcements from 2013-2014 and in that time, games have been cancelled, multiple studios closed including Lionhead...

As a big Xbox fan since day one, I'm not very hopeful for the future. Scorpio won't do anything without software to push it heavily.

Yeah. During 360 era there were plenty of exclusives that I wanted. Now I see absolutely nothing interesting by Microsoft since I'm not into Halo, Forza or GoW. (And from what I've heard, two of those franchises have gone downhill anyway)

Scalebound was the one thing by them I was slightly intrigued by, and now that is gone.
 

Kinyou

Member
It seems like a bunch of their exclusives are just toiling away...Cuphead, C3, etc. Where on earth is Below? There hasn't been one single peep about Ion to my knowledge since Dean announced it at E3.
Cuphead and Below seem to be well on there way, they just take time since they're from small studios.

Something like Crackdown 3 which we've barely seen has me more worried.
 

BitStyle

Unconfirmed Member
It's a big blow to the Xbox line up. Honestly there's a serious lack of single player story driven games. Well, exclusive ones at least. Everything is literally MP focused. Forza 7, State of Decay, Sea of Thieves, Crackdown...(and I've heard Crackdown isn't going too hot either, though nothing as bad as this).

Unless they have a bunch of first party studios secretly tucked away somewhere (which they don't that I know of), I genuinely struggle to think of what surprises they could have at E3 *as of right now*. Halo 6 is to be expected, and I don't see publishers playing ball much anymore with 3rd party exclusives unless Microsoft gives the Xbox division a huge budget to throw cash around, which I highly doubt. Their major first party IP are on a decline with Halo doing less than before and Gears 4 not selling that well at all relatively speaking (not good enough to sustain a huge studio with that many workers and budget).

What's happening now is the exact opposite of what Xbox fans seemed to want out of a Phil spencer leadership.

I remember when he became head of Xbox and everyone was saying how there'll be tons of new games, but they're still coasting on announcements from 2013-2014 and in that time, games have been cancelled, multiple studios closed including Lionhead...

As a big Xbox fan since day one, I'm not very hopeful for the future. Scorpio won't do anything without software to push it heavily.
Yeah. I really hope they have some good pocket announcements in store. Shame, because Scalebound seemed like it was making quite a bit of progress with their playable demo last E3.
 
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