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FUSE is gold, first discs manufactured

What, exactly, does the regurgitation of this information in every Fuse thread accomplish? I mean, outside of the obvious embarrassing stereotype it reinforces.

I think people need to get over this whole Overstrike thing. That trailer was fantastic, but it, c'mon, it was a CGI trailer with zero gameplay. People have created this myth around the trailer. That game never really existed.
 
the box art wasn't focus grouped at all (if I remember right). The focus was on the Fuse weapons. At one point, Naya was in the front of my favorite execution. We ended up going a different way, and Dalton leads slightly (as he is the "leader" in the game)

and everyone who loves bringing up the 12 year old thing is talking about what the game was BEFORE the Overstrike reveal, just in case that point had been forgotten. Overstrike was the result of the focus groups. Fuse was the result of Overstrike not being fun.

Was the art style change intrinsic to adding the fun? I still don't follow you there. It would help if you better explained what changed.
 

Tagg9

Member
Was the art style change intrinsic to adding the fun? I still don't follow you there. It would help if you better explained what changed.

This was my first thought as well. I don't necessarily see why changing the art style would result in the game being more fun.

I get it if this is the result of Insomniac changing their vision for the game, but I don't get how the cartoony style prevented it from being fun.
 

Dysun

Member
Overstrike looked slightly more interesting than Fuse, but it's not the root of the problem. New IPs without a hook (or marketing) this late into the gen is a bad proposition
 

Metroidvania

People called Romanes they go the house?
the box art wasn't focus grouped at all (if I remember right). The focus was on the Fuse weapons. At one point, Naya was in the front of my favorite execution. We ended up going a different way, and Dalton leads slightly (as he is the "leader" in the game)

and everyone who loves bringing up the 12 year old thing is talking about what the game was BEFORE the Overstrike reveal, just in case that point had been forgotten. Overstrike was the result of the focus groups. Fuse was the result of Overstrike not being fun.

How does 'reinventing' the graphics somehow make something more fun? Does it lead to a more visceral 'feeling', does it better align players' expectation of the violence/power in the Fuse weapons by showing them in more realistic light? How is changing the typeset of the graphics to 'realism' as opposed to Overstrike's exaggerated style more 'fun'?

Not really seeing the rationale there if that's the case.

I think people need to get over this whole Overstrike thing. That trailer was fantastic, but it, c'mon, it was a CGI trailer with zero gameplay. People have created this myth around the trailer. That game never really existed.

If Overstrike never existed, a BLUR trailer for the reveal seems awfully odd, considering the investment such a trailer requires.

Even if your whole motivation for being a jerk in threads is because "It isn't the Team Fortress game you imagined you wanted that you didn't even pay attention to in the first place"...you're still being a jerk, and have probably already said your peace so...why come back to every Fuse thread? For the lulz?

What adolescent and trollish behavior. GAF, in a lot of instances, is absolutely on par with Reddit.

If your whole motivation in every thread is to come in and shame the naysayers, it's not really being conducive to discussion either.

Explaining/talking about your play-time impressions is one thing, and frankly, I've enjoyed reading some of your them.

But the constant (and at times fervent) defense of Insomniac/Fuse or shaming the 'haters' in almost every FUSE thread has led to my subtracting some value in your opinion, because (at least, from my own perspective) you're coming off like a fanboy instead of a passionate fan.
 

Radius

Member
Still undecided on this one.

On one hand it's from Insomniac so it's guaranteed to be fun, on the other hand I really dislike the game's art style. I hope Insomniac chose an interesting part of the game for the demo.

Though I do not wish the game to fail saleswise I'm afraid releasing it mere days before Naughty Dog's title - already blessed with insane amounts of hype - won't help. Fuse really should have been out by mid-May.

fuse digital comic from Radical (folks behind Oblivion comic/film) that gives some info and details about each of the four characters' backstories

Any plans to make those outfits available as DLC? That would instantly make the game much more appealing to me...
 
Having bought Blur when it came out, I feel that Fuse is in the same situation. Blur had no adverts, nobody cared, and it died. Blur was really fun, reviewed well, but it was destined to fail. After Blur, the company that made it went bust. I hope Insomniac has enough cash to survive, but Fuse may be a loss for the company
 
If Overstrike never existed, a BLUR trailer for the reveal seems awfully odd, considering the investment such a trailer requires.

I didn't mean it literally, more that the game never existed, to the consumer, as a valid reference point for Fuse. We never saw any gameplay footage, so it's hard to draw any real conclusions as to what Overstrike actually was, certainly in relation to what we've seen of Fuse. We never got to see how the Overstrike art style would have looked using the in-game engine.
 

Metroidvania

People called Romanes they go the house?
I didn't mean it literally, more that the game never existed, to the consumer, as a valid reference point for Fuse. We never saw any gameplay footage, so it's hard to draw any real conclusions as to what Overstrike actually was, certainly in relation to what we've seen of Fuse. We never got to see how the Overstrike art style would have looked using the in-game engine.

Personally, I felt that I learned a fair portion about Overstrike from the trailer.

We never saw actual footage, yes, but the key concepts were there. The alien weapons, team/character interaction with Dalton's descriptions/voiceovers, and the co-op nature possibility.

While Blur is an amazing studio for designing such trailers, personally, I (and presumably a lot of others) saw the trailer as showing off an evolutionary/humanistic approach to Ratchet's art style.

The disconnect between that 'expected' style and Fuse, combined with several other factors, such as:

-'realistic' shooter fatigue
-being a new IP in a long console generation
-the repetition of another grimdark/Brownness in some (not all) of the footage/screens released so far

have some people not really having a whole lot of hype for this game.

Personally, I'm not sure how the 'humor' will translate from Overstrike's more (seemingly, since as you said, we never did get any in-game footage) 'exaggerated' style into the more realistic 'Fuse' style without switching in tone from exaggerated funny to macabre funny, but that may be just me.

And like I said above, I'm not sure on how changing Overstrike to Fuse, as Jstevenson said earlier, was required to make the game 'fun'. Well, at least relating to the art design portion.
 

8byte

Banned
If your whole motivation in every thread is to come in and shame the naysayers, it's not really being conducive to discussion either.

Explaining/talking about your play-time impressions is one thing, and frankly, I've enjoyed reading some of your them.

But the constant (and at times fervent) defense of Insomniac/Fuse or shaming the 'haters' in almost every FUSE thread has led to my subtracting some value in your opinion, because (at least, from my own perspective) you're coming off like a fanboy instead of a passionate fan.

You think they shouldn't be shamed? I mean, there are quite a few threads every month talking about the "maturity" of the industry, yet as a gaming community (as a whole) we still don't display the level of maturity we expect in our games / industry. It's obnoxious, and frankly, tiring.

I'm always more than happy to post up impressions, etc, but very very few people are intersted in that. They'd much rather make .gifs, or take pot shots at the development team for "the lulz". Expressing how little interest they have, yet they are in every Fuse thread.

You might say "well it's not always the same people" to which I'd reply, it absolutely is, since all of them are on my ignore list, and that tends to make them stand out *just* a bit more.

So yes, I'm rather exhausted of coming into Fuse threads and expecting some sort of discussion, only to read pages upon pages of "bomba". I think we get it, people can move on...but they're frankly just too childish to do so (which is entertaining, considering how much they harp on the '12 year old' bit).

Personally, I felt that I learned a fair portion about Overstrike from the trailer.

We never saw actual footage, yes, but the key concepts were there. The alien weapons, team/character interaction with Dalton's descriptions/voiceovers, and the co-op nature possibility.

While Blur is an amazing studio for designing such trailers, personally, I (and presumably a lot of others) saw the trailer as showing off an evolutionary/humanistic approach to Ratchet's art style.

The disconnect between that 'expected' style and Fuse, combined with several other factors, such as:

-'realistic' shooter fatigue
-being a new IP in a long console generation
-the repetition of another grimdark/Brownness in some (not all) of the footage/screens released so far

have some people not really having a whole lot of hype for this game.

Personally, I'm not sure how the 'humor' will translate from Overstrike's more (seemingly, since as you said, we never did get any in-game footage) 'exaggerated' style into the more realistic 'Fuse' style without switching in tone from exaggerated funny to macabre funny, but that may be just me.

And like I said above, I'm not sure on how changing Overstrike to Fuse, as Jstevenson said earlier, was required to make the game 'fun'. Well, at least relating to the art design portion.

There is always a connection between visual elements, and how you interact with them. If the team didn't have their heart in the old art style, or they felt it prevented them from accomplishing their vision...well then I guess going with something they wanted more would impact the level of fun, no? I mean, if they don't have their heart in it, it probably won't be a good product, thus, little fun. I'd think, at least.

Also, you should watch more footage. The game isn't brown and grey. Jungle areas, blue hues in the mountains, colorful skies and sunsets...it's definitely not the Gears of War color palette you're imagining. I stream pretty regularly, and I can tell you that saturation and vibrancy don't translate very well across capture devices to your screen. I've played / seen some of these environments in person, and they look considerably different on Twitch, etc.
 
FUSE alternative box art:

4sTkog7.png
 

jstevenson

Sailor Stevenson
How does 'reinventing' the graphics somehow make something more fun? Does it lead to a more visceral 'feeling', does it better align players' expectation of the violence/power in the Fuse weapons by showing them in more realistic light? How is changing the typeset of the graphics to 'realism' as opposed to Overstrike's exaggerated style more 'fun'?

Not really seeing the rationale there if that's the case.

The combat / weapons weren't working. We took pretty radical measures to correct. Some might argue the visual style didnt need to change to get the combat where it is. But I don't think we ever get the combat as ood as it is without changing. If that makes sense
 

FStop7

Banned
No Insomniac hate here.

Bubsy wasn't as bad as everyone says, but let's face it - he was a Crash Bandicoot knockoff. That doesn't mean I'm hating, though.
 

sam27368

Banned
Huh? Why are people saying its going to bomb/where is the marketing? The games over a month from release, I'm sure it'll ramp up.
 
The combat / weapons weren't working. We took pretty radical measures to correct. Some might argue the visual style didnt need to change to get the combat where it is. But I don't think we ever get the combat as ood as it is without changing. If that makes sense

James, it really doesn't make sense and you still haven't explained how the combat/weapons and the visual style are linked. Did the change in the combat/weapons lead directly to dissonance between the visuals and the combat/weapons that needed to be rectified by moving to a more mature art style?

If that's true, you could have saved yourself a ton of grief by just saying that and giving one example instead of letting the narrative about 12-year-olds spin out of control and become the entire messaging of the game in the enthusiast community.
 
The combat / weapons weren't working. We took pretty radical measures to correct. Some might argue the visual style didnt need to change to get the combat where it is. But I don't think we ever get the combat as ood as it is without changing. If that makes sense

It doesn't to me, but its all good, you have a hard job dude, i wish you and your crew the best though.
 

AlterOdin

Member
Do we have any more media than a few pictures?

In my opinion/experience this doesn't bode well for the end result, but we will see.
 
You think they shouldn't be shamed? I mean, there are quite a few threads every month talking about the "maturity" of the industry, yet as a gaming community (as a whole) we still don't display the level of maturity we expect in our games / industry. It's obnoxious, and frankly, tiring.

I'm always more than happy to post up impressions, etc, but very very few people are intersted in that. They'd much rather make .gifs, or take pot shots at the development team for "the lulz". Expressing how little interest they have, yet they are in every Fuse thread.

You might say "well it's not always the same people" to which I'd reply, it absolutely is, since all of them are on my ignore list, and that tends to make them stand out *just* a bit more.

So yes, I'm rather exhausted of coming into Fuse threads and expecting some sort of discussion, only to read pages upon pages of "bomba". I think we get it, people can move on...but they're frankly just too childish to do so (which is entertaining, considering how much they harp on the '12 year old' bit).



There is always a connection between visual elements, and how you interact with them. If the team didn't have their heart in the old art style, or they felt it prevented them from accomplishing their vision...well then I guess going with something they wanted more would impact the level of fun, no? I mean, if they don't have their heart in it, it probably won't be a good product, thus, little fun. I'd think, at least.

Also, you should watch more footage. The game isn't brown and grey. Jungle areas, blue hues in the mountains, colorful skies and sunsets...it's definitely not the Gears of War color palette you're imagining. I stream pretty regularly, and I can tell you that saturation and vibrancy don't translate very well across capture devices to your screen. I've played / seen some of these environments in person, and they look considerably different on Twitch, etc.
Your film analogy makes me think you're not aware of Adam Sandler films and the comments they elicit from the "mature" film audience.

But seriously, some people just don't care for the game. They WANTED to care about it and others have a place in their hearts for Insomniac, so that explains the passion against it. I can imagine, as a fan and quasi-PR guy, that it can be quite exhaustive to read through this stuff. I think I always check into Fuse threads in hopes of something that will entice me. Hasn't happened.
 

8byte

Banned
Your film analogy makes me think you're not aware of Adam Sandler films and the comments they elicit from the "mature" film audience.

But seriously, some people just don't care for the game. They WANTED to care about it and others have a place in their hearts for Insomniac, so that explains the passion against it. I can imagine, as a fan and quasi-PR guy, that it can be quite exhaustive to read through this stuff. I think I always check into Fuse threads in hopes of something that will entice me. Hasn't happened.

Again, even if you check in hopes that something will entice you or interest you, why exclaim with every thread how it's gonna 'bomb so hard" or continue to harp on things you've already mentioned a dozen other times? It's silly, don't you think? Once I lose interest in something, I'll check out threads, maybe an OT, but I'm not going to waste my time typing replies "for the lulz", or to make a point...for the 5th time.
 

thumb

Banned
I listen to a number of gaming podcasts: Podcast Beyond, Giant Bombcast, Weekend Confirmed, Idle Thumbs, and sometimes others. My concern about Fuse is that I hear no one talking about it. Not a peep. That's rarely a good sign.

Has anyone heard any casual discussion of Fuse from press who have played it? I'm not interested in Previews (which seem far too generous as a rule) I'm interested in off-the-cuff judgments.
 

StuBurns

Banned
Again, even if you check in hopes that something will entice you or interest you, why exclaim with every thread how it's gonna 'bomb so hard" or continue to harp on things you've already mentioned a dozen other times? It's silly, don't you think? Once I lose interest in something, I'll check out threads, maybe an OT, but I'm not going to waste my time typing replies "for the lulz", or to make a point...for the 5th time.
I bet that's the 6th time at least you've posted basically the same thing.

Hypocrite.
 
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