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Gematsu: Sony to hold Playstation Experience event in December

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I have to wonder RE: Crash, why Sony can't license the IP from Activision, in return for making and marketing the game.

They get an exclusive crash, Activision gets a spilt of profits for a game they had no interest in making.

Its not like Activision is doing much new with the IP anyway.

Sony doesn't need to buy the IP at all. The series isn't going to be a huge seller anymore, just license one game to provide diversity and a small sweetener to the playstation fanbase.
 

JordanN

Banned
Platformers are niche (bar Mario) and would not push many units on PS4.

Hope to hell its not Crash, those days are gone and most don't care.

Niche is a good thing.

PS4 is in no danger of not selling so Sony should be pushing for software diversity now.

PS2 showed you can still have niche games but still dominate.
 

Amir0x

Banned
I have to wonder RE: Crash, why Sony can't license the IP from Activision, in return for making and marketing the game.

They get an exclusive crash, Activision gets a spilt of profits for a game they had no interest in making.

Its not like Activision is doing much new with the IP anyway.

Yeah I mean I'm sure Sony can make the deal sweet for Activision if they wanted it.

If Sony REALLY had the will, I don't know why Activision would block it. Of course it's not like they haven't surprised me with their toolery in the past, so who knows :p
 

sn00zer

Member
I have to wonder RE: Crash, why Sony can't license the IP from Activision, in return for making and marketing the game.

They get an exclusive crash, Activision gets a spilt of profits for a game they had no interest in making.

Its not like Activision is doing much new with the IP anyway.

Sony owns way to many IPs to bother with spending that much on one they dont own
 
PS2 showed you can still have niche games but still dominate.

One could make an argument that PS2's wide sweeping variety was a portion of what allowed it TO dominate.

I realize costs and markets are different, but there are also different ways to distribute games and different ways to develop them nowadays that can be used to offset that.

Best case scenario is PS4 gets some exclusive content and marketing campaign but that's it.

This is actually my prediction. Crash's resurgence of awareness the past year or so most likely didn't go unnoticed. It's all a matter of who noticed it and who sees what amounts potential in it.
 
Spyro was in the first Skylanders game. Never since...
Also it was renamed from Spyro Skylanders into Skylanders.

Spyro is a playable character in all the Skylanders games and one of the more popular figures the last time I checked -- Activision's also always touted that the toys stay compatible with games going forwards.

I can't see them relenting on him.

Japanese.

Too much history there to ignore, especially on the 20th anniversary event for a Japanese console.

There is only one answer.

VSF2vvT.jpg
 

Sayad

Member
A Crash game in this day and age would be weird.

A Jak & Daxter game could work though.
All that a Crash game need to work is solid platforming and good level design. I think it have more of a chance than Jak & Daxter. Collectibles platformers lost their relevance before the end of the PS2 gen, and I don't think an action platormer like Jak2/3 would have much appeal too.
 
All that a Crash game need to work is solid platforming and good level design.

This, decent fan service to the first couple of games, and some form of way to make it more replayable (score attack/time attack with leaderboards, etc) and I honestly think it's a megaton.
 
Spyro was in the first Skylanders game. Never since...
Also it was renamed from Spyro Skylanders into Skylanders.

The problem with Spyro is he was redesigned for Skylanders. That causes merchandising issues, especially considering the nature of that IP.

Crash is just this thing thats there for Activision. Its something they inherited and made a little money on. Its not even a million grossing franchise for them, much less billion.

If you look who they gave the cancelled Crash games to, you can tell they dont give a shit about them. They give their licensed properties more attention.

A exclusive crash doesn't hurt their branding in anyway, its just a nice bit of pocket change for doing F all.

Sony is the block here. They dont like spending money on any game which they don't own the ip. If they offered the same deal Microsoft has been offering to insomnaic and capcom, Activision will have no problem with it.
 
Spyro is a playable character in all the Skylanders games and one of the more popular figures the last time I checked -- Activision's also always touted that the toys stay compatible with games going forwards.

I can't see them relenting on him.

Still doesnt say that they arent gonna sell the Spyro IP.
Because if you sell an ip you can still negotiate stuff. Like "Can we still use Spyro in Skylanders?" and stuff like that.

In the end it would be a great Deal for Sony and Activision. Activision has gone away from a Spyro game to a new IP trough a spinoff. Now if they can get a Spyro game from Sony... that is also advertising Skylanders. Sony needs to Pay. Activision gets money. Sony makes a Game. Activision gets new costumers.
And merchandising sells like cupcakes.

In the end a Win Win situation on Paper.
 
Its not even a million grossing franchise for them, much less billion.

I appreciate the sentiment of this post, but the only Crash game to come out on consoles under the Activision banner was Mind Over Mutant, which as I've mentioned in this thread sold surprisingly well. They didn't even have to pay for the game, considering it was a Sierra project from before the merger was finalized. They did almost ZERO marketing for it and it sold fairly well. I can't get a source on the actual numbers, but it wasn't a flop.

Meanwhile, the iOS racer dominated the iOS chart for like, a year or more and had a successful sequel as well. It was beating out things like Bejeweled and Tetris at a much higher price point. Crash isn't a billion grossing franchise (for them), but it wasn't a slouch for what they did with it either.

you can still negotiate stuff. Like "Can we still use Spyro in Skylanders?"

In the end a Win Win situation on Paper.

This is true, but as you say -- it works on paper.
 

Tagg9

Member
Still doesnt say that they arent gonna sell the Spyro IP.
Because if you sell an ip you can still negotiate stuff. Like "Can we still use Spyro in Skylanders?" and stuff like that.

In the end it would be a great Deal for Sony and Activision. Activision has gone away from a Spyro game to a new IP trough a spinoff. Now if they can get a Spyro game from Sony... that is also advertising Skylanders. Sony needs to Pay. Activision gets money. Sony makes a Game. Activision gets new costumers.
And merchandising sells like cupcakes.

In the end a Win Win situation on Paper.

I'm sorry, but that makes no sense whatsoever. They've repositioned Spyro as a completely different brand (albeit better known as Skylanders). Creating a 3D platformer starring Spyro would sell an insignificant number of copies, while also creating brand confusion.
 

joecanada

Member
So SOCOM is back!?! Holy shit!

Just let me be...Go with it.

Well it died a horrible death so to revive it would take some smarts at least... Smooth gameplay of socom confrontation that actually worked and could connect to servers (confrontation had major bugs that absolutely killed it) would shit all over cod right now... For a dedicated mp game cod is absolutely shit right now... Lag, hit detection, server issues, what could possibly be worse in a mp game?
 

JordanN

Banned
In the case of the Crash I.P, why doesn't Sony do what Nintendo did with Fatal Frame?

Tecmo still owns the I.P, but it's gotten to a point where only Nintendo publishes it now.
 
In the case of the Crash I.P, why doesn't Sony do what Nintendo did with Fatal Frame?

Tecmo still owns the I.P, but it's gotten to a point where only Nintendo publishes it now.

Fun fact: This is actually how the original four Crash games were published. Sony did the publishing work, Naughty Dog created the IP, but Universal owned it (which became Vivendi Universal, which became Activision Blizzard, which is now simply Activision again -- ownership of Crash has never "technically" changed) and had Naughty Dog under a contract to develop games for them.
 

Mifune

Mehmber
At the Naughty Dog 20th Anniversary art show closing, someone asked about Crash and the Naught Dog guy said that they have a great relationship with Activision and wouldn't be against working on the series again. He hinted that Activision is open to letting them work on it, too.

I never put much stock in the Crash rumors but this made me think that maybe there's something to them after all.
 
Fun fact: This is actually how the original four Crash games were published. Sony did the publishing work, Naughty Dog created the IP, but Universal owned it (which became Vivendi Universal, which became Activision Blizzard, which is now simply Activision again -- ownership of Crash has never "technically" changed) and had Naughty Dog under a contract to develop games for them.

Huh, so all that's left is to find the ballsiest developer to make game based on a character that hasn't had a good game since the late 90's and a genre that's pretty much dead, except for Mario or course.
 

JordanN

Banned
Huh, so all that's left is to find the ballsiest developer to make game based on a character that hasn't had a good game since the late 90's and a genre that's pretty much dead, except for Mario or course.
Hand it off to Ready at Dawn.

It will give them work after The Order, and they already have platformer experience with Daxter.
 
Okay, here's my guess on the old IP. I was thinking Colony Wars may be getting the VR treatment, and I hope it is, but then I realized something.

King's Field will be 20 years old ten days after the PSX. The original was kind of a breakthrough title for console gaming, giving players a new way to experience an RPG.

So how better to celebrate the 20th anniversary of both the platform and the game than reimagining it for Morpheus, to once again blow players minds by giving them something they've never experienced before? Just like the original did 20 years ago.

[music swells]
 
Spyro was in the first Skylanders game. Never since...
Also it was renamed from Spyro Skylanders into Skylanders.

As much as I'd like to be able to say this was true, my kid's trap team game, giants game, swap force game all say otherwise. In fact, I think he's one of the few characters that has shown up in every line up each year, my kid has a few Spyro figures. He isn't featured in the narrative but he's always there.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
As much as i loved the original PS Crash games, i have to wonder where the obsession people have with bringing it back is coming from. Its been almost20 years since Crash 1 came out, Naughty Dog is not the same, Playstation as a brand is not the same.

Its a nostalgia trip of old fans that would not rake in any dividends without real talent behind such a platforming game, something you can't guarantee at all these days.

Again, Naughty Dog has basically no relation to the franchise at this point, the oldest person in the team is like one guy who joined when they were making Crash 3...you'd have to have someone with real skill to take an IP like that and try and bring it back and have it mean anything outside of memories 99% of people don't care about anymore.

Its completely different from something like Jak, which is still fresh, and can atleast stand on its own with an interesting lore that could be updated to be less ham while still keeping the style.
 

nbnt

is responsible for the well-being of this island.
Imagine Sony get the IP back, give it to a B tier dev, make a flop like PSASBR...
That's exactly what I think would happen if they ever get it back. And no one will buy it, just like PSASBR and TM. (Don't say everyone wants a new Crash game. Remember how "everyone" on every forum wanted a Sony Smash clone?..)
 
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