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Do you buy/play licensed games?

J

Johnas

Member
I've been thinking about this recently, and I came to realize I haven't bought a single licensed game this generation. Of course by licensed I mean games based on movies, comic book characters, etc. like Riddick, X-Men Legends, or Ultimate Spider-Man.

It's really not a deliberate, conscious decision, it's just that licensed games fail to grab my attention like original IPs (God of War) or existing classic gaming franchises (Zelda, Final Fantasy). In the past I played some truly horrendous ones (Back to the Future NES) but also some really fun ones (Duck Tales).

I know that I have missed some great games due to this, I've seen/read the praise Riddick garnered last year, but in all honesty it doesn't bother me much because I have trouble finding time to play the other games I do want to play. What I was wondering was, does anyone else do this, intentionally or unintentionally? I'm aware that the typical "hardcore gamer" is potentially less drawn to these types of games, since they're more easily considered mainstream titles, but I know there are plenty of people here who do buy and play them. Your thoughts.
 
The only one I've bought during the current generation is Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

I thought it was quite good for a hack and slash.
 
Wario64 said:
i dont care if it's licensed. if it's good, i'll play it
Click to expand...

As a rule, I avoid 'em. Exceptions include the LotR games, Astro Boy, and... little else, I guess.
 
Honestly I'm sterotyping people now. I have no problem with licensed games for the most part. Only thing that agrivates me with mainstream games is when "ghetto" people come into my store and be like "YEA Dawg dat game I cap peoplez" or "Madden 2006 iz wayyyyy betta than 2005". Granted I don't hate GTA style games or NFL games, but it is when stupid people try and talk to me about those games. I just want to push them back into the glass counter.

But thats just me, sure its bringing more licensed games and much more people to gaming. But I crave for intelligent gamers that come into my work that I can talk about older games / new games, games ranging from Pikmin and Katamari to Madden and Socom.

While this is a bit off topic, these examples heavly influence my perspective of games these days.

Wario64 said:
i dont care if it's licensed. if it's good, i'll play it
Click to expand...
But this is my simple answer to the question.
 
Wario64 said:
i dont care if it's licensed. if it's good, i'll play it
Click to expand...

My problem with license based is that it seems that a different set of criteria seems to be applied with license based games, it's as tho the license itself sometimes is a get of criticism card.

For example I recall reading through IGN's review of Spider-Man 2: The Movie game, the text and score given seemed to be at odds with one another. The text made it sound like a deeply flawed game but hey it captured the spirit of being Spider-Man! When you swung around town it really felt like you were controlling Spider-Man, pity nothing else surrounding those basic mechanics was all that compelling or entertaining. When I eventually picked up the game that's what I experienced, the fun of swinging around as Spider-Man, everything else surrounding the core mechanics were really fucking boring. It's not fun stopping the same few random crimes ad nauseum, delivering pizzas, or even completing the main events.

I take every review of such games with a grain of salt because it seems that many are written by fans of whatever the source material is and are willing to over look certain flaws because of it. Riddick was great while it lasted, but it's still the exception and not the rule when it comes to such games.
 
Occasionaly

If the game has a Teminator or Buffy license I'm all over it,instant buy on day one. But for the most part if I'm somewhat interested in a licensed game I'll probably give it a rent,see if I like it or not. I don't instantly hate them,it just pays to be cautious is all.

As someone said earlier-if the game is good then I'll buy it.
If it sucks and theyre both the two franchises I spoke about above,I'll still buy them.:lol
 
I have to admit that I shy away from licensed game --- I don't think it's a consious decision.....
If a game is good, then it's good - I'll give it a go...

but when i chunk down $39+ for something, I like it to be an entirely new experience ...... Honestly, I've even been shying away from many sequels lately too
 
I think the first one I got for consoles was LOTR the two towers, but I didn't play it long (hard!) I also own KOTOR, which I play on and off.

Playing Xmen Legends II on my PC right now, and it's a bit simplistic but fun
 
I used to really love lucas arts star wars games (xwing vs. tiefighter) but I really can't get into any of the new SW games.

Other than that not really... though that king kong game does look sweet^^
 
Sometimes.

I really enjoyed Spiderman on the Playstation even with a lot of it's annoying game play flaws (unreliable web swinging, and some other issues I can't recall at the moment).

The Spiderman movie game just pissed me off though. Still had some niggling control issues, and overall it just wasn't as enjoyable as the original since it was trying oh so hard to cash in on the movie hype.

And Bruce Campbell f@cking sucks. Stan Lee > Bruce Campbell!

So that rules out Spiderman 2, and Ultimate Spiderman is so far removed from the Spiderman comics I know and love that I could really care less. I watched some videos and aside from Spidey and Venom, I was like - Who the f@ck are these assclowns?! Stupid Marvel.

I got burned on that rubbish EA LotR beat'em up. Dynasty Warriors it was not. The second one was better, but that's like choosing between a turd with corn and one without. I'd rather not eat feces at all.

Batman Rise of Sin Tzu was almost one of this generation's best beat'em ups; if not for that god damned awful timer! That was so game breaking. :(
 
Sure a lot of great worlds that need to have games made out of them are out there!
 
Oh, I was wrong - I do have one licensed game.

1011700532-00.jpg


I beat it. Twice. And I almost beat it a third time. Not exactly the proudest period of my life.
 
For current gen, all I have is Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and X-Men Legends. Marvel vs. Capcom 1 and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure plus a few others if you count Dreamcast.
 
I bought The Punisher, and I really liked it. It was a solid 3rd action shooter in the vein of Max Payne, the gameplay was nice, the story was cool. A solid B grade title
 
Uh, the hell?

I'd never seen Pitch Black. I had no knowledge of it or the newer movie priot to playing Escape from Butcher Bay. It was amazing.

Yeah, pretty odd to skip out on that sort of thing because it's liscensed.
 
I was at a birthday party tonight and some expectant relative of the GF was showing everyone the stuff she had purchased for her child. She pulled out this fabric that had peanuts characters playing baseball and a snoopy doll. Every one was like "ahhh thats so cute" and all I could think to myself was "Oh shit I would so buy a cel shaded Peanuts Baseball game if it were good"
 
Not really, because most of them are shit. The only ones I've owned and enjoyed are:

Tiny Toons: Buster Busts Loose (SNES)
The Lawnmower Man (SNES)
Goldeneye (N64)
Die Hard Trilogy (PS1)
 
Licensed games haven't exactly been stellar on the whole, so I've not bought many. However, in the last year I've had more money to spend on games than before, so I've bent this a bit. I bought LOTR: The Two Towers and DBZ: Budokai. Not games I'd get for their own merits, but to get a bit of a kick out of an interactive 3D version of a franchise I enjoy, there are worse ways to spend $15.
 
Goldeneye is still the only great game based on a movie license. There are a few decent games based on a license, though.
 
ItÂ’s not a conscious decision where I say, "Oh, it's licensed? Guess I wonÂ’t be buying it then."

It just happens that none of them interest me, so I don't buy them.

If thereÂ’s ever a licensed game that interests me IÂ’d buy it no problem. Speaking of which, King Kong looks okay.
 
I have a lot based on licenses... If it's a comic book license I'll tend to gravitate towards it. Mostly good but sometimes bad.

I buy all the WWE games for the various console because I'm a huge wrestling nuts, as well as the imports like King of Colosseum and All Star Pro Wreslting & Fire Pro.

But as long as it's good I'll play it. If it's good I'll keep it, if it's bad it's trade bait.
 
I like licensed games. I admittedly wind up renting them most times cause they wind up being so disappointing. But I do enjoy having a chance to play a favorite character from a movie/show etc... The Lord of the Rings games were quite good. The Spiderman games are cool (I haven't tried Ultimate Spiderman yet).

But if it's a good then it's a good game.

I can't believe someone would avoid Riddick after all the positive reviews it's gotten.
 
I never play licensed games.

Either I like the license the game is spawned from, and will have already seen the movie /read the book and the whole game will have a 'been there done that' feel to it ruining the experience.

or

I won't like the license and I shouldn't be playing the game based on an idea I find stupid in the first place.
 
I used to avoid them like the plauge in previous generations and even early on in this one, but they've made serious strides then. Riddick and KOTOR are EASILY two of the best games released this entire generation, on any platform. The marvel based games, Hulk ultimate destruction, Spdey 2 and ultimate spidey, Xmen Legends 1 and 2 have also been great. The DBZ games have steadily improved, and there have been suprises like Buffy The vampire slayer.

I think for the most part, the stigma of licensed games automatically being inferior has been erased..atleast in my mind.
 
Wario64 said:
i dont care if it's licensed. if it's good, i'll play it
Click to expand...

Well said. Also speaking of licensed games, I would so love to see a game based on:

Wizard of Oz
Thundercats
Wonder Woman
Captain Marvel
Hawkman/Hawkgirl
JSA/JLA(though a JLA action-rpg is already being done)


put those franchises into the hands of the right developer, then I could see something really great happening.
 
Ancestor_of_Erdrick said:
It's really not a deliberate, conscious decision, it's just that licensed games fail to grab my attention like original IPs (God of War) or existing classic gaming franchises (Zelda, Final Fantasy). In the past I played some truly horrendous ones (Back to the Future NES) but also some really fun ones (Duck Tales).
Click to expand...


Its interesting that you make an comparison between original IP games and those that are licensed.

I'm more than willing to bet if developers treated licensed games in the same manner as does Square Enix with Kingdom Hearts, then licensed games would be good. In the end, its sucks when the fans of the IP suffer because devs are short-changing the quality of the product.

This is also why it makes me wonder why when it comes to MageKnight for exsample, why none of Namco's arcade teams could've handled the franchise.
 
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