Malefactor wrote on 06/20/16 at 00:11:19:
I'm happy that War of the Monsters seems to be getting a resurgence in interest over the years. It never really had it's day in the sun back in 2002/2003 and yet it seems to have thrived as monster fans have learned about it over the years. Games like War appeal to a broader base than the hard pounding TMB. That's one reason that I think it's been a mistake to keep the TM franchise in the M category over and over again. Multiplayer games do better most of the time the more people who can join in.
TMBO is another story. Old online games rarely get brought back because new players, and even old players, are much more nitpicks about the technology changes that come. TMBO came about before their was any cheat protection (which takes money to fix), it has none of the flashier server options of today (instead an old scroll option), it has a hidden chat feature (money to fix), and no actual vocal chat (you could use party chat but you couldn't talk to opponents - money to fix), and finally, the net code itself while remarkably sturdy playable (seriously, I give them props for how playable it is), it unfortunately makes it look like people who are REALLY good at the game are cheating, even though they're not. There's not way to fix that without redoing the whole dang thing, and then you'd probably have to dumb the gameplay down and alienate the hardcore fans who are most likely to support it.
I agree TMB being packed with TMX was probably over concern for TMX's quality, so that bundle made it seem worth the full price of a game.
It was odd for Sony to wait so long to release the PS3 version of TMB though - and there was somehow a problem with unlocking SweetTooth in War of the Monsters on PS3 because WotM couldn't identify the TMB ps3 save file. I am much happier with PS4 TMB (than the PS3 version) but the lack of TMBO gives the game so much less replay-ability that it ought to have. I figure the primary reason is money, for the server and the fixes it'll need, but I think players would be likelier to spend more on TMBO than what they paid for TMB ps4. 10 dollars for TMB ps4 is fair but not a great deal if you've already played through the game. 15 (max 20) dollars for TMBO ps4 is a bargain if it were HD, had trophies, and a better server. I do however see absolutely no problem with leaving in the Chat Code tbh. PSN already offers text & voice chat, so even if a lot of players don't know the chat code, they could still communicate through PSN's features.
And I don't know about gameplay tuning for noobs - I don't think Sony would care, anyone can practice enough to get good, dumbing down gameplay doesn't dumb down the vets. Sony didn't seem to mind allowing TMX to launch with all its unbalanced gameplay problems either, and that was a full priced game. I don't see what Sony would gain by alienating hardcore TM fans either. That's something Capcom gets away with financially because they can live off past clout, but it would backfire if done with TM. Without the hardcore fans, TM would not have gone anywhere as a series. TM releases within the past decade or so (TMB for ps4/ps3, TMX, Head On: Extra twisted edition, TM1/2 on ps3)... pretty much all of them were released out an
obligation to the fans. I am sure Sony is proud of Twisted Metal, but I do not think they understand the fans or truly care for them outside of their money. They know the hardcore fans exist and will buy re-releases and incomplete TM games (TM Lost, TM2012), but when they are asked about the future of Twisted Metal, they respond with silence.