Did Rabbids Really Ruin Rayman?

[sergiomonty]

Kids nowadays just enjoy wacky, colorful stuff.

That wasn't an intellectually lazy closing piece at all.

It actually isn't. As an animator I'm pretty close to the industry, so I have to put a constant eye on the demographic that we're looking for.

Last generation was more about the "feels" because there was a need to attend the oldest demographic, since kids weren't really interested in cartoons after the 2004 fiasco. Shows like Regular Show, Adventure Time and Steven Universe defined the standard of modern animation. They're entertaining, comedy focused, but they have heavy moments with very relatable issues. Since adults started enjoying animation again, kids started joining in, as adults work as role models for them. Now shows like Regular Show are getting cancelled... Adventure Time is next, and Steven Universe looks like it's finally reaching its climax. Why? because the children demographic of that era is growing up, and they no longer care about the continuity of 2010's cartoons. This is what creates this new generation of "LOL SO RANDOM" animation that started in 2013. The shows are overly saturated, noisy, very CalArts-clean in terms of artstyle...






Now... are those shows bad? well... not really, at least not all of them. We're just not the demographic anymore. Heck, I'm actually friends with Kyle, the creator of Mighty Magiswords. Shows nowadays are made EXCLUSIVELY to sell toys. Sure, back in the 80's that was a common practice, but now it is a mandatory requirement to have a show that encourages kids to buy the toys.


So yeah. I'm not being pessimistic or aiming for some "KIDS NOWADAYS DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOOD, THEY JUST WATCH STUPID SHIT NOW" scenario. I'm just stating the facts.

[Bradandez]

Thank God, AT fucking sucks. Hopefully SU gets the ax next.

Too bad people don't appreciate good cartoons like Wander Over Yonder.

[Tomazo]

I want Rayman games to be goofy, colorful and silly.

I agree with you, but the balancement should be strictly kept.
Imagine a Rayman game with the logo written in shiny Japanese letters. Then Rayman jumps in the screen and has big, shiny eyes and longer hair. He has ultimate powers, which make him shoot giant pink fireballs while he shouts.

...I was joking, I think there is a difference between them. I actually agree with that today's cartoons/games (for children) are more likely about to attract the eyes (although they have a poor artstyle), and not about telling something useful or giving a memorable experience. Although Rayman games are colourful and have a "silly" humour, I think they do it in a wise way, creating an original and enjoyable style. But today's cartoons' "colourfulness" just reminds me of fat American children eating hamburgers while laughing on the stupid jokes of Cartoon Network.

Rayman Origins has a great balancement in my opinion. It doesn't have a serious story, and it is colourful and silly. But it still has many values, so while it's all about funny characters and animations, it is a really quality work.

[Master]

Hmm, wasn't franchise driven shows always the case with CN? I know they got a lot of flak for cancelling the likes of Young Justice when it didn't sell.

As for the tone, I understand and while I don't like the situation he's presented, I do agree with what Sergio's stated. But at the same time, if Rayman is a niche, then why not embrace an alternative approach as opposed to trying to stick to modern trends? I guess embracing the niche could very well just hurt Rayman further, and while I'd like to see a more story driven approach like the 3D games, the UbiArt series is an approach I don't oppose.

Either ways, while 3D platformers aren't commonplace, we are seeing titles like Yooka-Laylee and the Crash remasters coming about, we don't know how they'll turn out, but maybe their success might inspire a new generation of 3D titles. A man can dream, no?

[Adsolution]

Now... are those shows bad? well... not really, at least not all of them. We're just not the demographic anymore. Heck, I'm actually friends with Kyle, the creator of Mighty Magiswords. Shows nowadays are made EXCLUSIVELY to sell toys. Sure, back in the 80's that was a common practice, but now it is a mandatory requirement to have a show that encourages kids to buy the toys.

So yeah. I'm not being pessimistic or aiming for some "KIDS NOWADAYS DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOOD, THEY JUST WATCH STUPID SHIT NOW" scenario. I'm just stating the facts.

responded in cartoon thread

[Animated-in-Life]

Personally, I didn't mind the Rabbids. Sure, they're stupid and they're unbearably annoying, but they can be OK.

[Attheshows]

I was angry when I played RR. Party games aren't really my thing.

[Master]

Eh, I'd understand being disappointed, but was it really that bad to incite anger?

[PluMGMK]

Playing it with a keyboard sure was!

[RayCarrot]

An analog stick was even worse on the console versions...

[Master]

Oh lord, that running game where you had to alternate the sticks. That killed the hands, and I'm fairly sure it didn't do the controller any favours.

[Keane]

Playing it with a keyboard sure was!

Lol, how is RRR on PC? That seems like even more of a butchered experience than the non-Wii console versions.

[Bzzit]

I played RRR on PC (Steam) a year or so ago. Never had issues with Keyboard controls, as the controller support was actually really good - in fact, the whole port was fine, with only one noticeable audio bug.

[RayCarrot]

I personally think the PC port is much better than the PS2/Xbox ones. The mouse controls, replacing the Wii ones, work pretty well.

[PluMGMK]

You're probably right. I can't really remember. I do remember the whole thing being frustratingly difficult, but without the payoff at the end one got from the previous games.

[Cairnie]

I only really have the PC version just to experiment with but I think some games work better with mouse/keyboard than say the console versions, others don't. The only other differences are a few visual ones like in a few games the Rabbids have orange eyes for some reason.

[Keane]

Oh well yeah, thinking about it a mouse is probably better than a controller for a motion-control game, but I imagine some of the minigames where it's all about trying to keep balance or pointing at the screen would be really lame when all that difficulty is replaced by a mouse that has all the precision a wiimote doesn't.

[Haruka]

The Super Clark mini-game Part 2 on PC is impossible to beat it.

[NyaNyaLily]

The Super Clark mini-game Part 2 on PC is impossible to beat it.

Impossible to get a perfect score or impossible to finish in the story mode?

[Haruka]

The story mode is beatable as you can still make Rayman get out of the dungeon, but beating all the Story Mode mini-games with sufficient score is not: the mini-game I mentioned is stupidly hard to accomplish it, probably a programming issue when porting.