[Book] The History of Rayman, Pix'n Love Editions.

[saerleiya]

How to Rayman 101.

XD. You got a good number, it seems. Also that's why it's really randomized in terms of Collector's Edition: you got a way smaller number than mine .

[OCG]

So happy with number. 101 is third best possible choice IMO.

[saerleiya]

So happy with number. 101 is third best possible choice IMO.

In that case, yes. But with 1000 books, you have 666, 777, 999, and 1000 .

[OCG]

This had only 500 copies though 666, 777, 999, and 1000 are better numbers I agree

[Haruka]

Its a funny number in my opinion. I got the number 410 which I think it doesn't sound bad either.

Alright. I finished to read the whole book. The last chapters talk about the world of Rayman, a brief description of the most notable characters, the future of Rayman and the fans of Rayman.

The chapter of "The world of Rayman" shows Motormike's (interesting) perspective about why the Glade is in constant transformation. The text is kinda short but it was nice to read. For the characters section there isn't anything new, except for three stuff that I am a bit in doubt about their veracity. I also sadly found several mistakes that I would like to point out:

- Some pictures have got their game identification titles wrong:

--> Page 160 - Rayman Origins (Its Rayman Legends actually)

--> Page 163 - Rayman Origins (2011) [Its Rayman Legends again)

--> Page 166 - You describe in Globox's text box that Uglette is playable in Rayman Origins and Legends under the name of Red Globox. This information is incorrect for two reasons. Uglette was indeed planned to be a playable character but she did not made it to the final version. Red Globox is actually Globox himself before his skin colour became blue because of an attack of a mosquito swarm. There's a complicated controversy inside the fan community relatively to this fact (that got explained through unlockable Mosaics in the PlayStation Vita version of Rayman Origins) since it makes a paradox with the informations given in The Knowledge of the Yellow Lums of Rayman 2 (Since Globox was suppousely already blue-coloured in his birth and the majority of his children are assumed to be blue as we can see in both Rayman 2 and Rayman Raving Rabbids). Its just a parenthisis that I am doing to this matter.

--> Page 166 - Again concerning Globox's text box. You describe Globox being playable for the first time in Rayman: Hoodlums Revenge. He was already playable in Rayman M/Arena, a game released 4 years before.

--> Page 168 - About the Lums text box. You describe the Lums having their first apparition in Rayman (1995). Their first appearance was actually done in Rayman 2 (1999).

--> Page 168 and 169 - These two pages are Lum-focused. Both own pictures of Electoons, the prink creatures with blue shoes. They shouldn't be here.

--> Page 172 - In the picture subtitle of "Rayman Origins (2011)", it actually corresponds to Rayman Legends (2013).

--> Page 174 - Ly's text box. You describe Ly to make an appearance in Rayman: Hoodlums Revenge and Rayman Raving Rabbids (Nintendo DS version). This information is false since she doesn't appear in both games.

--> Page 176 - In the picture subtitle of "Rayman 2 (1999)" is actually Rayman 3 (2003).

Those were the mistakes I found. Now for the two doubts I own:

--> Page 166 and 172 - You describe as Globox and Polokus belonging to the Glutes' specie. Was RayWiki the source or an official source of Ubisoft? I am asking this because there's also a hot discussion concerning the species' name of Globox inside the community.

--> Page 173 - You describe that Clark was planned to make a comeback in Rayman 3. Was it officially confirmed? (I have the slight feeling I did hear this because but I wanted to make sure)

--> Page 184 - You describe that André's objectif is to fill up the land with plums. Was it officially confirmed? In the game we only know that he wanted to access the Heart of the World to be able to conquer the Glade of Dreams. (Guys of the community, please correct me if I am wrong)

The chapter of Rayman's future is very short, containing only two pages. However...

- Michel Ancel still wants to create a new big 3D adventure of Rayman game with the narrative element.

- In endings of November of 2013 a new 3D Rayman project was being studied for Xbox One and PS4 consoles but the project stopped a month later. It was done a little 3D clip to show it apparently. However, the weak sellings of Rayman Legends make the Montepellier team think that the public doesn't want to see Rayman in the living room consoles anymore. [Which I personally think its not entirely true since several factors were behind the commercial failure. And I do think that what people really want to see is a new 3D adventure and not a 2D adventure.]

- Michel Ancel is considering to bring more Rayman games for the smartphones and tablettes, possibly with a narrative element

The final chapter is about the Rayman fans, which is as short as the chapter I talked about above. It is a short interview done to a Rayman fan born in 1990 that describes her experience with meeting Rayman back when Rayman 2 got released. It was a good read too since the feelings she shared are common to the community members who have R2 as their favourite title of the franchise.

For unseen things in these last chapters, there are few Rayman 1 sketches of Rayman, a Rayman Origins sketch of Rayman, a Barbara concept art to find out her design, a group Rayman Legends sketch, a battle concept of Rayman and Globox against the Armoured Toad without his armour and one background or other that seem new for me too.

And its all about the big Rayman book. Concerning the 48-pages book of the forgotten artworks, I'll be brief in what you can find inside it:

- Environmental concept arts of beaches, treasure caves, pirate ships, orient landscapes, haunted mansions, swamps, wooden forts and installations, dark trees, floating islands and other random landscapes.

- Concept arts of scrapped characters, possible enemies and possible bosses: monkeys, a sea dragon made of water, a sea monster with lots of eyes and tentacles, a whale, a giant spider, humans that seem to be based of the Huns, wooden enemies, vikings with a giant octopus-alike monster, a dragon emerging from the dephts of the soil, human king and human servants, odd creatures and cyclopycal armoured soldiers.

------------------------------------------

And like this I finish the entire reading of the L'Histoire de Rayman: Edition Origine. And my veredict is very positive. I loved the book from the beginning to the end. There are lots of interviews that are fluent and well integrated in the texts, with detail and rhythm. It grabs you in a way you just can't stop reading and want to read more. This is a book I've been wishing to exist since years and I'm very happy it happened! The book print is of great quality too and it shipped to me in 5 exact work days after the notification of shipping. Simply excellent. I definitely recommend it to every Rayman fan and think its a must-have item. Its well worth the money. Thank you so much for having written this book, Motormike. I am very thankful for it, I did enjoy the reading. I'm looking forward for the English release!

[Motormike]

Thanks for everything. Most of the mistakes (character section) were already noticed, but not modified in the final version :/ Hopefully the english version won't contain those mistakes. ^^

[OCG]

--> Page 166 and 172 - You describe as Globox and Polokus belonging to the Glutes' specie. Was RayWiki the source or an official source of Ubisoft? I am asking this because there's also a hot discussion concerning the species' name of Globox inside the community.

I am pretty sure that Rayman's official facebook page confirmed Globox to be Glute. I don't know any source where it was said for Polokus however.

[saerleiya]

However, the weak sellings of Rayman Legends make the Montepellier team think that the public doesn't want to see Rayman in the living room consoles anymore.

The sellings weren't weak actually, they were weak when compared to the impact this game should have had on the market, and the expected sales. Moreover, as it is shown in the book, it was due to GTA V being released the exact same month and gathering all the attention. Something very similar happened for Origins as the sales took off only a few months after the release of the game, because of a few other games this time too (Although you can argue that GTA V was on another level in terms of production, as more than 200M$ were spent for its production).
However, I can't deny that the impact of Rayman games on living room consoles is slowly running out of "ammo". Origins and Legends were great games, but with the Rabbids mania which was already there on Wii and Wii U, I would like Ubisoft to avoid creating another "Origins-like" Rayman game (said, by using UbiArt Framework). I'm afraid it would be a big flop.

--> Page 184 - You describe that André's objectif is to fill up the land with plums. Was it officially confirmed?

Yes it was: here is a file produced for the promotion of the game prior to its release in 2003. It is in French, of course, but I can assure youit is talking about André filling up the Glade with plum fields for massive plum juice production :
Rayman 3 promotion manual

It was on the French Wiki.

[Haruka]

Ah, that is why I could not find it in the English wiki. Maybe it is pertinent to include this information in the English page.

Concerning the sales, I think the public is more turned to 3D games nowadays. Even the Rayman community in general wants a 3D return, and for this reason I think it is risky to launch a third 2D game. I fear it would lead to the same consequences as TV Party had in the community: people were fed up.

[OCG]

I actually disagree and think that as long as new game is not launched around same time when new CoD and GTA are getting released, 3D or 2D - it won't matter, it would sell probably like Origins or even better than both Origins and Legends.

I fear it would lead to the same consequences as TV Party had in the community: people were fed up.

That was because game was just bad and uninteresting. Mario Party had a lot of sequels and people are never fed up. Same with 2D Mario games. Nintendo can make one each year if they want and it will be massive success and nobody would complain that it is same thing like last one. As long as game is changed a bit and has some tweaks here and there, and not released at wrong time, it will succeed.

[Master]

If memory serves, Origins released in November 2011, same time Skyrim and most of the 2011 bigguns got released. Legends released around the same time GTA V came out. While there's no official word on it, it'd be logical to conclude that both titles probably had hampered sales in some capacity as a consequence.

As for the direction the series should go in, well, that's a tricky 'un. I'm part of the crowd who'd like to see an open world (or Metroidvania type) style game with a return to Rayman 2's tone and sense of lore, though given the UbiArt duology, such a move might alienate more recent fans of the series. Right now, however, my main hope is that Rayman's 20th is celebrated in a style more evocative of Sonic Generations, or failing that, Kirby's 20th. I'd hate to see Rayman get the same treatment Mario got for his 25th, or the outright ignoring that happened with Samus' and Metroid's 25th.

[saerleiya]

If memory serves, Origins released in November 2011, same time Skyrim and most of the 2011 bigguns got released. Legends released around the same time GTA V came out. While there's no official word on it, it'd be logical to conclude that both titles probably had hampered sales in some capacity as a consequence.

Origins, however, saw its sells increase a lot after a few months, on the contrary to Legends, which was meant to do a bit better as Ubisoft found out the "biggest" flaws of Origins and added some nice stuff here and there...plus the delay of the game was more than justified considering all the extra content we got.

though given the UbiArt duology, such a move might alienate more recent fans of the series.

Let's not talk about Rabbids then.

I actually disagree and think that as long as new game is not launched around same time when new CoD and GTA are getting released, 3D or 2D - it won't matter, it would sell probably like Origins or even better than both Origins and Legends.

I personnally don't know how they could do better than Legends by using UbiArt Framework only: to my mind, quality-wise, Legends was using the engine and its capabilities to their maximum potential. The next game would better be VERY innovative in order not to feel underwhelming/repetitive when compared with Legends.
Ubisoft felt the incredible potential of the "new 2D Rayman" after all the feedback Origins gathered in only a few months. Do not forget that Legends was also produced because it was worth the investment. I don't know if a third one is worth the try. Maybe, but Ubisoft gotta be more careful this time: there isn't as big as room for improvement this time than there was for Legends to come out.

[Haruka]

Please, no more packs/compilations a la "The Rayman Collection" or "Rayman 10th Anniversary".

What would really blow me away and work best as a celebration of the 20th anniversary would be the reveal of a R1 remake with the same treatment of Oddworld: New 'N' Tasty (I know I talk about this a lot).

Since chances of a new Rayman game being released/revealed next year are slim, I have got a plan for my own way to celebrate the 20th anniversary. It is just a matter of time investiment...

[GOT4N]

Wait, it's written in book that they won't do Rayman on living rooms consoles anymoar?

[incognito]

Yeeaaaaaahhh ! Pc powaaaaaaaaa !

Oh, and don't Forget the Linux users ubi, please. Rayman Legends doesn't work with wine.

I have few hints for Ubisoft.

Free engine.

Add the possibility to make à Linux portage if the game doesn't support linux.

[Master]

If memory serves, Origins released in November 2011, same time Skyrim and most of the 2011 bigguns got released. Legends released around the same time GTA V came out. While there's no official word on it, it'd be logical to conclude that both titles probably had hampered sales in some capacity as a consequence.

Origins, however, saw its sells increase a lot after a few months, on the contrary to Legends, which was meant to do a bit better as Ubisoft found out the "biggest" flaws of Origins and added some nice stuff here and there...plus the delay of the game was more than justified considering all the extra content we got.

Well, I can only speculate. Fair point, though Origins did have quite a few price cuts after release, if memory serves. I do know there were members here who weren't so keen on paying the full price, let alone outside the forums. We can only speculate without numbers, but I think that sales probably picked up later down the line.

As for Legends, well, it began as a Wii U exclusive, I think that probably turned some off from the get-go. But then there were the delays, and the terribly handled multiplatform delay, which probably brought some interest back from other console players, but I know that left quite a sour taste with Ninty fans. I think also that Legends came out in a different time to Origins in a way, Origins was announced back when Sonic 4 was a thing, and 2D platformers were making a sort of comeback. Legends built upon Origins, but I don't know if there was still interest at that point.

though given the UbiArt duology, such a move might alienate more recent fans of the series.

Let's not talk about Rabbids then.

Fair enough, I recall my own 10 year old self's disappointment, though the Rabbids made quite a cash cow for Ubi in their prime, I remember things like the "Rabbid Disownership Club" being rife in Rayman Fanbases.

I personnally don't know how they could do better than Legends by using UbiArt Framework only: to my mind, quality-wise, Legends was using the engine and its capabilities to their maximum potential. The next game would better be VERY innovative in order not to feel underwhelming/repetitive when compared with Legends.
Ubisoft felt the incredible potential of the "new 2D Rayman" after all the feedback Origins gathered in only a few months. Do not forget that Legends was also produced because it was worth the investment. I don't know if a third one is worth the try. Maybe, but Ubisoft gotta be more careful this time: there isn't as big as room for improvement this time than there was for Legends to come out.

Hmm, I think that's probably why other studios have given it a shot now, to come up with things using a different mindset, such as Child of Light.

[Motormike]

What would really blow me away and work best as a celebration of the 20th anniversary would be the reveal of a R1 remake

Let's say it's not impossible...

[OCG]

Please, no more packs/compilations a la "The Rayman Collection" or "Rayman 10th Anniversary".

Agreed. Enough is enough. Rayman has to be one of the franchises with most packs/compilations. Making new one would not improve anything.

Only thing I can suggest to Ubisoft is to Add Rayman 2 and Rayman 3 on Steam for download (Rayman 2 is avalible for those who pre-ordered RO btw) and it would be nice if Truner could get Ubisoft to publish Rayman Optimum but none of these are priority tbh.

What would really blow me away and work best as a celebration of the 20th anniversary would be the reveal of a R1 remake with the same treatment of Oddworld: New 'N' Tasty (I know I talk about this a lot).

I don't blame you for talking about this a lot.
I want same thing to happen as well. It is best step for future of the franchise.

Since chances of a new Rayman game being released/revealed next year are slim, I have got a plan for my own way to celebrate the 20th anniversary. It is just a matter of time investiment...

What is it? Playing Rayman games for 20 hours without pause

[Master]

Hmm, even if Rayman doesn't get anything good, we're still a community dedicated to him, I'm sure we'll all find a way to celebrate the milestone.

[Haruka]

Not exactly, I prefer to not reveal right now.