• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Volition won't back down to negative feedback on Saints Row reboot trailer - says its just a shock reaction

LOLCats

Banned
KHOsbc1.jpg


That's a winning strategy right there.
Wow not even funny replies. Sounds just like woke twitter replies.

but you be you, new diverse volition.

this fucking franchise is over... lame
 
Games in 2021...

I could almost make a development checklist.
  • Ensure all female characters are as masculine as possible and all male characters as feminine as possible.
  • Include as many sassy one liners as we can (the more flamboyant the better)
  • Enemies should be mainly white guys
  • Characters should show an indifference to violence
  • Only enemies should be politically incorrect (that's how we know they are bad of course)
Geez, talk about forgetting your roots. Could this be any more woke?
 

Stuart360

Member
It's hilarious how disconnected these people are from their own audience. They think gamers want to play as Gen-Z hipster SJWs, but actually that's the kind of person most of them want to blow away with a large weapon. It just sums up the current cultural moment perfectly. The media just constantly feeds people this garbage and they're sick to death of it.
Fantastic post, funny too.
I dont really think its the low level devs themselves, i think its more mangament scared to death of the Twitter mob,

You're absolutely right though, if studios made a game where you are blowing away woke hipsters, it would be top 10 best selling game of the gen.
 

Kuranghi

Member
Everyone is being way to quick on the draw. It sounds like it's self aware of all this and taking a satirical approach to me. Let's actually see how it handles this stuff instead of acting crusty the second we see young people

We definitely are being quick on the draw but its because we've seen this happen a lot and the big "warning signs" are there, having said that your second sentence is quite mad to me. Can you point me to a modern piece of media that both incorporates all the themes/buzzwords this has and also rips the piss out of them that wasn't a tiny game and/or compeletly crucified by the progressive media?
 

recursive

Member
It does look very Fortnite-y to me but I'll wait to judge the finished product. That being said, I do prefer it when action games are on the more serious and/or realistic side. Young adults with student loans just doesn't do it for me. They can be homosexual, or people of color, that's all cool. But I just want the vibe to be serious.

I've seen many people on the internet say "oh, its because they're black isn't it?" which I think is not fair at all and such a cop-out conclusion. San Andreas is an amazing game, for example, and nobody has ever cared that CJ is black. Hell, as a white person, I wouldn't even want CJ to be white.
I hope it has a battle royale mode and I can get a Will Smith skin.
 

YCoCg

Member
Games in 2021...

I could almost make a development checklist.
  • Ensure all female characters are as masculine as possible and all male characters as feminine as possible.
  • Include as many sassy one liners as we can (the more flamboyant the better)
  • Enemies should be mainly white guys
  • Characters should show an indifference to violence
  • Only enemies should be politically incorrect (that's how we know they are bad of course)
Geez, talk about forgetting your roots. Could this be any more woke?
You forgot "Women need to have this hairstyle"
3AJessicaBickford.jpeg
 

Kuranghi

Member
It does look very Fortnite-y to me but I'll wait to judge the finished product. That being said, I do prefer it when action games are on the more serious and/or realistic side. Young adults with student loans just doesn't do it for me. They can be homosexual, or people of color, that's all cool. But I just want the vibe to be serious.

I've seen many people on the internet say "oh, its because they're black isn't it?" which I think is not fair at all and such a cop-out conclusion. San Andreas is an amazing game, for example, and nobody has ever cared that CJ is black. Hell, as a white person, I wouldn't even want CJ to be white.

Not only is it a cop-out it makes no sense because if you were a fan of the old games you have enjoyed an extremely diverse cast for years now. Major brain malfunction on that one, but then those people saying that aren't fans probably.
 
Just shows how they are completely out of sync to the actual player base. A lot of these guys just live inside the same bubble and then think that the whole world is alike. Diversity for them = thinking/behaving like them. Can't even be humble and listen to the true fans feedback.

I will eventually play this game, but so far they haven't shown anything that makes me hype it.
 
Last edited:
It does look very Fortnite-y to me but I'll wait to judge the finished product. That being said, I do prefer it when action games are on the more serious and/or realistic side. Young adults with student loans just doesn't do it for me. They can be homosexual, or people of color, that's all cool. But I just want the vibe to be serious.

I've seen many people on the internet say "oh, its because they're black isn't it?" which I think is not fair at all and such a cop-out conclusion. San Andreas is an amazing game, for example, and nobody has ever cared that CJ is black. Hell, as a white person, I wouldn't even want CJ to be white.
That is the weird part; Saint's Row has always been pretty diverse since the first game, so the people trying to peg the backlash squarely on "bigoted incels" are just showing their true colors and what they want to happen so they can politicize it for their own purposes.

I'm not saying there aren't some people coming into it from that angle; sadly since all this culture war shit has started there's been a creep of highly politicized people on both sides sneaking in and using the medium as a way to preach their own crap, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are some alt-right, extreme anti-SJW types who have no history with the IP (and probably don't even play games that much) ginning up the usual "woke", "diversity = bad!", "get woke go broke" talking points.

But, that's not what the vast majority of the backlash seems to be about. It's literally over what many are perceiving as a neutering of the game's image and corporate-like redesign trying to get in touch with the Fortnite-type crowd. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but they may've tipped too far into that while not sticking close enough to the series' established visual identity or tone.

Of course Volition can't accept that because it'd mean having to bear the burden of responsibility in maybe missing the mark with their core fanbase, and it's always easier for these companies to shift the blame to supposed 'istaphobes being bigots who don't understand their vision due to hate.
 
They are right, they should stay true to their creative intent for the better or the worst.
This is how video games will become art.

In general, you're right.

However, this particular game will never become art.

WOW, the person behind the twitter SaintRow account is really an asshole, must be a chief to answer like that to public.

200.gif

Whoa, never expected to see a naija meme on NeoGaf. Are you my fellow Naijaboy/gal?

It does look very Fortnite-y to me but I'll wait to judge the finished product. That being said, I do prefer it when action games are on the more serious and/or realistic side. Young adults with student loans just doesn't do it for me. They can be homosexual, or people of color, that's all cool. But I just want the vibe to be serious.

I've seen many people on the internet say "oh, its because they're black isn't it?" which I think is not fair at all and such a cop-out conclusion. San Andreas is an amazing game, for example, and nobody has ever cared that CJ is black. Hell, as a white person, I wouldn't even want CJ to be white.

To me it's about the setting and culture the characters are embedded within.

Saints Row 1 and 2 and GTA SA (and GTA V) are some of my favourite games because they cover in an either an over-the-top way or satirically, the kind of inner-city black street gang culture that is just so fascinating for folks of any background to explore. It's completely different to what most not living in that kind of setting experience, and that's the whole freaking appeal.

SR 3 and onwards, Volition moved further and further away from this, and very much to the severe detriment of the series.

This new SR is such utter shit, because not only have they abandoned their game's original setting and culture entirely, but they're actively arguing against it with some shitty "cultural appropriation" BS excuse.

There are basically no games or even much media at all nowadays that cover this "life in the hood" setting. That's a damned shame. SR was supposed to be the last flag-bearer, but they fucked it up in an effort to go woke. Fuck em. I hope this game crashes hard.

Dokev looks better as a sandbox and i bet has a smaller budget.
Fucking clowns.


Freaking-A, my friend! Freaking-A!
 

Keihart

Member
I don't think I've ever seen such a negative response to a rebooted series. Did Sonic 2006 get this much hate?
Donte did, that game was not even "alright" at release, the "ultimate" edition after all the fixes is way better mechanically. aesthetically tho? still a cringe fest.
 
Last edited:
That is the weird part; Saint's Row has always been pretty diverse since the first game, so the people trying to peg the backlash squarely on "bigoted incels" are just showing their true colors and what they want to happen so they can politicize it for their own purposes.

I'm not saying there aren't some people coming into it from that angle; sadly since all this culture war shit has started there's been a creep of highly politicized people on both sides sneaking in and using the medium as a way to preach their own crap, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are some alt-right, extreme anti-SJW types who have no history with the IP (and probably don't even play games that much) ginning up the usual "woke", "diversity = bad!", "get woke go broke" talking points.

But, that's not what the vast majority of the backlash seems to be about. It's literally over what many are perceiving as a neutering of the game's image and corporate-like redesign trying to get in touch with the Fortnite-type crowd. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but they may've tipped too far into that while not sticking close enough to the series' established visual identity or tone.

Of course Volition can't accept that because it'd mean having to bear the burden of responsibility in maybe missing the mark with their core fanbase, and it's always easier for these companies to shift the blame to supposed 'istaphobes being bigots who don't understand their vision due to hate.

Diversity was never the goal of games like SR. The game was about inner-city street gangs and the diversity exhibited was simply a side effect of the game trying to represent the cultural make-up of its more real-life setting.

Any and all discussion about diversity surrounding this series is moot, in my honest opinion. The series roots were much more diverse than the shit they just showed, and the series has progressively white-washed its cast. Whether that was all in the name of progressivism is beside the point, however, the devs themselves pose this to be true when they claim the reason they moved away from the inner city gang culture setup was because of "cultural appropriation" (which is entirely meaningless in this context).

Regardless, of whether the devs' intent was to chase a more Fortnite-like aesthetic or not, the game is irredeemably worse off for it. Fornite for one doesn't even have a distinct visual identity. It's generic as sin. So styling your game in that manner makes little to no sense at all. But it's seemingly becoming a contagion across the industry. So many new games are announced and shown with utterly shitty art that's insufferably generic, totally uninspired in every way, and entirely lacking in stylistic character, originality, or novelty.

Only Indies, Japan and now South Korea can save us.
 
Last edited:

Star-Lord

Member
I admit i maybe played 1 saints row game but to me this looked like any other of the sequels. So what am i missing here, why the dislikes? Whats so different here that "fans" are outraged?

Im honestly confused.
It's because Saints Row was all about chaos and carnage and not taking itself too seriously, not it's just about woke culture.

What is it with the trend that game trailers now showcase playable characters from every ethnicity/sexuality under the sun - except white males?
See above.
 
What is it with the trend that game trailers now showcase playable characters from every ethnicity/sexuality under the sun - except white males?

I fucking hate the endless bass drops, boom sound effect fades in 99% of gaming and movie trailers today. Is there some single studio that handles all the trailers for every publisher and movie studio? It’s weird how samey they all are.
 

VN1X

Banned
From a supposedly large and experienced developer, this behaviour is astonishing.

Did the PR department fall into the hands of a Twitter warrior with danger hair concealing an abnormally smooth brain? Is this a stunt where they pretend they are as vapid and unsufferable as the characters from the trailer?

This is the way I would expect a tiny indie studio led by a self-absorbed dickhead to behave, not someone developing an AAA game.
I mean to be fair and play devil's advocate here, it's just a bunch of people with hot takes. It's not as if their Volition's twatter isn't allowed to fire back a bit lol. Sure it might not be a 'good look' but ultimately twitter's all fake anyway and, hopefully, doesn't have any negative impact on the quality of the final game.
 

Kuranghi

Member
I watched the trailer and i thought it looked like a typical SR game too. I guess it has to do with the fact that the some of the main cast is ethnic looking and "hispter"?
The reactions remind of when Sucker Punch announced the redesign of Cole for inFamous 2. “They gave him hair! WTF is this hipster bullshit?!?”

I guess for girl wearing big glasses and the other one having shorter hair makes it hipster and woke??! Like IDK I feel like that’s just what people in their 20s look like now. 🤷🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️

What the heck does "ethnic looking" mean lol.

I think the reaction is more towards the milquetoast design, tone and dialogue.
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
im going to get this game day 1.

Seriously im done with GTA V, i need another open world game like GTA.

The character doesnt bother me as I can create my own char.
 

kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
Just shows how they are completely out of sync to the actual player base. A lot of these guys just live inside the same bubble and then think that the whole world is alike. Diversity for them = thinking/behaving like them. Can't even be humble and listen to the true fans feedback.

What I don't understand is there isn't anyone at the company pointing out that a woke hipster game will get great reviews from other woke hipesters, but the world is a lot bigger than that and wokeness is mostly a US phenomenon. Gamers in Eastern Europe, South America, the Middle East and Asia will look at the trailer with different eyes. That global audience is less likely to buy US games if they increasingly cater to a woke US hipsters. The foreign market couldn't give a rat's ass about female representation and/or the importance of having butch women and effeminate gay men in games, they see those elements as huge turn offs.
 

mcjmetroid

Member
I'm no expert on saints row, those GTA style games aren't usually for me but I've seen some clips and it was a very edgy ( and I mean seriously) game.

This game is clearly trying to get away from that.. it may just be a cgi trailer but it was very damning.

You know what this game is going to be 🤣
 
What I don't understand is there isn't anyone at the company pointing out that a woke hipster game will get great reviews from other woke hipesters, but the world is a lot bigger than that and wokeness is mostly a US phenomenon. Gamers in Eastern Europe, South America, the Middle East and Asia will look at the trailer with different eyes. That global audience is less likely to buy US games if they increasingly cater to a woke US hipsters. The foreign market couldn't give a rat's ass about female representation and/or the importance of having butch women and effeminate gay men in games, they see those elements as huge turn offs.
Sounds like those places should take a little time for some reflection on customs and beliefs.
 
Top Bottom