Move Over Reptar, I Main Ultra Instinct Shaggy Now! Talking MultiVersus

[Becksworth]

Now I'm only passingly familiar with both of these franchises, so correct me if I'm wrong, but:

• Steven Universe: A pacifist protagonist whose powers are largely defensive and across multiple seasons teaches the warmongering people he meets about peace & love by virtue of being an earnest good boy. Internet is fine with him being in a platform fighter.
• The Iron Giant: A war machine with a full arsenal of weaponry who over the course of a single 90 minute movie learns he doesn't have be a weapon if it chooses to be. HOW DARE YOU PUT HIM IN A PLATFORM FIGHTER!

I don't know, just comes off to me as weird media gatekeeping from a generation already notorious for weird media gatekeeping.

 

[Sprite]

Steven enjoys fighting, he just prefers it be friendly sparring than actual conflict. He'd leap at the chance to do something like this.

The Iron Giant doesn't actually know he's a weapon until towards the end of the movie, and it's the most tragic part. He is obsessed with Superman and being a hero, though, so if Superman thought being in a platform fighter was a good idea IG would probably go along with it.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

pacifist protagonist

I mean, he's not though. He is willing to fight but he doesn't like it and any battle with an opponent that can be reasoned with he works toward de-escalation. So it's not so much pacifist as peace-forward. Violence is justifiable for him but only for competitive sport or as far as it defends him and a person he loves as he tries to transition to a more viable solution.

 

[Becksworth]

I mean, that is just splitting hairs at that point. platform party fighter specifically have a history of putting non-violent characters in them for the fun of it, and I'm not sure why the Iron Giant is a sacred cow that shouldn't be touch beyond

weird media gatekeeping from a generation already notorious for weird media gatekeeping.

 

[Sprite]

I think an ideal Iron Giant moveset would show him having an awkward and tentative relationship with violence, make him apologetic towards anyone he hurts, and make uses of his actual weapons look like accidents. He's not a sacred cow but whether the game makes good use of him or not depends on how much they understand/care about the source material.

 

[Lokii]

I'm not sure that feeling like the poignant message of the Iron Giant being betrayed in favor of cooperate brand synergy is gatekeeping so much

Anyway IG puchin around in a fun bro-em-up seems innocent enough, but if he has a final smash or something where all the laser guns pop out that would be pretty sinister and boneheaded

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Fun fact: in the original book, the "Iron Man" fights a giant space bat angel dragon. Its... different

 

[Octopus Prime]

And as he flies off to sacrifice himself, he says “I am… Omega the Unknown”

 

[Becksworth]

So I saw some of the gameplay videos of the closed alpha making the rounds online and it looks decent? Not going out of my way to join a beta, but I'll check it out when it's more readily available.

Honestly, DC, Looney Tunes/Warner Animation, and Hanna-Barbera/Cartoon Network shows have been crossing over with each other for decades now, so the criticisms of this being symptomatic of recent corporate homogenization of media rings a bit hollow to me (their interactions certainly come off as more organic to me than Viacom buying and retroactively treating 80s TMNT and Garfield like they were Nicktoons all along). The big exception to that being the kid friendly iterations of the above mentioned IPs fighting next to Arya Stark and a f-bomb dropping HBO Max style Harle Quinn. That said if they had included Mortal Kombat characters in this I probably wouldn't even have batted an eye at that.

Anyway, let me know if Warner-Discovery announces a CGI Grant Imahara/Battlebot Deadblow tag team character. I can certainly join in the raging on that.

 

[Becksworth]

So I saw some more gameplay, including the tutorial that has Mr. Meeseeks as a dummy, implying Rick and/or Morty will eventually be added.

Like again, I think the media homogenization complaints are a little unfair. Warner has had a hand in all these IPs, if not from the beginning at least for over a decade. Complain about it here then we might as well complain about Nintendo doing it too. That said, what is the target age demographic here? M-rated game characters only started bleeding into Smash after several iterations established an older core fanbase.

Then again Fortnite is constantly having its cake and eating it too by simultaneously designing for adults but marketing to kids, and that looks to be the business model they are aping here.

 

[gogglebob]

I mean... I remember being a young teenager (14), and myself and kids down to like fourth grade were all wearing (then new) South Park t-shirts. And, at the time, like maybe six people in the local county had the right cable package to watch Comedy Central/South Park... yet everyone in a certain age range knew ("knew") it was cool. "Oh my god they killed Kenny" was the ubiquitous, hot catchphrase of the time, even if not a single one of us really knew who "Kenny" was. And don't get me started on "shagadelic" Austin Powers being quoted by everyone right down to teachers...

It is ridiculous if you think about it for longer than five seconds, but kids just "knowing" to like Rick & Morty and other shows obviously not meant for their age group seems like an inevitable factor in every generation. And media conglomerates are always going to exploit this...

 

[Juno]

Media for adults leaking into younger age groups isn't a new phenomenon. RoboCop got an animated series for kids in the 90s.

 

[MetManMas]

Media for adults leaking into younger age groups isn't a new phenomenon. RoboCop got an animated series for kids in the 90s.

See also: Rambo, Tales From The Crypt, etc.

And movies that kids probably or should not be watching often had their own toylines. Nightmare on Elm Street had Freddy Krueger merchandise including talking dolls, and there was a toyline for a failed Aliens animated series pilot and a Micro Machines toyline featuring the chestburster scene.

For more modern stuff I've spotted Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed toys marketed towards the younger crowd out in the wild.

 

[Becksworth]

Got a chance to play this some. Presentation is great, but the core gameplay just feels off in just little ways I don't like. Also don't like having to connect to the server even when I'm just playing with bots to try and learn the ropes.

 

[gogglebob]

I was just reminded of this game existing thanks to the "what's coming out this month" thread, so I am commenting here because I have always appreciated the thread title.

Shaggy returns in less than a month!