All-Stars Racing Transformed: The Track Roster Thread

[PsychoJosh]

My fiancé (Mollfie here on SSMB) used to work at GAME here in the UK and has just confirmed to me even selling a 12+ to an underage kid she wasn't allowed and could risk losing her job. If a parent was there you had to explain the content of the game to the parent before you could process the transaction. That applied to 7+ games too.

Okay, I get that it's different in the UK. We've established this already. All kids under 12 CAN handle stuff for 12 year olds. Age ratings are completely arbitrary and simply used as a convenient cut-off point, nothing more. You don't need to tell me this; UK law is irrelevant to me because I don't live in the UK and it doesn't work that way here. Zombies are quite common in our media these days, especially in video games, so I'd think kids are used to the idea by now.

If they get greyed out and toned down in the regions where game law is more strict then so be it, but I think North America and Japan (if it's coming out there) should get scary-looking zombies. Not trying to be selfish; I think they should be scary-looking everywhere, but since that's not feasible in regions like yours, they should at least be scary in places where the creative freedom of games is protected.

Whoa man, what the hell did HyperMetalWario do? Are you bringing drama from somewhere else in here because this is the first time he commented on our discussion and there was nothing jerkish about his post. =\

It's in reference to another post he made during a debate I had with him in which he called me names and declared himself correct even though he wasn't. Let's not discuss this further, thanks.

[Shaddix Leto Croft]

The original SEGA Superstars on PS2, Superstars Tennis and Sonic & Sega All Star Racing had Zombies under the name Curien Mansion so how is this a issue ? they have done it for 3 games now so I just don't see why this presents a issue all of a sudden.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiMWrRgWG8s- HOTD Superstars Eye Toy

[JezMM]

Okay, I get that it's different in the UK. We've established this already. All kids under 12 CAN handle stuff for 12 year olds. Age ratings are completely arbitrary and simply used as a convenient cut-off point, nothing more. You don't need to tell me this; UK law is irrelevant to me because I don't live in the UK and it doesn't work that way here. Zombies are quite common in our media these days, especially in video games, so I'd think kids are used to the idea by now.

If they get greyed out and toned down in the regions where game law is more strict then so be it, but I think North America and Japan (if it's coming out there) should get scary-looking zombies. Not trying to be selfish; I think they should be scary-looking everywhere, but since that's not feasible in regions like yours, they should at least be scary in places where the creative freedom of games is protected.

Erm, I'm sorry are you an under-12 kid? Who are you to speak for them and decide such facts? All children have different levels of sensitivity.

You don't need to be so rudely dismissive either. I live in the UK so of course I'm going to give facts on law based on my own country as default. You initially said it's totally legal in the UK which is false. I give you evidence of this and then you throw it in my face saying it's irrelevant.

Creative freedom? I'm sorry that's ridiculous. Creativity does not mean showing gore that is not at all necessary to the intended tone of the game (in this case, a party racing game featuring characters from franchises of many age ranges).

The original SEGA Superstars on PS2, Superstars Tennis and Sonic & Sega All Star Racing had Zombies under the name Curien Mansion so how is this a issue ? they have done it for 3 games now so I just don't see why this presents a issue all of a sudden.

The arguement is over whether the game should have realistic zombies faithful to the HOTD franchise as oppose to the stylised family-friendly ones from the previous games.

EDIT: Fucked up the quote tags. Fixed now, sorry if any early readers got confused.

Edited July 25, 2012 by JezMM

[PsychoJosh]

Erm, I'm sorry are you an under-12 kid? Who are you to speak for them and decide such facts? All children have different levels of sensitivity.

You don't need to be so rudely dismissive either. I live in the UK so of course I'm going to give facts on law based on my own country as default. You initially said it's totally legal in the UK which is false. I give you evidence of this and then you throw it in my face saying it's irrelevant.

I'm sorry if I was rude. I just said UK law is irrelevant to me because I don't live there. The same logic applies to me, I live in North America so of course I'm going to talk about the laws here.

Kids under 12 aren't generally smart enough to know the implications of something. They don't apply scrutiny to things, so if they were to see a zombie in this game they wouldn't think it's some horrible monster from beyond the grave, they'd just think of it as some ugly guy with a messed up face. They don't understand these things and it's usually their PARENTS who do understand and make a big fuss about it. In fact they wouldn't even be able to see the zombies considering that they're flying by at high speed. So I realize now that it's probably moot whether or not they're greyed out in this game, but I at least want the "House of the Dead" name to be used instead of Curien Mansion.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

Kids under 12 aren't generally smart enough to know the implications of something. They don't apply scrutiny to things, so if they were to see a zombie in this game they wouldn't think it's some horrible monster from beyond the grave, they'd just think of it as some ugly guy with a messed up face.

Talk to my 9 and half year old brother, he knows a monster/zombie when he sees one. Thank TV for that.

They don't understand these things and it's usually their PARENTS who do understand and make a big fuss about it.

You'll be surprised...not all under 12's are that dumb to realize...as I said, my 9 year old brother knows what a zombie is.

In fact they wouldn't even be able to see the zombies considering that they're flying by at high speed. So I realize now that it's probably moot whether or not they're greyed out in this game, but I at least want the "House of the Dead" name to be used instead of Curien Mansion.

What if the under 12 child decides to drive in slow speeds? Some will be also crashing from corner to corner, so they'll at one point see a clear view of the zombie.

[Unidus]

I just do not get how zombies with high res textures = rated M/T game. Maybe I'm just not an "innocent" child anymore. I dunno.... I mean, I'm not even talking about having blood in the game. how is this so bad that kids under 9 cannot be exposed to it? Besides, we all know that 5 year olds probably see way worse on television whether their parents want them to or not...

I'm not even that concerned about this but it would be nice to see these zombies rather than the prequel's curien mansion zombies; they would certainly look nice in the new engine...

Edited July 25, 2012 by Unidus

[JezMM]

Well I wanted to avoid bringing personal experience into the discussion but hell with it, when I was 9 either of those images would have properly creeped me out, let alone a properly lurching zombie in my Sonic racing game.

Inb4 "You were just an oversensitive child then" because that doesn't mean we should dismiss such children by not letting them play a Sonic game of all things.

Remember that something only needs one case for them to have to write it on the box. Rayman Origins has probably 10-12 seconds in the entire game of provocative hip shaking from the nymphs to have "Suggestive Themes" on the back. This game would only need a few zombies with gory textures to get "Mild Gore" or "Mild Horror" etc on the back. That's not worth being faithful to a series which is frankly more adult and inappropriate for all ages in recent years than it's ever been before.

I do at least see eye-to-eye with PsychoJosh that referring to the House of the Dead franchise by name would be fine and appreciated though.

Edited July 25, 2012 by JezMM

[Ethan Thomas]

*Looks at the Dragon on the Pazer Dragoon race track* Eek! This could be scary for the toddlers! Rated M.

edit: C'mon, you gotta agree that sometimes it appears as if these ratings can be quite rediculous and overprotective. Kids aren't that innocent or stupid.

Edited July 25, 2012 by Ethan Thomas

[JezMM]

*Looks at the Dragon on the Pazer Dragoon race track* Eek! This could be scary for the toddlers! Rated M.

Knew there'd be one. =\

Dragons appear in all sorts of kid-friendly media. Maybe you guys think realistically presented zombies should too but, well, they don't. So you can't make these assumptions about what's suitable for kids and what isn't.

Edited July 25, 2012 by JezMM

[Kori-Maru]

It would be surprising for the HOTD track to not be based in the mansion this time.

I just hope they finally use the "House of the Dead" moniker and not Curien Mansion. Let's see some real zombies, not "creatures". Have some blood visible on them. Don't wuss out here, zombies are already in everything and kids are used to the idea by now.

In the House of the Dead storyline, the director tends to stay away from the word zombie and calls them "creatures" instead and their not undead but more created by science.

[PsychoJosh]

Well yes but that's because there are many things in HOTD that really do qualify as creatures that can't just be called "zombies". For example the hierophant boss, the tower boss, and those little maggots that bite you.

[Kori-Maru]

Well yes but that's because there are many things in HOTD that really do qualify as creatures that can't just be called "zombies". For example the hierophant boss, the tower boss, and those little maggots that bite you.

True and I like how AM1 gave them names. If their is a track for HotD, I want to expect some familiar AMS Agents appearing as cameos.

[R.C.]

What will the name of the HOTD track be?

How about

"Spooky Speedway"?

(Yes, I know that's the name of a mission in the original.)

[WarioBone]

This may be off topic, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let Psychojosh slander me. I never once called him a name, because I'm not in fucking kindergarten. Call me a jerk all you want, but don't say I did things that I didn't fucking do.

[Jango]

Here we go again.

[R.C.]

Staff Edit: Please put some more effort into posts. One or two sentences should be minimum.

Edited July 26, 2012 by ^DiZnEy^

[JezMM]

Guys, HyperMetalWario's post may have been off-topic and just for the sake of asserting himself, but those reaction posts are totally unnecessary. He responded fairly non-offensively IMO, let's just move on.

To be honest, even though it's even more inappropriate than the usual games, if toned down to be recognisable without referencing any of the more flavourful aspects of the game, I'd love HotD's track to be based off Overkill since it's the most well-known game in recent years. I kinda would say the Carnival level would be a good choice but to be honest the Swamp Level would be good too, simply because I'd kill for a remix of that main theme song used on that stage.

That and it's the only one I've played but whatever. =B

Edited July 26, 2012 by JezMM

[R.C.]

I think they might make the track based on the original game, & just have references to Overkill. Or it might be the other way around... I don't know.

But as others have said, SUMO is trying to capture the "feel" of the original games in these tracks (considering there is only 1 per IP), so maybe all 3 tracks fro S&SAS Racing combined, but with different layouts? Driving in Deadly Route, Boating in Sewer Scrapes & Flying above the Outer Forest? It could work.

[SumoRex]

Okay, I get that it's different in the UK. We've established this already. All kids under 12 CAN handle stuff for 12 year olds. Age ratings are completely arbitrary and simply used as a convenient cut-off point, nothing more. You don't need to tell me this; UK law is irrelevant to me because I don't live in the UK and it doesn't work that way here. Zombies are quite common in our media these days, especially in video games, so I'd think kids are used to the idea by now.

If they get greyed out and toned down in the regions where game law is more strict then so be it, but I think North America and Japan (if it's coming out there) should get scary-looking zombies. Not trying to be selfish; I think they should be scary-looking everywhere, but since that's not feasible in regions like yours, they should at least be scary in places where the creative freedom of games is protected.

Edited July 27, 2012 by SumoRex

[Kori-Maru]

The problem territory is Germany. The German rules are VERY strict when it comes to horror content... I believe it was Germany that was the reason for the "Curien Mansion" title in S&SASR.

It is very costly to produce skews for each territory and also logistically difficult, so the deciding factor is usually the lowest common denominator approach. However this is only an issue this time if there was a HotD level in S&ASRT.

I agree that kids play Zombie games ...but if you check the ratings on those, you'll probably find that they are targetted at a higher age range than the kids of which you speak too.

What no Goldman Building, I hope your teasing us SumoRex.

[JezMM]

^ Lol he did say "if", obviously he can't talk about an unveiled track.

I figured budgetary constraints keep you tied to Germany's level of censorship.

I mean you get games like Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 that completely retooled the graphics for Germany (comedically so in TF2's case), but with stuff like this, where the zombies are such a tiny part of the overall game (unlike the violence in shooter games), it's just not worth the effort to have multiple versions.

[Kori-Maru]

Temperance, a boss from The House of the Dead 4, would be a awesome boss to avoid during flight mode in a post apocalyptic state of London along with a few more bosses from the series inside the Goldman Building inside capsules. The only boss we had as a cameo was Tower type 8000.

[PsychoJosh]

I'd like to see Justice make an appearance. That dude is freaky, having him chase you down a corridor would be excellently scary.

[FourCartridge]

OK, just for fun, What do you guys think of a Sonic track based around the Special Stages?

[JezMM]

OK, just for fun, What do you guys think of a Sonic track based around the Special Stages?

Hang on, translating:

"Would you like music from <the Sonic special stages from over the years> remixed by Richard Jacques?"

Yes, that'd be an awesome track.