The Urban Bad Guy Genre No more already!

[Cmtz]

GTA, The 50 cent game, 25 to life, do you guys still think we need more of these games? GTA was good and is still good, but all these new ones really suck. What is it about these games that makes people buy them?

[keiblerfan69]

Well since GTA sold well everyone decided to copy them(True Crimes, Driv3r) I personally don't play any of them except GTA.

[hezeuschrist]

It'll die like any gaming fad. I guess I understand the timing right after the release of San Andreas, but I don't think ANY of the crappy cashins on the urban theme have sold well, and there's a shitload of them.

[Joker T]

Well if people would stop buying them than we would stop seeing them but like WWII, this seems like it may be around for awhile longer. The only one I liked besides GTA was The Getaway.

[drummy]

It'll die like any gaming fad. I guess I understand the timing right after the release of San Andreas, but I don't think ANY of the crappy cashins on the urban theme have sold well, and there's a shitload of them.
True Crime sold well, it became a GH. I loved True Crime, personally

[unwinddesign]

Well if people would stop buying them than we would stop seeing them but like WWII, this seems like it may be around for awhile longer. The only one I liked besides GTA was The Getaway.

I really don't think the Getaway can be called a GTA knock-off. It's really a lot different. The whole "movie" style presentation, mission progression, "realism" (not cartoon-esque) all provide a very different experience in my opinion.

Does anyone else think that 25 to Life is one of the dumbest ideas for a game ever? Being a proponent of gang violence? Seriously, I've never got offended by any game or movie that I've seen, but that's just over the top. Gangs are serious shit, and the 15 year old kids that buy the game are gonna think it's the next coolest thing. Not good.

[DigitalSpace]

I love how whacko anti-gaming groups are making a huge fuss over 25 To Life. "ZOMG VIOLENCE!!1 BAN PLZ" Same thing happened with NARC and 187 Ride Or Die, and then the game comes out, gets horrible reviews, poor sales, and everyone forgets about it.

Anyways, the problem with these games is not the overabundance; it's just that nobody wants to make a good one. The True Crime series is the closest anyone has gotten to pulling this off and LA barely qualifies as decent, and NY is a buggy pile of shit - they didn't even bother to fix the bugs that were prevalent in LA! They figure that just ripping off GTA and throwing in lots of violence and street slang will rake in the cash. There have been a lot of missed opportunities because of this.

It was great to hear that 50 Cent: Bulletproof got mediocre reviews and poor sales, and it's great to hear that 25 To Life is getting mediocre reviews and will probably sell poorly too. Maybe developers will actually get the message that these games need some thought and gameplay put into them and not just hype to get big sales... but I doubt it.

[roushimsx]

I got "Gang Wars: Life on the Streets" for free as part of a buy 2 get 1 free deal and ended up trading it back in for another game after I saw some reviews.

In hindsight, I wish I had held onto it and recorded some videos, because I'm pretty sure the comedy gold factor would have been worth it. :(

I think the whole GTA3-styled genre is extremely badass, especially with developers like Illusion and Rockstar North out there. Sure, there's a couple of cheap cash in lemons, but it's like that with EVERY genre. There's crappy RPGs, crappy pet breeding games, crappy fighting games, and lord knows there's a neverending pile of shitty racing games that only seems to get bigger with each passing month.

[sabre2922]

True Crime:New York DID NOT SELL WELL it actually sold half the copies that the first True Crime sold and I thought that was a mediocre title at best. True Crime is a TRUE WANNA BE GTA bottom line.

I still luv the GTAs but never bought San Andreas even though I had a freind who tried for months to convince me to get it.

I stopped reading news on the net for about a month because I was SICK of hearing about the whole "hot coffee" thing.
Hell I just dont think that kinda stuff is good for gaming like the sex mini-game in God of War it just doesnt need to be there.

Flame me if ya want but I just dont like the "Gangsta" genre.

I do like GTA 3 ( i.e. GANGSTERS) and it seems that so far Im one of the few gamers out there that are looking forward to Liberty City Stories on the PS2. I dont care to buy a PSP just to play that ONE game ;)

I think its obvious that the whole urban gangsta genre is loosing steam and the only one that will stand the test of time and continue to be popular will be the GTA series although GTA contains many more elements to their games than just the gangsta stuff, all the others like the new Saints Row for Xbox360 will eventually fall to the wayside after the "fad" wears off.

After Liberty City Stories Im hoping that Rockstar will finally make the Las Vegas in the 70's game or maybe even a classic gangster game set in the 20s or 40s.

Im also looking forward to both Scarface and the Godfather but the only one Im picking up for sure is Scarface for PS2. (or Xbox 360 if I have one by then).

[CreamSoda]

I agree, when it wall started(I guess with GTA3?). I was blown away, the whole "gangsta" thing was awesome and worked well in games! Now? I'm sick of it! The "cool" factor has died out, IMO.

With thats said I did love GTA3,GTA:VC,GTA:SA. I think like others have said, because there was alot more to those games. And they were just good fun!

The only one I am curious about now is Saints Row, but other then that I want this trend to die. LOL

[sabre2922]

I agree, when it wall started(I guess with GTA3?). I was blown away, the whole "gangsta" thing was awesome and worked well in games!

GTA 3 was not "gangsta" it was GANGTER ala Godfather as was Vice City.

The only GTA game thus far that is "gangsta" or urban fluff is San Andreas.

[dbiersdorf]

It was great to hear that 50 Cent: Bulletproof got mediocre reviews and poor sales,

Funny how it was the 10th best selling game in December isn't it?

[Joker T]

Well if people would stop buying them than we would stop seeing them but like WWII, this seems like it may be around for awhile longer. The only one I liked besides GTA was The Getaway.

I really don't think the Getaway can be called a GTA knock-off. It's really a lot different. The whole "movie" style presentation, mission progression, "realism" (not cartoon-esque) all provide a very different experience in my opinion.

Does anyone else think that 25 to Life is one of the dumbest ideas for a game ever? Being a proponent of gang violence? Seriously, I've never got offended by any game or movie that I've seen, but that's just over the top. Gangs are serious shit, and the 15 year old kids that buy the game are gonna think it's the next coolest thing. Not good.

It isn't a GTA rip off but it still is a urban crime type game.

[DigitalSpace]

It was great to hear that 50 Cent: Bulletproof got mediocre reviews and poor sales,

Funny how it was the 10th best selling game in December isn't it?

Really? Shit, my faith in humanity has just dropped by one point. Anyways, I swear I heard somewhere that it sold poorly. My bad.

[EnzoSangiorgio]

Rick Ta Life is in 25 ta life.
I thought that was fucking hilarious.

[sabre2922]

It was great to hear that 50 Cent: Bulletproof got mediocre reviews and poor sales,

Funny how it was the 10th best selling game in December isn't it?

Really? Shit, my faith in humanity has just dropped by one point. Anyways, I swear I heard somewhere that it sold poorly. My bad.

Dont stress my friend that 50 cent game sold well for a few weeks then it fell of the charts after ppl realized that the game sucked ass.

[Hams]

I agree, He's just trying to cash in on the GTA thing, the bottom line is the game has to be creative, interesting, original and fun. Just because his record company pays his way into the music charts doesn't mean its going to work for him in the video game market. I guess its almost a promotional write off for his movie and these days there is a market for everything. Entertainment industry is all about having an album, a movie, a clothing line and why not a video game! Lame music = Lame game. (just my opinion) Im actually suprised there was no Eminem or Slim shady game (or was there?) That maybe could have worked.

[squidblatt]

I agree, when it wall started(I guess with GTA3?). I was blown away, the whole "gangsta" thing was awesome and worked well in games!

GTA 3 was not "gangsta" it was GANGTER ala Godfather as was Vice City.

The only GTA game thus far that is "gangsta" or urban fluff is San Andreas.

I disagree a bit with your characterization. I like all the GTAs, but San Andreas is by far my favorite. Yet, I can't stand 50 Cent, True Crime, and others. The difference is that SA doesn't take itself too seriously. It's more satire and comedy than drama. At the same time, the world it portrays is an authentic dystopia which can only be confronted by criminal behavior, so the characters are more sympathetic (at least to me). I'd also say that it's true to the spirit of its rap source material.

50 Cent, on the other hand, is illustrative of the type of "canned" gangsta crap that resulted from the mainstreaming and branding of "urban life." It's all image, and the fact that we seem to be encouraged to take it seriously is somewhat insulting. More to the point, it's insulting to blacks because the image is meant to appeal to whites who buy into it. 50 Cent is nothing more than a modern Step 'n' Fetch It who cashes in on portraying negative stereotypes of his own people. That's what gets me about some games in this genre. But I wouldn't generalize that all games portraying "gangsta" themes are urban fluff.

[pragmatic insanester]

but in 25 to Life, you can play as cops and kill all the 13 y/o cracker surbanites on the internet. that's the only reason i care about testing it out.

[rbudrick]

These urban games reached their peak at Final Fight and Streets of Rage. 8-) ;)

Never liked any of these games, especially the GTA series.

-Rob