"Cross-property Conundrum"

by Matthew C.
2008.09.08

Mortal Kombat featuring characters Batman and the Flash?
Soul Calibur IV featuring Darth Vader and Yoda?
Super Smash Bros. featuring Solid Snake and Sonic?

What is going on here? Have game companies run out of ideas? Right now it seems to be limited to fighting games, but I have to wonder how far this will spread.

Now, I'm not suggesting this is a new phenomenon. I heartily enjoyed Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and other license-crossing games, but this socialist practice in games can only lead to watered-down properties.

It's nice to see a company like Capcom branch out and create a new property like Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure. While this venture may have received a cooler reception than it warranted, "Zack & Wiki" is impressive and shows that some people are willing to "go out on a limb" to bring people quality gaming experiences. And other people like Luc Bernard are offering new artistic creations for public scrutiny while somE Are giving us the twentieth iteration of the same old thing.

So while I sit here anxiously waiting for LEGO Batman, I recognize my apparent hypocrisy. (i.e. Monetarily encouraging cross-property ventures while bemoaning them.) I guess it wouldn't be as bad if it made sense to me. Nintendo's "Smash Bros." seems to be the ultimate mind-bending, property-crossing endeavor... and I love it though I'm not quite sure why.

Fighting games are most likely a good place to "break the fourth wall" in video games because they can allow the characters to "live outside" of their respective continuities and storylines. (Maybe it's because historically fighting games have had extremely simple backstories and have yet to shake this image.)

So in the end, my point is... well, I don't think I have one. This article leads me to believe that cross-property games can be good as long as they're fighting games. But maybe it's not all up to fighting games. Look at Kingdom Hearts. Maybe we can see a sequel to Zombies Ate My Neighbors with Bruce Campbell's "Ash" from Evil Dead, Ken Foree's "Peter" from Dawn of the Dead and Mantan Moreland's "Jeff" from King of the Zombies.

(Here's hoping Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is crazy fighting game fun.)