Non-Canon Games' Roles in the Gaming Market.

Editor's Note:  The following is an essay from the upcoming second issue of The Broken Paragon, releasing March 5, and it describes spin-off or non-canon titles and their place in a gaming franchise, as well as their roles in the industry in a larger sense.  The previous post on this blog, "Euthanasia and Justifiable Homicide in the Nuclear Family in Silent Hill 2," is also from TBP #2.  In addition to these two essays, we will also cover Antonin Artaud's "Theater of Cruelty" in the Silent Hill series, series composer Akira Yamaoka and some of the technical limitations that the original Silent Hill developers faced on the PSOne and how they overcame them with some technical resourcefulness.  If you'd like to purchase all five essays together in issue 2, please visit our website to PayPal us $1 USD (links on the main page and the bottom of the "Projects" page) and we'll send you the download for Word, PDF and Kindle on March 5.  Thank you for your support!

When a new intellectual property, or IP, does well in the gaming market, it has a good chance of becoming a regular series.  Although Mario, Nintendo’s iconic plumber, appeared in several titles before obtaining his own series, Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System was a smashing success, leading to several sequels on the NES and Nintendo’s subsequent platforms.  Depending on the success of the main series, developers and publishers may outsource its characters and their universes to develop other titles – “non-canon” or “spin-off” games, which take place outside the main storyline and/or in different genres.  For example, the Super Mario Bros. series had always involved 2-D platforming games, leading characters left to right across levels, jumping from platform to platform.  Then, Super Mario Kart, a kart racing game featuring the Super Mario Bros. characters, was released for the Super Nintendo console.  Hero and villain characters raced side-by-side instead of attacking one another outright, and they raced on tracks that were based in the Super Mario Bros. universe.  In many ways, Super Mario Kart was the first non-canon console title to catch gamers’ attention.  Since then, the floodgates have opened for other non-canon games to be developed from dozens of IPs, and with these opportunities come benefits to making the spin-off and responsibilities to the IP and its fans that developers either succeed or fail to meet.

First, it’s important to understand the difference between a developer going non-canon with a title as opposed to taking the whole series in a new direction, which is where drawing a line in the sand using genre changes or new developers ultimately fails.  Nintendo had previously made the first four Metroid games as 2-D side-scrolling action/exploration games, a bit like Super Mario Bros. with sci-fi and backtracking.  As the technology of games consoles improved, Nintendo eventually outsourced production of a new Metroid title to developer Rare for Nintendo’s GameCube system.  Rare provided a full story with Metroid’s heroine, Samus Aran, still operating within expected story boundaries of the franchise, but changed the camera perspective and controls to resemble a first-person shooter for over 90% of the game.  This title was Metroid: Prime.  Different as it was, it was clear that this was simply the next chapter in Samus’ book, just “inside the helmet.”

Continuing with the Super Mario Kart example, there were weapons available to increase player performance and decrease enemy performance, just as players used in the main Mario series, but using them in Super Mario Kart was secondary to the main goal of finishing first.  Both the weapons and the race tracks were taken from the Super Mario Bros. series – Mario’s power-up mushrooms provided speed boosts in Super Mario Kart and the backgrounds and racetracks themselves were often copied textures from earlier Mario games.  However, Super Mario Kart is able to set itself aside from the main series, Super Mario Bros., with a number of differences.  It helps that it was a different genre of gaming – kart racing as opposed to 2-D platforming.  However, as was the case with the Metroid: Prime trilogy, sometimes a developer will change genres and keep a new game within the series context.  What made Super Mario Kart a spin-off was largely the storyline.  The whole setup for the title implied that all the Super Mario characters were “taking a break” from the story, which usually involves Mario working his way from the beginning to the end of a title and fighting the boss, Bowser, to rescue Princess Peach from his evil clutches.  Not only could players choose Bowser or Princess Peach as their racer of choice, but the game downplayed any real conflict or hero preference in favor of a pure racing title.

When an IP has established a fan base, the fans come to expect certain elements from titles involving that IP.  Story continuity, congruent gameplay, the same overall visuals and sound and ideally the same “feel” are all vital components to maintain from game to game in order to keep an audience satiated.  On the other hand, gamers will also cry foul if several canon games are too similar, arguing that developers are just selling the same thing over and over. 

It’s a fine line that developers must walk in adding new elements to a series while fixing previous titles’ problems and maintaining a semblance of continuity.  Hence, making a non-canon title becomes a weighty proposition.  By eschewing at least one major component of a successful franchise, a developer risks losing some of that series’ core audience.  The Silent Hill series released eight consecutive single-player survival horror games before branching off with its first major spin-off, Silent Hill: Book of Memories, for Sony’s handheld system, the PlayStation Vita.  Book of Memories not only introduced multiplayer to the series, but changed genres from survival horror to dungeon crawling.  Dungeon crawling is a type of game in which players survive increasingly difficult enemies while traversing a map of randomly-generated rooms.  Role-Playing Game (RPG) components are usually included in dungeon crawlers, such as gaining experience to level up a character’s stats as the player sees fit, buying and selling helpful items and weapons to continue through the game and so on.   As if these changes weren’t drastic enough, Book of Memories was also outsourced to a new developer, WayForward Technologies, mostly known for developing licensed family titles like Happy Feet Two and Hotel Transylvania.

In order to stay as near to the Silent Hill franchise as possible, WayForward was given the character models from several classic enemies throughout its universe to use at their disposal.  The split-headed dogs, or “Double Heads,” from Silent Hill 3 are in the series, as well as the series’ most popular common creature, the Nurses.  “Swarm,” large hornet-like bugs from Silent Hill: Homecoming also appear, as do “Air Screamers,” large bat-like baddies from the original Silent Hill.  Players are given optional objectives at the beginning of each dungeon by Valtiel, a large, faceless, passive creature from Silent Hill 3.  In addition, players encounter enemies like The Butcher from Silent Hill: Origins and can obtain weapons like his “Great Cleaver,” an enormous meat cleaver.  One series favorite, the well-built humanoid enemy Pyramid Head, also appears in Book of Memories.

WayForward used several other series elements to keep ties with the series as well.  The story’s setup is that the main character, as customized by the player, receives a book of his or her memories from an unknown sender in Silent Hill.  Mailman Howard Blackwood from Silent Hill: Downpour delivers the package.  The main character decides to rewrite some of his/her life experiences in the book, like being passed up for a job promotion or losing the possibility of a romantic relationship, with a better outcome.  That night, the character dreams of the dungeons s/he traverses and the player takes over, roaming from dungeon to dungeon while fighting series enemies, solving sequence-based puzzles, collecting soundbites and other pieces of memory to change the character’s life.  Howard serves as the shopkeeper on each level of each dungeon, trading vital tools with the character to aid players on their journey.

The end result is a drastically different use of the familiar Silent Hill universe for players to explore alone or together.  Book of Memories is a diversion from and love letter to the iconic IP, and aside from the occasional unforgiving difficulty spike or ham-handed story element, it’s a successful dungeon crawler.  However, many players were left wondering why Book of Memories needed to be a Silent Hill title per se, as opposed to keeping its physics and layout and using original characters and sounds for an original IP. 

It is here that the opportunity cost of non-canon titles is most crystalline.  When a developer builds a non-canon title at this point in gaming history, that developer receives the tools and the brand recognition of the main series.  Silent Hill has millions of fans worldwide, and any new Silent Hill title will pique the interest of all of them for at least the time to research what a new Silent Hill title is about; many will even buy a non-canon title like Book of Memories regardless of positive or negative previews and reviews by games journalists.  It can be very beneficial for a developer to have the added gusto accompanying a beloved franchise to help fuel the fire – and loosen the reins from the publisher – of their spin-off. 

On the other hand, every derivation from the series is sure to at least garner suspicion if not ire from that same core audience.  For Book of Memories to have discarded the genre, developer, number of players and even usual console from its predecessors – only Silent Hill: Origins was originally developed for the PlayStation Portable, and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories seeing a port to the PSP from the Wii, with the rest of the main titles on television consoles – was a risky move for Konami.  On Silent Hill’s official FaceBook page, fans have dismissed Book of Memories as a cash-grab and an abomination to the series.  This is the other side of the non-canon coin.  Titles like Silent Hill: The Arcade, an arcade console shooter with Silent Hill monsters in it, and Silent Hill: The Escape, a first-person shooter in maze-like levels for the iPhone and iPod Touch, are often accused of abusing fans’ love for a series to develop cheap spin-offs that fail to appreciate the universe and high expectations set by the original series.  Book of Memories received mixed critical reviews and currently holds an aggregate score of 58 out of 100 on Metacritic, a website compiling critics’ published reviews of various media.

Fans online are still crying for a traditional Silent Hill title on the Vita, and Konami could easily deliver one.  Silent Hill: Origins was a full Silent Hill experience on the PSP, the Vita’s predecessor, and the Vita trumps the PSP in every category of both systems’ hardware.  In fact, if Konami chose to port them, the Vita could easily power the series’ two fan favorite titles, Silent Hill 2 and 3 – the Vita does run the original Silent Hill for PlayStation, once downloaded to it – so there’s no reason not to return to the series after Book of Memories.  Historically, this has happened many times in the past.  When Nintendo released their handheld dual-screen system, the Nintendo DS, the first Super Mario Bros. title to launch for it was a port of the Nintendo 64 classic Super Mario 64, a 3-D platformer that revolutionized the genre.  Later, Nintendo developed and released a brand-new original 2-D platforming Mario title, New Super Mario Bros., for the DS that revived the original Super Mario Bros. series but took advantage of newer technology and ideas.  Dozens of series have followed suit on new systems, often “testing the water” before developing a full canonical entry.

Atlus, creators of the popular RPG series Shin Megami Tensei: Persona, have released four canon titles in the series so far.  The most recent, Persona 4, was released on the PlayStation 2 in 2008 before being ported with extra content to the Vita as Persona 4: Golden in 2012.  The Persona series has established itself as equal parts traditional Japanese RPG and social simulator, in that when players aren’t diving into dungeons and castles to do turn-based battle against an expansive bestiary, they must choose to spend their characters’ time how they see fit.  Whether getting a part-time job, hanging out with friends after school, dating, reading, studying or even riding a moped around town, there are a plethora of things to do besides fighting.  Any Persona game may take upwards of 100 hours to complete, and with such a weighty series of games under its belt, many were surprised when Atlus announced a spin-off game of Persona 4 developed in part by Arc System Works, who specialize in 2-D hand-drawn fighting games.  Although most of Atlus’ games have incorporated hand-drawn pictures of their characters to appear alongside text boxes during narration, or even anime cutscenes to provide some exposition, a fast-paced fighter is a far cry from a turn-based RPG.  Atlus’ previous current-generation console release, Catherine, was a puzzle and social/dating simulator, but their Persona titles had always been traditional RPG’s. 

The new title, Persona 4: Arena, takes place after the events of Persona 4 and follows the same cast of characters from that game as they involve themselves in a new conflict.  However, much like Super Mario Kart, or even Metroid Prime Pinball, the emphasis of Persona 4: Arena isn’t on story but action, helping to root it in the non-canon/spin-off category.  Adding to this is the addition of an arcade mode which features no story whatsoever – just fights.  Arc System Works’ portfolio of previous titles, including the popular Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series, both of which are known for their beauty and tight gameplay, were a great benefit to the substance of the title.  WayForward, before developing Silent Hill: Book of Memories, had achieved some acclaim for their Nintendo DS title Aliens: Infestation, based on the popular Sigourney Weaver film series, but overall they lack the gravitas of developers Arc System Works and Atlus.

Unlike Book of Memories, Persona 4: Arena received generally very positive reviews, scoring an 83 for Xbox 360 on Metacritic and an 86 for its PlayStation 3 iteration.  Though sure to alienate some fans of Persona’s strong RPG abilities, Persona 4: Arena managed to cross over and attract a new audience – Arc’s 2-D fighter crowd – while likely reassuring many of its fans with Arc’s impressive roster of titles and Atlus’ involvement in the development process.  Book of Memories’ and Persona 4: Arena’s receptions were noticeably different from critics and players alike, although no single detail separates the two.  Using Persona 4: Arena and Silent Hill: Book of Memories as a weathervane for non-canon gaming, it seems that what makes a successful spin-off is also what makes a successful canon title.  Proven developers building titles with intuitive gameplay and eye-pleasing graphics go a long way, though non-canon titles also must deal with the risk of changing some staple approaches to already-successful IPs. 

Innovation is the meat and potatoes of games development, and non-canon titles are always a gamble for the industry.  Since they started garnering widespread public interest with spin-offs like Super Mario Kart, they’ve grown in number exponentially.  Some IPs like Silent Hill may have a fan base that is less willing to part with its core games, especially when several major elements like genre and developer change hands.  A non-canon title like Silent Hill: Book of Memories may be a decent game with no major problems in its gameplay or presentation, but there will always be naysayers and those wishing only for a new canonical title in the series.  On the other hand, sometimes a developer will take a wild risk with a non-canon title, jumping to a nearly opposite genre in gameplay and visual style, like Atlus and Arc System Works did with Persona 4: Arena, and the combination of proven style and substance can overcome fans’ trepidations and find a very positive reception.  The courage and ability of publishers and developers to try something new with a series is a sort of blessing fraught with possible perils, and despite that there is no exact formula for a spin-off to succeed or fail in the gaming market, it’s this gamble that has led to some of the industry’s most memorable titles.

Works Cited

“Persona 4 Arena – PlayStation 3.”  Metacritic.  <http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/persona-4-arena>  Web.  11 Jan. 2013.

“Persona 4 Arena – Xbox 360.”  Metacritic.  <http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/persona-4-arena>  Web.  11 Jan. 2013.

Persona 4: Arena.  Dev. Arc System Works, Atlus.  PlayStation 3 Game Disc.  Atlus, 2012.

“Silent Hill.”  Facebook.  <http://www.facebook.com/silenthill>  Web.  11 Jan. 2013.

Silent Hill: Book of Memories.  Dev. WayForward Technologies.  PlayStation Vita Game Cartridge.  Konami, 2012.

Super Mario Kart.  Dev. Nintendo EAD.  Super Nintendo Game Cartridge.  Nintendo, 1992.