Yeah, by original I mean G1, but in no way do I mean re-do it when I say "expand on that," as that's what Hasbro's been doing with every incarnation of Transformers since the original show went off the air. We still have Optimus Prime vs Megatron doing the same things over and over again with nothing coming of their victories/losses. Are they destined to battle forever? If so, let's at least make it interesting, and let's not start it over from the beginning each time one version of the tale ends.

 

And neither does a reboot. In fact, reinventing the property allows MORE opportunities for stories.

Can it now? Maybe. But fans of each cannot seem to co-exist in the same universe (or at least on the same forums.)

Would you say the same thing about Batman? Do you watch the Dark Knight and complain about the upgrades? Don't you get tired of that character getting rebooted every five years or so? Don't you get upset that the cartoons and comics are completely reworked? How about Spider-Man? Complaints about that? What if we had a new over-arching universe that had no ties to G1? Would you be okay then?

Everybody already does have something to like. We all have universes that suit our own personal wants and needs. That's not really what you're after. What you want is the complete and total return of G1 and the obliteration of anything else, which is selfish and thoughtless.

Wait, what? I thought you were arguing that "there can only be one highlander!" Please be a little more consistent.

Um...that's the same thing as a reboot/reinvention. Again, please make with the consistency.

Sadly, this fandom is hopelessly divided. There will never be a time when we all agree or share the same preferences. That tends to happen when there are human beings involved.

Not true. There is not one single piece of TF fiction that we ALL hate. Some of us dislike Armada. Guess what? Some of us like it. Some people despise Animated. Some love it. And you know what? Not all of us like G1. Some of us think G1 was a big fat bucket full of ass. (And this fan, who does like G1, is a little tired of Geewun folks thinking that their generation is the only one that should receive any sort of service.) That's the beauty of a multiverse. It gives us all something we like that we can enjoy in place of a section that we don't. My favorite animated series are the Japanese G1 series, but I'm not going to piss and moan all day because the new series doesn't have Ginrai or Star Saber leading.

Pssst... you realize you're suggesting fiction for Diaclone, right? Since that's the original.

Anyway, I'm not sure what the numbers are in our fandom for Geewun, but I'd like to remind you that G1 has in fact been expanded upon before. So if you really want your wish, you should realize that a continuation of G1 would ACTUALLY not contain any Optimus Prime or Megatron. It would start with Star Sabre. But that's not what you want. You want OP and Megs, over and over again. You talk about wanting something fresh and new, but what you're asking for is stale and already done.

As someone else said, if you want a repeat of G1, go watch G1.

 

I don't know if anyone brought this up but I don't think there will be a "Universe 3.0" Harbro's words were "something like Universe will be available the fall of next year."

Looking at the First image of Power Core Combiner - Huffer, the card doesn't say Universe just "TRANSFORMERS" also suggesting that there going back to square one and dropping the subtitles for this new line and just referring to it as Transformers as we did in the 80's. Also the typography on the card is the same for this game.

I was kind of annoyed that they keep re-inventing the "mini bots" Minicons and Targetmasters are basically the same thing outside of Head/Powermasters. But what if these Power Core Combiners are also a reinvention of the mini-bot combining the concept giving them an over all name.

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Also about the discussion above Transformers lasted from 1984 to 2000 running off the G1 story line. All things in between didn't do so well. This is why companies re-boot and re-invent their brands. To sometimes test the waters to build something stronger that will last. Thing is that it cant last too long and like Transformers will need to be "re-imagined" for the new generation.

Theres nothing wrong with reinventing the same character but how many times can you tell Superman's origin story? Re inventing the brand in small time frames is a bad thing then you start to run out of ideas for characters but then you don't want to change them or they wont be the person people recognize them to be. Allowing them to grow over an extended period of time into someone much stronger. Example Animated Optimus growing into a G1 type Optimus over 5 seasons. Around this time you can re-boot the franchise for a younger audience. Because the kids that were watching the show are adults.

For characters like Batman, Spider-Man etc they had their re-boot DC Comics with their "All Star" line and Marvel with their "Ultimate" their original story lines from the 60's or whenever they were created is still running till this day. Yes there are different versions of these comic characters outside the main line but those are just alt-worlds. The only time a brand should be reinvented is for a younger generation or if the brand/story didn't work well the first time. reinventing year after year just for the sake of doing it, you'll wear it out or people will loose interest due to consent change. Like turning on a light bulb and leaving it on as opposed to flipping the switch off/on till you blow the power.

America seems to have a hard time coming up with lasting brands for kids which is why they turn to Japan. The Japanese are masters of their art. They don't try to make money they try to tell a great story in order to make money. Some examples of lasting Japanese franchise:

Pokemon 1996-Present
Yu-Gi-Oh 1996-2004
Ultraman 1966-present (new characters same universe)
Super Sentai/Power Rangers 1975-present (new characters same universe)
Kamen Rider 1971-Present (new characters same universe)
Dragonball 1984-1995
Naruto 1999-Present

Having a lasting brand goes for telling great stories and expanding the universe. Reinventing the brand year after year while trying to stay true to it's spirit limits you. Who knows if this last long enough we might get a new type of Transformers thats not a cheep gimmick hopeful Drift will pop up soon :]

 

I really don't think shonen anime, and sentai shows are the best examples of healthy, long-running series'. Every new season is just the last one, with a new bad guy/new powerup.

 

I'd agree it'd be nice if we could get a modern series that lasts a little bit longer then 3 seasons, but even then it could only run for so long.
Sometimes things just need a fresh start. I much prefer reboots to something that drags on for far too long, like some Anime tend to do.

Plus, I actually enjoy seeing how things can be reinterpreted. Keeps it interesting.

 

Its no different from what the Japanese did with Headmasters, Master Force and Victory. "with a new bad guy/new powerup."

 

Victory had a pretty cool plot and good characters.

 

Leozack makes a better Starscream than starscream.

 

Will it be out for the Wii?

 

Yup.

 

Um, actually everything between now and G1 actually did quite well. Beast Wars saved the line from extinction. RiD and A/E/C were financially successful. Animated was successful also. Hell, if it weren't for these brands, you wouldn't even have new Transformers to hold in your grubby little hand. Which generation is it that almost killed Transformers? That's right, G2, which was G1 warmed over.

In Camelot, this would be true. But this is reality. The reason why companies re-boot, particularly with children's properties (which TFs are) is that children have the nasty tendency to grow up. Three years of a cartoon is a monstrous amount of time, since young boys grow up, become "too old" for the cartoon, while simultaneously new boys are growing into the marketing age group. You have to create a new place where the new target market can glom on, and that usually means re-telling origins, re-designing the lines for what's popular these days, and giving people a jumping on point. It's what comics and cartoons have been doing since their inception. This medium has never been about the old fan who refuses to let go of the old concepts and it never will be.

Tons apparently. Have you not ever picked up a DC comic? They practically rewrite each character every year. If you think that the DC or Marvel universe has remained the same for the past 60 years, you just haven't been paying attention. Their "original story lines from the 60's or whenever they were created" are not still running.

Not true. We die-hards are clearly the exception to the rule. Constant change is what brings on new fans.

All of those properties you've named have undergone so many drastic changes over the years, it's pitiful you even bring them up. Power Rangers, for instance...there's a property that hasn't chewed through characters like a mouse through a cheesewheel. Sheesh.

You'd better pray that this new Transformers is a continuity you actually like. You've only seen 30 seconds and a few still shots. Are you sure you really want to commit to it?

 

I wish Hot Rod/Rodimus as a playable character. Full of win.

 

Most of all that I already went over and explained.

1) Not doing well as in you don't see a forth installment of the Unicron Trilogy or a season 4 in Animated. Shows are pulled because their not making the money it needs to so they stop.

2) I've also mentioned that franchises are rebooted for a younger generation.

3) Yes Batman from the 1960s is still the Batman in comics today. And along with the whole "Crisis on Infinite Earth", 52, or whatever multiverse business that went down weeded out the unnecessary making the universe whole.

4) Transformers have also been through "drastic changes". A truck has nothing to do with a monkey. Not to mention all the gimmick we had over the years and the multiple "reformatting" of characters into new ones. And for Power Rangers, there are various teams fighting various evils. Much like we have a Police force, Navy, Army, National Guard etc. Theres a team of Rangers for that necessary evil.

5) Theres no reason to pray, I'm a logical person, Hasbro is not in business to LOOSE money. And if you read the articles theres no possible way this game could suck. Average yes but not suck....

I love that sh*t too, I wish Zone could of went 10 episodes :[

 

One thing I noticed missing from what we've seen so far are Cybertron's Moons. We know from past stories that it has two of them. I honestly don't know why them missing bothers me but for some strange reason it does.

 

It's technically been announced for the Wii, but we don't really know yet if it'll be the exact same game as the 360 and PS3.

There's always the possibility it could end up like the Wii/PS2 ROTF games.

 

Oh lord, if opinion counted as fact, you'd be the most knowledgeable man in the world.

Simply not true. A great many shows have left the air that were successful and still pulling in ratings.

In the case of Transformers, the reason for a show's cancellation is almost ALWAYS because the line is re-branding. (You do realize that fiction is made for the toys, and not the other way around, right?) So as long as there is a new brand or gimmick--for instance, minicons, Headmasters, Superlinking, and yes even this new Power-Core Combiner--there will be a need for the fiction to reinvent itself.

Yes, much to the contradiction of all of your other arguments. I'm still perplexed by this.

You obviously haven't read the comics, certainly not the originals. (By the way, Batman pre-dates the 60s.) Would you say that today's Batman is the same Batman that Adam West played? Hell, is he even Tim Burton's Batman? Is the universe around him the same? No. And you know this. The multiverse in Crisis is wholly different than the universe that followed it. And with the reintroduction of the multiverse, the DC Universe isn't even the same as it was even 10 years ago.

And do you know why that is? It's because comic book writers understand that continuity is a beast that cannot be tamed. They know that you cannot tell the same fucking story for 20 years and still keep people interested. They know that the people who hopped on at "Death of Superman" for the most part aren't reading comics anymore and that most of the kids who are reading them these days were just being born back then. So rather than present them with a complex and convoluted continuity which would boggle the mind, they do what everyone can and should do, which is reimagine the story and tell it for a new generation. It provides a point where fans who are outgrowing it can gracefully exit, and new fans can jump on board without having an aneurysm trying to assimilate eons of backstory.

lolwut?

So this is all over TRUKK NOT MUNKY? And none of these other properties have had "gimmicks," right?

And they haven't lost money yet. That's why there is still plastic crack on the shelves lo these 25 years later. It still doesn't mean everyone is going to like this new direction. How would you have felt if Animated were the "last generation" and everything else would be based on that?

You can tell that from a short trailer featuring a cut scene, a few still shots in a magazine and a couple of inches of column bought and paid for by the video game company?

I mean, I can by no means judge that the game will suck, but precedent tells me that I need to have my hands on the controller first before I yell from the mountaintops that I want everything Transformers to be based on this game for all eternity.

Finally, something we agree on! The one episode I have on DVD isn't enough.

 

Yeah I'm still not getting you bro....  but whateves

Any way, a season 4 was planed but was later dropped, trust me if Animated did a tad bit better we would've gotten a season 4. But Hasbro is still going to rock the last of the toy line.

May 1939 sorry I was just toss'n a number out (he's old) but yeah. The movie and comics are WAY different things. One guy can draw Batman in a way that looks different than the original. The only way you would know if it was the same story is if you were to read the book. I cant draw on Michael Keaton's face to look like Val Kilmer but are they the same Batman? YES!

Whatever the case, thats why I don't follow Marvel nor DC anymore for that reason. It's called the multiverse for a reason, theres no cleaning it up. Tell whatever story that needs to be told in the worlds that lie within. I knew it was rewritten once now your saying twice? But yeah don't care this is Transformers.

HEY!

Yes I went there, besides I was giving an example, Transformers is no different from the properties I've listed. I have no problems with Primal just say'n.

I would like it (season 3 for life) besides thats what I thought was going to happen.

There will always be hatters but so long as it has that feel of the original the majority will love it.

I don't read magazines I get my news from the internet. I know a little bit more than "a couple of inches of column"

Transformers: War For Cybertron - GameInformer.com

Hasbro and Activision about War For Cybertron

Q&A with Activision, makers of War For Cybertron

You own 400+ (I barely have 20) Transformers have a little faith.

 

A season 4 was never in the works. CN owned rights to animated so Hasbro couldnt bring it over to their new network, so they never renewed it for more episodes.

 

Okay then. The designs appeal to children, they appeal to adults. Point taken.

I don't think it was intended to appeal any younger than the audience typically enjoyed by Transformers in series such as Armada, Energon, etc, but I do believe the designs were far more sophisticated than what we got from those shows.