Astrobot: The Controversy in Cameos
gamesreviews.comAstrobot is an inoffensive, entertaining little platformer that has been entertaining fans and critics since it released last week. So the discussion around cameos might be a little surprising.
Like its predecessor, the free-on-PS5 Astrobot’s Playroom, Astrobot contains a whole load of cute cameos. PlayStation characters in all shapes and sizes return in their dozens. Unlike Playroom, which came out at the start of the generation, today’s cameos have had a less pleasant reaction.
The reason is fair enough. Today these Easter egg appearances mark franchises we know are dead and buried. The potential at the beginning of the generation has been imploded by studio closures, layoffs and franchises discontinued for spurious reasons.
Days Gone director John Garvin said he felt his character was being exploited to promote “some small game”.
Haha, I see my character reduced to a cartoon schill promoting some small game and I’m being harsh? Sit down, my brotha, adults are talking https://t.co/ZjthTV96qG
— John Garvin (@John_Garvin) September 7, 2024
And he’s not alone with the, let’s be polite, mixed feelings about these things. There is something bittersweet in a company selling you a game based on seeing characters they’ll never bring back. It’s hard to be too excited when many of the people who worked to bring those characters to life have lost their jobs.
The cameos aren’t the problem. People being excited about seeing characters like Kat while simultaneously not paying for a Gravity Rush game is pretty much on brand for the industry at this point. And for entertainment in general. At this point in time, cameos trump quality.
It’s about marketability. You know what people love more than new and exciting stories? Old stories repeated ad nauseum. Take out the cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine and you have all of two minutes of plot. And I’m not just talking about famous actors returning. The appearance of the characters themselves fall into the same rough mix.
When Captain
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