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[NinjamicWZ]

No. I was kinda grossed out that the entirety of the cut scenes were up on IGN before the game even released, all in one feature length youtube video.

Companies can't complain about it either, and maybe the marketing helps, maybe it's just bootleg af parasitism. I've long been a let's player and streamer fan/advocate, and that convo is a minefield that ends up in "that's just what people do now", but sometimes I think Nintendo had it right.

Even on facebook Gamespot earlier I see "Here's every kill in Friday the 13th!" - like dude, can't coverage just inform people "and there are some seriously brutal kills in this game, you'll be really shocked and surprised" and let that word of mouth get around? Then when someone plays the game looking for the kills they heard about (not saw already), and tries to get one, they have a "holy shit, that was awesome!" reaction. Those aren't even cut scenes, and maybe this is the only way to market to people anymore... but it just seems off.

Maybe I'm just in a temporary phase about it.

 

[MMarston]

The problem with this sort of hit me when I noticed a YouTube movie reviewer had decided to review the cutscenes.

Maybe it's the length that makes it different. Maybe it's the production values. But it does feel like NetherRealm and Warner Bros. have created a computer generated DC movie, and people are watching it for free. And it feels like someone people should be paying for to watch.

It's a strange situation.

And the only immediate solution I see to mitigating that is through upping the ante with copyright restrictions on YT, which of course has been proven to be a fickle bitch in itself when it comes to games.

 

[Iceternal]

People who are saying it's better than the DC movies are completely delusional.. it's not even as good as the DC animated movies.

The story mode is still a collection of excuses for characters to fight each other even when it doesn't make sense.

It's FULL of plot holes and dumb inconsistencies.

As a fighting game story mode it's alright but it would be one of the worst comics stories ever if it was released as a movie.

 

[Sony]

I have thought about this and I think it would be wise for developers to protect this somehow. Injustice's cutscenes are a movie on its own. I honestly wouldn't mind paying for watching it. Release it on Netflix or something.

In any case, something needs to be done about watching cutscenes for free. Especially for something cinematic like Injustice. I have watched MK9 cutscenes back to back (I bought the game on 2 machines so no moral injustice there) and it could honestly be a standalone movie.

I wouldn't mind game cutscenes being behind a paywall for people that don't own the game. Some publishers/ developers shut down streams when a cutscene starts, but allow the cutscenes on YouTube... it's dumb.

 

[Screaming Meat]

They should make a quality game first.

They really did though. It oozes care and attention.

Plus, I'm terrible at fighting games, but this is a lot of fun, even for a complete noob (saibot) like me.

The story mode is still a collection of excuses for characters to fight each other even when it doesn't make sense.

It's FULL of plot holes and dumb inconsistencies.

Sounds like 90% of comic books.

 

[Shaanyboi]

People who are saying it's better than the DC movies are completely delusional.. it's not even as good as the DC animated movies.

The story mode is still a collection of excuses for characters to fight each other even when it doesn't make sense.

It's FULL of plot holes and dumb inconsistencies.

As a fighting game story mode it's alright but it would be one of the worst comics stories ever if it was released as a movie.

Not when Suicide Squad exists. The bar for besting the current DC movies (except for hopefully Wonder Woman) is easy enough, this does it without even raising a knee.

And you act like comics aren't already looking for excuses for characters to constantly get into fights.

 

[Alienous]

People who are saying it's better than the DC movies are completely delusional.. it's not even as good as the DC animated movies.

The story mode is still a collection of excuses for characters to fight each other even when it doesn't make sense.

It's FULL of plot holes and dumb inconsistencies.

As a fighting game story mode it's alright but it would be one of the worst comics stories ever if it was released as a movie.

I don't think that's the case. There are a lot of dumb fights but I could absolutely see this being an animated DC movie storyline. A

Spoiler

fractured Justice League vs. Brainiac

movie.

I'd go as far as to say without much tweaking it could be a Justice League movie in the DCEU.

 

[GwyndolinCinder]

Yup I like the mk/injustice stories , but I've got no desire to buy same game again. The combat in the games can just not hold my attention past a week, with GG and tekken round the corner I managed to resist buying it.

 

[HellofaMouse]

I did. I also did this with injustice 1.

Because fighting games are so impenetrable to me, i dont enjoy playing them at all

 

[NinjamicWZ]

The story mode is still a collection of excuses for characters to fight each other even when it doesn't make sense.

Sounds like 90% of comic books.

It is. That's why some of Alan Moore's work in the 80's was a deconstruction of character agency and writer/publisher/reader selfishess. Traditional comic book heroes have to keep fighting, losing people, suffering losses, and being hurt in serialization. Villains can't die, even irredeemable wretched ones who really should just kill themselves instead of inflicting their misery on the world. And heroes can't kill to end the recurring terrorism, or enjoy the catharsis of revenge, because they're moral absolutists contending with fan favorites and valuable ip.

It was like the Kaz Miller "Why are we still here? Just to suffer?" of it's time.

 

[Steroyd]

I've been actively trying to avoid it, but it's hard to miss on YouTube atm.

Not a fan of the type of fighting game but I will buy it when the GOTY Definitive edition is on a sale.

 

[Iceternal]

But there is NO character development or it simply goes nowhere. Characters are mostly exactly the same as they were at the beginning and even full chapters focused on them are a collection of fights with punchlines and zero substance.

Too much stuff happens offscreen too.

 

[oti]

Doesn't LEGO sell their cutscenes as movies? That would be an idea.

 

[Painguy]

A lot of my friends just watch game cut scenes on YouTube instead of playing the game. It absolutely baffles my mind. Like, who actually likes the shit writing in these AAA games? Go watch a movie or something . Read a book. Like bruh, why u wanna watch these cringe fest C-tier movie stories with robotic characters? But yeah, Nintendo was on the money about this lol.

 

[Spinluck]

So Sakurai was right after all lol

lmao

 

[SalvaPot]

And then people wondered why Sakurai didn't bothered with cutscenes with Smash 4.

 

[Spinluck]

Sounds like 90% of comic books.

Not entirely.

The point made is a valid one.

A lot of the fights in story mode was needless filler, and a good amount of the cutscenes are kind of pointless and can be cut out.

From convenient cloning to mind control

They really throw them at you lol.

 

[Alienous]

But there is NO character development or it simply goes nowhere. Characters are mostly exactly the same as they were at the beginning and even full chapters focused on them are a collection of fights with punchlines and zero substance.

Too much stuff happens offscreen too.

The core of the story are the rigid positions held by Batman and Superman. Character development comes in the form of Supergirl, as it often does come from the core protagonist of an origin story.

I'll agree that a lot happens off screen (

Spoiler

Supergirl's training, the Flash's trial, Green Lantern's repentance... Atlantis' capture... Black Canary and Green Arrow's arriving in this universe... the formation of the Society...

. That said it just becomes a 'movie' that exists in a larger universe (the last game and the comics), not unlike Batman vs. Superman.

 

[Screaming Meat]

It is. That's why some of Alan Moore's work in the 80's was a deconstruction of character agency and writer/publisher/reader selfishess. Traditional comic book heroes have to keep fighting, losing people, suffering losses, and being hurt in serialization. Villains can't die, even irredeemable wretched ones who really should just kill themselves instead of inflicting their misery on the world. And heroes can't kill to end the recurring terrorism, or enjoy the catharsis of revenge, because they're moral absolutists contending with fan favorites and valuable ip.

It was like the Kaz Miller "Why are we still here? Just to suffer?" of it's time.

Sure, but I don't think Injustice 2 is trying to deconstruct comic book myths and tropes. It's a romp, plain and simple, just like most comic books are. You can hardly complain about what something isn't; rather, it should be judged on whether it achieves what it aims to do.

Not entirely.

The point made is a valid one.

A lot of the fights in story mode was needless filler, and a good amount of the cutscenes are kind of pointless and can be cut out.

From convenient cloning to mind control

They really throw them at you lol.

Again, just like 90% of comic books.

 

[RedAssedApe]

People who are saying it's better than the DC movies are completely delusional.. it's not even as good as the DC animated movies.

The story mode is still a collection of excuses for characters to fight each other even when it doesn't make sense.

It's FULL of plot holes and dumb inconsistencies.

As a fighting game story mode it's alright but it would be one of the worst comics stories ever if it was released as a movie.

you must not read actual comics lol

 

[Q8D3vil]

The table scene dialogue between batman and superman alone is better than any non comic related thing since flashpoint animated movie.

 

[JCH!]

I will never understand people who do this. If I not interested enough in a game to buy it I'm sure as he'll not gonna be interested in watching it on YouTube.

I played the first Injustice on WiiU and enjoyed it a lot. Will buy it if/when the Switch/PC version releases. If it doesn't, then I'll just never watch it, I guess.

 

[Mendrox]

It's not Let's Plays, it's people editing all the cutscenes together and then uploading it into a "movie".

What about all the other games in movie form? It's nothing New and publishers dont do anything about that. See Uncharted movies, Persona movies, Final Fantasy movies, all cut into a movie with gameplay to complete them.

I watched half of it and will get the ultimate Edition next year of when it releases. Was pleasing but god damn there is ass fanservice every 5 minutes (not that I mind, the butts look very good)

 

[texhnolyze]

This thread made me watched it just now, or rather, skimmed through it in seconds.

That.. doesn't look appealing for me. Is it CG or in-game graphics?

I'd rather watch a real DC movie than wasting my time watching this game's cutscenes.

 

[Icyflamez96]

I will never understand people who do this. If I not interested enough in a game to buy it I'm sure as he'll not gonna be interested in watching it on YouTube.

I played the first Injustice on WiiU and enjoyed it a lot. Will buy it if/when the Switch/PC version releases. If it doesn't, then I'll just never watch it, I guess.

People are interested in the story and don't like playing fighting games. It's not hard to understand.

 

[LaNaranja]

As others have said, I doubt NetherRealm has much of a problem with it given that the story mode is available for free on mobile.

Don't they at least deserve money for the cutscenes, though? Like, I am attracted to fighting games because I like seeing various colorful characters interacting with each other and don't care about the fighting part at all. I indeed feel that it's not worth a full price, so I simply wait for the price to drop.

I honestly find the "I don't care about the main part of the game" justification to skip paying entirely rather flimsy. If you are positively entertained by a product, rewarding the people who created and sold them seem to be the decent thing to do.

So do you think people who download the game on iOS or Android should feel obligated to pay some amount of money? Is it "indecent" to not purchase micro-transactions in a free to play game that you enjoy?

 

[JCH!]

People are interested in the story and don't like playing fighting games. It's not hard to understand.

Wow. Was not aware of that at all, thanks for enlightening me.

 

[NinjamicWZ]

Sure, but I don't think Injustice 2 is trying to deconstruct comic book myths and tropes. It's a romp, plain and simple, just like most comic books are. You can hardly complain about what something isn't; rather, it should be judged on whether it achieves what it aims to do.

I wasn't trying to go against your point, I just meant that yeah, that is the nature of traditional hero comics... so much so that deconstructing those ideas was like a radical renaissance for the medium. Big hero comics mostly just went back to business as usual, anyway.

I like what NRS story modes do. They're remarkable for weaving a relatively ambitious and engaging, coherent story around and directly into 1 v 1 video game fights in an actual fighting game. Should be oil and water, but it works great.

 

[TheTylerRob]

I don't understand how you could actually sit through that story mode without getting to actually play.

 

[EhoaVash]

I watched the whole story on YouTube too lol

I suck at traditional fighting game. Can never memorize combos + button inputs + movement feels like ass a lot. And also just mashing buttons isn't very imo. So I tend to avoid the genre outside of super smash Bros, but I love dc comics.

I watched the original injustice story and enjoyed it. Watched injustice 2 story and it was pretty meh. Didn't like that the story was basically the same with just few different characters.

 

[Screaming Meat]

I wasn't trying to go against your point, I just meant that yeah, that is the nature of traditional hero comics... so much so that deconstructing those ideas was like a radical renaissance for the medium. Big hero comics mostly just went back to business as usual, anyway.

I like what NRS story modes do. They're remarkable for weaving a relatively ambitious and engaging, coherent story around and directly into 1 v 1 video game fights in an actual fighting game. Should be oil and water, but it works great.

Ah, okay. I gotcha.

Spoiler

Just so you know, Watchmen is like my favourite thing ever. Not the fucking movie, though.

 

[Trickster]

I certainly will if they don't announce and get a pc (a good one) version out soon

 

[deadscreensky]

As others have said, I doubt NetherRealm has much of a problem with it given that the story mode is available for free on mobile.

In this thread people are really overstating the mobile story. As of now (at least on Android) it offers chapter 1, that's it. It's honestly an extended preview at best, and (a little ironically) it's actually been getting me tempted to watch the game's whole story on YouTube, presumably the opposite of what Netherrealm intended. But hey, they're the folks who decided not to even launch the game on a platform considerably more popular than the consoles they did support...

I'll still probably wait for the eventual PC release, but if for whatever reason the story starts getting a lot of discussion online I'll maybe spoil myself via YouTube. And FWIW I support the idea that WB should be taking down YouTube videos of the cutscenes. At least when presented in aggregate this seems like pretty straight piracy to me. It might be poor PR, but nobody would blink if they took down people uploading entire stories from movies, television shows, books.

 

[DigitalRicket]

I have absolutely no interest in playing the Injustice games but I was recommended the vides on Youtube and I just couldn't stop watching. I'm sorry Netherealms

 

[Icyflamez96]

Wow. Was not aware of that at all, thanks for enlightening me.

Not sure what your mental block is.

 

[Karu]

I watched a full-playthrough with two people playing and commenting on it/having fun. So it is not just the game I am enjoying - which I would never buy, because I have no interest in fighting games.

Would I watch the cut-scenes by themselves? Maybe. I did with Starcraft 2, another genre I have no interest in.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

This probably isn't all that different from any other game genre.

I'll probably eventually watch The Last Guardian 'movie' >_>

 

[BodiesWithoutOrgans]

I don't like fighting games so o just watched the cutscenes

 

[JCH!]

Not sure what your mental block is.

I'm just not very clever

Also, kind of a '90% videogame stories are terrible, why would you sit through 2h of one instead of watching a film/reading a book?' person. I know, it's pretty sad

 

[RedAssedApe]

I've watched a little bit. My favorite part so far is a great bail-out thread gif

 

[Scrooge McDuck]

So do you think people who download the game on iOS or Android should feel obligated to pay some amount of money? Is it "indecent" to not purchase micro-transactions in a free to play game that you enjoy?

I don't think my stance is all that complicated. I'm not saying that if you enjoy something then you must pay for it. I'm saying that when a product is on sale, then it'd be decent of you to actually buy it if even if you'd only indulge in some parts of it.

[EDIT]
Oh I see where you're going with this. Yea, as others have said, NetherRealm doesn't actually make the entirety of the story mode freely available on mobile.

 

[BronsonLee]

Seeing people compare it to piracy is silly as shit, you make story mode, fatalities, etc for something fancy to be seen on YouTube and interest you in the game

If WB wanted them gone, they'd be gone. They're marketing tools, guys.

 

[LowRoller]

As others have said, I doubt NetherRealm has much of a problem with it given that the story mode is available for free on mobile.



So do you think people who download the game on iOS or Android should feel obligated to pay some amount of money? Is it "indecent" to not purchase micro-transactions in a free to play game that you enjoy?

Only chapter 1 is free on mobile .

 

[luulubuu]

2017 - watching a gameplay of a game is piracy
2019 - looking at the coverart is piracy
2028- gaming is a capital sin now

 

[Tecnniqe]

Let's plays is piracy
Cutscenes outside of the game is piracy
Streaming is piracy
Videos is piracy
Screenshots is piracy
Mere existence is piracy


Shut it all down! Yarr

 

[Fitts]

To those who believe that this practice is taking sales away from NRS, just consider this their comeuppance for Deadshot.

 

[TagZ]

I had quite an argument with my brother on this topic, how developers might feel about youtubers ripping entire stories.

This situation is quite weird because I thought IGN had a deal with NRS to get exclusive character reveal videos. But I doubt NRS said go ahead put the entire story up... but maybe they did?

I know I've heard some developers are kinda against this but don't want to go against the grain either. Going against a community.

My point was that smaller studios must have a negative feeling towards this. Especially those that make story driven games. One article I remember is this from the developers of That dragon, cancer http://kotaku.com/not-every-developer-is-convinced-let-s-play-videos-are-1766985440

Some of the article: “Our studio has not yet seen a single dollar from sales,” he said.

The developers “underestimated how many people would be satisfied with only watching the game,” and became frustrated by the millions of people watching the game on YouTube translating into zero revenue for their years of work.

So when Green saw tweets asking about deprived revenue, it struck a nerve.

“And so yes, Let’s Play person, I agree with you,” he said, “it does suck to have someone else making revenue off your work.”

I was having this argument because I have a Youtube gaming channel that I want to focus on Indie games, Interviewing developers (only 2 so far) helping anyway I can to shine light on great games and the hard work that goes into them.

But I do try cover some big games as well such as IJ2, my question to myself was how can I upload the entire story of this game (easy views) where I am someone who wants people to appreciate the hard work that goes into making games.

 

[formasymphonic]

I know a TON of people who have done this.

It actually kind of makes me angry. Because they did so much work to make the story really beautiful and interesting, and some guy on Youtube makes ad money off it and a million people just watch the story instead of buying and playing the game. Its robbing devs of their hard earned money.

If I was WB, I'd release the story cutscenes as a separate movie and DMCA takedown all the youtube cutscene compilations. This thievery has to stop.

The other part of this that gets me is how angry people can be over publishers requesting takedowns for things like this. I've always seen it as "if Disney/HBO/Unversal/Sony/etc wouldn't be ok with you uploading duplicates of their content on YouTube, then why are Lets Plays & cutscene compilations ok?"

- I can fully agree with using content for reviews and analysis videos because they are legitimate commentary or transformative — but its hard to see the fair use exemption for things like let's plays, reaction videos or cutscenes compilations. Especially if the content is monetised.

 

[Angelus Errare]

People who are saying it's better than the DC movies are completely delusional.. it's not even as good as the DC animated movies.

The story mode is still a collection of excuses for characters to fight each other even when it doesn't make sense.

It's FULL of plot holes and dumb inconsistencies.

As a fighting game story mode it's alright but it would be one of the worst comics stories ever if it was released as a movie.

Soooo it's on par with DCCU?

 

[Iceternal]

The core of the story are the rigid positions held by Batman and Superman. Character development comes in the form of Supergirl, as it often does come from the core protagonist of an origin story.

I'll agree that a lot happens off screen (

Spoiler

Supergirl's training, the Flash's trial, Green Lantern's repentance... Atlantis' capture... Black Canary and Green Arrow's arriving in this universe... the formation of the Society...

. That said it just becomes a 'movie' that exists in a larger universe (the last game and the comics), not unlike Batman vs. Superman.

Your point about Supergirl is interesting regarding her character development as a protagonist.

Except she's not the protagonist. She ends up being absolutely useless in the story.

She should have played a key part in the final battle but she did nothing. You could remove her from the whole story and it could still unfold just the same.