Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Discussion of all things related to Dragon Ball video games (console and portable games, arcade versions, etc.) from the entire franchise's history.

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experted_luke
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Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by experted_luke » Sun Apr 05, 2020 11:18 pm

Has anyone ever thought that if the original Dragon Ball story were to receive a game (the Dragon Ball where Goku was a kid, learning martial arts, etc.) it'd be highly successful? Now, that's my opinion, but why do people always have to start a game with Z? Whatever happened to Dragon Ball getting looked at? Nowadays, it won't even get a pat on the back. It's overlooked.

What's your take on this?

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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by VegettoEX » Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:44 am

There have been plenty - you just need to go to a prior generation of consoles to play them.

Advance Adventure on the GBA is widely considered to be one of the franchise's best games period.

Dragon Ball DS 2 / Origins 2 on the DS (obviously enough!) massively improved on the first game (namely by not forcing you to use touch controls), and is a genuinely good game on top of just its improvements.

Tenka'ichi Dai-bouken / Revenge of King Piccolo on the Wii is... fine?

(And that's ignoring all the actual old games when there ONLY WAS the pre-Raditz stuff!)

Right now the focus for the franchise is on expanding the world and lore, which naturally they really only do from the most recent "end-point" of the series... which isn't Goku's younger days. That being said, there's plenty of play for the younger characters throughout Heroes, though obviously more in the older updates than the current ones.
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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by Matches Malone » Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:47 am

DB has always taken the backseat in favor of Z and even GT. Now that there's new content being released on a regular basis, it's getting even less priority. It doesn't need a game exclusive to it, but I'd like to see it included in games that cover every other part of the franchise, such as Xenoverse.

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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by Robo4900 » Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:16 pm

I'll say this: The fact that the Kakarot game skipped OG DB was utterly goddamn stupid. But it shows the attitude the guys in charge have these days; Z has the most easily-marketable elements, and they get to do only two thirds of the work they'd otherwise do if they have this easy "we're just doing Z" excuse (see also: why Kai skipped to Raditz). And with Super being the new hotness these days, I think it's unlikely any video games will return to the pre-Raditz well any time soon.
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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by DBZ Macky » Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:50 pm

There's also Attack of the Saiyans which includes parts from the 23rd Tenka-Ichi Budōkai while being a Saiyan arc game at it's core.
As much as I'd like to get a pure OG Dragon Ball game, it doesn't seem a likely possibility in the near future. The best we can hope for is a newer Dragon Ball game going in chronological order from the beginning which means having a little bit of OG Dragon Ball at the beginning inherently.
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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by DBZAOTA482 » Mon Apr 06, 2020 6:51 pm

Z is what sells for people. Nobody wants to play through the outdated series of old.
fadeddreams5 wrote:
DBZGTKOSDH wrote:... Haven't we already gotten these in GT? Goku dies, the DBs go away, and the Namekian DBs most likely won't be used again because of the Evil Dragons.
Goku didn't die in GT. The show sucked him off so much, it was impossible to keep him in the world of the living, so he ascended beyond mortality.
jjgp1112 wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 6:31 am I'm just about done with the concept of reboots and making shows that were products of their time and impactful "new and sexy" and in line with modern tastes and sensibilities. Let stuff stay in their era and give today's kids their own shit to watch.

I always side eye the people who say "Now my kids/today's kids can experience what I did as a child!" Nigga, who gives a fuck about your childhood? You're an adult now and it was at least 15 years ago. Let the kids have their own experience instead of picking at a corpse.

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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by experted_luke » Mon Apr 06, 2020 7:01 pm

DBZAOTA482 wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 6:51 pm Z is what sells for people. Nobody wants to play through the outdated series of old.
I get that, but playing through the Z storyline constantly is starting to get old. Don't you want the Dragon Ball story told in a similar fashion to Kakarot? It was a good RPG that could even get better if it adapts Dragon Ball.
Robo4900 wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:16 pm The fact that the Kakarot game skipped OG DB was utterly goddamn stupid.
I agree with you. Tired of seeing Z marketed. Whether it's Kakarot, FighterZ, or Xenoverse, (all of which are great games) they're just different ways of adapting to the Z storyline. FighterZ was original, though, while Xenoverse was a bit original, having time traveling, but it's still just Z.

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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by Grimlock » Mon Apr 06, 2020 7:20 pm

experted_luke wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 7:01 pmwhile Xenoverse was a bit original, having time traveling, but it's still just Z.
It isn't. It also adapts Dragon Ball Super (and even does a better job), with the exception of Universe Survival saga for obvious reasons.
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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by Robo4900 » Mon Apr 06, 2020 7:44 pm

DBZAOTA482 wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 6:51 pm Z is what sells for people. Nobody wants to play through the outdated series of old.
Sure, because "There have been no OG Dragon Ball games in the past 10 years" naturally means "No one has been interested in buying an OG Dragon Ball game in the past 10 years"... :roll:
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.

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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by DBZAOTA482 » Mon Apr 06, 2020 7:56 pm

Robo4900 wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 7:44 pm
DBZAOTA482 wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 6:51 pm Z is what sells for people. Nobody wants to play through the outdated series of old.
Sure, because "There have been no OG Dragon Ball games in the past 10 years" naturally means "No one has been interested in buying an OG Dragon Ball game in the past 10 years"... :roll:
Name a OG Dragon Ball game sold at least a quarter million copies in the past 20 years.

I'll wait...
fadeddreams5 wrote:
DBZGTKOSDH wrote:... Haven't we already gotten these in GT? Goku dies, the DBs go away, and the Namekian DBs most likely won't be used again because of the Evil Dragons.
Goku didn't die in GT. The show sucked him off so much, it was impossible to keep him in the world of the living, so he ascended beyond mortality.
jjgp1112 wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2020 6:31 am I'm just about done with the concept of reboots and making shows that were products of their time and impactful "new and sexy" and in line with modern tastes and sensibilities. Let stuff stay in their era and give today's kids their own shit to watch.

I always side eye the people who say "Now my kids/today's kids can experience what I did as a child!" Nigga, who gives a fuck about your childhood? You're an adult now and it was at least 15 years ago. Let the kids have their own experience instead of picking at a corpse.

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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by experted_luke » Mon Apr 06, 2020 7:58 pm

DBZAOTA482 wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 7:56 pm Name a OG Dragon Ball game sold at least a quarter million copies in the past 20 years.

I'll wait...
We haven't had any good ones to really do that. I guarantee you, if one was designed the way Kakarot was, it'd surpass a million copies. Z overshadows the original Dragon Ball.

I'm sure Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure sold a quarter million. Just can't find anything that says so.

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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by Robo4900 » Mon Apr 06, 2020 8:16 pm

DBZAOTA482 wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 7:56 pm
Robo4900 wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 7:44 pm
DBZAOTA482 wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 6:51 pm Z is what sells for people. Nobody wants to play through the outdated series of old.
Sure, because "There have been no OG Dragon Ball games in the past 10 years" naturally means "No one has been interested in buying an OG Dragon Ball game in the past 10 years"... :roll:
Name a OG Dragon Ball game sold at least a quarter million copies in the past 20 years.

I'll wait...
Name one that didn't.

Sales data for these games just isn't available, so we don't know either way.

Checkmate. :P

(Though given Dragon Ball Origins got a sequel, I'd guess it sold pretty well)
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.

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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by WittyUsername » Mon Apr 06, 2020 8:18 pm

It annoys me to no end that Kakarot completely skips over the pre-Raditz stuff, even though stuff like the Pilaf arc and the RRA arc are perfect for an open world RPG. I’d you’re going to have another Dragon Ball game that’s just retelling the story of the manga, you might as well give some attention to the parts of the manga that usually get ignored.

Even though it’s not an especially good game, I think part of the reason I’ve always appreciated BT3 is that it’s just about the only fighting game to actually cover OG DB in its story, and it includes characters like Nam, General Blue and Devilman, of all people. Sure, the game treats the stuff with Kid Goku almost like a prequel, and the fights are out of order, but it’s better than nothing.

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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by Psajdak » Mon Apr 06, 2020 9:55 pm

People have chosen - with their wallets.

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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by Robo4900 » Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:51 pm

Psajdak wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 9:55 pm People have chosen - with their wallets.
Except that there have been maybe five or six OG DB games in the past 20 years, all fairly small games (either handheld or Wii entries), and we have no sales data on any of them, though Origins got a sequel, so that one -- at least -- had to be pretty dang popular.

So... I think saying that people have chosen with their wallets is... Weird.
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.

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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by Yuli Ban » Sat Jul 11, 2020 9:38 pm

Robo4900 wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:51 pm
Psajdak wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 9:55 pm People have chosen - with their wallets.
Except that there have been maybe five or six OG DB games in the past 20 years, all fairly small games (either handheld or Wii entries), and we have no sales data on any of them, though Origins got a sequel, so that one -- at least -- had to be pretty dang popular.

So... I think saying that people have chosen with their wallets is... Weird.
This.

It's like saying "No one wanted to buy my chocolate cake, so everyone hates my chocolate cakes."

And the response is, "You didn't even make the chocolate cake in the first place!"

And then wagging your finger and saying, "And no one wanted it! See? I'm right!"

Like, that's 8-year-old logic.
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Re: Why Dragon Ball Won't Get a Game?

Post by NamekDragon » Wed Jan 13, 2021 11:03 am

Because Dragon Ball Z is more well known in the eyes of the general public and thus is more marketable.

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