The Transformers-Branded Gaming Accessory Hole Has Been Filled

29 responses to “The Transformers-Branded Gaming Accessory Hole Has Been Filled”

1. 

   Bigtones

   October 1, 2011 at 9:58 am

   Give me Gen 1 Optimus Prime and I’ll be all over it. I hate micheal bay for what he did to my childhood memories of transformers.

   Reply
   1. 

      TheLastQuestion

      October 1, 2011 at 10:45 am

      But without him and the push to bring Transformers into the newest generation, the brand would have died.

      As a massive TF fan myself (my collection pictures; let me show you them) I can appreciate different takes on my favourite property.

      It doesn’t take away from the original stories that brought you to the franchise in the first place. It’s this kind of mentality that makes me sad to call myself a TransFan.

      Reply
      1. 

         Chazz

         October 1, 2011 at 10:54 am

         That would be a fair enough comment if Michael Bay and co hadn’t made a heap of changes just to get extra money from product placement.

         Reply
         1. 

            TheLastQuestion

            October 1, 2011 at 11:11 am

            Dislike, sure, but outright hate? Venom? Death threats? These are the things that I’ve had to watch my fandom reduced to, just because of an alternate take on a franchise. Sure they made changes and made lots of money, to keep the franchise going.

            What impact does the movieverse have on G1? Absolutely nothing. What does it have to do with the ongoing ‘canon’ lore of Transformers as per the Ark Vault, incoming MMO, War for Cybertron and Transformers Prime? Nothing.

            Would you rather have seen the franchise die to preserve the elitism of the G1 crowd? I sure as heck don’t.

            Reply
            1. 

               Chazz

               October 1, 2011 at 11:19 am

               Let something die with dignity and grace or exploit the heck out of it…hmm lemme think about that one for a second.

            2. 

               TheLastQuestion

               October 1, 2011 at 11:20 am

               Grace and dignity? You obviously never saw Beast Machines…

            3. 

               Chazz

               October 1, 2011 at 11:25 am

               That flew under the radar for the majority of people. It’s easy to pretend it never happened. Michaelbayformers on the other hand? Not so easy to ignore.

            4. 

               Snacuum

               October 1, 2011 at 12:50 pm

               Dude, I’m a tremendous Transformers fan myself and I can still see a way to value both styles. There’s no way I would want to see Transformers die as something in popular culture. Some people even think Transformers died with Beast Wars, which is the lamest shit I ever heard.

               Think of it this way: If there were no bayfomers would I even be able to ask someone like you to go see the new “movie with giant robots”? Do you really want it to die so that when you tell kids about the awesome toys you used to have, they would say “Giant transforming robots? How stupid”

            5. 

               Chazz

               October 1, 2011 at 1:00 pm

               I’d rather they called it stupid than remember it in the form of the Michael Bay films 😛

            6. 

               bazuden

               October 1, 2011 at 1:45 pm

               I loved Transformers in the 80’s, and if you ask me Michael Bay captured the cheesiness well in his movies.

               The one thing I could not forgive him for was Soundwave’s voice. If Michael Bay was a true fan he would have got that right.

         2. 

            F4

            October 3, 2011 at 10:06 am

            Hey guy.

            Do you know what the original cartoons (and the earlier Marvel comic) were?

            Advertisements to sell toys to children. Nothing more, nothing less. The movies are just continuing Transformers’ fine tradition of flogging something, anything, to the viewer/reader.

            Reply
            1. 

               F4

               October 3, 2011 at 10:38 am

               bazuden: Soundwave’s voice in the movies is how it is performed. In the G1 cartoon, they processed and flanged the hell out of it to give it its monotone quality, but occasionally they forgot in a few episodes.

               Voice actor Frank Welker said somewhere that Michael Bay was concerned that the audience would have trouble understanding Soundwave’s voice with the G1-style flanging, so he left the voice as how Welker performed it.

               If I recall correctly, the voice was (roughly) the same one Welker used for Dr. Claw in Inspector Gadget.

      2. 

         MikeZdoesit

         October 3, 2011 at 6:46 pm

         I would prefer it dead. Or at least in the hearts of those that loved it.

         Reply
2. 

   Chazz

   October 1, 2011 at 10:14 am

   This article is misleading. It says it’s Transformers when it’s actually Michaebayformers.

   There is a BIG difference.

   Reply
   1. 

      Chazz

      October 1, 2011 at 10:20 am

      Though that purple mouse is pretty awesome…and if the laptop covers supported full size gaming laptops I’d probably get one as long as it doesn’t have “Dark of the Moon” or any movie-related nonsense on it.

      Reply
3. 

   Jake

   October 1, 2011 at 11:20 am

   Lame. I thought the mice transformed.

   I can’t bring myself to watch Transformers 3. 2 was an awful, awful movie. 1/10.

   Reply
   1. 

      Ry34

      October 1, 2011 at 11:24 am

      2 was certainly watchable, especially the scenes with Megan Fox in them.. mmm

      Reply
4. 

   Jim Smith

   October 1, 2011 at 2:54 pm

   I’ve got no holes left to fill

   Reply
5. 

   BenDTU

   October 1, 2011 at 5:08 pm

   Just on the topic of whether Transformers is dead or not, the current IDW comics are a really good read.

   On topic: Yeah, if these were G1 based I’d be all over them. The Bayformer movies are a huge tragedy as far as design goes.

   Not that they weren’t a tragedy in other areas, but the designs really got to me…

   Reply
6. 

   Chazz

   October 1, 2011 at 5:29 pm

   @bazuden

   There’s a huge difference between 80’s animation, things that are actually cheesy and a Michaelbayformers film.

   The G1 series was cheesy but for the time, it was perfect for it’s target audience. Things that are deliberately cheesy even by the standards of it’s time are things like the Mortal Kombat films (though number two took that to extremes) and then you have the Michael Bay films which are nothing but a crass attempt at cashing in on a popular franchise with no regard to what that franchise is/was oh and taking itself far too seriously thus making it no worthy of “cheesy”

   Hell rather than admitting that Bumblebee became a Camaro for a fat wad of cash they claimed it was “for design reasons”.

   For the sake of the memory of Transformers it should’ve have been left to fade away with a good rep rather than now being known as those Michael Bay films with robots.

   It’s like thinking of Germany. Do we remember them for their awesome food and beer (G1) or for Hitler (Michaelbayformers).

   Reply
   1. 

      Snacuum

      October 2, 2011 at 3:31 am

      “It’s like thinking of Germany. Do we remember them for their awesome food and beer (G1) or for Hitler (Michaelbayformers).”

      This is one of the stupidest comments I have ever seen, you can’t even pretend that these things can be compared. It’s so great to know you so hate the franchise of something you claimed to love.

      Reply
      1. 

         Chazz

         October 2, 2011 at 9:51 am

         /facepalm.

         My point was to show the vast difference between the quality of G1 and the purile trash of Bayformers. So I’ll simplify it with a less extreme analogy.

         G1 is to Bayformers as Frank Darabont is to Uwe Boll.

         I still enjoy G1 and such but I hate Bayformers and what it’s turned the franchise into, something where it’s lowest point (the MB films) will be all it’s remembered for by most people.

         Reply
         1. 

            Snacuum

            October 2, 2011 at 1:07 pm

            When was the last time you watched any generation 1? I’m not going to to pretend that bayformers is better because it’s not, but you must have a serious case of the nostalgia goggles if you think the original cartoons had any more depth or credibility, it was aimed at children after all. Of course, it matured thanks to being long running with writers being kept on, that’s a clear distinction between G1 and the bayformers; even to say that I think bayformers could have maintained depth if it was actually a new primetime series.

            You should realise that bayformers was not made for us, and if Transformers was allowed to die with ‘dignity’ it would not be remembered, it will fade into obscurity. 50 years from now the only people who would care would be rambling old men like us, which is the case for those remembering Hitler. For most he is referenced, not remembered, and that’s only because he is a part of important history.

            Reply
            1. 

               Chazz

               October 2, 2011 at 5:35 pm

               “The G1 series was cheesy but for the time, it was perfect for it’s target audience.”

               However it still definitely had more depth than a Michael Bay film. Sure it was aimed at children but a lot of those episodes had, in their 80’s children television way, life lessons to be soaked up. More than I can say for MB’s explosions and Megan Fox’s non-existent arse.

               And of course MBformers was not made for us. Does that change the fact that it was total crap even as an action movie? It wasn’t a popcorn action flick by any stretch it was one horrendous advertisement for various companies with Shia “look dumbfounded” LeBouf and Megan “I’ve got more plastic than a hollywood tranny” Fox in leading roles.

               Fading into obscurity is still a better option than that.

            2. 

               Chazz

               October 2, 2011 at 5:36 pm

               Again, let some people remember something for when it was awesome or bring into the focus of the majority as something completely different that lacks the heart and soul of the original.

               Personally, I’ll take the former. I’d rather good memories have the chance to be shared than have them overshadowed by idiotic tripe.

            3. 

               F4

               October 3, 2011 at 10:29 am

               You’re full of it if you think 1980s cartoon was anything other than 21 minute toy commercials. There was little depth or quality in it, it was made as quickly as possible on the whims of a toy company. And when popularity faded/kids moved onto cooler fads, they pulled funding for it and it ended.

               Want evidence? How about comments from some of the people who actually made the show?

               Quote: “…we feel action should be emphasized over plot—especially avoiding any complicated story lines—to ensure the success of this series with its intended viewers. ”
               —Bryce Malek and Dick Robbins, Transformers story editors, Marvel Productions internal correspondence

               Quote: “No one, not even the story editors, looked at these scripts very carefully. I seem to remember the show being on a really tight schedule, and we had to crank these scripts out fast. I wrote some of them in a single day, first draft, and they went almost immediately to the storyboard artists after Bryce or an assistant gave them a rather cursory read. We were not trying to create art, just get them done fast, and get paid… None of the writing on this series, in my opinion, was good or passionate or, sometimes (my own included, like The Autobot Run) even adequate. But we got paid well for writing them fast…. I was never a fan of any of the characters.”
               -Donald F. Glut, writer of 12 episodes of The Transformers.

               As for Transformers “fading/dying with dignity” rather than being reworked for modern times and new audiences, what a load of rubbish. Since when did Transformers belong to the 1980s generation? Contrary to popular opinion, Transformers is not some revived 1980s property, but has been around continuously for almost 30 years, reinventing itself to suit the times and (their intended) customers/audiences. That’s how (even without the movies) Transformers remains a popular and successful children’s toy line, while fellow 1980s contemporary Masters of the Universe is relegated to a mail order based toyline dedicated to (comparatively) very, very small number of adult collectors.

               It ridiculous to believe that because you merely dislike X Current Version of A Thing From Your Childhood That You Barely Remember, it would have been better for it to have died around the time when you lost all interest in it 20 years ago.

            4. 

               Chazz

               October 3, 2011 at 5:08 pm

               Michael Bay, is that you? If it’s not then you have to have some vested interest in the bayformers to go all out like that. What a sad life you lead.

            5. 

               F4

               October 4, 2011 at 6:24 pm

               You’re one to talk considering you made nine comments bitching about the movies.

               As a fan of the Transformers franchise, I have an interest in the continuing growth of the brand. I’m okay if it doesn’t specifically cater to me, because it’s not meant for me.

7. 

   Mr.NIK

   October 2, 2011 at 3:09 am

   Bayformers. The designs look like shit. It is as simple as that.

   Reply