Massively Multiplayer: Gaming In The New Millennium

[theg*ddam*hoi2fan]

Just been catching up with the thread after missing a few. Damn...I’d honestly forgotten it had been spoiled Brittany would end up getting cancer

...don’t suppose you’d consider a retcon to let her live?

 

[woweed]

Just been catching up with the thread after missing a few. Damn...I’d honestly forgotten it had been spoiled Brittany would end up getting cancer

...don’t suppose you’d consider a retcon to let her live?

Not everyone gets a happy ending. Brittany dying is agonizing, but it happens.

 

[RySenkari]

Also, what happened to Planescape Torment and Icewind Dale?

Planescape Torment is still around and even got a couple of console spin-offs. It's fairly successful but probably won't be getting another game ITTL, at least for a few years yet. Icewind Dale is butterflied.

Who is the Nintendo President of America ITTL as of 2011? Is it still Howard Lincoln?

Howard Lincoln retired in the mid 2000s, and was replaced by Shawn Layden, who at the time was working for Sony (and IOTL currently works for them in a similar role). ITTL, Layden somewhat prefers to stay out of the public eye, preferring to run things more behind the scenes (though he does speak at some smaller scale business events), and gives the public speaking duties for pressers like E3 and such to Bill Trinen, who heads up Nintendo's media relations arm and serves as a VP by 2011.

Since Super Smash Bros. Unleashed has been out for a few months at this point ITTL, I want to ask a question regarding the series here. Currently, which characters are TTL's Smash fans wanting the most to get in the next installment? Have any character requests ITTL reached (or will reach) Waluigi levels of "never ever getting in"?

Characters like Ahsoka Tano coming in opened the floodgates for fan requests, so we're seeing more requests for things like Goku, Batman, etc., even though Sakurai stated that Ahsoka is an exception because she debuted in a game. There's been plenty of requests for characters like Rayman, Sadira Blackheart, Ezio/Altair, Crono, things like that. Waluigi isn't as popular ITTL so there hasn't been much of an outcry for him.

Just been catching up with the thread after missing a few. Damn...I’d honestly forgotten it had been spoiled Brittany would end up getting cancer

...don’t suppose you’d consider a retcon to let her live?

I've actually considered retconning her death multiple times and I know exactly what she would be doing if she recovers from her cancer. However, I'm going to stick to my guns and keep her fate the same.

 

[Nivek]

I've actually considered retconning her death multiple times and I know exactly what she would be doing if she recovers from her cancer. However, I'm going to stick to my guns and keep her fate the same.

I think for the best, even if a little sad and harsh, show a level of realism of the TL when such beloved In-universe and for readers characther die, give a dimension how life tend to be.

 

[RySenkari]

Space Harrier: Return To The Fantasy Zone

Space Harrier: Return To The Fantasy Zone is a reboot of the classic Sega arcade hit Space Harrier. Designed exclusively for the iTwin, the game is a third person railshooter intended to bring the classic gameplay of the original into the modern age, and can be played either with traditional controls or motion controls. In this game, Harrier is able to dual-wield, shooting two different weapons at his foes, which he battles all across the Fantasy Zone as he attempts to save the realm from destruction at the hands of an evil space wizard, while winning the heart of the beautiful Princess Zinela, who also happens to be a Space Harrier herself and takes up a flightsuit and weapons toward the end of the game. As Harrier battles his way through a wide variety of foes, ranging from simple imps and elves to enormous dragons and cosmic horror monsters, with a few mechanized robots also fought during the course of the game, he collects more and more powerful weapons, and can also permanently increase his health and defense by acquiring power-ups from certain enemies. The gameplay is mostly similar to the original game, with each level (a total of 16 in all) presenting a series of unique battles and challenges, and the player attempting to keep Harrier alive and destroy enemies while also earning a high score. Levels now feature modern production values, which include 3-D background animation and in-stage dialogue from friend and foe, designed to keep the story moving while the player is making their way through the levels. During levels and in-between levels in the form of cutscenes, the story is advanced through both dialogue and animation, though the action rarely stops (only when a boss is coming in does the action temporarily stop to introduce that boss). Levels can be replayed, both to increase the player's high score and to collect missing power-ups (or to play through earlier levels with more power), or just to relive that level's storyline. The player doesn't have much choice in the way the story plays out, regardless of the player's actions, the story will remain the same (unlike games such as Star Fox where different routes determine the story). The game was designed to capture the feel of an old-time arcade game, and that's what it mostly does, despite the enhanced production values. Though Yu Suzuki served as a consultant on the game, he didn't play a direct role in designing the story or gameplay, which was largely done by a new studio, though the studio did work toward keeping the game faithful to the previous ones. The plot is fairly simple, Harrier must traverse the Fantasy Zone, battling monsters across numerous environments and helping to protect the innocent citizens from the space wizard's forces while doing his best to help Zinela. At the end of level 12, Zinela is seemingly killed, but returns in level 13 as a Space Harrier to assist Harrier in battling the wizard's most powerful forces, and remains an ally throughout the rest of the game, though she is temporarily wounded and taken out of action for the final boss fight. Once the game is beaten, the player can play through the quest again as Zinela to see alternate dialogue and a slightly changed story, and once the player completes the game with both characters, a special challenge mode opens up. Space Harrier: Return To The Fantasy Zone is seen by critics as a capable reboot of the original, if a bit simplistic for the modern age. Review scores average right around 8/10, and sales are decent enough for the game to be considered a mild success upon its release in April 2011.

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Streets Of Rage

The latest game in the Streets Of Rage series, Streets Of Rage (which, despite reverting to the original title of the series and not having a number attached, is NOT a reboot but in fact takes place after all other previous games) is a 2-D beat 'em up featuring fully 3-D graphics, and takes the series' classic gameplay and significantly evolves it while staying true to the series' roots. The game features classic beat 'em up gameplay with a massive variety of new moves, more akin to a modern fighting game or hack 'n slash rather than a classic simplistic beat 'em up title. The game also features weapons, and for the first time since the second game, the weapons can be used an unlimited number of times, save for a few weapons that are on a durability meter. There's also a wide variety of brand new power-ups, including speed and stamina boosters, invincibility drinks, body armor, and immunity cards that temporarily protect you from certain types of enemies. The game features four playable characters. In addition to Axel, Blaze, and Adam making their returns, there's also Nakumi. She's the city's elected mayor, who vowed to take down corruption and not bow down to the city's crime syndicates, but after she's attacked in her office by criminals who try to assassinate her for not cowering to them, she fights them off and decides to join the three other heroes in cleaning up the streets personally. Nakumi fights "smarter, not harder", and while her stats are slightly weaker than the other three heroes, her techniques allow her to be just as good, or even better in the hands of a skilled player. Streets Of Rage allows for four player play, both locally and online, and has competitive and co-op modes. In competitive modes, players try to take out more enemies than anyone else, and in "pure competitive" mode, there's even the option for PvP, where teams can turn on one another at certain parts of the stage. However, in co-op, the four players team up to get a high team score, and can even do special combination moves that can't be done anywhere else. Combination moves can either do more damage to an enemy, score more points than regular moves, or sometimes both, making co-op multiplayer a truly cooperative form of play. The game's plot, while more complex than that of other games (with the Syndicate now a multi-layer criminal organization with different factions battling it out for control of the city), is still fairly simple, with most of the focus placed on the gameplay. For the first time, the series features full voice acting: Nolan North voices Axel Stone, Diedrich Bader voices Adam Hunter, Lyssa Fielding voices Blaze Fielding (yes, this was deliberate, the casting director sought out Lyssa who almost couldn't take the role because of scheduling conflicts but ended up finding time to take the role), and Kelly Hu voices Nakumi. Other popular characters from the series also return, including Skate (who's voiced by Jorge Diaz and mostly plays a cameo role, ending up kidnapped by the Syndicate much like his brother in Streets of Rage 2) and Ash (who returns as a boss character who later defects to the good guys). Despite the game's production values, it largely plays similar to the arcade original, though at a faster, more modern pace. The game ends with the Syndicate defeated (seemingly for good this time), peace and justice restored to the city, and the protagonists hailed as heroes, with Nakumi giving each of them the key to the city while hiding her own role in fighting the criminals. However, the ending also implies that a new criminal organization will be built out of the ruins of the Syndicate by one of the minor villains that went uncaptured at the end of the game. Streets Of Rage is released in May and is considered one of the iTwin's big games of the spring. It also gets a much-lauded port to the iPhone, which features both simplified controls for touchscreens and optional traditional controls for controller attachments. Overall reviews of the game are highly favorable, averaging around a 9/10, and it's considered one of the most popular iTwin titles of the year, with sales exceeding expectations to make it a major commercial hit.

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Apple Planning "Four Major Sonic Titles Over Next 18 Months"

Upcoming investor conference reveals leading into E3 2011 have confirmed that Apple intends to release numerous Sonic games for both the iTwin and the upcoming Gemini handheld device over the next two years, with a specific figure of "four" major Sonic releases said to be planned within 18 months from now. One of those titles, Sonic Unrelenting, has been confirmed as the next iTwin Sonic game and is scheduled for this summer, while Apple also plans a pair of more "traditional" 2-D Sonic titles, one of which is intended for release on the Gemini, while the other hasn't been confirmed for a specific platform. We're also learning that a spinoff game featuring one or more side characters is planned for the iTwin, likely seeing release next year before the reveal of its own successor. While the sheer number of Sonic games expected to be released over such a short period of time has generated worries amongst longtime series fans that it might be "overkill", nearly every Sonic game in recent memory has proven to be a success, most recently March's digital release Sonic's Ultimate Challenge, which launched with a budget price of $19.99 on the iTwin. The game, a collaboration between Sonic Team and indie developer Edmund McMillen, was a best seller on the digital marketplace, and saw excellent reviews despite its stiff difficulty. With Sonic games still proving popular with fans and still selling like hotcakes, Apple's strategy of super Sonic saturation might indeed pay off, and it will be interesting to see what Apple has cooked up for the familiar blue hedgehog over the next few years.

-from an article on Games Over Matter, posted on May 6, 2011

 

[TheFaultsofAlts]

So, how far is E3 2011 from today's update?

 

[RySenkari]

E3 2011 is next week.

 

[THAHORSEMEN]

Does the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill still happen, or was it butterflied away?

 

[TheFaultsofAlts]

E3 2011 is next week.

Cool!

 

[RySenkari]

Mechatos 2

Mechatos 2 is the sequel to 2007's hit Supernova RPG about giant mechs battling it out in a post-apocalyptic world. The game, released in Japan in the summer of 2010, wasn't localized for North America until the spring of 2011, as sales in North America lagged quite a bit behind sales in Japan for the original. The game takes place 100 years after the original game, taking place in the same world but featuring a new cast of protagonists and antagonists, and many new locations not seen in the original game. The game's battle system and power-up system have evolved somewhat from the last game but remain fundamentally the same: combat is turn-based, and takes place with the player's party in mechs battling a variety of enemies, both mechanical and organic. The mechs can use a wide variety of attacks and are able to target certain places on the enemy's body in order to weaken limbs or cripple the enemy. Some new elements have been added to combat, including "Crisis Moments" in which certain parts on the enemy can be targeted for a damage or loot bonus, Aerial Assaults in which either the enemy mechs or the party's mechs can take flight and launch special attacks, and also the addition of elemental damage and defense for both players and enemies, with certain mech parts belonging to one of ten different elements. Mechatos 2 is also slightly more open ended than the previous game, with more exploration allowed and even segments where the player is required to roam around, hunting for a specific enemy. The ability to visit a number of different areas early on allows the player to collect extra experience and parts earlier than they might normally be able to, enabling players to grind who wish to do so and make earlier challenges somewhat trivial. The game also features eight playable characters instead of six, though parties still consist of three characters overall. The game's primary protagonist is Ganzer, known as a Reconstructor (someone who rebuilds old cities from scrapped parts). In the 100 years since the fall of the Purgers, humanity has slowly been getting back on its feet, but still has a lot of work to do because of mutant attacks and civil wars. Ganzer works for a nation called the Lumon Authority, the most successful of the nations to rise from the ashes of the fallen world, which has been able to build a massive and prosperous city, Lumonopolis, outside of the domes, where the air has started to become breathable and agriculture and industry are starting to thrive. One day, Ganzer is attacked by a rogue mech that turns out to be a Purger: a girl named Annabeth, who claims to be 112 years old and who has been trapped inside her mech for more than a century. She's the Purger that was revealed to still be alive at the end of the previous game, but unlike the other Purgers, whose minds have been broken and twisted and who seek only to destroy, Annabeth has a somewhat normal and upbeat mind, and only attacked Ganzer in self-defense. Annabeth claims to have only woken up in the past six months, and is able to communicate via the use of a talking hoversphere (which looks somewhat like a Fallout Eyebot). Annabeth wants to be free of her mechanical body, but she can't reveal herself as a Purger, lest she be destroyed by the humans (who still fear the machines that nearly destroyed them 100 years ago). Ganzer realizes that Annabeth's skills might be useful in helping to defeat the Dark Conclave, a cult-like civilization and the main rival to the Lumon Authority, who continue to attack Lumon's cities and people frequently. Ganzer and Annabeth begin roaming the wastes, battling the Dark Conclave and trying to convince the Lumon Authority to help Annabeth out. They make numerous allies along the way, but also numerous enemies, particularly Tolzoff, the leader of the Dark Conclave, and also a mysterious and sadistic scientist named Dr. Shikyo who has done experiments attempting to bring back the Purgers. In a climactic series of events about two-thirds of the way through the game, numerous major things are revealed: Annabeth has been physically dead for 100 years (as revealed when she is finally "freed" from her mechanical body, only for there to be a mummified corpse inside) and the real Annabeth's consciousness resides in her hoversphere, which is then destroyed by Tolzoff. It's also revealed that Dr. Shikyo has been working with Tolzoff to create a new army of Purgers, one of which is revealed to be a very kind and compassionate side character who disappeared a few quests earlier and has been forcibly grafted into one of the machines. The remaining party members barely escape an all-out Purger attack, and regroup in a sad scene, where Ganzer mourns Annabeth and the rest of the party commiserates with him. The bad news is compounded when Shikyo's Purgers attack Lumonopolis and inflict heavy damage. However, just when all seems lost, a mysterious young girl leaps into battle, taking out numerous enemies. The girl turns out to be Annabeth, inside a fully synthetic but humanoid body (a body she'll retain for the rest of the game rather than returning to a mech like before). Just before her hoversphere was destroyed, Annabeth's consciousness was wirelessly transmitted to the lab of a Lumon scientist (another friendly side character) and placed in a body designed to resemble her original human form. There's definite allusions to Battle Angel Alita in her fighting style and appearance, and she not only retains all her Purger powers but gains several new ones, making her for a time temporarily the most powerful party member (though the others catch up fairly soon once their mechs start to get their ultimate upgrades). Lumonopolis survives, though it's badly damaged, and the remainder of the game concerns the party's battles against the Purgers (all of which have to be tragically destroyed along with the people inside them), Tolzoff (who is later betrayed by Shikyo and grafted into a particularly powerful Purger) and ultimately Shikyo himself, who is revealed to be Annabeth's biological father and who participated in the first human/mech hybrid experiment, but went insane from the procedure. He attempted to perfect the procedure with Annabeth, which inadvertently led to her becoming the last remaining surviving Purger, whose body died when the Purgers sacrificed themselves at the end of the original Mechatos, but whose consciousness remained alive inside an artificial construct, occasionally rebooting (which explains her memory loss). Though Annabeth is pained to have to destroy her father, she ultimately does so, helping her friends to defeat him. Ganzer offers to raise her as his daughter, but Annabeth decides to go out and see the world on her own, helping those who still need helped.

Mechatos 2 is released in North America for the Supernova in April 2011. It achieves strong review scores, though it's not quite as well received as the previous game, with its plot seen as being somewhat more derivative and the game itself not quite as tightly paced. It's still seen as one of the best RPGs on the system, and despite the game's release being overshadowed somewhat by the release of a new handheld Star Fox game, it still manages to achieve decent sales in North America, about on par with the first game. The game's graphics are considered some of the best on the Supernova, and the voice acting, which, like that of the previous game is performed by Los Angeles area professionals (with Troy Baker as Ganzer and Karen Strassman as Annabeth), is also quite highly praised. Though the game proves to be another successful one for Square, a sequel isn't as certain as it was with the original game, as the company looks to potentially change direction for its handheld games going into a new generation. Still, most of the people who worked on the Mechatos titles remain with the company, and many will go on to bigger and better things, including potentially working on a next generation Final Fantasy title.

-

"News of Square's imminent Dissidia sequel for the Supernova has been making waves and is getting fans salivating, but Square's most intriguing upcoming handheld title will be released for the next generation Nintendo handheld, quite possibly as a launch title. Codenamed Project Infinity, the game is helmed by Tomoya Asano, and is designed to resemble the Final Fantasy titles of old, but with new, modern gameplay twists. Unusual for a handheld title, Project Infinity is said to have been created as if it were a console game, with the upcoming Nintendo handheld's capabilities enabling graphics "approaching that of a Sapphire game". While we don't know too much about the game's specifics such as its plot, we have gotten some tidbits about its gameplay, including its use of real-time decision making blended with turn-based combat, in which players must make decisions on the fly during both attack and defense phases of battle. The game is structured like a Final Fantasy game, with some staffers even giving it the nickname 'Final Fantasy XIII'. Squaresoft is clearly looking to flex its muscles on the new hardware, and its upcoming game could be a benchmark for what handheld RPGs of the next generation can be."
-quoted from an RPGamer.net article, posted on May 28, 2011

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Final Fantasy IV Making Its Way To Android

After the successful mobile releases of the first three Final Fantasy games on the Android platform in 2010, Squaresoft has announced that an enhanced version of Final Fantasy IV will be coming to mobile platforms later this year. The re-released Final Fantasy IV will feature enhanced 2-D sprite graphics, updated gameplay, and even voice acted cutscenes, a first for any version of the game. While no iOS release has been announced for any Final Fantasy title, Square has stated that the game will likely be coming to iOS sometime after the Android release, which would make it Apple's first ever Final Fantasy title. Squaresoft has also announced their intention to release the enhanced version of the game on a Nintendo platform, likely the upcoming Supernova successor, at some point as well. With these Android releases of classic Final Fantasy games, Squaresoft continues to dip its toes into multiplatform gaming, though we've yet to see an upcoming Final Fantasy title announced for any home console other than the Nintendo Sapphire. Squaresoft's embrace of the mobile market has helped out the company's bottom line, with stock prices up 21% from the previous year. It's also rumored that Square may announce a completely original Final Fantasy game for mobile, though they've not announced any plans to do so at this time.

-from an article on Games Over Matter, posted on June 1, 2011

 

[eldandythedoubter]

"News of Square's imminent Dissidia sequel for the Supernova has been making waves and is getting fans salivating, but Square's most intriguing upcoming handheld title will be released for the next generation Nintendo handheld, quite possibly as a launch title. Codenamed Project Infinity, the game is helmed by Tomoya Asano, and is designed to resemble the Final Fantasy titles of old, but with new, modern gameplay twists. Unusual for a handheld title, Project Infinity is said to have been created as if it were a console game, with the upcoming Nintendo handheld's capabilities enabling graphics "approaching that of a Sapphire game". While we don't know too much about the game's specifics such as its plot, we have gotten some tidbits about its gameplay, including its use of real-time decision making blended with turn-based combat, in which players must make decisions on the fly during both attack and defense phases of battle. The game is structured like a Final Fantasy game, with some staffers even giving it the nickname 'Final Fantasy XIII'. Squaresoft is clearly looking to flex its muscles on the new hardware, and its upcoming game could be a benchmark for what handheld RPGs of the next generation can be."
-quoted from an RPGamer.net article, posted on May 28, 2011

So essentially TTL's Bravely Default or Octopath Traveler, eh?

 

[Huehuecoyotl]

I sense Sonic fatigue in this universe's near future...

 

[TheFaultsofAlts]

I sense Sonic fatigue in this universe's near future...

And in said universe, Sonic might give five out of five doctors nightmares after being eaten by an apple...

If the creator(s) of this world want to use this in one of the future updates, then I'd encourage that.

 

[AeroTheZealousOne]

I've actually considered retconning her death multiple times and I know exactly what she would be doing if she recovers from her cancer. However, I'm going to stick to my guns and keep her fate the same.

Maybe in the unlikely event you get to do a redux of this timeline that you contemplated earlier, what with the SNES-CD being released a year or so later, perhaps, but who knows?

In any case, so begins the end here... It's a shame, really, but life cannot be perfect, sadly.

Final Fantasy IV Making Its Way To Android

[insert "You Spoony Bard!" joke/reference here]
(Okay, fine, I admit that I'm quite the sucker for the first six games in the franchise. And for 90s JRPGs in general.)

And in that hypothetical redux, I unofficially challenge you to save General Leo, lest I be forced to make a timeline where he survives only for the rest of the 90s to be a pop culture dystopia. I'm kidding, of course...

 

[Nivek]

Maybe in the unlikely event you get to do a redux of this timeline that you contemplated earlier, what with the SNES-CD being released a year or so later, perhaps, but who knows?

In any case, so begins the end here... It's a shame, really, but life cannot be perfect, sadly.

I got surprise she got killed noticed that was much later...now i think is for the best, give that realism should TL go, is a tragedy, but RL is full of those too and a shame losing a dear beloved to cancer.

 

[RySenkari]

(Here's the update reviewing the 2010-11 network television season!)

-

ABC:

ABC remained somewhat in the middle of the pack, thanks to the continued success of Dancing With The Stars and strong performances from several of its holdovers. Its most notable new show was Invasion, about a massive alien invasion fleet that attacks Earth and the survivors dealing with the aftermath. It, along with a show on NBC and several debuting on cable, would kick off a major "alien invasion" trend of shows that would see varying degrees of success over the next few years, and it would also help pave the way for a series of serialized dramas that would be highly successful for ABC, including a fairytale-based show during the 2011-12 season. As for the venerable and groundbreaking Lane, it remains in the top 25 in its ninth season, but the show's future has become somewhat clouded due to slowly declining ratings and increasing salary demands from its stars, particularly Kristen Stewart who now commands one of television's top salaries. Eventually, Stewart and the network would agree to two more seasons, keeping Lane on the air until the spring of 2013 and allowing its showrunners to craft a well-deserved ending that will see the titular character graduate from college and start her new life.

CBS:

CBS continued to dominate the ratings with its own version of NBC's legendary 90s "Must See TV" block, consisting of four hit comedies: Northwest, The Big Bang Theory, Hating Places, and Class Warfare, all of which would finish in the top 15, and in the top 10 amongst coveted young viewers. While not quite as dominant as NBC's block, the four comedies would anchor a formidable Wednesday lineup for CBS for at least two more seasons to come. CBS also continued to air a number of shows that were popular amongst older audiences, including Blue Bloods, Standard Of Care, and 60 Minutes, while Escrow remained a popular and timely drama hit. It would round out its success by debuting the hit reality competition show The Triathlon, featuring twelve contestants submitted to a battery of physical, mental, and emotional tasks. Combining the physical endurance of Survivor and The Amazing Race, the mental fortitude of Jeopardy, and the emotional pathos of Moment Of Truth (without the personal humiliation, the "emotional" tasks were more like tests of character), The Triathlon would become a major hit, surpassing longtime hit Survivor and critical darling The Amazing Race in the ratings.

NBC:

NBC saw a major rookie hit with The Event, which aired immediately after Powers and helped propel both shows to top ten ratings success. IOTL, The Event flopped after one season, but thanks to a better lead-in, better public reception for alien-related material, and better writing, the show remains a chart-topper throughout its first season ITTL, and would form a potent one-two sci-fi punch with Powers for several more seasons. The Showdown continued to be a decent rival to American Idol, becoming in some ways what The Voice was IOTL (with slightly less starpower and more direct competition), while Sunday Night Football remained a hit because the NFL is still king. While NBC doesn't have a lot of hits, the hits it does have are doing well, and the network is ready to usher in a new generation of hit shows.

FOX:

FOX needed a hit, and got a couple of decent ones: Eyes, a crime procedural/mystery show following the work of a blind detective (played by Kerry Washington) who has an uncanny ability to catch particularly dangerous criminals, and Indefensible, about a team of public defenders appointed to defend particularly dastardly defendants (though as it turns out, a few of those defendants really are innocent). The two shows would both crack the top 25 for the season, and FOX's animation block continued to be a success as well, with Savage City earning another new season renewal. FOX still has a rocky road ahead of it, but it could only take one big hit for the network to start climbing back up the ranks.

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Top 25 Rated Network Television Programs Of 2010-11:

1. American Idol (Wednesday) (FOX)
2. American Idol (Tuesday) (FOX)
3. Sunday Night Football (NBC)
4. Northwest (CBS)
5. The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
6. Dancing With The Stars (Monday) (ABC)
7. Dancing With The Stars (Thursday) (ABC)
8. Escrow (CBS)
9. Powers (NBC)
10. The Event (NBC)
11. Blue Bloods (CBS)
12. Hating Places (CBS)
13. Class Warfare (CBS)
14. The Showdown (NBC)
15. Undercover Boss (CBS)
16. Eyes (FOX)
17. Standard Of Care (CBS)
18. Lane (ABC)
19. The Triathlon (CBS)
20. Invasion (ABC)
21. The Mentalist (CBS)
22. The Alchemist (ABC)
23. 60 Minutes (CBS)
24. Heart Of Darkness (CBS)
25. Indefensible (FOX)

-

The idea of alien space invaders coming down from the skies and battling with humanity has been a well-known trope ever since the days of War Of The Worlds more than a century ago, and the visual mediums of movies and television have given space invaders their day in the sun since the first person sat down in front of a screen. However, these days have seen a glut of such shows debuting on the airwaves, and surprisingly, many have found success. Two alien invader shows, The Event and Invasion, have achieved big ratings on network television for NBC and ABC respectively, but it's on cable that alien shows have really shined, with ten new shows debuting in the past 18 months (and that's not counting animated shows!) From premium cable to basic, the aliens have landed, and if the ratings continue as they have, they're not going away any time soon. We'll rank all ten shows in terms of overall quality, and then you can decide if you'll let the aliens invade your living room.

10. They Came To Texas (Sci-Fi)
Let's get this turd out of the way first: it's awful. This show, in which flying saucers drop thousands of belligerent intergalactic invaders in a Texas prairie, is full of tired cliches and stereotypical redneck characters, and though it bills itself as an action drama, its over the top acting and unbelievable storyline would have audiences laughing if the funny moments actually came with any frequency. Fortunately, ratings for this show have been awful, and it's likely to air its final episodes sometime before the end of the summer.

9. Pathogenesis (HBO)
Whereas it's fun to make fun of They Came To Texas, this show's failure is just sad: alien germs infecting humanity, a talented cast of actors, this show should have been excellent, but its dry and confusing script and far too slow pace made us wish they'd just get to the good parts already. It was expected to be one of the best of the new cable alien invasion shows, but poor quality and ratings make this show unlikely to get more than two seasons on the air.

8. Intergalactic Challenge (G4)
This wacky comedy starring talented Canadian newcomer Mena Massoud and All That alum Lisa Foiles as a pair of FPS-addicted college students leading a team of gamers to battle space aliens in a fight for Earth's survival does have occasional moments of comedic brilliance, but those are generally overshadowed by poor acting from the rest of the cast and some really cringey humor. We really want to like this show, and maybe we eventually will: it's just been renewed for a second season thanks to getting some of the best ratings on the network.

7. Contact (USA)
They actually went and did it: they adapted 1997's excellent and poignant sci-fi film about a scientist who makes first contact with a benevolent alien species. The beautiful special effects and strong acting make this a decent show, but the pacing is agonizingly slow and it just doesn't have the emotional pathos of the original. This was another of the more hyped shows on this list, and isn't as big a disappointment as Pathogenesis, but it's got a long way to go before it can match the greatness of the movie.

6. Human Resistance (AMC)
The highest-rated show on the currently stagnating AMC (which should probably just go back to showing old movies and stop trying to push original drama), this show centers around a small-town widower (played by Patrick Wilson) who forms a one-man army against dangerous alien invaders. Wilson is electrifying in the role, especially as he rallies his fellow townspeople to fight the technologically superior alien force. The show has shades of the Encounter series of video games, which features a fairly similar protagonist in its first installment. However, there aren't a lot of strong side characters on the show, and it also makes its protagonist somewhat unreasonably "perfect", able to win against the aliens pretty much every time he fights them and not giving him much to struggle with except his angst over the death of his wife several years before. We'll have to see where this show goes, and we have some high hopes.

5. Star Soldier (Starz)
Who could have imagined that one of the best new premium cable shows in recent years could come from Starz? While Star Soldier definitely has its flaws, its anime inspired plot (about a futuristic alien soldier who dons special armor to battle stronger members of her own race) and excellent fight scenes and special effects makes this one of the most compelling new cable shows on TV. Sometimes the show writes checks that the special effects budget can't quite cash, making for some rather jarring scenes, and the plot can get really silly at times, but this show does get somewhat of an A for effort. However, with fairly low ratings, it may not get a season two, and season one ended on a hell of a cliffhanger...

4. Aliens Stole My Couch (TBS)
The best straight-up comedy on the list (though in certain ways, #3 could possibly count), Aliens Stole My Couch borrows somewhat heavily from the quirky NBC classic Third Rock From The Sun, with a group of intergalactic visitors who end up crashing with a down on his luck loser and the wacky hijinx that ensue. From the protagonist constantly hitting on the alien family's daughter, to the aliens themselves and their increasingly insane efforts to conquer the Earth, this show delights in absurdity. It lacks the emotional payoffs of the top three shows on this list, but it's still a delight to watch.

3. Just Visiting (Lifetime)
This Lifetime dramedy is the show I most unexpectedly found myself loving this past year. Currently airing its second season, it stars Megan Boone as an extraterrestrial disguised as a twenty-something human woman named Lila who has no idea how she got to Earth but keeps getting strange missions from her superiors that seem to be directed toward someone else. At the end of season one, we learn Lila is actually an alien tourist, and that the directives are intended for her boyfriend, who is apparently trapped on another planet. The show combines lighthearted quirky humor with genuine emotional drama, and features a strong supporting cast including Lila's best friend Maryse (played incredibly by Sarah Gadon) and a bespectacled man named Shaff who seems to have a connection with Lila's extraterrestrial "bosses" but almost always acts in Lila's interest. The show is heartwarming and addictive, and though it lacks the grandiose "invasion" narrative of the top two shows, it's definitely worth your time.

2. Finalwar (HBO)
They called HBO "crazy" for debuting two alien invasion shows at almost the same time, but it really wasn't that bad of a gambit even if Pathogenesis had failed. While that show was about an alien sickness, Finalwar depicts a full-on alien war against Earth from a variety of viewpoints, with the biggest budget in television history, a host of well-known actors, and dazzling special effects. It's a miracle they pulled it off, and largely they did, with humanity somehow holding its own against the alien invaders amidst the destruction of cities and the aliens' superior tech. While not an original concept (it's based off a comic book series that started in 2005 and is still ongoing), Finalwar is one of the best shows on television right now, but it's topped by another highly anticipated alien show with a similar but also radically different premise, conceived by one of the greatest minds in modern entertainment...

1. Falling Skies (TNT)
Steven Spielberg's alien spectacle began airing in April and in just two months, it's one of the top rated and most acclaimed shows on cable. Depicting the aftermath of a successful alien invasion and humanity's struggle to survive, it serves as an incredible parallel to Finalwar, and while not as violent and gritty, makes up for its lack of spectacle (mostly) with emotional payoffs and haunting visuals. While Spielberg (who was busy directing Star Wars: The Fated Crisis at the time Falling Skies was shooting its first season) isn't quite as involved with the series as he was with most of his other projects, he did help write the concept for the series and gave it its name, and so far, it's living up to the lofty expectations attached to Spielberg's reputation, largely thanks to the writing and direction of occasional Spielberg collaborator Frank Darabont and the performance of Andrew Lincoln as protagonist Tom Mason.

-from an article on Tubehound, posted on June 30, 2011

 

[Neoteros]

So aliens are TTL's zombies?

The 100 (a show where humans are the aliens, more or less) could actually do quite well here then, even though as a show it's quite susceptible to butterflies, being very loosely adapted from a YA novel series and being produced by a guy who's, well, quite difficult to work with, to say the least. I've always thought of it as Battlestar Galactica meets Fallout meets people in their late teens and early twenties becoming guilty of enough war crimes to make Reinhard Heydrich feel dirty.

 

[RySenkari]

So aliens are TTL's zombies?

The 100 (a show where humans are the aliens, more or less) could actually do quite well here then, even though as a show it's quite susceptible to butterflies, being very loosely adapted from a YA novel series and being produced by a guy who's, well, quite difficult to work with, to say the least. I've always thought of it as Battlestar Galactica meets Fallout meets people in their late teens and early twenties becoming guilty of enough war crimes to make Reinhard Heydrich feel dirty.

Pretty much, yeah. The Walking Dead (both the comic and show) are butterflied ITTL, but a lot of its cast/crew will actually end up on Finalwar and Falling Skies ITTL. With the increased alien stuff ITTL, The 100 might just end up on a network other than CW... perhaps FOX....

 

[TehIrishSoap]

The Event had such amazing potential, glad to see it more successful ATL

 

[rick007]

Have a suggestion for a PBS gameshow: Alien Tales AKA Reading Galaxy. From the creators of Carmen Sandiego, comes a gameshow where contestants have to answer questions about classic children's books. I think it will be good for at least one or two, maybe three seasons.