What is SuperBot's "very amazing" PlayStation 3 exclusive?

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 25 November, 2011

Sony silent on Smash Bros. rival rumour.

Sony has declined to comment on a rumour that it is making a PlayStation 3 exclusive Smash Bros. rival.

The console manufacturer told Eurogamer "we do not comment on rumour or speculation" when quizzed about the game, reportedly in the works at US developer SuperBot Entertainment.

Word of the mystery brawler first emerged on The Paul Gale Network, which claimed it featured a number of Sony mascots, including Parappa the Rappa (Parappa the Rapper), Kratos (God of War), Sly Cooper (Sly Cooper), Nathan Drake (Uncharted), Sweet Tooth (Twisted Metal), Colonel Mael Radec (Killzone) and Fat Princess (Fat Princess).

The report also mentioned a Sandover Village stage (from Jak & Daxter), Hot Shots Golf characters in stage backgrounds, a LittleBigPlanet stage and a Buzz! trivia mini-game. A James Bond character is also mentioned.

Current speculation points to SuperBot Entertainment, a Culver City, California-based studio confirmed to be working on a "very amazing PS3 game" for Sony Computer Entertainment America, as developer of the game.

SuperBot's website describes the company as "an exclusive developer of Sony Computer Entertainment America" and reveals it is "currently in production of a yet-to-be announced PS3 title".

According to a job advert, SuperBot is after a senior combat designer with "a strong familiarity with fighting games and fighting game theory".

Another job advert asks for a lead designer with "a strong familiarity with online mode and matchmaking design as they apply to console gaming".

On SuperBot's website are pictures of arcade fighting sticks.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (45) Latest comment 6 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Widge #1 6 months ago

    Up against Nintendo, quite bold!

  • MattEdWithCheese #2 6 months ago

    I thought Parappa was a Nimco Natari IP

  • Showmeyomoves #3 6 months ago

    Where DO they keep coming up with these ideas?

  • AcidSnake #4 6 months ago

    Sounds less like a rival and more like a clone...If it even exists...

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #5 6 months ago

    Trying to create all those characters in a style that blends together will be hard work.

  • Muddtallica #6 6 months ago

    Am I the only one who finds Sony's efforts to create mascot crossover games, like this or PlayStation Move Heroes, a little...misguided? This kind of thing works well for Nintendo, who have made conscious efforts to create a coherent Disney-style character stable over the years, all of whom are identified very strongly with the brand's family-friendly identity.

    That's not the case with Sony, who have always marketed the PlayStation brand as more of a fashionable lifestyle commodity, and whose entry into the games business coincided with the end of mascot-centric console identities. Do PS3 owners really identify with Sly Cooper, Nathan Drake and Kratos as "PlayStation characters" that exist in the same universe, in the same way as Mario, Link and Kirby? It's a legitimate question, but my gut feeling is that the answer is no....

  • Widge #7 6 months ago

    Yes, I find Sony the least "iconic" when it comes to characters. Nintendo and Sega being much better at this sort of thing. We'll see though.

  • Toothball #8 6 months ago

    @MattEdWithCheese

    They got Sonic and Snake into Smash Bros, so it's probably not too much of a stretch.

    It's an interesting concept, although they're going to be hard pushed to make it in a way that doesn't look like they're just trying to make Smash Bros. The games they've listed are great individually, but there was an extra layer of cohesion with Nintendo's characters which really pulled it together. Sony don't really have a defined set of characters, so it might not be able to achieve the same feel.

    That said, the Marvel versus Capcom games seemed to work out quite well in taking an otherwise disparate characters and bringing them together seamlessly in a fighting game. It could happen again.
    Edited by Toothball at 25/11/11 @ 09:37

  • LazyDan #9 6 months ago

    The problem is Sony's design-by-committee roster of characters will never be as compelling as Nintendo's - however little certain people might think of the Nintendo roster. Parappa, Kratos, Sly and Nathan Drake simply do not muster the same pull as Mario, Link, Pikachu and Samus.

  • Red_Bool #10 6 months ago

    @Muddtallica - I was thinking exactly the same thing. In my opinion (and memory) there are no memorable Playstation characters - they lack a "soul"

  • RodHull #11 6 months ago

    Instabuy if they include Ken Kutaragi and Kaz Hirai as playable characters.

  • ollyn #12 6 months ago

    Nathan Drake? Surely Crash Bandicoot would fit a title like this a little better than a gun toting grave robber.

  • toa_boa #13 6 months ago

    Interesting - Think it's time to check out the Smash Bros. on Wii ;)

  • gav_and_the_gavster #14 6 months ago

    What! No Ico!? D, DF, F + HP for a one-horned headbutt!

  • Widge #15 6 months ago

    @LazyDan I'd rather Sony got Square to do a fully fledged Dissidia titled, that's a roster with a pull!

  • sonicyoda #16 6 months ago

    I'd be interested if they actually got characters I actually consider Playstation mascots. How about Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon and Lara Croft? Might be a bit of a stretch now all the Sony exclusives of the past have branched out to different consoles.

  • frunk #17 6 months ago

    @Muddtallica

    I largely agree with you. I don't think it is anything to do with a coherent strategy. It is just that Sega & Nintendo were creating their characters in an age when your "fixed sized sprites" had "16 colours" from an "8 bit palette"... so the ability to have massively different looks and styles was tricky. i.e. the hardware defined the look

    Sony entered the market with 3D and shaders - and it was the first time developers started defining the "look" of the game characters outwith constrains of hardware to any great degree.

    Microsoft have similar issues... Halo and Banjo, Gears and Avatars... no single style exists.

    Nintendo has kept the icons however (slavishly so!) as it does provide a family friendly image these days and does differentiate themselves from the "new boys". And that is both Nintendo's advantage and Achilles Heel. Hence the recent protestations by Nintendo of "We are a Hardcore Games company you know!!" :)

    No-one is totally right in the video-game industry - that is why it is so interesting.
    Edited by frunk at 25/11/11 @ 10:07

  • BigDannyH #18 6 months ago

    I don't really want to see Kratos beating up Parappa the Rappa or Sackboy.

    He can butcher that Killzone guy if he likes though.

  • ChuckNorris #19 6 months ago

    Sounds absolutely "amazing".

  • mrblonde #20 6 months ago

    Sony have never been able to make a successful, brand defining ps3 title or mascot . killzone,sackboy, rachet and clank all failed commercially. while microsoft have gears, halo which are household names. LBP LETS NOT FORGET, WAS TOUTED AS "THE NEXT MARIO", £9.99 WITHIN TWO MONTHS ONLINE.
    As a company its lost its magic touch.
    Edited by mrblonde at 25/11/11 @ 10:14

  • HerrQwerty #21 6 months ago

    LOL, up against Smash Bros.? Dont make me laugh. Just give it up Sony and let others do the fighting games.

  • chris_ace #22 6 months ago

    Post deleted at 15:13:21 09-05-2012

  • anthonypappa #23 6 months ago

    sounds shit... doesn't gel.

    but sackboy should be in there. obvious choice.

    a better way to go about it, would be to make it all brand new characters. they would gel better, and a few stars may be born and could go on to their own games.

    this is just stupid. kratos vs nathan drake? :confused:

  • Toothball #24 6 months ago

    Oh! They should include Kevin Butler. No collection of Sony characters would be complete without him on board.

  • Widge #25 6 months ago

    @mrblonde YOU ARE BORING, CONSIDER DELETING OWN ACCOUNT

  • Widge #26 6 months ago

    @HerrQwerty no. Anyone can have a stab at making anything. What if Turn 10 had the same rule applied to them regarding driving games. Other people do it so you shouldn't. Ridiculous attitude.

  • cloudskipa #27 6 months ago

    Heh all Sony ever do is shamelessly rip off Nintendo's ideas. If they're not doing that then they are poaching their exclusives. Besides I didn't think Sony had enough mascots for a game like this?

  • Cappy #28 6 months ago

    I believe Parappa The Rapper is Sony owned IP along with the followup Um Jammer Lammy, hence the developers having to leave their characters behind for the Wii game they made this generation.

  • knocker #29 6 months ago

    There is a hell of a difference between "fighting game with familiar characters" and Smash Bros.

    Was playing it earlier this week, forgot how sheer bloody nuts it is. Not sure you can even call it a fighting game anymore than Mario Kart is a driving game.

  • WeakOrbit #30 6 months ago

    Few more would be the Chimera, Ratchet and Clank, Cole from Infamous, Jak and Daxter and uh Noby Noby Boy. I'm sure a rouges gallery of villains from each game could fill the gallery up as well

    Why not a wipeout 2097 pilot. He could be like the Stig.
    Edited by WeakOrbit at 25/11/11 @ 12:20

  • HerrQwerty #31 6 months ago

    @Widge
    Here, have a tampon dear, dry yourself before you go out in public.

  • God_Octo #32 6 months ago

    Am I the only person who thinks this could be amazing?

    Plus, I thought that they could add Nariko from Heavenly Sword, and Keats or Ellen from Folklore.

  • customfirmware #33 6 months ago

    Let me see.
    You have drake, cole,kratos,sackboy,rachet,clank,jack,
    That guy from killzone and demon souls,dc universe, And remember with some qof the games mentioned above they have other characters in
    There aswell. And isn't bleach a Sony exclusive?? So maybe
    They could use couple characters from there

  • Ror1984 #34 6 months ago

    @sonicyoda - Tomb Raider was released on the Saturn first.

  • Widge #35 6 months ago

    I WON \o/

  • Toothball #36 6 months ago

    New idea! A beat-em-up featuring EG commenters. Fight!

  • Mister-Wario #37 6 months ago

    @Muddtallica I honestly think it could work. Look at Super Smash Bros Brawl: the designers went to some lengths to make the characters fit together in a world more coherently. Compare, say, Smash Bros Mario to Galaxy Mario: the former looks a bit meaner, a bit more serious and the textures on his clothes look more realistic. Similiar situation with Bowser. And, we had Snake in Brawl. Also, Mario and Link don't exist in the same universe at all. I mean, compare Mario Galaxy to Twilight Princess. Totally different style.

    I think this could be a brilliant title if done well. I'd play the heck out of it. Okay, yes, it sounds like a Smash Bros. ripoff but that doesn't mean a game with a load of Sony characters fighting each other wouldn't be awesome.

    Obviously it has to have some gameplay grunt behind it be successful. We really shouldn't have another PS Move Heroes scenario.

    EDIT: this game might also be a nice way to bring to the fore some slightly more obscure characters on the system. I mean, I'd never really heard of the Ice Climbers, Ike or Ness before Super Smash Bros. Playing as Noby Noby Boy might be interesting, or The Prince from We Love Katamari. Playing as the gust of wind from Flower might be difficult to implement though.

    You could, arguably, expand the roster by including characters from multiplatform titles, like Assassins' Creed and Bioshock. They featured in the 'to Kevin' ad so Sony clearly thinks something of them. I suspect the licensing issues would be a chore though.
    Edited by Mister-Wario at 25/11/11 @ 15:44

  • evnewell #38 6 months ago

    I won't buy this. I like my fighters japanese, 10 years old and capcomy.

  • madeinbeats #39 6 months ago

    Why don't Sony just change their name to Sontendo. :lol: :lol:

  • DRUNK3N-_-DRAGON #40 6 months ago

    (A VERY AMAZING GAME FOR 3 YEAR OLDS) YAAAAAAWN!

  • betrayerofhope #41 6 months ago

    @mr blone,

    i guess you never heard of a man called kratos who will rip your face if you so much look at him. And his series of games are very popular. It helps if you do a bit of research so that u don't look like a clown. Not that i have anything against clowns in general


    As for the rest of the comments. It says alot people are being negative.

    No one beats a dead horse. Keep it up sony. Do your own smash brothers but keep it inventive and bring some violence into it.

    Who gives a shit what the xbots on here think!

  • Yeoung #42 6 months ago

    If I get to pound Nathan Drake's face in with Crash Bandicoot I'll declare it a success.

  • TonyHarrison #43 6 months ago

    Part of the brilliance of Smash Bros is that it features well known characters from several decades of gaming, and it can in some way answer questions like... 'who would win in a fight, Mario or Link?'.

    You wouldn't really get that with Sony characters, as they'd be more suited in an Epic Mickey tossed to the scrapheap style, seeing as Sony have a habit of dropping successful characters. And all the hypothetical questions with Sony characters just end with the obvious conclusion of Kratos being the winner.

  • Widge #44 6 months ago

    Oh Mr Blonde is FUCKING DONNIE. No wonder the BULLSHIT COUNT is high with that one.

  • ctankep #45 6 months ago

    Hmm I'd rather see them clone a Japanese corporate style RPG like SEGAGAGA. They could call it SO -NONONO! For all this money & personnel they seem a bit light on ideas no?
    Edited by ctankep at 28/11/11 @ 00:57