11 replies to this topic

[zencat]

Gee, I wonder where they got that idea?

 seamonster.jpg   38.5KB   59 downloads

Naughty.

[Matt_13]

This was the first thing that went through my mind actually! Kind of an interesting "homage," and the legality is dodged by those blue turbo jets on the back. This was one of the highlights of the game, following immediately after the break neck car chase through the refinery.

[zencat]

"Homage"? That's polite.

Hey, it's a fantastic vehicle that belongs in Bond adventure, and I'm not surprised it's a highlight of the game. There's good work being done in the books. I just hope there is some appreciation or, better yet, compensation for the use of these ideas. Maybe there is. I don't know.

[00Kevin]

yea, I was wondering why the plane didn't take off and then i was like "wait a sec, is that like the thing from devil may care? dat's so kool!!! agreed, one of the best parts of the game.

btw, does such a vehical exist?

[zencat]

btw, does such a vehical exist?

Sure does.

[Loomis]

"Homage"? That's polite.

Hey, it's a fantastic vehicle that belongs in Bond adventure, and I'm not surprised it's a highlight of the game. There's good work being done in the books. I just hope there is some appreciation or, better yet, compensation for the use of these ideas. Maybe there is. I don't know.

Meh, I suspect that Faulks has made more than enough money out of DEVIL MAY CARE already, and certainly more than would seem to be warranted for simply taking a bunch of Fleming characters and cliched situations off the shelf and doing nothing even vaguely interesting with them.

[zencat]

Well, putting aside all feelings about Faulks and DMC, I still don't think it's right to just lift ideas from any author without some kind of acknowledgment or understanding. And, again, maybe they had that. I don't know. But we all know how Eon has pilfered past continuation novels, so I'm a little prejudiced against them.

[sharpshooter]

When I saw this vehicle, this is the first thing I thought of. I knew such a sequence would work after reading DMC. But I was trying to visualise how it would look. With Blood Stone, I could do that.

[Loomis]

Well, putting aside all feelings about Faulks and DMC, I still don't think it's right to just lift ideas from any author without some kind of acknowledgment or understanding.

Well, you're absolutely right, of course. And I agree. If I were in your business I'd be fuming if someone pinched my ideas. Although I still don't welcome the mental image of Faulks receiving a nice fat cheque for his seamonster thingy. He's done more than well enough of Bond. Heck, he's done more than well enough out of me - I own four different copies of DMC in various editions. Lord knows how many you have!

(I'm a huge admirer of Faulks in general, BTW. Absolutely love some of his novels, and ENGLEBY is a firm all-time favourite. I just loathe his so-called Bond novel. Anyway.... DMC-bashing digression over. Back to the topic of this thread. )

[Agent Spriggan Ominae]

For what it's worth Bloodstone isn't the first video game to feature an Ekranoplan. At the end of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Snake and Eva make their escape from the Soviet Union to Alaska in an Ekranoplan. MGS3 was itself packed full of homages to '60s Bond and this game was released in 2004. I actually wondered while reading Devil May Care the first time if Faulks got the idea from Metal Gear lol. It's funny how Besnon actually went on to write two Metal Gear adaptions. Everything's connected. It's a small world.

As far as Bloodstone and DMC goes I think it's no coincidence. It's clearly a reference but the way it's used in the story is very different. It's like comparing the airplane sequences in Licence Renewed and The Living Dayligths. The Ekranoplan mission is my favorite of the whole game. A giant military transport hovercraft also features in the level which could be seen as a reference to DAD. Even how the villain Pomerov meets his demise..

Spoiler

He goes the way of Gustav Graves. You can't see it from Bond's perspective but he gets sucked out the door into the Ekranoplan engine. I like how it's subtle. You can see the flash and hear the explosion of the engine fodding out and afterwards when it's landed there's a brief shot of a cleanup crew scurbing down the wing behind the engine pods.

[Jim]

Well, putting aside all feelings about Faulks and DMC, I still don't think it's right to just lift ideas from any author without some kind of acknowledgment or understanding. And, again, maybe they had that. I don't know. But we all know how Eon has pilfered past continuation novels, so I'm a little prejudiced against them.

Time for an update of your brilliant article?

Although I'm a bit old for computer games, it all does seem to offer up opportunity for adaptation of ideas. Nobody Lives For Ever might make a fun game, for example. Lots of plots in Gardner and Benson (didn't he write computer games once upon a while?) to keep Bond going in this format for years.

I suspect part of your annoyance at this specific incident is that Mr Faulks had a splendid opportunity to use this aeroplane in a big way and then... didn't, oddly. Nice to see someone else has picked up the baton far too easily relinquished.

[zencat]

I suspect part of your annoyance at this specific incident is that Mr Faulks had a splendid opportunity to use this aeroplane in a big way and then... didn't, oddly. Nice to see someone else has picked up the baton far too easily relinquished.

That is true.