Rayman: A Legend Deferred

If you've at all been keeping up with current events, then you've undoubtedly come across one of our generations biggest stories: Rayman Legends for the Wii U is no longer a Wii U exclusive and will be appearing on Xbox 360 and PS3.  What makes matters worse?  It's being delayed.  "Oh," you think to yourself, "that's not so bad.  It was supposed to be a launch title for the Wii U, and it got pushed back 3 months.  I can wait another week or two."  Well, keep dreaming, because Ubisoft is pushing that shit back for another seven months.

Yes, it's true; twenty days before its scheduled North American release and eventual worldwide release Ubisoft hit Rayman fans with a seven-month delay. You can only imagine how that went down for all interested parties.

Ubisoft can't even begin to fathom the amount of Butthurt they've caused.

And the worst part of all this, if you haven't surmised, is that the game is practically finished.  They're delaying the Wii U version so they can release the game multiplatform, and Ubisoft needs that time to develop for the other consoles.  Naturally, people start asking, "Why not just release the Wii U version and release the ports later?"  To be honest, that's a good question.  That's why it's not hard to give credit to some people's theory that Ubisoft was bought out.  By whom, I've no idea.  Sony?  Microsoft?  Both?  Whomever it may be, if a buyout happened at all, I'd like to think that Ubisoft got enough money to fill that hole where their souls used to be.

Yup.  This'll plug that right up.

I'm a huge Rayman fan.  I habitually played his first game on my Saturn when I was a kid, slogged through its sequel on the N64, ignored him until Raving Rabbids, and continued ignoring him until the sublime Rayman Origins recaptured my heart.  Man, that game really is phenomenal.  I seriously believe that, in Origins, Rayman does platforming better than Mario and speed better than Sonic.  But I digress.  Presently, I'm an enormous Rayman fan who's main reason for purchasing the Wii U was for Rayman Legends.  Also, I've played the Castle Rock level in the Rayman Legends Demo more times than I'd like to admit.  Let's just say my 2-year-old daughter can sing verbatim the gibberish version of Black Betty that plays during that level.

The Metal-est thing to happen in gaming since ever!

Being a Wii U owner who invested in the console solely for Rayman Legends, you can imagine how heavy this news hit me.  So, in order to find some solace, I went online to see how others were taking it.  It wasn't pretty.

Perusing a lot of forums and comments sections, I got a good sampling on how people were reacting.  I also saw how people were assessing those reactions.  For the most part, I noticed how the assessers tended to focus on the loss of exclusivity and attribute that loss to the overall feeling of disdain that Wii U owners were exhibiting.  I can't say that there aren't instances where that's not true, but I don't think these people were really getting the point of our - Rayman Fans/Wii U Owners - disgust.  Allow me to elucidate.

Let me just step right up here, now....

Some people, specifically PS3/Xbox 360 fanboys, want to believe that we Wii U owners are upset that our precious little game isn't just ours anymore.  I really can't speak for everyone, but I can say that that's not the case for me.  I understand Ubisoft is a company, and companies exist to make money.  Therefore, selling a game for multiple consoles instead of just one is a great way to bolster sales.  In that sense, this is a pretty damn good business move.  However, it's a damn bad PR move, and this brings us to the real reason why we're upset: the seven-month delay!

Crap, man!  That's a long-ass time!  Especially for a game that's already finished!  It's hard to understand how Ubisoft thought delaying a finished product would be a great move.  Moreover, they're delaying it to be released alongside Grand Theft Auto V.  I'm sorry, but that's just bad business.  GTAV is going to clean the floor with Rayman Legends, and this is coming from someone who doesn't give a shit about GTA.

They'll hijack Rayman's game faster than any Rabbid.

Now, let's go back to the community of outraged Rayman fans.  I've heard talks of people cancelling their preorders to boycotting the game to shunning Ubisoft altogether.  Wherever you stand on this, all I can say is do what you have to do.  I don't agree with what went down with Mass Effect 3, but I can't deny the power of a group of willful individuals.

As for me, I'll tell you what I'm going to do.  I'm going to wait seven months and then purchase Rayman Legends on Wii U.  You know why?  Because I'm not entitled.  It blows; I can't lie.  It blows hard that this is happening.  But there's nothing I can do about it.  I could bitch and moan like the Mass Effect 3 ending haters, but I got better shit to do with my time.  If you're not going to buy this game, or if you're going to boycott Ubisoft for whatever self-righteous reason, just know that you're going to be missing out on one hell of a game.  I can't wait for Legends to come out (but tough shit!  I'm going to have to!), so I think I'll play me some Rayman Origins to tide me over.  That game's the shit!

What do you think, g1s?  Is everyone overreacting or reacting just right?  Am I too lax on the issue?  Should I be up in arms, too?  Or is my cynical, overly passive approach too lame?  Let me know in the comments!

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I'm Bygjuce, a former educator that believes, when combined, grammar, comedy, and video games are magic!  Also, peanut butter.  Peanut butter is also magic!  Come be butthurt at my personal blog!  Like me on Facebook and follow my tweets!