Insomniac 'flattered' by Mario Galaxy concept

[wraggster]

Did Nintendo's mascot plumber take a cue from a heavily-armed Lombax and his robot buddy? Insomnianc Marketing Director Ryan Schneider seems to think so. In an interview with Kikizo, Schneider said, "There's evidence all around us I think, of certain games that have borrowed from Ratchet and Clank. One that we're even extremely flattered by is Super Mario Galaxy, with their spherical worlds; we did spherical worlds in Going Commando, and Up Your Arsenal."

"It would be amazing to think that [Mario creator Shigeru] Miyamoto-san thought that was so cool that he wanted to incorporate it into Mario Galaxy. Granted, he's doing it in a different way, but it's still a spherical world, so it's flattering to see those sorts of things," he said.

We're not convinced, however, that it was hours of Ratchet & Clank that inspired Miyamoto's Mario ideas (though now that we think about it, that Mario Sunshine water pack is awfully suspicious ...). We wonder if the levels aren't an idea culled from strenuous play sessions with Tetrisphere. We've embedded videos of all three below as evidence to present; any other games with spherical worlds you can think of?

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/07/insomniac-flattered-by-mario-galaxy-concept/

[Shadowblind]

Well theres animal crossing Wild world, SA2:B, actually quite a bit. Now that i think about it, jumping plumbers isn't imaginitive in the least...

[Kaeruyaki]

Yeah, um. Do they not realize that Ratchet and Clank would literally not exist if Shigeru Miyamoto had not single-handedly invented the scrolling platformer? (not to mention re-invented it as the 3D platformer?). Someone needs an ego check.

[AngelicLiver]

I've yet to play a Ratchet and Clank game that has been anywhere near as fun or innovative as many of the Super Mario series. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy R&C but I think of the series as a half-decent filler whilst I'm waiting for the next Mario games.

As for the whole 'borrowing' the cube world idea, anyone remember Yoshi's Island? The mole on the moon boss? Quite frankly Ratchet and Clank is still just an expanded Mario 64 that is yet to be as fun, charming and innovative as that 10 year old game. Insomniac should make a new platforming IP with non-generic anthropomorphic and make some original innovative ideas by themselves before taking credit (it was humbly I'll admit) for anything like this. Super Mario Galaxy looks awesome btw.

[Accordion]

R&C shouldnt be called a platformer, it is much more than that…

[DimensionT]

LMAO!!! Insomniac is acting like they invented the idea that planets are spheres. "We're flattered by the fact that we influenced Christopher Columbus in his idea that the world is round". What a load of crap.

I love Insomniac and Ratchet & Clank.... But thinking that someone borrowed their idea that worlds can be sphereical is just plain stupid.

[Darksaviour69]

as Shadowblind said, Sonic Adventure 2 had a few plant/ sphere levels, which came out long before R&C.

[DimensionT]

AngelicLiver was right about Yoshi's Island too. That's probably the earliest game I can think of that had something like a spherical world.

Hell, you could count the world maps in alot of RPGs. The world map on Final Fantasy 7 8 and 9 all had a spherical look to them when you're flying around in your airship.

[Basil Zero]

Ya, the idea isnt new, its quite common in adventure based games as people earlier stated.

But to me this is how i see it:

Mario > Ratchet and Clank

Yes....i am a nintendofanboy :)