By Jim Rossignol on October 11th, 2012 at 4:00 pm.
You can imagine my disappointment when I heard about this. Not the unparalleled mega-classic of science fiction drama Captain Scarlet, featuring the indestructible captain of the near future, but Captain Scarlett (pictured above), featuring some kind of hook-handed lady buccaneer of the wastes. Oh well, it might still be an entertaining expansion, what with it being hi-tech happenings in the Borderlands 2 world and all. The Verge reports that Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s Booty “includes a new sand skiff vehicle”, and presumably a lot of guns, quests, and other B’lands DLC type stuff. It will appear next week for the attractive sum of $10.
Needless to say, I’ve posted the first part an episode of the one true Captain Scarlet below.
11/10/2012 at 16:01 Ian says:
She looks like a wrong’un. I bet she likes to maroon people.
11/10/2012 at 16:06 robjwells says:
I really hope that Europe doesn’t have to wait for this, else I’ll be (Lt) green with envy.
11/10/2012 at 16:50 frightlever says:
Yes gods. Cue a deluge of purple prose.
11/10/2012 at 17:00 tigerfort says:
I think you’ve red her all wrong; she looks like one in vermilion to me.
11/10/2012 at 17:09 The Random One says:
All these puns are too forced.
Colour me unimpressed.
11/10/2012 at 17:56 Rao Dao Zao says:
Aye, they’re all ones for the blueper reel.
11/10/2012 at 18:22 Bhazor says:
She looks like shes from some Nintendo cross over. Supermarionation possibly.
11/10/2012 at 18:41 Rao Dao Zao says:
You, sir, have just won.
11/10/2012 at 16:02 Hoaxfish says:
At first I was surprised that they might have seen an episode of Captain Scarlet (did they even broadcast it outside the UK?)… then it turned out to be entirely disappointing thing about actual pirates.
11/10/2012 at 16:04 SocraticIrony says:
If there isn’t a reference to the Mysterons I shall be sorely disappointed.
11/10/2012 at 18:24 Bhazor says:
Well the Mechromancer DLC was apparently filled with brony references. So don’t underestimate the nerdiness of the developers. Someones bound to sneak some in off the record.
11/10/2012 at 23:50 Hoaxfish says:
mlp/brony nonsense is very much a current fad sort of thing (something you could learn about on an accidental pass through reddit, or “know your meme”, etc). It’s not exact pushing close to “obscure nerd lore”.
11/10/2012 at 16:05 derbefrier says:
Dont think so. at least none I can remember. I never even heard of it until I read this article
11/10/2012 at 17:01 TomxJ says:
This.
She best be indestructable.
11/10/2012 at 16:12 Tatourmi says:
Wow, I didn’t know of Captain Scarlett up until now, not having lived in the UK, and the animation style is… Creeping me out a little bit.
11/10/2012 at 16:26 hudders says:
That isn’t animation, it’s done with marionettes, (puppets on strings). See also: Thunderbirds, Stingray and Joe 90.
11/10/2012 at 16:33 Torn says:
.. and Team America! Woo
11/10/2012 at 18:38 Bhazor says:
FUCK YEAH!!!
11/10/2012 at 16:35 Groove says:
Captain Scarlett looks way better than I assumed it would after all this time.
11/10/2012 at 18:42 Bhazor says:
When I first saw it as a kid I was like “Huh, that was pretty cool”. Watching it now I’m like “Fuckin’ hell thats amazing” as I realise how much work it would have taken and appreciating the craftsmanship that goes into it. Seriously the scale of some of their stuff is incredible.
It still holds up pretty well. It’s impressive how tense it can be at times and it can be bizarely brutal for a children’s show. Dudes getting deaded all over the place, things burniated and just some outright sass and dark humour. As a young lad it couldn’t get much better.
12/10/2012 at 09:21 Groove says:
Yeah, one of the few shows that actually put a bit of fear into me as a child. Mainly with how untouchable the Mysterons were, like in most episodes humanity would basically make no progress at all towards defeating them. Then the disembodied voice, all their stuff being indestructible, it was awesome.
I think I was about 8 at the time, so every other show I’d ever seen involved the good guys winning and everything being fine forever by the end of the show. It blew my tiny little mind.
11/10/2012 at 16:37 Tatourmi says:
Yeah I noticed, still is an animation method in my book though.
11/10/2012 at 16:52 Ross Angus says:
I like the cut of your gibblets.
11/10/2012 at 17:01 Hoaxfish says:
no.. it’s Supermarionation
11/10/2012 at 17:05 Splynter says:
I thought the proper name was “Mushroom Kingdom”.
11/10/2012 at 18:59 tossrStu says:
And also Gerry Anderson’s earlier programme, Torchy the Battery Boy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wujTB-nDe-M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P3VnwAOXDQ
CREEPY AS FUCK.
11/10/2012 at 20:06 Zenicetus says:
Not all those shows made it over to the US, but I do remember watching Fireball XL5, and I actually had a model of the rocket, with detachable command module and everything. Wish I still had it.
Obligatory SuperThunderStingCar spoof by Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riMHp28_cqw
11/10/2012 at 16:14 Buemba says:
Shame it’s set in a sea of sand and not on water. Borderlands 2 already has more than enough desert environments.
11/10/2012 at 16:21 JoeGuy says:
So not complaining (too much) here, but doesn’t that mean just out the door there is €50 of DLC already out to purchase within 4 weeks of launch? That’s a big number regardless of quality or game content isn’t it.
Considering the Season Pass runs until June next year can we expect €10 DLC to drop every month along the way? It starts out as a nice way to buy the campaign expansions cheap but doesn’t it feel like a way to keep you on the hook for each piece of content along the way?
11/10/2012 at 16:48 TriggerAdept says:
This is part of the season’s pass- there’s at most $40 of DLC at the moment, which is season’s pass and this. If you were determined, I suppose you could buy this, then the season’s pass, then Gaige to be out $50, but that just seems silly.
11/10/2012 at 17:26 JoeGuy says:
That’s what I’m wondering, is it the 1st piece of Season Pass DLC? because RPS never suggested it was.
11/10/2012 at 16:52 D3xter says:
It pretty much means that they are trying to get people to pay about double the price for the same game through hidden costs no less and are taking the piss, yes. That’s why I decided to not buy any games pulling any of this DLC shenanigans, they might make more money out of other people but I won’t give them any.
I might buy games like Borderlands 2 or Risen 2 when they have decided that they’re done developing the game and release the Complete Version and they’re like 5-10€ max. Others like Mass Effect 3 (despite playing the previous 2) I might entirely lose interest in.
They are getting rather impertinent lately, announcing several pieces of “DLC” up to a year before a game’s release and doing exclusivity deals based on platforms etc.: http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/6/4/3063365/south-park-the-stick-of-truth-getting-kinect-support-360-first-dlc
http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Xbox-360-Getting-Exclusive-Early-DLC-Resident-Evil-6-Tomb-Raider-Black-Ops-2-South-Park-RPG-43197.html
I don’t want anything to do with that and I’m rather surprised that people are just standing there and taking it like they do, including publications like this instead of questioning these practices and raising a storm.
11/10/2012 at 16:59 hbarsquared says:
Why not just buy BL2 and not buy the DLC? The game is complete as released (unlike many games with day 1 DLC), and easily worth the $60. If you don’t like DLC, don’t buy it, but keep in mind that some of us like keeping a good thing going.
11/10/2012 at 17:29 D3xter says:
Because I don’t like them tricking people out of more money and don’t want to support those business models, which will only get worse as people do just that?
In the example of Borderlands 2 it’s especially egregious, they expect people to pay up to 60€/$ depending on platform for the new game, added that “Season Pass” for 30€ from the get-go on top and then went out announcing merrily that they’ll add “DLC that isn’t included in that” (wtf did people buy it for then?): http://www.joystiq.com/2012/09/23/borderlands-2-will-have-non-season-pass-dlc-pitchford-promise/ adding to the probable game price for a single game of up to 110-120€ or more and at that point I tell Mr. Pitchford to go f*** himself, go spend my money on Indie games, KickStarters and games that aren’t taking me for a ride and MAY buy his game for 5-10€ instead if it is on sale with all the content included at some point.
On top of that they were already talking about Borderlands 3 to start the cycle anew (with possibly even more glorious DLC to waste your money on!): http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/09/29/borderlands-3-gearbox-brainstorming/ (yeah I know it was “disclaimed” later, but really…)
12/10/2012 at 09:24 Groove says:
They’re selling a season pass and NON-SEASON PASS DLC??? What the hell is the season pass even for then??????
That is beyond taking the piss, they’ve taken the entire penis.
13/10/2012 at 14:31 Hazz-JB says:
I’m sorry, but BL2 is very much a complete game on it’s own without any DLC. Therefore the price of the DLC has no bearing on the worth of BL2, only on the worth of that DLC. If you haven’t noticed, these are expansion packs we’re talking about, not parts of the game that have been cut out in advance. I think the season pass is very useful and cost efficient for people who know they’re going to buy the DLC but don’t want to pay launch day price, it’s sort of a compromise between paying more earlier or waiting a long time for the GOTY.
As for the Mechromancer, I’m a bit disappointed that she isn’t part of the season pass, and she probably is a bit overpriced especially if you’ve already bought a pass.
11/10/2012 at 17:41 gritz says:
Because I can wait a few months, play plenty of other awesome games that aren’t pulling this crap, and buy it when all of its DLC is bundled and cheap (and likely on sale)?
11/10/2012 at 18:45 Amun says:
This is my problem with DLC in general — it just motivates me to *not* buy the game until it’s old and dead and out with a GOTY edition like BL1.
Remember when expansion packs didn’t get released a week after the game? Remember when they were equal to 40 or 50% of the main game’s length? The sooner this stuff dies, the better, IMO.
11/10/2012 at 19:26 The Random One says:
BECAUSE WITHOUT GAIGE WHAT IS THE BLOODY POINT
12/10/2012 at 02:05 fish99 says:
It’s not paying double for the same game because B2 is already much bigger than B1 out of the box, and they’re not forcing you to buy the DLCs. Also I think if you compare B2 quality and amount of content it’s definitely towards the good end of the scale. How about Bulletstorms 7 hrs for $60? Smart people will have preordered B2 for £25 and will then pick up the DLCs for a 2nd play through when they’re on sale or when the GOTY edition arrives. Just forget they exist for now.
Also it’s not like if the concept of DLC didn’t exist you would be getting this content with the base game for the same price, you wouldn’t. It would be in an expansion pack in 12 months for £20 like in the old days. Did you have the same objections to expansion packs?
12/10/2012 at 17:58 DrGonzo says:
No, an expansion pack in 12 months or so is perfect. It’s a decent amount of time to develop content after release, so it doesn’t feel cheeky.
But more importantly, add ons were about taking what was great in the base game and building on that. Using hindsight, which this rushed out DLC doesn’t do at all. It’s usually inferior to the game itself in fact.
I don’t see how this Borderlands 2 content wasn’t already worked into the games budget. I don’t see how they could have had time to create this stuff post release. It feels like they deleted bits that weren’t up to scratch, then decided to sell them to you at a later date.
12/10/2012 at 20:48 SkittleDiddler says:
I’m really disappointed with 2K and Gearbox, I was hoping they would avoid the whole Season Pass scheme and concentrate on putting out a few quality DLC packs like they did with the the first game. Instead, they seem to be taking the opportunity to pull one over on gullible consumers. What a bummer.
11/10/2012 at 16:57 hbarsquared says:
No. Out the door, there is $20 of DLC released. There is $50 of DLC announced ($40 with the season pass), but that number has been known for months.
Also, the game is massive, and no one can accuse Gearbox of crippling the game on release to be “finished” by DLC. The game is full and fun in the standalone version, and these bits of content are a bonus, not a necessity.
11/10/2012 at 19:43 derbefrier says:
and only 10 bucks worth of DLC for a grand total of around 45 bucks spent so far if you were smart and pre ordered it off GMG during that 25% off sale.
also i would like to add with he season pass it 40 bucks total for all the planned DLC. Add up all that content as if it were delivered as one big ass expansion and it looks a little more reasonable right? Its just instead of waiting a year or 2 for them to finish all the planned content. They are able to just release a little at a time when its ready for pretty much the same price of a full fledged expansion. How is this bad? I never thought of getting new content sooner rather than later as a bad thing.
11/10/2012 at 20:14 JoeGuy says:
How much content a game has will have no baring on how much DLC they throw at you. RPS hasn’t said it was Season Pass DLC, just that it was DLC (for now). I just said regardless of the games content, that isn’t being able to buy €40~50 worth of DLC in the first 4 weeks excessive and implies the Season Pass is staggered over so long to give them a way to target customers with alternative DLC also? I never meant to say the game wasn’t already big.
11/10/2012 at 21:57 Nick says:
its the first part of the season pass dlc.
11/10/2012 at 23:24 JoeGuy says:
I feel a bit disappointed they can have a character DLC and 1st piece of the Season Pass out within 4 weeks? But the remaining 3 pieces of Season Pass DLC will take 6 months?
12/10/2012 at 11:18 ZephyrSB says:
@JoeGuy
Thank the consoles and their glorious ‘certification’ processes for this. The main game went gold and was sent off to the overlords at Sony and MS in July. So rather than twiddle their thumbs and do nothing for 2 months, they made DLC instead.
11/10/2012 at 16:29 frank3n says:
Wow, this PLUS the Mechromancer DLC already?? SO glad I decided to hold off on buying BL2 – will pick it up in a year or two once the devs get all the runny DLC streaks out of their system.
11/10/2012 at 16:39 Roz says:
Really? DLC really has gotten out of hand. Sure, add another class in for those who pre-ordered the game, but don’t charge $10 to buy another class, either come out with some mission DLC or just piss off.
11/10/2012 at 16:45 obie191970 says:
This is mission DLC, not another class. It’s also part of the Season Pass.
11/10/2012 at 18:28 Ganjatron says:
Sadly I was never able to afford the game during it’s preorder days. :(
11/10/2012 at 16:51 Ergates_Antius says:
11/10/2012 at 17:07 Roz says:
Oh, didn’t really read it, assumed it was like the Mechromancer where you just got a new class.
Hopefully there’s a lot of content, Unlike Mad Moxxi/Zombie Ned DLC. I guess we’ll see..
Will the Max level rise with this?
11/10/2012 at 21:58 Nick says:
zombie ned was fairly big..
11/10/2012 at 16:57 Bob says:
So, is this going to be the same “$10″ price as the Mechromancer DLC? That’ll be a total of $31 for two DLCs if that’s the case, and as much as I love Borderlands 2, and bought every DLC for the first Borderlands, that’s just a tad too much in my opinion.
11/10/2012 at 16:58 RutigerP says:
I’ve always been more of a Fireball XL5 fan, if only for the swingin end credits song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7B-JTqNzOo
11/10/2012 at 17:16 Beelzebud says:
I refuse to spend $100.00 on a game. I’ll do the same thing I did for the first one: I’ll wait and get the whole thing on sale. See you Borderlands 2 players in about a year.
11/10/2012 at 17:24 Sardaukar says:
Thank you for your input.
11/10/2012 at 18:19 Beelzebud says:
You’re welcome. I have a newsletter you may subscribe to if my ideas are intriguing to you.
11/10/2012 at 17:23 fauxC says:
Excuse me, can we have another gender in gaming argument, please? I’m offended by the pun on the word Booty.
12/10/2012 at 05:20 The Random One says:
While RPS is usually willing to discuss such matters in depth, they will never stand against a good pun. Or an atrociously bad pun.
11/10/2012 at 17:26 Sardaukar says:
So if anyone is interested in this but hasn’t bought the Season Pass, head over to greenmangaming.com right now. They’ve got a 25% Off Any One Thing promo running again, and it drops the BL2 Season Pass to a mere $22. Which basically means, if you were savvy and got the base game for $42 preordered, you’ll have almost the entire GOTY package for the price of the base game.
11/10/2012 at 18:52 shaydeeadi says:
Thanks! Was on the fence about getting it but with this deal it’s sealed. I have paid out £35 all in for the game and DLC now, Not that bad a price considering..
11/10/2012 at 17:32 Josh W says:
Of course she’s indestructible, she’s a story npc!
11/10/2012 at 17:57 jussipe says:
Speaking of Captain Scarlet, I think Thunderbirds had (and has still) style that only a few other TV series capture.
Here’s a clip from an episode called “The Man From MI5″ in HD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2N1vBIXDZ8
11/10/2012 at 18:28 Bhazor says:
Compared to Scarlett the Thunderbirds are really frickin’ dull. So dull in fact they inspired Matt Parker and Trey Stone to make Team America as a kind of “What would this show be like if things actually happened in it?”.
11/10/2012 at 18:29 LionsPhil says:
TERRAHAWKS! STAY ON THIS CHANNEL. THIS IS AN EMERGENCY.
12/10/2012 at 17:09 Foosnark says:
There was also that crazy one with submarines that I don’t remember anything about at all. Except there were probably mermaids, because there are always mermaids.
Fireball XL-5 was the one with the DJ named Rick Cochet?
12/10/2012 at 17:12 Foosnark says:
Stingray! That was it.
11/10/2012 at 18:14 Low Life says:
So Jim, how am I supposed to get the Captain Scarlet theme out of my head again? Years of work to make it happen in the first place, and now it’s all wasted in one news article.
11/10/2012 at 18:25 Bhazor says:
I fucking love Captain Scarlett.
That is all.
11/10/2012 at 18:46 kraii says:
I have to link this youtube remix of the good old Captain: http://youtu.be/t0GvroKjpcY
11/10/2012 at 20:03 Deadly Habit says:
What I find massively irritating is Randy Pitchford announced they’re working on even more DLC yesterday on his twitter that will not be included for season pass purchasers (https://twitter.com/duvalmagic).
So if you didn’t preorder the game and go just through steam that means it’s $60 for the base game, $10 for the Mechromancer DLC, $30 for the season pass totaling $100 so far and this is preordering DLC which only 1 of the 4 bits promised have been announced.
Now, they’re already announcing they’re working on more DLC in addition to what people have pre paid for that hasn’t even been detailed or delivered on.
Anyone else think this is getting a bit ridiculous?
12/10/2012 at 20:54 SkittleDiddler says:
It’s a scam is what it is, and it means I will no longer be supporting the devs and the publisher. Fuck them and their fucking games.
13/10/2012 at 01:29 tangoliber says:
I’m certainly not complaining about more content for one of my favorite games I’ve ever played. I wish they would have a “Season 2″ of DLC.
12/10/2012 at 11:57 wodin says:
BL2 sadly bored me very very quickly.