Transformers Prime and War for Cybertron

[FFN]

A thought occurred to me after reading this train wreck of a thread:

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transf...heir-mind.html

Hasbro said back at BotCon that War for Cybertron was part of Transformers: Prime's continuity, and many people scoffed. Some are angry that their beloved G1-looking video game is officially not a G1 game at all, which apparently lessens their enjoyment of the game or something.

Anyway, the game and the cartoon don't fit together, but the WFC novel and the Prime cartoon were based on the same story bible Hasbro created.

It is clear that they meant that Prime and WFC are under a single continuity family, like Generation 1 (and everything else in Transformers) has loads of different continuities that don't fit together at all, but never the less fit under the same banner.

[kup]

Officially they may be under the same continuity () but practically they are clearly very different and independent from each other. Even the only real link from one 'story' to the other, Dark Energon, is interpreted differently from WFC to Prime.

Sorry but I think that Hasbro is/was just shoe-horning things together that were never intended to be, common sense tells me that.

It also wouldn't surprise me if next week the same question is asked and we get a different answer altogether.

[Sky Shadow]

I can't believe idiots write emails like that to Hasbro in the first place, let alone assume the replies are gospel accurate.

Yes, it doesn't matter if there are contradictions, War For Cybertron could still be in the Prime family, or it could be in the G1 family, heck it could be in the Go-Bots family - it just depends on what the Powers That Be happen to be saying on any given day.

[kup]

Originally Posted by Sky Shadow

I can't believe idiots write emails like that to Hasbro in the first place, let alone assume the replies are gospel accurate.

Yes, it doesn't matter if there are contradictions, War For Cybertron could still be in the Prime family, or it could be in the G1 family, heck it could be in the Go-Bots family - it just depends on what the Powers That Be happen to be saying on any given day.

*Asks Hasbro one week later*

Official: War for Cybertron is in the Kiss Players continuity!

[kaiden]

WFC character designs are better and make more sense with their cybertronian modes.

whereas TF Prime, Optimus and Bumblebee already have their bayformer designs and the rest of the cast all sorts of non-uniform designs :/

Storywise, I've only watched 3 eps but I can say the WFC story is better but they definitely dont go together

[Paulbot]

The way I see it is Hasbro stated they wanted a common history/backstory for Transformers.

War for Cybertron's basics (Megatron founds the Decepticons, starts a war, kills the Autobot leader, Optimus is made the new leader, Cybertron becomes unihabitable so the Transformers leave) aren't really anything new at all, but it made for a good game and an alright novel.

The "origin" is the same that seen in most Western fictional TF universe. The G1 cartoon, the G1 comics (Marvel, Dreamwave and IDW), Cybertron, the live action movies and now Prime, all share these elements and I expect (if Hasbro stick to this) any future series would too.

So the way I see it any of the series could use War for Cybertron as a version of what happened before they came to Earth. If you're a G1 fan its G1. If you prefer the movies it's the Bay-verse.

The only Western series where this origin doesn't fit are RID (which is perhaps cross-universal), Armada/Energon, and Animated.

I don't agree that WFC is explicitly in the Prime continuity to the exclusion of the others (which seems to be how TFwiki is treating it.) I think WFC is a much more multiversal hub, but I can understand why the wiki is treating it that way to make it less complicated to order things.

[FFN]

Originally Posted by kup

Officially they may be under the same continuity () but practically they are clearly very different and independent from each other. Even the only real link from one 'story' to the other, Dark Energon, is interpreted differently from WFC to Prime.

Sorry but I think that Hasbro is/was just shoe-horning things together that were never intended to be, common sense tells me that.

It also wouldn't surprise me if next week the same question is asked and we get a different answer altogether.

The problem is, you're (and everybody else who is a critic of this and the wiki's decision) going by the idea of 'continuity' as the Prime cartoon being in direct continuity with War for Cybertron the game, which it isn't.

Why is it okay for for previous generations to have varying continuities with disparate, dissimilar plots and backstories, but not so for the very latest Transformers continuity family? War for Cybertron's storyline is intentionally vague. According to an article from TFW2005 with Aaron Archer and Matt Tieger:

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-...tieger-168910/

The goal was to tell a story of pre-Earth Cybertron that could be used as a basis for future Transformers stories and generations. It is not connected to any particular generation, but pulls from them all, taking elements, references, story arcs and merges them into this one, new story. If and when possible, Hasbro will try to "stick" to one ongoing canon, and this could be used as a foundation for it.

What High Moon Studio says differently in Activision marketing videos could be construed as authorial intent, unless they're demographic-specific (20-30-something G1 casual fans who only know of G1 and the movies) marketing spin. Besides, considering War for Cybertron the game uses some concepts and ideas from Hasbro's story bible, I believe it would be reasonable to assume that Hasbro allowed High Moon Studios creative freedom so as to make a game that has the best chance to appeal to their target audience, yet for Hasbro and the hardcore fandom that care about such things, be associated with the new continuity.