Video Game Industry Thread: February's done, go to the new thread

cloudeagle

Hi! Welcome to the video game industry thread. Here we discuss things like sales figures, game development, studio closures, executive quotes, marketing and general business stuff. Also poop jokes. And frequent references to this:



And now, January's NPD numbers.

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)**
2. Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3)
3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC)**
4. NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, PSP, Wii, PS2, PC)
5. Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)
6. Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2)**
7. Mario Kart 7 (3DS)
8. Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (Wii, 3DS, 360, PS3, PC)**
9. Zumba Fitness 2 (Wii)
10. Saints Row: The Third (360, PS3, PC)**

Xbox 360 -- 270,000

cloudeagle

Oh right, the Vita does cross-platform stuff.

Sony has confirmed a number of cross-platform features for the launch games of its upcoming PS Vita handheld that will carry across to its PlayStation 3 console.

Several of the PS Vita's launch games will come with promotional offers, which mean that PS3 owners can receive copies of games for both consoles.

The promotion isn't just meant to build up goodwill with Vita buyers, but also a clever way to promote the handheld's capabilities for connectivity with Sony's flagship PlayStation 3 home console.

Notable releases featured in this promotion include Hustle Kings, Wipeout 2048 and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Those users who buy the downloadable version of Hustle Kings for PS Vita will automatically receive the PS3 version for free, and vice versa.

DLC for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 can also be carried across for free between the two systems, while users who buy MotorStorm RC will be able to play it on both PS Vita and PS3 with a single purchase.

The biggest deal, however, comes with the purchase of Wipeout 2048 -- anyone who buys the game for PS Vita will be able to download the PS Vita versions of WipEout HD and HD Fury for free (as long as they already own the games for PS3), and also get Wipeout 2048 DLC at no cost.

The PS Vita is due to launch in the U.S. on February 22, although first edition bundles were available this week. Consumer outlet reviewers have already posted varied opinions over its potential.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/40349/Sony_promotion_highlights_crossplatform_features_for_PS_Vita_launch_games.php

Remind me, are there games where you can play on one system and resume the same save on a different system yet?

Brainiac 8

Just carrying this over:

Chen wrote:

The million dollar question is: how much and will Capcom find that acceptable? Capcom isn't there to ship Vita units, it's there to make money from selling its games. There will always be fanatics, but realistically, will the majority care if it doesn't look as nice? This isn't comparable to the DS/PSP situation in which the DS could barely render polygons.

I doubt Sony has deep enough pockets to persuade Capcom to bring one of the main series, and not just an updated version a year later, exclusively to the Vita with the installed base they currently have. To use your words, this isn't some semi popular game. They'll have to dig deep to compensate the losses from fewer sales and a bigger budget. And if you look in the foreseeable future, what can propel the Vita to make Capcom think twice?

The next Monster Hunter, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts are already announced for the 3DS, plus Nintendo's own Animal Crossing and Pokemon. It can only go up from here on out. Vita, not as rosy.

Plus Nintendo made sure to announce that New Super Mario Bros 3DS was on the way. Things are looking pretty awesome on the 3DS front. I just hope Sony can turn this sinking ship around, as I want a Vita. As it stands I'll probably grab a PSP3000 at some point before they stop selling them.

Like was said, Nintendo had to get their big guns out plus drop the price to turn around the low sales of the 3DS. The Vita getting out MH will not do it by itself. They also need to drop the price (they won't) and get some games out that will sell the system. (MH would be a good start, but then, will people buy a new system and game when they already have the game for the 3DS, plus have MH4 to look forward to, also on the 3DS?)

cloudeagle

Brainiac 8 wrote:

Just carrying this over:

Chen wrote:

The million dollar question is: how much and will Capcom find that acceptable? Capcom isn't there to ship Vita units, it's there to make money from selling its games. There will always be fanatics, but realistically, will the majority care if it doesn't look as nice? This isn't comparable to the DS/PSP situation in which the DS could barely render polygons.

I doubt Sony has deep enough pockets to persuade Capcom to bring one of the main series, and not just an updated version a year later, exclusively to the Vita with the installed base they currently have. To use your words, this isn't some semi popular game. They'll have to dig deep to compensate the losses from fewer sales and a bigger budget. And if you look in the foreseeable future, what can propel the Vita to make Capcom think twice?

The next Monster Hunter, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts are already announced for the 3DS, plus Nintendo's own Animal Crossing and Pokemon. It can only go up from here on out. Vita, not as rosy.

Plus Nintendo made sure to announce that New Super Mario Bros 3DS was on the way. Things are looking pretty awesome on the 3DS front. I just hope Sony can turn this sinking ship around, as I want a Vita. As it stands I'll probably grab a PSP3000 at some point before they stop selling them.

Like was said, Nintendo had to get their big guns out plus drop the price to turn around the low sales of the 3DS. The Vita getting out MH will not do it by itself. They also need to drop the price (they won't) and get some games out that will sell the system. (MH would be a good start, but then, will people buy a new system and game when they already have the game for the 3DS, plus have MH4 to look forward to, also on the 3DS?)

That's true, Vita's hitting just at the moment that the 3DS is going big guns. Given that Vita is selling pretty damn badly in Japan, it's frighteningly possible that profit-concerned game makers will jump ship on a moment's notice.

Automaticzen

cloudeagle wrote:

That's true, Vita's hitting just at the moment that the 3DS is going big guns. Given that Vita is selling pretty damn badly in Japan, it's frighteningly possible that profit-concerned game makers will jump ship on a moment's notice.

I agree with this, but as I said, that moment is after the Western launches, not before.

Couscous

I'm always skeptical of an idea that a single game can turn a system around. Even the PSP had a decent collection of popular games besides Monster Hunter if you look at the sales from what I can remember.

Sony is really pushing crossplatform shit.

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2012/02/16/try-ps-vitaps3-cross-play-content-for-one-price/

When you buy MotorStorm RC you will be able to play it on PS3 and PS Vita at no additional cost.

When you buy Hustle Kings and/or Top Darts for PS Vita, you will get the PS3 versions for free. If you already own these games on PS3, you’ll be able to download the PS Vita version for free.

If you purchase WipEout 2048 and you already own WipEout HD and the HD Fury DLC on PS3, you will be able to download them for free when they launch on PS Vita later this spring.

DLC purchased for the PS3 version of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 can be used on the PS Vita version for free (and vice versa).

Sheep

Automaticzen wrote:

cloudeagle wrote:

That's true, Vita's hitting just at the moment that the 3DS is going big guns. Given that Vita is selling pretty damn badly in Japan, it's frighteningly possible that profit-concerned game makers will jump ship on a moment's notice.

I agree with this, but as I said, that moment is after the Western launches, not before.

I think this would be applicable if the PSP didn't have such a tough time in the western market.

maximumzero

UncleSporky wrote:

maximumzero wrote:

Chen wrote:

This isn't comparable to the DS/PSP situation in which the DS could barely render polygons.

Wait, what? The DS was fairly comparable to the Nintendo 64.

Hell, it was definitely was more powerful than the original Playstation and that was essentially discount polygon warehouse.

It wasn't specifically a statement about the DS's power. It was referring to the obvious power gulf between the systems, and how that's no longer a major problem.

Revelations' character models are comparable to Uncharted: Golden Abyss. It's a much lower resolution screen and Uncharted definitely supports larger, more interactive areas and probably more characters at once...but the fact remains that they're far more comparable than DS/PSP.

Ah, true. As someone who really fuckin' loved his PSP, I'm having a hard time being sold on the Vita because the software between them will be so similar this go-round.

That, and going into this next generation of hardware and consoles I'm trying to limit my spending so I don't end up with with more hardware & software than I have time to support like I did last time.

Spoiler:

Planning on going with the Wii U and 3DS next gen. I loved my 360 as well, but if I could go back in time I probably would have just stuck with the Wii because now I've got more games than I'll ever have time to play...and I have a hard time trying to convince myself that I can ditch my 360 just because of the digital library I've built up for the system.

Diarmuid

cloudeagle wrote:

Remind me, are there games where you can play on one system and resume the same save on a different system yet?

Yes, apparently there are. Warrior's Lair (previously known as Ruin) will supposedly do this.

UncleSporky

Couscous wrote:

I'm always skeptical of an idea that a single game can turn a system around. Even the PSP had a decent collection of popular games besides Monster Hunter if you look at the sales from what I can remember.

Did the price drop do more for 3DS in Japan, or was it the trifecta? The fact that MH is in there does make it a little unfair, though.

I wish we had better US data.

cloudeagle

Diarmuid wrote:

cloudeagle wrote:

Remind me, are there games where you can play on one system and resume the same save on a different system yet?

Yes, apparently there are. Warrior's Lair (previously known as Ruin) will supposedly do this.

Ah cool, thanks.

Something people forget is that when the PSP came out, there was an absolute flood of games for it. Far too many for a game reviewer person I know to keep up with. But those games didn't really sell, and so that flood turned into a drought pretty quick.

Publishers definitely make snap decisions, and it seems they're getting snappier.

Zephiran

cloudeagle wrote:

Publishers definitely make snap decisions, and it seems they're getting snappier.

When I read that I imagined Bobby Kotick looking at sales data on his Minority Report-esque holodesk, and then snapping his fingers:

"Make it so."

Darmani

In a completely different tangent, am I alone in thinking someone needs to keep Inafune away from the press. The man increasingly sounds like he's on drugs and he inadvertently when policing his peers gets hijacked by the worst of gaming culture to validate some of the frustrations and out and out racist bile that simmers in discourse about Japan and gaming.
I mean last one I found of him he thought he was subject to a conspiracy. Or at least got talked into it.

I realize these are men dealing with cultural and language barriers. Heck most tech and computer guys aren't naturally great at the ambush interview or presentation, period. Miyamoto tends to give a mediocre interview that reeks of press release where his displays aren't 'worked.' But he seems genuine at points and mostly tries to let his work speak. Title of the article aside he was pretty on point with the Forbes interview explaining his activities and decisions.

But still Inafune is in such a position that if anyone is close to him they should be keeping him from mic and cameras he either is coming off as crazy or actually going it. Neither I can assert perfectly. but he's in the position where he needs to avoid the press until he has some backing again and not let fans and press lead him on.

I guess this is prompted by a research session in response to TekkenxStreetfighter's Megaman

fragglefart

On another completely different tangent, do we know how RAGE did?

I finally got around to trying the demo and really, really enjoyed it, but the price seemed to drop very quickly here, did it get lost in the Xmas crush? Fare better on PC?

First world problems, man, I actally have a backlog of demos I'm trying to work through!

Brainiac 8

Sheep wrote:

Automaticzen wrote:

cloudeagle wrote:

That's true, Vita's hitting just at the moment that the 3DS is going big guns. Given that Vita is selling pretty damn badly in Japan, it's frighteningly possible that profit-concerned game makers will jump ship on a moment's notice.

I agree with this, but as I said, that moment is after the Western launches, not before.

I think this would be applicable if the PSP didn't have such a tough time in the western market.

Yea, Sony definitely has an uphill battle ahead of them. Not only are they introducing an expensive piece of tech in a region that rejected another expensive piece of tech last year, but they have the mantra of the PSP to contend with, which didn't exactly set the US on fire, or even set a small spark.

cloudeagle

fragglefart wrote:

On another completely different tangent, do we know how RAGE did?

I finally got around to trying the demo and really, really enjoyed it, but the price seemed to drop very quickly here, did it get lost in the Xmas crush? Fare better on PC?

First world problems, man, I actally have a backlog of demos I'm trying to work through!

I think it charted, but the impression I get is that it didn't meet expectations.

Especially with this:

id Software's parent company, Bethesda Softworks, confirmed with Joystiq this afternoon that an unknown quantity of employees at the Rage development studio have been let go. "As part of its standard business practice, id regularly evaluates staffing to ensure it has a workforce that meets the needs of the studio. As part of that process, some id employees were recently let go," the statement reads.

Despite the layoffs, the publisher additionally noted that it is "still recruiting and hiring qualified developers" for id Software, and that "development work on future id titles continues unabated." id Software is currently working on Doom 4, the next entry in a long-running franchise for the studio, as it has been for the past four-ish years.

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/10/bethesda-confirms-layoffs-at-id-software-work-on-future-id-tit/

darleysam

fragglefart wrote:

On another completely different tangent, do we know how RAGE did?

I finally got around to trying the demo and really, really enjoyed it, but the price seemed to drop very quickly here, did it get lost in the Xmas crush? Fare better on PC?

First world problems, man, I actally have a backlog of demos I'm trying to work through!

You and me both, I've got so many demos and trials that I keep meaning to play. Hell, if I find my way to liking half of them, I'll be half way through the next round of consoles before needing to buy one.

RainbowDespair

Brainiac 8 wrote:

but they have the mantra of the PSP to contend with, which didn't exactly set the US on fire, or even set a small spark.

Actually, the PSP sold just fine in the US for several years. It's the software sales that bombed big-time since piracy was so huge on the system.

Brainiac 8

RainbowDespair wrote:

Brainiac 8 wrote:

but they have the mantra of the PSP to contend with, which didn't exactly set the US on fire, or even set a small spark.

Actually, the PSP sold just fine in the US for several years. It's the software sales that bombed big-time since piracy was so huge on the system.

Sorry, I should have specified PSP software, as this mantra could have an adverse effect on the Vita. The whole 'no games' thing.

maximumzero

RainbowDespair wrote:

Brainiac 8 wrote:

but they have the mantra of the PSP to contend with, which didn't exactly set the US on fire, or even set a small spark.

Actually, the PSP sold just fine in the US for several years. It's the software sales that bombed big-time since piracy was so huge on the system.

Are there any hard numbers that Piracy was the killer of the PSP? Custom Firmware was something that wasn't so easily to fuck around with, and if anything pirating DS games was easier.

cloudeagle

maximumzero wrote:

RainbowDespair wrote:

Brainiac 8 wrote:

but they have the mantra of the PSP to contend with, which didn't exactly set the US on fire, or even set a small spark.

Actually, the PSP sold just fine in the US for several years. It's the software sales that bombed big-time since piracy was so huge on the system.

Are there any hard numbers that Piracy was the killer of the PSP? Custom Firmware was something that wasn't so easily to fuck around with, and if anything pirating DS games was easier.

It's pretty much the only thing that explains why hardware sales were so great for so long and software sales were so shitty from pretty much day one onward. Seriously, the gulf between the two was staggering.

ultimakay

fragglefart wrote:

On another completely different tangent, do we know how RAGE did?

I finally got around to trying the demo and really, really enjoyed it, but the price seemed to drop very quickly here, did it get lost in the Xmas crush? Fare better on PC?

First world problems, man, I actally have a backlog of demos I'm trying to work through!

All signs pointed to it doing bad on both consoles and PC. It did poorly on the PC due to not working on any ati cards for weeks at least, and also it took a while for the PC to get any sort of graphics options as the makers thought it best to just set the graphics settings for you and not let you change them. It seemed to do poorly on consoles due to the fact that people seemed to draw comparisons to open world games like fallout when in fact the world was just used as a way to get between linear shooting levels, it was also quite short and had no replay value to speak of.

All that said I really enjoyed it, though its basically an 8-10 hour FPS with no replay value at all but I knew what it was before diving in and I managed to get most of my money back by selling it before the first price drop hit.

RainbowDespair

maximumzero wrote:

RainbowDespair wrote:

Brainiac 8 wrote:

but they have the mantra of the PSP to contend with, which didn't exactly set the US on fire, or even set a small spark.

Actually, the PSP sold just fine in the US for several years. It's the software sales that bombed big-time since piracy was so huge on the system.

Are there any hard numbers that Piracy was the killer of the PSP? Custom Firmware was something that wasn't so easily to fuck around with, and if anything pirating DS games was easier.

Just that software sales were much lower than you'd expect with the kind of install base the PSP had.

Warlock82

cloudeagle wrote:

Brainiac 8 wrote:

Just carrying this over:

Chen wrote:

The million dollar question is: how much and will Capcom find that acceptable? Capcom isn't there to ship Vita units, it's there to make money from selling its games. There will always be fanatics, but realistically, will the majority care if it doesn't look as nice? This isn't comparable to the DS/PSP situation in which the DS could barely render polygons.

I doubt Sony has deep enough pockets to persuade Capcom to bring one of the main series, and not just an updated version a year later, exclusively to the Vita with the installed base they currently have. To use your words, this isn't some semi popular game. They'll have to dig deep to compensate the losses from fewer sales and a bigger budget. And if you look in the foreseeable future, what can propel the Vita to make Capcom think twice?

The next Monster Hunter, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts are already announced for the 3DS, plus Nintendo's own Animal Crossing and Pokemon. It can only go up from here on out. Vita, not as rosy.

Plus Nintendo made sure to announce that New Super Mario Bros 3DS was on the way. Things are looking pretty awesome on the 3DS front. I just hope Sony can turn this sinking ship around, as I want a Vita. As it stands I'll probably grab a PSP3000 at some point before they stop selling them.

Like was said, Nintendo had to get their big guns out plus drop the price to turn around the low sales of the 3DS. The Vita getting out MH will not do it by itself. They also need to drop the price (they won't) and get some games out that will sell the system. (MH would be a good start, but then, will people buy a new system and game when they already have the game for the 3DS, plus have MH4 to look forward to, also on the 3DS?)

That's true, Vita's hitting just at the moment that the 3DS is going big guns. Given that Vita is selling pretty damn badly in Japan, it's frighteningly possible that profit-concerned game makers will jump ship on a moment's notice.

Sony sure has had bad timing with all of this stuff in the last several years.

Xenogears of Bore

The only counter to the PSP software failed because of piracy is that DS software did not fail and it had even easier piracy.

PSP software failed mostly because it didn't offer the games that people wanted to buy.

Henroid

cloudeagle wrote:

That's true, Vita's hitting just at the moment that the 3DS is going big guns. Given that Vita is selling pretty damn badly in Japan, it's frighteningly possible that profit-concerned game makers will jump ship on a moment's notice.

I've gotta ask - I've seen people defend the Vita's poor Japanese sales by claiming it is meant for the North American market. Now, is that fans of Sony projecting that wall of defense, or is that something Sony has stated as part of their battle plan? It makes absolutely no sense to me given that the PSP had a lot of love in Japan, though that seemed to be because of third party support (so, just like the actual Playstation home console).

cloudeagle

Actually I think the main motivator for PSP piracy was that the thing promised to be an all-in-one media device with web, video, music and such, but was stupidly locked down and restricted. Unlocking it gave it much better capabilities.

Of course this happened before smartphones became huge and became the all-in-one media devices people apparently wanted.

Xenogears of Bore

It's the software lineup that seems to look like it will be a bigger hit out here because of Uncharted and Wipeout and the like.

I think the fairly low sales of the GoW PSP games though should be a warning to not expect extremely high sales on Uncharted.

cloudeagle

Xenogears of Bore wrote:

It's the software lineup that seems to look like it will be a bigger hit out here because of Uncharted and Wipeout and the like.

I think the fairly low sales of the GoW PSP games though should be a warning to not expect extremely high sales on Uncharted.

... and the GoW PSP games are generally considered to be among the best on the system.

Right now Uncharted Vita's got an 80 on metacritic, significantly lower than the other Uncharted games. It's not appearing on a lot of "must-have Vita launch titles" shortlists.

Not to mention, well, we just got a mainline Uncharted game. Bad timing indeed.

Brainiac 8

That Gravity Daze game (I think that's what it's called) seems to be the most interesting game for the Vita's launch, but it isn't anywhere near a system seller.

Henroid

cloudeagle wrote:

Xenogears of Bore wrote:

It's the software lineup that seems to look like it will be a bigger hit out here because of Uncharted and Wipeout and the like.

I think the fairly low sales of the GoW PSP games though should be a warning to not expect extremely high sales on Uncharted.

... and the GoW PSP games are generally considered to be among the best on the system.

Right now Uncharted Vita's got an 80 on metacritic, significantly lower than the other Uncharted games. It's not appearing on a lot of "must-have Vita launch titles" shortlists.

Not to mention, well, we just got a mainline Uncharted game. Bad timing indeed.

Only on metacritic can an 80/100 be considered bad.

cloudeagle

Henroid wrote:

cloudeagle wrote:

Xenogears of Bore wrote:

It's the software lineup that seems to look like it will be a bigger hit out here because of Uncharted and Wipeout and the like.

I think the fairly low sales of the GoW PSP games though should be a warning to not expect extremely high sales on Uncharted.

... and the GoW PSP games are generally considered to be among the best on the system.

Right now Uncharted Vita's got an 80 on metacritic, significantly lower than the other Uncharted games. It's not appearing on a lot of "must-have Vita launch titles" shortlists.

Not to mention, well, we just got a mainline Uncharted game. Bad timing indeed.

Only on metacritic's game section can an 80/100 be considered bad.

Fixed. Movies don't have to deal with that kind of grade inflation, sadly enough.

Henroid

If I found a genie's lamp, my three wishes would be:

1) remove metacritic from existence.
2) make it impossible for anyone to conceive of another site / system similar to metacritic, to prevent it being replaced.
3) make me forget metacritic existed, so I can be that much happier in life.

Brainiac 8

terrible wishes, yo. :rotate:

Automaticzen

Henroid wrote:

cloudeagle wrote:

That's true, Vita's hitting just at the moment that the 3DS is going big guns. Given that Vita is selling pretty damn badly in Japan, it's frighteningly possible that profit-concerned game makers will jump ship on a moment's notice.

I've gotta ask - I've seen people defend the Vita's poor Japanese sales by claiming it is meant for the North American market. Now, is that fans of Sony projecting that wall of defense, or is that something Sony has stated as part of their battle plan? It makes absolutely no sense to me given that the PSP had a lot of love in Japan, though that seemed to be because of third party support (so, just like the actual Playstation home console).

I'm not sure how anyone could make the assertion that it was meant for NA. I do admit that the flagship title (Uncharted) was meant for the West, and they lacked really strong Japanese-aimed IPs, but that's on Sony not getting the developers rounded up, not an actual intention by the company.

Zephiran

Get rid of review scores and replace grades with various edibles. Not just a scale of edibles, embrace every goddamn nomnom out there and choose the one that best correlates to the qualities of any given game.

"This game gets a muffin from me, because it's short and sweet."

Personally I'd say Xenoblade for example is a large pizza. A very, very large pizza with a mountain of toppings.

cloudeagle

What's interesting is that Sony's first parties are, to a large extent, western companies making games that increasingly appeal to western gamers. This seems to have gotten even more true over the last few years. (I mean, Naughty Dog was looking into the possibility of making a realistic Jak and Daxter game, for chrissake.) Which was fine for the PSP, since it already had a ton of Japanese developers, but could give Japanese people a bad first impression.

slash000

Competition from the 3DS is far fiercer than the Nintendo DS posed to the PSP. Nintendo has a nice selection of high quality, mainstream games, whereas the DS was sort of struggling on the software side at this point. I suspect the Vita will have a decent launch, and Uncharted will do well, but with the lower install base and high cost of production for the system, it's starting to look like it's going to find itself in a more niche position like the original PSP did. Which is fine. I'll be getting games like Gravity Daze for it. I just don't think Uncharted is a magical bullet for the system in the West, and the system is already having issues with sales in Japan.

Henroid

slash000 wrote:

Competition from the 3DS is far fiercer than the Nintendo DS posed to the PSP. Nintendo has a nice selection of high quality, mainstream games, whereas the DS was sort of struggling on the software side at this point. I suspect the Vita will have a decent launch, and Uncharted will do well, but with the lower install base and high cost of production for the system, it's starting to look like it's going to find itself in a more niche position like the original PSP did. Which is fine. I'll be getting games like Gravity Daze for it. I just don't think Uncharted is a magical bullet for the system in the West, and the system is already having issues with sales in Japan.

I would say the 3DS's third-party support only seems strong in comparison to the PSVita. For some reason the line-up on the 3DS still hasn't jumped out at me in a "get this NOW" way. But all things considered, lined up against the Vita, it's like, well, we have a clear winner.

Algertman

Henroid wrote:

If I found a genie's lamp, my three wishes would be:

1) remove metacritic from existence.
2) make it impossible for anyone to conceive of another site / system similar to metacritic, to prevent it being replaced.
3) make me forget metacritic existed, so I can be that much happier in life.

Here's how to solve everything wrong with review scores. No more early review copies, make reviewers go out and buy their games. No more free swag and parties for them either. Cut advertising on gaming sites to 1/3. Just flat out kill modern game reviewing and start from scratch. Companies should actively attack reviewers who have done a piss poor job at reviewing and are getting facts wrong about the game.

Kill'em all.

lowlylowlycook

At one point didn't we find out that the highest selling PSP game for a month was outside the top 50? Or something similar to that.

Anyway, however bad you think western PSP software sales were, they were worse than that. It's hard to imagine that piracy wasn't an issue.