Video Game Industry Thread: 300+ people lose their jobs. Curt Schilling still rich.

cloudeagle

ArcSyn wrote: »

cloudeagle wrote: »

Meanwhile, in my secondary metro area, I can go weeks without a single goddamn Streetpass hit. And I'm not exactly a hermit.

It is weird that while Vita's Near is tuned to pretty much guarantee you plenty of hits, the 3DS is much better about making sure you keep it in your pants. Lab mice hitting a randomized feeder bar and all that.

Yeah, I didn't start getting streetpasses randomly until after this past Christmas. Even now I only get them rarely when I'm in the mall or walking through a populated city (like Philadelphia). My streetpasses come from a select few people I know where to find them (friend of mine, guy at church, and GameStop employee). But as more and more are sold, I'm sure that will start to increase just like the number of DS handhelds you see kids with.

It really is a brilliant business decision to support 'unnecessary' extras that will keep the console on people's minds and in their pockets. It's been a rare day when I'll go without my 3DS. Just because I want to keep the pedometer going. And it works for games too. Sakura Samurai has a garden that will bloom trees every 10k+ steps. I've dedicated 148k steps to that "minigame" alone, and bloomed 8 trees for the little extras that show up.j

But when you're competing with smartphones that are always on hand, you need to give people as many reasons as possible to keep using your device.

Exactly. That's why I keep saying the pedometer (and the coins it gives you) doesn't get as much credit as it deserves for being an encouragement to keep using the device. It's directly gamified, it takes much of the sting away from not getting StreetPasses, it's beyond simple and, most importantly, it's not just aping a smartphone feature.

RainbowDespair

UncleSporky wrote: »

RainbowDespair wrote: »

That's not hard to figure out. People (Well, the kind of people who post on video game forums) thought the technology in the Vita was more impressive than the 3DS therefore felt it was a better deal at the price.

Practically PS3 tech vs. PS2 tech with a 3D effect that may or may not work right = Most people prefer the better graphics to the unreliable 3D effect.

The reason why the 3DS is selling so well isn't the technology (the whole 3D fad bubble kind of burst right before the 3DS came out) - it's the fact that it's at a decent price and has exclusive games in popular series.

Ehh. Caveats apply, but on the whole Vita is probably closer to 3DS than PS3. OLED helps the impression of it, definitely.

Eh, even in that video, the Vita game looks a bit better than the 3DS video. And it's not exactly a fair comparison - the Vita's resolution is a lot greater that of the 3DS's resolution (960x544 vs. 400x240 w/double width for 3D) but in the comparison video, the Vita's screen is shrunk down to match the 3DS screen. Plus like you mentioned, the Vita has a higher quality screen since it's OLED.

Plus, it's comparing a 2nd year 3DS title to a launch Vita title. Oh and for some reason, half the Vita game's time is spent with the guy picking himself up off the floor.

Don't get me wrong - I fully intend to buy both a 3DS and Vita and I'm more likely to get Revelations than Uncharted (not a big Uncharted fan though #2 was pretty good) - but I don't think this is a fair comparison.

Xenogears of Bore

Looks like the last remaining bit of credibility left G4 today.

Renzo

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

Looks like the last remaining bit of credibility left G4 today.

Where inside G4 was it hiding? And where did it go?

skeldare

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

Looks like the last remaining bit of credibility left G4 today.

Care to elaborate?

Xenogears of Bore

Longrunning gaming personality Adam Sessler is no longer at G4, the TV host's representative said today.

Here's a statement from Sessler's representative:

Television personality Adam Sessler and TV network G4 are parting ways, with Adam's last episode as host of G4's "X-Play" airing on the network today, Wednesday, April 25. Adam has been hosting the show since it first aired as ZDTV's "Gamespot TV" in July 1998 and he also served as Editor In Chief of games content at G4. His current projects include starring as himself in the Summer 2012 movie "noobz" and consulting with a film production company on theatrical feature adaptations of video games. Adam intends to stay in front of the camera and continue as a key voice within the games industry. He also sings and is available for weddings and bar mitzvahs.

Dac Vin

Also from Kotaku comes a tidbit:

We heard about this news last week via an anonymous source, but we were not able to confirm its validity. According to our sources, Sessler is leaving due to a contractual dispute, and the departure was not on amicable terms.

skeldare

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

Longrunning gaming personality Adam Sessler is no longer at G4, the TV host's representative said today.

Here's a statement from Sessler's representative:

Television personality Adam Sessler and TV network G4 are parting ways, with Adam's last episode as host of G4's "X-Play" airing on the network today, Wednesday, April 25. Adam has been hosting the show since it first aired as ZDTV's "Gamespot TV" in July 1998 and he also served as Editor In Chief of games content at G4. His current projects include starring as himself in the Summer 2012 movie "noobz" and consulting with a film production company on theatrical feature adaptations of video games. Adam intends to stay in front of the camera and continue as a key voice within the games industry. He also sings and is available for weddings and bar mitzvahs.

Wow, that actually kinda sucks.

Here's the source, btw.

http://kotaku.com/5905119/adam-sessler-out-at-g4

RainbowDespair

G4 gets a bad rap, but I talked to Rob Manuel and Morgan Webb at PAX East and they both seemed nice and professional.

skeldare

I bet he'll end up being replaced by Blair Herter. The guy already does a lot on the show.

Renzo

I'd forgotten about Sessler. He's a stand-up guy. I hope he lands somewhere awesome.

Undead Scottsman

He seemed pretty buddy-buddy with CliffyB. Maybe he can be Epics new PR person. They could certainly use one.

Xenogears of Bore

RainbowDespair wrote: »

G4 gets a bad rap, but I talked to Rob Manuel and Morgan Webb at PAX East and they both seemed nice and professional.

Morgan Webb gets a lot of flack for stuff she doesn't deserve. She obviously plays and cares for games and she's a great tv personality.

Her main problem in my book is liking Phantasy Star III. Oh and her SMG2 preview didn't help any, but those are opinions.

Henroid

Dac Vin wrote: »

Also from Kotaku comes a tidbit:

We heard about this news last week via an anonymous source, but we were not able to confirm its validity. According to our sources, Sessler is leaving due to a contractual dispute, and the departure was not on amicable terms.

Considering recent history with people's contract disputes, I have a feeling Sessler is getting dicked over by his bosses somehow. I hope he takes them to court over it, because few people fucking do it. Which is why corporations get away with it.

Rorus Raz

G4 came at the cost of TechTV; for which it can never be forgiven.

Sprang out of TechTV like a chestburster.

TheSonicRetard

Rorus Raz wrote: »

G4 came at the cost of TechTV; for which it can never be forgiven.

Sprang out of TechTV like a chestburster.

This isn't related to the video game industry, stay on topic.

Cade

Even after G4 got rid of the whole TechTV name entirely up here in Canada it was still called G4TechTV due to certain rules and laws we had.

Probably still called that, no idea if it is or not.

Plus we had Leo too doing his thing for some time.

Gosling

I'm kind of hoping Morgan goes with him now just out of solidarity. A lot of X-Play's appeal is the chemistry between Adam and Morgan. You need both to make the show work. Besides, Morgan's the only other TechTV alumni left. How do you think she's going to be feeling right now?

Duke 2.0

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

Looks like the last remaining bit of credibility left G4 today.

Alright! No more feeling I need to defend it by pointing out Sessler and Webb.

Xenogears of Bore

Cade wrote: »

Even after G4 got rid of the whole TechTV name entirely up here in Canada it was still called G4TechTV due to certain rules and laws we had.

Probably still called that, no idea if it is or not.

Plus we had Leo too doing his thing for some time.

I remember that months after the final Leo show (maybe even a year or two) in the US that one day I was getting up real early to fish and there it was, classic episodes of the show on G4 for no reason.

It wasn't a dream even, it was a contractual issue where they had to run out a certain number of episodes by a certain date!

Cade

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

Cade wrote: »

Even after G4 got rid of the whole TechTV name entirely up here in Canada it was still called G4TechTV due to certain rules and laws we had.

Probably still called that, no idea if it is or not.

Plus we had Leo too doing his thing for some time.

I remember that months after the final Leo show (maybe even a year or two) in the US that one day I was getting up real early to fish and there it was, classic episodes of the show on G4 for no reason.

It wasn't a dream even, it was a contractual issue where they had to run out a certain number of episodes by a certain date!

They actually had a new Leo show that they began to air in the US after it had been running in Canada for a year or so but sadly it got canned almost immediately. It was still shown up here until he decided to move on.

The_Spaniard

Henroid wrote: »

Dac Vin wrote: »

Also from Kotaku comes a tidbit:

We heard about this news last week via an anonymous source, but we were not able to confirm its validity. According to our sources, Sessler is leaving due to a contractual dispute, and the departure was not on amicable terms.

Considering recent history with people's contract disputes, I have a feeling Sessler is getting dicked over by his bosses somehow. I hope he takes them to court over it, because few people fucking do it. Which is why corporations get away with it.

Well in the gaming industry so few people sue out of fear of being blackballed from the industry, I know this personally(I mean I know the fear of being blackballed, I haven't been blackballed). With as incestuous as the industry is, you have a single person going up against a massive entity, and they can see to it that you never find work in the industry again, or at the very least you get marked as "that guy that sues his employers". Because of that we put up with horrific injustices from our employers, and just hope that somebody files a class action that we can duck into and become an unrecognizable face in the mass of plaintiffs. This is mainly a problem for the regular Joes/average industry employees, the only people that are somewhat immune to this, are big names in the industry, that have the luxury of making a public flap, because people will actually listen to them. So if Sessler wanted to sue, he totally could.

cloudeagle

Well, also the fact that the big corporations tend to have a lot more spare cash for lawyers than the average dudes who have been wronged.

Sheep

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

Cade wrote: »

Even after G4 got rid of the whole TechTV name entirely up here in Canada it was still called G4TechTV due to certain rules and laws we had.

Probably still called that, no idea if it is or not.

Plus we had Leo too doing his thing for some time.

I remember that months after the final Leo show (maybe even a year or two) in the US that one day I was getting up real early to fish and there it was, classic episodes of the show on G4 for no reason.

It wasn't a dream even, it was a contractual issue where they had to run out a certain number of episodes by a certain date!

Well, G4 is patently stupid, and you can't have stupid without Leo Laporte.

cloudeagle

Did we know this already?

"Project Zwei" is actually Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami's first project from his Bethesda Softworks-supported Tango Gameworks. The name (codename?) of Mikami's project was revealed to Famitsu in a recent interview (interpreted by Andriasang, via Sokuho), wherein Mikami says the game will be of the survival horror variety, drawing on his past work with the Resident Evil series.

The interview also reveals that the game is still rather early in development – not entirely unexpected for a game not due for at least another year – and that Mikami is content in his relationship with Maryland-based publisher Bethesda Softworks.

Little else is known about the title, with Mikami only saying that the game is intended for "HD consoles." As for the name? "Zwei" is tied to the German for "two," but Mikami says the name has no connection to the game's content.

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/25/resident-evils-mikami-welcomes-bethesda-to-the-world-of-surviva/

Have there been many western publishers actively helping out with the development of Japanese stuff? This seems new.

Dac Vin

Back to an old discussion:

cloudeagle wrote: »

Like I've said, E3 is going to be absolutely critical for Vita.

All this portable talk just seems to remind that a console's horsepower has surprisingly little to do with its sales.

Critical, yep, but for what exactly? It won't be enough for the Vita to just pull a 3DS out of its hat: they're not just in a even worse position than the 3DS was a year ago, also competing with a new 3DS which is selling rather well thanks to things we already know. Their E3 effort, or any effort they make, will have to be a mighty one if they want to turn the tide, and meanwhile Nintendo isn't sitting on their laurels, especially with the 3DS start fresh on their minds, and doing whatever they can to undermine their competitors.


Aside, is it me or I'm seeing a common mistake being made over and over: thinking a new product to compete with the past of a competitor. I saw it with Origin vs Steam, and now I see it again with 3DS vs Vita. (BONUS CAR ANALOGY: you can't come with a new car and compare it to the Model T, I mean come on!)

RainbowDespair

The thing is the PS Vita doesn't need to curb stomp the 3DS. It just needs to sell well enough to make a profit and attract developers to make games for it. A price drop sometime this year and a handful of must-have games (besides the stuff already announced like Gravity Daze/Rush) would do that.

cloudeagle

Capcom really, REALLY needs to hire a spellchecker already.

http://capcom.co.jp/iphone/revs/

RESIDENT EVIL MARCENARIESE VS.】 on release！

skeldare

cloudeagle wrote: »

Capcom really, REALLY needs to hire a spellchecker already.

http://capcom.co.jp/iphone/revs/

RESIDENT EVIL MARCENARIESE VS.】 on release！

They do. He just doesn't speak a word of English.

Edit: But yeah, you'd think Capcom would learn.

Rorus Raz

TheSonicRetard wrote: »

Rorus Raz wrote: »

G4 came at the cost of TechTV; for which it can never be forgiven.

Sprang out of TechTV like a chestburster.

This isn't related to the video game industry, stay on topic.

I would highly advise against doing this in the future.

Rorus Raz

The_Spaniard wrote: »

Henroid wrote: »

Dac Vin wrote: »

Also from Kotaku comes a tidbit:

We heard about this news last week via an anonymous source, but we were not able to confirm its validity. According to our sources, Sessler is leaving due to a contractual dispute, and the departure was not on amicable terms.

Considering recent history with people's contract disputes, I have a feeling Sessler is getting dicked over by his bosses somehow. I hope he takes them to court over it, because few people fucking do it. Which is why corporations get away with it.

Well in the gaming industry so few people sue out of fear of being blackballed from the industry, I know this personally(I mean I know the fear of being blackballed, I haven't been blackballed). With as incestuous as the industry is, you have a single person going up against a massive entity, and they can see to it that you never find work in the industry again, or at the very least you get marked as "that guy that sues his employers". Because of that we put up with horrific injustices from our employers, and just hope that somebody files a class action that we can duck into and become an unrecognizable face in the mass of plaintiffs. This is mainly a problem for the regular Joes/average industry employees, the only people that are somewhat immune to this, are big names in the industry, that have the luxury of making a public flap, because people will actually listen to them. So if Sessler wanted to sue, he totally could.

Conversely, these same publishers are more than happy to scare people with the threat of court.

It's a really fucked up situation, and why I am hoping that, if something bad does happen to EA or Activision, it happens to both at the same time. This industry cannot afford to become even smaller and more of a boy's club.

UncleSporky

Honestly, how is the thread doing so far? Are there any specific examples of "this right here, this got a little too off topic?" It feels like it goes slightly off topic with every thread of conversation, but it usually comes back to some new piece of news within a page.

I like this thread and don't want to see SURPRISE, IT'S CLOSED BECAUSE XOB SAID ANGRY BIRDS ARE SHITTY, OP WAS THE LAST WARNING.

Rorus Raz

There's a bit of wiggle room, like most things. I don't expect the place to become button-down business talk, but there was a problem when people would treat the place as a hangout and not a thread.

The thread isn't going anywhere right this second, and we're only six pages in. For now I think it's doing alright, and I wouldn't just rip the rug from under you all.

Xenogears of Bore

Pfft, It won't be me, it'll be the next ME3's ending or whatever.

Hell the only time I even bring up angry birds is to rip on cloudeagle and I only usually do it with an on topic post to diffuse it.

like this one, Cloudeagle must be happy because analyists say Nintendo should join Angry Birds.

(Reuters) - In 2006 Nintendo took video gaming out of the kids' room and into the living room, as its hit Wii created a new niche as the console the whole family could share.

But with that Wii boom waning, the successor being prepared by the creator of Super Mario looks like a losing proposition as Apple Inc and other smartphone and tablet makers take gaming to the bathroom, the commuter bus and back to the bedroom.

Nintendo will report on Thursday its first ever operating loss, after estimating a 45 billion yen deficit for the business year just ended.

"They have been beaten by smartphones and tablets, in particular, for consumers spending and, more importantly, time," said David Gibson, an analyst for Macquarie in Tokyo.

The company, which began in 1889 making playing cards in the back streets of Kyoto, has been hammered by a precipitous drop-off in sales of its Wii, DS handheld console and its new 3DS version.

A year ago Nintendo expected to sell 13 million Wii consoles, 16 million 3DS handhelds and 11 million DS machines in the financial year. In January it slashed its sales target for all three, lopping 3 million off its Wii target, 2 million off 3DS and halving its prediction for the DS.

Promising to return his company to profit this business term, Nintendo's boss, Satoru Iwata, blamed dismal sales on a strong yen and economic gloom in Europe. No strategic rethink or change to plans for the new Wii console, the Wii U, was necessary, he insisted.

Yet what Nintendo faces is a fundamental shift in gaming habits that analyst argue may require it to shrink its hardware business and instead chase profits for Super Mario and other game titles on devices built by other firms.

Its emerging foe is Apple, already the nemesis of flagging Japanese titan Sony Corp, whose seamless go-anywhere devices - the iPhone, iPad and rumored plans for a games controller and "iTV" - are positioning it to grab swathes of the gaming market where Nintendo once held sway.

In a report this month, Macquarie's Gibson pointed to a recent survey by mobile gaming site MocoSpace. It asked 15,000 gamers where they gamed; 53 percent said they played in bed, 41 percent in the living room, 72 percent commuting and 5 percent on the toilet.

Yet a game started on a Wii can't be continued on a DS on the way to work or school. The Wii U, slated to go on sale in time for the year-end shopping season, does not address that convergence hurdle.

Nintendo will have to sell the new console for as much as $350 to break even, estimates Nanako Imazu, an analyst for CLSA in Tokyo. That is $100 more than it charged for the Wii in 2006 and would outstrip both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, which can be picked up for less than $300.

BACK IN THE BLACK

Imazu said Nintendo, which earns about four-fifths of its revenue overseas, should get a boost this business term from a weaker yen and the launch of popular game titles including Mario Party 8 and the latest installment of Dragon Quest from Square Enix.

That should result in an operating profit of around 40 billion yen for the 12 months to March 31 - according to the average estimate of 20 analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S - back into the black, although well below the earning power it displayed during the Wii boom.

Nintendo will also likely have a year's grace to woo core gamers to the Wii U, say analysts, before Sony's anticipated launch of its PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's updated Xbox at the end of 2013. Nintendo, nonetheless, will still have to contend with the rising flood of smartphones and iPhones.

"Nintendo has to deal with the change and let Mario games be played on non-Nintendo devices," said Imazu. "I think it will take at least couple of years to see that."

Any drastic strategy shift that would dispatch the Mario brothers into the realm of Android and Apple's iOS operating system would likely require a change at the top of Nintendo, said Macquarie's Gibson. And that likely won't happen for a couple of years until the Wii U is shown to be a clear failure, he added.

Unlike money-losing Sony, where time is running out to counter the pounding it's getting from Apple and South Korea's Samsung Electronics, Nintendo, sitting on oodles of cash it made selling the Wii - about $14 billion - at least has time to mull its choices.

"With its 8,000 yen a share in cash, it can afford to still make a bet that its hardware will sell," said Gibson.

($1 = 81.1500 Japanese yen)

Nice fact checking there, Reuters.

Turkey

I'm glad that Sessler is gone from there. I love his style, but it's always been clear that G4 had some sort of mandate that he needed to be "goofy". He was the one reason I would watch G4's E3 coverage every year.

maximumzero

"Nintendo has to deal with the change and let Mario games be played on non-Nintendo devices," said Imazu. "I think it will take at least couple of years to see that."

How long will it take for people to realize that this would outright kill Nintendo?

cloudeagle

...so in other words, the Wii U is pre-doomed.

Also, hasn't Imazu said the whole "develop for smartphones already" thing before? Dude might just be the Japanese Pachter.

Rorus Raz

It's funny to think that the N-Gage was ahead of its time.

Also worth noting is that the Pokemon Company has been flirting with iOS via an app. I don't think this means "Pokemon on iPhone!" any time soon, but even one of Nintendo's biggest allies is seeing the allure of Apple.

Turkey

Rorus Raz wrote: »

It's funny to think that the N-Gage was ahead of its time.

Also worth noting is that the Pokemon Company has been flirting with iOS via an app. I don't think this means "Pokemon on iPhone!" any time soon, but even one of Nintendo's biggest allies is seeing the allure of Apple.

Could you link to that? I really need to read this now.

joshgotro

Rorus Raz wrote: »

It's funny to think that the N-Gage was ahead of its time.

Also worth noting is that the Pokemon Company has been flirting with iOS via an app. I don't think this means "Pokemon on iPhone!" any time soon, but even one of Nintendo's biggest allies is seeing the allure of Apple.

Which app?