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[Industry Thread] Read the OP, or you'll see more red than 38 Studios.
Sterica
YesRegistered User, Moderator mod
YesRegistered User, Moderator mod
Welcome back to the Video Game Industry. This is for discussing the business side of the games market. This includes sales figures, changes in publishers/developers, goings-on with important people in the business, and similar things.
Now, let's get to business: Behavior has to improve for this thread to continue. This is a thread with a broad topic, and that topic can turn into a spectacle that can easily go off the tracks in terms of discussion. The original intent was to offer a bit of slack and hope that the thread, while elastic, will snap back fairly quickly. This has never proven to work all that well. so we're trying something different.
Here's how it'll break down:
1. All infractions will be serious. We're past the point where minor infractions alone aren't enough, so maybe bumping things up will be a bit more effective.
2. The following shit will get infracted. This is not comprehensive, but it is most of the posts that we won't bother warning you about. Go directly to jail. Do not collect $200. Responding to any of the following is just as bad: it propagates bad behavior. Do not reply, even to yell at them to knock it off: you have a report button for a reason.
-Content-less posts: posts that are just a stupid image macro, YouTube clip, or other irrelevant meme will be treated in hostile manner. This stuff tends to get the thread derailed a bit and it isn't funny to begin with. Playful banter is fine, but here's a concept: joke around using the power of your own wit.
-Chatty Posts: Posts that are basically the digital equivalent of shooting the breeze. Telling people about your personal life, gossiping, and other shit that isn't even remotely on-topic. Even tangentially on-topic things like "Oh, I bought game X from this company we're discussing, and it is so cool!" is still a chat post. Do not reply to chat posts. Report it, and move on.
-Posting VGChartz: it's an unreliable source of data, and we don't need discussion based on bullshit figures. Read more here.
-Posting Lists: Holy crackers, IGN is doing their Top 15 games featuring Charles Barkley! Nobody fucking cares. This is brutally off-topic, a catalyst for shitty behavior, and breathtakingly irrelevant. Just to be absolutely clear: sales figures are not lists.
-Fluff articles from other sites: Yes, sometimes Kotaku or Destructoid will do a painfully stupid article about gaming snacks or something. This isn't really a thread for commenting on games journalism. If Kotaku went out of business or was caught selling reviews to publishers, then yeah it's a fair topic. Whining about how an inane article Kotaku pushed out, however, doesn't really add much to the thread.
-Backseat modding: Dictating what should and shouldn't be discussed based on your personal preferences. If someone is veering off-topic, then it's fine to give them a nudge so long as you're not a dick about it. If someone is blatantly breaking a rule, then report it. Yelling at them will just cause a fight which further derails the thread. It's an action wholly counterproductive to your aims. Don't do it.
-Console war crap: being a cheerleader for a company, piece of hardware, or whatever is a no-go. Shit like "lol sony" is an example of this.
Having said all that: do enjoy the thread. That is, ultimately, the goal of all this.
Now, let's get to business: Behavior has to improve for this thread to continue. This is a thread with a broad topic, and that topic can turn into a spectacle that can easily go off the tracks in terms of discussion. The original intent was to offer a bit of slack and hope that the thread, while elastic, will snap back fairly quickly. This has never proven to work all that well. so we're trying something different.
Here's how it'll break down:
1. All infractions will be serious. We're past the point where minor infractions alone aren't enough, so maybe bumping things up will be a bit more effective.
2. The following shit will get infracted. This is not comprehensive, but it is most of the posts that we won't bother warning you about. Go directly to jail. Do not collect $200. Responding to any of the following is just as bad: it propagates bad behavior. Do not reply, even to yell at them to knock it off: you have a report button for a reason.
-Content-less posts: posts that are just a stupid image macro, YouTube clip, or other irrelevant meme will be treated in hostile manner. This stuff tends to get the thread derailed a bit and it isn't funny to begin with. Playful banter is fine, but here's a concept: joke around using the power of your own wit.
-Chatty Posts: Posts that are basically the digital equivalent of shooting the breeze. Telling people about your personal life, gossiping, and other shit that isn't even remotely on-topic. Even tangentially on-topic things like "Oh, I bought game X from this company we're discussing, and it is so cool!" is still a chat post. Do not reply to chat posts. Report it, and move on.
-Posting VGChartz: it's an unreliable source of data, and we don't need discussion based on bullshit figures. Read more here.
-Posting Lists: Holy crackers, IGN is doing their Top 15 games featuring Charles Barkley! Nobody fucking cares. This is brutally off-topic, a catalyst for shitty behavior, and breathtakingly irrelevant. Just to be absolutely clear: sales figures are not lists.
-Fluff articles from other sites: Yes, sometimes Kotaku or Destructoid will do a painfully stupid article about gaming snacks or something. This isn't really a thread for commenting on games journalism. If Kotaku went out of business or was caught selling reviews to publishers, then yeah it's a fair topic. Whining about how an inane article Kotaku pushed out, however, doesn't really add much to the thread.
-Backseat modding: Dictating what should and shouldn't be discussed based on your personal preferences. If someone is veering off-topic, then it's fine to give them a nudge so long as you're not a dick about it. If someone is blatantly breaking a rule, then report it. Yelling at them will just cause a fight which further derails the thread. It's an action wholly counterproductive to your aims. Don't do it.
-Console war crap: being a cheerleader for a company, piece of hardware, or whatever is a no-go. Shit like "lol sony" is an example of this.
Having said all that: do enjoy the thread. That is, ultimately, the goal of all this.
Sterica on
0
This discussion has been closed.
Posts
Media Create Sales: Week 26, 2012 (Jun 25 - Jul 01)
01./01. [NDS] Pokemon Black 2 / White 2 <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2012.06.23} (¥4.800) - 420.780 / 1.982.518 (-73%)
02./00. [PS3] Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of the Land of Twilight <RPG> (Gust) {2012.06.28} (¥7.140) - 60.548 / NEW
03./00. [3DS] Culdcept <TBL> (Nintendo) {2012.06.28} (¥4.800) - 55.469 / NEW
04./00. [PS3] Robotics;Notes # <ADV> (5pb.) {2012.06.28} (¥7.140) - 54.753 / NEW
05./02. [3DS] Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2012.05.31} (¥5.490) - 45.207 / 766.381 (-22%)
06./00. [PS3] Resident Evil Chronicles HD Selection <STG> (Capcom) {2012.06.28} (¥4.990) - 33.393 / NEW
07./00. [WII] Fatal Frame 2: Wii Edition <ADV> (Nintendo) {2012.06.28} (¥6.800) - 25.280 / NEW
08./00. [PSV] Metal Gear Solid HD Edition <ADV> (Konami) {2012.06.28} (¥4.980) - 20.139 / NEW
09./00. [PS3] .hack: Sekai no Mukou ni + Versus - Hybrid Pack # <ETC> (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.06.28} (¥7.140) - 17.446 / NEW
10./00. [PS3] The Idolmaster: Gravure For You! Vol.9 <ETC> (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.06.28} (¥9.980) - 16.139 / NEW
11./03. [PSV] Persona 4 Golden <RPG> (Atlus) {2012.06.14} (¥7.329) - 15.497 / 181.866 (-47%)
12./00. [360] Robotics;Notes # <ADV> (5pb.) {2012.06.28} (¥7.140) - 14.908 / NEW
13./07. [WII] Mario Party 9 <ETC> (Nintendo) {2012.04.26} (¥5.800) - 14.049 / 461.175 (+5%)
14./05. [PS3] Tokyo Jungle <ADV> (Sony Computer Entertainment) {2012.06.07} (¥4.980) - 12.391 / 177.404 (-34%)
15./08. [3DS] Mario Tennis Open <SPT> (Nintendo) {2012.05.24} (¥4.800) - 11.500 / 209.548 (-12%)
16./04. [PSP] Kenka Bancho Bros: Tokyo Battle Royale <ADV> (Spike) {2012.06.21} (¥5.229) - 11.298 / 33.095 (-48%)
17./00. [3DS] Detective Jinguuji Saburo: Ronde Revenge <ADV> (Arc System Works) {2012.06.28} (¥5.040) - 6.834 / NEW
18./00. [PSP] Strike Witches: Shirogane no Tsubasa # <STG> (Kadokawa Shoten) {2012.06.28} (¥6.279) - 6.698 / NEW
19./11. [3DS] Super Mario 3D Land # <ACT> (Nintendo) {2011.11.03} (¥4.800) - 6.423 / 1.637.781 (-16%)
20./00. [PSP] Dies Irae: Amantes Amentes # <ADV> (Views) {2012.06.28} (¥7.140) - 5.669 / NEW
21./09. [PS3] Dragon's Dogma <ACT> (Capcom) {2012.05.24} (¥7.990)
22./16. [WII] Wii Sports Resort with Wii Remote Plus # <SPT> (Nintendo) {2010.11.11} (¥5.800)
23./12. [3DS] Mario Kart 7 <RCE> (Nintendo) {2011.12.01} (¥4.800)
24./00. [PSP] Arabians Lost: The Engagement on the Desert # <ADV> (QuinRose) {2012.06.28} (¥6.300)
25./17. [3DS] Monster Hunter 3G # <ACT> (Capcom) {2011.12.10} (¥5.800)
26./10. [PS3] Lollipop Chainsaw # <ACT> (Kadokawa Games) {2012.06.14} (¥7.980)
27./21. [WII] Wii Party # <ETC> (Nintendo) {2010.07.08} (¥4.800)
28./19. [PSV] Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Battle Destiny <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.06.07} (¥5.980)
29./00. [PSP] Unending Bloody Call # <ADV> (Asgard) {2012.06.28} (¥6.090)
30./06. [PS3] K-On! After School Live!! HD Ver. <ACT> (Sega) {2012.06.21} (¥5.229)
31./18. [3DS] Fire Emblem: Awakening <SLG> (Nintendo) {2012.04.19} (¥4.800)
32./13. [PSP] Akiba's Trip Plus <ADV> (Acquire) {2012.06.14} (¥3.990)
33./20. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2012.03.01} (¥4.800)
34./35. [WII] Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Definitive Edition # <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.11.23} (¥5.040)
35./00. [PS3] Hakuoki: Reimeiroku Nagorigusa # <ADV> (Idea Factory) {2012.06.28} (¥7.140)
36./00. [PSP] Generation of Chaos 6 # <RPG> (Idea Factory) {2012.06.28} (¥6.090)
37./22. [PS3] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 <SPT> (Konami) {2011.10.06} (¥7.980)
38./24. [WII] Just Dance Wii <ACT> (Nintendo) {2011.10.13} (¥5.800)
39./36. [PS3] Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition <RCE> (Sony Computer Entertainment) {2012.02.02} (¥4.980)
40./25. [3DS] Nintendogs + Cats: French Bulldog / Shiba / Toy Poodle & New Friends <ETC> (Nintendo) {2011.02.26} (¥4.800)
41./23. [WII] Mario Kart Wii <RCE> (Nintendo) {2008.04.10} (¥5.800)
42./27. [PSP] Monster Hunter Freedom 3 (PSP the Best) <ACT> (Capcom) {2011.09.22} (¥2.990)
43./28. [NDS] Pokemon Black / White # <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2010.09.18} (¥4.800)
44./26. [PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 <SPT> (Konami) {2011.11.03} (¥4.980)
45./34. [WII] Kirby's Return to Dream Land <ACT> (Nintendo) {2011.10.27} (¥5.800)
46./30. [3DS] Harvest Moon: A New Beginning <SLG> (Marvelous AQL) {2012.02.23} (¥5.040)
47./00. [PSP] Hakuisei Renai Shoukougun Re:Therapy # <ADV> (CyberFront) {2012.06.28} (¥5.040)
48./32. [PS3] Battlefield 3 <ACT> (Electronic Arts) {2011.11.02} (¥7.665)
49./38. [PSP] Pro Baseball Spirits 2012 <SPT> (Konami) {2012.03.29} (¥5.980)
50./29. [PS3] Jissen Pachislot Secrets! Fist of the North Star F: Seikimatsu Kyuuseishu Densetsu <TBL> (Sega) {2012.05.31} (¥5.544)
Top 50
PS3 - 14
3DS - 11
PSP - 11
WII - 8
PSV - 3
NDS - 2
360 - 1
SOFTWARE
HARDWARE
Vita got a pretty big bump, hopefully it'll last.
(also huzzah for the return of the thread)
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
Is there a list of upcoming titles for the PSV? I want an idea of what it has coming to bolster its sales.
There isn't anything that would bump Vita sales in any significant amount in the next few months, but apparently there's going to be some big announcments in the next Vita Game Heaven.
But MGS sold only 20k copies. The sales bump is most likely the result of the new color.
Here's a pretty nice thread on NeoGAF that has a comprehensive list of the titles that are coming out for the Vita.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=472361
edit: Assassin's Creed Movie coming, starring Michael Fassbender.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118056333
On the other, 25,000 is still fairly weak for a new system in Japan. I dunno.
(Yay thread's back!)
Didn't they do that for Tekken also? Is it working for them?
http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/7/6/3141748/telltale-walking-dead-season-two
Activision announces a Walking Dead FPS:
http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/7/6/3141430/activision-announces-fps-the-walking-dead-amc-tv-series
By Terminal Reality, who have previously done Ghostbusters, BloodRayne, and Def Jam Rapstar.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/
I write about video games and stuff. It is fun. Sometimes.
Wii U and 3DS getting a 'unified account system'
Switch (JeffConser): SW-3353-5433-5137 Wii U: Skeldare - 3DS: 1848-1663-9345
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I still love my PSP Go, but the PSP software support on the playstation store is the redheaded stepchild of Sony's gaming division. So many titles are removed and don't come back for no apparent reason.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
Anyway, let's catch up with some Sony stuff:
Seth Killian landed at Sony Santa Monica as a game designer. Interesting. Was what he was doing at Capcom literal designing, or was he more an advocate for the community? At any rate, he'll be working on PlayStation All-Stars Crazy Fun Time Third-Party Words Battle Royale. Cool I guess, but since the game is coming out in October it's got to be feature-locked at this point.
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/02/street-fighters-seth-killian-is-now-lead-game-designer-at-sony/
Speaking of which, the next third-party dude for Sony Smash Bros. is Tekken’s Heihachi Mishima. Er, yay? Kind of amazing that Sony's going to the trouble to make all these third-party partnerships, yet are getting characters relatively few people care about. This also means that Namco is involved in Sony Smash Bros. AND Actual Smash Bros.
While we're on the subject of fighting games, the good news is that Capcom has figured out it's futile to sit on the 12 moneyhatted Street Fighter X Tekken characters til the fall, and they're releasing them this month. The bad news is that they're still charging 20 bucks.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/06/street-fighter-x-tekken-gets-character-dlc-this-month
What? I thought this was already announced back in 2011. I guess another tack on the matter helps make it reality.
I think this is the first time they've mentioned that it would be universal between both Wii U and 3DS.
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There's a Hatsune Miku rhythm game coming out late August in Japan, that's the one I figure will give the JP market a little boost. Also LittleBigPlanet at the end of September
For NA, the next big releases are Playstation Smash Bros and Assassins Creed Liberation, at the end of October.
EU's list is tiny, we got no release dates for most of the random stuff the US is getting, so it amounts to LittleBigPlanet (same time as JP) Playstation Smash Bros and AC:L, around about the same time as their NA releases.
While I understand you've probably been looking for an excuse forever to use that phrasing, the Vita really doesn't have many ports at all.
I mean you can make the argument that the offerings it does have aren't differentiated enough from their console brethren, re: things like Touch my Katamari, Uncharted, Wipeout, and so on and so forth.
But the fact remains that they are all new games distinct from the console games in their respective series.
First off, Iwata says the Wii U network will be free.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/03/nintendo-intends-free-online-for-wii-u-3ds
Sounds like they're betting heavily online. It could work, but a lot of it depends on how intelligently the system is designed. Remember, the first major 360 dash revision resulted in significantly better sales of online stuff, simply because there were more notifications that online stuff existed.
While we're on the subject, Iwata talks a bit about trying to achieve a balance when it comes to censoring Miiverse comments:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/05/nintendo-talks-about-censoring-miiverse
Normally I'd say that's a pretty good way of looking at it, but I wonder how that policy will stand up when 4chan or Anonymous decides to run rampant on it (and they will).
Next up, he says the 3DS is a little disappointing in the U.S. and Europe:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/03/nintendo-3ds-momentum-weak-in-us-europe
Of course it could only be "weak" in comparison to its absolute domination in Japan, which is the land of the portables.
Finally, Miyamoto said the two games he'd love to see on Wii U are Starfox and Metroid.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/06/miyamoto-discusses-metroid-on-wii-u
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I love my PSP, but it's because it's a portable PlayStation - the actual system library utterly failed to capture my attention. It already does what I want, and if that's the case why buy a Vita?
They seem to be having trouble answering that for a lot of people. Although I guess in my case the answer is simple - make it a portable PS2.
Spoken like a true someone-who-doesn't-understand-bandwidth-use-and-caps-work. (him, not you Skeldare)
Edit - I mean, let me make this point more clear than ever. BLU. FUCKING. RAY. As much as I give Sony shit about pushing it too fast, mass data storage on physical mediums is the shit and super practical compared to digital mediums. Digital content delivery is meant to support the bigger projects. But not be THE delivery means of those big projects. When you do DD content that big, you're doing it on the PC, a medium built for it.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/games-retail-analysis-the-only-way-is-up/099147
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/npd-3-4bn-spent-in-us-during-q1-2012-nearly-half-via-digital/098910 So a lot of it could be people going over to used games and rentals in these shit economic times.
http://venturebeat.com/2012/07/06/the-deanbeat-even-grand-theft-auto-v-wont-save-2012-retail-game-sales/
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
Then again the UK just went into recession again.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-1616085/Economy-watch-How-long-Britains-recession-last.html
At any rate, it's becoming a fairly obvious bet that 2012 as a whole will be fairly crap for overall video game sales largely because so many releases have fled to 2013.
Angry Birds is a $1 or free. Batman Arkham City would have been bought by everyone and their mother if it was $1. Not to mention its on a device that 90% of people own. Time and size of the DL is an issue as well; how many people could download a 30GB game to their phone, or would wait for it? Apples to pineapples comparisson.
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Live: Kayle Solo
WiiU: KayleSolo
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-07-06-molydeux-one-of-the-reasons-molyneux-left-microsoft
At least he has a sense of humor about himself.
It's interesting that an outside source would give him the motivation to get out of a company like MS...but to be honest, MS has used him as a Fable machine for a while.
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Didn't he do some work on the XBLA Perfect Dark? I know they put his face in there :P
It probably didn't take a whole lot of time from his Fable series for him to create what was essentially a scripted conversation.
But for actual games, yea, MS only allowed him to do Fable games, and he's mentioned in interviews that he felt smothered by MS, and to be honest, he seemed to be, he really had no creative freedom.
It's similar to what an ex-Rare guys said recently:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13614608
MS must be a miserable place to work for if you have any grand ideas as a developer.
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As for Molyneux, keeping him limited to the Fable series was a good thing; even with just that to do, he never really delivered on anything he said his games would have. The guy should be thankful that Microsoft was willing to keep him hired instead of replacing him with somebody who wasn't just an expert in blowing smoke up people's asses. Preventing him from pulling any other bait-and-switch games is a service to mankind.
Genuinely feel bad for Rare, but Microsoft is on one major streak of passively suppressing a lot of good things they could really make some money off of. I mean, look at how Microsoft drove the Shadowrun/Mechwarrior stuff into the ground and look at the groundswell of support those IPs got once people found at that new non-Microsoft IPs were being developed from them even though they've been shut away for years. They aren't even trying to keep IPs squashed, but just sitting on them and doing nothing interesting with them is just as bad.
Yeah, some industry guys have been very gung-ho about everything needing to be digital, because "hey lookit all these mobile/social/online players!", but it looks like different audiences to me. I'm not sure you'll ever have a full cross-over between those that primarily play consoles and those that primarily play mobile/social. But physical retail has been declining for a few years now, and when devs see these games that cost under a million to make but rake in many times that, it makes some business sense to move part of your production in that direction. But generally not ALL your production.
I do think portable players are crossing over to mobile, though. That's a more analogous comparison.
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Retailers in the high street (and supermarkets) have started to slow down on the huge excessive price cuts for new games over the last 6 months. Most likely as an act of stability for the retailers.
So where before new games could have up to 50% discounted after 14 days of release are now retaining near to full RRP.
Wonder if that has anything to do with GAME being killed.
Or just losing money hand over fist as game sales slow down.
How is the pricing of games over there compared to in the US? I know games are outrageously overpriced in Australia thanks to greed and the exchange rate; any chance people are getting fed up with a similar situation in the UK and forgoing purchases of new games until the prices get reasonable?
Plenty of Vita Lego Batman 2 though! Whoo.
Come to think of it, at least half of each console's display space at GAME is taken up with preorder skin boxes. I gotta wonder how many people still place preorders there, after the ME3 fiasco.
If I remember right, they were more expensive, generally, but retailers would do very deep discounts after a short time, like 50% off 2-4 weeks after release. I'm sure a UKer could correct me, though. 8)
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I could see it having an impact for new studios / franchises. It's one thing to see high sales of a Call of Duty or Mario game, but people may be less willing to risk buying something they aren't familiar with (see: Kingdoms of Amalur - though that one was probably just a bad model/over budget to begin with)