Dac VinS-s-screw you! I only listen to DOUBLE MUSIC!Registered Userregular
In other news, La-Mulana was a nice retro PC game that had a nice Wiiware remake that came out in Japan which we expected to see in western regions courtesy of Nicalis an-
Regarding La-Mulana, we have chosen to cancel publishing in North America and Europe for WiiWare.
The Xbox 360's GPU is essentially a custom version of the ATI x1800 -- in 2005 that was a $350 graphics card. Of course, their costs are certainly lower since they are making millions of proprietary units and only need to ensure compatibility with one specific model. Let's say it's only a $200-250 expenditure at the time. That'd be equivalent of tossing a GeForce 560 Ti into a console nowadays. That'd let them make MUCH prettier games and actually render things in 1080p instead of 720p (or lower) with upscaling. Also, it'll probably be much easier to implement AA/AF and maintain 60fps with a more modern amount of RAM/VRAM.
Would they step that back a notch or two two absorb the cost of including the next iteration of Kinect (which I'm sure they'll do)?
Hard to say, but yeah even if they cut their budget back for core hardware they'd still end up with a CPU/GPU that's 6 iterations of Moore's Law better than what they're currently using, and they certainly could use that to get some of the processing power back into Kinect that they cut out of the peripheral when they moved from Natal prototype to production units.
In other news, La-Mulana was a nice retro PC game that had a nice Wiiware remake that came out in Japan which we expected to see in western regions courtesy of Nicalis an-
Regarding La-Mulana, we have chosen to cancel publishing in North America and Europe for WiiWare.
Fucking FUCK! I watched that site for so long. I guess I should have seen this coming really, the only thing Nicalis ever posted on there were apologies for not being finished or whatever. I'm still pissed though, I'd wanted this for ages. So now all I have is the AGTP version...
In other news, La-Mulana was a nice retro PC game that had a nice Wiiware remake that came out in Japan which we expected to see in western regions courtesy of Nicalis an-
Regarding La-Mulana, we have chosen to cancel publishing in North America and Europe for WiiWare.
Fucking FUCK! I watched that site for so long. I guess I should have seen this coming really, the only thing Nicalis ever posted on there were apologies for not being finished or whatever. I'm still pissed though, I'd wanted this for ages. So now all I have is the AGTP version...
Scott Greig @gspawn @nicalis will here at least be a pc release?
8m Nicalis, Inc. @nicalis @gspawn Yes, and you can support @nigoro by purchasing the PC version.
The Xbox 360's GPU is essentially a custom version of the ATI x1800 -- in 2005 that was a $350 graphics card. Of course, their costs are certainly lower since they are making millions of proprietary units and only need to ensure compatibility with one specific model. Let's say it's only a $200-250 expenditure at the time. That'd be equivalent of tossing a GeForce 560 Ti into a console nowadays. That'd let them make MUCH prettier games and actually render things in 1080p instead of 720p (or lower) with upscaling. Also, it'll probably be much easier to implement AA/AF and maintain 60fps with a more modern amount of RAM/VRAM.
Oh, I definitely think that the next generation of consoles will be a lot more powerful than the 360/PS3/Wii. I just don't think they're going to do much to drive graphic card insanity on the PC side.
In other news, La-Mulana was a nice retro PC game that had a nice Wiiware remake that came out in Japan which we expected to see in western regions courtesy of Nicalis an-
Regarding La-Mulana, we have chosen to cancel publishing in North America and Europe for WiiWare.
We've just had word that German publisher dtp entertainment AG has filed for insolvency.
Details remain scarce, but the situation has been confirmed by developer Ronimo Games, the team behind Awesomenauts (which is set to be published by dtp).
Jasper Koning, Game Designer at Ronimo, told us, "At the moment we're unsure what this means for the game, but we're working hard to try and resolve the situation."
Activision has announced Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for release on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 13th November.
The pre-order description on the official Call of Duty website reveals basic story details. Black Ops 2 is set in the near future, during a 21st century Cold War "where technology and weapons have converged to create a new generation of warfare".
The debut trailer is currently linked to but set to private on YouTube. Leaked images show the game's quadrotor, teased in videos released previously. There's box art too.
Weapons and technology have converged to create a new generation of warfare. I'm guessing one where you shoot lots of bullets at the improbably high volume of people you disagree with, politically.
In other news, La-Mulana was a nice retro PC game that had a nice Wiiware remake that came out in Japan which we expected to see in western regions courtesy of Nicalis an-
Regarding La-Mulana, we have chosen to cancel publishing in North America and Europe for WiiWare.
In other news, La-Mulana was a nice retro PC game that had a nice Wiiware remake that came out in Japan which we expected to see in western regions courtesy of Nicalis an-
Regarding La-Mulana, we have chosen to cancel publishing in North America and Europe for WiiWare.
They didn't cancel it, Nintendo didn't let them publish it. They never approved the release submission. Im'a be all over that PC version tho.
In this case it wasn't Nintendo's fault, nor Nicalis. It was all on the dev. He couldn't get the build working well enough. Nicalis said in one instance that the dev just bit off more than it could chew in trying to get this game together, and they just couldn't get it up to snuff.
The owners of Toys R Us are expected to appoint the finance firm Cairn Capital to help in the restructuring or refinancing of debts of £400 million, according to The Sunday Times.
The toy specialist is considering its options, including adding new equity and extending debt repayment deadlines. The current debts are secured against the UK property portfolio of 29 stores and have a deadline of 2013.
Toys R Us was bought by a US consortium in 2006 for £4bn. During the process, the UK stores were organised into a seperate company which were then leased back to the retailer.
The owners of Toys R Us are expected to appoint the finance firm Cairn Capital to help in the restructuring or refinancing of debts of £400 million, according to The Sunday Times.
The toy specialist is considering its options, including adding new equity and extending debt repayment deadlines. The current debts are secured against the UK property portfolio of 29 stores and have a deadline of 2013.
Toys R Us was bought by a US consortium in 2006 for £4bn. During the process, the UK stores were organised into a seperate company which were then leased back to the retailer.
.... yes? And I think we're getting a McDonald's next year! In London. Next to Europe.
So they're not doing too well? Not surprised, they never seem to offer good prices, and the internet's got to be kicking their arses even further on that front.
0
Options
Mego Thor"I say thee...NAY!"Registered Userregular
Toylet, a urinal-mounted gaming device created by Sega, is now on the market for the general public according to the official Toylet twitter feed.
The equipment starts at 140,000 yen ($1,748) with games costing 10,000 yen ($125) apiece, according to Engadget Japan. An optional box that accepts 10-yen coins as payment is also available for 25,000 yen ($312).
Players interact with Toylet by urinating on a sensor placed inside the urinal that measures volume and pressure. That input controls the videogame, shown on a screen mounted at eye level. The games include filling coffee cans, squirting milk out of a tough guy’s nose and blowing wind up a girl’s skirt. Each game lasts less than a minute and can be followed by a advertisement placed by the operator.
If it catches on, maybe someday we'll see a Sega UrinAll-Stars game!
In other news, La-Mulana was a nice retro PC game that had a nice Wiiware remake that came out in Japan which we expected to see in western regions courtesy of Nicalis an-
Regarding La-Mulana, we have chosen to cancel publishing in North America and Europe for WiiWare.
They didn't cancel it, Nintendo didn't let them publish it. They never approved the release submission. Im'a be all over that PC version tho.
In this case it wasn't Nintendo's fault, nor Nicalis. It was all on the dev. He couldn't get the build working well enough. Nicalis said in one instance that the dev just bit off more than it could chew in trying to get this game together, and they just couldn't get it up to snuff.
That isn't the case though, as the game is already out on Japanese WiiWare. The problem is either with Nicalis or NoA.
Toylet, a urinal-mounted gaming device created by Sega, is now on the market for the general public according to the official Toylet twitter feed.
The equipment starts at 140,000 yen ($1,748) with games costing 10,000 yen ($125) apiece, according to Engadget Japan. An optional box that accepts 10-yen coins as payment is also available for 25,000 yen ($312).
Players interact with Toylet by urinating on a sensor placed inside the urinal that measures volume and pressure. That input controls the videogame, shown on a screen mounted at eye level. The games include filling coffee cans, squirting milk out of a tough guy’s nose and blowing wind up a girl’s skirt. Each game lasts less than a minute and can be followed by a advertisement placed by the operator.
If it catches on, maybe someday we'll see a Sega UrinAll-Stars game!
Lets cancel everything that isn't Sonic the Hedgehog.
...or that urinal thing.
PSN: mxmarks - WiiU: mxmarks - twitter: @ MikesPS4 - twitch.tv/mxmarks - "Yes, mxmarks is the King of Queens" - Unbreakable Vow
According to a new report from market research firm Newzoo, over 90 percent of revenue taken from mobile games in the U.S. is spent on in-app purchases and from within mobile games, as opposed to money spent on downloading games.
The study, which surveyed 17,000 mobile gamers and incorporates download data from Distimo, states that 91 percent of revenue from both Android and iOS games comes from purchases made from within mobile games. This share is significantly higher in the U.S. than in Europe, notes the report, as the share is 73 percent and 87 percent in Germany and France respectively.
Comparing revenues from iOS and Android games, Newzoo reports that iOS games currently gross five times more money than Android games in the U.S. In March 2012, iOS games earned 84 percent of mobile revenues generated by the top 200 grossing games across the App Store and the Google Play marketplace combined.
The number of mobile gamers in the U.S. has now reached 101 million, says Newzoo, with 69 percent playing on smartphones and 21 percent on tablets.
Newzoo's CEO Peter Warman explained, "When analyzing Apple's successful monetization, there is one dominant factor outside of differences in audience demographics and preferences: Apple requires users to connect their credit card information directly to their account, thus creating a seamless purchase experience."
"I can hardly imagine any other company in the world that would be able to get away with this, including Google and Microsoft. Facebook can come a long way, but Amazon clearly has the best chance and is proving this as we speak," he concluded.
It makes sense. Having to enter your credit card info in is going to discourage a lot of purchases.
Every second between hitting that purchase button and the transaction being finalised is a risk that the consumer will fall out of the impulse zone and change their mind.
Heaton went on to reveal that half of the people who play Total War do so for more than 40 hours. A quarter, he said, play for more than 100 hours.
"So I've heard some stats about Skyrim and other games, and I think we've beat Skyrim on playability, and we see that day to day, direct through Steam," boasted Heaton. "So that's not research; that is real data from our players. It's quite amazing."
Apparently some people at Sega even feel that Creative Assembly offers "too much". "Sometimes a publisher will go, 'Eh, there's 100 hours of gameplay for 40 bucks - maybe that's not the best way to do it,'" said Heaton, to which he replies "it absolutely is".
In other news, La-Mulana was a nice retro PC game that had a nice Wiiware remake that came out in Japan which we expected to see in western regions courtesy of Nicalis an-
Regarding La-Mulana, we have chosen to cancel publishing in North America and Europe for WiiWare.
They didn't cancel it, Nintendo didn't let them publish it. They never approved the release submission. Im'a be all over that PC version tho.
In this case it wasn't Nintendo's fault, nor Nicalis. It was all on the dev. He couldn't get the build working well enough. Nicalis said in one instance that the dev just bit off more than it could chew in trying to get this game together, and they just couldn't get it up to snuff.
That isn't the case though, as the game is already out on Japanese WiiWare. The problem is either with Nicalis or NoA.
The developer wanted to add more to the US/UK build of the game, which threw him off schedule. Then he couldn't get any of the dlc or anything working properly. Either way, Nicalis is basically throwing the blame on the devs plate.
In other news, La-Mulana was a nice retro PC game that had a nice Wiiware remake that came out in Japan which we expected to see in western regions courtesy of Nicalis an-
Regarding La-Mulana, we have chosen to cancel publishing in North America and Europe for WiiWare.
They didn't cancel it, Nintendo didn't let them publish it. They never approved the release submission. Im'a be all over that PC version tho.
In this case it wasn't Nintendo's fault, nor Nicalis. It was all on the dev. He couldn't get the build working well enough. Nicalis said in one instance that the dev just bit off more than it could chew in trying to get this game together, and they just couldn't get it up to snuff.
That isn't the case though, as the game is already out on Japanese WiiWare. The problem is either with Nicalis or NoA.
The developer wanted to add more to the US/UK build of the game, which threw him off schedule. Then he couldn't get any of the dlc or anything working properly. Either way, Nicalis is basically throwing the blame on the devs plate.
Who knows what really happened.
I'm guessing the publisher noticed that WiiWare is pretty much dead at this point and got sick of waiting.
Activision has announced Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for release on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 13th November.
The pre-order description on the official Call of Duty website reveals basic story details. Black Ops 2 is set in the near future, during a 21st century Cold War "where technology and weapons have converged to create a new generation of warfare".
The debut trailer is currently linked to but set to private on YouTube. Leaked images show the game's quadrotor, teased in videos released previously. There's box art too.
Weapons and technology have converged to create a new generation of warfare. I'm guessing one where you shoot lots of bullets at the improbably high volume of people you disagree with, politically.
....and reported. For awesome.
Switch: 3947-4890-9293
0
Options
Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
In other news, La-Mulana was a nice retro PC game that had a nice Wiiware remake that came out in Japan which we expected to see in western regions courtesy of Nicalis an-
Regarding La-Mulana, we have chosen to cancel publishing in North America and Europe for WiiWare.
They didn't cancel it, Nintendo didn't let them publish it. They never approved the release submission. Im'a be all over that PC version tho.
In this case it wasn't Nintendo's fault, nor Nicalis. It was all on the dev. He couldn't get the build working well enough. Nicalis said in one instance that the dev just bit off more than it could chew in trying to get this game together, and they just couldn't get it up to snuff.
That isn't the case though, as the game is already out on Japanese WiiWare. The problem is either with Nicalis or NoA.
The developer wanted to add more to the US/UK build of the game, which threw him off schedule. Then he couldn't get any of the dlc or anything working properly. Either way, Nicalis is basically throwing the blame on the devs plate.
Who knows what really happened.
I'm guessing the publisher noticed that WiiWare is pretty much dead at this point and got sick of waiting.
He has stated this too, but he's right. WiiWare is done. The Wii is ending its life and I don't know who is still buying anything on WiiWare. He would have been silly to publish it at this point. I would probably expect it to show up on the e-shop for the 3DS or WiiU instead.
WiiWare never really did become a roaring success, though the eShop on the 3DS seems to be doing a lot better so far. Could it be Nintendo's finally figuring out online? May be too early to tell.
Heaton went on to reveal that half of the people who play Total War do so for more than 40 hours. A quarter, he said, play for more than 100 hours.
"So I've heard some stats about Skyrim and other games, and I think we've beat Skyrim on playability, and we see that day to day, direct through Steam," boasted Heaton. "So that's not research; that is real data from our players. It's quite amazing."
Apparently some people at Sega even feel that Creative Assembly offers "too much". "Sometimes a publisher will go, 'Eh, there's 100 hours of gameplay for 40 bucks - maybe that's not the best way to do it,'" said Heaton, to which he replies "it absolutely is".
I always find stats like this interesting.
Similarly, the info that was released about player statistics for Mass Effect 2 (most commonly played class, gender, whether players made a new appearance or used the default one, etc), and those for global achievements found on Steam. A surprising number of players never even start up their games, and it's always interesting to see the drop off as progressive/chapter achievements go on, indicating a large percentage of players don't actually finish them.
... I can think of at least one big name where I'm guilty of this. Really should pick that back up in the next two weeks before Diablo 3 swallows my soul.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
According to a new report from market research firm Newzoo, over 90 percent of revenue taken from mobile games in the U.S. is spent on in-app purchases and from within mobile games, as opposed to money spent on downloading games.
I knew free to play was big on mobile stuff, but good goddamn.
Heaton went on to reveal that half of the people who play Total War do so for more than 40 hours. A quarter, he said, play for more than 100 hours.
"So I've heard some stats about Skyrim and other games, and I think we've beat Skyrim on playability, and we see that day to day, direct through Steam," boasted Heaton. "So that's not research; that is real data from our players. It's quite amazing."
Apparently some people at Sega even feel that Creative Assembly offers "too much". "Sometimes a publisher will go, 'Eh, there's 100 hours of gameplay for 40 bucks - maybe that's not the best way to do it,'" said Heaton, to which he replies "it absolutely is".
I always find stats like this interesting.
Similarly, the info that was released about player statistics for Mass Effect 2 (most commonly played class, gender, whether players made a new appearance or used the default one, etc), and those for global achievements found on Steam. A surprising number of players never even start up their games, and it's always interesting to see the drop off as progressive/chapter achievements go on, indicating a large percentage of players don't actually finish them.
... I can think of at least one big name where I'm guilty of this. Really should pick that back up in the next two weeks before Diablo 3 swallows my soul.
Why should that be surprising? Especially with Steam? I know a few people, and see many here, who just buy the next thing on offer and never really get around to finishing what they already have. If you buy five games instead of two, and at the same time always return to that previously favoured game, then it just gets harder and harder to finish anything that requires time commitment.
Maybe they have a family, maybe their job takes up too much of their time, maybe they're just lazy when it comes to playing games, but the idea that people buy things they probably don't need (especially through Steam) and then never get around to it shouldn't ever be surprising to any of us.
In an extensive feature on the infamous George “Geohot” Hotz in The New Yorker, the renowned PS3 hacker has said that he has recently met with Sony engineers to discuss PS3 security.
What’s interesting about Geohotz is his ideology – he’s not a freedom crusader, he’s not looking to bring down ‘the system’. Instead, he describes himself simply as a bored youngster with an interest in tech.
So whereas militant groups such as Anonymous and LulzSec actively look to take “the fight” to “the man”, Hotz – who has worked for Google and Facebook – is happy to discuss his methods with anybody who wants to listen.
Including his ‘victims’.
In May 2011 Hotz was invited to Sony’s American HQ in Foster City, California.
“Nervous but curious, Hotz walked into the building eating from a box of Lucky Charms, dropping marshmallows across the lobby,” the site explains. He was greeted by a roomful of PS3 engineers who, in Hotz’ words, were “respectful” in their treatment of him.
“If there were going to be lawyers there I was going to be the biggest asshole ever,” he recalled.
In an extensive feature on the infamous George “Geohot” Hotz in The New Yorker, the renowned PS3 hacker has said that he has recently met with Sony engineers to discuss PS3 security.
What’s interesting about Geohotz is his ideology – he’s not a freedom crusader, he’s not looking to bring down ‘the system’. Instead, he describes himself simply as a bored youngster with an interest in tech.
So whereas militant groups such as Anonymous and LulzSec actively look to take “the fight” to “the man”, Hotz – who has worked for Google and Facebook – is happy to discuss his methods with anybody who wants to listen.
Including his ‘victims’.
In May 2011 Hotz was invited to Sony’s American HQ in Foster City, California.
“Nervous but curious, Hotz walked into the building eating from a box of Lucky Charms, dropping marshmallows across the lobby,” the site explains. He was greeted by a roomful of PS3 engineers who, in Hotz’ words, were “respectful” in their treatment of him.
“If there were going to be lawyers there I was going to be the biggest asshole ever,” he recalled.
"Oh, what? No, I'm just acting this way in case there's lawyers"
Alternative retort: dude must expect lawyers wherever he goes.
darleysam on
0
Options
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
Activision has announced Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for release on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 13th November.
The pre-order description on the official Call of Duty website reveals basic story details. Black Ops 2 is set in the near future, during a 21st century Cold War "where technology and weapons have converged to create a new generation of warfare".
The debut trailer is currently linked to but set to private on YouTube. Leaked images show the game's quadrotor, teased in videos released previously. There's box art too.
Weapons and technology have converged to create a new generation of warfare. I'm guessing one where you shoot lots of bullets at the improbably high volume of people you disagree with, politically.
I'm amazed this is even news at this point. They couldn't get me excited about MW3, I have no idea what they could do to get me excited about "Derivative FPS number one million". I liked Black Ops mind you, but it was really the last of the CoD games I was interested in and the derivative unlock based multiplayer I'm entirely sick of.
Unless there are major changes - let's face it, this is CoD we're talking about - I am just not interested in this at all.
In other news, La-Mulana was a nice retro PC game that had a nice Wiiware remake that came out in Japan which we expected to see in western regions courtesy of Nicalis an-
Regarding La-Mulana, we have chosen to cancel publishing in North America and Europe for WiiWare.
Activision has announced Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for release on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 13th November.
The pre-order description on the official Call of Duty website reveals basic story details. Black Ops 2 is set in the near future, during a 21st century Cold War "where technology and weapons have converged to create a new generation of warfare".
The debut trailer is currently linked to but set to private on YouTube. Leaked images show the game's quadrotor, teased in videos released previously. There's box art too.
Weapons and technology have converged to create a new generation of warfare. I'm guessing one where you shoot lots of bullets at the improbably high volume of people you disagree with, politically.
I'm amazed this is even news at this point. They couldn't get me excited about MW3, I have no idea what they could do to get me excited about "Derivative FPS number one million". I liked Black Ops mind you, but it was really the last of the CoD games I was interested in and the derivative unlock based multiplayer I'm entirely sick of.
Unless there are major changes - let's face it, this is CoD we're talking about - I am just not interested in this at all.
I find it more disturbing that "Metacritic analysis" during development is now apparently a thing.
The way it's phrased is kinda slimy, but if you divorce it from Metacritic it is mostly true that cutting a feature that isn't working will make a game better than leaving it in. If they didn't hinge it to that idea of "this is gonna get us a 90 for sure!", it's really just a willingness to make hard choices in design, and to throw away ideas if they're not producing results. The evolution of the gameplay of Mass Effect is overall a pretty good example of that idea, iterated over 3 games.
Dehumanized on
0
Options
Zxerolfor the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't doso i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered Userregular
edited May 2012
Shaping your game, cutting the chaff and polishing the baller shit is completely reasonable and undeniably what you do. But that quotation is unambiguous: we're chasing a god-damned score here, making sure we can fillet this bitch so we can fancy some reviewer tastebuds just the way they want it.
You can of course argue there's nothing inherently wrong with that. Shit games usually don't get 90+ metacritic after all, and there's nothing underhanded about making a game that gets reviewed favorably, because that just means you nailed your goals and made a compelling game. I think that's a valid way to think about it.
But I can't shake the feeling that it's so mechanical. Like we've tweaked all these variables, plugged it into the Great Game equation, and produced an output to maximize our review scores. Everyone hopes their games reviews well, but setting out to massage your title to ensure it gets a certain score as a design objective is something that sounds flunky to me. Maybe that's just the sound of harsh reality scratching away at sweet blissful naivety.
Zxerol on
0
Options
Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
I love how brutally honest Nintendo are about themselves. Here are some highlights from their investors meeting:
Q1. In terms of its play experience, is the Nintendo 3DS an improved version of the Nintendo DS, or is it something revolutionary that is different from the Nintendo DS? [snip] In the same regard, please advise us on whether the Wii U is an improved version of the Wii, or whether it also will be something different.
A1. We have designed and developed the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U so that each of them is able to realize what has been impossible with the existing systems, and we believe that these systems will be able to offer consumers unprecedented experiences, in addition to providing them with improvements from the Nintendo DS and the Wii. Some argue that the Nintendo 3DS appears to be just an improved version of the Nintendo DS partially because the company is yet to provide what it has done for the Nintendo DS with the “Brain Age” series or for the Wii with “Wii Sports” and “Wii Fit.” However, just as not so many people were able to comprehend the potential of “Brain Age” or “Wii Fit” when the company explained about them before their launches, it is not easy for us to convince many people by explaining what kind of new experiences we are developing now. Furthermore, as people in the industry have observed what we have done in the past, if we prematurely disclose our development information, it is possible that products with similar concepts could be launched before Nintendo itself can finalize and launch the products. Please understand that Nintendo cannot elaborate on what we are working on until the time we are ready to make the official announcement because doing so would negatively affect the real impact of our products when they are released into the market.
Q4. [snip] And, my question is, in my opinion, the factor which has the biggest impact on hardware sales expansion is the existence of killer titles, such as “SUPER MARIO 3D LAND,” “Mario Kart 7” and “Monster Hunter 3 (Tri) G,” rather than a hardware system’s 3D viewing capabilities or tablet-like controller. Are you intending to launch the Wii U hardware together with some killer titles from day one in order to drive the hardware sales? How have you allocated your managerial resources in order to successfully launch the Wii U?
A4. I would like to share with you our philosophy in the game business. This is one of the remarks made by our former president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, and is widely known in the video game industry: “Our consumers do not want to purchase the game systems themselves but want to play with the game software.” To take this idea to the extreme, consumers reluctantly purchase a hardware system simply to play with the game software. Of course, the video game hardware systems of today embody a variety of functionalities within them and offer a lot of experiences to the consumers. As the company has already included a variety of built-in software that our consumers can enjoy as soon as they purchase the hardware even before purchasing any software, the environment is a bit different from when Mr. Yamauchi made such a remark. Having said that, however, even today, I do not think the consumers are purchasing our hardware just in order to enjoy the built-in applications. The actual situation is that our consumers happen to find out how fun the built-in applications are as a result of purchasing the game hardware system. So, the primary purpose of consumers purchasing our hardware is to play with the very well-made purchased game software that they really want to play with for themselves. As we look back, when we launched the Nintendo 3DS, we failed to prepare a software lineup which could satisfy our consumers in addition to other factors, and the Nintendo 3DS could not initially increase the sales as we had originally expected. This is why the company needed to carry out such a drastic markdown measure by sacrificing the profitability. As a result, and supported by a strong software lineup, the Nintendo 3DS was able to regain momentum during the year-end sales season of 2011. We laid out such a drastic measure by understanding that regaining the momentum which had been once lost, is much harder than trying to create momentum from scratch. Without it, the Nintendo 3DS could not have realized positive results at the end of last year or the current sales pace in Japan. It did hurt our financial results, but it was a necessary measure. So, how will we be able to use this lesson for the Wii U? There is always a limit to our internal resources. The company now has to develop software for the Nintendo 3DS, has to prepare for the Wii U launch and has to finalize the hardware functionalities. With these circumstances in mind, if I said that an overwhelmingly rich software lineup would be prepared from day one, it would be too much of a promise to make. On the other hand, we are making efforts so that we will be able to make several proposals even from the launch period that can eventually become evergreen titles for the Wii U. We have learned the lesson that we have to make that kind of preparation for the Wii U, or the Wii U will not gain enough momentum to expand its sales. We would like to share additional information at the E3 show in June this year.
Q7. My question may sound antithetic, but let me ask you this regardless of whether my idea may fit Nintendo or not. Nintendo’s basic strategy for revitalizing the financial performance has long been “the expansion of the gaming population.” I said my question may sound antithetic because I am going to ask “Is it appropriate to pursue this goal?” In my view, the index of “the number of users per family,” which is something Nintendo management has prioritized as one of the important indices, does not necessarily have a strong relationship with a single year or multiple year profits. The expansion of the gaming population is, so to speak, something Nintendo should carry on eternally. Therefore, for the purpose of the revitalization from now, is it necessary to establish more specific goals to which progress can be confirmed?
A7. However, if you ask us whether everything Nintendo has done was right or whether we would use the same tactics if the company’s policy or strategy remains the same, there are issues to overcome. For example, the Wii was able to reach a large number of new consumers who had never played games before by bringing hands-on experiences with its “Wii Sports” and “Wii Fit.” However, we could not adequately create the situation that such new consumers played games frequently or for long, consistent periods. As a result, we could not sustain a good level of profit. Moreover, regrettably, what we prioritized in order to reach out to the new audience was a bit too far from what we prioritized for those who play games as their hobby. Consequently, we presume some people felt that the Wii was not a game system for them or they were not willing to play with the Wii even though some compelling games had been released. In comparison with what we did with the Nintendo DS and the Wii, with respect to your view this time that the introduction of the software that contributes to expanding the user base for the Nintendo 3DS platform is delayed, we are doing along the lines of what we intended to do to a certain extent. Once consumers have a notion that “this system is not for us,” we have learned that it is extremely difficult to change their perceptions later. Therefore, in promoting the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U, we have announced that we would like “width” and “depth” to coexist. With the Nintendo DS and the Wii, the approach of “width” was well accepted by many people; however, what we did in terms of “depth” was not satisfactory for some consumers. This time, we would like consumers to be satisfied in both aspects. In order to do so, we started to work on the “depth” aspect first, and the current and existing software you can see for the Nintendo 3DS is based on that idea. In the future, the approach will evolve. By exploring the development both from width and depth standpoints, it is our intention to satisfy a wider audience with one gaming platform. Our approach for the Wii U is basically the same. By doing so continuously, we are expecting that the number of game users per household will increase and as the gaming population increases, we believe we can create a sustainable video game market. We would like to materialize what I have said for both the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U in the future.
WiiWare never really did become a roaring success, though the eShop on the 3DS seems to be doing a lot better so far. Could it be Nintendo's finally figuring out online? May be too early to tell.
Honestly DSiWare had the same problem, but 3DS ended up leading to probably a decent chunk of sales for that since their shop interface could actually *promote* games.
If WiiU has anything like that, I could see the same being true of WiiWare. So game sales may be slow now, but give it like a year and it might do pretty ok. Of course, I don't know what all the costs involved there are.
Nah. Multiple quotes and sources over the last few years place the blame squarely on Nigoro (in other words, the devs and not Nicalis or Nintendo). They bit off more than they could chew in the development of this remake, things like trying to get DLC set up along with everything else much earlier than it should've even been considered.
Posts
Welp.
Would they step that back a notch or two two absorb the cost of including the next iteration of Kinect (which I'm sure they'll do)?
Oh, I definitely think that the next generation of consoles will be a lot more powerful than the 360/PS3/Wii. I just don't think they're going to do much to drive graphic card insanity on the PC side.
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
Oh god.
I entirely forgot about this awesome game I gave up waiting for over a year ago. It must all be for the best I suppose.
Hahahano.
Weapons and technology have converged to create a new generation of warfare. I'm guessing one where you shoot lots of bullets at the improbably high volume of people you disagree with, politically.
They didn't cancel it, Nintendo didn't let them publish it. They never approved the release submission. Im'a be all over that PC version tho.
In this case it wasn't Nintendo's fault, nor Nicalis. It was all on the dev. He couldn't get the build working well enough. Nicalis said in one instance that the dev just bit off more than it could chew in trying to get this game together, and they just couldn't get it up to snuff.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/toys-r-us-facing-financial-struggle/095307
.... yes? And I think we're getting a McDonald's next year! In London. Next to Europe.
So they're not doing too well? Not surprised, they never seem to offer good prices, and the internet's got to be kicking their arses even further on that front.
If it catches on, maybe someday we'll see a Sega UrinAll-Stars game!
That isn't the case though, as the game is already out on Japanese WiiWare. The problem is either with Nicalis or NoA.
Lets cancel everything that isn't Sonic the Hedgehog.
...or that urinal thing.
Sega is not known for making the best decisions lately. And by lately I mean the past twenty years.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
The developer wanted to add more to the US/UK build of the game, which threw him off schedule. Then he couldn't get any of the dlc or anything working properly. Either way, Nicalis is basically throwing the blame on the devs plate.
Who knows what really happened.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
I'm guessing the publisher noticed that WiiWare is pretty much dead at this point and got sick of waiting.
....and reported. For awesome.
He has stated this too, but he's right. WiiWare is done. The Wii is ending its life and I don't know who is still buying anything on WiiWare. He would have been silly to publish it at this point. I would probably expect it to show up on the e-shop for the 3DS or WiiU instead.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
I always find stats like this interesting.
Similarly, the info that was released about player statistics for Mass Effect 2 (most commonly played class, gender, whether players made a new appearance or used the default one, etc), and those for global achievements found on Steam. A surprising number of players never even start up their games, and it's always interesting to see the drop off as progressive/chapter achievements go on, indicating a large percentage of players don't actually finish them.
... I can think of at least one big name where I'm guilty of this. Really should pick that back up in the next two weeks before Diablo 3 swallows my soul.
I knew free to play was big on mobile stuff, but good goddamn.
Why should that be surprising? Especially with Steam? I know a few people, and see many here, who just buy the next thing on offer and never really get around to finishing what they already have. If you buy five games instead of two, and at the same time always return to that previously favoured game, then it just gets harder and harder to finish anything that requires time commitment.
Maybe they have a family, maybe their job takes up too much of their time, maybe they're just lazy when it comes to playing games, but the idea that people buy things they probably don't need (especially through Steam) and then never get around to it shouldn't ever be surprising to any of us.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/george-hotz-met-with-sony-engineers/095301
"Oh, what? No, I'm just acting this way in case there's lawyers"
Alternative retort: dude must expect lawyers wherever he goes.
I'm amazed this is even news at this point. They couldn't get me excited about MW3, I have no idea what they could do to get me excited about "Derivative FPS number one million". I liked Black Ops mind you, but it was really the last of the CoD games I was interested in and the derivative unlock based multiplayer I'm entirely sick of.
Unless there are major changes - let's face it, this is CoD we're talking about - I am just not interested in this at all.
I blame the shitty structure behind WiiWare.
Railguns confirmed. So bought.
The way it's phrased is kinda slimy, but if you divorce it from Metacritic it is mostly true that cutting a feature that isn't working will make a game better than leaving it in. If they didn't hinge it to that idea of "this is gonna get us a 90 for sure!", it's really just a willingness to make hard choices in design, and to throw away ideas if they're not producing results. The evolution of the gameplay of Mass Effect is overall a pretty good example of that idea, iterated over 3 games.
You can of course argue there's nothing inherently wrong with that. Shit games usually don't get 90+ metacritic after all, and there's nothing underhanded about making a game that gets reviewed favorably, because that just means you nailed your goals and made a compelling game. I think that's a valid way to think about it.
But I can't shake the feeling that it's so mechanical. Like we've tweaked all these variables, plugged it into the Great Game equation, and produced an output to maximize our review scores. Everyone hopes their games reviews well, but setting out to massage your title to ensure it gets a certain score as a design objective is something that sounds flunky to me. Maybe that's just the sound of harsh reality scratching away at sweet blissful naivety.
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/120427qa/index.html
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
Honestly DSiWare had the same problem, but 3DS ended up leading to probably a decent chunk of sales for that since their shop interface could actually *promote* games.
If WiiU has anything like that, I could see the same being true of WiiWare. So game sales may be slow now, but give it like a year and it might do pretty ok. Of course, I don't know what all the costs involved there are.
Nah. Multiple quotes and sources over the last few years place the blame squarely on Nigoro (in other words, the devs and not Nicalis or Nintendo). They bit off more than they could chew in the development of this remake, things like trying to get DLC set up along with everything else much earlier than it should've even been considered.