Video game sales thread November: done here, go to the next thread

Ultimanecat

Worst case of false advertising since the Neverending Story...

I hope not too many teenage boys are tricked into reading satire of a Renaissance Italian city-state thinly veiled as an allegorical trip through hell.

This likely demands a photoshop contest.

Jragghen

agoaj wrote: »

That can't be real

it's real

slash000

-Loki- wrote: »

I thought it said 'Presented by Henry Hatsworth'.

Hahahahah. I thought the same thing at first glance!

Lunker

UncleSporky wrote: »

Couscous wrote: »

No no no

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

I guess it was bound to happen like with "I, Robot," but this seems even more insane.

Actually this is ridiculously awesome and the only good that can come out of this game. Imagine all the sweaty frat boys playing the game going "oh my god this is totally sweet, I have to see if the book is really this violent" and then they either appreciate its classic style or get punk'd.

Cover should actually read "Translated by Rick Astley."

Dear God was the demo for Dante's Inferno terrible. Gabe's assessment of "They managed to copy everyhing from God of War except the fun" is spot on. I wanted my 10 minutes back.

edit: This is what it reminded of: the terrible new Twilight-inspired covers on copies of Wuthering Heights.

Graviija

Oh, fuck you, EA.

This has got to be some sort of direct prod at the multitudes pissed off at the game. This would literally be impossible to pull off in good taste - and judging by the cover of this version, they certainly aren't going for 'good taste'.

lowlylowlycook

Could there possibly be any smaller demographic than that of people that are interested both in the Dante's Inferno game and in a Longfellow translation of Dante's inferno?

Unco-ordinated

Opiate wrote: »

I think you'll find the "Does frame rate matter?" divide is cut neatly down the line between "experience" gamers and "skill" gamers. That is, people who play games to for an immersive world probably prefer 30 FPS, higher resolution and/or textures, while "skill" gamers almost certainly prefrer higher FPS to other graphical options.

Most "immersive" games tend to be single player, story driven games, and these people probably prefer lusher worlds.

I'm personally not interested in that, and strongly tend towards games that focus on skill and challenge. Examples: Counter Strike, Star Craft, and Street Fighter. I think virtually all dedicated players of these games would drop graphical settings as low as necessary to bring FPS not only to 60 FPS, but often 99+ FPS.

I suppose you've also bought a gaming mouse and a gaming keyboard too?

Personally, I wouldn't divide gamers between condescending crap like experience or skill, I'd divide the games themselves over whether they rely on twitch reflexes or not. The former really relies on a higher framerate count, while the latter usually doesn't. Far more important than those though, is that all games should have a stable framerate.

As for graphics this generation, I've only been really impressed a handful of times (Gears 1, Assassin's Creed 1, Uncharted 2 and KZ2 in particular). I can generally accept fairly bad looking games too, like Way of the Samurai 3, since that game would've been made on a shoe string budget. The only games I really scoff at are the ones with seriously bad art styles (Bionic Commando to name one) or just large budget games that look like low budget games (Dante's Inferno seriously looks worse than the God of War 2 port in the God of War Collection).

UncleSporky wrote: »

Actually this is ridiculously awesome and the only good that can come out of this game. Imagine all the sweaty frat boys playing the game going "oh my god this is totally sweet, I have to see if the book is really this violent" and then they either appreciate its classic style or get punk'd.

All 8 people that buy the game, cause it's gonna tank.

AuburnTiger

I bought a gaming mouse . . .

slash000

After a certain DPI, I really don't notice any further enhancement in precision with mice. Thus, I still use my Microsoft Optical Wheelmouse from like 8 years ago. Still works great. Don't feel the need to "upgrade" my mouse to dual laser tech or whereever it's at now.

-Loki-

AuburnTiger wrote: »

I bought a gaming mouse . . .

I bought a gaming keyboard... (an original G15, which my fiancee won't let me use because it's ugly).

Opiate

I suppose you've also bought a gaming mouse and a gaming keyboard too?

I've bought a gaming mouse, and I really don't see why that's absurd. The extra buttons are important.

Personally, I wouldn't divide gamers between condescending crap like experience or skill

How on earth is that condescending? If I said, "Different people play games for different reasons," is that demeaning in the same way? Because that's the same essential point. Some people derive their fun from content that challenges them, while others derive the majority of their amusement from escaping in to immersive worlds. And of course, most people are some combination of the two: it isn't black or white, it's simply "I care more about X," or "I'm much more concerned with Y." I can't even imagine how that's controversial.

I'd divide the games themselves over whether they rely on twitch reflexes or not.

Most skill based games rely on fast reflexes, so that's basically saying the same thing: Street Fighter, Counter Strike, and Starcraft are still the most popular games in professional leagues. The single counter exception I can think of are strategy games, except they may be the very best example of my point. By far the most popular strategy game in the West -- and the one you can earn the most money playing -- is Chess. Which is a game that can be emulated on an Atari 2600.

The most popular strategy game in the world (not just the West) is Go, which is similarly easy to emulate.

Al Baron

Jragghen wrote: »

agoaj wrote: »

That can't be real

it's real

Worst part is that it's not the full book.

Couscous

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/26763/EA_Lowers_Fiscal_Year_Expectations_After_Weak_Quarter.php

A weak European market and a holiday quarter that didn't meet expectations have led major game publisher Electronic Arts (The Sims, Need For Speed) to lower its financial forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31.

The company reduced its yearly guidance from $3.6-$3.9 billion down to $3.6 billion-$3.675 billion, and expects to lose $1.94 to $2.24 per share, as opposed to $1.20 to $2.05 per share.

And while the company has not yet officially released financial data for its third quarter, which ended December 31, it expects those figures to come in between $1.227 billion and $1.247 billion. Analysts had previously pegged that figure to be considerably higher at $1.42 billion.

As usual, EA also provided non-GAAP expected revenue figures for the fiscal year, reflecting earnings that don't incorporate various deferred revenue, stock-based compensation, restructuring, and other expenses. The publisher expects to see fiscal year revenues of $4.125 billion to $4.2 billion on that basis, down slightly from the previously-estimated $4.2 billion to $4.4 billion.

EA posted a $391 million GAAP loss for its second fiscal quarter, and plans to lay off 1,500 workers by April 2010. These staff changes and planned facility consolidations or closures are expected to cost the company between $130 and $150 million, but should save the company $100 million a year going forward.

CEO John Riccitiello recently affirmed to Gamasutra that the company is on a strong track, as it's made deep cuts to its SKU slate in favor of higher quality. Riccitiello says it takes time for higher quality to reflect in sales numbers.

Following the announcement, Electronic Arts shares took a dive in after-market trading, down almost 10% to $16.69, and approaching the firm's 52-week share price low of just over $14.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/26764/EA_CEO_TwoYear_Comeback_Is_Clearly_Taking_Longer.php

Electronic Arts' ongoing "comeback" strategy is going in the right direction, says CEO John Riccitiello -- but he admitted it's "taking longer" than the original two-year plan.

Over the past few years, EA has been engaging in "three key strategies" to push its business forward, Riccitiello said during a conference call following reduced financial expectations: "bringing our intellectual property back to be the industry's best in quality and chart position; driving growth on the digital side; and driving cost."

"I think we've made good progress -- in fact, very good progress -- on these," the CEO claimed during the call. "Our view of the sector has been proven right, and we've done a good job of executing the right strategies."

"Where I think today we are is, frankly, it has taken longer," he admitted. "What we've described as a two-year comeback is clearly taking longer. Part of that has to do with the dynamism in the sector. But...I think we've got the right strategies going forward and the right team executing them."

Some aspects of that three-pronged strategy are already performing better than planned, said CFO Eric Brown. For example, he said, "our digital direct business showed upside versus our expectations." However, that success was "not enough to offset the packaged goods shortfall" that led EA to lower its fiscal year guidance today.

Brown said EA's digital business has been "pretty consistently performing in 25 to 30 percent growth track" through the last calendar year, including during the holiday season quarter.

Looking forward, EA expects internally-developed games like Army of Two: The 40th Day, Dante's Inferno, Mass Effect 2, Battlefield Bad Company 2, and Command & Conquer 4 to drive revenue and margins, as well as DLC-based sales.

Riccitiello said the company's digital sphere is growing strongly with "existing initiatives," and pointed out that this will be EA's first "full year of Playfish," the recently-acquired social gaming firm. And in 2011, EA expects to launch a "major MMO" -- likely BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Still, for 2010, company leadership is taking a conservative view of the market. "Given the recent history...we think it's appropriate for EA to plan conservatively at the sector level," Riccitiello said. "We think the best assumption going into the year given, frankly, how wrong some of us were at estimating 2009, is to plan the sector to be down single digits or be good as flat. We think that's a good planning assumption."

Opiate

Translation: "I promise, things are going to get better. It's just taking longer than I expected. Please don't fire me, shareholders."

cooljammer00

Aren't they still in phase one of "franchises franchises whee!"?

Couscous

http://kotaku.com/5445779/ea-expects-worse-fiscal-2010-new-innovative-madden-11

Riccitiello says we should expect that "innovative and new take" on the venerable Madden NFL football franchise to hit some time in fiscal 2011. The EA CEO had previously expressed his thoughts on the "discouraging" sales of Madden NFL 10.

This might end badly.

Jragghen

This one's fake

Hedgethorn

Jragghen wrote: »

img]http://www.vertigogaming.net/HUD/danteinfernopage.jpg[/img]

This one's fake

I'm just going to go sit in this corner and weep.

The spoiler doesn't console me.

Unco-ordinated

Opiate wrote: »

I've bought a gaming mouse, and I really don't see why that's absurd. The extra buttons are important.

Hmm? Where did I call it absurd? I just find it funny that people go to such ridiculous lengths to try to one-up their opposition. I'd bet 90% of the things those people do (or buy) are more about the placebo effect than anything elese.

How on earth is that condescending? If I said, "Different people play games for different reasons," is that demeaning in the same way? Because that's the same essential point. Some people derive their fun from content that challenges them, while others derive the majority of their amusement from escaping in to immersive worlds. And of course, most people are some combination of the two: it isn't black or white, it's simply "I care more about X," or "I'm much more concerned with Y." I can't even imagine how that's controversial.

It seemed to me that you were throwing everyone that wasn't interested in your little corner of gaming into the 'no skillz' basket. Now that you've clarified yourself though, I'd ask what the point is when you're also saying that most people are a 'combination of the two'.

Most skill based games rely on fast reflexes, so that's basically saying the same thing: Street Fighter, Counter Strike, and Starcraft are still the most popular games in professional leagues. The single counter exception I can think of are strategy games, except they may be the very best example of my point. By far the most popular strategy game in the West -- and the one you can earn the most money playing -- is Chess. Which is a game that can be emulated on an Atari 2600.

The most popular strategy game in the world (not just the West) is Go, which is similarly easy to emulate.

:? Nearly every game requires some degree of skill and strategy, so I've no bloody clue what you even consider a 'skill based game'.

What you seem to be saying is that the frame count makes a significant difference in every game, which I call bullshit on. I'll acknowledge that it does for some games (like the ones you mentioned, Devil May Cry, Virtua Fighter, etc) but there are just as many others where it doesn't (God of War, Uncharted, Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed, etc). Sure they may make those games run a little smoother but that's not what I'd call significant.

UnbreakableVow

Jragghen wrote: »

*Awesome image*

This one's fake

I would buy the shit out of this

Norfair

RE: The Dante's Inferno tie-in book. From gaf:

I guess the game has kind of an interesting setting, but I don't think they should make a book out of it. It'll probably just be really poorly written like Halo novels or something.

Joke post or post made by a clueless guy on the internet? You decide! I'm leaning towards "clueless guy on the internet" atm.

EDIT: Here's a link.

Opiate

It seemed to me that you were throwing everyone that wasn't interested in your little corner of gaming into the 'no skillz' basket. Now that you've clarified yourself though, I'd ask what the point is when you're also saying that most people are a 'combination of the two'.

This seems like a matter of course: I wasn't literally saying: "People who care about skill only care about skill, and nothing else," or "People who care about graphics only care about graphics, and nothing else." It's a matter of emphasis. Particularly strong emphasis. As in "I care about graphics and presentation some, but I care far more greatly about being challenged," and vice versa.

I'm not sure why that needed explanation, as it seems like common sense to me.

Nearly every game requires some degree of skill and strategy, so I've no bloody clue what you even consider a 'skill based game'.

As you say, all games require "some degree of skill." The question is how much. Implicit in your answer is that there are different degrees: in fact, just as with the last point, this should be a matter of course. Some people will care more about this specific quality of games, while other might care about presentation, and still others might focus on any other number of qualities game have (local multiplayer, online functionality, etc).

What I'm suggesting is that people who happen to focus on this particular quality of games -- and thus play games with a high "degree of skill", using your words -- are going to care a great deal about frame rate.

What you seem to be saying is that the frame count makes a significant difference in every game, which I call bullshit on. I'll acknowledge that it does for some games (like the ones you mentioned, Devil May Cry, Virtua Fighter, etc) but there are just as many others where it doesn't (God of War, Uncharted, Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed, etc). Sure they may make those games run a little smoother but that's not what I'd call significant.

No, I'm saying it makes a significant difference for games that focus heavily on skill and challenge. Virtua fighter is a classic example of such a game, as it's widely lauded as one of the deepest and most challenging fighters. And as you mentioned, frame rate is a big concern for this franchise. Many other games on your list are far less challenging, such as Uncharted. This is a game that focuses more on its presentation: its story line and lush visuals. For such a game, it absolutely makes sense to sacrifice frame rate for better textures and models. Many of the people who will be drawn to such a game will care more about its presentation, while they'll care less about "how do I muster the last drop of efficiency out of my player?"

Spoit

-Loki- wrote: »

AuburnTiger wrote: »

I bought a gaming mouse . . .

I bought a gaming keyboard... (an original G15, which my fiancee won't let me use because it's ugly).

Same keyboard I have. Funnily enough, I almost never use the extra features in games, but use the macro buttons all the time while browsing the web. The ability to close tabs and search in a page with a single button, as well as being able to easily use obscure board commands like [strike]through[/strike] and of course, liming are quite useful

Brainiac 8

Norfair wrote: »

RE: The Dante's Inferno tie-in book. From gaf:

I guess the game has kind of an interesting setting, but I don't think they should make a book out of it. It'll probably just be really poorly written like Halo novels or something.

Joke post or post made by a clueless guy on the internet? You decide! I'm leaning towards "clueless guy on the internet" atm.

EDIT: Here's a link.

Heh, what a goob. This is proof of the sad state of the education system nowadays.

UncleSporky

That's too well written/coherent/self-aware to be a clueless man.

Lunker

GAF is fascinating as a study in unparalleled satire, because some people are so sharp and others are so rock-stupid that it's almost impossible to tell who's sincere and who's just fucking with people. (And by the by, Opiate, it's cool to see you around here! I lurk GAF and always enjoy reading your sales opinions.)

If I need a copy of Dante's Inferno for school, hell yeah am I buying this version. I want to be the one guy in an eight-person graduate-level Lit course casually showing off this cover as I read.

Brainiac 8

Lunker wrote: »

GAF is fascinating as a study in unparalleled satire, because some people are so sharp and others are so rock-stupid that it's almost impossible to tell who's sincere and who's just fucking with people. (And by the by, Opiate, it's cool to see you around here! I lurk GAF and always enjoy reading your sales opinions.)

If I need a copy of Dante's Inferno for school, hell yeah am I buying this version. I want to be the one guy in an eight-person graduate-level Lit course casually showing off this cover as I read.

You'd be the only guy that could claim to have been beaten up by a bunch of lit majors. :P

Pureauthor

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

Norfair wrote: »

RE: The Dante's Inferno tie-in book. From gaf:

I guess the game has kind of an interesting setting, but I don't think they should make a book out of it. It'll probably just be really poorly written like Halo novels or something.

Joke post or post made by a clueless guy on the internet? You decide! I'm leaning towards "clueless guy on the internet" atm.

EDIT: Here's a link.

Heh, what a goob. This is proof of the sad state of the education system nowadays.

That's not the real gem of the thread. This reply to his post is:

To make comments like this one you actually have to have read the books. The Halo novels are great and very well received. Not to mention many award winning Sci-Fi authors have contributed to Halo lore.
But yeah, go ahead and make shitty generalizations to appease the greater gaf hivemind.

RainbowDespair

Opiate wrote: »

What I'm suggesting is that people who happen to focus on this particular quality of games -- and thus play games with a high "degree of skill", using your words -- are going to care a great deal about frame rate.

I'm very competitive with my gaming, both twitch-based (I have the highest recorded score on Pac-Man: CE) and mental (tons of strategy games & RPGs). As long as the frame rate is constant and isn't, say, in the teens, I don't really care about it.

Capt Howdy

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Opiate wrote: »

What I'm suggesting is that people who happen to focus on this particular quality of games -- and thus play games with a high "degree of skill", using your words -- are going to care a great deal about frame rate.

I'm very competitive with my gaming, both twitch-based (I have the highest recorded score on Pac-Man: CE) and mental (tons of strategy games & RPGs). As long as the frame rate is constant and isn't, say, in the teens, I don't really care about it.

Pfft, Can you beat Ghosts N Goblins with one credit? :P Thats sir, would be true twitch skill.

Also, don't we need to start a new thread?

Fencingsax

Pureauthor wrote: »

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

Norfair wrote: »

RE: The Dante's Inferno tie-in book. From gaf:

I guess the game has kind of an interesting setting, but I don't think they should make a book out of it. It'll probably just be really poorly written like Halo novels or something.

Joke post or post made by a clueless guy on the internet? You decide! I'm leaning towards "clueless guy on the internet" atm.

EDIT: Here's a link.

Heh, what a goob. This is proof of the sad state of the education system nowadays.

That's not the real gem of the thread. This reply to his post is:

To make comments like this one you actually have to have read the books. The Halo novels are great and very well received. Not to mention many award winning Sci-Fi authors have contributed to Halo lore.
But yeah, go ahead and make shitty generalizations to appease the greater gaf hivemind.

So basically what you people are saying is that GAF is Poe's law personified.

Seriously though, that just screws me up.

Hedgethorn

Capt Howdy wrote: »

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Opiate wrote: »

What I'm suggesting is that people who happen to focus on this particular quality of games -- and thus play games with a high "degree of skill", using your words -- are going to care a great deal about frame rate.

I'm very competitive with my gaming, both twitch-based (I have the highest recorded score on Pac-Man: CE) and mental (tons of strategy games & RPGs). As long as the frame rate is constant and isn't, say, in the teens, I don't really care about it.

Pfft, Can you beat Ghosts N Goblins with one credit? :P Thats sir, would be true twitch skill.

Also, don't we need to start a new thread?

NPDs come out Thursday evening. I think we can get another day or two out of this thread.

PolloDiablo

Ahahahaha

Those made my day.

Leitner

Eric Nylund is a solid author (and I guess some of his hard sci-fi did win awards).

cloudeagle

New thread so we don't suffer the wrath of Tube.

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?p=13153550#post13153550

Brainiac 8

I'm rebellious!