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Video Game Industry Thread: June-July is done, go to the next thread

cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
edited August 2011 in Games and Technology
Hi! Welcome to the video game industry thread. Here we discuss things like sales figures, game development, studio closures, executive quotes, marketing and general business stuff. Also poop jokes. But not jokes about Angry Birds, since their effects on conversations is invariably this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoCZ07hwoZ4

And now, July's information.
1. NCAA Football 12 - Electronic Arts (360, PS3) = ~796K (15% YoY Increase)
2. Cars 2 - Disney Interactive Studios (NDS, Wii, 360, PS3, PC)
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops - Activision Blizzard (360, PS3, NDS, Wii, PC)
4. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game - Disney Interactive Studios (Wii, NDS, 360, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC)
5. Just Dance 2 - Ubisoft (Wii)
6. Major League Baseball 2K11 - Take-Two Interactive (360, Wii NDS, PS3, PS2, PSP, PC)
7. Zumba Fitness: Join The Party - Majesco (Wii, 360, Ps3)
8. Fallout: New Vegas - Bethesda Softworks/ZeniMax (360, PS3, PC)
9. New Super Mario Bros DS - Nintendo (NDS)
10. Mortal Kombat 2011 - Warner Brothers Interactive (360, PS3)

360 sold 277k (down a lot but that is simply because of that sale last month, I think?), 45 percent of Wii/PS3/360 sales, only eight games sold more than 100k, basically your usual shit July except shittier.
“There is no getting around the fact that video game sales in the new physical retail channel suffered its lowest month since October 2006,” said Anita Frazier, an analyst for NPD.

...

Frazier said that a year ago, 19 games sold more than 100,000 units. This year, only eight games sold more than 100,000 units. That was because there were so few new releases. Last year, 29 games were released in July, while this year there were only 17 releases. August could also be a slow month because EA’s Madden NFL 12 won’t release until Aug. 30 this year.
Frazier also pointed out that digital is indeed helping to make up for lost physical sales. “New physical retail sales of hardware, software and accessories accounted for 69% of the total consumer spend on the industry in Q1. We have measured some remarkable growth in other ways that consumers are acquiring content, including digital sales of full games and add-on content, mobile games, and social network gaming. Growth in these areas, combined with a flat to modest decline in new physical sales should result in 2011 showing growth over 2010," she said.

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Posts

  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    So I'm farting around with an Xperia Play for work. (You know, the "PlayStation Phone.") The phone's a little chunky, but the slide out controls work pretty darn well.

    Yet I'm pretty darn underwhelmed with PlayStation Suite, mainly because there's only one actual Sony game for it (Crash Bandicoot) and the phone's been out for a while. Europe has a few more games, but they all came out at launch three months ago. In fact, on the phone itself there is no icon for PlayStation Suite or, hell, PlayStation anything. Instead, the "Xperia Play" button leads you to all the Android apps that have been retrofitted with the Xperia Play's controls.

    I'm starting to think the whole PlayStation Suite thing got quietly dumped.

    cloudeagle on
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  • BonepartBonepart Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Bonepart wrote: »
    urahonky wrote: »
    Yeah I literally had TWO HD TVs right next to each other. One playing House via composite, and the other using HDMI and getting 1080p out of it... NOTHING they literally couldn't see the difference.

    I swear I thought she was fucking with me, but I think she really did want to see the difference!

    It Boggles the mind. BOGGLES.

    And some people are having trouble with the 3DS.

    Some people are colour blind.

    Oddly, not everybody is actually the same.

    Let's not be silly now. There is a difference between being color blind / having problems seeing 3D and not being able to tell the difference between SD and HD, or even varying degrees of HD.

    I get that, myself having played games since we had Atari's that my eyes have seen all the transitions and has no trouble spotting the quality change. It's just seems odd that others can't. I'm not trying to claim they are wrong or broken, it just seems odd.

    Bonepart on
    XBL Gamertag: Ipori
  • Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    And it shouldn't be. Every eye doesn't work exactly the same. Some are 'broken', for lack of a better word. And some people might simply be unable to process certain kinds of information. They see it, but don't see it.

    I can no longer hear the high tone at the end of Sgt. Pepper. Either because of age or hearing damage. But it's still basically the same thing. I can no longer process the same information that has always been there but others can.

    This should not be that surprising, either.

    Santa Claustrophobia on
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  • MorninglordMorninglord I'm tired of being Batman, so today I'll be Owl.Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    It would help explain people who really do put in the effort to try and see it and can't.

    Also hearing is extraordinarily delicate. Many of you are probably permanently damaging your hearing in ways you wont notice until years later. I can't get over how incredibly fragile your auditory equipment is. You know how you get over a loud noise? That's your brain rewiring to adjust for damaged equipment. The hairs in your ears, once damaged, do not heal.
    Eventually your brain can't compensate enough for the busted junk you've made of it, and only then do you start noticing hearing loss.

    Sight isn't quite so bad.

    Morninglord on
    (PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
  • BonepartBonepart Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Absolutely. Our eyes are trained to see tiny details. Years and years of continuously upgraded games have hand fed us each change and given us years of comparison material to know the difference.

    It might be a useless skill, it might be something we all picked up without much effort because we are interested, but it IS a thing that you need to pay attention to to recognise. If you don't care that's not going to happen.

    I think this was a good post that said what I was thinking better than I said it

    Bonepart on
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  • Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    So cloudeagle thinks I should post this so everybody can read it. I think he's just being a jerkface who wants to embarrass me publicly for boring you people.

    Joke's on him... Just look at my post history...
    Okay, so I live in the Bay Area. This is going to be about the San Francisco Giants.

    Last year, the Giants won the World Series. They did it on the strength of their incredible pitching staff and a two or three week burst of output from their woefully inadequate offense. (It approaches 'historically bad levels'. I'd look for and link sources, but that can get boring too. They're just really bad at scoring runs, okay?)

    So in the off season, the team did basically nothing to improve the situation. They relied on a team full of scrubs to once again overperform. But recently, they've gone through a terrible string of injuries to pretty much all their starting players. (Their hot-shit catcher, who won the Rookie of the Year award last year, is out for the season and will have a hard time staying a catcher for much longer if he ever returns. For example...)

    Now, they play in the weakest, shittiest division in baseball. A division where they don't actually have to be very good to compete and potentially make the playoffs. They play in a stadium that sells out (or nearly does) every game. And again, they won the WS last year.

    They're in first place now, but only barely. Their offense is, again, one of the worst in the league. One of their best pitchers had a terrific game a few days ago and still lost because the team couldn't score more than a single run. And that's where (hopefully) this analogy will start making some sense.

    See, they rely on their pitchers to carry them through the season. It's all they have. They make no moves to improve the rest of the team and just figure they'll make money and win enough games. Three days ago, their pitcher gave up eight runs in the first inning and only managed to get one batter out. Many more games like that, and they won't be contending in spite of their usually quality starters.

    And this is something the team has basically been doing since 2002 when the Giants went to (and lost) the World Series. They made no moves to improve their aging and falling apart team just because they believed they could still compete and not have to spend any money. (And that the fans were still coming in droves to the new ballpark.)

    It bit them in the ass and they still managed to compete even in their shitty years (pre-good pitching) because the competition was so weak.

    So what I'm saying is that even if they still sell units, they get worse over time if they can't keep up with everybody else. We already know what happens when a console company relies too much on their past success to drive the future ones as well. It can backfire terribly.

    If they're going to go long term, then make the console worth it in the long run. SONY is sputtering along and Kinect isn't going to maintain this pace forever. Even though the Wii is still selling 'well', the numbers are falling. Imagine if Nintendo decided to tough out these upcoming lean years just because they're still kicking SONY and MS's ass?

    Does that make sense, now?

    cloud then made the point that the 'competition' amongst consoles isn't really 'weak', but the argument is really about how if everybody else is just chugging along, too, then you can either make a splash and take the lead or follow along and react after everybody else has already improved. ('Improved' doesn't necessarily have to mean more HaitchDeez or Motion Control. Just 'better than before'.)

    Santa Claustrophobia on
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  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Cybertronian Paranormal Eliminator Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I'm so lost right now.

    Undead Scottsman on
  • Warlock82Warlock82 Never pet a burning dog Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I'm so lost right now.

    ^ < v <

    Warlock82 on
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  • MorninglordMorninglord I'm tired of being Batman, so today I'll be Owl.Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    A better analogy would be how their performance affected the fans paying to come see the game.
    Not the actual wins, which you could probably equate, with hesitation and full acknowledgement that its an analogy don't freak out guys, to metacritic.

    Morninglord on
    (PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
  • lowlylowlycooklowlylowlycook Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Apparently SOE is shutting down Star Wars Galaxies.

    lowlylowlycook on
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  • Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    This is why you put the horse down after it injures itself...

    Santa Claustrophobia on
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    Do not engage the Watermelons.
  • CenoCeno pizza time Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Apparently SOE is shutting down Star Wars Galaxies.

    They need to create a giant invincible NPC named "Bioware" that permakills everyone.

    Ceno on
  • SpoitSpoit *twitch twitch* Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    But yeah, I would be well, not exactly 'fine', but not quite annoyed as I am, by the lack of RAM just meaning lower res textures and longer loads. But now that it's influencing things like the whole corridor level design paradigm and things like the Mass Effect elevators that are like an order of magnitude longer than the loading that they were intended to try to mask? Yeah, maybe it's time for more RAM

    Spoit on
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  • Brainiac 8Brainiac 8 Don't call me Shirley... Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Warlock82 wrote: »
    I'm so lost right now.

    ^ < v <

    Considering what I'm currently playing, this post is full of awesome. :D

    Brainiac 8 on
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  • Brainiac 8Brainiac 8 Don't call me Shirley... Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Also, it appears NOA's Facebook and Twitter accounts are being hammered by posts about some certain games that they denied Americanization.

    Brainiac 8 on
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  • The WolfmanThe Wolfman Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    So, RAM...

    3117g8sD8hL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

    Doesn't seem like such a dumb idea now, does it?

    Nintendo. Once again lightyears ahead of the pack. :P

    The Wolfman on
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  • dbrock270dbrock270 Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Apparently SOE is shutting down Star Wars Galaxies.

    I haven't heard anyone say anything positive about Star Wars Galaxies since 2003.

    I haven't heard anyone actually mention the game since 2005.

    dbrock270 on
  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Cybertronian Paranormal Eliminator Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I'm guessing SWG would have gone Free-to-Play if it wasn't for the Old Republic.

    Undead Scottsman on
  • RehabRehab Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    The NBL isn't too unlike the video game industry in that so much of it is about recruiting.

    I had an economics professor though who created baseball analogies out of almost everything. Mr "Bobby Bonds" was one of the tools he used to get his points across, so that post barely phased me.

    Rehab on
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  • JihadJesusJihadJesus Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    It seems really odd to me that console hardware makers would skimp on RAM - I thought it was both a major bottleneck in most modern systems, and also dead fucking cheap these days.

    I know very little about hardware though, so I could just be totally wrong.

    JihadJesus on
  • SpoitSpoit *twitch twitch* Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    It wasn't great, but it wasn't that bad. 6 years ago.

    Spoit on
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  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    The main reason that I want more RAM in consoles is so that there are fewer load screens in the PC versions of games. Maybe the next gen will deliver.

    harvest on
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  • RawrBearRawrBear Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Kinda sad to see SWG go.. I never played it but I've read enough entertaining stuff about the swg that was. By the time I got around to giving it a shot though the NGE had just come out and removed anything I had found interesting about the game.

    RawrBear on
  • HedgethornHedgethorn Associate Professor of Historical Hobby Horses In the Lions' DenRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    JihadJesus wrote: »
    It seems really odd to me that console hardware makers would skimp on RAM - I thought it was both a major bottleneck in most modern systems, and also dead fucking cheap these days.

    I know very little about hardware though, so I could just be totally wrong.

    The super fast RAM they use in consoles is among the most expensive components in the box, after the CPU and the graphics card. Back when the 360 was released, the 512 MB of RAM cost Microsoft about $65, about 15% of the cost of the unit.

    Adding additional RAM would have required Microsoft to launch at $449 instead of $399.

    Hedgethorn on
  • RakaiRakai Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    JihadJesus wrote: »
    It seems really odd to me that console hardware makers would skimp on RAM - I thought it was both a major bottleneck in most modern systems, and also dead fucking cheap these days.

    I know very little about hardware though, so I could just be totally wrong.

    Look at it this way, if it costs you an extra $10 per system to include twice as much ram, that's an extra $500 million if you sell 50 million consoles (and console RAM is more expensive than standard RAM as well as consoles don't use RAM like computers do). MS raising their shared general/video RAM from 256 to 512 was estimated to cost them an extra billion dollars (although this was a pre launch general conversation statement rather than hard data, but you get the general idea). It's a trade-off between what it costs you and how much impact is has on games. Reducing load screens is nice, but is it worth the extra billions in investment? Obviously as time goes by, RAM gets cheaper per megabyte, but you can't just add more 7 years after your system is put on the market. Usually you look to a new system by then.

    Rakai on
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  • MgsleeMgslee United StatesRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I wonder what devs would prefer. Slower but more ram vs less and fast.
    Or do some crazy thing where there is 1gig of fast ram and an extra 4 of the slower stuff?

    hmmm

    Mgslee on
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  • MorninglordMorninglord I'm tired of being Batman, so today I'll be Owl.Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    So, RAM...

    3117g8sD8hL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

    Doesn't seem like such a dumb idea now, does it?

    Nintendo. Once again lightyears ahead of the pack. :P

    Only nintendo console I have ever owned is a ds.
    So what the hell is that?

    Morninglord on
    (PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
  • RakaiRakai Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    RAM expansion for N64.

    Rakai on
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  • JihadJesusJihadJesus Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I guess I was thinking the cost of RAM vs the cost of the other major components - GPU, processor, etc. If those are minimally capable of running the best and brightest next-gen engines it seems like you'd get more out of RAM than beefing them up further.

    but like I said, I know very little about it.

    JihadJesus on
  • MorninglordMorninglord I'm tired of being Batman, so today I'll be Owl.Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Oh.
    You know I don't see why they can't make modular ram upgrades possible.
    Other than you know all the good reasons why not in a business sense.
    I mean in a technical sense.

    Morninglord on
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  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Cybertronian Paranormal Eliminator Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    The strength of the console is the fact that EVERYONE'S console is functionally the same. It makes it easier to assure consistent framerates etc. It basically means everyone has to develop for the lowest common denominator because they can't be sure everyone will have the upgrade.

    Kinda like how early 360 dealt with the harddrive situation.

    Undead Scottsman on
  • MorninglordMorninglord I'm tired of being Batman, so today I'll be Owl.Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    That is a business sense Undead Scotsman, which I acknowledged.

    In a technical sense, hardware upgrades were made available and the option for installation was standardised.
    The functionality of the 360 changed over its lifetime.

    Morninglord on
    (PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
  • MgsleeMgslee United StatesRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Oh.
    You know I don't see why they can't make modular ram upgrades possible.
    Other than you know all the good reasons why not in a business sense.
    I mean in a technical sense.

    ^^^ (See N64 Expansion for DK64, PerfectDark and Conker?)
    There is none, except games would have to be programmed to make use of the extra ram.

    Given the rapid iteration model of iPhones and soon to be iPads, I wonder what would happen if handhelds or consoles started doing that model.

    All future systems would be backwards compatible but future titles would work with whatever select models they choose.

    It would make retail a bit confusing (Having to list what model it is compatible with) but interesting from a dev standpoint

    Mgslee on
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  • RakaiRakai Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    The RAM on the 360 looks like this:

    memory.jpg

    The PS3 RAM looks the same. Upgrading those wouldn't be possible. And to create a slot like the N64 had, would mean using something that's much, much slower. I haven't looked at the most recent motherboards, but interestingly enough, MS cut the number of RAM chips from 8 to 4 while doubling the capacity after a few years. So it would seem it was cheaper to produce 8 64MB chips than to produce 4 128MB chips when they launched and at some point that changed. (Unless there was another reason for using 8 chips, but I don't know).

    Edit: Actually, I wonder if heat is an issue. That is, higher capacity RAM needs more cooling, and without the reduction in the fabrication process that technology progress provides, it might just be too much for systems to handle. The 360 already had massive heat issues, and the launch PS3 burns like a space heater. This might be another concern when deciding how much memory to put in.

    Rakai on
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  • Kevin CristKevin Crist I make the devil hit his knees and say the 'our father'Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    The idea of CCP's Microtransactions in EVE/Dust/VTM are making me wary of playing VTM Online, since being a Toreador would be quite expensive.. :)

    Kevin Crist on
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  • vagrant_windsvagrant_winds Overworked Mysterious Eldritch Horror Hunter XX Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    So hey, on Xenoblade and the lack of American release:

    - NoA's facebook page is being blasted with comments to localize Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower. 800+ and counting in hours.
    - Monado (Xenoblade's old title) keeps dramatically rising on Amazon's best selling video games list. Going from the 12,000's in the overall numbers to 600's in overall and 70's in wii and counting.
    - IGN started a (physical) mailing campaign.

    vagrant_winds on
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  • The Dude With HerpesThe Dude With Herpes Lehi, UTRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    So hey, on Xenoblade and the lack of American release:

    - NoA's facebook page is being blasted with comments to localize Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower. 800+ and counting in hours.
    - Monado (Xenoblade's old title) keeps dramatically rising on Amazon's best selling video games list. Going from the 12,000's in the overall numbers to 600's in overall and 70's in wii and counting.
    - IGN started a (physical) mailing campaign.

    Going over to Facebook and seeing this makes me happier than it probably should.

    EDIT: That's weird. I see people constantly posting but I can't seem to.

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  • DaveTheWaveDaveTheWave Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    So, Australians, what are the chances of Xenoblade, Last Story and Pandora's Tower getting a local release?

    Slim, I would imagine.

    At least we can import them without modding.

    Although there is an issue I encounter with Donkey Kong Country Returns. It freezes when entering and purchasing from the shop. Luckily you go to the Wii's home screen and back and it jogs it out again. But you have to do it after every purchase. Weird.

    DaveTheWave on
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  • RakaiRakai Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    So, Australians, what are the chances of Xenoblade, Last Story and Pandora's Tower getting a local release?

    Slim, I would imagine.

    At least we can import them without modding.

    Although there is an issue I encounter with Donkey Kong Country Returns. It freezes when entering and purchasing from the shop. Luckily you go to the Wii's home screen and back and it jogs it out again. But you have to do it after every purchase. Weird.

    Very good. It's already been rated with Aussie board.

    Rakai on
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  • -Tal-Tal Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    So hey, on Xenoblade and the lack of American release:

    - NoA's facebook page is being blasted with comments to localize Xenoblade, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower. 800+ and counting in hours.
    - Monado (Xenoblade's old title) keeps dramatically rising on Amazon's best selling video games list. Going from the 12,000's in the overall numbers to 600's in overall and 70's in wii and counting.
    - IGN started a (physical) mailing campaign.

    Going over to Facebook and seeing this makes me happier than it probably should.

    EDIT: That's weird. I see people constantly posting but I can't seem to.

    You have to like the page to be able to comment.

    -Tal on
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