Zynga recently purchased Draw Something developer Omgpop for an eyebrow-raising $180 million, and Zynga CEO Mark Pincus told Bloomberg that's not the end of high-dollar acquisitions for his company.
Pincus said that the company expects to do "a few" more deals the size of the Omgpop acquisition. "We love finding great, accomplished teams that share our mission and vision," he explained.
"If we ever see breakout opportunities that massively accelerate social gaming at Zynga, we’ll aggressively pursue those, too." Zynga spent a combined $147.2 million on 22 company acquisitions over 2010 and 2011
According to the Bloomberg report, Zynga had competition for the Omgpop acquisition, including Electronic Arts, Walt Disney, Gree and DeNA.
The report also said that one of these larger acquisition attempts for Zynga was Angry Birds developer Rovio - however, "a source familiar with the company" stated that Rovio turned down an offer of over $2 billion. Reports of Zynga's attempt to buy Rovio emerged in late 2011.
CGI trailers do a good job of showing off the setting and giving a vague idea of the game's overall tone. That's enough to get me interested in where the game will go with it. Of course, if a game gets close to release without significant gameplay demonstration, then I probably won't be buying it, but for a debut trailer? A CGI trailer is probably the most appropriate type of trailer for that.
everyone please stop wishing destruction upon EA until they've put out a couple more skate games for me to play, thanks in advance
You mean.. skADVERTISINGate?
Skate is an awesome series and I'm hoping they're just leatting it breathe for a bit rather than over-saturate the market. Because I would dearly love it to be a thing that didn't go away.
Also on the Big Companies You Love To Hate, I despise the way Activision treats.. well, everyone. But I don't want them to go bust or 'crash and burn', I want them to use their massive resources to do better things. Yeah I haven't bought any of their games for a while, partly because I don't want to support them with my money, but also in a large way made easier because I've just not been that interested in anything they've put out. But I don't wish for their doom, just a change in direction. It's pretty weak to want the things you don't like to be burnt to the ground.
This is why people who act like that get sarcasm and insults in response.
I want Bobby Kotick to crash and burn horribly. Sadly, he has been keeping his mouth shut lately. I'm really hoping he puts his foot in his mouth again at E3, and says/does something so awful that shareholders boot him out.
A man can dream!
Robes on
"Wait" he says... do I look like a waiter?
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FairchildRabbit used short words that were easy to understand, like "Hello Pooh, how about Lunch ?"Registered Userregular
I hope that Apple goes out of business so that its place in the market can be taken by a bunch of corporations that aren't so insanely emotionally needy.
I hope that Apple goes out of business so that its place in the market can be taken by a bunch of corporations that aren't so insanely emotionally needy.
Or Monopolistic.
Or Imperialistic.
Steve's dead so they're at least a little better off.
Beamdog, the owner of Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition developer Overhaul Games has launched a fierce attack on Nintendo.
Speaking on Twitter, Beamdog founder and former BioWare man Trent Oster confirmed that Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition will not be coming to Wii U. What is more shocking was the ferocity of the reason behind it.
"We don't do Nintendo development," he stated. "Our previous experience with Nintendo was enough to ensure there will not be another.
"My problems with Nintendo are: requiring 6000 unit sales before payment, a certification process that took us 9 months and a 40mb limit. Nintendo isn't a good platform for developers.
“The Wii is a toy, not a console."
Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is due out this summer on PC, Mac and iPad. It previously ported MDK2 to WiiWare.
Sounds like those are the WiiWare limitations on the Wii. Are they the same for WiiU?
I can understand that developers felt they were fairly limited by the Wii's specifications for WiiWare titles, but shunning the WiiU because of that is a bit silly.
Hopefully Nintendo will also learn and grow from constructive feedback that devs could give them, and change things up for future download titles on the WiiU.
Again, what have they done that makes them deserve to go out of business? What is so awful about them that all those people should lose jobs, and tons of people lose their favorite game series?
I never used the word "deserve." And the job loss argument is a red herring. Right now EA is taking up space in the marketplace that could be filled by other firms. I could just as easily ask you what is so great about EA that people who would be employed at those other companies should NOT have jobs.
And if a game series is a favorite of so many, there's no reason why EA dying means the game series has to die.
EDIT: to the others who have posted since I wrote this, please stop assigning sarcastic opinions to me. Do you like it when people do that to you?
If you think that magically a company or companies will just take over where they left off, hiring the same people and making the same games, that's some pretty extreme optimism. Do you really think we'll get another Mass Effect, Dragon Age, KOTOR, ever if Bioware folds? Or that other key franchises won't dissolve? Even the sports games, while the licenses will surely be picked up by someone, will no doubt change significantly. Which might be just fine for you, but that's a lot of fans being fucked over.
Why do they deserve not to die? Simple. They put out lots of games that are either very good, very popular, or both. They employ tons of people. That's a much more logical reason for their existence than your non-existent reason to want them dead.
So tell me, again, what GOOD reason do you have to want them to die? Because as far as I can tell, you're perfectly okay with all of the actual negative thing it would lead to, because hypothetically, other good things could maybe possibly happen? If you're honestly going to equate "losing" whatever we might get out of it with the actual guaranteed loss of jobs and games will absolutely will get out of it, I don't know what the hell to tell you. Those are not red herrings, they are real consequences. You have not provided an adequate reason why these consequences should come to pass.
Beamdog, the owner of Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition developer Overhaul Games has launched a fierce attack on Nintendo.
Speaking on Twitter, Beamdog founder and former BioWare man Trent Oster confirmed that Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition will not be coming to Wii U. What is more shocking was the ferocity of the reason behind it.
"We don't do Nintendo development," he stated. "Our previous experience with Nintendo was enough to ensure there will not be another.
"My problems with Nintendo are: requiring 6000 unit sales before payment, a certification process that took us 9 months and a 40mb limit. Nintendo isn't a good platform for developers.
“The Wii is a toy, not a console."
Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is due out this summer on PC, Mac and iPad. It previously ported MDK2 to WiiWare.
Sounds like those are the WiiWare limitations on the Wii. Are they the same for WiiU?
I can understand that developers felt they were fairly limited by the Wii's specifications for WiiWare titles, but shunning the WiiU because of that is a bit silly.
Hopefully Nintendo will also learn and grow from constructive feedback that devs could give them, and change things up for future download titles on the WiiU.
They've already learned with the 3DS, so I don't see why WiiU would be different
skeldare on
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Allegedly with the whole "Nintendo Network" thing they vaguely announced a while back Nintendo is at least attempting to get their act together with online.
Again, what have they done that makes them deserve to go out of business? What is so awful about them that all those people should lose jobs, and tons of people lose their favorite game series?
I never used the word "deserve." And the job loss argument is a red herring. Right now EA is taking up space in the marketplace that could be filled by other firms. I could just as easily ask you what is so great about EA that people who would be employed at those other companies should NOT have jobs.
And if a game series is a favorite of so many, there's no reason why EA dying means the game series has to die.
EDIT: to the others who have posted since I wrote this, please stop assigning sarcastic opinions to me. Do you like it when people do that to you?
If you think that magically a company or companies will just take over where they left off, hiring the same people and making the same games, that's some pretty extreme optimism. Do you really think we'll get another Mass Effect, Dragon Age, KOTOR, ever if Bioware folds? Or that other key franchises won't dissolve? Even the sports games, while the licenses will surely be picked up by someone, will no doubt change significantly. Which might be just fine for you, but that's a lot of fans being fucked over.
Why do they deserve not to die? Simple. They put out lots of games that are either very good, very popular, or both. They employ tons of people. That's a much more logical reason for their existence than your non-existent reason to want them dead.
So tell me, again, what GOOD reason do you have to want them to die? Because as far as I can tell, you're perfectly okay with all of the actual negative thing it would lead to, because hypothetically, other good things could maybe possibly happen? If you're honestly going to equate "losing" whatever we might get out of it with the actual guaranteed loss of jobs and games will absolutely will get out of it, I don't know what the hell to tell you. Those are not red herrings, they are real consequences. You have not provided an adequate reason why these consequences should come to pass.
Quoting this because it's really damned articulate and necessary.
Wishing death upon a company you don't like seems far too harsh. Even more so when employees are also members of the community.
If someone isn't actively wishing death upon me, then they're still several steps away from a lot of what I get.
But as to Dishonored - I like the CGI trailer, but yeah. After Dead Island (which I enjoyed, but was not anything close to what the trailer suggested it would be), I'm leery to put too much stock in it beyond a 'brand awareness' sort of thing.
Wishing death upon a company you don't like seems far too harsh. Even more so when employees are also members of the community.
If someone isn't actively wishing death upon me, then they're still several steps away from a lot of what I get.
But as to Dishonored - I like the CGI trailer, but yeah. After Dead Island (which I enjoyed, but was not anything close to what the trailer suggested it would be), I'm leery to put too much stock in it beyond a 'brand awareness' sort of thing.
At least with Dishonored, they've actually been talking about the game for nearly a year now, with actual evidence that it exists as a game with real previews having taken place. I agree entirely that a CGI trailer is not the best way to advertise your game any more and that a lot of people got burned by Dead Island, but I'd argue that there's a big difference between the two studios and the evidence on show.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Beamdog, the owner of Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition developer Overhaul Games has launched a fierce attack on Nintendo.
Speaking on Twitter, Beamdog founder and former BioWare man Trent Oster confirmed that Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition will not be coming to Wii U. What is more shocking was the ferocity of the reason behind it.
"We don't do Nintendo development," he stated. "Our previous experience with Nintendo was enough to ensure there will not be another.
"My problems with Nintendo are: requiring 6000 unit sales before payment, a certification process that took us 9 months and a 40mb limit. Nintendo isn't a good platform for developers.
“The Wii is a toy, not a console."
Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is due out this summer on PC, Mac and iPad. It previously ported MDK2 to WiiWare.
Even if he tries to justify it, it doesn't mean it's fully justified. Now, Nintendo's development terms are fucking ludicrous, with regard to the unit sales (though, if it's 6000, something as renown as Baldur's Gate shouldn't have issues) and the 40mb limit (first I heard of this too). If he pointed those out at problems, fair enough. But the "toy, not a console" thing is very console-war inciting. Hate that crap.
But hey, this is all stuff coming from a man whose company site had a big ol' countdown for something 'zomgawesome' and when it finished, surprise, a port of an old game to mobile devices. It's not like he can walk around with his head held high. He pulled the ultimate troll on his fanbase.
Again, what have they done that makes them deserve to go out of business? What is so awful about them that all those people should lose jobs, and tons of people lose their favorite game series?
I never used the word "deserve." And the job loss argument is a red herring. Right now EA is taking up space in the marketplace that could be filled by other firms. I could just as easily ask you what is so great about EA that people who would be employed at those other companies should NOT have jobs.
And if a game series is a favorite of so many, there's no reason why EA dying means the game series has to die.
EDIT: to the others who have posted since I wrote this, please stop assigning sarcastic opinions to me. Do you like it when people do that to you?
If you think that magically a company or companies will just take over where they left off, hiring the same people and making the same games, that's some pretty extreme optimism. Do you really think we'll get another Mass Effect, Dragon Age, KOTOR, ever if Bioware folds? Or that other key franchises won't dissolve? Even the sports games, while the licenses will surely be picked up by someone, will no doubt change significantly. Which might be just fine for you, but that's a lot of fans being fucked over.
Why do they deserve not to die? Simple. They put out lots of games that are either very good, very popular, or both. They employ tons of people. That's a much more logical reason for their existence than your non-existent reason to want them dead.
So tell me, again, what GOOD reason do you have to want them to die? Because as far as I can tell, you're perfectly okay with all of the actual negative thing it would lead to, because hypothetically, other good things could maybe possibly happen? If you're honestly going to equate "losing" whatever we might get out of it with the actual guaranteed loss of jobs and games will absolutely will get out of it, I don't know what the hell to tell you. Those are not red herrings, they are real consequences. You have not provided an adequate reason why these consequences should come to pass.
Pretty much this right here. If EA folds that doesn't mean the void will be filled with someone that will make the same quality of games. Are there are a bunch of EA published games that I really enjoy.
Shit, even the sports games tend to be much better than sports games made by other companies (I say this as someone that has only played a significant amount of hockey sports games).
I can understand saying "we worked with them before, the experience was bad, so we are done working with them."
But the guy goes from that to silly goosery real quick.
He basically failed to take the Jonathan Blow route; every time I've seen Blow talk about Microsoft / Sony certification, he just talks about the problems, he doesn't throw in the "Fuck them, they suck" type of language. It's childish, and it assumes that companies are forever unable to change currently standing procedures / policies. It's bad for business to burn bridges like that.
Usually this sort of dialog in the industry amuses me, but it has to actually be clever and very, very focused. Senior Super Douche, or EA's PR guy saying of the Infinity Ward incident "We don't have enough time to comment on the lawsuits Activision continually brings against its employees," that shit is -hilarious-. But this is just a flailing child. It's like those people who leave companies or get laid off, and then lash out in blogs about how the newest upcoming game is going to be 'teh sux.'
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Wishing for the death of a company, and the loss of several thousand jobs in a shit economy in an industry constantly losing studios, for no other reason than "I don't like them" is goosery of the highest order.
Show has analog pitching too, it's got about every option from every baseball game ever in there. I play on Rookie and still can't beat the CPU though, which is ok by me. Even the best baseball players of all time get an out 7 out of 10 times.
I have two very good reasons to hate EA: Westwood and Origin.
As for THQ... they can't die yet, at least not until they rid Relic of their WH4K binge and make a proper Homeworld sequel.
Can you qualify the hatred of Origin? A lot of people, when Origin was up and coming, left me with an impression of them not liking it simply because it was another software platform to have an account for. So I've been putting people to task to see if there's actual bad points.
I have two very good reasons to hate EA: Westwood and Origin.
As for THQ... they can't die yet, at least not until they rid Relic of their WH4K binge and make a proper Homeworld sequel.
Can you qualify the hatred of Origin? A lot of people, when Origin was up and coming, left me with an impression of them not liking it simply because it was another software platform to have an account for. So I've been putting people to task to see if there's actual bad points.
Show has analog pitching too, it's got about every option from every baseball game ever in there. I play on Rookie and still can't beat the CPU though, which is ok by me. Even the best baseball players of all time get an out 7 out of 10 times.
Hmmm, last one I played was Show '09. I only remember buttons for pitching, perhaps I'll have to give it another go.
Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
I have two very good reasons to hate EA: Westwood and Origin.
As for THQ... they can't die yet, at least not until they rid Relic of their WH4K binge and make a proper Homeworld sequel.
Can you qualify the hatred of Origin? A lot of people, when Origin was up and coming, left me with an impression of them not liking it simply because it was another software platform to have an account for. So I've been putting people to task to see if there's actual bad points.
I have two good reasons to hate Origin: It's not Steam, and it does't need to exist. It's ANOTHER stupid resident program I have to run for the two or three games I have no choice but to buy on Origin, when literally every other PC game I own from the last four years is in my Steam library.
It would be one thing if I could even run my Origin games from Steam, but it doesn't work that way unless you run Origin itself from Steam, which is just dumb.
TL;DR: It's dumb and has no real reason to exist, beyond EA being jelly about Steam's success.
That said, it's not a reason for EA to die as a company.
I have two very good reasons to hate EA: Westwood and Origin.
As for THQ... they can't die yet, at least not until they rid Relic of their WH4K binge and make a proper Homeworld sequel.
Can you qualify the hatred of Origin? A lot of people, when Origin was up and coming, left me with an impression of them not liking it simply because it was another software platform to have an account for. So I've been putting people to task to see if there's actual bad points.
Beamdog, the owner of Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition developer Overhaul Games has launched a fierce attack on Nintendo.
Speaking on Twitter, Beamdog founder and former BioWare man Trent Oster confirmed that Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition will not be coming to Wii U. What is more shocking was the ferocity of the reason behind it.
"We don't do Nintendo development," he stated. "Our previous experience with Nintendo was enough to ensure there will not be another.
"My problems with Nintendo are: requiring 6000 unit sales before payment, a certification process that took us 9 months and a 40mb limit. Nintendo isn't a good platform for developers.
“The Wii is a toy, not a console."
Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is due out this summer on PC, Mac and iPad. It previously ported MDK2 to WiiWare.
Even if he tries to justify it, it doesn't mean it's fully justified. Now, Nintendo's development terms are fucking ludicrous, with regard to the unit sales (though, if it's 6000, something as renown as Baldur's Gate shouldn't have issues) and the 40mb limit (first I heard of this too). If he pointed those out at problems, fair enough. But the "toy, not a console" thing is very console-war inciting. Hate that crap.
But hey, this is all stuff coming from a man whose company site had a big ol' countdown for something 'zomgawesome' and when it finished, surprise, a port of an old game to mobile devices. It's not like he can walk around with his head held high. He pulled the ultimate troll on his fanbase.
I'd say he's fully justified. 6000 unit sales before you get paid alone is enough to deter developers, especially startups. I find it downright silly that Nintendo gets to pocket all your profits if your game does poorly. The 40 MB limit is even sillier, this isn't pre-Y2K.
The problem is that if you look around in the industry, there are much better avenues for publication these days. Even Apple has far better terms and they're not an "official" gaming company. Heck, Epic allows you to use Unreal for free until you generate $50k in revenue before you have to pay royalties.
The more of these types of stories I here, the further out of touch Nintendo seems with current publication trends. That's not to say Nintendo is completely out of touch... they still "get it" when it comes to making games but their third party support and digital distribution needs to step up to the plate and fast.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
I have two very good reasons to hate EA: Westwood and Origin.
As for THQ... they can't die yet, at least not until they rid Relic of their WH4K binge and make a proper Homeworld sequel.
Can you qualify the hatred of Origin? A lot of people, when Origin was up and coming, left me with an impression of them not liking it simply because it was another software platform to have an account for. So I've been putting people to task to see if there's actual bad points.
I have two good reasons to hate Origin: It's not Steam, and it does't need to exist. It's ANOTHER stupid resident program I have to run for the two or three games I have no choice but to buy on Origin, when literally every other PC game I own from the last four years is in my Steam library.
It would be one thing if I could even run my Origin games from Steam, but it doesn't work that way unless you run Origin itself from Steam, which is just dumb.
TL;DR: It's dumb and has no real reason to exist, beyond EA being jelly about Steam's success.
That said, it's not a reason for EA to die as a company.
I don't personally consider that a good reason to not like the service. It makes 100% sense to me why EA (and other publishers) would want their own distribution platforms.
I'd say he's fully justified. 6000 unit sales before you get paid alone is enough to deter developers, especially startups. I find it downright silly that Nintendo gets to pocket all your profits if your game does poorly. The 40 MB limit is even sillier, this isn't pre-Y2K.
Again, fair enough points, but addressing those points without insulting language would've made a stronger case.
Nintendo just doesn't want an outside developer stealing their thunder. The best selling game on any nintendo platform has to be a nintendo game damnit! /endjoke
*snorts*
The Wii is a toy and we don't put out games for toys
*puts their game out on iPad*
Yeah, while I am super-hyped for the Baldur's Gate stuff, Oster's comments were a bit silly given that every tablet is little more than a really expensive toy.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
Again, what have they done that makes them deserve to go out of business? What is so awful about them that all those people should lose jobs, and tons of people lose their favorite game series?
I never used the word "deserve." And the job loss argument is a red herring. Right now EA is taking up space in the marketplace that could be filled by other firms. I could just as easily ask you what is so great about EA that people who would be employed at those other companies should NOT have jobs.
And if a game series is a favorite of so many, there's no reason why EA dying means the game series has to die.
EDIT: to the others who have posted since I wrote this, please stop assigning sarcastic opinions to me. Do you like it when people do that to you?
If you think that magically a company or companies will just take over where they left off, hiring the same people and making the same games, that's some pretty extreme optimism. Do you really think we'll get another Mass Effect, Dragon Age, KOTOR, ever if Bioware folds? Or that other key franchises won't dissolve? Even the sports games, while the licenses will surely be picked up by someone, will no doubt change significantly. Which might be just fine for you, but that's a lot of fans being fucked over.
Why do they deserve not to die? Simple. They put out lots of games that are either very good, very popular, or both. They employ tons of people. That's a much more logical reason for their existence than your non-existent reason to want them dead.
So tell me, again, what GOOD reason do you have to want them to die? Because as far as I can tell, you're perfectly okay with all of the actual negative thing it would lead to, because hypothetically, other good things could maybe possibly happen? If you're honestly going to equate "losing" whatever we might get out of it with the actual guaranteed loss of jobs and games will absolutely will get out of it, I don't know what the hell to tell you. Those are not red herrings, they are real consequences. You have not provided an adequate reason why these consequences should come to pass.
There's nothing "magical" about it, it's how the marketplace works. My original post didn't say I wanted EA to shut down their operations and fire everyone tomorrow, it said that I wanted them to go out of business. That would probably be a slower process, as they and their investors gradually realize that the "ginourmous publishing conglomerate" model is not the best way to serve the customer OR the shareholder and begin the process of dismantling the company and either selling or recapitalizing the worthwhile stuff.
And I don't care at all for this idea that we can't let anything happen to EA because they employ too many people. This is how "too big to fail" starts. The consequences of their failure can be measured in jobs - and the opportunity cost of their existence can also be measured in jobs.
As for my reasons, I don't want to type that particular wall of text right now. If you go to their wikipedia page and scroll down to "criticism" you can get a sense of why I don't care for them.
I have two very good reasons to hate EA: Westwood and Origin.
As for THQ... they can't die yet, at least not until they rid Relic of their WH4K binge and make a proper Homeworld sequel.
Judging by his output after leaving EA, I think the company made the right call on Lord British. Much like John Romero needs not be at a big-budget studio anymore.
On Origin the service? I dislike the idea, but in practice, it's just another account on my PC. Hasn't bothered me much in reality.
On Westwood founders Brent Sperry and Louis Castle, Castle stayed with EA for another six years and now is a VP at Zynga. Sperry did a bunch of random thing and now has a mobile game company (Jet Set Games). In at least once case, the loss seemed completely "meh".
I lament the loss of the studio, but I also don't assume that un-EA-ed the studio would've risen to the righteous heights unseen. Petrogylph's (one Westwood spinoff) output has varied greatly, though End of Nations looks very interesting.
EA/Activision/Ubisoft fight for the title of worst publisher, but I still believe they have a place in the market.
I have two very good reasons to hate EA: Westwood and Origin.
The gutting of those studios happened nearly a full decade ago (or more). There has pretty much been a complete change in management in EA since then. But wishing thousands of people to lose their jobs just because you can't let go of something that is pretty much ancient history in the video game industry pretty much is pretty silly and childish.
EA goes back and forth between evil incarnate and a good company throughout their history. I figure they're about due for the pendulum to swing the other way now.
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http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/168684/Report_Zynga_expects_to_make_more_highdollar_Omgpopsize_acquisitions.php
If Zynga actually did buy Angry Birds, the sheer magnitude of hate that team-up would create would have burnt a hole in the Internet.
I want Bobby Kotick to crash and burn horribly. Sadly, he has been keeping his mouth shut lately. I'm really hoping he puts his foot in his mouth again at E3, and says/does something so awful that shareholders boot him out.
A man can dream!
Or Monopolistic.
Or Imperialistic.
Steve's dead so they're at least a little better off.
Sounds like those are the WiiWare limitations on the Wii. Are they the same for WiiU?
I can understand that developers felt they were fairly limited by the Wii's specifications for WiiWare titles, but shunning the WiiU because of that is a bit silly.
Hopefully Nintendo will also learn and grow from constructive feedback that devs could give them, and change things up for future download titles on the WiiU.
If you think that magically a company or companies will just take over where they left off, hiring the same people and making the same games, that's some pretty extreme optimism. Do you really think we'll get another Mass Effect, Dragon Age, KOTOR, ever if Bioware folds? Or that other key franchises won't dissolve? Even the sports games, while the licenses will surely be picked up by someone, will no doubt change significantly. Which might be just fine for you, but that's a lot of fans being fucked over.
Why do they deserve not to die? Simple. They put out lots of games that are either very good, very popular, or both. They employ tons of people. That's a much more logical reason for their existence than your non-existent reason to want them dead.
So tell me, again, what GOOD reason do you have to want them to die? Because as far as I can tell, you're perfectly okay with all of the actual negative thing it would lead to, because hypothetically, other good things could maybe possibly happen? If you're honestly going to equate "losing" whatever we might get out of it with the actual guaranteed loss of jobs and games will absolutely will get out of it, I don't know what the hell to tell you. Those are not red herrings, they are real consequences. You have not provided an adequate reason why these consequences should come to pass.
My Let's Play Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2go70QLfwGq-hW4nvUqmog
They've already learned with the 3DS, so I don't see why WiiU would be different
Switch (JeffConser): SW-3353-5433-5137 Wii U: Skeldare - 3DS: 1848-1663-9345
PM Me if you add me!
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Quoting this because it's really damned articulate and necessary.
If someone isn't actively wishing death upon me, then they're still several steps away from a lot of what I get.
But as to Dishonored - I like the CGI trailer, but yeah. After Dead Island (which I enjoyed, but was not anything close to what the trailer suggested it would be), I'm leery to put too much stock in it beyond a 'brand awareness' sort of thing.
The Wii is a toy and we don't put out games for toys
*puts their game out on iPad*
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
At least with Dishonored, they've actually been talking about the game for nearly a year now, with actual evidence that it exists as a game with real previews having taken place. I agree entirely that a CGI trailer is not the best way to advertise your game any more and that a lot of people got burned by Dead Island, but I'd argue that there's a big difference between the two studios and the evidence on show.
Even if he tries to justify it, it doesn't mean it's fully justified. Now, Nintendo's development terms are fucking ludicrous, with regard to the unit sales (though, if it's 6000, something as renown as Baldur's Gate shouldn't have issues) and the 40mb limit (first I heard of this too). If he pointed those out at problems, fair enough. But the "toy, not a console" thing is very console-war inciting. Hate that crap.
But hey, this is all stuff coming from a man whose company site had a big ol' countdown for something 'zomgawesome' and when it finished, surprise, a port of an old game to mobile devices. It's not like he can walk around with his head held high. He pulled the ultimate troll on his fanbase.
But the guy goes from that to silly goosery real quick.
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Pretty much this right here. If EA folds that doesn't mean the void will be filled with someone that will make the same quality of games. Are there are a bunch of EA published games that I really enjoy.
Shit, even the sports games tend to be much better than sports games made by other companies (I say this as someone that has only played a significant amount of hockey sports games).
MLB The Show dude, stop dicking around.
He basically failed to take the Jonathan Blow route; every time I've seen Blow talk about Microsoft / Sony certification, he just talks about the problems, he doesn't throw in the "Fuck them, they suck" type of language. It's childish, and it assumes that companies are forever unable to change currently standing procedures / policies. It's bad for business to burn bridges like that.
Usually this sort of dialog in the industry amuses me, but it has to actually be clever and very, very focused. Senior Super Douche, or EA's PR guy saying of the Infinity Ward incident "We don't have enough time to comment on the lawsuits Activision continually brings against its employees," that shit is -hilarious-. But this is just a flailing child. It's like those people who leave companies or get laid off, and then lash out in blogs about how the newest upcoming game is going to be 'teh sux.'
I know The Show is "the best" but it doesn't click well with me. Its too simmy or something. I like 2K's analog pitching.
As for THQ... they can't die yet, at least not until they rid Relic of their WH4K binge and make a proper Homeworld sequel.
Can you qualify the hatred of Origin? A lot of people, when Origin was up and coming, left me with an impression of them not liking it simply because it was another software platform to have an account for. So I've been putting people to task to see if there's actual bad points.
Origin. As in Lord British.
Hmmm, last one I played was Show '09. I only remember buttons for pitching, perhaps I'll have to give it another go.
I have two good reasons to hate Origin: It's not Steam, and it does't need to exist. It's ANOTHER stupid resident program I have to run for the two or three games I have no choice but to buy on Origin, when literally every other PC game I own from the last four years is in my Steam library.
It would be one thing if I could even run my Origin games from Steam, but it doesn't work that way unless you run Origin itself from Steam, which is just dumb.
TL;DR: It's dumb and has no real reason to exist, beyond EA being jelly about Steam's success.
That said, it's not a reason for EA to die as a company.
Oh. <_<
I'd say he's fully justified. 6000 unit sales before you get paid alone is enough to deter developers, especially startups. I find it downright silly that Nintendo gets to pocket all your profits if your game does poorly. The 40 MB limit is even sillier, this isn't pre-Y2K.
The problem is that if you look around in the industry, there are much better avenues for publication these days. Even Apple has far better terms and they're not an "official" gaming company. Heck, Epic allows you to use Unreal for free until you generate $50k in revenue before you have to pay royalties.
The more of these types of stories I here, the further out of touch Nintendo seems with current publication trends. That's not to say Nintendo is completely out of touch... they still "get it" when it comes to making games but their third party support and digital distribution needs to step up to the plate and fast.
I don't personally consider that a good reason to not like the service. It makes 100% sense to me why EA (and other publishers) would want their own distribution platforms.
Again, fair enough points, but addressing those points without insulting language would've made a stronger case.
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Yeah, while I am super-hyped for the Baldur's Gate stuff, Oster's comments were a bit silly given that every tablet is little more than a really expensive toy.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
There's nothing "magical" about it, it's how the marketplace works. My original post didn't say I wanted EA to shut down their operations and fire everyone tomorrow, it said that I wanted them to go out of business. That would probably be a slower process, as they and their investors gradually realize that the "ginourmous publishing conglomerate" model is not the best way to serve the customer OR the shareholder and begin the process of dismantling the company and either selling or recapitalizing the worthwhile stuff.
And I don't care at all for this idea that we can't let anything happen to EA because they employ too many people. This is how "too big to fail" starts. The consequences of their failure can be measured in jobs - and the opportunity cost of their existence can also be measured in jobs.
As for my reasons, I don't want to type that particular wall of text right now. If you go to their wikipedia page and scroll down to "criticism" you can get a sense of why I don't care for them.
Judging by his output after leaving EA, I think the company made the right call on Lord British. Much like John Romero needs not be at a big-budget studio anymore.
On Origin the service? I dislike the idea, but in practice, it's just another account on my PC. Hasn't bothered me much in reality.
On Westwood founders Brent Sperry and Louis Castle, Castle stayed with EA for another six years and now is a VP at Zynga. Sperry did a bunch of random thing and now has a mobile game company (Jet Set Games). In at least once case, the loss seemed completely "meh".
I lament the loss of the studio, but I also don't assume that un-EA-ed the studio would've risen to the righteous heights unseen. Petrogylph's (one Westwood spinoff) output has varied greatly, though End of Nations looks very interesting.
EA/Activision/Ubisoft fight for the title of worst publisher, but I still believe they have a place in the market.
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The gutting of those studios happened nearly a full decade ago (or more). There has pretty much been a complete change in management in EA since then. But wishing thousands of people to lose their jobs just because you can't let go of something that is pretty much ancient history in the video game industry pretty much is pretty silly and childish.
EA already has put out the best baseball game ever made. It's called MVP Baseball 2005.
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