I'd really like to know what all the Chicken Little-types on this forum think the end-game is? All I read is "industry crash!" and "this AAA model can't be supported!" but what is honestly going to happen? Does EA or Take Two or Activision shutter their doors after the big crash? And at that point what happens? Someone else is obviously going to fill the void left.
We're always going to have ridiculously polished and expensive-to-make blockbusters no matter what system is out there and selling the worst/best. People are still buying a fuck ton of games.
Not sure how we're Chicken Littles when the sky just crushed two CEOs in less than a month, but hey. And people bought significantly less console games in the last couple years, so I'm not sure everyone can count on the market always being there, at least in the form we know now. (People could migrate to smartphones and never look back, for instance.)
They bought less games because less were being made apparently. Which indicates the market is there, you just have to cater to it.
I have no goddamn clue what's going to happen. Right now it seems that the big publishers are trying to supplement their blockbusters with mobile stuff, but though they seem to have some success with mobile it isn't outweighing the blockbusters that flop.
I would hope that the publishers would bring back mid-tier games and realize that games don't have to use 110% of a console's full power to be awesome. But that would require a complete reversal of thinking from the go big or go home we've got now.
Honest question: have there been any major physical publishers to come into existence over the last decade? I can't think of a one. Sure, there's the thought that as people close, others will rise, but I have no idea who that could be. Even the smaller guys like Majesco are shuttering.
A large investment/large risk/large reward structure doesn't support anything but behemoths. The only winning strategy is to diversify enough that you can absorb failures. I'd suggest we are more likely to see continued consolidation among AAA publishers rather then new ones popping up.
Couple things I see going on with the market: development budgets are getting absurd requiring ever higher sales to support them. I don't see this continuing indefinitely. Certainly not when you can make mobile apps for far less which brings up my second observation. The industry is changing. The way consumers spend their money is changing. Mobile app gaming has taken off. Are the potential profits for mobile apps as high as what you'd see on those big budget console/pc titles? Probably not but they cost less to develop, there's a lower threshold for entry, and they're less susceptible to fluctuations in the market. Handheld devices are potentially a much wider market than consoles or pc's too.
Publishers are going to have to find a way to cut costs while still putting out a quality product if they want to stay competitive.
If that means fewer blockbuster titles so be it. Not every title can be a blockbuster and I don't think that's a realistic goal to shoot for. Spending that much on a single game can make or break a company, especially when the margin for error is so slim. Even a successful launch can be disastrous if they don't sell enough to recoup their costs. Don't put all your eggs in one basket so to speak which is what they've been doing. All it takes is one little unfortunate bump in the road and you've got a mess on your hands. That's not a good way to do business.
Sure, they should diversify and get in on the handheld/mobile market but they also need to make fewer big budget blockbuster titles and spend less when they do make them.
Ninja Snarl has it right about SR4 being critical for them. Though... it's out August 20th? A little less than two years after the last one... man, it's going to be tough to make a game of that size be great in that short a span. Let's see if they can do it.
But it's just the expansion pack DLC that Volition was going to put out, now beefed up and turned into a retail release.
Naw, almost all the Enter the Dominatrix was scrapped. SR4 is a balls out full retail release. Seriously, they're going nuts with this one.
Now I'm a little worried, though. If there's enough people out there who think SR4 is just Expansion DLC being sold to them for $60, and Deep Silver doesn't do enough to inform consumers otherwise, Saint's Row/Volition could potentially be in some trouble...
Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
I'd really like to know what all the Chicken Little-types on this forum think the end-game is? All I read is "industry crash!" and "this AAA model can't be supported!" but what is honestly going to happen? Does EA or Take Two or Activision shutter their doors after the big crash? And at that point what happens? Someone else is obviously going to fill the void left.
We're always going to have ridiculously polished and expensive-to-make blockbusters no matter what system is out there and selling the worst/best. People are still buying a fuck ton of games.
Not sure how we're Chicken Littles when the sky just crushed two CEOs in less than a month, but hey. And people bought significantly less console games in the last couple years, so I'm not sure everyone can count on the market always being there, at least in the form we know now. (People could migrate to smartphones and never look back, for instance.)
They bought less games because less were being made apparently. Which indicates the market is there, you just have to cater to it.
I have no goddamn clue what's going to happen. Right now it seems that the big publishers are trying to supplement their blockbusters with mobile stuff, but though they seem to have some success with mobile it isn't outweighing the blockbusters that flop.
I would hope that the publishers would bring back mid-tier games and realize that games don't have to use 110% of a console's full power to be awesome. But that would require a complete reversal of thinking from the go big or go home we've got now.
Honest question: have there been any major physical publishers to come into existence over the last decade? I can't think of a one. Sure, there's the thought that as people close, others will rise, but I have no idea who that could be. Even the smaller guys like Majesco are shuttering.
A large investment/large risk/large reward structure doesn't support anything but behemoths. The only winning strategy is to diversify enough that you can absorb failures. I'd suggest we are more likely to see continued consolidation among AAA publishers rather then new ones popping up.
More consolidation? Who's left for that? There's only 3 publishers making AAA games on the scale we're talking. EA, Activision, and Ubisoft.
2K makes AAA games to some extent, but I feel like they have one of the best portfolios in the industry right now for the big guys.
Is the final object for AAA games to just have everyone merge into 2 conglomerates called Cokea and Pepsivision? With tens of thousands of people producing AAA games?
0
ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
Ninja Snarl has it right about SR4 being critical for them. Though... it's out August 20th? A little less than two years after the last one... man, it's going to be tough to make a game of that size be great in that short a span. Let's see if they can do it.
But it's just the expansion pack DLC that Volition was going to put out, now beefed up and turned into a retail release.
Naw, almost all the Enter the Dominatrix was scrapped. SR4 is a balls out full retail release. Seriously, they're going nuts with this one.
Now I'm a little worried, though. If there's enough people out there who think SR4 is just Expansion DLC being sold to them for $60, and Deep Silver doesn't do enough to inform consumers otherwise, Saint's Row/Volition could potentially be in some trouble...
The general game buying consumer has no idea what Enter the Dominatrix is, so the only people Volition needs to worry about are enthusiasts. And, hey, now we know too!
Minecraft has exceeded six million sales on XBLA, according to developer 4J Studios.
“Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has now sold over six million copies,” the studio announced via Twitter.
Mojang revealed the game’s astonishing performance across all formats at the end of last year, with XBLA, PC and mobile versions shifting 500,000 on Christmas day.
Mojang is now also considering bringing Minecraft to PSN, while the 360 version will hit retail shelves next month.
How many AAA games wish they had those kind of sells.
I bet the company makes forts from stacks of dollar bills.
Probably has their own moat filled with gold coins too.
Actually the I recell when the company hit a significant goalpost, the CEO divied up his 3 million and divided it between the employees.
And anyone who knows anything about Minecraft could tell you, they'd invest in a DIAMOND moat, not gold.
Before following any advice, opinions, or thoughts I may have expressed in the above post, be warned: I found Keven Costners "Waterworld" to be a very entertaining film.
You know, this talk about Microsoft annoying indies reminds me that PAR just did a big thing on it. Essentially Microsoft's refusing to make tweaks to make development easier while Sony is bending over backwards to appeal to them, and even Nintendo is loosening things up. Interesting read.
You know, this talk about Microsoft annoying indies reminds me that PAR just did a big thing on it. Essentially Microsoft's refusing to make tweaks to make development easier while Sony is bending over backwards to appeal to them, and even Nintendo is loosening things up. Interesting read.
I want to piggyback off of this with a question. Industry Thread has nearly always been focused on AAA development. It is completely understandable because that's where the bulk of the money is. What about the somewhat new surge of indie development? I understand that, individually, those guys don't even make a fly's tear into an ocean, however, collectively, they HAVE to have made a significant enough impact, right? I mean, I look at Steam and SO MUCH of the content on there is indie developers, and I think it's fairly obvious that Valve is making money hand over fist because of Steam. I'm not savvy enough to search through all the news articles and all that, but was hoping more on your takes on this concept.
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You know, this talk about Microsoft annoying indies reminds me that PAR just did a big thing on it. Essentially Microsoft's refusing to make tweaks to make development easier while Sony is bending over backwards to appeal to them, and even Nintendo is loosening things up. Interesting read.
I want to piggyback off of this with a question. Industry Thread has nearly always been focused on AAA development. It is completely understandable because that's where the bulk of the money is. What about the somewhat new surge of indie development? I understand that, individually, those guys don't even make a fly's tear into an ocean, however, collectively, they HAVE to have made a significant enough impact, right? I mean, I look at Steam and SO MUCH of the content on there is indie developers, and I think it's fairly obvious that Valve is making money hand over fist because of Steam. I'm not savvy enough to search through all the news articles and all that, but was hoping more on your takes on this concept.
It may just be that because the sales of individual indie games are so small, they're hard to notice. And to an extent it's hard to fully gauge their impact because Steam never releases sales figures (*shakes fist*).
There's also a thriving indie scene on smartphones and tablets, but while indie games frequently pop up on the best-seller charts it's hard to separate how well they're doing from the success of all the free-to-play stuff and the new big mobile developers like Rovio.
I'll agree that smaller, indie games seem to be one of the main drivers of PC gaming nowadays, but there seems to be a lack of hard data.
Ninja Snarl has it right about SR4 being critical for them. Though... it's out August 20th? A little less than two years after the last one... man, it's going to be tough to make a game of that size be great in that short a span. Let's see if they can do it.
But it's just the expansion pack DLC that Volition was going to put out, now beefed up and turned into a retail release.
Naw, almost all the Enter the Dominatrix was scrapped. SR4 is a balls out full retail release. Seriously, they're going nuts with this one.
Now I'm a little worried, though. If there's enough people out there who think SR4 is just Expansion DLC being sold to them for $60, and Deep Silver doesn't do enough to inform consumers otherwise, Saint's Row/Volition could potentially be in some trouble...
I loved all the Saints Row games but series fatigue has me completely "meh" on SR4 so I probably won't get it. They really need to give some of this shit a rest for a few seasons and come back when interest has waned.
You know, this talk about Microsoft annoying indies reminds me that PAR just did a big thing on it. Essentially Microsoft's refusing to make tweaks to make development easier while Sony is bending over backwards to appeal to them, and even Nintendo is loosening things up. Interesting read.
Interesting. I can't help but think that the article is very speculative--since Microsoft appears to be the portal with the actual existing infrastructure (and a patching process that 'annoys' developers), while so much of the enthusiasm for Sony and Nintendo's moves (particularly Nintendo) is based on speculation and promises, rather than actual existing services, and a somewhat slim book of examples. At least that's the impression I got from the article. It's not invalid by any means because of that--attitude is a big part of this, and we're reminded that catering to egos and perceptions is as much an issue for indie studios as major ones.
Microsoft could very well be about to be left behind in this area. Their PC/mobile stores are packed to the gills with small-developed apps (and as in the iOS App Store, the comfortable majority is crap), because XNA is open and proven. But that doesn't translate well to the video game market, it seems. I guess how the company handles XBLIG for the next platform of XBL (rename, revamp or drop) will determine much of that. I'd say they should take a note from Sony and Nintendo, but to be completely honest the last I checked either console, they weren't really making an effort to actually promote indie-developed games either. Only PC distribution services were. Maybe that should be their model.
Word on the street is, while Crytek has no current interest in Darksiders 3, Crytek USA wants the brand anyway. Considering the new company boasts ex-Vigil staff, and is indeed headed by the studio's former boss, it's hardly surprising the team wants its baby back.
"Going to bid on Darksiders IP," Tweeted boss-man David Adams. "Put 7 years of heart and soul into that franchise, and I think it belongs at home with its creators."
I further confirmed Crytek's intention with Vigil co-founder Ryan Stefanelli, who told me the company intends to make a play for Darksiders at the next opportunity.
"When the Darksiders IP goes up for auction, Crytek will be bidding for it," he said. "Not much more to say since the rest is left up to courts and legal shenanigans, but we're all excited at the prospect."
My respect for the Darksiders series is no secret, and I found its demise in THQ's rubble to be one of the real lasting shames of the whole affair. I hope Crytek USA can get its hands on the license, and the people who clearly put their love into the Darksiders name get to at least regain control of it, even if they never get to make another game. This series deserved way, way better.
Minecraft has exceeded six million sales on XBLA, according to developer 4J Studios.
“Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has now sold over six million copies,” the studio announced via Twitter.
Mojang revealed the game’s astonishing performance across all formats at the end of last year, with XBLA, PC and mobile versions shifting 500,000 on Christmas day.
Mojang is now also considering bringing Minecraft to PSN, while the 360 version will hit retail shelves next month.
How many AAA games wish they had those kind of sells.
I bet the company makes forts from stacks of dollar bills.
Probably has their own moat filled with gold coins too.
I really hope 4J are getting a healthy share of that considering they're the ones actually making it all work.
How are Crytek so big? Don't they have like a billion studios all around the world or something? The Crysis franchise is alright, I guess. But it's hardly Call of fucking Duty. Well, OK the last one was. But still, where is all this money coming from?
Minecraft has exceeded six million sales on XBLA, according to developer 4J Studios.
“Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has now sold over six million copies,” the studio announced via Twitter.
Mojang revealed the game’s astonishing performance across all formats at the end of last year, with XBLA, PC and mobile versions shifting 500,000 on Christmas day.
Mojang is now also considering bringing Minecraft to PSN, while the 360 version will hit retail shelves next month.
How many AAA games wish they had those kind of sells.
I bet the company makes forts from stacks of dollar bills.
Probably has their own moat filled with gold coins too.
With the way the news has been going lately, most companies would send out a sales report citing 6 million not meeting their internal goal, close the studio and fire the CEO.
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How are Crytek so big? Don't they have like a billion studios all around the world or something? The Crysis franchise is alright, I guess. But it's hardly Call of fucking Duty. Well, OK the last one was. But still, where is all this money coming from?
They don't spend a quarter of the marketing the other big players do. I'm guessing they probably pay appropriate salaries and have eliminated redundant positions. That's how you become successful and can enjoy selling 2-3 million of a franchise to net a tidy profit for everyone instead of falling flat on your face if something doesn't sell 5 million in the first week.
Minecraft's popularity has always confused me. Not that I don't think it is a great game, but it always struck me as exactly the kind of niche oddity that normally attracts a core following but never goes much further. Certainly not the mainstream juggernaut it has become. I guess I just don't see what the hook is, outside of the basic mechanics which have been done before plenty. Is it one of those perfect storm situations like WoW?
0
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Minecraft has exceeded six million sales on XBLA, according to developer 4J Studios.
“Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has now sold over six million copies,” the studio announced via Twitter.
Mojang revealed the game’s astonishing performance across all formats at the end of last year, with XBLA, PC and mobile versions shifting 500,000 on Christmas day.
Mojang is now also considering bringing Minecraft to PSN, while the 360 version will hit retail shelves next month.
How many AAA games wish they had those kind of sells.
I bet the company makes forts from stacks of dollar bills.
Probably has their own moat filled with gold coins too.
With the way the news has been going lately, most companies would send out a sales report citing 6 million not meeting their internal goal, close the studio and fire the CEO.
Activision Blizzard releases Warcraft (not to be confused with Warcraft: Orcs and Humans). Game sells 4 million copies. Activision destroys Blizzard with massive layoffs.
0
MordaRazgromМорда РазгромRuling the Taffer KingdomRegistered Userregular
Minecraft's popularity has always confused me. Not that I don't think it is a great game, but it always struck me as exactly the kind of niche oddity that normally attracts a core following but never goes much further. Certainly not the mainstream juggernaut it has become. I guess I just don't see what the hook is, outside of the basic mechanics which have been done before plenty. Is it one of those perfect storm situations like WoW?
I think it can be reasonably attributed to the fact that it is "digital Legos". When you're the first with that idea, it's kind of hard to imagine how that idea wouldn't make money hand over fist.
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Minecraft's popularity has always confused me. Not that I don't think it is a great game, but it always struck me as exactly the kind of niche oddity that normally attracts a core following but never goes much further. Certainly not the mainstream juggernaut it has become. I guess I just don't see what the hook is, outside of the basic mechanics which have been done before plenty. Is it one of those perfect storm situations like WoW?
Very simple and easy to pick up with an appeal to creativity. You don't need to be good at art to make something in Minecraft because it's all blocks and cubes. Toss in the free advertising from youtube juggernauts and you have a recipe for success.
Minecraft's popularity has always confused me. Not that I don't think it is a great game, but it always struck me as exactly the kind of niche oddity that normally attracts a core following but never goes much further. Certainly not the mainstream juggernaut it has become. I guess I just don't see what the hook is, outside of the basic mechanics which have been done before plenty. Is it one of those perfect storm situations like WoW?
Beyond the "Digital Legos" aspect, Minecraft is designed in such a way that allows for maximum viral marketing. Somebody takes Minecraft and makes something cool with it, posts their creation on Youtube, others see it and think "Hey, that game looks fun!" and buy a copy. Rinse and repeat your way to millions of sales.
Minecraft has exceeded six million sales on XBLA, according to developer 4J Studios.
“Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has now sold over six million copies,” the studio announced via Twitter.
Mojang revealed the game’s astonishing performance across all formats at the end of last year, with XBLA, PC and mobile versions shifting 500,000 on Christmas day.
Mojang is now also considering bringing Minecraft to PSN, while the 360 version will hit retail shelves next month.
How many AAA games wish they had those kind of sells.
I bet the company makes forts from stacks of dollar bills.
Probably has their own moat filled with gold coins too.
Minecraft's popularity has always confused me. Not that I don't think it is a great game, but it always struck me as exactly the kind of niche oddity that normally attracts a core following but never goes much further. Certainly not the mainstream juggernaut it has become. I guess I just don't see what the hook is, outside of the basic mechanics which have been done before plenty. Is it one of those perfect storm situations like WoW?
I think it can be reasonably attributed to the fact that it is "digital Legos". When you're the first with that idea, it's kind of hard to imagine how that idea wouldn't make money hand over fist.
This is probably the best way to put it. I've seen people mention before that Minecraft isn't the first game of its type so it shouldn't be credited with the concept, but really, that kinda crap is moot. What matters is execution and exposure, and pure old luck. There's lots of games, films, TV, novels, etc. that all were the first to breach some new territory or concept, but overtaken by others that hit at the right time or executed on things better.
Mind you this is only on the metric for success - original credit should go where it should go. But it is not the sole qualifier for success.
I'm actually kinda shocked the industry hasn't done its typical, "QUICK, WE NEED TO CAPITALIZE ON THAT NEW GOLD MINE" thing with Minecraft. Maybe it's for the better that it hasn't, because it could be a sign that the industry has learned that copycat mentality just wastes time and money. What I like about Minecraft's success is that it blows AAA development out of the water and shows the power of indie game development. Nintendo opened its doors to indie games, Sony supposedly is starting with the PS4, and hopefully Microsoft follows suit. Though, Minecraft's success on the 360 could actually make Microsoft the one lone, bold idiot of the trio that goes, "See, our nickel and diming of small developers works!"
The absolutely massive amount of Minecraft clones that are out there is mind blowing. Minecraft was semi-based on another game but these are flat out copies, sometimes even using the same textures. Yet they still make money. Shit's weird yo.
I'm still rather surprised Minecraft has sold so well on the 360. I thought it was almost entirely a PC thing, except that it will run on any computer. Badly. Regardless of how powerful it is.
Minecraft has exceeded six million sales on XBLA, according to developer 4J Studios.
“Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has now sold over six million copies,” the studio announced via Twitter.
Mojang revealed the game’s astonishing performance across all formats at the end of last year, with XBLA, PC and mobile versions shifting 500,000 on Christmas day.
Mojang is now also considering bringing Minecraft to PSN, while the 360 version will hit retail shelves next month.
How many AAA games wish they had those kind of sells.
I bet the company makes forts from stacks of dollar bills.
Probably has their own moat filled with gold coins too.
With the way the news has been going lately, most companies would send out a sales report citing 6 million not meeting their internal goal, close the studio and fire the CEO.
Minecraft has been on Xbox for almost a year--so 6 million not being a lot for ~10 months is a depressing reality among the expectations of AAA publishers.
Minecraft's popularity has always confused me. Not that I don't think it is a great game, but it always struck me as exactly the kind of niche oddity that normally attracts a core following but never goes much further. Certainly not the mainstream juggernaut it has become. I guess I just don't see what the hook is, outside of the basic mechanics which have been done before plenty. Is it one of those perfect storm situations like WoW?
I think it can be reasonably attributed to the fact that it is "digital Legos". When you're the first with that idea, it's kind of hard to imagine how that idea wouldn't make money hand over fist.
This is probably the best way to put it. I've seen people mention before that Minecraft isn't the first game of its type so it shouldn't be credited with the concept, but really, that kinda crap is moot. What matters is execution and exposure, and pure old luck. There's lots of games, films, TV, novels, etc. that all were the first to breach some new territory or concept, but overtaken by others that hit at the right time or executed on things better.
Mind you this is only on the metric for success - original credit should go where it should go. But it is not the sole qualifier for success.
I'm actually kinda shocked the industry hasn't done its typical, "QUICK, WE NEED TO CAPITALIZE ON THAT NEW GOLD MINE" thing with Minecraft. Maybe it's for the better that it hasn't, because it could be a sign that the industry has learned that copycat mentality just wastes time and money. What I like about Minecraft's success is that it blows AAA development out of the water and shows the power of indie game development. Nintendo opened its doors to indie games, Sony supposedly is starting with the PS4, and hopefully Microsoft follows suit. Though, Minecraft's success on the 360 could actually make Microsoft the one lone, bold idiot of the trio that goes, "See, our nickel and diming of small developers works!"
Xbox Indie Games sure did, but that's about the extent of it.
+1
L Ron HowardThe duckMinnesotaRegistered Userregular
Minecraft's popularity has always confused me. Not that I don't think it is a great game, but it always struck me as exactly the kind of niche oddity that normally attracts a core following but never goes much further. Certainly not the mainstream juggernaut it has become. I guess I just don't see what the hook is, outside of the basic mechanics which have been done before plenty. Is it one of those perfect storm situations like WoW?
I think it can be reasonably attributed to the fact that it is "digital Legos". When you're the first with that idea, it's kind of hard to imagine how that idea wouldn't make money hand over fist.
This is probably the best way to put it. I've seen people mention before that Minecraft isn't the first game of its type so it shouldn't be credited with the concept, but really, that kinda crap is moot. What matters is execution and exposure, and pure old luck. There's lots of games, films, TV, novels, etc. that all were the first to breach some new territory or concept, but overtaken by others that hit at the right time or executed on things better.
Mind you this is only on the metric for success - original credit should go where it should go. But it is not the sole qualifier for success.
I'm actually kinda shocked the industry hasn't done its typical, "QUICK, WE NEED TO CAPITALIZE ON THAT NEW GOLD MINE" thing with Minecraft. Maybe it's for the better that it hasn't, because it could be a sign that the industry has learned that copycat mentality just wastes time and money. What I like about Minecraft's success is that it blows AAA development out of the water and shows the power of indie game development. Nintendo opened its doors to indie games, Sony supposedly is starting with the PS4, and hopefully Microsoft follows suit. Though, Minecraft's success on the 360 could actually make Microsoft the one lone, bold idiot of the trio that goes, "See, our nickel and diming of small developers works!"
Xbox Indie Games sure did, but that's about the extent of it.
Maybe I'm missing something obvious on the Wii Store, but XBLIG, with its problems, seems to be a far better showing. Better late than never absolutely, but I don't think Nintendo's quite become a haven for small development and distribution. It could just be "Old junk, new hotness".
Some Wii U owners are disappointed to see Battlefield 4 is not coming to the console. What, exactly, is the reason for that?
Patrick Bach: The biggest problem we have right now is we don't want to back down from what we see as our low spec machines. We right now don't have support for the Wii U in the Frostbite engine. The reason for that is it takes development time. What should we focus on to create the best possible Battlefield experience? We are now focused on PC and the current-gen platforms, and then there might be other platforms in the future that we can't talk about...
One of them you can.
Patrick Bach: Yes, in theory, but we won't. But it's important to understand it's about focus and setting the bar. Where do you start? What's the minimum? What's the maximum? What's the scale in-between.
Tobias Dahl: We have long experience with scalability. We've always been making PC games. But we don't want to ship different games dependent on the platform. We need to set the limit somewhere, to have the lowest spec for this title.
Patrick Bach: We could probably make a Wii U game in theory. But to make the most out of the Wii U, that's a different game because of the different peripherals. We want to utilise all the power of each console.
Are you saying it's not about the power of the Wii U itself, rather, it's about the controller?
Patrick Bach: It's everything. We could potentially make a Battlefield port for the Vita. But what would that game be? Is it something we could scale down from what you saw in the gameplay video, or would it have to be a complete redesign of the whole game?
It's about, where do you put your focus? And the Wii U is not a part of our focus right now.
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Minecraft's popularity has always confused me. Not that I don't think it is a great game, but it always struck me as exactly the kind of niche oddity that normally attracts a core following but never goes much further. Certainly not the mainstream juggernaut it has become. I guess I just don't see what the hook is, outside of the basic mechanics which have been done before plenty. Is it one of those perfect storm situations like WoW?
I think it can be reasonably attributed to the fact that it is "digital Legos". When you're the first with that idea, it's kind of hard to imagine how that idea wouldn't make money hand over fist.
This is probably the best way to put it. I've seen people mention before that Minecraft isn't the first game of its type so it shouldn't be credited with the concept, but really, that kinda crap is moot. What matters is execution and exposure, and pure old luck. There's lots of games, films, TV, novels, etc. that all were the first to breach some new territory or concept, but overtaken by others that hit at the right time or executed on things better.
Mind you this is only on the metric for success - original credit should go where it should go. But it is not the sole qualifier for success.
I'm actually kinda shocked the industry hasn't done its typical, "QUICK, WE NEED TO CAPITALIZE ON THAT NEW GOLD MINE" thing with Minecraft. Maybe it's for the better that it hasn't, because it could be a sign that the industry has learned that copycat mentality just wastes time and money. What I like about Minecraft's success is that it blows AAA development out of the water and shows the power of indie game development. Nintendo opened its doors to indie games, Sony supposedly is starting with the PS4, and hopefully Microsoft follows suit. Though, Minecraft's success on the 360 could actually make Microsoft the one lone, bold idiot of the trio that goes, "See, our nickel and diming of small developers works!"
Xbox Indie Games sure did, but that's about the extent of it.
Maybe I'm missing something obvious on the Wii Store, but XBLIG, with its problems, seems to be a far better showing. Better late than never absolutely, but I don't think Nintendo's quite become a haven for small development and distribution. It could just be "Old junk, new hotness".
Nintendo changed its indie development and distribution policies (or announced the changes, dunno if they're implemented yet). This was like last week. But they took the step is what I was getting at.
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They bought less games because less were being made apparently. Which indicates the market is there, you just have to cater to it.
A large investment/large risk/large reward structure doesn't support anything but behemoths. The only winning strategy is to diversify enough that you can absorb failures. I'd suggest we are more likely to see continued consolidation among AAA publishers rather then new ones popping up.
Publishers are going to have to find a way to cut costs while still putting out a quality product if they want to stay competitive.
If that means fewer blockbuster titles so be it. Not every title can be a blockbuster and I don't think that's a realistic goal to shoot for. Spending that much on a single game can make or break a company, especially when the margin for error is so slim. Even a successful launch can be disastrous if they don't sell enough to recoup their costs. Don't put all your eggs in one basket so to speak which is what they've been doing. All it takes is one little unfortunate bump in the road and you've got a mess on your hands. That's not a good way to do business.
Sure, they should diversify and get in on the handheld/mobile market but they also need to make fewer big budget blockbuster titles and spend less when they do make them.
Naw, almost all the Enter the Dominatrix was scrapped. SR4 is a balls out full retail release. Seriously, they're going nuts with this one.
Now I'm a little worried, though. If there's enough people out there who think SR4 is just Expansion DLC being sold to them for $60, and Deep Silver doesn't do enough to inform consumers otherwise, Saint's Row/Volition could potentially be in some trouble...
2K makes AAA games to some extent, but I feel like they have one of the best portfolios in the industry right now for the big guys.
Is the final object for AAA games to just have everyone merge into 2 conglomerates called Cokea and Pepsivision? With tens of thousands of people producing AAA games?
The general game buying consumer has no idea what Enter the Dominatrix is, so the only people Volition needs to worry about are enthusiasts. And, hey, now we know too!
How many AAA games wish they had those kind of sells.
I bet the company makes forts from stacks of dollar bills.
Probably has their own moat filled with gold coins too.
And anyone who knows anything about Minecraft could tell you, they'd invest in a DIAMOND moat, not gold.
http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/tales-from-the-trenches-how-microsoft-is-losing-the-battle-for-indie-develo
I want to piggyback off of this with a question. Industry Thread has nearly always been focused on AAA development. It is completely understandable because that's where the bulk of the money is. What about the somewhat new surge of indie development? I understand that, individually, those guys don't even make a fly's tear into an ocean, however, collectively, they HAVE to have made a significant enough impact, right? I mean, I look at Steam and SO MUCH of the content on there is indie developers, and I think it's fairly obvious that Valve is making money hand over fist because of Steam. I'm not savvy enough to search through all the news articles and all that, but was hoping more on your takes on this concept.
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It may just be that because the sales of individual indie games are so small, they're hard to notice. And to an extent it's hard to fully gauge their impact because Steam never releases sales figures (*shakes fist*).
There's also a thriving indie scene on smartphones and tablets, but while indie games frequently pop up on the best-seller charts it's hard to separate how well they're doing from the success of all the free-to-play stuff and the new big mobile developers like Rovio.
I'll agree that smaller, indie games seem to be one of the main drivers of PC gaming nowadays, but there seems to be a lack of hard data.
I loved all the Saints Row games but series fatigue has me completely "meh" on SR4 so I probably won't get it. They really need to give some of this shit a rest for a few seasons and come back when interest has waned.
Interesting. I can't help but think that the article is very speculative--since Microsoft appears to be the portal with the actual existing infrastructure (and a patching process that 'annoys' developers), while so much of the enthusiasm for Sony and Nintendo's moves (particularly Nintendo) is based on speculation and promises, rather than actual existing services, and a somewhat slim book of examples. At least that's the impression I got from the article. It's not invalid by any means because of that--attitude is a big part of this, and we're reminded that catering to egos and perceptions is as much an issue for indie studios as major ones.
Microsoft could very well be about to be left behind in this area. Their PC/mobile stores are packed to the gills with small-developed apps (and as in the iOS App Store, the comfortable majority is crap), because XNA is open and proven. But that doesn't translate well to the video game market, it seems. I guess how the company handles XBLIG for the next platform of XBL (rename, revamp or drop) will determine much of that. I'd say they should take a note from Sony and Nintendo, but to be completely honest the last I checked either console, they weren't really making an effort to actually promote indie-developed games either. Only PC distribution services were. Maybe that should be their model.
Be nice if they get it.
I really hope 4J are getting a healthy share of that considering they're the ones actually making it all work.
It always looks incredibly generic to me.
But hey, cool, grab up Darksiders. Always good to have more creative options, more work to be done, more jobs to go around.
With the way the news has been going lately, most companies would send out a sales report citing 6 million not meeting their internal goal, close the studio and fire the CEO.
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They don't spend a quarter of the marketing the other big players do. I'm guessing they probably pay appropriate salaries and have eliminated redundant positions. That's how you become successful and can enjoy selling 2-3 million of a franchise to net a tidy profit for everyone instead of falling flat on your face if something doesn't sell 5 million in the first week.
I know there is a fan movement to bid on Homeworld, but I really, REALLY hope Sega goes after that.
Activision Blizzard releases Warcraft (not to be confused with Warcraft: Orcs and Humans). Game sells 4 million copies. Activision destroys Blizzard with massive layoffs.
I think it can be reasonably attributed to the fact that it is "digital Legos". When you're the first with that idea, it's kind of hard to imagine how that idea wouldn't make money hand over fist.
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Very simple and easy to pick up with an appeal to creativity. You don't need to be good at art to make something in Minecraft because it's all blocks and cubes. Toss in the free advertising from youtube juggernauts and you have a recipe for success.
Beyond the "Digital Legos" aspect, Minecraft is designed in such a way that allows for maximum viral marketing. Somebody takes Minecraft and makes something cool with it, posts their creation on Youtube, others see it and think "Hey, that game looks fun!" and buy a copy. Rinse and repeat your way to millions of sales.
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Hell, isn't the actual Lego Minecraft set more expensive than Minecraft itself?
I'll never understand Minecraft.
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This is probably the best way to put it. I've seen people mention before that Minecraft isn't the first game of its type so it shouldn't be credited with the concept, but really, that kinda crap is moot. What matters is execution and exposure, and pure old luck. There's lots of games, films, TV, novels, etc. that all were the first to breach some new territory or concept, but overtaken by others that hit at the right time or executed on things better.
Mind you this is only on the metric for success - original credit should go where it should go. But it is not the sole qualifier for success.
I'm actually kinda shocked the industry hasn't done its typical, "QUICK, WE NEED TO CAPITALIZE ON THAT NEW GOLD MINE" thing with Minecraft. Maybe it's for the better that it hasn't, because it could be a sign that the industry has learned that copycat mentality just wastes time and money. What I like about Minecraft's success is that it blows AAA development out of the water and shows the power of indie game development. Nintendo opened its doors to indie games, Sony supposedly is starting with the PS4, and hopefully Microsoft follows suit. Though, Minecraft's success on the 360 could actually make Microsoft the one lone, bold idiot of the trio that goes, "See, our nickel and diming of small developers works!"
I'm still rather surprised Minecraft has sold so well on the 360. I thought it was almost entirely a PC thing, except that it will run on any computer. Badly. Regardless of how powerful it is.
Minecraft has been on Xbox for almost a year--so 6 million not being a lot for ~10 months is a depressing reality among the expectations of AAA publishers.
Xbox Indie Games sure did, but that's about the extent of it.
I can name three separate, local, indie devs that are not working together, that are working on their Minecraft knock-off.
I meant the big guys in this case.
Maybe I'm missing something obvious on the Wii Store, but XBLIG, with its problems, seems to be a far better showing. Better late than never absolutely, but I don't think Nintendo's quite become a haven for small development and distribution. It could just be "Old junk, new hotness".
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Oh hoh hoh I'm such a riot.
Nintendo changed its indie development and distribution policies (or announced the changes, dunno if they're implemented yet). This was like last week. But they took the step is what I was getting at.