AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
It seems like the layoffs we are hearing these days are from big publishers who buy studios and then lay off the teams, or form the teams for a project and then lay people off.
A few weeks ago Brad Muir was on the Giant bomb TNT program talking about his first experience in the industry making Alter Echo. He brought up how the team was just starting to gel, how everyone was clicking and working extremely efficiently.. and then he was fired at the wrap party, and all the talent was dispersed because it would be cheaper to hire a new team than to have staff on retainer.
Big games anymore are done by big teams. And big teams take management, and "synergy" (as much as I hate that term). While an individual has a much easier time finding work if they have a published game under their belt, the fact that publishers destroys teams seems to make what you are describing really hard to do, Rainbow.
That being said, you are in the industry and I'm not, so I'm going to caveat all that by saying I may be very, very way off base.
As has been noted, Jaffe's comments would mean more if this was a seller's market. No, the gaming industry is a case where there are tons of "jobless" out there - and if a publisher finds one who won't take the shitty deal, then the'll just go to the next.
That's missing his point entirely. The point is that it's up to you as a developer to build up your brand to the point where publishers are willing to work with you on even footing.
How does one build up their brand without publishers in the first place?
Create Indy games and hope for a hit? Isn't that kind of an extreme edge case?
No, I'm saying that when you're starting off, you take the "crummy" deal because you're brand new and any deal is better than no deal. But you make the best of the crummy deal and use that to help make your next deal a little better, and so on until you're in the position that you want to be in. Or you just keep taking work-for-hire assignments to pay the bills and work on what you really want to be doing in your extra time until you manage to make a game that's a big enough success that you can stop looking for assignments & work on your own projects full-time.
The problem is if your company is living deal to deal, you have no leverage to get a better deal because the publisher knows you have no choice but to take it or close down.
Now if you can have publishers breaking down you're door with competing offers that's great, but its rather abnormal for the industry. Usually, anytime a company gets a major hit, they tend to get bought and become slaves to that hit, and are treated no better for it.
Developers that have the freedom to do whatever they want, and aren't starving for cash can be counted on one hand.
+1
Zxerolfor the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't doso i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered Userregular
All I'm reading there is, "Don't like it? Get better lol." It's like the developer equivalent of fuck you got mine.
I hope they don't do always on, I've bought p much every console since the atari 2600 and that would probably get me to stop buying them
Diablo 3 has soured me on the whole concept
0
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
the only developers i can think of with creative freedoms are megagiants who are really more publishers, like Valve, or the truly huge ones who have been around forever, like Blizzard.
the only developers i can think of with creative freedoms are megagiants who are really more publishers, like Valve, or the truly huge ones who have been around forever, like Blizzard.
When you're raking in more money on an annual basis than some small nations, not even Bobby Kotick will fuck with you.
It seems like the layoffs we are hearing these days are from big publishers who buy studios and then lay off the teams, or form the teams for a project and then lay people off.
A few weeks ago Brad Muir was on the Giant bomb TNT program talking about his first experience in the industry making Alter Echo. He brought up how the team was just starting to gel, how everyone was clicking and working extremely efficiently.. and then he was fired at the wrap party, and all the talent was dispersed because it would be cheaper to hire a new team than to have staff on retainer.
Big games anymore are done by big teams. And big teams take management, and "synergy" (as much as I hate that term). While an individual has a much easier time finding work if they have a published game under their belt, the fact that publishers destroys teams seems to make what you are describing really hard to do, Rainbow.
That being said, you are in the industry and I'm not, so I'm going to caveat all that by saying I may be very, very way off base.
When you're a minor game developer you have nothing... You take whatver work comes your way
Cowen & Company today released an investor note estimating sales of Gears of War: Judgement to be around 425,000 units in the US during the month compared to first month sales of over 2 million units for Gears of War 3, released in September 2011.
And sales of God of War: Ascension are estimated at just 360,000 units compared to 1.1 million for God of War 3, released in March 2010.
And people were curious about Infinite sales seeing as Take Two hasn't said a peep. Well, it's predicted to be doing ok. Which means it bombed.
Titles that will have performed much better during the month according to Cowen & Company estimates are Square Enix' Tomb Raider with 696,000 units in 33 days and Take-Two's Bioshock Infinite with 665,000 copies sold in 10 days.
So here's a weird thing I'm not sure where to put:
My friend, who is a lady, has had a bunch of problems wirth Xbox Live getting season pass episodes to show up in her queue. So she's been calling their customer service and every time she finally gets a hold of a person, they spend more time coming on to her, blatantly, and making fun of girls playing video games then they do trying to help her with the problem.
I'm pretty open mouthed listening to her tell me about this shenanniganery.
0
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
edited April 2013
that sounds pretty goosey if true, though i find it extremely hard to believe
edit: what i mean is like - i work as a sales rep - and it is amazing to me how often i'll hear about something a customer said about something that *I* said, and be like "wow, how did they get that from what I said? I guess you could see the meaning that way..."
that sounds pretty goosey if true, though i find it extremely hard to believe
edit: what i mean is like - i work as a sales rep - and it is amazing to me how often i'll hear about something a customer said about something that *I* said, and be like "wow, how did they get that from what I said? I guess you could see the meaning that way..."
From what she says, it always starts with them commenting on her screen name, which is pretty feminine them moves on to how popular she must be online since girls don;t play games and then they start getting into asking what she looks like.
0
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
it just seems incredibly implausible
one person doing that to her, i can buy. every now and then a company, even a big one with strict hiring standards, will end up with a bad egg that they don't catch for a while.
one person doing that to her, i can buy. every now and then a company, even a big one with strict hiring standards, will end up with a bad egg that they don't catch for a while.
but multiple people?
It's been two. But she's only called twice.
0
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
i mean, she has had a BUNCH of problems, and apparently EVERY time she calls up, she gets some guy making jokes about her being a girl gamer and hitting on her? I can't imagine you'd use a phrase like "every time" if it was only once, or twice, so it's got to be multiple repeated occurrences.
Why is this even a topic here? Go post in the "1 reason why" thread with this shit. It has nothing to do with sales or financial info.
Early NPD predictions from our man Pach (which he's actually been pretty good about in previous months) say WiiU sold 55k in March. 17% drop from the previous month. Wii sold 85k, a drop of 50%. Yikes.
The practice of firing everyone all the time is extremely damaging to the whole industry. It's like a Baskeball team firing all the players after every match, because it's very expensive to pay them while they're not playing a match. Of course your team will be shit, because they're not getting any training between matches and they're not building the team itself.
Good personnel who knows how to work together and how to be productive within that company's framework is a lot more valuable than a couple of months of salary. It's probably the single most important "property" a gaming company could ever have.
But "we must pay the stockholders" short-term mentality means they kill the golden goose every month.
Why is this even a topic here? Go post in the "1 reason why" thread with this shit. It has nothing to do with sales or financial info.
Early NPD predictions from our man Pach (which he's actually been pretty good about in previous months) say WiiU sold 55k in March. 17% drop from the previous month. Wii sold 85k, a drop of 50%. Yikes.
the only developers i can think of with creative freedoms are megagiants who are really more publishers, like Valve, or the truly huge ones who have been around forever, like Blizzard.
Double Fine, Obsidian, Dejobaan, Vlambeer, and Supergiant Games, off the top of my head. Mojang?
KickStarter has given a number of developers decent chances, but it's generally the same idea: either have a great pitch, or let your past work drive you forward. Yacht Club Games recently closed their Kickstarter for Shovel Knight based mostly on Warforward pedigree and 8-bit nostalgia.
Why is this even a topic here? Go post in the "1 reason why" thread with this shit. It has nothing to do with sales or financial info.
Early NPD predictions from our man Pach (which he's actually been pretty good about in previous months) say WiiU sold 55k in March. 17% drop from the previous month. Wii sold 85k, a drop of 50%. Yikes.
Big games anymore are done by big teams. And big teams take management, and "synergy" (as much as I hate that term). While an individual has a much easier time finding work if they have a published game under their belt, the fact that publishers destroys teams seems to make what you are describing really hard to do, Rainbow.
That being said, you are in the industry and I'm not, so I'm going to caveat all that by saying I may be very, very way off base.
What you're talking about are developers that are directly attached to a publisher. That's a very different situation where you're entirely at the whim of the publisher because publisher and developer are just different parts of the same company.
I was talking more about developers like Wayforward & Obsidian (to name a few better known examples) who do a lot of work for various publishers but aren't directly owned by any one publisher. For companies like that, they should be doing their upmost to make sure that each contract they take on can help them in the long run (if in no other way than that try to do a good job with each contract so that they can negotiate better terms with their next one).
Speaking of companies getting fucked over by publishers, Superbot lives! Kinda.
Superbot Entertainment has “substantially shrunk down” its studio after its partnership with Sony ended earlier this year. It also confirmed to us that it is working on a new IP.
The Culver City, California studio developed PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale in partnership with Sony, and shipped the title at the end of last year. In February, Sony and Superbot issued a joint statement confirming that the relationship has ended, but on good terms.
It had been suggested to us by one source that the studio was in the process of being closed, but Superbot’s director of operations David Yang said this was not the case. “We have substantially shrunk down our operations but are still going strong while we work on a new IP,” he told us.
Following on the heels of Connecticut state senator Toni Harp's bill to ban arcade games utilizing fake guns, comes this bit of amazingly bad (and of course, broadly written) proposed legislation seeking to "ban Mature-rated games in public places."
Ostensibly, the proposed bill is aimed at arcades, whether standalone operations or as part of the entertainment at restaurants, retail stores, etc. But the wording goes much deeper (and further astray) than simply banning M-rated arcade games. Before we get to the problems inherent in the proposed bill itself, let's take a quick look at one fatal flaw, as pointed out by GamePolitics.
Unfortunately for the Assemblywoman, her bill won't have any affect on games that might be found in public places because what she is referring to are arcade machines, which aren't rated by the ESRB. So banning a game with such a rating is much like banning blue unicorns - neither exists in reality.
There's that issue. Arcade games don't carry ratings. That's one strike against the legislation. But there's a lot more that's troublesome or stupid, and plenty of it is a good mix of both. NJ Assemblywoman Linda Stender has hit the jackpot, bad bill-wise, with this one. Her press release opens with a horrendously flawed assumption stated as fact and gets worse from there.
Noting the correlation between violent video games and violent behavior, Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D- Middlesex/Somerset/Union) today announced plans to introduce a bill that would prohibit video games containing mature and adult content in public places.
If Stender's going to state this as a fact, the least she could do is offer the name of a study or two backing up this claim. But she doesn't. She simply fires off the statement that she has "noted" a "correlation." Maybe she has, but she's not saying where she made this observation.
The next sentence tops this bit of conjecture-as-fact by throwing the First Amendment down like a doormat and announcing Stender's intention to walk all over it (with the "blessing" of other NJ officials).
The bill comes as a report from the New Jersey SAFE Task Force on Gun Protection, Addiction, released by the state Attorney General this week, listed the regulation of violent video games among its recommendations to mend the root causes of mass violence.
Regulation of violent video games isn't an option, according to the SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. But whatever, it's not as though most state legislators aren't itching for some federalist action, especially when it's their homegrown legislation on the line. Someone will find an angle and pursue it until shut down by higher courts. It's a shame this so-called "task force" didn't do its homework on video games and government regulation. I would imagine this isn't its only bad suggestion.
"Games that are meant for older, more mature audiences have no place in places where children can easily access them. Video games alone do not influence violent behavior, but they can play a role. Some of the most prolific mass shootings not just in this country, but in the world had links to violent video games," said Stender. "The longer a child is exposed to video games where killing is the sole objective, the greater the chance that he or she will become numb to this type of behavior and even consider it acceptable. This bill would ensure that video games with graphic adult content would not be available to children who are not old enough to make a distinction between fantasy and reality."
If by "links," she means "owned/played video games," then she's somewhat correct. If she actually means "links," then she's right back where she started the press release -- in serious need of actual evidence. As for what exactly the bill will "ensure," that's up for debate.
One thing is sure: the bill will rake in some cash for the state. Stender's bill would "prohibit operators of a place of public accommodation from making video games with an ESRB rating of Mature or Adults Only available for use by the public." Any violations would be punishable with a $10,000 fine (for the first offense -- up to $20,000 for any subsequent offenses) under the Consumer Fraud Act. That's a pretty steep fine for something as vague as making certain games "available." (The vagueness increases exponentially with the long list of "places of public accommodation." More on that in a moment.)
That's not the only monetary punishment, though. At the Attorney General's discretion, punitive damages can also be assessed and "treble damages and costs" awarded to the "injured" party. Nice little twist, that last part. This makes playing certain video games while underage potentially profitable.
Now, the part that's most disturbing about this proposal is the "place of public accommodation" list, which is far too long and far too inclusive.
For the purposes of this bill, "place of public accommodation" means any inn, tavern, roadhouse, hotel, motel, trailer camp, summer camp, day camp, or resort camp, whether for entertainment of transient guests or accommodation of those seeking health, recreation or rest; any producer, manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, retail shop, store, establishment, or concession dealing with goods or services of any kind; any restaurant, eating house, or place where food is sold for consumption on the premises; any place maintained for the sale of ice cream, ice and fruit preparations or their derivatives, soda water or confections, or where any beverages of any kind are retailed for consumption on the premises; any garage, any public conveyance operated on land or water, or in the air, any stations and terminals thereof; any bathhouse, boardwalk, or seashore accommodation; any auditorium, meeting place, or hall; any theatre, motion-picture house, music hall, roof garden, skating rink, swimming pool, amusement and recreation park, fair, bowling alley, gymnasium, shooting gallery, billiard and pool parlor, or other place of amusement; any comfort station; any dispensary, clinic or hospital; any public library; any kindergarten, primary and secondary school, trade or business school, high school, academy, college and university, or any educational institution under the supervision of the State Board of Education, or the Commissioner of Education of New Jersey.
Stender is overstepping her bounds and seeking to regulate the actions of private entities by casting an impossibly wide net. "Taverns" and "roadhouses" aren't normally associated with drawing crowds of children, but now they'll have to worry about what sorts of games they have available in their establishments, just in case. Normally, they cater to adults but now they have to treat their entertainment as "appropriate for all ages." Again, the games on hand at these locations (including tabletop touchscreen game systems featuring a wide selection of titles) would not be rated by the ESRB, but would still likely be subject to Stender's law. (And don't forget that bars/taverns/roadhouses would fall under "where any beverages of any kind are retailed for consumption on the premises" wording as well.)
"Any retail establishment" dealing with "goods or services of any kind?" That covers a whole lot of ground. This could conceivably cover adult-oriented businesses like smoke shops, liquor stores and adult bookstores. Should they be required to clean up their selection of "available" games just in case?
What about your normal retailers, like Wal-Mart or Gamestop? If they aren't keeping mature titles under lock and key, are they making these games "available?" (Never mind the fact that 87% of the time, minors are unable to purchase M-rated games from retailers.) Or does this refer to what's loaded in demo stations? Or are we still pretending this targets in-store arcades only?
"Summer camps, day camps, resort camps" -- are these entities responsible for any games their guests bring in and "make available" for anyone to play? The camps may provide nothing but E-rated games but anything involving the public makes this a risky situation. Is there some form of IRL Section 230 that can protect businesses from the actions of their guests, like a camper setting up a console and a selection of M-rated games for other campers to enjoy? Or does this responsibility fall on the operators, forcing them to police the "content" of their campsites in order to avoid paying hefty fines?
"Any public library?" Really? If a minor uses a publicly accessible computer to access M-rated games, the library is at fault?
"[A]ny kindergarten, primary and secondary school, trade or business school, high school, academy, college and university?" This list starts where children are reasonably expected to be the majority and not exposed to "adult-oriented" entertainment, but it quickly goes off the rails and includes establishments where adults are the majority, if not 100% of the attendees.
GamePolitics suggests Stender's proposed law is aimed at arcade games, but nothing in this press release indicates it's limited to only those. The "places of public accommodation" language suggests arcade games, but there's nothing in here strictly defining the platform. The word "arcade" is never used.
It doesn't even seem to be limited to preventing children from "accessing" prohibited games. Her exact wording is: "prohibit video games containing mature and adult content in public places." She also throws in "access" and "available," but the broad wording and long list of "public places" suggests her ideal ban would prevent offending games from ever leaving people's homes -- about the only location the list doesn't name.
This is a bill Stender plans to introduce, so it's likely to be more narrowly defined before it's opened up for debate. The large chunk of "public place" language feels borrowed from somewhere else, but if that's what she's actually intending to target, this proposal is very worrying. She's clearly made her mind up about the negative effects of video games and it looks as if the Attorney General's task force is willing to ride shotgun (so to speak...).
There will be some people who will wonder why anyone would care what a plans a NJ assemblywoman may have for video game regulation. The problem is this: politicians have to start somewhere. Some fall off the lower rungs while others keep climbing. Either way, they tend to keep their head full of bad ideas with them. At some point, they're in the big leagues, able to do real damage.
Stender's proposal is a wreck -- an all-encompassing dragnet built out of baseless suppositions. It creates perverse incentives for the enforcers and ignores the Supreme Court's decision on the regulation of video games. This should never have made it as far as an internal dialog, much less a press release. If someone's aiming to top the list of Bad Video Game Legislation, they've got their work cut out for them.
But isn't that what it's about? Cheap shots on something most old voters don't understand or care about?
How "No Russion" is about living out your fantasy to kill randoms*) ... not a comment on contemporary anti-terrorism rethoric.
Or how the AC-130 mission in CoD4:MW is desensitizes our children to killing … not a commentary on how War is imitating Games.
*) This comes from someone who, while having played the mission numerous times, never thought about firing a single shot inside. "Oh, you can do that, I guess ... but why would you?"
[edit]
albeit, sans class/sensitivity.
Commodore75 on
0
Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
So Pachter:
"We think that the next-generation consoles will perform a wide range of multimedia functions," Pachter wrote in the note picked up by GamesIndustry.biz. "We should learn more in the coming months, but we expect the next Xbox to have an IPTV tuner that will allow an MSO to deliver services over the Internet outside of the MSO's regulated geographic boundaries. If we are right, any of Microsoft's MSO partners will have an incentive to subsidize the purchase of the next Xbox in exchange for a long-term service commitment (similar to the cell phone model). If the subsidies are steep, it is likely that the next Xbox will appear more affordable to many consumers than currently anticipated, and it may capture market share faster than many expect. We don't expect Sony to sit idly by watching, and believe that the PS4 will follow Microsoft's lead in short order, suggesting to us that next-generation consoles could have lower starting prices than any in history."
Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
Some interesting insight into Platinum:
Sales struggles
Minami says the biggest challenge running Platinum is finding new work for the team.
Asked to rate Platinum's progress over the past five years, he gives the developers at the studio an A. "The team has been working really hard," he says. "They've held up their end of the bargain and done a really good job of putting out really high-quality games."
On the business side, he's less enthusiastic. "Whether we've sold as well as we would have liked, or whether the company has the amount of money that everybody would love to have in the company, I think I'd probably rate it as a C or even a D.
"We obviously grew up being part of the domestic Japanese market — a lot of our staff spent time in domestic Japanese publishers, focused really on the domestic Japanese market. And now we're trying to expand and focus more outward and think about gamers worldwide. But when you think about what global success really means, that means we need to be selling more titles. Our games need to sell more copies."
As of the end of 2012, Bayonetta was Platinum's best seller, moving over a million units. But Minami says that's not good enough. "Bayonetta didn't sell what we wanted it to sell," he says. "We were hoping it was going to do a little bit better than that, though you can't put it all on the game itself. I think there were a lot of issues with when it came out, the kind of marketing behind it."
For Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Minami says it's too early to know exact numbers, but early prospects look good due to the marketing and the strength of the Metal Gear brand. "We're expecting Metal Gear Rising to sell better than Bayonetta, and obviously it's just come out," he says. "But if you look at games developed in certain Western studios, as far as sales go, they're clearly ahead of us there, and we're not going to be satisfied until we're at that level."
Minami says the main two things Platinum needs to do to get there are to rethink its production process for next-generation development — which includes more outsourcing and role specialization amongst team members — and spend time evaluating what players around the world want from its games.
"We have to think a lot about what resonates with consumers globally and find that secret sauce and make sure that goes into our games," he says. "And there's a lot of places we need to look for that: it's not just in art, it's also in game design, it's also in music ... I think the one thing that we want more than anything in the immediate future — and it's something we continue to work hard on — is we definitely want people to understand that we're making games here in Japan, but we're making games for everybody."
Currently, Platinum has two announced games in the works, both for Nintendo on Wii U — a Bayonetta sequel, and a new action game called The Wonderful 101 with an art style similar to Japanese "tokusatsu" superhero shows like Ultraman and Kamen Rider.
Asked if he thinks The Wonderful 101 fits his description of a game that can appeal worldwide, Minami points to Viewtiful Joe, a 2003 Capcom game with a similar style and the same director, Hideki Kamiya. "When people think back to Viewtiful Joe, a lot of them say, 'That was a very Japanese-focused game,'" Minami says. "But Viewtiful Joe sold more copies in America than anywhere else."
Tatsuya Minami
He's open to change, however. "Maybe we have more to learn about what graphical style appeals most to Americans or Europeans — a more globally appealing art style," he says. "The goal ultimately there is we have to keep the Platinum Games flavor alive while also appealing to people in that way."
Unlike Platinum's initial deal with Sega, its current agreements with Nintendo exist on a game-by-game basis, freeing the rest of the studio to work with other publishers. Minami plans to split Platinum's work between first- and third-party publishers in the future, and currently has a tech team "working on building the right environment inside the company for what next-gen development is going to be." When Platinum's logo appeared on stage at Sony's PlayStation 4 announcement press conference, fans speculated over what that meant, and Minami says it was less about a specific product and more about "our stance towards the platform."
"As far as the company goes, moving forward we're probably going to be open to two different kinds of work," he says. "Obviously we have to work with a publisher. Right now, we're working with both third-party publishers and first-party publishers, and I think that style of who we work with and how we work with them is not going to change in the future. We're on Sony's list because if we're going to work with third-party publishers, we're obviously going to be making multiplatform games and that means that we will be making PS4 games. Obviously we can't go into too much detail about what we're talking about in the future, but no matter whether we're talking with Japanese or Western third-party publishers, we're always talking about multiplatform development with them. So you'll see us on the PS4 eventually."
Minami says that Platinum has also experimented with iOS and Android prototypes, "as side projects." "We're thinking about those and what we can do in that space," he says. "We prototype things a lot. The stuff we prototype for mobile is very low risk, just playing-around stuff. It's almost research projects."
And despite the studio's expansion into external licenses, global appeal, new hardware and potential mobile software, Minami says he's careful not to turn Platinum into the kind of environment he experienced at Capcom in his latter years there, making games that have to be made instead of those people want to make.
Big games anymore are done by big teams. And big teams take management, and "synergy" (as much as I hate that term). While an individual has a much easier time finding work if they have a published game under their belt, the fact that publishers destroys teams seems to make what you are describing really hard to do, Rainbow.
That being said, you are in the industry and I'm not, so I'm going to caveat all that by saying I may be very, very way off base.
What you're talking about are developers that are directly attached to a publisher. That's a very different situation where you're entirely at the whim of the publisher because publisher and developer are just different parts of the same company.
I was talking more about developers like Wayforward & Obsidian (to name a few better known examples) who do a lot of work for various publishers but aren't directly owned by any one publisher. For companies like that, they should be doing their upmost to make sure that each contract they take on can help them in the long run (if in no other way than that try to do a good job with each contract so that they can negotiate better terms with their next one).
Obsidian is usually the first example of a smaller dev that is chronically jerked around by publishers. See: SEGA sitting on a finished game for 6 months without letting anything being done with it. Or the whole 84-85 metacritic thing
+1
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
"We think that the next-generation consoles will perform a wide range of multimedia functions," Pachter wrote in the note picked up by GamesIndustry.biz. "We should learn more in the coming months, but we expect the next Xbox to have an IPTV tuner that will allow an MSO to deliver services over the Internet outside of the MSO's regulated geographic boundaries. If we are right, any of Microsoft's MSO partners will have an incentive to subsidize the purchase of the next Xbox in exchange for a long-term service commitment (similar to the cell phone model). If the subsidies are steep, it is likely that the next Xbox will appear more affordable to many consumers than currently anticipated, and it may capture market share faster than many expect. We don't expect Sony to sit idly by watching, and believe that the PS4 will follow Microsoft's lead in short order, suggesting to us that next-generation consoles could have lower starting prices than any in history."
Yes and no....this would make the initial purchase cheaper, but in the long run, the console will be more expensive.
Also, I doubt even with a subscription model that they'll drop the price lower than 300.00 which would not be the cheapest in history.
Well I mean... yeah he's uninformed about the cheapest price "ever," but he might be right about the Durango. If you think about it, MS may make the new 360 model a subsidize-only piece of hardware (which hopefully also covers your Live subscription), and then the Durango will be the hardware you buy and own. This would solve the problem people have with having to buy two units from them, and it'd also solve that rumored cost of $150. This would be the smartest move MS can make with this two-console concept.
Can we ban Patcher stuff from this thread? Please?
I mean, is there anyone out there that doesn't think the service fee subsidized 360 deals they've been doing isn't setting the ground work for the next console to be available that way as well? You don't just setup the infrastructure to do that and then drop it the next generation of systems. Oh, but since Patcher says it, it is somehow news. The guy is a hack whose predictions lies somewhere between common sense and guessing.
If VGChartz is banned, I fully believe he should be as well.
Well, so much for the theory that Platinum's a new Nintendo second-party. Still, given their iffy (sales) track record and the fact that the biz just keeps getting risk-averse in contrast to Platinum's wackiness, we'll see where they end up.
As far as cable operators subsidizing the 720? Yeah, that'll be a stretch. The cable companies would much rather rent the boxes to customers who have to return them when they quit the service rather than sell them the boxes outright. This really smacks of "I predict with 100% accuracy that Nintendo will release a Wii HD because I say so, dammit!"
Posts
A few weeks ago Brad Muir was on the Giant bomb TNT program talking about his first experience in the industry making Alter Echo. He brought up how the team was just starting to gel, how everyone was clicking and working extremely efficiently.. and then he was fired at the wrap party, and all the talent was dispersed because it would be cheaper to hire a new team than to have staff on retainer.
Big games anymore are done by big teams. And big teams take management, and "synergy" (as much as I hate that term). While an individual has a much easier time finding work if they have a published game under their belt, the fact that publishers destroys teams seems to make what you are describing really hard to do, Rainbow.
That being said, you are in the industry and I'm not, so I'm going to caveat all that by saying I may be very, very way off base.
The problem is if your company is living deal to deal, you have no leverage to get a better deal because the publisher knows you have no choice but to take it or close down.
Now if you can have publishers breaking down you're door with competing offers that's great, but its rather abnormal for the industry. Usually, anytime a company gets a major hit, they tend to get bought and become slaves to that hit, and are treated no better for it.
Developers that have the freedom to do whatever they want, and aren't starving for cash can be counted on one hand.
Diablo 3 has soured me on the whole concept
When you're raking in more money on an annual basis than some small nations, not even Bobby Kotick will fuck with you.
When you're a minor game developer you have nothing... You take whatver work comes your way
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-04-16-poor-gears-of-war-god-of-war-sales-in-march
And people were curious about Infinite sales seeing as Take Two hasn't said a peep. Well, it's predicted to be doing ok. Which means it bombed.
My friend, who is a lady, has had a bunch of problems wirth Xbox Live getting season pass episodes to show up in her queue. So she's been calling their customer service and every time she finally gets a hold of a person, they spend more time coming on to her, blatantly, and making fun of girls playing video games then they do trying to help her with the problem.
I'm pretty open mouthed listening to her tell me about this shenanniganery.
edit: what i mean is like - i work as a sales rep - and it is amazing to me how often i'll hear about something a customer said about something that *I* said, and be like "wow, how did they get that from what I said? I guess you could see the meaning that way..."
I don't really care if you do. But calling someone out as an immediate liar pretty much makes you a huge goose.
From what she says, it always starts with them commenting on her screen name, which is pretty feminine them moves on to how popular she must be online since girls don;t play games and then they start getting into asking what she looks like.
one person doing that to her, i can buy. every now and then a company, even a big one with strict hiring standards, will end up with a bad egg that they don't catch for a while.
but multiple people?
It's been two. But she's only called twice.
Early NPD predictions from our man Pach (which he's actually been pretty good about in previous months) say WiiU sold 55k in March. 17% drop from the previous month. Wii sold 85k, a drop of 50%. Yikes.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57579655-235/analyst-nintendo-sold-55000-wii-us-in-march-85000-wiis/
Of fuck, duh. Jesus I didn't even think of that. Thanks!
Good personnel who knows how to work together and how to be productive within that company's framework is a lot more valuable than a couple of months of salary. It's probably the single most important "property" a gaming company could ever have.
But "we must pay the stockholders" short-term mentality means they kill the golden goose every month.
So, a month where there are Wii U software releases, is going to sell less than a month that had no WiiU software releases.
"Follows the video game industry closely" my arse.
Double Fine, Obsidian, Dejobaan, Vlambeer, and Supergiant Games, off the top of my head. Mojang?
KickStarter has given a number of developers decent chances, but it's generally the same idea: either have a great pitch, or let your past work drive you forward. Yacht Club Games recently closed their Kickstarter for Shovel Knight based mostly on Warforward pedigree and 8-bit nostalgia.
If those titles are only purchased by consumers that already have the system, it's totally possible.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/
I write about video games and stuff. It is fun. Sometimes.
What you're talking about are developers that are directly attached to a publisher. That's a very different situation where you're entirely at the whim of the publisher because publisher and developer are just different parts of the same company.
I was talking more about developers like Wayforward & Obsidian (to name a few better known examples) who do a lot of work for various publishers but aren't directly owned by any one publisher. For companies like that, they should be doing their upmost to make sure that each contract they take on can help them in the long run (if in no other way than that try to do a good job with each contract so that they can negotiate better terms with their next one).
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
As a man who is 100% addicted to MH and own LC... I agree.
http://www.edge-online.com/news/superbot-shrinks-but-survives-after-split-with-sony/
This time, let's hit everything! Hit the trees, hit the bees! Hit the whales, hit those snails!
Gotta save dem chil'rens from the corrupting influence of rock and roll and public displays of video games in your...roof garden?
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130415/20282222716/
How "No Russion" is about living out your fantasy to kill randoms*) ... not a comment on contemporary anti-terrorism rethoric.
Or how the AC-130 mission in CoD4:MW is desensitizes our children to killing … not a commentary on how War is imitating Games.
*) This comes from someone who, while having played the mission numerous times, never thought about firing a single shot inside. "Oh, you can do that, I guess ... but why would you?"
[edit]
albeit, sans class/sensitivity.
http://www.examiner.com/article/pachter-ps4-and-xbox-720-could-have-lowest-starting-prices-for-consles-ever
Yes and no....this would make the initial purchase cheaper, but in the long run, the console will be more expensive.
Also, I doubt even with a subscription model that they'll drop the price lower than 300.00 which would not be the cheapest in history.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/4/16/4214960/tatsuya-minami-platinum-games
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
Obsidian is usually the first example of a smaller dev that is chronically jerked around by publishers. See: SEGA sitting on a finished game for 6 months without letting anything being done with it. Or the whole 84-85 metacritic thing
Well I mean... yeah he's uninformed about the cheapest price "ever," but he might be right about the Durango. If you think about it, MS may make the new 360 model a subsidize-only piece of hardware (which hopefully also covers your Live subscription), and then the Durango will be the hardware you buy and own. This would solve the problem people have with having to buy two units from them, and it'd also solve that rumored cost of $150. This would be the smartest move MS can make with this two-console concept.
I mean, is there anyone out there that doesn't think the service fee subsidized 360 deals they've been doing isn't setting the ground work for the next console to be available that way as well? You don't just setup the infrastructure to do that and then drop it the next generation of systems. Oh, but since Patcher says it, it is somehow news. The guy is a hack whose predictions lies somewhere between common sense and guessing.
If VGChartz is banned, I fully believe he should be as well.
As far as cable operators subsidizing the 720? Yeah, that'll be a stretch. The cable companies would much rather rent the boxes to customers who have to return them when they quit the service rather than sell them the boxes outright. This really smacks of "I predict with 100% accuracy that Nintendo will release a Wii HD because I say so, dammit!"