AC is not much of a game, it's more like a digital crack cocaine addiction simulator, only with cute animals in place of the mean drug dealers. There is nearly no gameplay at all, it exactly like so many smartphone games.
Getting into a bit of a rat hole here but I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding of AC's mechanics. There is probably more but off the top of my head the only thing you're sitting around waiting for are fossils (you can dig up a certain amount a day) and for something to upgrade (houses, shops). It's possible these things 'are not for you' but they do not seem out of place or artificial. The other potential limiter is time of day which for a real time game, I personally think needs to have some effect on the world. There's quite a bit else to do (depending on your gaming tastes of course).
That's not to say there is not money to be made adopting the F2P model into the game. Heck if they kept everything the same, made the game free, and gave lazy people the option to buy stuff, that'd be pretty cool. I think there are differences between AC (as it is now) and F2P games that I am not 100% convinced this would be a good idea for Nintendo. I am constantly surprised by how lazy people are though.
Re: Wii U: Hopefully Nintendo is at least simplifying things too one SKU. I am not sure if the differences between the Basic and Deluxe is creating that much confusion, I imagine it is much less than the confusion caused by the name. However every little bit helps.
There I was, 3DS: 2621-2671-9899 (Ekera), Wii U: LostCrescendo
Diablo 3 has the RMAH. If Animal Crossing had a RMAH it'd kind of kill the incentive to play/trade/interact.
Sure. And it has the fake money auction house, too. But I don't think anyone was suggesting that Nintendo take out the dead time with auction houses for houses, furniture, whatever. The implication was more that it would be nice if the game didn't make you sit around and wait for construction, "twiddling your thumbs because it just wants you to appreciate whatever you're waiting for." Maybe it's a people-who-ride-subways thing, I don't know.
Pretty sure everyone saying AC should adopt an F2P model was saying exactly that. The whole point of AC is to doodle around collecting digital junk. That's it. Put in an auction house, F2P model, anything like that, and now it's just a vending machine.
You know, I'm not the biggest fan of the game, but being able to just buy all the stuff in the game would completely ruin it and turn it into the sort of game that completely loses its fans' interest after a couple months.
Kind of like Diablo III.
Right, but no one was saying that, especially not the two people you quoted.
Zynga is laying off 18 percent of its workforce — which represents 520 employees — in a bid to reduce costs and more drastically restructure its troubled business toward mobile, according to sources close to the situation.
The move today will affect every part of the San Francisco social gaming company and cut $80 million in staff costs. Zynga currently has about 2,900 workers.
But the action will also include the closing of its offices in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas, as well as the slashing of other major infrastructure costs, adding to the total expense reduction that is likely to be much larger.
[Update: Zynga has halted trading on the Nasdaq stock market pending news.]
[Second update: Zynga confirmed layoffs and cost cuts, noting they will be complete them by August.]
The reason? Mobile — a business Zynga must conquer, despite its currently smaller prospects for monetization compared to its Web business.
After a rocky IPO and trying to cope with rapid changes in its core businesses, Zynga now must refocus the company’s flagship franchises and network on the shift to mobile and a narrowing of focus at the company.
In other parlance, this is a “right-sizing” of Zynga to reflect a more somber reality that these mobile businesses are not as large as its Web-based ones that rode the startup to glory on the explosive growth of social networks, primarily Facebook.
Sources said the reason for the more substantive cuts now, after earlier ones in the fall, is because the decline of its Web business has been more drastic than anticipated, said sources, while the rise of its mobile business slower than needed. That’s been especially true on the Facebook platform, which was once one of Zynga’s key, money-making partners.
It’s resulted in a perfect storm of trouble for Zynga, which has struggled with its business since its public offering, as investors have scrutinized the longevity of hits-based online gaming business. Despite the continued strength of some of its flagship properties, such as FarmVille, the life cycle of most casual games has been short.
Zynga has tried to fix the situation, by moving to the faster-growing mobile space. In addition, CEO and founder Mark Pincus has tried solidify its top management, as well as bring in more board help, to strengthen efforts to revive the company.
Zynga has already been on the cost-cutting path, closing less successful games and other more ambitious products that had been less than expected traction. For example, the company has “sunsetted” 18 games in recent months, as it has deployed more resources and development to mobile efforts.
I've got to ask... 2900 employees? What the fuck are they all doing?
clicking cows. And the neighbors crops don't water themselves, you knew
Well, in fairness, it'd make sense if they could figure out a way to rapidly, drastically monetize something that people play for free, as in with no money.
Zoku Gojira on
"Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are." - Bertolt Brecht
Well, in fairness, it'd make sense if they could figure out a way to rapidly, drastically monetize something that people play for free, as in with no money.
They made sponsored Somethings to Draw.
0
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
Zynga's troubles are caused by their inability to differentiate between real success driven by a solid product, and fake success driven by bored housewives/commuters flitting from one fad game to the next.
Their business strategy is terrible.
Their major issues are the inability to adjust to the changing market. They did great when Facebook gaming was on the rise, but now it's declining and Mobile is on the rise. They're trying to change over, but employ too many of the same game development "best practices" that were developed for Facebook games. These just don't translate to the mobile market, which is why they're suffering in that market.
There's also lots of other issues internally.
A lot of micro-management from the top down that stifles the creativity and hinders the production of many games.
An over reliance on every game being a blockbuster hit which makes the fun aspect of games suffer while making the money grabbing tactics all too transparent to the users.
And a serious lack of foresight over all. Too many major decisions are quick reactions to sudden changes in the market. If some games jumps to the top of the Top Grossing charts then everyone need to drop everything and change to follow it. Which wastes time, makes for bad design and ultimately puts projects behind schedule. It just means they're always late to the party, and whatever game they're trying to compete with has already faded away by the time their own version hits the market.
They rely too much on reacting to what is making money now, and too much on their own data. They don't strive to make anything new or innovative and that's no way to excel in the games market. You need to lead the pack, not try emulate the best practices of top games with the hopes that you can out perform and already established IP.
More at the link, and I'm pretty sure it's still going.
I know it's been said before but it I have to say it again: Animal Crossing isn't meant to be played in 4-5 hour spurts (though I've done it before). You hop on, look for some fossils, catch some bugs, shake some trees, and then sell some stuff. If you've got more time then you talk to the villagers and get some stuff done for them. When you start making good money they you start buying things for your house and build it up..
I think Animal Crossing on paper sound like the worst, most boring game ever... But when you play it you'll understand. However most people realize it's not for everyone. It's a very, very simple game to pass the time away and is full of charm.
Their business strategy is terrible.
Their major issues are the inability to adjust to the changing market. They did great when Facebook gaming was on the rise, but now it's declining and Mobile is on the rise. They're trying to change over, but employ too many of the same game development "best practices" that were developed for Facebook games. These just don't translate to the mobile market, which is why they're suffering in that market.
There's also lots of other issues internally.
A lot of micro-management from the top down that stifles the creativity and hinders the production of many games.
An over reliance on every game being a blockbuster hit which makes the fun aspect of games suffer while making the money grabbing tactics all too transparent to the users.
And a serious lack of foresight over all. Too many major decisions are quick reactions to sudden changes in the market. If some games jumps to the top of the Top Grossing charts then everyone need to drop everything and change to follow it. Which wastes time, makes for bad design and ultimately puts projects behind schedule. It just means they're always late to the party, and whatever game they're trying to compete with has already faded away by the time their own version hits the market.
They rely too much on reacting to what is making money now, and too much on their own data. They don't strive to make anything new or innovative and that's no way to excel in the games market. You need to lead the pack, not try emulate the best practices of top games with the hopes that you can out perform and already established IP.
More at the link, and I'm pretty sure it's still going.
I know it's been said before but it I have to say it again: Animal Crossing isn't meant to be played in 4-5 hour spurts (though I've done it before). You hop on, look for some fossils, catch some bugs, shake some trees, and then sell some stuff. If you've got more time then you talk to the villagers and get some stuff done for them. When you start making good money they you start buying things for your house and build it up..
I think Animal Crossing on paper sound like the worst, most boring game ever... But when you play it you'll understand. However most people realize it's not for everyone. It's a very, very simple game to pass the time away and is full of charm.
God I know I've got a fair few of those future emails waiting to arrive in my inbox in about five years and there's no way I'm going to be living up to their expectations. Past Scarab is a totally unreasonable dickhole. I guess the only person to take it out on is Future Scarab. He'll be getting some strongly worded hate male if he's still alive in a decade or so. What a twat.
This week's edition of Famitsu magazine rounded up the 2012 earnings reports for Japan's major console publishers for a special feature. The results: It's a bad time to be launching major new IP (or, indeed, sell hardware period), but it could be a lot worse.
The overall console market in Japan expanded by 1.2 percent over the last Japanese fiscal year, which ended March 31 — a small rise, but the first one the marketplace has seen in five quarters over there. Much of this has to do with Nintendo, which experienced its first negative dip in operating profit in ages but still net income of nearly 7.1 billion yen. Famitsu pointed out a lack of major overseas hits for the Nintendo 3DS outside of New Super Mario Bros. 2, as well as generally anemic Wii U sales overseas (even now, there are only 3.45 million Wii U systems sold worldwide).
"For the next year, Nintendo's goal is to build an overseas market for the 3DS that is at least up to the level of the Japanese one," Famitsu's editors wrote. "To do that, Nintendo will be releasing Animal Crossing: New Leaf in June and Pokemon X/Y worldwide in October, both major titles that show Nintendo's active approach to the overseas market. With the Wii U as well, Nintendo will attempt to boost its userbase with a barrage of powerful first-party titles from the second half of this year forward to 2014."
On the software side, most companies faced reduced earnings, although most of them were still firmly in the black — except for Square Enix, which took major losses after most of its Western-developed releases performed below expectations. Interestingly, Resident Evil 5, which sold 4.9 million copies worldwide, still failed to meet Capcom's sales goals in 2013 — but the company still recorded 2.97 billion yen in profit, thanks in part to Dragon's Dogma doing a lot better in Japan than anticipated.
"This quarter featured tough earnings reports for companies overall," commented SMBC Nikko Securities senior analyst Eiji Maeda. "One reason for that is the shrinking market for packaged software and the way that new, big-budget IP is failing to sell across the board. Also, downloadable content sales are booming in the US and Europe and publishers are taking advantage of that for their bottom line, but Japanese makers have lagged behind, which is key."
"Like the previous one, this past year's reports show a game industry in a transition period, which hits the first parties the worst," Famitsu closed. "For this coming year, Nintendo faces two issues: expanding the Wii U's userbase, and doing the same for the 3DS overseas. How much momentum Sony can generate with the PlayStation 4 launch will also dictate how it performs as a company going into 2014."
"There were no hard facts or figures. No real explanation. Just typical corporate BS," one former employee who was in attendance tells Business Insider. "Everyone was just like, 'Yep.' Not surprised at all. It was like the weight had been lifted off our shoulders, that a decision had finally been made."
In hindsight, the writing was on the wall. Porter's unexpected departure in early April was the biggest indicator that the New York office's days were numbered. His team used to have four or five IPs to manage, but lately, the projects had stopped rolling in. There were no assignments beyond fixing a few Draw Something 2 bugs in the immediate future.
"You could almost feel things were slowing down," this person says. "We were all champing at the bit for something new."
It was hard for the New York office not to take Zynga's layoffs personally. Mark Pincus said in a company-wide memo that the cuts would aid Zynga's mobile-first strategy. But hardly any of the desktop-first Farmville 2 team, comprised of former Facebookers, had been let go.
"We thought, 'You just laid off your most talented mobile team,'" the former employee says. "We were totally under-utilized."
Zynga is going to be eaten alive by all the mobile competition.
The reason for the suspension is "a host of new exciting opportunities that will make the game better than we envisioned," Precursor said on the campaign's Kickstarter page. These new opportunities presented themselves with "more support from our community than we had ever hoped for," after the campaign started.
The campaign opened May 13. Since then it has gathered $127,414 in donations, toward a $1.35 million goal. The campaign was set to close in 14 days.
I guess their expectations didn't include actually funding their Kickstarter.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
The reason for the suspension is "a host of new exciting opportunities that will make the game better than we envisioned," Precursor said on the campaign's Kickstarter page. These new opportunities presented themselves with "more support from our community than we had ever hoped for," after the campaign started.
The campaign opened May 13. Since then it has gathered $127,414 in donations, toward a $1.35 million goal. The campaign was set to close in 14 days.
I guess their expectations didn't include actually funding their Kickstarter.
See, regular Kickstarters incorporate "new exciting opportunities that will make the game better than we envisioned" as stretch goals or, hell, just a plain old update that doesn't require the Kickstarter to be reset. But Dyack's a special little snowflake.
I know it's been said before but it I have to say it again: Animal Crossing isn't meant to be played in 4-5 hour spurts (though I've done it before). You hop on, look for some fossils, catch some bugs, shake some trees, and then sell some stuff. If you've got more time then you talk to the villagers and get some stuff done for them. When you start making good money they you start buying things for your house and build it up..
I think Animal Crossing on paper sound like the worst, most boring game ever... But when you play it you'll understand. However most people realize it's not for everyone. It's a very, very simple game to pass the time away and is full of charm.
If you’re a “veteran” of the series, you will immediately notice that New Leaf is a perversely demanding game. I remember that completing all the daily chores in Wild World only took a handful of minutes, but this sequel has so much new stuff going on that even though it’s designed to be played for a few minutes here and there, you might just find yourself glued to it for hours before putting it down. I’ve played more than 40 hours in my first week, and I’m starting to suspect the battery of my little 3DS is suffering as a result.
Honestly, my point with the AC comment wasn't even about if the game is any good. It's charming as all hell, and if it "clicks" then you'll be playing obsessively for months, but I certainly realize it's not for everyone. I just thought it really interesting how Nintendo was implementing some of the same game mechanics as F2P but integrating them into the fundamental nature of them game instead of using them to bilk more money. AC would adjust itself quite easily to that style of monetization and still be way more fun than many of those games ($0.99 for 100,000 bells, $1.49 to reseed your village with fossils now instead of waiting until tomorrow, $1.99 to swap in the villager of your choice, etc.).
Moreso, there's lots of talk about how Nintendo can rely on the same IP for so long. I think decisions like that are exactly why.
So does that mean Sporky that they're just going to go to E3 and say "here's some stuff!" and then run away before anyone can ask them a question?
I really like this mental image.
A guy runs up and shoves a bunch of screenshots and trailers into your arms while yelling positive PR messages, knocking you over, then runs away as fast as he can.
Wait, maybe he hops on an Xbox-branded Segway and peels out!
Posts
For some reason I heard top down, thought it was a turn based strategy game like X-com or the Hunters series and got vaguely excited.
Oh well, don't have a platform to play it on anyway.
It's incredibly cute and addictive, though.
That's not to say there is not money to be made adopting the F2P model into the game. Heck if they kept everything the same, made the game free, and gave lazy people the option to buy stuff, that'd be pretty cool. I think there are differences between AC (as it is now) and F2P games that I am not 100% convinced this would be a good idea for Nintendo. I am constantly surprised by how lazy people are though.
Re: Wii U: Hopefully Nintendo is at least simplifying things too one SKU. I am not sure if the differences between the Basic and Deluxe is creating that much confusion, I imagine it is much less than the confusion caused by the name. However every little bit helps.
With the premium set becoming the standard one at a lower price.
I still can't believe they even paid that much for it in the first place. What a stupid decision of the very definition of "fad game".
Right, but no one was saying that, especially not the two people you quoted.
Then why aren't they releasing it on XBLIG?
clicking cows. And the neighbors crops don't water themselves, you knew
Well, in fairness, it'd make sense if they could figure out a way to rapidly, drastically monetize something that people play for free, as in with no money.
They made sponsored Somethings to Draw.
Guess I missed it. I getcha now.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-06-05-omgpop-team-relieved-after-studio-closure
Everybody hates Zynga
This quote says it all:
Edit: Oh ho ho!! This might get juicy:
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1fpbv1/i_was_one_of_the_520_people_laid_off_by_zynga/ More at the link, and I'm pretty sure it's still going.
Beat me on 360: Raybies666
I remember when I had time to be good at games.
I think Animal Crossing on paper sound like the worst, most boring game ever... But when you play it you'll understand. However most people realize it's not for everyone. It's a very, very simple game to pass the time away and is full of charm.
Just read this post: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/26975820/#Comment_26975820
Wait, which company are they talking about?
God I know I've got a fair few of those future emails waiting to arrive in my inbox in about five years and there's no way I'm going to be living up to their expectations. Past Scarab is a totally unreasonable dickhole. I guess the only person to take it out on is Future Scarab. He'll be getting some strongly worded hate male if he's still alive in a decade or so. What a twat.
http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-zyngas-lay-offs-2013-6 Zynga is going to be eaten alive by all the mobile competition.
And if you haven't been keeping up with the Shadow of the Eternals thread Dyack's bullshittery continues to reach new depths:
http://kotaku.com/the-crowdfunding-campaign-for-a-shadow-of-the-eternals-511286859
Blogs: Endless Space - galaxy seeds | Diablo 3 duels
I guess their expectations didn't include actually funding their Kickstarter.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
See, regular Kickstarters incorporate "new exciting opportunities that will make the game better than we envisioned" as stretch goals or, hell, just a plain old update that doesn't require the Kickstarter to be reset. But Dyack's a special little snowflake.
Actually from what I read there is quite a bit more to do now.
Huh.
Moreso, there's lots of talk about how Nintendo can rely on the same IP for so long. I think decisions like that are exactly why.
Shit's getting weird.
...well, weirder.
Huh.
I really like this mental image.
A guy runs up and shoves a bunch of screenshots and trailers into your arms while yelling positive PR messages, knocking you over, then runs away as fast as he can.
Wait, maybe he hops on an Xbox-branded Segway and peels out!
So instead, they're going to put their fingers in their ears and shout LALALALA
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
Wife didn't go for his annualized marriage strategy.