HedgethornAssociate Professor of Historical Hobby HorsesIn the Lions' DenRegistered Userregular
edited October 2010
The whole reason NPD started releasing the top 10 in the first place was because industry folks were leaking large sections of the report on GAF. NPD didn't like this because their entire business model relies on those numbers being proprietary information. As a compromise, NPD promised to release the top 10 figures, and GAF agreed to come down hard on any unauthorized leaks.
With no more top 10 figures, what's to prevent a new rash of unauthorized leaks all over forums and twitter accounts?
So to celebrate the announcement of Jungle, Wired takes a look at handheld "convergence" systems that tried to combine games with net access and other crap... and failure. Why should you read it? This pic:
The whole reason NPD started releasing the top 10 in the first place was because industry folks were leaking large sections of the report on GAF. NPD didn't like this because their entire business model relies on those numbers being proprietary information. As a compromise, NPD promised to release the top 10 figures, and GAF agreed to come down hard on any unauthorized leaks.
With no more top 10 figures, what's to prevent a new rash of unauthorized leaks all over forums and twitter accounts?
Owner (REGISTRANT) Kabushiki Kaisha Sega DBA Sega Corporation CORPORATION JAPAN 1-2-12 Haneda, Ohta-Ku Tokyo JAPAN 144-8521
As Unco said it doesn't mean they can't release a sequel under a different name, but there won't be Alpha Protocol 2 sitting on the shelves unless Sega OKs it.
Exactly. Just because an ex-employee of Obsidian believes something doesn't suddenly make it true. The facts are quite specific here, Sega own the Alpha Protocol trademark and thus the IP.
Anyway, fuck NPD. Hopefully they cave, like the last time they cracked down on released numbers.
So to celebrate the announcement of Jungle, Wired takes a look at handheld "convergence" systems that tried to combine games with net access and other crap... and failure. Why should you read it? This pic:
What's to prevent a starved internet from turning to VGChartz?
Plenty of people already do. Now plenty more will.
(checks VGChartz)
...good goddamn, they're posting WEEKLY console sales figures. Why hasn't NPD come down on them for their horseshit?
From time to time it's interesting to check how VGC compares to actual released data. In almost all cases, it is wildly out by a tonne of units. Often these will be attributed to obscure regions no-one seems to have any actual data for within the EMEAA. They literally make all their shit up, most people here could make something now based on recent trends and reading the odd chest-thumping report and have as much accuracy.
Owner (REGISTRANT) Kabushiki Kaisha Sega DBA Sega Corporation CORPORATION JAPAN 1-2-12 Haneda, Ohta-Ku Tokyo JAPAN 144-8521
As Unco said it doesn't mean they can't release a sequel under a different name, but there won't be Alpha Protocol 2 sitting on the shelves unless Sega OKs it.
Exactly. Just because an ex-employee of Obsidian believes something doesn't suddenly make it true. The facts are quite specific here, Sega own the Alpha Protocol trademark and thus the IP.
Anyway, fuck NPD. Hopefully they cave, like the last time they cracked down on released numbers.
Interesting....o_O
Makes me wonder why he thought that in the first place. I mean its not like he wasn't strongly involved in the project.
Kinect, the amazing new gizmo for Xbox 360, is selling out fast. We’ve already hit our limit for launch but you can still preorder with us right here at game.co.uk for a priority place in the queue. As soon as we have more stock in, we will make sure we get your order to you.
Bet you will be able to find out easy enough though; plenty of places are taking pre-orders. I've seen some decent-sized displays too, MS are pushing it really hard here.
Yes. Good. I mean, they were doing a thing, NPD told them to stop and tried to compromise, the compromise is over, so unless they've found a way to plug leaks, they'll go back to doing what they were doing.
What's to prevent a starved internet from turning to VGChartz?
Plenty of people already do. Now plenty more will.
(checks VGChartz)
...good goddamn, they're posting WEEKLY console sales figures. Why hasn't NPD come down on them for their horseshit?
From time to time it's interesting to check how VGC compares to actual released data. In almost all cases, it is wildly out by a tonne of units. Often these will be attributed to obscure regions no-one seems to have any actual data for within the EMEAA. They literally make all their shit up, most people here could make something now based on recent trends and reading the odd chest-thumping report and have as much accuracy.
I'm surprised they have not been clamped down on.
Actually they're consistently within 10% of all released numbers...after the numbers have been released. But you can't fault them for doing their best to correct themselves as data becomes available.
And how the heck do you clamp down on someone for running a website that really makes no promises?
Underwhelming early Medal of Honor reviews could harm the shooter's chances at retail, according to Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz.
Early reviews "look decidedly Tier 2" and "appear to be somewhat disappointing", he said, citing IGN's 6/10 score, Game Informer's 7/10, Eurogamer's 8/10, and GamesMaster's 85/100, among others.
"With the revamped Medal of Honor heralded as a presumptive challenger to Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty franchise in the important first person shooter genre, we were expecting review scores in at least the 85-90% range," Creutz said.
"Failing to achieve this target would be a bit of a black eye for EA management given the amount of focus and hype they have placed on the game. We believe the mixed reviews could impact the title's legs as it will likely be competitively disadvantaged once Activision releases Call of Duty: Black Ops."
EA has admitted it doesn't expect Medal Of Honor to outsell CoD: Black Ops, but has also said the game needs to shift three million copies if it's to get a sequel.
"We continue to believe MoH can achieve roughly 4 million units in first year worldwide sales but believe that the likelihood of upside to that figure is now significantly diminished," Creutz said.
And how the heck do you clamp down on someone for running a website that really makes no promises?
I dunno, but some of the hueg parties involved could have some ground for a 'stop misrepresenting our market share' claim since VGC has often been referred to mistakenly as ssome form of 'official source of info.'
Yes. Good. I mean, they were doing a thing, NPD told them to stop and tried to compromise, the compromise is over, so unless they've found a way to plug leaks, they'll go back to doing what they were doing.
Yeah, given the nature of GAF, and the fact that NPD went back on their "compromise" so soon (wasn't it less than a year ago?), it could be that we'll wind up with MORE information overall thanks to emboldened leakers.
My Air Force buddy loves MoH. He says he beat it in five hours, but the multiplayer is very challenging, and if you'll die over and over if you try to play it like CoD.
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Warlock82Never pet a burning dogRegistered Userregular
Underwhelming early Medal of Honor reviews could harm the shooter's chances at retail, according to Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz.
Early reviews "look decidedly Tier 2" and "appear to be somewhat disappointing", he said, citing IGN's 6/10 score, Game Informer's 7/10, Eurogamer's 8/10, and GamesMaster's 85/100, among others.
"With the revamped Medal of Honor heralded as a presumptive challenger to Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty franchise in the important first person shooter genre, we were expecting review scores in at least the 85-90% range," Creutz said.
"Failing to achieve this target would be a bit of a black eye for EA management given the amount of focus and hype they have placed on the game. We believe the mixed reviews could impact the title's legs as it will likely be competitively disadvantaged once Activision releases Call of Duty: Black Ops."
EA has admitted it doesn't expect Medal Of Honor to outsell CoD: Black Ops, but has also said the game needs to shift three million copies if it's to get a sequel.
"We continue to believe MoH can achieve roughly 4 million units in first year worldwide sales but believe that the likelihood of upside to that figure is now significantly diminished," Creutz said.
Dooooooooooooooooooooooomed.
Since when do IGN's or Game Informer's scores mean shit? I have no idea who GameMaster is either.
Also 80% is not bad. I guess it's not "ZOMG WE PAID OFF THE REVIEWER FOR A 10!" good, but it's a very respectable score.
I think WoW's success was half timing and half design. Everquest was getting old, so I think that crowd was ready for a new MMO. And nothing else was really out at the time (Star Wars Galaxies came a bit after WoW, but it was kind of a mess). And WoW was, in general, designed to be pretty user-friendly when such a thing didn't exist in current MMOs. That sucked a lot of new players into the genre, which in turn ballooned their sales tremendously.
I think Dark Age Of Camelot must get a lot of credit for this. They had a lot of innovations like quest items dropping for all etc. But WoW was a far better all rounder.
Not to mention all the PvP innovations it made. People forget about DAOC, which is too bad. It was a good step between EQ1 and WoW, and definitely helped pave the way for its successors.
Dark Age of Camelot was still painful as hell from what little I remember playing it. If you're not big on PvP, it was simply an annoying game, at least back then. From what I remember:
Levels 1-20: Aside from the VERY occasional quest, most of my XP came from running to some guy, getting a Task to kill a specific monster, running to where the monster spawns, taking a minute to kill it and then run back and get some minimal XP. If I died at any point, I lost a shit-ton of XP. Leveling took forever and I barely ever got new gear.
Levels 21-50: I didn't play because tasks went away at 20, which only left grinding for XP. That's when I canceled my account and never looked back.
Compared to WoW, which was bristling with quests, had a VERY fast leveling pace, and a steady stream of new gear as I leveled, it's no wonder it took off like it did. Playing MMO's before that was like pulling teeth.
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Warlock82Never pet a burning dogRegistered Userregular
edited October 2010
I will never understand why IGN is still considered a respectable games website. They long stopped being worth visiting. And Game Informer is just a cheap cash-in to sell more shit at GameStop.
Dark Age of Camelot was the first mmo I've ever played, and the only besides eve I ever stuck with. It was great, but I tried it out not long ago and it hasn't aged well. The xp grind was terrible, though.
And I thought the problem with IGN was that they were highly suspect, in terms of being bought out for good reviews. If they give something a bad review, maybe that's a bad sign for the game.
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Dr Mario KartGames DealerAustin, TXRegistered Userregular
edited October 2010
I guess TSE is finished. I retire at #12 on the site
And I thought the problem with IGN was that they were highly suspect, in terms of being bought out for good reviews. If they give something a bad review, maybe that's a bad sign for the game.
I personally just don't find their reviews worth a shit. They nitpick minor technical details like CRAZY. And most of the reviewers are highly biased. I mean, they've got a damn anti-Nintendo fanboy running the Wii section for crying out loud.
There used to be a handful of reviewers there that were decent, but I think they've all left or been fired at this point.
I will never understand why IGN is still considered a respectable games website. They long stopped being worth visiting. And Game Informer is just a cheap cash-in to sell more shit at GameStop.
They're actually fairly respected in the games industry as one of the top gaming sites out there.
While I don't think they're the pile of shit a lot of people make them out to be, their standards are still a little loose. I used to think Gamespot was a shining example of actually good gaming journalism, but then the Kane and Lynch thing happened. But still, they're also respected in the industry even today.
Gaming journalism still has a bit more growing up to do.
Edit: Who's the anti-Nintendo fanboy running the Wii section? I haven't really seen it.
My favorite way to learn about a game is through GiantBomb's Quick Looks. Even when I don't agree with their opinion, they tend to give me a good idea of what to expect with the game.
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And they can always star Michael...ThorNton.
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With no more top 10 figures, what's to prevent a new rash of unauthorized leaks all over forums and twitter accounts?
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/10/handheld-convergence/?pid=427&viewall=true
Nothing, hopefully. Let the leaks leak.
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Plenty of people already do. Now plenty more will.
(checks VGChartz)
...good goddamn, they're posting WEEKLY console sales figures. Why hasn't NPD come down on them for their horseshit?
Exactly. Just because an ex-employee of Obsidian believes something doesn't suddenly make it true. The facts are quite specific here, Sega own the Alpha Protocol trademark and thus the IP.
Anyway, fuck NPD. Hopefully they cave, like the last time they cracked down on released numbers.
Cue lolSquareEnix.
I remember Side Talkin'!
Fuck!
...
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Trolling just got alot easier.
From time to time it's interesting to check how VGC compares to actual released data. In almost all cases, it is wildly out by a tonne of units. Often these will be attributed to obscure regions no-one seems to have any actual data for within the EMEAA. They literally make all their shit up, most people here could make something now based on recent trends and reading the odd chest-thumping report and have as much accuracy.
I'm surprised they have not been clamped down on.
Fucking Japan.
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Probably whatever they're posting right now.
Interesting....o_O
Makes me wonder why he thought that in the first place. I mean its not like he wasn't strongly involved in the project.
Kinect is already sold out for the initial launch shipment at GAME, in the UK.
http://www.game.co.uk/Xbox360/Hardware/Accessory/~r349590/Kinect-With-Kinect-Adventures/
Bet you will be able to find out easy enough though; plenty of places are taking pre-orders. I've seen some decent-sized displays too, MS are pushing it really hard here.
I need to order that 250 Gig Slim bundle.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Yes. Good. I mean, they were doing a thing, NPD told them to stop and tried to compromise, the compromise is over, so unless they've found a way to plug leaks, they'll go back to doing what they were doing.
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
Actually they're consistently within 10% of all released numbers...after the numbers have been released. But you can't fault them for doing their best to correct themselves as data becomes available.
And how the heck do you clamp down on someone for running a website that really makes no promises?
Finally! The year of the PS3 has arrived!
This is just too good.
I dunno, but some of the hueg parties involved could have some ground for a 'stop misrepresenting our market share' claim since VGC has often been referred to mistakenly as ssome form of 'official source of info.'
Yeah, given the nature of GAF, and the fact that NPD went back on their "compromise" so soon (wasn't it less than a year ago?), it could be that we'll wind up with MORE information overall thanks to emboldened leakers.
Since when do IGN's or Game Informer's scores mean shit? I have no idea who GameMaster is either.
Also 80% is not bad. I guess it's not "ZOMG WE PAID OFF THE REVIEWER FOR A 10!" good, but it's a very respectable score.
Whenever they help your argument, duh!
Edit- Not at jab at Couscous, just in case :P
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Dark Age of Camelot was still painful as hell from what little I remember playing it. If you're not big on PvP, it was simply an annoying game, at least back then. From what I remember:
Levels 1-20: Aside from the VERY occasional quest, most of my XP came from running to some guy, getting a Task to kill a specific monster, running to where the monster spawns, taking a minute to kill it and then run back and get some minimal XP. If I died at any point, I lost a shit-ton of XP. Leveling took forever and I barely ever got new gear.
Levels 21-50: I didn't play because tasks went away at 20, which only left grinding for XP. That's when I canceled my account and never looked back.
Compared to WoW, which was bristling with quests, had a VERY fast leveling pace, and a steady stream of new gear as I leveled, it's no wonder it took off like it did. Playing MMO's before that was like pulling teeth.
And I thought the problem with IGN was that they were highly suspect, in terms of being bought out for good reviews. If they give something a bad review, maybe that's a bad sign for the game.
I personally just don't find their reviews worth a shit. They nitpick minor technical details like CRAZY. And most of the reviewers are highly biased. I mean, they've got a damn anti-Nintendo fanboy running the Wii section for crying out loud.
There used to be a handful of reviewers there that were decent, but I think they've all left or been fired at this point.
They're actually fairly respected in the games industry as one of the top gaming sites out there.
While I don't think they're the pile of shit a lot of people make them out to be, their standards are still a little loose. I used to think Gamespot was a shining example of actually good gaming journalism, but then the Kane and Lynch thing happened. But still, they're also respected in the industry even today.
Gaming journalism still has a bit more growing up to do.
Edit: Who's the anti-Nintendo fanboy running the Wii section? I haven't really seen it.
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