Yesterday, Rockstar Games released a statement that their episodic cash cow, historically referred to as GTA Episodes From Liberty City will be delayed another two weeks before dropping for PS3 and PC owners. A “last minute game submission” has been identified as the reason behind the delay. While this is galling enough for PS3 fans, seeing as it was the PS2’s install base and popularity that helped make Rockstar what they are today, a perusal of the comments on Rockstar’s site show that it’s the PC owners who seem to be most vocal at this point. Many of the PC-centric views quite rightly question why there would be any delay on their version.
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BioWare founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk have rejected the idea that its Cerberus download content system is a way of curbing pre-owned game sales.
The system offers DLC to users who buy a brand new copy of BioWare games such as Mass Effect 2 or Dragon Age: Origins and enter the supplied code. Users can also get access by paying $10 if they bought a pre-owned version of a supported BioWare title.
When asked if the system had reduced pre-owned sales, Muzyka said: “From our perspective, it’s mostly around providing content, however someone got the game. As long as we are providing a great content stream for them to partake in, then I think that’s great. We all win in that concept.” Which most likely means “probably, but we’re not going to say that.”
Zeschuk said that the system was designed to build “a service orientation for our customers” and that “we appreciate their business, so we are going to continue to drive really high quality stuff for them.”
This comes on the same day as GameStop CEO Dan DeMatteo said using DLC to dissuade used game buyers “[isn’t] compelling” because they’re usually price conscious and wouldn’t shell out for the DLC anyway.
Used games are something I buy frequently because, obviously, they’re cheaper. GameStop CEO Dan DeMatteo seems to understand that too and doesn’t believe the sort of people who buy used games are willing to shell out $10 (about £6) for DLC.
Speaking in an analyst call, DeMatteo said that “the second-hand user is a value-oriented consumer” and that he doesn’t think a “$10 add-on piece of DLC is compelling to a used game buyer.” Publishers are increasingly using DLC to entice gamers to buying the full retail version, as they don’t receive any cash from pre-owned sales. These can also include unique, one-time codes that unlock an extra map or feature, which would be unavailable to pre-owned purchasers.
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Rebellion, developer of Aliens vs. Predator (and the awesome Sniper Elite) has announced that it will be closing its Derby studio as well as cutting some staff in its Oxford office. CEO Jason Kingsley said that they “couldn’t find any solution other than the closure for the Derby studio.”
Kingsley said that the developer, which created the original Aliens vs. Predator game back in 1994, has “two unannounced titles at different stages of development” which they hope to be unveiling soon. He also said that they’ve done well with some of their back catalogue titles such as Sniper Elite and the original AvP. Kingsley continued to say that they will now focus on DLC for the newest AvP and are “thinking about the potential for a sequel and how we can make it an even better game.”
Kingsley also said that they were planning to produce smaller, digitally released games through services such as Steam, where “we can explore with some smaller, more indie type game ideas.”
Looks nice and shiny
No-one has any fingers
Wow, hello childhood
It seems the brick and mortar retailer Blockbuster is having difficulties getting new big-name DVDs from studios in Hollywood due to their shrinking reputation.
A quote from a recent company document [Ed: Found by the Financial Times, but it's a paysite so read more here] said “Our level of indebtedness may make it more difficult for us to pay our debts as they become due and more necessary for us to divert our cash flow from operations to debt service payments.”
As a way of eliminating these debts, Blockbuster has considered giving up all control in their Canadian operations.
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Sony’s Move motion controller has been described by Sony CEO Jack Tretton as “an extension of what already exists, not a replacement.” Speaking to G4, Tretton said that while Sony has the “most immersive” motion control system, it doesn’t want to “force motion gaming down [users’] throats.”
He said that some users will say “well, I like motion gaming but I prefer my DualShock” and that Sony views it as add-on rather than the core control scheme like it is on the Wii. He also downplayed the Wii’s importance in creating motion gaming, suggesting that Sony’s EyeToy “ushered… in” motion control rather than the Wii’s WiiMote controller.
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In a memo leaked out today, IGN president Roy Bahat has allegedly announced that the media site has had to “reduce the size of the company” in an attempt to cut costs.
The memo, which you can read over at Joystiq, explains that while IGN has experienced a 40% growth in audience since last year and remains profitable, the company is “still feeling the effects of the economy” and that a focus on being “as efficient as possible in our core business” is needed.
There’s no word as to how many roles could be “eliminated” from the company, but IGN insists it will be “making every effort to be compassionate and fair” to people who will be let go. The memo does say to “please keep this absolutely confidential to IGN”, which if you’re a fired employee, isn’t going to mean much. We’ll update this story once we know more.
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/16/ign-layoffs-hit-all-divisions-of-media-giant/
Most “core” gamers look down on the Wii with shame and distaste. We mostly point to the shovelware and bad ports that are killing the system, and the medium. There are a few gems, though. When we think about the next big thing we’re usually talking about the next brown third person shooter, or comparable in time to rebuilding an antique car RPG.
Will Wright has other premonitions, however. Saying that “most of the Wii games I’ve enjoyed felt more like toys than like games” in this interview with Industry Gamers. A lot of what he talks about makes sense. Not only about what the Wii has to offer, but what the current cycle of consoles has to offer too and how business models have changed.
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It’s rare for game publishers to admit when they have made a mistake. That being said, it’s even rarer for Sony to do so. I’m sure all of us remember when the PS3 launched with a controller lacking in rumble support, and Sony executives insisted that this feature added nothing to the gaming experience.
However, occasionally game publishers will see the light and give themselves the facepalm the rest of the industry usually does.
According to 1UP, in this case it took one of the sleeper hits of 2009 to get Sony to admit to a pretty big blunder. Speaking at GDC 2010 on the subject of localization, Yeonkyung Kim admitted that Sony missed out on taking full advantage of Demon’s Souls. Even though both Sony Europe and America passed on publishing Demon’s Souls due to concerns about the difficulty, Atlus chose to pick up the dark medieval RPG and recently reported a 578% year on year increase in profits thanks in part to that decision.
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Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has said that Nintendo needs third-party developers because they’re not good at creating core titles like BioShock 2. Fils-Aime said while Nintendo creates “great content for younger customers”, when it comes to core titles they’re “not good at it and it’s not a key focus area.”
Speaking to Industry Gamers the Nintendo boss was quizzed on the role of third-party development on the Wii, something which has been lacking since the console’s launch. Fils-Aime highlighted that there are 65 million Wii players out there, suggesting that there’s already a market for developers to cater for. However, he also suggested that some core titles such as BioShock 2 may have strong initial monthly sales, but after that they would “fall off rapidly”, again placing doubts on Nintendo’s commitment to core development on the Wii.
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Stuck at work all day
Pokéwalker on my shoe
Who says it’s cheating?
Xbox product manager Aaron Greenberg has claimed that the reason Microsoft allegedly have “nearly twice” of the PlayStation 3’s market-share is because Sony “bet on the physical disc” with Blu-Ray.
Greenberg said Sony had put so much weight behind Blu-Ray and that there were “costs associated with that.” He said because the Xbox doesn’t have expensive optical disc hardware, it helped it be “$100 cheaper [than the PS3].”
“The fact that we’re able to offer a console starting at $199 is a benefit of not being burdened with that cost.” he continued.
This comes after the news that the Xbox had its best February ever, taking the top console sales as well as having four of the top ten games. Do note though, that this is the first time in two years Microsoft has taken the top monthly spot, so while it’s good, it’s not that good.
Greenberg continued to say Microsoft’s bet was on “digital distribution” rather than physical disc, conveniently ignoring that whole HD-DVD thing which failed quite dramatically. Expect Sony to hit out with a reply to this corporate pissing match sometime in the next week.
Codies’ VP Gavin Cheshire has said the PSP is “a bollocking useless waste of space” and that Sony hasn’t got the user experience right. Cheshire said when he bought the PSP, he thought he’d “be doing more with it” saying it had a better screen than an iPod, but “just getting stuff on it was ridiculous.”
Speaking with Edge, he said that another Codemasters employee had bought a PSPgo and “ended up on some customer support line just trying to do basic stuff” and that “He had to re-download his software, do an immediate firmware update, and that’s your user experience.” Pretty strong words from the head of a major developer. He continued: “Stuff like that will make people leave it alone.”
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Anachronox wasn’t what you might call a “shoo-in” for commercial success. Released in 2001 for PC, it had a lot stacked against it: the visuals ran off the aging Quake II engine and so were somewhat dated; it was essentially a Japanese-style RPG on a platform with no history of successful JRPG’s; and a tedious, lengthy opening act prevented it from receiving the kind of review scores that would garner it much attention. Despite this, it maintains a deserved mini cult-status as one of the hidden gems of the last decade.
Then there’s a game like Halo 2, where success was as certain as any game you would care to name. I mention Halo 2 specifically because it has a particularly notorious cliffhanger ending where, after a lacklustre end boss, the Master Chief resolves to “finish the fight” right before the credits roll. Even though it’s perfectly understandable that people were a bit miffed at not getting a real ending, the inevitability of Halo 3 made it easy to see why Bungie would make that mistake.
The question, then, is: why did a game like Anachronox, with such an uncertain future, end on a similarly massive cliffhanger?
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I caught up with designer/producer/one-man-army Eskil Steenberg at GDC this year, and interviewed him on his incredible one-man-project: Love. Check out the video below then read on for part one of our interview.
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Speaking at the final day of GDC, PlayStation Home director Jack Buser told developers that 12 million people currently populate Sony’s Home service. He said that the number was double what it was in June last year and had increased by two million since December.
He said that 85% of users had visited more than once, spending on average an hour per session in the virtual world. Who knows what they’re doing for that one hour, but it probably isn’t worth knowing. He told the devs that Sony’s focus was to create a service that embraces “total game integration” and that we can expect to see more minigames and other content, making Home “an incredibly important part of [Sony’s] strategy.”
What would be more interesting would be to find out the male/female player ratio. Although you would probably find more “women” than men in game, I’d suspect that 90% of them are actually male players looking for some “attention”. This is the internet, after all.
Comparisons between Sony’s newly announced Move motion-control system and Nintendo’s pre-existing Wiimote are bound to surface and even the head of the American division of Nintendo, Reggie Fils-Aime, noticed the similarities.
In an interview with IGN, Reggie said he was “flattered” by Move and poked a bit of fun at Sony in the process. “If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery then I am blushing I’m so flattered,” Reggie commented.
“From [Nintendo's] standpoint, motion control is core to what we do. We believe that we’ve brought a range of different experiences that utilize the motion controller and we pride ourselves on being innovators in the space and we’re going to continue to innovate. I think the key question is, how will they respond when we continue to innovate if this is their best effort?”
In the same interview, Reggie said that Nintendo “don’t worry about their competitors” and questioned the pricing of Move. “Is the value equation in the consumer’s favor or not? I don’t think so.”
Neither do I, Reggie.
Tsunekazu Ishihara, President of the Pokémon Company, admitted in the latest “Iwata Asks” feature on Nintendo’s official site that 1999’s Pokémon Gold / Silver were intended to close the Pocket Monster saga. “I worked with the assumption that after we put out Gold and Silver, my work as far as Pokémon was concerned would be done” said a reasonably naïve Ishihara. “I even thought that once we entered the twenty-first century, it would be time for me to do something else entirely.” Presumably, over 21 million sales to date for the aforementioned pair alone went someway in realigning Ishihara’s artistic direction and financial thinking.
While the core titles in the Pokémon canon tend to fare well both in fan opinion and critical appraisal, do we really need to replay the admittedly seminal Gold and Silver ten years on with little to show for series progress other than a packaged pedometer? “I remember that when Gold and Silver were released, I felt like a burden had finally been lifted from my shoulders” reminisced the Company President. We can only assume that Ishihara is a real glutton for punishment given the relentless schedhule of spin-offs and remakes that the series has spawned in the last decade.
Via: GoNintendo
Everything will break,
Vital news will go unread
…I have a problem
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