Video Game News and Miscellany

Unity was going to be bad? Newsflash, water is wet.

Company has great IPs but sadly their business model is SHIT.

I have a friend who works there (they are based in Montreal) and I'm privy on the bullshit that goes on there, he's not in the game dev per say but the things he tells me makes me wonder when the bubble will burst. I feel 2015 will be a VERY interesting year for them.
 
As an avid "pirates" lover, my only hope is that they are actually working on a new IP.... or heck, anyone else who noticed how well liked the "Pirates" part of AC4 was received.
 
Unity was going to be bad? Newsflash, water is wet.

Company has great IPs but sadly their business model is SHIT.

I have a friend who works there (they are based in Montreal) and I'm privy on the bullshit that goes on there, he's not in the game dev per say but the things he tells me makes me wonder when the bubble will burst. I feel 2015 will be a VERY interesting year for them.
Trying to do a yearly release with a team of what, like a 1000 people? The credits on those AC games takes like 30 minutes to sit through. It's a wonder anything works.
 
That really is going to be the downfall of the industry: the yearly release. Yearly releases mean that there is virtually no time for art, music, or writing development, which generally means that all the releases of a franchise once YRD begins tend to meld into each other, leading to franchise stagnation. Once a franchise stagnates, it's dead unless they can somehow revive it a few years later.

It really seems like the only way to succeed in the industry is to keep investors from owning more than 49% of the company or having the majority of it being own by someone who actually cares about the product they put out. Once a group of people who only care about a return on your investment can dictate design and production schedules, your franchise is doomed.
 
That really is going to be the downfall of the industry: the yearly release. Yearly releases mean that there is virtually no time for art, music, or writing development, which generally means that all the releases of a franchise once YRD begins tend to meld into each other, leading to franchise stagnation. Once a franchise stagnates, it's dead unless they can somehow revive it a few years later.

It really seems like the only way to succeed in the industry is to keep investors from owning more than 49% of the company or having the majority of it being own by someone who actually cares about the product they put out. Once a group of people who only care about a return on your investment can dictate design and production schedules, your franchise is doomed.
Nintendo somehow seems to get away with it, but then, that year is not the development time; they tend to start those projects much earlier and have a proper release time table. It's not even all the same people working on each game.

But Nintendo is doing other things right that other companies are screwing up. I can't believe there's a DLC release I'm excited for that isn't for a Bethesda game. You won't see excitement over any EA DLC. I can only wonder what's been cut from Dragon Age 3 that my wife is going to find herself wasting money on so she can have the whole game.
 
Nintendo somehow seems to get away with it, but then, that year is not the development time; they tend to start those projects much earlier and have a proper release time table. It's not even all the same people working on each game.

But Nintendo is doing other things right that other companies are screwing up. I can't believe there's a DLC release I'm excited for that isn't for a Bethesda game. You won't see excitement over any EA DLC. I can only wonder what's been cut from Dragon Age 3 that my wife is going to find herself wasting money on so she can have the whole game.
That's because nintendo is the last company to remember that video games are silly toys meant to be fun.
 

figmentPez

Staff member

Brows Held High revisits "Gerry"

So, why is this commentary on an art film being posted to the video game sub-forum? Well, saying too much would spoil a very fun revelation, but about half the video discusses video games as art, and how they've been influenced by movies, and how they, in turn, influenced movies as well. It's a really good video, with a lot of food for thought.
 

fade

Staff member
Emulation is kind of a crap shoot anyway. Most games work fine, but some games (like Xenogears) have certain effects that can't be replicated outside of their native hardware. Deus can even freeze a PS2 trying to run Xenogears if he does a certain attack.
This is true. Some of the older game effects are fascinating. Particularly Atari era games. The infamous star-field effect was found by accident, and is technically a glitch. However, it was popular enough to make its way into an assload of games.
 
So, two points to discuss. I imagine one (Early Access) will get more discussion than the other.

1) Dev Who Threatened Gabe Newell Returns as Resignation
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dev-who-threatened-to-kill-gabe-newell-gets-his-jo/1100-6423625/

Remember that idiot who threw a hissy fit on Twitter and threatened to kill Gabe Newell? Well, even though he resigned from that developer company, he's back with them, now. ""This is probably not hugely surprising to some of you, but Mike couldn't commit to his decision to leave Code Avarice."

2) Only 3 of the 9 Early Access Games from 2013 Have Been Fully Released
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/only-25-percent-of-early-access-games-have-been-re/1100-6423626/

Personally, I don't mind the idea of Early Access. As long as they have something that's actually worthwhile playing and you can see the potential, I don't mind the idea. Prison Architect, Rust, and DayZ are all good examples of this. Unfortunately, for every good example, there are about fifty bad examples. You get developers that use Early Access banner as a safety net from criticism, like Earth: Year 2066. These games charge you $20 for a quickly thrown together product with empty promises for what comes later. At least with something like Prison Architect, there is a clearly working copy of a game with enough content to play with.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Generally I stay away from Early Access games unless the scuttlebutt on them is that's it's already incredible or it's something I'm REALLY interested in and know I'll buy, and want to get in for cheap early. Examples: Minecraft, Space Engineers, Gnomoria, Prison Architect, Carmageddon.
 
I tend to avoid Early Access as well. That said, I've been really tempted at time to shell out for Broforce, which is in Early Access and has had consistent updates, but then I decide to wait for the full thing.
 
I think one of the issues at hand here might be that some games in early access should probably be full releases by now, but aren't because their creators aren't satisfied yet.
 
I tend to avoid Early Access as well. That said, I've been really tempted at time to shell out for Broforce, which is in Early Access and has had consistent updates, but then I decide to wait for the full thing.
This is one of the two Early Access games I own, and the only one that was worth the price. Starbound is such a huge, huge letdown.[DOUBLEPOST=1416219807,1416219359][/DOUBLEPOST]In a move surprising absolutely nobody (because they haven't had a new show since 2013), G4 will officially be off the air Nov. 30th.
 
This is one of the two Early Access games I own, and the only one that was worth the price. Starbound is such a huge, huge letdown.[DOUBLEPOST=1416219807,1416219359][/DOUBLEPOST]In a move surprising absolutely nobody (because they haven't had a new show since 2013), G4 will officially be off the air Nov. 30th.
Didn't they become Esquire Network, or something? Or was that spike?
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Goat Simulator is now a MMO!

http://techraptor.net/content/goat-year-goat-simulator-goes-full-mmo

Features​

  • Five different classes: Warrior, Rouge, Magician, Hunter and Microwave
  • Complete dozens of quests, level up a hundred times and play five different classes that’s a ton of content you do the math, we all went to high-school well I didn’t I was too busy huffing paint behind the cafeteria
  • Level cap is 101, 1 level higher than you-know-what
  • Prolly not tons of content tho, but don’t hate be cool
  • Stay a while and listen to Dumblebore the Grey in Twistram
  • Faction warfare between goats and sheep
  • MMO simulation so good you’ll think it’s real.
  • There are even elves and dwarves like in that movie
 
I still need to get Goat Simulator sometime. It looks like a blast. And the devs have a great, self depreciating humour about the whole thing.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
"I can also math and science very well but I am still learning to English better." Pssshhhhhtt. Just quit verbing your nouns and you got it.


Also lol dat french and indian war.
 
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