Gaming is cheaper now than its ever been before

[Kodie]

That's what I'm talking about. I absolutely loved kingdomes of Amalur. And I fear games like that are increasingly becoming a thing of the past. All fresh new ideas will be relegated to small budget titles, and then all we'll have left is Halo, COD, and Madden.

Fear not. This stuff goes in cycles. We've been experiencing this period of homogeny, really ever since Modern Warfare (not that it's MW's fault). Inevitably, the lack of variance will lead to slow sales which will lead to innovation to come back to the AAA market thanks to refined budgets (like Platinum games) and then some new genre leader will come out and then everyone will copy that. Also don't be so quick to dismiss smaller budgets as bad games. A lot of big budget games spend money on voice acting, mocap and marketing. If companies can do a better job at refining those processes and having stable engines, costs CAN level off.

 

[Audible101]

Greed nothing more nothing less.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

Fear not. This stuff goes in cycles. We've been experiencing this period of homogeny, really ever since Modern Warfare (not that it's MW's fault). Inevitably, the lack of variance will lead to slow sales which will lead to innovation to come back to the AAA market thanks to refined budgets (like Platinum games) and then some new genre leader will come out and then everyone will copy that. Also don't be so quick to dismiss smaller budgets as bad games. A lot of big budget games spend money on voice acting, mocap and marketing. If companies can do a better job at refining those processes and having stable engines, costs CAN level off.

Don't get me wrong I wasn't saying that low budget games are bad. Limbo, braid, fez, journey, just to name a few are some of my favorite games this gen. But they just aren't a substitute for a real AAA experience.

And for the sake of my favorite hobby I really hope your more optimistic analysis comes true. As opposed to the doom and gloom I see

 

[Kodie]

THAT'S THE RISK OF DOING BUSINESS. YOU CAN CREATE MEDIOCRE GAMES AND MAKE A LIL MONEY. YOU COULD ALSO TAKE A CHANCE ON SOMETHING EPIC AND RISK IT. THE PROBLEM IS ALL THE STUDIOS ARE ON THE FORMULA AND THE INDUSTRY COULD END UP SUFFERING.

A TON OF GAMES THESE DAYS ARE JUST INTERACTIVE MOVIES NOW. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN RENTING A GAME WAS JUST SO YOU COULD SEE IF YOU WANTED TO BUY IT. A 3 DAY WEEKEND RENTAL WAS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU TO FINISH A GAME AND BE SATISFIED WITH IT.

ALSO THINGS OUTSIDE OF GAMING ARE HAVING AN EFFECT ON REPLAY. YOUTUBE AND STREAMING SITES MAKE IT SO THAT GAMES WITH MULTIPLE ENDINGS DON'T REQUIRE REPLAY ANYMORE. YOU CAN JUST WATCH THE ENDINGS ON YOUTUBE. BEFORE THIS, IF YOU WANTED TO SEE AN ENDING YOU EITHER HAD TO PLAY IT YOURSELF OR BE THERE WHEN SOMEBODY ELSE BEAT IT.

1 - I'm honestly not going to continue reading your posts if you type multiple paragraphs in all caps.

2 - The industry IS suffering. Not just will be.

3 - I honestly think there's tons of replay value out there. There's multiplayer, leaderboards, open world, multiple difficulties, side quests. There are also a ton of games with a linear narrative and little reason to play it otherwise. But that doesn't negate the variety that *does* exist.

 

[Kodie]

Don't get me wrong I wasn't saying that low budget games are bad. Limbo, braid, fez, journey, just to name a few are some of my favorite games this gen. But they just aren't a substitute for a real AAA experience.

Yeah but there's a middle tier to that too. Platinum Games are so much closer to the AAA games than a Braid or Fez but they also don't have a budget like Modern Warfare and that usually shows in marketing and voice acting. Unfortunately their sales aren't that great either. But they have been getting A LOT better (Metal Gear Rising). I'm not saying the industry needs to go to Braid-level budgets. But they need to find some middle ground. They need to get better with how they're spending. If your game can't afford Nathan Drake level animation, then don't do it. If your game can't afford LA Noire level face capture - don't do that shyt. Modern Warfare uses an old engine - keep doing shyt like that.

 

[BlvdBrawler]

I remember when we were kids my boy had an Atari Lynx. That shyt cost like $349 or something ridiculous for a handheld, I wanted one so bad.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

Yeah but there's a middle tier to that too. Platinum Games are so much closer to the AAA games than a Braid or Fez but they also don't have a budget like Modern Warfare and that usually shows in marketing and voice acting. Unfortunately their sales aren't that great either. But they have been getting A LOT better (Metal Gear Rising). I'm not saying the industry needs to go to Braid-level budgets. But they need to find some middle ground. They need to get better with how they're spending. If your game can't afford Nathan Drake level animation, then don't do it.

I'd like to see some information on the budgets and profits platinum has made on their games.

Is their business model really sustainable or are they just getting lucky by all the support larger companies are giving their games.

 

[MR. SNIFLES]

1 - I'm honestly not going to continue reading your posts if you type multiple paragraphs in all caps.

2 - The industry IS suffering. Not just will be.

3 - I honestly think there's tons of replay value out there. There's multiplayer, leaderboards, open world, multiple difficulties, side quests. There are also a ton of games with a linear narrative and little reason to play it otherwise. But that doesn't negate the variety that *does* exist.

1. fukk IF I CARE. FIND A COUCH. BUY SOME CONDOMS. I'M SURE YOU KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING...

2. IT WILL GET WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER.

3. LEADERBOARDS FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN MULTIPLAYER IS POINTLESS. EVERYTHING ELSE HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE THE BEGINNING AND HAS LITTLE BEARING ON REPLAY. IT'S THE GAMEPLAY. GAMES JUST AREN'T FUN FOR MORE THAN A FEW HOURS BEYOND COMPLETION NOW.

 

[Kodie]

I'd like to see some information on the budgets and profits platinum has made on their games.

Is their business model really sustainable or are they just getting lucky by all the support larger companies are giving their games.

The larger companies weren't supporting them up until now. Bayonetta, Vanquish and MadWorld all sold fairly poorly but not poor enough to shut them down (compare that to all the other teams that have been jettisoned as of late). So they didn't sell well but they spent within their means. That's key.

Then, even though they didn't sell well, the games were good and innovative and recognized as such. They built a niche following and a respect amongst others in the industry. This led them to be chosen for Metal Gear and then Nintendo dug Bayonetta 2 out of the grave and funded Wonderful 101. MGR was their first game with a nice budget and they handled that well too. Now I think they're poised to make an MGR sequel and make some decent money with Nintendo games (what else the Wii U got?)

They've made smart decisions and this is what other companies aren't doing. Other companies are turning Splinter Cell into Call of Duty and, in effect, saying "don't worry spend whatever you want - this is going to be our COD". How long has Blacklist been in development now? Watch that studio get 50% layoffs after the game flops. They think they're being safe by COD'ifing things, but they got it backwards.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

The larger companies weren't supporting them up until now. Bayonetta, Vanquish and MadWorld all sold fairly poorly but not poor enough to shut them down (compare that to all the other teams that have been jettisoned as of late). So they didn't sell well but they spent within their means. That's key.

Then, even though they didn't sell well, the games were good and innovative and recognized as such. They built a niche following and a respect amongst others in the industry. This led them to be chosen for Metal Gear and then Nintendo dug Bayonetta 2 out of the grave and funded Wonderful 101. MGR was their first game with a nice budget and they handled that well too. Now I think they're poised to make an MGR sequel and make some decent money with Nintendo games (what else the Wii U got?)

They've made smart decisions and this is what other companies aren't doing. Other companies are turning Splinter Cell into Call of Duty and, in effect, saying "don't worry spend whatever you want - this is going to be our COD". How long has Blacklist been in development now? Watch that studio get 50% layoffs after the game flops. They think they're being safe by COD'ifing things, but they got it backwards.

If I'm not mistaken Bayonetta and vanquish were supported by sega. But I get your point. Hopefully more devs can follow in their footsteps. I didn't too much care for they're games other than Bayonetta, but I'm glad they were successful.

 

[Just like bruddas]

yall still mad that sony shytted on the box

 

[Mr. Somebody]

I cant imagine how much extra devs will have to spend making their games function with Kinect.

 

[Kodie]

As for games with length we have:

Oblivion
Skyrim
Fallout
Borderlands series
Mass Effect series
The Witcher 2
Kingdom of Amalur
Red Dead Redemption
GTA4 games
Assassin's Creed series
Dark Souls series
Just Cause 2
Dragon Age: Origins
LA Noire
Batman Arkham series


And games with replay value include:
Call of Duty multiplayer
Battlefield multiplayer
Assassin's Creed multiplayer (this shyt is good!)
Mass Effect
Borderlands
Bioshock
Metal Gear Rising
Bayonetta
Minecraft
Uncharted 2
The Last of Us
Forza / Gran Turismo
Halo
Fighters (Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Tekken)
Rock Band
Mirror's Edge
Batman Arkham series


and that's just mainstream gaming for the most part

 

[Ain't That Something]

XBox One & PS4 Are CHEAP! - YouTube

I thought this video was relevant to the "devs should lower costs" arguments.

Modern games are more complex and take much more manpower to create, yet we are paying much less for them, and everyday another fanboy gets on the Internet and complains about these companies charging too much or "raping" him.

Gamers are spoiled beyond belief, and all they keep shouting is "give me more for less"

shame on you dudes. The Internet fanboy will be the death of gaming, and the gaming "journalist" does nothing but fan the flames.

Hey breh are you a developer or do you work for Sony, MS, or Nitendo. Every thread you make is on some attack the consumer steeze. In this bad economy people will spend their money however they see fit, and if they don't want to spend an insane amount of money on videogames it's their right to complain and not to because it's their money

 

[PS5 Pro]

As for games with length we have:

Oblivion
Skyrim
Fallout
Borderlands series
Mass Effect series
The Witcher 2
Kingdom of Amalur
Red Dead Redemption
GTA4 games
Assassin's Creed series
Dark Souls series
Just Cause 2
Dragon Age: Origins
LA Noire
Batman Arkham series


And games with replay value include:
Call of Duty multiplayer
Battlefield multiplayer
Assassin's Creed multiplayer (this shyt is good!)
Mass Effect
Borderlands
Bioshock
Metal Gear Rising
Bayonetta
Minecraft
Uncharted 2
The Last of Us
Forza / Gran Turismo
Halo
Fighters (Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Tekken)
Rock Band
Mirror's Edge
Batman Arkham series


and that's just mainstream gaming for the most part

Remember to put the disclaimer that "this is my taste" because I'm looking at your list and I wanna ram my foot thru this monitor... But is AC online really good? I figured it would be. How is the online in AC3?