The design and business of gaming from the perspective of an experienced developer
Evil Avatar has a link to a story saying that stock in EA dropped 5.5% on news that Godfather was going to miss Christmas.
If nothing else changes in EA’s release schedule, he said “The Godfather” delay could cost it as much as $100 million in lost revenue.
Over on Game Matters, Scott Miller has started a good thread discussing why Ico didn’t sell, despite it being considered a work of wonder by everyone whose tried it. Idlenews has a similar thread about Psychonauts, a game that appears to be doing abysmal numbers despite being beloved by anyone that’s tried it. The latter was closer to my heart — I only dabbled in Ico, but I’m now nearly done with Psychonauts, and I’m loving every minute of it (well, up until I get jumping-puzzled out for the night). Both threads are good, albeit depressing, reads. Continue reading
Slashdot points out that White Wolf has abandoned their ill-advised money grab to anyone attempting to play a tabletop game. Widespread outrage amongst their community was a driving factor.
Really, if you want more money from each of your customers, is it really too complicated to give them something of value in return?
It’s a common trend in games, nowadays, to figure out how to pick up the gamer and shake him for loose change. And I foresee a backlash. Among the recent news:
Ritual is releasing a sequel to Sin in episodic format.
Ritual Entertainment’s long-awaited Sin 2 is to be released episodically over Valve’s Steam digital distribution system, with episodes lasting around six hours each to be released “every three to four months” for around $20 (£11.38) an episode.
This is interesting from a number of angles. Despite Steam’s massive unpopularity (and not all undeserved, I should add), there are many who think that digital distribution will catch on in a big way, possibly even going so far as to save gaming. As Scott Miller points out: Continue reading
Scott Miller (of Duke Nuke’m fame) recently re-iterated the value of creating and owning your IP (it’s one of his mantras). His reasons were all from the point of view of the developer, and were sound, although he’s a bit optimistic in how much negotiating power developers who aren’t 3D Realms have in the matter. Highlights:
Owning an IP…
- Gives a studio clout and leverage.
- The ability to better control their future.
- Much better company value.
- And a way to cash in on that value without having to sell the company.
This is in curious juxtaposition with Stuart Roch’s point of view. Stuart had recently read a snippet from David Jaffe’s blog. David was the Design Director for the recently released, bosom-heaving yet very excellent God of War. David let it slip in a throwaway comment that God of War has only sold 500K units so far, according to NPD. Continue reading
Two bits of notable pieces of news this week, most of which have been reported elsewhere. The first is that World of Warcraft has surpassed 2 million subscribers. I guess the honor system didn’t slow them down. (link via Gamasutra). Can we now stop talking about the ‘million sub MMO’ game as if it wasn’t a great white whale?
On the flip side, Corpnews was the first to report the rumor that the Matrix Online has been sold to Sony. A surprising amount of commentary seems to be stuck on the notion that Sony and Warner Bros are arch enemies, and Sony getting their hands on WB money is blasphemy of the highest kind. News flash: that sort of stuff happens all the time if there’s a buck to be made. All the same, my condolences and best of luck to the guys in the trenches. Continue reading
In the wake of a disappointing E3 where Nintendo kept relatively mum about what they were working on, they’ve begun to speak louder on multiple fronts. And the general gist of what they’re saying is: It’s all about the gameplay, man. Of note: Continue reading
Buzzcut has an interesting article which argues that Nintendo isn’t as hopeless in the console wars as the conventional wisdom states.
In this light, it’s odd how few game commentators seem to understand just how profitable Nintendo really is. With a net margin of over 20%, Nintendo is a financial rock star. Just by way of comparison, General Electric, that monster global conglomerate whose executives write the books about corporate leadership that other Fortune 500 execs read, clocks in with a net margin of 11% Nintendo’s business engine is so efficient that even though they sell far less than Sony, they make, bottom line, about as much as all of Sony, Yes, that’s right. Little Nintendo generates about as much cash as giant Sony—electronics, movies, the works.
Of course, the notion that Nintendo as a studio will simply keep on trucking with the status quo is somewhat challenged by the utter strangeness of the rumored plans for their next-gen controller. Go figure.
Gaming Horizon has an entertaining article about Professional stuntman and actor Ilram Choi’s experience as a performer on Namco’s stage to promote Soul Caliber III. He played Mitsurugi. Continue reading
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