By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Xen on 20 December 2008
noname2200 said:
Xen said:
noname2200 said:
Xen said:
noname2200 said:
Xen said:
Roma said:

Right...which is why your blanket (implied) statement is incorrect. Releasing quality games does not guarantee a good result for the developers. Clover is just one example.

Not entirely correct... the result for them is bad from one side since they are now defunct, but good from the other since their work lives on.

A more correct way of showing this statement as incorrect would be showing a company that releases crap and gets away with it.

I'm not an artist, just a dude with bills to pay, so I'm willing to say that having my work live on is zero consolation to being unemployed...I guess I'm funny that way. But considering how bitter some of Clover's ex-employees were in interviews, I don't think I was the only one.

But very well, we can see companies releasing crap and profiting off it too. Ubisoft's "casual" games (until recently, at least) are probably the lion's share of their profits. EA was king when it pumped out crap (now that it's making good games? Not so much). D3 actually reached a profit making stuff like Ninjabread Man, and a profit it something most Western publishers can't seem to do any more. And so on and so on. Happy?

Edit: That came out sounding testier than I intended. My bad.

 

Umm.. well... yes

It's a personal thing for me, dude. Because doing some of my work (I happen to be an artist, kinda) with little return but with having my work somehow adored is good consolation to me... that's why I didn't like that Clover example... although I can understand their bitterness and share it.

Maybe I was kinda straying off topic with it, but Ubisoft and most western devs atm are exactly what I meant.

 



Around the Network
patjuan32 on 20 December 2008
Khuutra said:
I hope, intensely, that the Factor 5 talent finds a home in another studio.

I want more Rogue Squadron. Please, oh please, just one more.

 

Even if Factor 5 were still developing games they would not be able to make another Rogue Squadron game. They split with Lucas Arts to make their own game, Lair. Lucas Arts had to find another developer.



If Nintendo is successful at the moment, it’s because they are good, and I cannot blame them for that. What we should do is try to be just as good.----Laurent Benadiba

 

Khuutra on 20 December 2008
patjuan32 said:
Khuutra said:
I hope, intensely, that the Factor 5 talent finds a home in another studio.

I want more Rogue Squadron. Please, oh please, just one more.

 

Even if Factor 5 were still developing games they would not be able to make another Rogue Squadron game. They split with Lucas Arts to make their own game, Lair. Lucas Arts had to find another developer.

They could still be hired to make one more!

Do not step on my dreams.



NightDragon83 on 20 December 2008

factor5 was a 2nd party for ninty back in the day weren't they?
ninty should pick them up since they have so much friggin money these days!



On 2/24/13, MB1025 said:
You know I was always wondering why no one ever used the dollar sign for $ony, but then I realized they have no money so it would be pointless.

frybread on 20 December 2008
LordTheNightKnight said:
Conversely, this shows just how farsighted Nintendo was with their business strategy. Those guys from gametrailers were just plain stupid to think Nintendo was thinking short term, when Nintendo is thriving among all these closures.

And since they are thriving, make the damn studio a second party, Nintendo.

 

Your two statements kind of contradict each other :)

factor5 was a 2nd party for ninty back in the day weren't they?

 

Before the Wii was launched Factor 5 had announced a PilotWings sequel, but they jumped ship and decided to develop new IP's for PS3.  Because PS3 was going to dominate, you see.



PC + Wii owners unite.  Our last-gen dying platforms have access to nearly every 90+ rated game this gen.  Building a PC that visually outperforms PS360 is cheap and easy.    Oct 7th 2010 predictions (made Dec 17th '08)
PC: 10^9
Wii: 10^8

Around the Network
LordTheNightKnight on 20 December 2008
frybread said:
LordTheNightKnight said:
Conversely, this shows just how farsighted Nintendo was with their business strategy. Those guys from gametrailers were just plain stupid to think Nintendo was thinking short term, when Nintendo is thriving among all these closures.

And since they are thriving, make the damn studio a second party, Nintendo.

 

Your two statements kind of contradict each other :)

 

How?



A flashy-first game is awesome when it comes out. A great-first game is awesome forever.

Plus, just for the hell of it: Kelly Brook at the 2008 BAFTAs

Kenny on 20 December 2008

^I think he means making Factor 5 would be a shortsighted decision, which seems to be tongue in cheek. This is one of those instances where sarcasm quotes would probably have helped.



Super World Cup Fighter II: Championship 2010 Edition

shams on 20 December 2008

This sounds... "odd". If it was 100% true, we would hear some form of official statement by now.

In general, any developer currently making a game for a publisher will *not* go out of business. That is unless:

1/ They have huge debts anyway

2/ The development contract gets canceled (late delivery?)

3/ The publisher(s) in question go out of business.

If F5 were "actually" making a Kid Icarus game - and for Nintendo - its very, very unlikely they will close their doors. Unless Ninty pulls the contract.

...

Either way, F5 was pretty crap to be honest. I was shocked at the lack of progress in their "flight engine" games from the N64 shooter... all the way up to Lair. I don't know the key figures at the studio, but there must have been some mediocre developers and management in there - maybe backed by a couple of good, technical guys.

This is a positive really - the good people will get jobs at other studios, the lamers... can leave the industry forever (hopefully).

I was much more disappointed by the demise of Free Radical - basically due to a publisher dying.

...

People had better hope that Sony (or EA) *never* pulls out of game dev - if they do, you could see 10+ studios going down in a single week.



Gesta Non Verba

Nocturnal is helping companies get cheaper game ratings in Australia:

Game Assessment website

Wii code: 2263 4706 2910 1099

hanafuda on 20 December 2008
Dodece said:
First I would say this the development costs for the high definition platforms are not the same. During 2007 I read an insightful article where the development costs were sighted. Mind you these are for for high end games. Not your run of the mill shovel ware. The development costs for the Wii were sixty percent of the 360, and the 360 was sixty percent the development costs of the PS3. Do not treat all platforms as if they were the same. Further more the 360 shares a lot of common architecture with the PC. So that always permits porting, or dual launch.

These studios ate terrible losses by developing exclusively for the PS3. Not necessarily, because they developed for HD. Had those titles been exclusive to the 360 they may not have sold any better, but the developers would have lost less, and they would have had an option to port the games to the PC. That might not seem like much, but it may have given these studios at least one more chance, before they ran out of money.

Secondly as others have said this will effect PS3 exclusive development, and it should. Perhaps Sony needs to take this into account. Provide more effective middle ware, reduce the licensing fees, or provide greater technical assistance with physical assets. Sending staff to developers to help them with game development. All as a means to reduce development costs. A developer having to sell over half a million copies is unsustainable. Yes the credit crunch did not help, but it was made worse by poor performance making them less promising for venture capitalists.

Thirdly Factor 5 was over acclaimed as a developer. Yes the games were fun, but they were also hardly ground breaking. Anyone who had to wage a war with auto orientation in the Rogue Squadron series knows that as space shooters go it is less then authentic. You could not fly arbitrary to orientation. Ever try to bomb a star destroyers shield generator on the undercarriage with a Y Wing. Yes it was all sorts of fun to watch bombs fly upwards. After all everyone knows that space has both an up and down.


Other than your opinion of their games. you don't have any idea what you are talking about.

PSN - hanafuda

hanafuda on 20 December 2008
shams said:
This sounds... "odd". If it was 100% true, we would hear some form of official statement by now.

In general, any developer currently making a game for a publisher will *not* go out of business. That is unless:

1/ They have huge debts anyway

2/ The development contract gets canceled (late delivery?)

3/ The publisher(s) in question go out of business.

If F5 were "actually" making a Kid Icarus game - and for Nintendo - its very, very unlikely they will close their doors. Unless Ninty pulls the contract.

...

Either way, F5 was pretty crap to be honest. I was shocked at the lack of progress in their "flight engine" games from the N64 shooter... all the way up to Lair. I don't know the key figures at the studio, but there must have been some mediocre developers and management in there - maybe backed by a couple of good, technical guys.

This is a positive really - the good people will get jobs at other studios, the lamers... can leave the industry forever (hopefully).

I was much more disappointed by the demise of Free Radical - basically due to a publisher dying.

...

People had better hope that Sony (or EA) *never* pulls out of game dev - if they do, you could see 10+ studios going down in a single week.

Well put. Which publisher killed Free Radical? I've not been following it...

PSN - hanafuda