By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Sales - EA Posts Fiscal Q3 Net Loss of $641 million

HappySqurriel on 03 February 2009
Groucho said:
HappySqurriel said:
Groucho said:
HappySqurriel said:

 

 

Anyone who has any clue about how much work goes into game development in particular (or software development in general) knows that there is an order of magnitude of work difference between the HD games and the Wii games

Wow you are brazen. Unbelievably so.

I give up. Believe what you will. Pretend the 3rd party publishers are "dumb", and that you could do a better job.

 

I know, I should trust the anonymous guy on the internet who claims to be a game developer and yet has little understanding of (practically) everything related to game development ... Games that have 12 to 18 month development cycles involving teams of 40 to 60 developers obviously cost more than games with 3+ year development cycles that are produced by 100+ developer teams

 

Games that have 12-18 month development cycles are called "shovelware", and yes, they are dirt cheap, since they are farmed to low-talent dev houses and don't take much effort to make. I thought you were suggesting that Wii games shouldn't be made as shovelware? You're comparing the cost of shovelware with the cost of quality. Not the cost of "Wii" against the cost of "HD".

I have so many more... entertaining things to say to you, I think this has got to be my last post in this thread. You are obviously not interested in hearing from some "guy on the internet". I would hate to burst your bubble any more. If you sir, are a game developer, I can only hope we never cross paths -- I know I would not want to be on a project with someone of your clearly dizzying intellect.

 

 

 

I think we have drastically different ideas on what shovelware is:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2993/postmortem_factor_5s_star_wars_.php?page=4

Rogue Leader

Publisher: Lucas Arts Entertainment

Number of full-time developers: 30

Number of contractors: 2

Estimated budget: $3.5 million

Length of development: 9 months

Release date: November 8, 2001

Platform: Nintendo Gamecube

Development hardware used: GDEV & 1GHz PC, running Windows 2000

Development software used: SN Systems for Gamecube, Slickedit, Maya

Notable technologies: MusyX 2.0

Project size: 14.2MB of source in 859 files, in-game source data 6.4GB in 10,075 files

 

Edit: One thing I wonder, is how someone who is a game developer could think that a 60 person team working for 18 months in production of a game would be shovelware ... after all, you're talking about a game that has a budget of around $10 Million and very few shovelware games sell more than 125,000 copies.

 



Around the Network
Xyrax on 03 February 2009

You cant aim for the #1 spot and not significant support the #1 hardware. It just doesnt work that way. Never has. Never ever has, and never will. They will either get on board or Nintendo will overtake them as #1 in all total software around the globe.

Period.

Oh and by on board, I mean on board. Not MysimsKart.



Aiemond on 03 February 2009
HappySqurriel said:
Groucho said:
HappySqurriel said:
Groucho said:
HappySqurriel said:

 

 

Anyone who has any clue about how much work goes into game development in particular (or software development in general) knows that there is an order of magnitude of work difference between the HD games and the Wii games

Wow you are brazen. Unbelievably so.

I give up. Believe what you will. Pretend the 3rd party publishers are "dumb", and that you could do a better job.

 

I know, I should trust the anonymous guy on the internet who claims to be a game developer and yet has little understanding of (practically) everything related to game development ... Games that have 12 to 18 month development cycles involving teams of 40 to 60 developers obviously cost more than games with 3+ year development cycles that are produced by 100+ developer teams

 

Games that have 12-18 month development cycles are called "shovelware", and yes, they are dirt cheap, since they are farmed to low-talent dev houses and don't take much effort to make. I thought you were suggesting that Wii games shouldn't be made as shovelware? You're comparing the cost of shovelware with the cost of quality. Not the cost of "Wii" against the cost of "HD".

I have so many more... entertaining things to say to you, I think this has got to be my last post in this thread. You are obviously not interested in hearing from some "guy on the internet". I would hate to burst your bubble any more. If you sir, are a game developer, I can only hope we never cross paths -- I know I would not want to be on a project with someone of your clearly dizzying intellect.

 

 

 

I think we have drastically different ideas on what shovelware is:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2993/postmortem_factor_5s_star_wars_.php?page=4

Rogue Leader

Publisher: Lucas Arts Entertainment

Number of full-time developers: 30

Number of contractors: 2

Estimated budget: $3.5 million

Length of development: 9 months

Release date: November 8, 2001

Platform: Nintendo Gamecube

Development hardware used: GDEV & 1GHz PC, running Windows 2000

Development software used: SN Systems for Gamecube, Slickedit, Maya

Notable technologies: MusyX 2.0

Project size: 14.2MB of source in 859 files, in-game source data 6.4GB in 10,075 files

 

Edit: One thing I wonder, is how someone who is a game developer could think that a 60 person team working for 18 months in production of a game would be shovelware ... after all, you're talking about a game that has a budget of around $10 Million and very few shovelware games sell more than 125,000 copies.

 

 

Because HD games need longer production time because the assets are more complicated. And remember, if your HD game is only average then it may not return its investment. So by that standard, he is right. Which means he is not a developer or an HD developer trying to convince everyone the wii is no good (which is in his best interest)



Now Playing: The Witcher (PC)

Consoles Owned: NES, SNES, N64, PS1, PS2, Wii, Xbox 360, Game Boy, DS

Sullla on 04 February 2009

Electronic Arts climbed 84 cents, or 5.4 percent, to $16.34 in extended trading, after the company said it would reduce operating expenses by $500 million in fiscal 2010. The shares rose 64 cents to $15.50 in regular Nasdaq Stock Market trading, and have fallen 68 percent in the past year.

Argh. Why didn't I short EA stock last year?! I was so convinced that they were going to make big losses too. It was pretty obvious from their financials over the past couple of years that they were flat on revenue, and their costs kept spiraling upwards. I'm an idiot sometimes.



My Website

End of 2008 totals: Wii 42m, 360 24m, PS3 18.5m (made Jan. 4, 2008)

Khuutra on 04 February 2009
FishyJoe said:
Godfather 2, Sims 3 and Dragon Age all delayed to fiscal 2010.

Son of a bitch!



Around the Network
Tbone on 04 February 2009

Even mighty Ea loosing money damm this gen is full of surprises.



 

Mummelmann on 04 February 2009

Dragon Age too? Ffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-



megaman79 on 04 February 2009

Well whatever else happened yesterday the stocks gone up in response



“When we make some new announcement and if there is no positive initial reaction from the market, I try to think of it as a good sign because that can be interpreted as people reacting to something groundbreaking. ...if the employees were always minding themselves to do whatever the market is requiring at any moment, and if they were always focusing on something we can sell right now for the short term, it would be very limiting. We are trying to think outside the box.” - Satoru Iwata - This is why corporate multinationals will never truly understand, or risk doing, what Nintendo does.

celine on 04 February 2009
Aiemond said:

The cost difference is due to the hardware. Wii assets are cheaper to make.

 

Resolution alone doesn't do the trick.

 

 



 “In the entertainment business, there are only heaven and hell, and nothing in between and as soon as our customers bore of our products, we will crash.”  Hiroshi Yamauchi

TAG:  Like a Yamauchi pimp slap delivered by Il Maelstrom; serving it up with style.