RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS!

[Calax]

http://kotaku.com/5991151/breaking-girls-play-video-games-local-news-discovers

... Ok, when did the News get behind by at LEAST 6 years?

[HoonDing]

The 2008 Prince of Persia game had QTE combat and it was aggravating without a controller. At least it was impossible to die in that game.

[TSBasilisk]

Memoria, continuation to Chains of Satinav, announced for Q3 2013

[AwesomeOcelot]

-Boss finisher prompts are what? 2? 3? That aggrivating to push the melee button twice to see a finisher?

Yes.

So if it's not deep and compelling combat mechanic like the originals had, and instead a quicktime event to deal with melee combat, it's not good gameplay.

Two wrongs don't make a right.

[Gorgon]

Well you see, Fighter, the original Tomb Raider had combat that basically involved "once you start shooting a target, as long as you hold down shoot Lara will shoot at it if it's in her front 180 degree arc and she has line of sight on it."

 

So if it's not deep and compelling combat mechanic like the originals had, and instead a quicktime event to deal with melee combat, it's not good gameplay.

So ?. Lots and lots of utter crap with the name 'Tomb Raider'. Not relevant at all to our discussion.

[Raithe]

Here's a thought with all those other button mashers out there..

For like, Batman or Sleeping Dogs where you have to press buttons in certain combinations to perform different moves, would you class those as QTE's because they don't actually flash up on screen for you to press them? Or are they just 'skillfull use of gaming abilities' that you perform as and when you need?

 

I'll admit, an overabundance of QTE's with big flashing "Hit Q" "Hit F" "Hit X" with exclamation marks that then lead you into some scripted cinematic that's practically outside the game engine can be a bit annoying and does feel like it's removing you from the game rather then letting you "play" it. - Especially if it's a whole sequence of QTE's.....

[alanschu]

Well this is concerning :\

 

http://www.streetinsider.com/Hot+Mgmt+Changes/Electronic+Arts+%28EA%29+CEO+Riccitiello+Resigns/8193332.html

[TSBasilisk]

Rezzed show in June announced, along with members of line-up

 

Project: Eternity

Dreamfall Chapters

Sir, You Are Being Hunted

[Morgoth]

Well this is concerning :\

 

http://www.streetinsider.com/Hot+Mgmt+Changes/Electronic+Arts+%28EA%29+CEO+Riccitiello+Resigns/8193332.html

 

Good. Very good.

[alanschu]

 

Good. Very good.

 

Why is that?

[AwesomeOcelot]

For like, Batman or Sleeping Dogs where you have to press buttons in certain combinations to perform different moves, would you class those as QTE's because they don't actually flash up on screen for you to press them? Or are they just 'skillfull use of gaming abilities' that you perform as and when you need?

Those are called combos and they're fine, they make sense in terms of gameplay, you choose when to use them, it's not just about executing a button sequence that is told to you while you're brought completely out of the gameplay. The game doesn't tell you when to press each button, they're not shoehorned into every game, you can do them when you want and break from them if you want. You still have to get your positioning, timing, and choice right, that's gameplay. You'd hope that the combos are the way they are to allow for a greater variety of moves, just as on a keyboard shift and alt on a keyboard allows one key to perform 4 actions.

 

Without the cinematic bull**** going on, it seems daft to even describe it. A game where the buttons you need to press immediately will flash on screen, the action on screen is not directly associated with the button presses, they could quite easily substitute hundreds of other cinematic sequences. That's not games, that's movies that make you do boring **** while you watch them.

[Morgoth]

 

Good. Very good.

 

Why is that?

 

#1 worst employer breaking further down = good news.

[Malcador]

And it's not like he's going to be out on the street.

[alanschu]

#1 worst employer breaking further down = good news.

 

Well I find this fascinating.  How exactly is EA (under Riccietello since 2007 specifically) the #1 worst employer?  I mean, worst game publisher is certainly a perspective I could see a gamer having as they have their right to make judgments on the quality of games released.

 

Furthermore, in light of JR resigning because the company's financial performance underachieved, what sort of changes do you anticipate happening?

Edited March 18, 2013 by alanschu

[Inyourprime]

Just saw the Riccitiello story on joystiq. Well... he was responsible for bringing all the new IPs EA gave us over the years (Dragon Age, Mirror's Edge) and I give him props for that. Certainly better than all the licensed crap they were doing before his time.

[Malcador]

Replacement is Larry Probst, doubt much will change.

Edited March 18, 2013 by Malcador

[Morgoth]

 

#1 worst employer breaking further down = good news.

 

Well I find this fascinating.  How exactly is EA (under Riccietello since 2007 specifically) the #1 worst employer?  I mean, worst game publisher is certainly a perspective I could see a gamer having as they have their right to make judgments on the quality of games released.

 

Furthermore, in light of JR resigning because the company's financial performance underachieved, what sort of changes do you anticipate happening?

 

http://consumerist.com/2012/04/04/congratulations-ea-you-are-the-worst-company-in-america-for-2012/

 

Well, EA always was doing a great job at destroying jobs. Hire and Fire, like a well oiled machine. Cynics might say "That's just the way it is dude", but to me, this is incompetent management. There's always a way to keep devs busy in interim cycles.

 

Either way, some recent EA releases were total failures. ME3, Dead Space 3, Syndicate, SimCity etc. were all creatively bancrupt products and as such, EA deserves all the blame they can get.

Edited March 18, 2013 by Morgoth

[Zoraptor]

Can't say I have a huge amount of sympathy for Riccitiello, the Bioware/ Pandemic/ EP deal stank from an ethics pov considering his positions with both companies and I'd suspect the blowback from that and TOR is the ultimate problem. It's OK paying a lot of money to buy something with your new company from your old company if it ends up performing well and while the traditional Bioware staple has done fine for EA that was not what the high price was paid for.

Well, EA always was doing a great job at destroying jobs. Hire and Fire, like a well oiled machine. Cynics might say "That's just the way it is dude", but to me, this is incompetent management. There's always a way to keep devs busy in interim cycles.

 

Either way, some recent EA releases were total failures. ME3, Dead Space 3, Syndicate, SimCity etc. were all creatively bancrupt products and as such, EA deserves all the blame they can get.

Gaben fired people too so I guess he's incompetent and should have found a way to keep them busy. Why do you hate Gaben, Morgoth?

 

And the only one of those that was a failure was Syndicate. Well, and Simcity's launch. Even DS3 topped the sales charts.

[Sannom]

The 2008 Prince of Persia game had QTE combat and it was aggravating without a controller. At least it was impossible to die in that game.

It's funny, I thought that game had the best mouse & keyboard controls of the all the recent PoP. Maybe it was just for the platforming...

[pmp10]

Either way, some recent EA releases were total failures. ME3, Dead Space 3, Syndicate, SimCity etc. were all creatively bancrupt products and as such, EA deserves all the blame they can get.

Don't know about others but at least Dead Space 3 topped sales charts.

[alanschu]

 

http://consumerist.com/2012/04/04/congratulations-ea-you-are-the-worst-company-in-america-for-2012/

 

Well, EA always was doing a great job at destroying jobs. Hire and Fire, like a well oiled machine. Cynics might say "That's just the way it is dude", but to me, this is incompetent management. There's always a way to keep devs busy in interim cycles.

 

 

You link to a poll that says EA is the Worst Company in America, which is very different than worst employer in America.  I'm also of the opinion that, if EA is truly the Worst Company in America for you, life must be pretty good.  Surely you can do better than that for assessing whether or not EA is a poor employer.  I was hoping for some assessment into various things that employees might care about (compensation, benefits, and the like).

 

Never mind that there may be some level of selection bias when considering an online poll that happened to be online when a large group of disappointed gamers mobilized and organized themselves to express their dismay in whatever means they could.

 

 

 

Either way, some recent EA releases were total failures. ME3, Dead Space 3, Syndicate, SimCity etc. were all creatively bancrupt products and as such, EA deserves all the blame they can get.

 

How does Morgoth define "total failure?"

[Humanoid]

How I feel about the resignation really depends on how much of the recent direction of things such as "every game needs multiplayer" and that of microtransactions is down to him as opposed to the broader management, really.

 

How they function as an employer is, of course, out of scope for the average gamer.

[alanschu]

 

How they function as an employer is, of course, out of scope for the average gamer.

 

Ding ding ding.

 

Hate the games are the direction the company is moving in, fine.  Just say that.  Don't attempt to add weight to your perspective by examining a perspective you couldn't possibly have much insight into.

[Fighter]

Yes.

 

Ok. That kind of hair-trigger to irritability isn't something I can understand though.

[Hurlshort]

I've actually heard EA is a fantastic employer.  I know a couple people that worked at their Redwood City a number of years ago, and a quick search came back with no remarkable employee complaints.