RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS

[Tigranes]

Yeah, there's some dispute about the actual message, e.g. whether he means super huge AAA games or even ruling out games like NWN2 and F:NV. If he means Assassin's Creed stuff, then that actually means nothing new, Obsidian have never made such blockbusters. 

 

I do think making bit parts for other companies' games is a crappy way to make a living, though. Sad that it's come to that.

[Tale]

For today only, you can get Penny Arcade's Rain-Slick 3 for free on Steam from Penny Arcade's site.

 

http://penny-arcade.com/static/rainslick-giveaway

I absolutely loved that game. If you love old school Final Fantasy style RPGs, it's a really good one. And the writing was actually far funnier than their comics have been in a while.

[Drowsy Emperor]

Its probably for the best overall. Honestly, Obsidian always had problems with AAA games. For starters, their sequels, probably due to smaller budgets, rarely felt as polished as the original. The production values were always barely at the level of the original at the time when those games were already behind the tech curve.

 

The elements that Obsidian is good at, the story and characters can be equally good in any game, regardless of budget. Having the budget of a typical AAA game helps of course but that brings about other constraints, not the least of which is publisher pressure.

 

I think its good sense trying to stay out of that production value arms race and doing their own thing - for better or for worse, sink or swim - at least we'll play more of their own projects and less of what other companies dump in their lap.

 

I know I often liked what Obsidian brought to those games, the thoughtful use of the SW universe in Kotor II, the story behind Mask of the Betrayer and the creativeness of Fallout New Vegas, but what I absolutely detested was that they felt like reheated porridge regarding gameplay, visuals etc (of games that I neither liked how they played or how they looked - NWN, KOTOR, F3).

Edited May 20, 2013 by Drowsy Emperor

[Keyrock]

Yeah, there's some dispute about the actual message, e.g. whether he means super huge AAA games or even ruling out games like NWN2 and F:NV. If he means Assassin's Creed stuff, then that actually means nothing new, Obsidian have never made such blockbusters. 

 

I do think making bit parts for other companies' games is a crappy way to make a living, though. Sad that it's come to that.

Well, Obsidian Entertainment need to do what they need to do to survive.  This even further makes Project Eternity such an important game for the company.  If it winds up being a hit, it not only confirms the viability of the crowdfunding business model, it also gives Obsidian an attractive IP that they own and control.

[C2B]

@ drowsy

 

Obsidian was never really in it in the first place with the (maybe) exception of AP.

 

 

Also people, PLEASE stop taking things as fact that were never said as such.

Edited May 20, 2013 by C2B

[Drowsy Emperor]

@ drowsy

 

Obsidian was never really in it in the first place with the (maybe) exception of AP.

 

That's my point. Now its time to do their own thing. With projects less ambitious than AP.

[C2B]

 

@ drowsy

 

Obsidian was never really in it in the first place with the (maybe) exception of AP.

 

That's my point. Now its time to do their own thing. With projects less ambitious than AP.

 

 

?

 

They are doing that since last year when they had the chance for the first time to do that.

 

If you meant publisher projects, nothings really going to change? (Apart from Publishers probably being more open at working with Obsidian and they maybe doing parts for *big* games).

 

They might still continue to do sequels and their own thing if someone's interested. And according to the panel it doesn't sounds like they are going away from reusing assets from the previous game if possible.

Edited May 20, 2013 by C2B

[Lexx]

Meh, sounds bad. But yeah, if they need to do it...

 

But I'll doubt that Kickstarter will be a long time option. At some point, people will jump off and not give money anymore, especially people who gave a lot money first. Like... I won't be able to give 250 dollar for every game, even if Obsidians name is written on it.

 

And smartphones... I haven't found a smartphone game yet, which I find interesting for longer than 5 minutes.

[Morgoth]

John Riccitiello's advice to Sony and Microsoft about successfully launching their consoles

[Spider]

Yeah, but if they sell enough copies of PE to non funders, they might have enough cash to fund the next game themselves, at least partially.

[Monte Carlo]

I hope the PE franchise is a hit. Dammit I would be happy to see a PE console game eventually for chrissakes, if it enabled them to continue making solid old-skool stuff too.

[Labadal]

I hope the PE franchise is a hit. Dammit I would be happy to see a PE console game eventually for chrissakes, if it enabled them to continue making solid old-skool stuff too.

Preject Eternity: Eternal Alliance.

[Lexx]

Not to forget the first person sandbox PE game.

[Nordicus]

Not to forget the first person sandbox PE game.

Where your character's kick is the best weapon

[Jaesun]

No more Onyx Engine ;_;

[Orogun01]

Something cryworthy, Unity does fit well with the genre though.

[Keyrock]

Not to forget the first person sandbox PE game.

P.R.O.J.E.C.T. Shadows of Eternity?

 

[Bester]

Yeah, there's some dispute about the actual message, e.g. whether he means super huge AAA games or even ruling out games like NWN2 and F:NV. If he means Assassin's Creed stuff, then that actually means nothing new, Obsidian have never made such blockbusters. 

 

I do think making bit parts for other companies' games is a crappy way to make a living, though. Sad that it's come to that.

Don't worry old chap, it will get worse, but then it will get better. There will be a point when graphics won't be able to improve all that much, and then somebody will simply make a universal engine with lots of tools and assets and make it free for everyone. All companies will be able to use it, no matter how big or small. I hope to see something like that in the near 20 years if nobody nukes nobody in the meantime.

[C2B]

 

Yeah, there's some dispute about the actual message, e.g. whether he means super huge AAA games or even ruling out games like NWN2 and F:NV. If he means Assassin's Creed stuff, then that actually means nothing new, Obsidian have never made such blockbusters. 

 

I do think making bit parts for other companies' games is a crappy way to make a living, though. Sad that it's come to that.

 

Don't worry old chap, it will get worse, but then it will get better. There will be a point when graphics won't be able to improve all that much, and then somebody will simply make a universal engine with lots of tools and assets and make it free for everyone. All companies will be able to use it, no matter how big or small. I hope to see something like that in the near 20 years if nobody nukes nobody in the meantime.

 

That won't really matter. It's not about engine or tools, it's about teamsize and budget. Again, what Feargus is talking about is not your typical game, it's about blockbusters like an Assassin's Creed game, Resident Evil 6 or Halo.

[Lexx]

Well, let's hope you are right. I wouldn't like phone games from Obsidian or stuff like that, because I just don't play phone games.

 

 

But then again... I love the look of Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land. Still, I just don't want to play on a phone / tablet. If the Cthulhu game would have been released for PC and with bigger maps, etc. I would have bought it at day 1.

Edited May 21, 2013 by Lexx

[Nepenthe]

Something cryworthy, Unity does fit well with the genre though.

 

Mmh, wonder when the decision was made vs. becoming familiar with Unity.

 

Well, let's hope that PE etc. will allow Obsidian to produce enjoyable games that play to their strengths.

[Morgoth]

http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/freedomwars/

 

.) New fresh IP: Check
.) Anticipation rising: Check
.) Finding out it's for a dead system: Check
.) Furthermore finding out it's some stupid Monster Hunter clone: Check
.) ????
.) Sony: We always screw it up (Check)

[Orogun01]

 

Something cryworthy, Unity does fit well with the genre though.

 

Mmh, wonder when the decision was made vs. becoming familiar with Unity.

 

Well, let's hope that PE etc. will allow Obsidian to produce enjoyable games that play to their strengths.

 

Maybe at the time it was a matter of finding a balance between convenient pricing and quality. 

[Nepenthe]

 

 

Something cryworthy, Unity does fit well with the genre though.

 

Mmh, wonder when the decision was made vs. becoming familiar with Unity.

 

Well, let's hope that PE etc. will allow Obsidian to produce enjoyable games that play to their strengths.

 

Maybe at the time it was a matter of finding a balance between convenient pricing and quality. 

 

 

True, true. From what I've read from the different Kickstarter projects I've backed, a lot of people have actually been positively surprised by what you can actually do with Unity.

[Keyrock]

Unity seems to be the big winner from the whole Kickstarter phenomenon.  A huge number of projects chose the engine because cross-platform, and are likely to stick with it because, from what I've read, it's quite good.