RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS

[Gfted1]

I didn't know that. Seems like a fair deal to the employee, would you agree?

[alanschu]

I have no problem with it.  I didn't realize it happened so the first year it was superbly appreciated haha.

[Azure79]

 

Why would they? Are game revenues usually profit shared with programmers?

 

 

EA gives out bonuses that are affected by studio and project performance, coupled by employee performance.  My largest one came the year DA2 was released, a slightly smaller one last year (ME3's release), and a smaller one (though still decent and certainly appreciated) this year (no major revenue streams for BWE aside from some DLC and MP).

 

I'd be surprised if none of the success of GTA 5 didn't trickle back to the team in some capacity.

 

That's good to hear. 

 

And wow, $800 million in 24 hours. I never really got into the GTA games, so I wasn't even aware the game was released until saw lines of people outside a game store on my way to work. 

 

What is it about the game that makes is so alluring? I've played GTA 3 and 4 until midgame (I think) and I never found the story that interesting, or the missions particularly fun. I've gone the carmeggedon route of trying to get my wanted level as high as possible and maintain it, which was fun for a while. I dabbled in some of the side missions, but I usually shelved the game before I finished the story missions. 

 

There must be something I'm missing.

[Fighter]

 

What is it about the game that makes is so alluring?

 

 

I don't know. I hate that so many other good games can't come close or fail financially when GTA V is treated like the second coming of Christ when to me it's just another game. A game I will want to play if it comes to PC, but just another game. I enjoyed Sleeping Dogs more than the last GTA and that was criminally 10x less successful.

[Hurlshort]

It's all about franchises.  It's tough for us to see, since most of us play a variety, but the majority of gamers stick to a few well known titles.  If you are only planning on buying a couple games a year, you probably are just looking for what is comfortable and familiar.    

[Keyrock]

It's all about franchises.  It's tough for us to see, since most of us play a variety, but the majority of gamers stick to a few well known titles.  If you are only planning on buying a couple games a year, you probably are just looking for what is comfortable and familiar.    

Basically yeah.  GTA basically created a genre, GTA3 specifically, and that genre became synonymous with with GTA, and thus GTA became a well known brand name and achieved mythical status.  A status not necessarily undeserved, mind you, as I thought all their games were quite good with the exception of GTA4 (can't speak for GTA5 since I haven't played it).  It's the same thing with CoD or Halo.  Once the franchise gains enough mainstream popularity, it reaches critical mass, then it become a self-sustaining hype machine.  At that point, it almost doesn't matter if future titles are good or not, as once the hype machine is in full effect it's very difficult to derail, whether from external or internal forces.  Usually once a game series catches fire like that and becomes a popular trend, the franchise will keep raking it in until the trend burns itself out and people move on to the next thing.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Keyrock

[Humanoid]

While I'm not so much pleased about the trend of megahit games with budgets hundreds-of-millions acting as black holes and sucking away the oxygen out of anything else, I'm at least mildly okay with the notion of something that required at least a little bit of creative effort and vision getting one over on the cynical annual churn that is Call of Duty.

[Zoraptor]

That's good to hear.

By way of illustration, when Activision and Infinity Ward had their falling out the employees that took action were claiming more than a million (!) apiece in missed royalty payments- and that was without West and Zampella's separate action. I don't know how many of them were management as well (most, I'd suspect from observing corporate culture) but it's clear that working on a big title can result in pretty hefty remunerations if it's successful.

[Orogun01]

 

It's all about franchises.  It's tough for us to see, since most of us play a variety, but the majority of gamers stick to a few well known titles.  If you are only planning on buying a couple games a year, you probably are just looking for what is comfortable and familiar.    

Basically yeah.  GTA basically created a genre, GTA3 specifically, and that genre became synonymous with with GTA, and thus GTA became a well known brand name and achieved mythical status.  A status not necessarily undeserved, mind you, as I thought all their games were quite good with the exception of GTA4 (can't speak for GTA5 since I haven't played it).  It's the same thing with CoD or Halo.  Once the franchise gains enough mainstream popularity, it reaches critical mass, then it become a self-sustaining hype machine.  At that point, it almost doesn't matter if future titles are good or not, as once the hype machine is in full effect it's very difficult to derail, whether from external or internal forces.  Usually once a game series catches fire like that and becomes a popular trend, the franchise will keep raking it in until the trend burns itself out and people move on to the next thing.

 

I would say that Shenmue created the genre and GTA3 just made it about violence. Still I guess the GTA, the COD, and the Halos can be proof of separation between discerning gamers and casual ones, so I'm not so angry about them being successful (though I do get a bit mad when someone credits them with innovation, as is the case in point )

In the end its just evidence of the industry's growth and of how badly managed it is, capitalist nowadays expect opportunities to come to their door, knock, wait for them to answer and then do all the work.

[alanschu]

GTA 3 just took the same style of game from GTA 1 and 2 and made it 3D.  So I'm not sure if Shenmue started it.  Especially since GTA III would have been started before Shenmue started to make waves prerelease.

[Orogun01]

GTA 3 was for the XBox and PS2, Shemue was a Dreamcast game about 2 years before. It would be hard to tell how much or if it had any influence on the development of GTA, but as it does have precedence I tend to give it the credit; even though what you say is true. 
I could however see it as both having simultaneously defined two different approaches to open world gameplay, both having inspired many successor. Of course GTA successors seem more uninspired, repetitive and violent, worthy of the title of GTA clone. Whereas Shenmue legacy has gone understated even though it had a deeper level of interaction within it's "sandbox" which has now become commonplace.

[alanschu]

Shenmue's release in North America was only a year prior to GTA 3, so it's hard to say I think.

[C2B]

GTA 3 just took the same style of game from GTA 1 and 2 and made it 3D. So I'm not sure if Shenmue started it. Especially since GTA III would have been started before Shenmue started to make waves prerelease.

No, it didn't. GTA III was quite different from II. Especially in overall mission structure I wouldn't call it the same at all.

Edited September 19, 2013 by C2B

[alanschu]

Given that I stepped right into the game in much the same way, I disagree.

 

Yeah, they evolved it, but the evolution seemed pretty firmly rooted to me (and unfortunately for GTA3, not in a direction I wanted the game to go).

[Sarex]

GTA 3 was for the XBox and PS2...

 

For the PC too, that is where I played it.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Sarex

[Keyrock]

 

 

It's all about franchises.  It's tough for us to see, since most of us play a variety, but the majority of gamers stick to a few well known titles.  If you are only planning on buying a couple games a year, you probably are just looking for what is comfortable and familiar.    

Basically yeah.  GTA basically created a genre, GTA3 specifically, and that genre became synonymous with with GTA, and thus GTA became a well known brand name and achieved mythical status.  A status not necessarily undeserved, mind you, as I thought all their games were quite good with the exception of GTA4 (can't speak for GTA5 since I haven't played it).  It's the same thing with CoD or Halo.  Once the franchise gains enough mainstream popularity, it reaches critical mass, then it become a self-sustaining hype machine.  At that point, it almost doesn't matter if future titles are good or not, as once the hype machine is in full effect it's very difficult to derail, whether from external or internal forces.  Usually once a game series catches fire like that and becomes a popular trend, the franchise will keep raking it in until the trend burns itself out and people move on to the next thing.

 

I would say that Shenmue created the genre and GTA3 just made it about violence. Still I guess the GTA, the COD, and the Halos can be proof of separation between discerning gamers and casual ones, so I'm not so angry about them being successful (though I do get a bit mad when someone credits them with innovation, as is the case in point )

In the end its just evidence of the industry's growth and of how badly managed it is, capitalist nowadays expect opportunities to come to their door, knock, wait for them to answer and then do all the work.

 

My mistake, but GTA3 popularized the genre anyway.  Point is GTA was the franchise that became synonymous with the genre, to the point where other games in the genre are commonly known as GTA clones.  Once a franchise becomes synonymous with a genre, such as GTA with sandbox, or CoD with modern military FPS, or Diablo with loot em' ups, it's nearly impossible for another franchise in the same genre to take over the top spot, regardless of which franchise is actually better (which is subjective anyway).  It would take a massively terrible game to derail the hype machine, and even then, the hype machine may keep functioning on pure hype and brand recognition.

[Hurlshort]

Platforms play a huge role in this popularization as well, GTA3 releasing on the PS2 and Xbox is a big reason it became dominant.  Heck that's always been the real brilliance of Bethesda, they got Morrowind on the Xbox early and repeated that with Oblivion on the 360.

[Orogun01]

 

 

 

It's all about franchises.  It's tough for us to see, since most of us play a variety, but the majority of gamers stick to a few well known titles.  If you are only planning on buying a couple games a year, you probably are just looking for what is comfortable and familiar.    

Basically yeah.  GTA basically created a genre, GTA3 specifically, and that genre became synonymous with with GTA, and thus GTA became a well known brand name and achieved mythical status.  A status not necessarily undeserved, mind you, as I thought all their games were quite good with the exception of GTA4 (can't speak for GTA5 since I haven't played it).  It's the same thing with CoD or Halo.  Once the franchise gains enough mainstream popularity, it reaches critical mass, then it become a self-sustaining hype machine.  At that point, it almost doesn't matter if future titles are good or not, as once the hype machine is in full effect it's very difficult to derail, whether from external or internal forces.  Usually once a game series catches fire like that and becomes a popular trend, the franchise will keep raking it in until the trend burns itself out and people move on to the next thing.

 

I would say that Shenmue created the genre and GTA3 just made it about violence. Still I guess the GTA, the COD, and the Halos can be proof of separation between discerning gamers and casual ones, so I'm not so angry about them being successful (though I do get a bit mad when someone credits them with innovation, as is the case in point )

In the end its just evidence of the industry's growth and of how badly managed it is, capitalist nowadays expect opportunities to come to their door, knock, wait for them to answer and then do all the work.

 

My mistake, but GTA3 popularized the genre anyway.  Point is GTA was the franchise that became synonymous with the genre, to the point where other games in the genre are commonly known as GTA clones.  Once a franchise becomes synonymous with a genre, such as GTA with sandbox, or CoD with modern military FPS, or Diablo with loot em' ups, it's nearly impossible for another franchise in the same genre to take over the top spot, regardless of which franchise is actually better (which is subjective anyway).  It would take a massively terrible game to derail the hype machine, and even then, the hype machine may keep functioning on pure hype and brand recognition.

 

I don't think that's its so cut an clear, advertisement for games have taken the route of brand association. One recent example was for Farcry, it was a quote "it's like Skyrim with guns". If you can associate your brand with another more successful one you have a greater chance of both getting your game financed and selling afterward. Sad really.

[Keyrock]

MGS5 gameplay from TGS:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9imLig0GrQA#t=251

 

Damn, that does look good and give me a bit of console envy.  Not enough to get me to buy a console, mind you, but enough that I would likely scoop this up and deal with the standard ridiculously convoluted Kojima plot to play this, were it ever to come to the master platform.

 

I always get a kick out of red barrels in video games (not just in MGS5), presumably packed with explosive liquid.  I can just picture the goon squad form Evil Military Outfit X.

 

Goon 1 - "Hey boss, we got a truck coming in."

 

Goon 2 - "I think it's a shipment full of red barrels, boss."

 

Boss Goon - "Yeah, we ordered a bunch from Explosive Red Barrel, Inc."

 

Goon 1 - "Where do you want us to put the barrels, boss?"

 

Goon 2  - "We have a secure, safe storage cage, over in the corner of the compund, away from heat sources and possible vulnerable str..."

 

Boss Goon - "Shut up smartass!  I don't pay you to think, I pay you to walk around, unload stuff, and occasionally shoot innocents.  Now, here's what you two are going to do.  Take the red barrels and distribute them around the compound.  Make sure you put at least one barrel near each guard tower.  Try to get some near support columns for vital buildings, and if there are any left, put them near barricades, on the side we would be on, in case we would ever get attacked."

Edited September 19, 2013 by Keyrock

[Gfted1]

PlayStation companion app for iOS, Android due in November

The app will let PS4 gamers use their mobile device as a game controller or a second screen, says Polygon.

[Azure79]

MGS5 looks really good. I like the slo-mo/heightened awareness thing when Snake runs across unexpected enemies. 

[Orogun01]

Does the game follows the exploits of Big Boss after the original MG?

[Lexx]

MGS5 is set after Peace Walker.

 

 

I don't like this super high tech stuff (holo codec / pda or what is that?), because from a timeline point of view this doesn't make any sense.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Lexx

[Orogun01]

MGS5 is set after Peace Walker.

 

 

I don't like this super high tech stuff (holo codec / pda or what is that?), because from a timeline point of view this doesn't make any sense.

I guess they're retconning a lot of the stuff from the first 2 games.

[Keyrock]

MGS5 is set after Peace Walker.

 

 

I don't like this super high tech stuff (holo codec / pda or what is that?), because from a timeline point of view this doesn't make any sense.

Counter-point: In a Kojima plotline, out of place technology ranks pretty low on the nonsensical list.