RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS

[Katphood]

The far more worrying thing for Microsoft than this reported loss is that even after the separation of the XBone and Kinect and the price drop that accompanied that move, the XBone is still getting outsold 2:1 to 3:1 by the PS4, and is even getting outsold by the Wii U, albeit not by a large margin, consistently.

 

Well, the initial presentation was pretty important. The whole story with 'kinetct' and 'game discs that need a code activation, and another one if you want to lend your game to a friend' immediately turned most gamers(the variety that doesn't mind having a console) towards PS4(no code activation for games, no extra peripherals required to enjoy games).

 

MS did try to fix these issues but people don't forget that easily. Xone needs good exclusives and it needs them to be presentable at the next e3.

 

Speaking of exclusives and such, why the hell would they announce a PC release for Dead Rising 3 this early? That game might have helped the sales a little... There is also D4 which seemsed to be an interesting game at first glance, but guess what! KINECT ONLY BABE!!! ...immediately lost interest. And last but not least, the semi-favored game(by maybe a few die-hard loyal Xone fans...if one could imagine that!) Ryse - Son of Rome ...god lord, read the story for yourself, it's like puking on a pile of ****!

Edited August 10, 2014 by Cat Food

[Zoraptor]

MS has haemorrhaged money on the Xbox from the get go. Even with the 360 they apparently did less well than simply leaving the cash in the bank due to the RROD issues, as when you're selling a loss leading console the worst thing possible is that it needs replacing since you didn't even make money on the first sale let alone the replacement/ refurb/ couriers etc. And the original xbox lost billions.

 

Really though, MS is a perfect example of what happens when you live in a bubble and presume everyone wants what you want or what it's convenient for you to want, and where there's very little Criticism going on. I have a certain sympathy for them on some things- their original vision is exactly what the PC Gaming Master Race types think is awesome and is certainly profitable when (ex MS chap) Gabe Newell does it on PC, and kinect at least in theory should be a killer ap given how successful the original Wii was with its very limited kinematics. Given those examples they probably thought they were on a winner, shame for them that Sony was sensible enough to wait and then gazump them on every level from power to pricing to gamer friendliness.

 

Then again I'm still butthurt about that ludicrous ribbon UI- and Metro of course, despite avoiding win8 so far.

Edited August 10, 2014 by Zoraptor

[Keyrock]

The problem with Kinect is that, and this is speculation and conjecture on my part, Microsoft saw the killing Nintendo made with motion controls and wanted a slice of that pie.  Now, in theory, Kinect is a far superior motion controller than a Wiimote, and in some ways it is, plus it's a lot more than that.  The problem is that motion controls, in their current state, are mostly a fad, and by the time Microsoft, and Sony, for that matter (with Move), jumped in on the motion control train, the fad was mostly over, the train had come to a screeching halt, most gamers had their 30 minutes of goofy fun then realized they wanted to be comfortable on a couch with a familiar controller in their hand rather than jumping around like an idiot, and the moms and dads, and grandparents, mostly were content to stick with the Wii, because Nintendo is the undisputed king of colorful kid friendly games that parents can enjoy too and there's no beating them in that department, it's sheer folly.  Compound that with Microsoft forcibly shoehorning Kinect into "mature" games that have no business whatsoever utilizing Kinect ("Better With Kinect" - LOL), which has failed to establish Kinect as a medium for "hardcore" gaming, if anything, it has backfired and created backlash.  Then, top it off with the fact that, outside of dance games, and some basic sports type games, the Kinect motion controls are horribly inaccurate and inconsistent, something Kinect 2.0 was supposed to solve, but nope.  Add all that up and you have the unequivocal failure of Kinect as a mainstream gaming controller.  Microsoft staked a lot on Kinect being their path to dominance and it failed.  Hard. 

[Zoraptor]

Oh, I quite agree, but I do have sympathy for them thinking that it would be a killer app because it is the sort of thing that actually is potentially paradigm shifting, and not in the usual buzz word type way. It could have been the iPhone to Nintendo's Nokia/ Symbian instead of a fad, and may even be so in the long term. Knowing Microsoft that will be right after they've on sold the patents though.

[Hurlshort]

Speaking of the motion control, it was a huge pain in the rear to find a regular controller for the Wii U and not one of those lame wiimotes.  I ended up buying a knockoff a Walmart that is working pretty well, and eventually they are releasing a Gamecube style controller with Super Smash Bros.

[PoetAndMadman]

Pretty interesting new kickstarter project, tactical turn based in the vein of X-Com with HOMM exploration, all set in the Weird West setting:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1752350052/hard-west

 

[Hurlshort]

Looks interesting, but I'm a bit concerned about the developer.  

[Oerwinde]

The problem with Kinect is that, and this is speculation and conjecture on my part, Microsoft saw the killing Nintendo made with motion controls and wanted a slice of that pie. Now, in theory, Kinect is a far superior motion controller than a Wiimote, and in some ways it is, plus it's a lot more than that. The problem is that motion controls, in their current state, are mostly a fad, and by the time Microsoft, and Sony, for that matter (with Move), jumped in on the motion control train, the fad was mostly over, the train had come to a screeching halt, most gamers had their 30 minutes of goofy fun then realized they wanted to be comfortable on a couch with a familiar controller in their hand rather than jumping around like an idiot, and the moms and dads, and grandparents, mostly were content to stick with the Wii, because Nintendo is the undisputed king of colorful kid friendly games that parents can enjoy too and there's no beating them in that department, it's sheer folly. Compound that with Microsoft forcibly shoehorning Kinect into "mature" games that have no business whatsoever utilizing Kinect ("Better With Kinect" - LOL), which has failed to establish Kinect as a medium for "hardcore" gaming, if anything, it has backfired and created backlash. Then, top it off with the fact that, outside of dance games, and some basic sports type games, the Kinect motion controls are horribly inaccurate and inconsistent, something Kinect 2.0 was supposed to solve, but nope. Add all that up and you have the unequivocal failure of Kinect as a mainstream gaming controller. Microsoft staked a lot on Kinect being their path to dominance and it failed. Hard.

My biggest problem with Kinect is that its something that kids love, and pretty much just kids. Unfortunately, it has trouble detecting kids, making it pretty much useless for small kids. Got my kids Just Dance kids, and they spend more time trying to get the kinect to see them than actually playing. doesn't help that it recommends you stand 10 feet from the camera, and not a lot of people have that kind of space.

[Wrath of Dagon]

Whoever wins the previous console generation becomes super arrogant and loses the next generation because of it. Happened to Sony with PS3 and now to MS with Xbone. (Well, Sony lost with PS3 in the US, may be not worldwide).

[Zoraptor]

PS3 did do far better than 360 in Europe and especially Japan, while 360 did better in English speaking countries. Both had issues- rrod for 360, Cell not doing anything and people buying them solely as BR players for Sony- so it was probably a draw overall. Really depends on the value added (game, peripherals etc) sales as well, since both consoles were sold at a lost for much of their life cycle.

[Keyrock]

Whoever wins the previous console generation becomes super arrogant and loses the next generation because of it. Happened to Sony with PS3 and now to MS with Xbone. (Well, Sony lost with PS3 in the US, may be not worldwide).

Neither Sony nor Microsoft won the previous generation, Nintendo did, and by a rather large margin.  The Wii sold poorly toward the end of its lifetime, but people often forget how insanely well it sold at the beginning of its lifetime.

 

Microsoft really needs to turn the XBone around, it's still early so it can be done.  They've already done a price cut (by removing Kinect), now they need compelling games.  This may well be a make or break machine for Microsoft.  They lost a bunch of money on the original Xbox, but you could justify that loss as that was the machine that Microsoft used to get a foothold in the console market, you can look at it as a loss that will pay off with profit in the future.  They made very little, if anything, with the 360, in no small part due to RRoD, but you could justify that by saying that the 360 helped solidify Microsoft in the console market.  So, it stands to reason, that they need to make a good profit on XBone.  They've lost money to get their foot in the door and to solidify their place in the market, but if the XBone doesn't make them money then all that sort of seems for naught.  I mean, do you take another disappointing outing and say, we'll get them next console cycle?  Any reasonable CEO would definitely consider cutting their losses at that point.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Keyrock

[Wrath of Dagon]

I don't think the Wii won if you consider game sales, which is after all what consoles are all about. Too lazy to actually look up numbers though.

[Keyrock]

I don't think the Wii won if you consider game sales, which is after all what consoles are all about. Too lazy to actually look up numbers though.

Lifetime Hardware Sales:

 

Wii - 101.04 million

PS3 - 83.01 million

360 - 82.63 million

 

Lifetime Software Sales By Platform:

 

Wii - 921.30 million

360 - 897.70 million

PS3 - 835.52 million

[Leferd]

Some great news, it looks like Sierra is starting up again.

 

http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/08/08/sierra-teaser-site-points-to-possible-revival-at-gamescom-2014/

 

I hope that means more games like Pharaoh.

The next Gabriel Knight and Arcanum 2 (by Obsidian) please.

[Wrath of Dagon]

 

I don't think the Wii won if you consider game sales, which is after all what consoles are all about. Too lazy to actually look up numbers though.

Lifetime Hardware Sales:

 

Wii - 101.04 million

PS3 - 83.01 million

360 - 82.63 million

 

Lifetime Software Sales By Platform:

 

Wii - 921.30 million

360 - 897.70 million

PS3 - 835.52 million

 

OK, that's units, but not dollars. The Wii was supposed to have a very low attach rate, non-gamers would buy it as a fad, play the enclosed games a few times, then put it back in the box and never look at it again, which has certainly been my observation. The number of units probably includes the free games included with the Wii, which wasn't so much the case with other consoles.

[Chilloutman]

Some Civ V Beyond Earth stuff from an interview with Gamestar.

IN short CIV5 in space and all answers to questions about SMAC - it was awesome before, but today people are lazy dump f*ck so we will just dumb it down so even CIV5 player who have problem to win on easiest difficulity can play our now space CIV

 

douchebags, gimme my SMAC2

[Zoraptor]

OK, that's units, but not dollars. The Wii was supposed to have a very low attach rate, non-gamers would buy it as a fad, play the enclosed games a few times, then put it back in the box and never look at it again, which has certainly been my observation. The number of units probably includes the free games included with the Wii, which wasn't so much the case with other consoles.

 

 

Wii base units sold at a profit though- it wasn't a loss leader unlike the other two. A low attach rate for PS360 would be an absolute disaster, but the Wii was in profit for every unit sold. From what I remember the profit attach point for a 360 was around 6 titles sold (why rrod was such a killer, for each rrod the attach rate required leapt to anything from 30 up to 60) and a little more for the PS3, but for the Wii it was effectively, hmm, -5, IIRC. So a PS360 had to sell 10 additional titles just to get to baseline Wii profitability.

 

PS360 may have sold base units at a profit eventually, in the past couple of years, though again each had some hardware problems- Cell and HD-DVD drives are basically dead tech with infrastructure maintained solely to supply those consoles.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Zoraptor

[Bos_hybrid]

Capcom is doing a next gen remastered edition of the original Resident Evil (yes again), and it's coming to PC. I will happily throw money at this.

[Lexx]

Pretty interesting new kickstarter project, tactical turn based in the vein of X-Com with HOMM exploration, all set in the Weird West setting:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1752350052/hard-west

 

 

It *looks* cool, but I am pretty sure it wouldn't be anything like how I'd imagine it right now. I am getting kind of a Trapped Dead vibe too, and that game was really bad.

 

A Wild West RPG would be awesome. Sadly there isn't any around, except for maybe Fallout and New Vegas.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Lexx

[BruceVC]

 

Pretty interesting new kickstarter project, tactical turn based in the vein of X-Com with HOMM exploration, all set in the Weird West setting:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1752350052/hard-west

 

 

It *looks* cool, but I am pretty sure it wouldn't be anything like how I'd imagine it right now. I am getting kind of a Trapped Dead vibe too, and that game was really bad.

 

A Wild West RPG would be awesome. Sadly there isn't any around, except for maybe Fallout and New Vegas.

 

 

Red Dead Redemption? I haven't played it because it never came to PC but I heard its excellent?

[Lexx]

Yeah, it is pretty much GTA in the West. It is pretty good, but I am not too much a fan of the gameplay/style. I prefer it over the GTA 3+ games, though, simply because the setting keeps me going.

 

I'd still rather want a true old-school-like Wild West RPG.

[BruceVC]

Yeah, it is pretty much GTA in the West. It is pretty good, but I am not too much a fan of the gameplay/style. I prefer it over the GTA 3+ games, though, simply because the setting keeps me going.

 

I'd still rather want a true old-school-like Wild West RPG.

 

Its not really an RPG but the Call of Juarez are good games set in the Wild West, I played Bound in Blood and it was fun

[Amentep]

...and some sad news for Sacred fans.

I'm not going to watch an hour long video of a game I'm currently playing so can't address whatever points are made there, but anyone expecting SACRED 3 to be anything like SACRED or SACRED 2 wasn't paying any attention to the bankruptcy of Ascaron, purchase of the IP by Deep Silver and the development of the game by Keen.

[Keyrock]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/08/11/frontier-developments-to-potentially-introduce-dynamic-in-game-advertisements#disqus_thread

 

 

The Game may incorporate technology (which may be provided by Frontier or third party service providers engaged by Frontier (each a "Dynamic Advertising Provider")) which enables advertising to be uploaded into the Game on your PC, and changed while the Game is being played on-line. In order that the Dynamic Advertising Provider is able to direct advertising appropriate to your Game and geographic region, as well as to the correct location within the computer game, certain non-personally identifiable data and information may be retrieved and retained by the Dynamic Advertising Provider including your I.P. address, geographic location, in-game position, and information concerning the appearance of advertising visible during your gameplay (for example, the length of time an item of advertising was visible, the dimensions of the advertisements). In addition, the Dynamic Advertising Provider may assign a unique identification number which is stored on your PC and which is used to monitor and calculate the number of views of dynamic advertising during gameplay. None of the information collected for this purpose including the identification number can be used to identify you.

Slippery slope.

[Guest Slinky]

Sheesh, I've passed games for lesser reasons.