RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS

[Fenixp]

Anyway, the new Hitman is going episodic and Warner Bros is no longer supporting PC as a platform, going as far as to not release any further patches for Mortal Kombat X.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/21/mortal-kombat-alien-dlc-pc/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1M7ANjJGwY&ab_channel=TotalBiscuit,TheCynicalBrit (warning: TotalBiscuit.)

[Oner]

They sure gave up fast on PC MK.

[Leferd]

 

 

So David Gaider left Bio

 

Is there anybody left from the Baldur's Gate days now?

 

Janitor?

I think Luke Kristjanson is still there. Isn't James Ohlen with Bio-Austin?

[Darkpriest]

well given the "success" of Fallout 4, Bioware will probably create even more crap now. I doubt they will go The Witcher's way. I hope I am wrong, but between FO4 and TW3, FO4 design costs less time and effort...

[Malcador]

[kirottu]

That might be the best review I have ever seen.

[Fenixp]

RetroAhoy's channel is totally worth browsing trough and watching. He has some interesting analytical videos, I especially love his various stuff on history of videogames.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Fenixp

[Keyrock]

You'll never believe this, but Mighty No. 9 has been delayed yet again. 

[Malcador]

I keep thinking that is a WWII Bomber simulator

[Mamoulian War]

How Ubisoft is killing one of its games again

Edited January 26, 2016 by Mamoulian War

[the_dog_days]

How Ubisoft is killing one of its games again

I stopped reading that article we the writer said that he thought Evolve was a great game. He may have had a real point later in the article, but that statement made me involuntarily roll my eyes so hard, I'm now too dizzy to finish it.

[Fenixp]

How Ubisoft is killing one of its games again

*sigh* Yeah, even releasing that game as a fully priced product was the wrong step in my opinion. Superficially there's not much which differentiates it from games like CS: GO (I know these games are entirely different, yet most people will only look at a trailer and screenshots, peek at the price and buy GO instead.) Additionally, after titles like Battlefront and Titanfall which were not very popular, people don't really trust the model all that much. It's a huge shame.

 

I stopped reading that article we the writer said that he thought Evolve was a great game. He may have had a real point later in the article, but that statement made me involuntarily roll my eyes so hard, I'm now too dizzy to finish it.

Gee, there are people with differing opinions on the internet, I can imagine the shock and horror that brought :-P

[mkreku]

...after titles like Battlefront and Titanfall which were not very popular, people don't really trust the model all that much. It's a huge shame.

 

Titanfall sales pass 10 million units

 

Battlefront sales figures top 12 million units

 

Does anything you ever say hold any value?

[Fenixp]

Does anything you ever say hold any value?

It's this sort of stuff why I believe people no longer trust the model all that much - increasing revenue on fully priced MP titles by "milking" your players. That is, after all, a belief writer of the linked article seems to agree with. I understand why do MP titles do this, need to do this even, but I also understand why would players be weary of them. Sales alone aren't the only metric by which merit of a title is measured.

 

Additionally, I honestly don't understand the hostility I'm receiving from you since the first time you seemed to have noticed my posting. It's good that you disagree with me, that's what discussions are about for the most part after all - but please, your personal attacks are unwarranted. If you're so bothered by my posts that you can't resist attacking me, these boards contain ignore functionality (I'm not too partial to ignoring you as I actually found many of your posts quite informative and interesting to read - then again, I have no problems with you.)

Edited January 26, 2016 by Fenixp

[sorophx]

Does anything you ever say hold any value?

maybe Titanfall is popular on consoles, but on PC it's as good as dead. nobody plays it. there are game modes which you simply can't play, because no one ever queues for them. the only two modes that have a couple of hundred people playing are Attrition and Deathmatch

[Darkpriest]

The problem are not the initial sales, i mean the amount of hype built up for Titanfall and Battlefront was just HUGE. The problem is their life time. It seems that MP is dead on Titanfall, Evolve is not much better, and Battlefront can't be enjoyable with so few maps, and so many features cut when compared to the old Battlefront.

 

The thing is, do customers learn from this experience? In my opinion - NO. and this is why this model will be alive and well. People are mostly dumb with their money (that's why you have so few rich people) and overall not super intelligent when going by median, so yeah, big companies will still milk wallets.

[Zoraptor]

It's... pretty difficult to argue that 10 million plus ain't successful or popular. It's pretty obvious why those two are picked in general as examples, they're EA titles and 'everyone' hates EA, they're Origin rather than Steam on PC and people here tend to think that only PC counts.

 

I know there's massive hate out there for Battlefront in particular, but it's kind of odd watching people all over the internet contorting themselves into knots trying to prove it 'failed'. Sheesh, I saw people insisting that it having an early discount 'proved' it was tanking- said discount just happened, coincidentally, to be the same time as JJ Abrams latest arthouse flick whose name escapes me was released in cinemas. It's like asking if Bethesda's customers will learn from Fallout 4 being a shallow simplified illogical mess- seems unlikely, and Bethesda certainly won't.

Edited January 27, 2016 by Zoraptor

[Lexx]

10 millions is kinda successful, but if everyone stops playing after a few weeks...

 

I bought Evolve on release and played it a few hours. Gameplay felt not bad, but the game had like 3 maps? But hey, you could spend money on character and weapon skins!

Anyway. I think the real reason why I quit playing was... Well, after first match as a trapper, what do I read I the chat? "worst trapper ever" :D multiplayer games are crap unless you play with friends, and as I was the only one I know who had the game, that pretty much sealed it.

[Hurlshort]

I think the majority of people that buy these games don't expect a long life cycle.  They will play them for a month or two, then move onto the next thing.  That is ideal for a publisher.  There are exceptions, of course.  Destiny seems to be designed under a different model.  But they are pushing these titles out frequently because the market supports it.  

[Fenixp]

It's... pretty difficult to argue that 10 million plus ain't successful or popular. It's pretty obvious why those two are picked in general as examples, they're EA titles and 'everyone' hates EA, they're Origin rather than Steam on PC and people here tend to think that only PC counts.

Yeah, I chose my wording quite badly - since most of the article Mamoulian War linked was discussing effect of the games pricing model on its success, that's what I was trying to expand upon. Majority of those sales actually came from the console versions tho - I wonder how much do these 'internet dramas' influence sales of PC versions.

[Ganrich]

 

It's... pretty difficult to argue that 10 million plus ain't successful or popular. It's pretty obvious why those two are picked in general as examples, they're EA titles and 'everyone' hates EA, they're Origin rather than Steam on PC and people here tend to think that only PC counts.

Yeah, I chose my wording quite badly - since most of the article Mamoulian War linked was discussing effect of the games pricing model on its success, that's what I was trying to expand upon. Majority of those sales actually came from the console versions tho - I wonder how much do these 'internet dramas' influence sales of PC versions.

As a PC gamer (I have 2 PCs) that owns a PS4 paperweight (I haven't turned it on in months), I bought and loved Titanfall because it was a fun game. I got into the free beta, and never looked back. I didn't buy Battlefront because it looked like a cash grab of a franchise I enjoyed. I waited, and the low map, scenario, etc count doesn't cut it for the price. It is a shell of the first 2 Battlefronts. I figured it would be. If a game says EA on the box I am always hesitant.

 

On Titanfall, it died on PC partly because it was balanced and didn't have glitches galore. People got bored. To get that level of balance they had a limited weapon set, limited upgrades, limited Titans, and limited perks. People wanted more depth via unlocks and the like, but I can easily say that in terms of weapons... It had the single most balanced weapons in a FPS probably in years and maybe a decade. Never in TF did I see the typical "everyone is using the FAMAS, M416, whatever". Although weapon balance was ongoing... It was never major. Every weapon had a place. Also, the map pack dlcs had a lot pretty atrocious maps where the design was as such that the first team with Titans down won because of the lack of parkour routes and lack of verticality to get away from Titans. The initial maps were mostly great in that regard. The bad map design in DLC ushered in the empty servers more than I care to admit.

 

Also, I don't think the masses want an arena shooter. They want a simple CoD/BF style game (mostly aiming where movement is brain dead easy) or they want Counter Strike, but not a game where 75% of the skill is learning the wall running game. I have about 10 friends that quit because they said it was broken when they got splattered by a Titan (every time I asked they said they were running on the ground, and they never listened to me when I said they can't stay on the ground when enemy Titans were down). They quit instead of learning. I also think being on origin (not Steam) hurt it as well, but that's another can of worms.

 

Also, just to add... I don't think it not having single player hurt titanfall one bit.

 

Titanfall is the best game EA has published since Mirror's Edge, IMHO. It is an amazing FPS. Probably my favorite EA game in 10 years... Maybe more. Any negatives I have heard on it are from people playing it wrong (reviewers and friends included), wanted single player, were on PS4 and just being crybabies, or didn't have an OP load out or glitches to exploit.

[Keyrock]

 

 from people playing it wrong 

You don't get to decide what "the right way" to play a game is for me.  No one does, not even the developer.  How someone plays a game is a completely individual preference.  People derive enjoyment from games in different ways.

Edited January 27, 2016 by Keyrock

[Fenixp]

Sure and that's fine, but don't complain about chess being too hard when you decide that the only way you'll play it is by only moving one piece until you lose it - that's more akin to what Ganrich is talking about.

[Keyrock]

Sure and that's fine, but don't complain about chess being too hard when you decide that the only way you'll play it is by only moving one piece until you lose it - that's more akin to what Ganrich is talking about.

If I want to stack the chess pieces into a pyramid and use the chessboard as a dartboard and that's what makes me happy, then that's the right way to play it for me.  Sure, I won't win any tournaments that way, but I don't care about that.  

[Zoraptor]

 

 

It's... pretty difficult to argue that 10 million plus ain't successful or popular. It's pretty obvious why those two are picked in general as examples, they're EA titles and 'everyone' hates EA, they're Origin rather than Steam on PC and people here tend to think that only PC counts.

Yeah, I chose my wording quite badly - since most of the article Mamoulian War linked was discussing effect of the games pricing model on its success, that's what I was trying to expand upon. Majority of those sales actually came from the console versions tho - I wonder how much do these 'internet dramas' influence sales of PC versions.

 

 PC would be far more influenced by such things than console, certainly. Much of the EA/ Ubi/ whoever hate is about things which console users simply don't get or don't 'get'- always online, limited activations drm, multiple clients, monetisation and genericisation of games; and console games have largely been 'disposable' commodities which you play for weeks then stick in a cupboard or trade as opposed to PC where there are plenty of disposable titles but also many titles with better longevity due to factors like mods and differing popularity of genres (and broadly speaking, more/ wider genre) to console.

 

 

from people playing it wrong

You don't get to decide what "the right way" to play a game is for me.  No one does, not even the developer.  How someone plays a game is a completely individual preference.  People derive enjoyment from games in different ways.

 

 

Attributions bro- Ganrich said that, I didn't*. Understandable though, the quote system is... not the most consistent.

 

*Would though in certain circumstances, trying to play Planetscape: Tournament as a deep tactical combat simulator may not technically be the wrong way of doing things but it certainly isn't the best or most rewarding approach available.