Gaming Roundup 7/29/08: The Double-D Word

Posted 07/29/08 at 10:37:00 PM | by Nathan Grayson

What are you playing right now? FPS? RTS? Peggle? Who developed it? Do you even care?

I imagine you do; as a presumably-hardcore gamer, you've likely cultivated a few brand alliances here and there. But what happens when we change the question up a little? Do you think your favorite developer cares about you?

No, I don't mean on an individual, person-to-person basis. What I'm asking is: do you think those oh-so-dreamy devs slave over games for their fans, or for themselves? Yes, yes, gaming is a business, and there's certainly money involved. But at the end of the day, do you think the aforementioned designers look at themselves in the mirror and nod in satisfaction because they created a game for you, or because they calmed the cries of their wild inner artist? Sound off in the comments section. Let's start a discussion that doesn't involve sarcasm and commas (though both are certainly allowed)!

Anyway, today's Roundup shines the spotlight on developers of both breeds, though some trumpet their allegiance louder than others. If you'd like to find out who's who, what's what, and which of them might soon end up in the pit of Microsoft's belly, read on.

EA generated $90m through digital distribution in Q1

"Present, meet the Future. Oh, that guy? Yeah, that's the Past. He should've been out of here, like, years ago, but the NPDs won't stop clinging to him."

It's 2008. Do you know where your PC game sales are? Because NPD sure doesn't. As EA is kindly demonstrating, DLC is where it's at, and the S.S. Digital Distribution has been afloat in a sea of cash for quite some time now.

To put things in perspective, EA's $90 million made up 11% of its total revenue for Q1. Now try chopping 11% out of your total earnings each year. That's what the NPD reports do to the gaming industry. High-five for that one, guys!

Seeking Alpha: “Microsoft is a likely bidder for Take-Two”

“Microsoft could become a serious player in the video game industry if they made a console and sold the two best selling games on the planet," said an unnamed author on investor site Seeking Alpha. "Making GTA exclusive to the Xbox (just like Halo is) would be a terrible decision, but providing some, incentive, like an earlier release date, could drive additional Xbox sales too.”

Er, if I'm not mistaken, aren't they already doing that? And why would having GTA as a console exclusive -- and snatching it away from Sony -- be a terrible idea? 'Cause, you know, when someone's trying to attack you, pushing the knife in their direction is a brilliant plan of attack. (Block with the face!)

I'm not saying Microsoft isn't gazing longingly in Take-Two's direction, but doesn't being an analyst actually involve some, well, analysis?

Nintendo Joins 54 Companies to Battle DS Piracy in Japan

Although piracy is running rampant throughout the world, the lawsuit in question pertains to Japan. In addition to the Big N, publishers like Capcom, Square Enix, and Sega are hoping to bring the hammer down on Nintendo DS flash carts. These carts, of course, allow users to play downloaded, mostly-illegal DS titles, which siphon money away from those who actually create games.

But, the same carts more or less support the entire DS homebrew scene, which certainly houses a few burgeoning developers. Somehow, though, I don't think Nintendo and co. will lose much sleep over a few innocent corpses found in the rubble of their industry-saving crusade.

Free Live play “won’t last,” says Microsoft

Would a few permanently free Live games segment the community? Maybe. But it'd still be a cool a nice gesture from-- oh, right, Microsoft.

BlizzCon 2008 Will Be Televised

“Meeting and interacting with our players at BlizzCon is always a great experience for us,” stated Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re also pleased to be working with DIRECTV this year to bring the show, for the first time, to those players who are unable to attend.”

Very cool move by Blizzard. Sure, it's a thinly-veiled marketing ploy, but there are worse ways to give back to the fans.

StarCraft II Colossus Web Cam

Wireless webcams are cool and all, but when one looks like it might, if agitated, plunge a sharp object into my skin, I get a little leery.

COMMENTS:: 8
TAGS:: gaming, microsoft, Software, news, blizzard, nintendo, Electronic Arts, take-two interactive

Comments

COMMENTS

What I'm playing
Submitted by PhynaeusClaw on Wed, 2008-07-30 19:50

I am probably one of two people still playing Dawn of War. Actually I play the Soulstorm Expansion Pack. I am eagerly awaiting DoW2. I love the Warhammer 40K universe. I wouldn't mind seeing an RPG or MMORPG based on it.

I am also playing Sins of a Solar Empire. Sins is a bit slow for my liking, but I'm playing it through a few times to give it a chance. The game's concept is compelling, more for its "comprehesiveness" and scope than its [lack of] story line. I might actually take this one online to play.

Speaking of online, I usually only play online with my best friend. The one thing that guarantees a game ends up at the bottom of my pile is difficult networking (I'm looking at you NWN and Sins!!) DoW works great for directly hosted and online games. And it works with XFire.

As for overall loyalties, I like Relic and Blizzard. They've both put out some great games. I am anxiously awaiting DoW2, StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3. It's too bad Blizzard never followed through on the StarCraft: Ghost idea. That might have convinced me to go back to FPS's.

Login or register to post comments

Some do, and Some don't
Submitted by nerdrockriot on Wed, 2008-07-30 19:44

I've decided that there are some developers that truley care about what their medium is designed to be... an ineractive, cinematic, and entertaining experience that tells a real story. Having just finished the awe-inspiring experience that was MASS EFFECT I lump Bioware in that group, except for the fact that their next project is an MMO (the very bane of the gaming industry and ultimate sell out and cash cow move). Blizzard, i feel, is the one company that doesn't care about its fans (no matter how many fan boys it has). They have made millions on the same game, repackaged (Diablo, War craft, and now starcraft). Making sequels that add a couple new units, spells, and maps does not make them legendary. While leaders in each of these games respected genres are often ignored by changing the formula that WC, SC, and C&C started (and are still trying to pound into our brains that its fun... even if it is ten+ years old), such as relic with Company of Heroes and the Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War series or the Supreme Commander series. Games that involve tactics, not just rushing with the most of the weekest unit you have the fastest. Or the click-fest that is Diablo instead of RPG's that tell real stories and whose interactivity with the world is more than missions and selling loot (Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic I & II, Vampires the Masquerade: Bloodlines). I feel the developers behind the Prince of Persia series, Civilazation, and Max Payne all have found their nitch in the record books for storytelling and the rush you get when you land a difficult jump, or drop your first nuke, or take out a where house full of thugs with your sawed off shotty to further interregate your perp. Then there's the hit or miss Valve who can make me bow and worship (half life 2: episodes I & II, Portal) or scratch my head and wonder (Half Life 2). Either they reinvent the wheel with new gameplay machanics, epic battles\ new story telling devices, or do what blizzard does and sell me the same thing with better graphics. All in all you just need to make sure you hitch your horse to the right wagon before you go for the ride, but hopefully more will take their cue from my list above based on fifteen years of gaming.

Preston Everett Jurinak

Login or register to post comments

You listed some great games
Submitted by PhynaeusClaw on Wed, 2008-07-30 19:57

You listed some great games there. Max Payne was AWESOME!! Hopefully the movie doesn't suck. I forgot about BioWare in my post. Knights of the Old Republic was good, and I liked the NWN games, except that I could never get the networking to work (see my post).

I have to disagree about your comment re: Civilizations. I love the game, but Civ4 is essentially a pretty version of the original. Not so bad, since I think the original is a classic and still fun to play. That is also why I like Blizzard and am eagerly awaiting StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3.

Login or register to post comments

Games I am playing
Submitted by DePat on Wed, 2008-07-30 07:51

I am playing Company of Heroes (CoH). Usually, I do not pay attention to the developper and so on. But in these cases, the games is so well done that I realized that people and companies that produce such games have to be encouraged and helped. To that end, I recommended the games (CoH) to my brother and purchased both games for him. I ask him to do the same for somebody else if he like them and of course he did like them.

Before I spend the time to play a game, I read reviews about it. Usually, I ussually read comments from other players. Reviewers some time confuse "the tree from the forest" while the players give you an honest assessment. They bought the game for entertainment and they were dissapointed or happy with the purchase.

I usually buy games a year after they are published. It is cheaper and the companies had time to issue all the updates to allow the game to be play the way it was intended. In the case of CoH (opposing fronts) I purchased the game as soon as it came out based on my experience with the first one. My rationale was that even if they messed up, the game will be better than most of the game out there. As long as they continue to develop first class games, I will purchase the game as soon as it is published as a way to support them. The minute they messed up, they are back to the 1 year plan or whenever the game is discounted by the big box store. It is my time, it is my money.

DePat

Login or register to post comments

Cod4 + IW = :( Simply put,
Submitted by PSyGN0SiS on Wed, 2008-07-30 06:12

Cod4 + IW = :(

Simply put, devs don t care bout us PC gamers, lookit the crap Infinity Ward tried pulling with PC gamers with the CoD4 series, They went all out with extras for the xbox version of the game but when it came to the PC, we were givin the shaft, late map pack, real shotty special edition extras, the absance of the "special" ranks that are present in the xbox version as opposed to the PC. Playable Beta for xbox, long b4 the pc demo came out. and thats just 1 company, they have forgotten, the PC gamer made their title a success and they turn their back on us, no doubt because of micro$oft and the xbox. Pitiful

Login or register to post comments

Wall O Text
Submitted by Vahn16 on Tue, 2008-07-29 23:52

I'm actually playing F.E.A.R. right now. I didn't play it when it came out, but I had a great time with the Project Origin demo at E3, so I decided to give its predecessor a shot. And while it definitely shows its age, it's still a great game. There's also a ton of symbolism in its plot, which, as an English major, I dig.

As for developers and how they feel about their fans, I'm kind of split. Fans are weird, you know? Sometimes they ask for things they don't really want. Come to think of it, I'd love to see a developer just go whole hog and develop a game around their fans' whims. It'd be a train wreck, but damn it'd be fun to watch.

On the other hand, if you a development team were to create a project entirely to appease its own creative desires, it'd likely be a hard sell, both to publishers and to gamers.

So, obviously, you need to meet somewhere in the middle. I'd say Metal Gear Solid 4 was a pretty decent example of this methodology. The game was packed full of Kojima's ideals, yet still managed to wrap up all of the plot lines that fans loved so dearly.

Login or register to post comments

My Games
Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Tue, 2008-07-29 23:10

Well I'm still enjoying the heck out of Company of Heroes and I'm also playing World in Conflict but I find myself going back to Company of Heroes for more fun. I don't play online unless it's a first person shooter. As for FPS games I'm playing Rainboy Six Las Vegas 2 and Crysis. But then again I still find myself going back to COH. I just love COH. Befor that I would play new games and then reload Close Combat Invasion Normandy that plays great on Vista without any patches.

As for loyalties I don't really have any. If it's a great game I love it. I've never really even thought about the creators. The only games I've ever thought about when it comes to the creators would be Doom and Quake and then only John Carmack gets my attention. When that man speaks I listen.

If the games kicks ass I enjoy it. If the game sucks it sits on the bottom of the games pile on my desk and never gets played unless I give it away to a friend or aquantance. I hate to waste money so if I have hardware or software that I don't use and someone wants it I generally give it away.

All of the games makers out there have pretty much made alot of crap games but that should'nt stop you from checking out new games that come from these manufacturers.

Excellent topic.

Login or register to post comments

What am I playing?
Submitted by nmanguy on Tue, 2008-07-29 21:02

Well, at the moment, my interest is in playing as much X3 reunion as I can, and a few bouts of tf2 every now and then. I can't wait till steam releases sales figures and just grinds retail into the dust.

Login or register to post comments