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[Omikron]

When are Sony / Square going to cash in on the FF7 nostalgia? Gotta be soon.

 

[Choc]

Wii U will be capacitive else its dead already

how shit would resistive be on a $500 system

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Integrated Kinect in the Nextbox is a given.

Wii U won't support UE4.

 

[Choc]

i'm amped to play steel batallion kinect tonight :|

 

[Omikron]

I'm not jaded, I love video games at the moment. I have way more great games than time to play them. I'm specifically jaded about E3 and big budget console games.

Best game this year?

Crusader Kings II.

So good.


Edit: Vince would fucking hate it though. Too many bugs.

 

[Choc]

live stage demo of KZ4

 

[EatChildren]

Wii U will be capacitive else its dead already

how shit would resistive be on a $500 system

Wii U will not be capacitive, unless Nintendo has made the screen capacitive behind every other studio's back.

They're going with resistive probably for a) cheapness, and b) the extra precision granted with stylus control. In the long run it's probably a poor move, because the cleaner display and user friendliness/familiarity of capacitive will burn them.

But that's Nintendo for you.

 

[reptilescorpio]

Truth in 24 II: Every Second Counts for free on iPad! LeMans doco!

Wait, picking zavvi over jb? What is this I dont even...

Strangely enough their customer service has been better.

E3 is next week right?

What predictions or hopes do people have that they want to see announced?

Sony will announce the "PS4" which is just a box to stream Gaikai through. PSN+ members get to play a range of games as part of their subscription fee, pay one off rental fees for brand new release titles, with the odd one being part of the PSN+ fee to make you feel special. They also have this Vita thing that they hope people will start making more games for but will continue to give solid 1st party support for the next 5 years whatever happens.

Microsoft will have moar Halo, moar Forza, moar Fable, moar Gears. Also;

Nintendo will do their usual cool thing, now with 3rd party support! EA will announce that they will be running servers for the online

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

When are Sony / Square going to cash in on the FF7 nostalgia? Gotta be soon.

Never. This gen was the time to do it, but mismanagement and incompetence have made it impossible. The next generation of JRPG fans has:

1) Never played the original
2) Moved on to handhelds

 

[jambo]

Okay, scratch that idea. I'd have to buy a new power supply. The lure of extra POWA was almost too much.

EDIT: But my birthday is coming up, and I could score myself a PSU...

Goddamn you jambo.

You can get a Corsair HX 850 for $215!

If you weren't in another state I would be tempted.

P&H wouldn't cost that much...

Wii U will be capacitive else its dead already

how shit would resistive be on a $500 system

Didn't you learn anything from the Wii last gen? It doesn't have to have the latest tech to succeed in a massive way.

 

[Fredescu]

In the long run it's probably a poor move, because the cleaner display and user friendliness/familiarity of capacitive will burn them.

But that's Nintendo for you.

I assume capacitive would make iPad ports easier too, which would be a decent way to pad the library a bit.

 

[senahorse]

Uncharted didn't sell gangbusters at all, and both games were heavily subsidised by exclusivity contracts. Both games also come from before the period that I'm talking about. I think big budget stuff started to die in the arse around 08/09. How many new IPs from the last 3-4 years have gone on to sell 2 million+?

Well a lot of the new IPs did come from that era (Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect etc) as they were showing off (still) relatively new hardware as the devs were coming to grips with it. As consoles drive most AAA game development these days I expect it will carry through to the next gen as well, and I wouldn't be surprised if we get teased with a couple of new IPs that don't make it out on the current consoles but become showcases for the next consoles (particularly MS/Sony but maybe Nintendo as well).

I am not saying they are in decline, as they surely are just that there is still room for them to survive. Games in the last 3-4 years, dunno, does Batman fit in to this category (not sure of budget).

 

[EatChildren]

I assume capacitive would make iPad ports easier too, which would be a decent way to pad the library a bit.

Pretty much. I prefer resistive due to stylus + precision, but the mass market knows and loves capacitive and multi-touch. It's going to look like a poor mans uglier iPad.

 

[reptilescorpio]

How many new IPs from the last 3-4 years have gone on to sell 2 million+?

Someone should do a list of the last decade. Also Max Payne 3 should count.

 

[evlcookie]

Interesting times ahead at work, maybe, I dunno.

Nothing interesting will really happen at this E3. But when I'm up at 3am watching it, Everything will seem interesting and amazing. At 5am, I will start to logically think about what was shown, laugh my ass off and watch porn. Then head to work.

I doubt anyone aside from nintendo will actually announce any new hardware. We could get some sort of kinect 360 fun size package, PS3 could get a little smaller and that's about all.

Nintendo will show off the horribly named Wii U, show the usual tripe of nintendo games, N gamers will jizz once again. Hopefully though, they will actually detail interesting things. Like their online strategy, that would be more interesting than seeing zelda and mario in more polygons.

We will see a few new IPs for whatever fucking reason, I guess the end of a console generation is a great time to throw out a few. Of course don't forget about sequels that will close off the story!

E3 will be amazing!

 

[senahorse]

Two guys standing on my roof above my head using all manner of power tools, I am waiting for something to come crashing through :/

 

[Fredescu]

(particularly MS/Sony but maybe Nintendo as well).

E3 prediction: There will be no PS5.

does Batman fit in to this category (not sure of budget).

It fits into the budget category, but obviously not the new IP.

I am not saying they are in decline, as they surely are just that there is still room for them to survive.

Ask the employees of these studios what survival feels like:


3D Realms - 2009
7 Studios (Activision) - 2011
ACES Studio (Microsoft) - 2009
Action Forms - 2009
Ascaron - 2009
Atomic Elbow - 2008
Backbone Vancouver
Beam Software/Melbourne House - 2010
BigBig (Sony) - 2012
Bizarre Creations (Activision) - 2010/2011
Black Rock (Disney) - 2011
Blue Fang Games - 2011
Blue Tongue (THQ) - 2011
BottleRocket - 2009
Brash Entertainment - 2008
Budcat (Activision) - 2010
Carbonated Games - 2008
Castaway Entertainment - 2008
Cheyenne Mountain - 2010
Cing - 2010
Clover Studios (Capcom) - 2006
Codemasters Guildford - 2011
Cohort Studios - 2011
Concrete Games - 2008
Deep Silver Vienna - 2010
DICE Canada - 2006
Digital Anvil - 2006
EA Chicago - 2007
EA Bright Light - 2011/2012
EA Japan - 2007
Eidos Manchester - 2009
Eidos Hungary - 2010
Empire Interactive - 2009
Ensemble Studios (Microsoft) - 2008
Factor 5 - 2009
FASA (Microsoft) - 2007
Fizz Factor - 2009
Flagship Studios - 2008
Flight Plan - 2010
Frozen North Productions
FuzzyEyes - 2009
Gaia
Gamelab - 2009
Game Republic - 2011
GRIN - 2009
Groove Games - 2010
Helixe (THQ) - 2008
Hudson Entertainment - 2011
Humannature Studio (Nexon Vancouver) - 2009
Ignition London - 2010
Ignition Florida - 2010
Incognito Entertainment (Sony) - 2009
Indie Built (Take-Two) - 2006
Iron Lore - 2008
Juice Games (THQ) - 2011
Kaos Studios (THQ) - 2011
Killaware - 2011
Killspace Entertainment - 2011
KMM Brisbane - 2011
Krome Studios (might still be operating on skeleton crew) - 2010
Kuju Manila - 2009
Kuju Chemistry - 2009
Kush Games - 2008
Locomotive Games (THQ) - 2010
Loose Cannon Studios - 2010
Luxoflux - 2010
Mass Media (THQ) - 2008
Monte Cristo - 2010
Monumental Games - 2012
Midway Austin - 2009
Midway Newcastle - 2009
MTV Games - 2011
Multiverse - 2012
NetDevil - 2011
Ninja Studio - 2009
Nihon Telenet - 2007
Outerlight - 2010
PAM Development (Take-Two) - 2008
Pandemic Australia (EA) - 2009
Pandemic LA (EA) - 2009
Paradigm Entertainment - 2008
Pi Studios - 2011
Pivotal Games (Take-Two) - 2008
Propaganda Games (Disney) - 2011
Pseudo Interactive - 2008
Rainbow Studios (THQ) - 2011
Razorworks - 2009
Realtime Worlds - 2010
Rebellion Derby - 2010
Red Octane - 2010
Redtribe - 2008
Rockstar Vienna - 2006
Sandblast Games (THQ) - 2008
SEGA San Francisco - 2010
Sensory Sweep Studios - 2010
Seta - 2008
Shaba Games (Activision) - 2009
SideCar Studios - 2007
Sierra Online - 2008
Snapdragon Games - 2009
SOE Denver - 2011
SOE Seattle - 2011
SOE Tuscon - 2011
Stormfront Studios - 2008
Straylight Studios - 2009
Team Bondi - 2011
The Code Monkeys - 2011
Titan Studios - 2009
THQ Studio Australia - 2009
THQ Digital Warrington - 2009
Transmission Games/IR Gurus - 2009
Ubisoft Brazil - 2010
Underground Development/Z-Axis (Activision) - 2010
Universomo (THQ) - 2009
Venom Games (Take Two) - 2008
Vicarious Visions California - 2007
Visceral Australia (EA) - 2011
Wolfpack Studios - 2006
Yuke’s Company Of America - 2010
Zoe Mode London - 2009
Zoonami - 2011

Artech Studios - 2011
Dark Energy Digital - 2012
Hudson Soft - 2012
Reakktor Media - 2012
Ubisoft Vancouver - 2012

 

[codswallop]

I want to see focus on quality smaller games. Stuff like Trine, Bastion, The Cave, Shadow Complex, Might & Magic Clash of Heroes.

Not going to happen.

 

[senahorse]

Never heard of even half of those studios, what big budget games did they all make and how did the death of big budget games kill them, I am genuinely interested.

edit: I guess you just posted a list from some website.

The first company I looked up:

Brash Entertainment

Games released

Alvin and the Chipmunks (PlayStation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS, PC)
Jumper: Griffin's Story (PlayStation 2, Wii, Xbox 360)
Space Chimps (PlayStation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PC)
The Tale of Despereaux (PlayStation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS, PC)

 

[EatChildren]

I blame THQ and every single person who doesn't own de Blob 2 for the closure of Blue Tongue. They finally made it to where they wanted to be, and were promptly murdered.

 

[Choc]

Wii U will not be capacitive, unless Nintendo has made the screen capacitive behind every other studio's back.

They're going with resistive probably for a) cheapness, and b) the extra precision granted with stylus control. In the long run it's probably a poor move, because the cleaner display and user friendliness/familiarity of capacitive will burn them.

But that's Nintendo for you.

do not want. that will be SHITHOUSE. do they not learn fro mevery other company that has fucked a product with resistive like blackberry with the original storm?

man, so stupid. $500 for a resistive unit. f that

 

[Yagharek]

I'm not jaded, I love video games at the moment. I have way more great games than time to play them. I'm specifically jaded about E3 and big budget console games.


Good example, but may not be the type of game X3n is talking about.

Sorry, I know it might not have been completely implied it was a new IP requirement. Only other thing I can think of might be Bioshock, Infamous, I nearly typed RDR here but its a sequel, Mass Effect and LittleBigPlanet. And I assume you won't consider Wii ____ games.

When are Sony / Square going to cash in on the FF7 nostalgia? Gotta be soon.

I thought they did 5 or 6 years ago with Advent Children and Crisis Core?

Wii U will be capacitive else its dead already

how shit would resistive be on a $500 system

Not as shit as capacitive screens which dont work for me.

i'm amped to play steel batallion kinect tonight :|

Ive heard very mixed things about it. I'll be interested if you are enamoured with it. Did you play the real one back on xbox?

Best game this year?

Crusader Kings II.

So good.


Edit: Vince would fucking hate it though. Too many bugs.

I give buggy games a pass when the developers are having a last roll of the dice. Troika/Vampire Masquerade as an example. Bethesda and Bioware have no excuse with their money and resources.

Wii U will not be capacitive, unless Nintendo has made the screen capacitive behind every other studio's back.

They're going with resistive probably for a) cheapness, and b) the extra precision granted with stylus control. In the long run it's probably a poor move, because the cleaner display and user friendliness/familiarity of capacitive will burn them.

But that's Nintendo for you.

Of course it will burn them, perception and port wise for multitouch games. But unless they can magically make capacitive screens work for those of us who scientology e-meter tests reveal as new messiahs, then they better well stick with a stylus setup.

Strangely enough their customer service has been better.

The only way JB could out-shit zavvi would be by spitting in my eye.

Sony will announce the "PS4" which is just a box to stream Gaikai through. PSN+ members get to play a range of games as part of their subscription fee, pay one off rental fees for brand new release titles, with the odd one being part of the PSN+ fee to make you feel special. They also have this Vita thing that they hope people will start making more games for but will continue to give solid 1st party support for the next 5 years whatever happens.

Wasnt Gaikai confirmed last week or is that still rumour?
Vita will be DOA for the forseeable future irrespective of how many great games it has.

Microsoft will have moar Halo, moar Forza, moar Fable, moar Gears. Also;

I expect a .gif goldmine from MS conferences if they keep going with the kinect theme. Star Wars provided too much entertainment, right up there with the rabi drums wii music gif.

Nintendo will do their usual cool thing, now with 3rd party support! EA will announce that they will be running servers for the online

Vadernoooooooooooooo.jpg if true. Dont even joke about that, I had nearly forgotten it had not been debunked yet ;_;

I assume capacitive would make iPad ports easier too, which would be a decent way to pad the library a bit.

That is a terrible pun and you should feel bad.

 

[Choc]

there is a big rumour that Microsofts competitor to Vita and 3DS will be a windows enabled tablet (Win 8)

i tend to believe this

 

[Box of Bunnies]

It also wasn't the death of big budget games that killed 3D Realms. It was faffing around making the one big budget game over and over for twelve years but never releasing it that killed them.

 

[Fredescu]

Never heard of even half of those studios, what big budget games did they all make and how did the death of big budget games kill them, I am genuinely interested.

That would be a big project. There are links to the articles from the closure announcements for most of the studios here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=459131

 

[Omikron]

The fate of the WiiU does not simply hinge on a resistive touch screen. That's my prediction.

 

[Fredescu]

Sorry, I know it might not have been completely implied it was a new IP requirement. Only other thing I can think of might be Bioshock, Infamous, I nearly typed RDR here but its a sequel, Mass Effect and LittleBigPlanet. And I assume you won't consider Wii ____ games.

Pretty sure Just Dance fits the requirements technically, I just don't think it's what x3n had in mind. The other games you've listed are pre 2008.

 

[reptilescorpio]

I want to see focus on quality smaller games. Stuff like Trine, Bastion, The Cave, Shadow Complex, Might & Magic Clash of Heroes.

Not going to happen.

PC man. PC. Not an E3 kinda thing. Most of those high quality smaller games are going to be on Steam for a variety of reasons.

 

[senahorse]

That would be a big project. There are links to the articles from the closure announcements for most of the studios here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=459131

I gathered you must have just grabbed from somewhere, no-one can think that quickly

Because the first one I looked up:

Brash Entertainment

Games released

Alvin and the Chipmunks (PlayStation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS, PC)
Jumper: Griffin's Story (PlayStation 2, Wii, Xbox 360)
Space Chimps (PlayStation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PC)
The Tale of Despereaux (PlayStation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS, PC)

I can kind of see why they were shut down

 

[Yagharek]

Oh and that list of developers killed off in recent years has one major fatality on it:
Hudson.

Words cannot express how wrong it is that Hudson are gone. It would be like losing Treasure.

Pretty sure Just Dance fits the requirements technically, I just don't think it's what x3n had in mind. The other games you've listed are pre 2008.

Whoops, missed the 2008 thing too.

Minecraft? edit - not big budget.

HNNNNGGGG I give up

 

[senahorse]

There are definitely a lot of companies there on that list I grew up with that I am now very sad to see no longer exist

 

[Fredescu]

I gathered you must have just grabbed from somewhere, no-one can think that quickly

Yeah, I thought more people would read it if I c&p rather than just giving the link.

I can kind of see why they were shut down

Yeah, it's not just big budget that is dying but console software in general. No doubt this filters down to the licensed software developers. Perhaps Gaz has his finger on the pulse and can confirm, but Mario from Sidhe has noted several times the drop off of tenders available from big publishers since 2008.

Edit:

Yeah,

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

do not want. that will be SHITHOUSE. do they not learn fro mevery other company that has fucked a product with resistive like blackberry with the original storm?

man, so stupid. $500 for a resistive unit. f that

They're obstinate in their refusal to adopt industry standards. You have to stop thinking of Nintendo hardware as desirable in and of itself and more as an entry fee you pay in order to have access to Zelda.

 

[Choc]

im sure if you applied some of thsi logic (companies i grew up with) to other industries, you might find the same thing

tv shows for example

 

[codswallop]

Should add me to gamecentre or whatever it is and maybe get a game going. Same with anyone else here.

I may not even play it since I have no idea what it's really about but more people on that apple game thingy, The better i guess.

Missed this one. When someone (reptile?) posted TTR Pocket was free I posted my Game Center details (quote to see them again) .

PC man. PC. Not an E3 kinda thing. Most of those high quality smaller games are going to be on Steam for a variety of reasons.

True, and that's where I'll play them. I just mean that I'd like to see the console guys focusing on including these sorts of games into their lineup in a bigger way than the occasional release (or promo like Summer of XBLA).

 

[Yagharek]

I imagine working in the games industry right now would be about as stable as applying for postgrad work in a philosophy department.

 

[senahorse]

It is somewhat concerning that a small handful of mega publishers hold the rights to the majority of IPs, bad things can happen (imo), see Syndicate and X-Com.

 

[Fredescu]

PC man. PC. Not an E3 kinda thing. Most of those high quality smaller games are going to be on Steam for a variety of reasons.

Not just PC, iOS and Facebook too. It's mostly not big developers on those systems, but that will change.

Zynga are making their E3 debut this year! They're public now, so obviously lining up with what Choc is saying about product announcements for investor information.

 

[Omikron]

True, and that's where I'll play them. I just mean that I'd like to see the console guys focusing on including these sorts of games into their lineup in a bigger way than the occasional release (or promo like Summer of XBLA).

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/14499/

Not just PC, iOS and Facebook too. It's mostly not big developers on those systems, but that will change.

Zynga are making their E3 debut this year! They're public now, so obviously lining up with what Choc is saying about product announcements for investor information.

Can't wait to see what game they rip off next!

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

there is a big rumour that Microsofts competitor to Vita and 3DS will be a windows enabled tablet (Win 8)

i tend to believe this

If it can play XBLA games without forcing me to buy an Xbox, I'm totally there.

 

[reptilescorpio]

Nintendo 3DS - $148.50 / PlayStation Vita WIFI - $261 @ DSE Lidcombe

Unconfirmed but still worth a look at your local DSE.

 

[reptilescorpio]

Perhaps Gaz has his finger on the pulse and can confirm, but Mario from Sidhe has noted several times the drop off of tenders available from big publishers since 2008.

Australian dollar had gone right up during that time too right? Also licensed games turned into super bomba bomba. Even THQ can't make money on them now. Even Babiez don't sell! Also most publishers have been moving to the internal developed plan for a long time now.

 

[senahorse]

In other news, what is going on in this world...

MIAMI police have shot dead a naked man as he ate the face of another man police believe was homeless.

The incident happened at about 2pm local time on Saturday near Miami's busy Biscayne Boulevard, just south of The Miami Herald building, the newspaper reported. According to police sources, a road ranger saw a naked man chewing another man's face on the side on an off-ramp and shouted on his loud speaker for the attacker to back away. The man refused police orders, which led a police officer to fire one shot.

The Herald reported that the man continued his gruesome attack after being wounded.
A witness said as many as six shots were fired. Police have requested surveillance video from the Herald's building, the newspaper reported.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world/naked-...ot/story-e6frfkyi-1226369059626#ixzz1w8PnyUz4

 

[Deleted member 30609]

So, hey, have you guys just checked out this hot new thing -- reading.

 

[Omikron]

So, hey, have you guys just checked out this hot new thing -- reading.

Doing it right now.

 

[Fredescu]

Also most publishers have been moving to the internal developed plan for a long time now.

If I was going to guess I would say this is more due to a reduction in the amount of games they're making. Look at how much Activision have pulled back, holy crap.

So, hey, have you guys just checked out this hot new thing -- reading.

I now own two Kindles. Perhaps I can read in stereo.

 

[CryptiK]

Holidays are so great

 

[Fredescu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPIWt9N15hg

 

[reptilescorpio]

If I was going to guess I would say this is more due to a reduction in the amount of games they're making. Look at how much Activision have pulled back, holy crap.

Shovelware is no longer a cost effective scattershot at making a nice little profit over time, keeping everything in house means they can leverage their assets any way they want which is really lucrative in their eyes. Keep a leash on that shit and they can avoid costs blowing out.

High cost of developement is INDEED a massive reason why the industry is in flux though, you are correct. Just look at Free Radical and how many people they had working on Timesplitters 2 compared to their last game, even Volition are a great example.

 

[Fredescu]

keeping everything in house means they can leverage their assets any way they want which is really lucrative in their eyes. Keep a leash on that shit and they can avoid costs blowing out.

Kinda doubt that to be honest. The contracts are well defined enough for them not to have cost blowouts, and if they care enough about asset reuse they'll define ownership of that in the contract.