• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

X-Men Destiny |OT| - A new game with X-Men...oh no, he's not in, play as Aimi Yoshida

B

bigdaddygamebot

Member
Shiggy said:
The prototype was started in early 2009, the deal was struck in fall 2009. I think they were hoping for a 2012 release...
Click to expand...


So Activision dropped the hammer and said, "Ship it!" ?


scitek said:
It's probably more that they just had to work on something to feed their families, and this was it. I doubt anyone at SK really had a lot of love for this project.

Like I said, I get the spite for Dyack and all, and I get the game's probably average-to-bad, but the way the Joystiq review was written just doesn't sit well with me. It's one thing on forums, but another from a "professional" outlet.
Click to expand...


Joystiq is smart enough to know that Silicon Knights is an easy target and that a spiteful review will earn them plenty of hits and "LoL Dyack" 's.
 
N

Nairume

Banned
bigdaddygamebot said:
So Activision dropped the hammer and said, "Ship it!" ?
Click to expand...
That is likely the case, but there is no excuse for there being so little content in this game. They had plenty of time to make a better game and didn't.
 
W

watership

Member
bigdaddygamebot said:
This.

They're not THAT bad of a developer. Something went awry.
In before "rawr UNREAL engine! fuck you Epic!"
Click to expand...

I think this is what happened. And keep in mind that that I enjoyed Too Human even tho I believe it was a very flawed game.

This was a Wii game, was designed to be a quick Xbox licensed deal for Activision (For whatever reason) and seen by SK as a good way to get something out the door, quickly. The Wii market started to slide during development and then Activision said, "Fuck, we need this to be PS3/360 now too. Do it."

The game looks worse than Too Human, I can't think of any other reason.
 
B

bigdaddygamebot

Member
Nairume said:
That is likely the case, but there is no excuse for there being so little content in this game. They had plenty of time to make a better game and didn't.
Click to expand...

So...I don't know how all of this works.

Is Activision paying Silicon Knights ... monthly?

Or is it a contract signed = lump sum paid sortof deal?

watership said:
This was a Wii game, was designed to be a quick Xbox licensed deal for Activision (For whatever reason) and seen by SK as a good way to get something out the door, quickly. The Wii market started to slide during development and then Activision said, "Fuck, we need this to be PS3/360 now too. Do it."

The game looks worse than Too Human, I can't think of any other reason.
Click to expand...


This makes sense.
 
C

codhand

Member
watership said:
Canada supports game development. Don't worry, games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Mass Effect 2 or Assassin's Creed Brotherhood will still come out, and even those developers receive Canadian subsidies.
Click to expand...

Canadians funded Everyday Shooter too.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
I don't care for Joystiq's snarky editorial style either, particularly in their reviews which I've been ignoring for awhile now. As a news source though, it's not a bad site.

I imagine that this game being made by Dyack (and all the baggage that entails) has opened it up to more ridicule and scorn than it probably would received otherwise. It makes for a good punching bag, similar to Duke Nukem Forever.
 
C

codhand

Member
It's probably more that they just had to work on something to feed their families, and this was it. I doubt anyone at SK really had a lot of love for this project.
Click to expand...

Please show me the person that has no love for developing an X-Men game, so that I can have their job.
 
B

bigdaddygamebot

Member
codhand said:
Please show me the person that has no love for developing an X-Men game, so that I can have their job.
Click to expand...


Maybe not the license itself...but more of what Activision asked for or what they were like to work for?
 
F

fenners

Member
bigdaddygamebot said:
So...I don't know how all of this works.

Is Activision paying Silicon Knights ... monthly?

Or is it a contract signed = lump sum paid sortof deal?
This makes sense.
Click to expand...

Third party developers for publishers are usually paid on a milestone basis, e.g. every 3-6 months depending on the game/deal. They get a chunk of cash once the pub has reviewed the progress on milestone deliverables etc. And maybe a larger chunk of cash on completion. Any royalties are likely held against these up front payments (e.g. you don't earn royalties until the game has made a profit against its upfront cost etc).
Depending on deals/timelines etc.

Often a milestone will get held up because the pub isn't happy with it, yet work continues & /future/ milestones get paid out. The joys of third party contract work.

But yeah, Canada isn't paying for this game. Activision is.
 
S

Shiggy

Member
bigdaddygamebot said:
So Activision dropped the hammer and said, "Ship it!" ?
Click to expand...

Nope, they had their original deadline after all. I just mean that we heard something like either Q1 2012 or Q4 2011 during E3...then it was either September or November...and now it's already out.



I think this is what happened. And keep in mind that that I enjoyed Too Human even tho I believe it was a very flawed game.

This was a Wii game, was designed to be a quick Xbox licensed deal for Activision (For whatever reason) and seen by SK as a good way to get something out the door, quickly. The Wii market started to slide during development and then Activision said, "Fuck, we need this to be PS3/360 now too. Do it."

The game looks worse than Too Human, I can't think of any other reason.
Click to expand...

No, it was ported to Wii, not the other way around.



I would not only blame SK for this ... disaster. They had some very bad things going on for which they were not necessarily responsible.
 
B

bigdaddygamebot

Member
fenners said:
Third party developers for publishers are usually paid on a milestone basis, e.g. every 3-6 months depending on the game/deal. They get a chunk of cash once the pub has reviewed the progress on milestone deliverables etc. And maybe a larger chunk of cash on completion. Any royalties are likely held against these up front payments (e.g. you don't earn royalties until the game has made a profit against its upfront cost etc).
Depending on deals/timelines etc.

Often a milestone will get held up because the pub isn't happy with it, yet work continues & /future/ milestones get paid out. The joys of third party contract work.

But yeah, Canada isn't paying for this game. Activision is.
Click to expand...


Thanks for sharing this.

Man...it's gotta be so fucking stressful to be a third party dev.



Shiggy said:
Nope, they had their original deadline after all. I just mean that we heard something like either Q1 2012 or Q4 2011 during E3...then it was either September or November...and now it's already out.





No, it was ported to Wii, not the other way around.



I would not only blame SK for this ... disaster. They had some very bad things going on for which they were not necessarily responsible.
Click to expand...


...and thanks for sharing this too.

You're not sharing everything you could be though, sir. :p
 
S

SpaceDrake

Member
Shiggy said:
I would not only blame SK for this ... disaster. They had some very bad things going on for which they were not necessarily responsible.
Click to expand...

You realize you can't drop a line like this without elaborating at least a bit. I've got popcorn over here, mang.
 
T

truly101

I got grudge sucked!
Showmeyamoves said:
xoh2mt.jpg


I had to because they go so well with each other.
Click to expand...

Came for this. Haw!
 
S

Shiggy

Member
Wasn't hinting at anything mysterious there, just the obvious things. SK's struggle with the UE3, Sega's and THQ's financial troubles leading to the cancellation of a major project (that leading to layoffs and loss of trust by other potential publishers), MGS' ongoing directional changes concerning business strategy (there haven't been 2 years that they did not scrap their entire strategy, it seems)...and so on and so on. It's probably not much of a help that they now hired many many students to replace some of their veterans who've left (some as they don't want to work on games like X-Men Destiny).
 
M

Mpl90

Two copies sold? That's not a bomb guys, stop trolling!!!
Now I understand why SK tools had no problem to run on Wii :lol
Really, this is one of those times Wii version is NOT so distant from the HD ones.
However, what a bad game it seems.
Curious about DS footage... the Diablo-not Diablo.
 
S

scitek

Member
codhand said:
Please show me the person that has no love for developing an X-Men game, so that I can have their job.
Click to expand...
It's not so much the X-men part, but the "working for a developer that's reeling from a tarnished reputation, loss of publishing deal, and commercial disappointment/Activision pushing to move a likely unfinished project out the door" part.
 
B

B_Rik_Schitthaus

Banned
Mpl90 said:
Now I understand why SK tools had no problem to run on Wii :lol
Really, this is one of those times Wii version is NOT so distant from the HD ones.
However, what a bad game it seems.
Curious about DS footage... the Diablo-not Diablo.
Click to expand...
Isn't a loot-less Diablo like a bowl of icecream without the icecream.
 
W

watership

Member
I just hope SK can come back and make the games they want. One bad game can kill your company (Factor 5), Too Human was disappointing and this 'looks' poor.

I'm assuming Licensed games do well, regardless of quality? I mean, compared to a new IP that hasn't got great reviews. Maybe they'll scrape by.
 
S

Shiggy

Member
watership said:
I just hope SK can come back and make the games they want. One bad game can kill your company (Factor 5), Too Human was disappointing and this 'looks' poor.

I'm assuming Licensed games do well, regardless of quality? I mean, compared to a new IP that hasn't got great reviews. Maybe they'll scrape by.
Click to expand...

Factor 5 was killed due to debt... publishers were afraid of their debt. That's why they founded WhiteHarvest and worked on the very same projects minus Superman. (their end came when EA canned Brutal Legend Wii)
 
S

Shiggy

Member
codhand said:
which often goes hand in hand with making a bad product.
Click to expand...

But in that particular case the problem was that Brash promised to pay Factor 5, but when they went bankrupt, Factor 5 had no way to pay their employees. They still had publishing contracts with Nintendo and LucasArts for two Wii projects that will never see a release, sadly.
 
C

codhand

Member
codhand said:
But in that particular case the problem was that Brash promised to pay Factor 5, but when they went bankrupt, Factor 5 had no way to pay their employees. They still had publishing contracts with Nintendo and LucasArts for two Wii projects that will never see a release, sadly.
Click to expand...

Also, are you not over complicating this? I mean if Lair was a smash success would they still have gone under?
 
S

Shiggy

Member
codhand said:
u tell us what it means pulease
Click to expand...

If only I knew. To me it sounds like they are licensing their middleware to other developers, but that'd be hilarious.

codhand said:
Also, are you not over complicating this? I mean if Lair was a smash success would they still have gone under?
Click to expand...

Of course, things would've looked much better if Lair had been a success (i.e. their other PS3 titles would've entered production and they may not have needed to find other publishers). Nonetheless, they managed to get contracts with three other publishers, these only let them fall when they were afraid that Factor 5 takes their money to pay off debt and then close down.
 
B

bigdaddygamebot

Member
Shiggy said:
If only I knew. To me it sounds like they are licensing their middleware to other developers, but that'd be hilarious.
Click to expand...

Hilarious, yes.

Stranger fuckin' things have happened though. : /

There's definitely something to the "License Group" thing...

Anyone know if that's what they are calling themselves now? Silicon Knights License Group?

Or is this like...the Silicon Knights farm team/B squad?
 
indigo-cyclops

indigo-cyclops

Member
Please GAF, don't let me down. This thread is delivering, just keep it up. What a fucking disaster this game is. I'm ashamed and honestly disturbed at SK's attempt at game development.
 
W

Worthintendo

Member
Its a shame this looks like a bomb, was looking forward to a new X-Men game. Oh well may have to dust of X-Men Legends 2 again on the weekend and give that another play through.

It sucks they changed the X-Men Legends series into Marvel Ultimate Alliance, I really enjoyed the X-Men Legends games and would of loved to have seen more with them.
 
C

cleveridea

Member
X-Men: Destiny is a terrible game in most ways. It's an ugly, stupid title that's shoddily constructed. And yet, it gets the most important thing right: crafting your own mutant works due to finely tuned balancing, and tough choices coupled with haphazard item acquisition ensure that the focus is squarely on that.

Those expecting a well told, immersive X-Men experience will shudder at its chunky character designs, shabby presentation and stilted dialogue, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy myself with it.
Click to expand...

from eurogamer review

sounds like could be fun when its heavily discounted
 
R

Rated-Rsuperstar

Member
If there is one thing I can say I liked about the game it was the character designs. The costumes felt like a throwback to older designs but still felt modern. Well.. except for hipster Nightcrawler.... and all 3 main characters.
 
C

Chipopo

Banned
Rated-Rsuperstar said:
If there is one thing I can say I liked about the game it was the character designs. The costumes felt like a throwback to older designs but still felt modern. Well.. except for hipster Nightcrawler.... and all 3 main characters.
Click to expand...

Comments like this really boil the game down to it's essence: all over the fucking place. It's great that they can make a nice effect here and there, others are downright horrific, some aesthetic choices are nice, some are awkward and completely out of place. It would be better if there was some consistency to it all...it was like whoever was directing this project was completely unable to focus on any specific angle while managing his team....
 
A

Aselith

Member
I'm on a damn SD TV still and you cannot fucking read the text in this game. Aren't we past this shit by now? Last game I remember having this issue was goddamn Dead Rising 1 and at least you could still read it. I seriously don't know how to use my powers because the text that tells you is too small to be legible.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
Rated-Rsuperstar said:
If there is one thing I can say I liked about the game it was the character designs. The costumes felt like a throwback to older designs but still felt modern.
Click to expand...

Aren't they just using current X-men costumes?
 
M

Mifune

Mehmber
Played this for a couple hours last night.

It's not fun. Nothing compels you to continue playing it. The story (written by Mike Carey) is a convoluted incomprehensible mess. The moral choices already seem to carry no weight whatsoever. The graphics are dated. The combat is somehow boring. Missions are repetitive.

The only thing interesting about it is the X-gene stuff, although so far the powers I've picked up are bland. Oh and I dig the soundtrack for some reason.

Say what you want about Too Human, but parts of that game were inspired. SK sometimes bites off more than they can chew, but here they're not even trying.

I hope the whole SK License Group thing means this is a tiny team that threw this crap together in like a year.
 
E

Eggo

GameFan Alumnus
A couple years ago, I sat in an office with Chris Archer, and he pitched me on the idea of this game. The way he described it, I was genuinely excited about the prospect. An X-men game where you are the mutant, and you make choices and grow your power set while fighting alongside other mutants in the X-Men universe. When I heard Silicon Knights was attached to it, I held out hope they still had some of that LoK: Blood Omen magic somewhere and this could be cool. Now, we get this...

Joystiq said:
X-Men Destiny is five hours long because someone wanted a line item in a fall release schedule and didn't want to wait to finish it.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Destiny 2's new $15 "Starter Pack" is a bunch of junk that feels it came from a shitty mobile game
Drama Community 2 3
116
7K
ChuckeRearmed replied
Outcast: A New Beginning | Review Thread + |OT|
|OT| Analysis Review 2
81
7K
SF Kosmo replied
Coming to Xbox Game Pass: Diablo IV, The Quarry, Ark: Survival Ascended, and More
News 2
90
7K
Allandor replied
Coming Soon to Game Pass: Far Cry 6, Remnant II, SteamWorld Build, and More
37
3K
Jesb replied
Satya Nadella: Annual letter to stockholders. Content on new platforms will continue
3 4 5 6 7
349
16K
solidus12 replied
Top Bottom