As in most cases in all entertainment forms, creativity in game development can bring some serious financial risks into the equation for a studio. Developing a unique game that isn’t like what people are comfortable with can lead to a situation in which no one is willing to shell out some dead presidents for the game, in some occurrences making piracy the go-to alternative for millions of self-righteous douchebags (see World of Goo and its 90% piracy rate).
On the other hand, sticking to one’s guns and producing the same old crap every year (or even numerous times per year: see Activision) seems to be pretty profitable, and in these tough economic times, it looks to be that a general lack of funds is leading towards a trend in which game developers aren’t being as risky, and therefore creative, with their software releases.
A police recreation of the rape of World of Goo by pirates
As quoted in a recent story written by Anthony Severino over on PlayStationLifeStyle, Electronic Arts revealed that they will be laying off 1,500 employees, bringing the total number of EA employees laid off since the beginning of 2009 to 2,600 (1,100 were laid off earlier in the year due to a weak finish in 2008). When asked about the layoffs, John Riccitiello, CEO of EA, admitted that exactly 12 unannounced, “risky” projects that had previously been in development would be canceled in favor of more reliably-selling franchises. No specific games were named to be cancelled, but I’m under the assumption that all 2,600 people were working on a Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker sequel that suddenly seemed oddly inappropriate.
Riccitiello’s announcement is saddening, but understandable. Business is business, and making money is what it’s all about. Clearly, game developers want to do something unique and truly fun, but the fact that EA games like Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space are already only $18.99 on Amazon (those links lead to their respective Amazon pages) is a pretty good sign of how well those “risky projects” did for EA. The house of Madden learned the hard way that many gamers are set in their ways and refuse to buy something risky and original, and it’s likely that they won’t forget about it.
That's either a copyright date or an expiration date. Either way, it's accurate.
Quite frankly, more and more publishers are turning to their standby franchises instead of taking a risk, and no one has the right to blame them for it. The economy has lead to a harsh new climate for many areas of business, and game development has obviously been hit hard as well. As GRIN (the developers of Bionic Commando, among many other games), Sacred 2 developers Ascaron Entertainment, and Deadline Games (the developers of the Watchmen movie tie-in games) all closed their doors this year, a depressing fact was thrown into the face of every game studio out there: “You can’t afford to make a single game that doesn’t sell well. If you do, you will get financially raped.”
So will we be seeing another Dead Space or Mirror’s Edge soon? The short and simple answer: absolutely not. The times are too hard to put many eggs into a risky (albeit more creative) basket, and if that’s how things have to be then that’s just how they have to be. But keep your eyes peeled for more Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Madden, and Need for Speed! Ugh, even feigning that excitement kills me. I hope Activision dies in a fire. Yes, all of it.
The Guitar Hero franchise should follow this guy's lead. (Too soon?)
(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)
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If you like this article, be sure to check PlayStationLifeStyle.net (our sister site) for a list of the top 100 PS3 games!
Intros are lame. So yeah, whatever. Read this article. It’s in ALPHABETICAL ORDER so don’t freak out and post an angry comment. Also, I realize that some of the games on this list haven’t quite been released yet, but who cares? I only put games that have already been reviewing well, and this list will serve much better as a buyer’s guide for this Christmas because of it. Please note that prices listed are subject to change at Amazon’s whim, as are Xbox Live Arcade prices. Enjoy!
(29 votes, average: 3.55 out of 5) Loading ...
According to a recent survey that retailer Game Crazy put out, kids are not planning on asking for Xbox 360s this Christmas. Of the 1,000 (aged 8-17) kids polled, 66% said that they would ask for a new game console this coming Christmas. 24% of kids wanted a Nintendo DSi (really, guys? That many of you want to pay for digital clocks?), 21% wanted a Wii, and 21% wanted a PS3, with the remaining 34% answering that they didn’t have a desire for a new gaming console.
(21 votes, average: 4.24 out of 5) Loading ...
In the most recent episode of GameTrailers’ Bonus Round (which is viewable here) the often-quoted Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter stated his belief that the price for Xbox Live will soon rise to the $100 mark for a yearly subscription.
To provide a little perspective, let’s take a look at Michael Pachter. Pachter’s job is to make predictions that make investors in his company happy, and he is in no way afraid to stick his neck out and either be totally correct in his predictions (example 1 and example 2) or astonishingly, embarrassingly wrong (example 1 and example 2). Pachter was recently predicted that Borderlands wouldn’t sell very well, and strong sales on Amazon are proving him wrong as I write this. The thing is, Pachter is right more often than he is wrong, so in the grand scheme of things he does his job well (or slightly better than a chimpanzee flipping a coin, depending on your point of view).
(5 votes, average: 4.60 out of 5) Loading ...
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