Sometimes I wonder where video game research analyst Michael Pachter is coming from. While I enjoy reading most of his theories/predictions (if anything, they’re generally interesting enough) some of them make me want to repeatedly bash my head into a wall.
::stretches fingers::
In July, Pachter released a statement stressing the necessity for publishers to implement an online subscription service because gamers are spending too many “free hours” playing online. According to him, this is preventing players from purchasing new games and ultimately hurting the industry.
Pachter’s bottom line: Where’s the revenue?
“We see this as a continuing problem, and think that unless and until the publishers come up with a business model that appropriately captures the value created by the multiplayer experience, we are destined to see a migration of game playing away from packaged goods purchases and toward multiplayer online.” Pachter said in July.
“We think that it is incumbent upon Activision, with the most popular multiplayer game, to take the first step to address monetization of multiplayer. It is too early to tell whether that will be a monthly subscription, tournament entry fees, micro transaction fees, or a combination of all three, but we expect to see the company take some action by year-end, when Call of Duty Black Ops launches.”
And the rumors began running wild. Did Activision really have the you-know-whats to begin charging an online subscription fee? To add fuel to the fire, supposed “footage” of an in-game screen prompting a player to add Microsoft Points for an online membership surfaced, and Activision was forced to debunk the rumors twice; once in July and again last month.
“Are we going to be charging for multiplayer? The answer is no,” Activision CEO Eric Hirshberd stated in November.
“The experience you have out of the box, connecting with the online community to play Call of Duty is absolutely integral to the experience and we’ll never charge for that. It’s not going to be something we’ll attempt to monetize; it’s part of the package.”
Thank GOD, because I sensed a revolt on the horizon. But back to Pachter. What does he have to say about all of this?
“We were disappointed to hear Activision’s new head of publishing flatly deny the company’s plans to charge for multiplayer. We firmly believe that until the publishers address monetization of multiplayer, game sales will continue to be challenged by the publishers’ altruistic decision to provide significantly more entertainment value per hour than ever in history.”
Okay, good sir, what else would you like to charge us for? Or better yet, maybe we should have developers abolish all side quests in their games, because those take up time too. Think of it! Fallout 3 could be finished in no time flat! And afterwards, people could move onto another game! The industry would flourish!
This is going to be painful, but I’ll walk you through it. Do you trust me? Good.
First, grab a something to write with. Shamble over to your calendar. Flip your calendar to November 2nd or November 3rd (depending where you live). See those two letters and a number that read “GT5”? Next, take a deep breath.
Now, cross it off.
GT5 has been delayed in Europe, Japan and the US. AGAIN.
Via the US PS Blog:
“We can confirm that Gran Turismo 5 will not be available this November 2nd, but the game’s release will be coming this holiday season. We sincerely apologize to GT fans for the delay, however, creator Kazunori Yamauchi and the team at Polyphony Digital want to make certain they are creating the perfect racing experience, and we are confident that this ambitious game will exceed expectations when it launches.”
Who needs drama sitcoms or reality shows when you can sit back, relax and watch developers and publishers alike lash out at each other?
<3.
Last week’s episode of Gaming Industry Drama consisted of Double Fine’s Tim Schafer calling Activision’s Bobby Kotick a “total prick” in a Eurogamer interview, for which he later apologized for, not before referencing to Kotick as Darth Vader. Remember that Brutal Legend publishing fiasco? Enough said.
There was also that juicy bonus episode where Cliff Harris of Positec Games became extremely ticked off at Epic’s Mark Rein due to comments Rein made during a panel that Harris was a part of at the Develop Conference in Brighton.
Harris and three other panel members were discussing marketing techniques for indie titles. Rein was not a part of this panel, just an audience member in the front row, but proceeded to open his “big mouth” and give his conflicting opinion. This resulted in Harris making a blog post in which he stated he “resented having some triple-a studio jerk come and tell someone whose run a microstudio for thirteen years that he is doing it all wrong”, and concluded with “Triple-A studio bosses trying to lecture me on how to communicate better with gamers? Fuck off.”
This week, we have Glenn Schofield of Sledgehammer games calling out EA. Back history: Glenn Schofield was a part of the subsidiary of EA, Visceral games, before he and Michael Condrey left to form Sledgehammer Games, which Activision owns.
Because all battles are best fought via Twitter, Schofield tweeted the following:
“Wow, a year ago today I left EA. What a day that was. They really treated me like shit even after creating Dead Space 4 them.”
And later…
“Seems my tweet got some attention. Didn’t mean to. But after a year of EA bashing us it’s good to get it off my chest.”
Well, there you go. Do you really want to know what it feels like to be treated like “shit”? Go talk to Infinity Ward. I’m sure the employees of Respawn Entertainment also have some old stories to tell.
Granted, specific reasons why Schofield was treated poorly weren’t given, so who knows.
Something tells me we haven’t heard the last of it.
If you live in the United States and simply cannot wait until November to try Kinect, you may be in luck. Select Macy’s (of all places) nationwide will have Kinect available for your body flailing pleasure. Random, out of the blue places will be hosting Kinect as well. What better way to burn off those calories from the Taste of Edmonds-Food Festival than to play Dance Central, amirite?
Check out the list:
East Coast
July 17–18 Manhattan, NY Macy’s
July 20–22 East Falmouth, MA Barnstable County Fair
July 24–25 Manhattan, NY Seaport-Lower Manhattan Entertainment Area
July 28–Aug. 1 Washington, DC Six Flags America
Aug. 4–6 Canton, OH Football Hall of Fame – Rib Burnoff
Aug. 7–8 Canton, OH Football Hall of Fame Festival Weekend
Aug. 11–15 Chicago, IL Air Show/Navy Pier
Aug. 19–21 Detroit, MI Woodward Dream Cruise – Auto Festival
Aug. 26–30 St. Paul, MN Minnesota State Fair
Aug. 30–Oct. 24 Tampa, FL Westfield Citrus Park Shopping Mall
Sept. 3–6 Indianapolis, IN Rib America Festival
Sept. 10–13 Nashville, TN Tennessee State Fair
Sept. 15–16 Atlanta, GA Atlantic Station – Entertainment Plaza
Sept. 18–19 Atlanta, GA Atlanta Arts Festival
Sept. 23–26 Charlotte, NC Festival in the Park
Oct. 1–2 Orlando, FL Disney Wine and Dine Marathon
Oct. 8–10 Valdosta, GA Wild Adventures Theme Park
Oct. 14–17 Dallas, TX Texas State Fair
Oct. 21–24 Shreveport, LA Louisiana State Fair
West Coast
July 15–Aug. 22 Minneapolis, MN Mall of America
July 25–26 San Diego, CA Youth Surf Cup – Soccer
July 28–Aug. 1 Sacramento, CA California State Fair
Aug. 6–8 Portland, OR Bite of Oregon Food Festival
Aug.10–11 Seattle, WA Woodland Park Zoo
Aug. 13–15 Seattle, WA Taste of Edmonds – Food Festival
Aug. 19–22 Vancouver, BC Summerfest
Aug. 27–Sept. 1 Pueblo, CO Colorado State Fair
Sept. 3–6 Denver, CO Elitch Gardens
Sept. 9–12 Albuquerque, NM New Mexico State Fair
Sept. 16–19 Salt Lake City, UT Utah State Fair
Sept. 24–26 Los Angeles, CA Universal City Walk
Oct. 1–3 San Diego, CA Miramar Air Fest
Oct. 7–11 San Francisco, CA Fleet Week – Military Ship and Air Festival
Oct. 15–17 Phoenix, AZ Arizona State Fair
Oct. 20–24 Las Vegas, NV PBR World Finals
If you can go to one of these, and are remotely intrigued by Kienct, I would encourage you to check it out. I went body-on with Joy Ride and Kinect Adventures at E3, and while it was exactly what you would expect, it was quite amusing.
Also, apparently starting July 27th, if you go to www.macys.com/glamorama you can enter to win a free Kinect. But I wouldn’t recommend going there now—you’ve been warned.
I’m sure most of you are aware of Blizzard’s Real ID fiasco that has been taking place over the past week or so, but if not, let me give it to you in a nutshell. As a part of Real ID, users posting to Starcraft II and World of Warcraft forums would be required to use their real names. No longer would the security of posting anonymously under dragonXslayer45487878941594 be an option.
Blizzard pretty much stated their forums are becoming a trolling, flame war-ing haven and “Removing the veil of anonymity” is a way of curbing all of that inevitable nonsense.
Speaking of inevitable, people were NOT fans of the idea and immediately began flooding the forums with disapproval for Real ID, worried about their personal safety and exposure to the internet creepers out there.
As part of their protest, people were also sending complaints via email to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB).
Well, Blizzard listened, and ultimately retracted the Real ID policy.
And the ESRB, being the golden child that it is, proceeded to alert those that had emailed them that the Real ID biz was no more. Unfortunately, the ‘reply all’ button was pressed, and ultimately over a thousand email addresses were exposed.
“Video games can never be art”. To any respective gamer, that statement is enough to make you clench your fists, grit your teeth and become overwhelmed with the urge to whack your head against a wall. Repeatedly.
Back in April film critic Robert Ebert published an article titled just that. Missed out on it? Need a refresher? Here are a few quotes from that article to, you know, get your blood boiling again.
“Nevertheless, I remain convinced that in principle, video games cannot be art. Perhaps it is foolish of me to say “never,” because never, as Rick Wakeman informs us, is a long, long time. Let me just say that no video gamer now living will survive long enough to experience the medium as an art form.”
“The three games [Waco Resurrection, Braid, Flower] she chooses as examples do not raise my hopes for a video game that will deserve my attention long enough to play it. They are, I regret to say, pathetic.”
“In defending their gaming against parents, spouses, children, partners, co-workers or other critics, do they want to be able to look up from the screen and explain, “I’m studying a great form of art?” Then let them say it, if it makes them happy.”
Well, isn’t that nice.
With over 4,500 comments later, today Ebert has ‘recanted’ his theory that video games can never be art…kind of.
“What I was saying is that video games could not in principle be Art. That was a foolish position to take, particularly as it seemed to apply to the entire unseen future of games. This was pointed out to me maybe hundreds of times. How could I disagree? It is quite possible a game could someday be great Art.”
“This [definition of Art] might exclude video games on a technicality (are they works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power?)”
“Who was I to say video games didn’t have the potential of becoming Art? Someday? There was no agreement among the thousands of posters about even one current game that was an unassailable masterpiece. Shadow of the Colossus came closest. I suppose that’s the one I should begin with.”
ARGHHH. Just stop. Head asplosion in 3…2…
You can the entire shebang, titled “Okay, kids, play on my lawn.” here.
If you remember the game Robot Unicorn Attack that was posted on here awhile ago, then 5 gold stars to you my friend!
The game is a stressful, ultra-fast speed, side-scroller that does all the running for you while you’re smashing your head into star obstacles.
I’ll be honest & just say that I hate this game. I hate this game so much that it forces me to play it over, and over, and over again til I’ve almost caused myself to have a severe panic attack.
*Coming to the iPhone this June!*
But now guess what! Now, not only will you be able to experience a nervous breakdown while sitting on your computer at home, but you can be panic-stricken while walking your dog, while eating dinner with your family, or even while driving!
Yea that’s right, who says being on your phone in your car is illegal?! Oprah?!?!? Pshh.. what does that ol’ bucket know anyways! I can text, sing Justin Bieber & drive drunk all at the same time like nobodies business! (*Please god let them know that was a joke…. I would never listen to Justin Bieber in my car!*)
Robot Unicorn Attack coming to an iPhone near you. This month. For $3.
Robot Unicorn Attack, a free online game on AdultSwim.com, is by far one of the most stressful games I’ve ever played at work. Holy CRAP! I don’t think I’ve blinked in the last 20 minutes.
In the game, you play the robot unicorn, where you jump from platform to platform trying to catch all those rainbow floaty thingies and barge through all the big star statues. As time goes on, the game’s speed gets faster and your blood pressure rises. I nearly screamed at work after reaching my top score. You want to know what my top score was? Well too bad, because it’s not good at all and I’m still playing.
Some kid with a MASSIVE Lego Star Wars collection decided to make a stop-motion movie on the original trilogy. It’s freakin amazing!
If you ask me, the kid got some professional help making the movie. I don’t see how a kid that young could have produced something so difficult and awesome at an age like that. Unless….. he used the FORCE! He’s a Jedi! What a champ! I want to grow up and be just like him! Er.. uh.. I mean go back in time, and be just like him!
Excuse me while I go to Toys R Us and buy out the entire Batman collection to be as cool as this kid.
[Thank you to Adrian who dropped the Lego Stanley Cup that this kid made for him. Way to go, man.]
If you’re looking for a fun flash game, THIS IS IT.
Super Mario Crossover is just that. It’s the old Super Mario game, but you don’t have to play as Mario. Go ahead and try it with Link, Mega Man, Bill R., Simon, or Samus. Once you pick your character, the music changes to that respective game, and you get to control the character (and use some of their original weapons). However, all characters still get mushrooms and can go down pipes. And jumping on the goombas still seems like the best way to go.
Give it a try! Which is your favorite character to play as?
(A big thank you to Cthaniel who sent this game our way!)
