We Need Better Video Game Publishers

[Hyperstrike]

http://kotaku.com/we-need-better-video-game-publishers-472880781

Okay it's Kotaku, and therefore, fluffy.  But this article sums up some of what's wrong with the video game industry today.

[Surelle]

Thanks a bunch for this link!   

I have always thought that the business end of gaming could use a lot more professional, organized input and training.  Every time you turn around nowadays, you meet a kid who wants to become a game designer, game 3D modeler, game programmer, etc.  And schools for that stuff are cropping up all over, not to mention that regular colleges are incorporating degrees for those things too.

But never do you hear about college degrees specifically for game publishing.  You would think that at least some of the current heads of the big publishers could draw up enough information about budgeting, timing, advertising, and polling to create a training program for it all.

[JaguarX]

Yup we definately need better game publishers but we the customers need to demand it AND follow through. It does no good to demand something then don't follow up. Here it means no rewarding them if they are terrible dont give them a dime from the start not wait until direct effects. But if duped like for many in ncsoft case, then learn and don't give in.

A business guy a successful one said "customers will always complain bitch and rant. But as long as they are still buying your product who gives a pancake? They are entitled to their opinions but money not opinions pay the bills."

[Segev]

Conversely, this means you should also seek out and make a point of buying products you think are worthy.

[downix]

Conversely, this means you should also seek out and make a point of buying products you think are worthy.

That sounds nice. The problem is, you need to first know the source of the problems, you need to also have alternatives to purchase. The video game publishing market is effectively locked up. if you don't buy from EA, Nintendo, Sony, Activision or NCSoft, you have very limited choices of product.

[TimtheEnchanter]

That sounds nice. The problem is, you need to first know the source of the problems, you need to also have alternatives to purchase. The video game publishing market is effectively locked up. if you don't buy from EA, Nintendo, Sony, Activision or NCSoft, you have very limited choices of product.

Even when that isn't the case, you almost ALWAYS run into these "non-trust" scenarios, where competition leads to imitation, and the next thing you know, every company in the industry ends up using the same underhanded tactics.

[Shenku]

Even when that isn't the case, you almost ALWAYS run into these "non-trust" scenarios, where competition leads to imitation, and the next thing you know, every company in the industry ends up using the same underhanded tactics.

Which is why the console market is currently being ruled by Call of Duty and its various clones from other competing companies. Everyone is copying each other to the point that I've lost interest in 90% of first person shooters because regardless of what I play, it feels like the same game, and the stories aren't good enough to pull me in any longer.

This is true with RPGs, Platformers(though less common now), RTS games, turn based strategy(tactics) games, exc. on infinitum... The developers probably want to try something new right now, but I think it's the publishers telling them to break out the cookie cutters because we as consumers are too dumb to actually want to play something different...

[JaguarX]

Conversely, this means you should also seek out and make a point of buying products you think are worthy.

Exactly. That is what I do. I dont like Apple and thus I dont buy a single thing from them whether iphone ipad ipod, the computer, software etc. I dont spend a single penny on them because I dont like them and dont feel they are worth my money. Will they continue to make billions? Of course. But it wont be none of mine. One person standing, is just a symbolic thing, but nothing. Get thousands standing up, then it's an army. Get hundred thousands, then it's have them think twice. Get millions, then it's unstoppable. Easy it sounds but it aint. Some people rather give gripe and give their money to an industry they hate than not stop playing games for a while for a cause. They forget the choice of that they dont have to play, or go indie. Just because the corporation is big doesn't mean it's the only gigs in town.

[GuyPerfect]

[pewlagon]

Here's the big problem. Look at the new Tomb Raider game that "just" came out. 3.8 million copies sold and it's considdered a failure. Back in the days of PS2 and Nintendo64 era this would have been considdered a success. But now publishers want projects on par wiTh the movie industry and e developers have catered to these whims with staffing on that scale. Because so much money is spent creating these big titles the expected results are on par with big movie releases and at $60 a pop that just won't happen.


The other problem is the publishers may or may not realize they are asking to compete against the movie industry for entertainment dollars. I'm sorry at $10 for an early show versus a new release price of $40 for Triple A titles you can see how this scale will invariably tilt toward the movie industry.


In addition to the movies the industry is competing with itself. With more than one Triple A title releasing at a time people, especially in this global economy, are being picky. Personally, I wait a few weeks before buying a title to see how well it is received and I rarely rely on the horrid Metacritic which is, in itself, a big problem.


Seriously, we need the industry to go back to the philosophy of making games rather the block busters. If you make a great game the players will come and expecting unreal results needs to be thrown out the window.

[Blondeshell]

Because so much money is spent creating these big titles the expected results are on par with big movie releases and at $60 a pop that just won't happen.

Fortunately (?), new games for the PS4 and 720 will be in the $70 range.

The other problem is the publishers may or may not realize they are asking to compete against the movie industry for entertainment dollars. I'm sorry at $10 for an early show versus a new release price of $40 for Triple A titles you can see how this scale will invariably tilt toward the movie industry.

My little local theater shows first-run titles (granted, only with two screens), and matinees are $3.50. My most recent console is a GameCube. It should be obvious how much money the game industry gets from me, though I would have been all over the new Tomb Raider if my PC was up to snuff.

[JetFlash]

Fortunately (?), new games for the PS4 and 720 will be in the $70 range.

I flat out REFUSE to pay $50+ for a game now, not without some kind of incentive.  The last game I did that with was Mass Effect 3, which was $50 and I got a $20 store credit (Target).  Borderlands 2 was the first and only game I bought for $59, and that was because I had a gift card to use up.

$70?  No effing way.  Especially since now that $70 will pay for 1/2 the game once you figure in all the DLC.  I'll wait for it to be sold cheap from Steam or Amazon several months down the road.

[Segev]

I have quite a few friends whose attitude is, "I'll wait until it comes down under $40."

[FatherXmas]

Problem:  PC games are expensive to create.

Reason: Insistence of someone (money guys, customers) that visual look trumps everything.  It needs to look live action movie like even if it's just blowing stuff up at 90mph.  Even if only bystanders could appreciate the realism since the player is merely trying to survive.

Side Effect: Since only high end gaming PCs can play these games at the quality settings that lauded in the reviews, the publisher needs a significant percentage of owners of those PCs to pay for the game, new.  Hence DRM, always on, additional fee from 2nd owner to play online or no free DLC, etc.

Future Problem: While always on is a DRM that's less intrusive than DRM of old, it presents an entirely new problem of authorization servers being discontinued because unlike that 10 year old box of Monopoly in the hall closet, game publishers want you to buy new games continuously, not play your "favorites" indefinitely.

Being MMO players without our game has put us on the forefront of this problem, something that needs to be warned about.  We've already lost VCRs and the ability to archive events we wish to relive televised events or even our favorite shows.  DVRs, except home brewed ones, won't let you off load recordings because digital duplication is a living nightmare for copyright holders.  Sure you could dup VCR tapes, fan subbers did it for years but only on a very small scale.  Put a video recording up at a site and POOF, it's everywhere.

How many people own CDs anymore?  Own non-DRMed music if you are a digital kind of collector now?  Physical copies can't be taken away.  Can't have their access priced jacked up.  Can't be removed from your device.  It doesn't matter if their provider goes out of business, gets absorbed by a large entity with a different plan.

Sure digital downloads of games from Steam is great.  Until one day they sell out to someone who want's a monthly fee so you can download what you already bought.  At least with GoG it doesn't dial home for permission to run.

All these things boil down to the providers wanting to control with an iron fist what their customers do with their product.  If they say it's obsolete, you can't play it, watch it, listen to it anymore.

A long time ago there was a Quest commercial (I think they became Level 3) about fiber optic internet which was a guy walking into a diner in the middle of nowhere and asked the waitress what songs were in the jukebox.  She replied every song every published anywhere in the world.  That's the kind of service I would love to pay for.  Extend that to broadcast TV anywhere in the world.  Or movies.

But it will never happen.  There's too much money involved in the old ways.  New product is valuable, old product is mostly forgotten.  It's no longer experts or popularity that preserves works, it's corporations. 

[/rant]

Sorry about the rant.

[Segev]

Er, my Dad has a bog-standard Dish Network DVR, and has a hard drive that plugs into it through a standard USB port. The DVR box has its UI designed to allow access for loading and off-loading to the HD.

[Kistulot]

Simple solution: Support indie developers. Support companies whose actions are those you can get behind.

Wanna play that new game but it has always on/it was released by a publisher who actively insults you for your feelings on DRM/always on/blames homophobia for people hating them?

Don't buy the game.

Yeah, the game might be fun. yes, this hurts the developer oftentimes more than their publisher. Is it kinda the only thing you can do to affect the only thing they care about (money)? Yes.

Ubisoft put spyware on Heroes of Might and Magic V that when installed, if it fails, has a chance of frying the firmware of optical drives. I have not given Ubisoft a single cent since. I've had to pass up a game here or there, either buying them used, or not buying them at all, but I've bought plenty of indie games in the meantime, had plenty of fun, and never once felt especially disappointed that I can't buy Diablo 3.

My two cents.

If you want to buy EA/Ubi/Activision/A new XBox with always on if it happens, I wont fault you especially if you have kids or the like. Making other people suffer for your morals is kinda jerky. But If you have a problem with the way things are, I feel you lose a bit of the punch to your argument if you bought Dead Space 3 after the consumerist response.

Game development costs have gone up exponentially. Gamers have also begun to be numbered just the same. "hardcore" gamers, even "casual" gamers who play more than smartphone games dont really need to be catered to. That's the reality of our present. But to pretend there's nothin out there to play that isn't freakishly offensive to such things if you give them a single dime, well... yeah.

I dont advocate being a jerk to people who buy these things either. I'd only even mention it here because its on-topic. I've mentioned it before. MMOs by default are always-on, but you're buying into a service. We were all okay with that. Fine. But if you pay for a WoW subscription, you're also financing everything Activision does, and Blizzard's increasing lack of singleplayer games that don't require a persistent connection. Even more telling, when the PS3 version does not, and there is no plan to change the PC version.

This has been a big shpeal, and it may come off more aggressive than intended, but there are things we can do... but its slow going, and it doesnt change things overnight. It might never. But that's not really the point is it? We dont want these bad companies to explode, we just want good ones.

Encourage good behavior. Don't reward bad. Its slow, and with so many people who will buy something due to brand recognition regardless of the gameplay, story, side effects (DRM/utterly inexcusable DLC, etc) we wont ever be able to get rid of EA unless they implode themselves. But we can continue to support companies who make quality products without being jerks. They're out there. Even if you have to look. GOG.com games are DRM free. Buy from there if you have the choice between there and Steam.

Be the difference you want to see in the world.

Or don't, if you dont particularly care. That's fine too

[Manga]

Game development costs have gone up exponentially.

Here's the thing:  That's both true and untrue.

If you research companies like Rockstar Games, they (and others) had a stage where they used to film live-action movies and turn them into choose your own adventure games.  Hardly any of those made money because of the costs of filming, and the big stars that some of them had in the "movies" in order to promote the game.

Today the big cost of producing games seems to be...image.  Everyone producing a game decides they need a gigantic decorative office full of toys, company sports cars for the executives, gold plated bathroom fixtures, etc.  Then they outsource the actual programming and development, or hire rock-bottom priced nomadic workers, and fire them as soon as the project is done.  Shortly after comes the lamenting not making enough money to cover the costs of all those showy toys.

[Segev]

Here's the thing:  That's both true and untrue.

If you research companies like Rockstar Games, they (and others) had a stage where they used to film live-action movies and turn them into choose your own adventure games.  Hardly any of those made money because of the costs of filming, and the big stars that some of them had in the "movies" in order to promote the game.

This makes me wonder how well a movie studio that shot a standard movie, but shot extra scenes and footage that they fully developed in order to make Clue-like "variant plot developments" so they could ALSO sell a choose-your-own-adventure version of it after the big theater release, would do.

Today the big cost of producing games seems to be...image.  Everyone producing a game decides they need a gigantic decorative office full of toys, company sports cars for the executives, gold plated bathroom fixtures, etc.  Then they outsource the actual programming and development, or hire rock-bottom priced nomadic workers, and fire them as soon as the project is done.  Shortly after comes the lamenting not making enough money to cover the costs of all those showy toys.

Actually, most of the cost is in graphics development. The drive to be one step ahead in the bleeding edge is so pervasive that tens of millions get dumped into this aspect that most of us...only partially notice.

The rest can be an issue, but typically isn't, since spending money on those things without making them explicit salary items for the execs., etc., is fraud, and making the salary for the execs that big tends to dry up investors right quickly.

[Kistulot]

Actually, most of the cost is in graphics development. The drive to be one step ahead in the bleeding edge is so pervasive that tens of millions get dumped into this aspect that most of us...only partially notice.

Graphics, voice acting, console licensing, console dev tools, other dev tools, and things that honestly in many instances add to the shine in a way that imho doesn't increase the fun of gameplay, but that's a YMMV kind of thing

[Segev]

Dev tools are surprisingly affordable, at least for PC development.

I say "surprisingly affordable," then look at the costs, and realize that requires some explanation. Compared to the total costs of making a AAA game, the dev tools are surprisingly affordable. We're talking between 2 and 5 orders of magnitude cheaper, depending on just what the overall budget is and what tools are being used.

The other advantage of development for personal computers of all sorts is that you don't need console licenses. I haven't seen research on the cost for those, as the Phoenix Project isn't developing for consoles at this time. I would HOPE those don't amount to tens of millions, and thus would be on the order of 5% or less of the overall price of a AAA game, but I have no idea.