Disc-based market “crumbling”; the numbers don’t add up says Bleszinski

"We waste too much money on useless shit during development therefore the 2nd hand market is evil."

Fuck off CliffyB, you moron.
 
Other than the fact that this dude is heavily biased (he defended Microsft in the "always on" debate also), it should be remembered that Sony is not forcing anything on anyone. So maybe the disc-based gaming market might crumble in the future, but MS is forcing it down everyone's throats, where Sony is obviously allowing the market to take its course naturally.

Actually, why are we even seeing this ONE dev's oppinions on here everytime? Surely there are other "veteran devs" out there with a more neutral stance to all this?
 
Look... the fact is he is correct in an important sense. AAA game development costs are just too high to sustain a flop, or even a modest success. It has to sell in the 10s of millions to justify the cost of development; and when you factor piracy into account you're left with a situation where studios are constantly facing near-bankruptcy while being quite successful in their own rights. And people won't put up with less than AAA production standards either; every new game has to be bigger in every way than the one that came before.
 
The thing is, AAA budgets are high because AAA devs (and publishers) are simply incapable of saving money. The amount of useless shit they waste money on is astonishing. They've got marketing budgets that are through the rough, wasting money on things like gigantic hollywood parties for the developers and gaming media when in fact that money could have been put to better use by saving it. Eidos Montreal actually had a leather suit made especially just to see how the light reflects on it so they can 100% accurately mimic the way light reflects off leather armor. The kicker is that you don't even get to see Garret's armor for 95% of the game. The amount of money wasted in AAA development is enormous.

Jim Sterling actually wrote a really great response to CliffyB on this matter. It's well worth a read to get an insight into how much money is wasted in AAA development.

http://www.destructoid.com/used-games-and-aaa-games-are-incompatible-good--256227.phtml

Killing the 2nd hand market is really just trying to make up for the AAA industry's lack of skill when it comes to financial matters. This whole matter is really just another example of what the gaming industry does best. They're shifting blame instead of taking responsibility for their own glaring problems.
 
jasong said:
AAA game development costs are just too high to sustain a flop, or even a modest success. It has to sell in the 10s of millions to justify the cost of development
Click to expand...

Correct, but when you're devving for a game with those requirements, it no longer becomes a game, but another mass-market product. Look at COD and Battlefield - mass market appeal, budget doesn't need to be that high because they can re-use things and game elements and it'll sell in the millions. The problem comes in when devs spend too much money on a new franchise and it doesn't do well - then they claim that the market's completely not ready for whatever they're pandering and they go back to producing annualised releases.

All we have to do, really, is point to two games and ask Cliff to re-state his opinions. Minecraft is a low-budget game and it's amassed millions because of how fun it is to play, its low price, and the game's quality. CD Projekt Red makes DRM-free games and the Witcher series is fantastic, but they don't charge the earth for the game, nor do they amass a massive budget to make it. And that's a small subset of the market. Make it a third with Metro: Last Light

I'm guessing he's jealous of the profits that these indie devs bring in. They don't always bring in massive fortunes, but in terms of their profit compared to their spend, it's huge.
 
Last edited:
Killing the 2nd hand market is really just trying to make up for the AAA industry's lack of skill when it comes to financial matters. This whole matter is really just another example of what the gaming industry does best. They're shifting blame instead of taking responsibility for their own glaring problems.
Click to expand...
Yeah, look I'm not saying these devs are in the right. I'm just saying that the current rate of AAA game development is unsustainable; that's all.
I'm guessing he's jealous of the profits that these indie devs bring in. They don't always bring in massive fortunes, but in terms of their profit compared to their spend, it's huge.
Click to expand...
Yeah I'm not disagreeing at all.
 
hideinlight said:
It's the $60 price point which is crumbling.
Click to expand...

The price point for PC games used to be $50 but some of them decided to push for $60 recently... I simply refuse to buy them. My limit for a new PC game is R400 (I don't buy them digital due to R/$), but that is only if I really want the game... Otherwise I stick to the standard R330/R350 for new release.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top