600°

Bleszinski: 'Bulletstorm' marketing a mistake, sold as "the dicktits game"

Cliff Bleszinski, the former main man at Epic Games, recently stated that the marketing behind the 2011 shooter Bulletstorm was a mistake.

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stickskills.com
Phil324098d ago

The marketing being a mistake could have been predicted when the plan was announced, for heaven's sake.

Convas4098d ago

Hindsight is 20/20 brah.

What seemed like a good idea at the time is usually not looking back.

Phil324098d ago (Edited 4098d ago )

I'm not talking about viewing something in hindsight. I'm talking about knowing when the marketing plan rolled out that it was a dumb idea.

^edited to make better sense

Abash4098d ago

The big mistake was releasing it the same day as Killzone 3

blackbeld4097d ago

Fun Sadistic game.

I overlooked it until I got it free from Playstation Plus.

Good game. :)

SilentNegotiator4097d ago (Edited 4097d ago )

It does NOT take hindsight to know that saying "dicktits" in your ads will turn people away.

Mediocre game anyway. It's really sad that half of the tropes they mocked COD for, they had in their own game.

LocutusEstBorg4097d ago

Bill Clinton: Seemed like a good idea at the time.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4097d ago
fermcr4098d ago

Bulletstorm didn't sell much, but for me it was one of the best games this generation. Mindless fun.

jeffgoldwin4098d ago

I think its a solid, fun game. Plus you can get it for on the cheap on steam games.

MysticStrummer4097d ago

One of the best games of the generation? Wow. I paid $8 bucks for it used and I'm glad I didn't pay more. I've had it for months and still haven't forced myself to finish it.

Blackdeath_6634097d ago

what games have you been playing this generation exactly?

admiralvic4097d ago

I thought Bulletstorm was a fantastic game, but among the best this generation... that's pushing it. I can see the humor rubbing a LOT of people the wrong way, plus the story was pretty dumb. Also the co op was a fantastic idea, but VERY few people got that the point was to work together.

@ Blackdeath_663

Probably NeverDead and MindJack.

aLiEnViSiToR4097d ago

The game was fun and interesting but it was far from perfect...

HappyMaskSalesman4097d ago

I think you people are missing the "for me" part of fermcr's comment. He has his best games, and so do you.

CommonSense4097d ago

The only problem i had with the game was that the best moments happened in the first half. A ton of fun, though. .

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4097d ago
Veneno4097d ago

God Damn I totally remember the online video ads being completely ridiculous. It came off as a total dude bro dicktits game.

N0S3LFESTEEM4097d ago

Everything Cliffy B says sounds like a 10yr old 4chaner

BinaryMind4097d ago

Bleszinski didn't really address the question. I'm currently playing the game now, and I find it hard to see it as a "cool sci-fi" game with the frequent immature dialogue and macho, dude-bro vibe getting in the way.

GuyThatPlaysGames4097d ago

The mistake was making this game in the first place!

4097d ago
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Megaton4098d ago

The script was a mistake. Supported the "dicktits" marketing.

jeffgoldwin4098d ago

They have kiddy titles like seseame street if you don't like the adult section.

kneon4097d ago

From the marketing it would seem this game would only appeal to 12 year old boys, swearing doesn't make it a game for adults.

UnSelf4097d ago

@jeffgoldwin

so thats what "adult" means to you huh

ok

MysticStrummer4097d ago

There's not much adult about Bulletstorm. Adolescent would be more accurate.

jeffgoldwin4097d ago

Oh nos! Daddy they said a swear word and theres killing in this game! Call big brother to censor this game, it offended me. Cry on, qq's.

Megaton4097d ago (Edited 4097d ago )

It offends me as a fan of comedy, if it offends me at all. It's swearing for the sake of swearing, like it was written by a child who just learned "dirty" words. No tact, no wit, just adolescent Tourette's.

Axonometri4097d ago

Thing is... Blood guts flying limbs and sex jokes don't = mature

MysticStrummer4097d ago

Who said anything about censorship? You just have a ridiculous view of what makes something adult.

Yodagamer4097d ago

Heck Sesame street is more mature than that game

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 4097d ago
Xenomorph4098d ago

Lol and he said it would beat out Killzone (released on the same day)

Riderz13374097d ago

He actually said that? Man this guy is really cocky isn't he?

SamPao4097d ago

yeah but at the same time he bought a copy of Killzone3 :) "I support games, you know" he said over twitter, I remember that :)

GusBricker4097d ago

Put me in the minority, I guess.

Give me the gameplay in Bulletstorm over Killzone any day.

CommonSense4097d ago (Edited 4097d ago )

couldn't agree more. i bought both killzones for ps3 and didn't finish either (ultimately traded them). They were just boring. Visually dull, and the gameplay was clunky, slow, and unoriginal.

Irishguy954097d ago

I prefer Killzone(2 at least) myself, I do agree Killzone is getting overrated though

superterabyte4097d ago

I think you're all crazy and don't recognize something good when you see it

Blastoise4097d ago

This is completely true. I was put off by this game because all I saw was swearing and stupid dialogue. "I will Kill your D**k"

But then I played it when it was available for PS+. It was actually pretty fun & I ended up completing it

madpuppy4097d ago (Edited 4097d ago )

same here, it is a good looking game with fun gameplay that has vulgar, over the top dialogue. I played it all the way through as well. And I'm not a masochist, if I don't like a game I will not bother finishing it.

GamerCheese4097d ago

It's a waste of a possibly cool franchise.

InTheLab4097d ago

Stupid story
tired gimmicky gameplay
no competitive multiplayer
overpriced
was sandwiched between Killzone and Crysis 2

Bulletstorm should have been $15 DLC...$30 at best. It was not a full package and no matter what style of marketing, the game was destined for failure.

@Jeffgoldwin

There is a difference between mature and vulgar. Alan Wake is a mature title. Heavy Rain is a mature title. Bullstorm is a love letter to drunken fratboys.

palaeomerus4097d ago (Edited 4097d ago )

"Stupid story
tired gimmicky gameplay
no competitive multiplayer
overpriced "

That criticism applies equally well to God of War III.

Heavy Rain was awkwardly amateurish cinematic garbage. The story (writing and voice acting performance) was frankly stupid (the killer actually wonders who the killer is in internal "thought" monologue), the gameplay both gimmicky and tiresome trying to extend QTE into a hot steaming mess of tedious abstracted incidental controls supposed to proxy for actions. There was no competitive multiplayer. It was also overpriced...Hey! Wait a minute!

Mature? You think carelessly hacking out a bad, half-assed, Seven reference with cheap French Actors reading English phonetically with weird cadence and pitch with silly gimmick "thriller/suspense controls" is in any way mature? LOL.

Alan Wake was a Stephen King, Twin Peaks, and Twilight Zone send up/mash up mated to a simplistic "low intensity" third person shooter with a light gimmick, a dodge mechanic instead of a cover mechanic, and a tiny smattering of baby-ish puzzles and platforming. Again it's hardly mature in any sense. I had fun with it but it is pretty unsophisticated, two dimensional,cheesy and oriented towards people who like repetitive action between spoon fed TV-story elements that cleave to the genre it borrows from with very little real creativity.

Merrill4097d ago

While I finished Heavy Rain, I agree with you. The atmosphere was fantastic though, but you're correct, the writing was amateurish at best.

InTheLab4097d ago

Lol...you can argue Alan Wake and Heavy Rain but GoW is a genre leader...

Don't be stupid.

As for your argument, please...tell me how you feel about Bulletstorm if you have such strong feelings about actual good games. BS does not possess the qualities of those "careless half assed" games you mentioned.

Tontus4097d ago Show
GamerCheese4097d ago

Breathe, Tontus, Breathe.

Revolver_X_4097d ago

@palaeomerus

Lol. You get trashed at the Bitbag and you have 1 bubble here. Heavy Rain is a crime drama. His inner dialogue is so the viewer or player doesnt know he's the killer yet. The clues lead you to suspect. So, I guess in your flawed opinion crime dramas have amatuer writing, silly child. Its ok, you have no knowledge of the genre, let alone writing in general. ANYONE who thinks Heavy Rain has amatuer writing is frankly uneducated in story writing. The plot has been used in crime dramas for 20+ years. I had no problem with the QTEs and I've platinumed the game. Whatever sh!tty game Cliffy B makes next, Beyond Two Souls will have a better story, rest assured.

Its hilarious how you knew not to mention Killzone 3. If I recall you said Crysis 2 was better then Killzone 3 at the Bitbag. Lol, yea it sure was. Your just a silly troll. Bulletstorm=Duke Nukem Forever. Well, Duke is more likeable.

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70°

Fortnite maker's appeal in Epic vs Apple case smacked down by Supreme Court ruling

The Supreme Court seems to have given it's final verdict on Epic and Apple's legal battle in the US.

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videogamer.com
220°

Epic win: Jury decides Google has illegal monopoly in app store fight

Three years after Fortnite-maker Epic Games sued Apple and Google for allegedly running illegal app store monopolies, Epic has a win. The jury in Epic v. Google has just delivered its verdict — and it found that Google turned its Google Play app store and Google Play Billing service into an illegal monopoly.

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theverge.com
gold_drake129d ago (Edited 129d ago )

oooo shiiiit
well, there ya go

but i think the biggest issue are the judges in these cases.
most of them have no clue about all them things.

ii wonder what the judge will decide Epic actually "won" or what the out come is.

Petebloodyonion128d ago

Why are you saying the judge have no cases?
I think the judges shows lots of clairity that in a duality market (APPLE and Android) there's no competition when both are already agreeing on the price.
Do you think there would be deals if Wallmart was the only store where you could buy food?
How would the argument of "but there's competition between Cookies and cereal brands" would hold up when Wallmart could decide that each provider must pay a 30% comission just to display product in store?

There's already tons od laws to make sure that there's not only 1 physical store brand and that store owners can't be in cahoot with competition in order to fix price so why would this be different for Virtual storefront?

gold_drake128d ago

i didnt say that.
read properly next time.

and the digital market is more complex than supernarkets.

Einhander1972128d ago (Edited 128d ago )

"Do you think there would be deals if Wallmart was the only store where you could buy food?"

This isn't even the same types of argument, you have a variety of different devices you can get content on, like Apple pr Google or PC or consoles, all these things plus more compete with each other.

The only winner in this decision are Epic, Microsoft and other people who are already rich. All these greedy companies are using the law to steal profits from each other and it's going to be the consumers who pay more.

All these devices we use are heavily subsidized by the profits these platform holders make from selling peoples products. If you think Epic is going to start charging less for their MTX now or whatever your crazy, consumers are not going to get anything back from the winners here. All consumers get is the privilege to pay more for devices.

Edit:

"Wallmart could decide that each provider must pay a 30% comission just to display product in store?"

Walmart does take a cut of every sale in their stores....thats how they make money. They also sell shelf space, the products that are are in the center instead of the top or the bottom pay to be there and to have higher visibility and easier access. They also sell access because obviously they don't have enough space for every brands products.

Using your Walmart analogy, how long do you think Walmart would stay in business if they just let anyone walk into their store and sell things without helping to pay for the upkeep of the stores and other costs? They wouldn't that's why things don't work like that.

That is what Epic wants, they want to use these devices with out paying to help maintain them.

Petebloodyonion128d ago (Edited 128d ago )

@Gold _Drake
Sorry bad writting from my part I meant to say Why do you think Judges have no clues?

@Einhander1972
Last I checked tons of small developpers and consummer association complained about the 30% tax cut that Sony Steam, Google, Apple are charging so why do you say only Epic benefit from that decisision is beyond me. Heck I recall this article making the headline recently
https://www.gamesindustry.b...

As for Walmart Upkeep, I would like to remind you that it's Wallmart and other store who need to cut in THEIR profit margin if they want to match price seen in other stores and not the other way around like in the digital market where Game publisher must sign price parity clause to please Google, Apple, Valve and Sony
https://www.linklaters.com/...
https://www.ign.com/article...

128d ago
Extermin8or3_128d ago (Edited 128d ago )

Thst isn the issue here. Thr issue ws the secret deals Google was doing to lower its cut for certain big apps publishers and only them and the fact that a requiremenf for said deals was nof helping epic games sefup its own mobile store.

Einhander1972128d ago (Edited 128d ago )

"Last I checked tons of small developpers and consummer association complained about the 30% tax cut that Sony Steam, Google, Apple are charging so why do you say only Epic benefit from that decisision is beyond me. Heck I recall this article making the headline recent"

Yes, yeah developers and other people who are selling things to you may benefit but the main benefit is these large companies who want to bypass fees.

But at the end of the day they are not going to start charging you less, they are going to charge the same but get more profits.

And the link you posted about the case against Sony is filed by Alex Neil a certified con artist who doesn't care about consumers they just want a huge personal payout.

And as for parity clauses again the money is going to come from the consumers one way or another, these people are fighting to take each others profits, if the parity clauses are blocked we'll pay more for hardware.

The idea that any of these changes are going to make things cheaper for the consumer are a joke, the only thing that changes is who gets the profits.

And as for Walmart, you missed what I was saying Walmart may lower the price on an item but they just charge the manufacturer of that item more to stock it on the shelves.

In some ways the digital stores are better because they don't charge an upfront fee to put an item on the store they instead charge a fee per sale. Which if they have to reduce the fee that charge for sales they would likely recoup that money by charging a fee to sell something on the ap store. Which also would benefit the rich companies over small developers who would be able to pay upfront fees that smaller developers may not.

Which is the reason Walmart only stocks the major brands and not a bunch of start up small brands, because the major brands can pay for shelf space.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 128d ago
1Victor128d ago

Don’t hold your breath yet there’s a long road ahead with the appeals process then the Supreme Court will have the last words and I don’t see this court going against the big corporations earnings.

I’m been known to be wrong some times and truly hope I am on this one

anast128d ago

The pot has been stirred.

Einhander1972128d ago

This is terrible news for consumers, while Epic and others get richer we'll now have to pay more for our devices.

ChasterMies128d ago

How? Android phones like Samsung Galaxy are not subsidized by purchases from Google Play Store. And Google can’t quit on Android because of how much money Google makes from Google search on Android.

Einhander1972128d ago (Edited 128d ago )

Google pays Samsung billions to have their store on Samsung phones.

Samsung also offers it's own store.

neutralgamer1992128d ago

Einhander1972

samsung has it's own store but how many know about that store? its like comparing MS store to other well known stores

GamerRN128d ago

So does this mean Apple also has a monopoly?

Plague-Doctor27128d ago

No. The cases argued were different.

Epic sued Apple for a monopoly over iOS. Apple said iOS competes with Android, MS, Nintendo, Sony, etc for Fortnite. Therefore there is market competition and no monopoly. The judges agreed.

Epic sued Google over a monopoly on android devices. Because Google was found to have shady deals preventing phone manufacturers from putting competing stores on phones as a default app, among other shady dealings, they found google has a monopoly on android marketplaces specifically.

Basically, Apple being a walled garden actually kind of protected them

ChasterMies128d ago

Android isn’t a walled garden tied to hardware like iOS. Android is like Windows or Linux for PCs. Any phone manufacturer can use Android and any seller can have their own store on Android. But Google used its muscle to tie up 90% marketshare for apps on Android. That’s monopolistic behavior.

Hofstaderman128d ago (Edited 128d ago )

Phil and slimey company sitting up and plotting.... expect to hear how Sony is anti-gamer for refusing to have GamePass on their ecosystems they may very well do this to avoid 2027 . I can imagine his email to Satya...."we got them" lol.

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80°

The Epic Game Store Has Two Freebies This Week

The Epic Game Store has two free titles they are giving away this week.

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terminalgamer.com
Minute Man 721139d ago

Got them both to play with my kids