Mike Resnick: Chris used a neat strategy against me in a memorable free-for-all game between him, Konrad, and myself. I launched a massive surprise attack on Chris's mining base, so he traveled back in time, prepared a large fleet to counter my attack and succeeded.
In this interview we talk with the founder of EA, 3DO and Digital Chocolate about the console industry's continuing decline, the tablet computing explosion, Kickstarter projects and much more.
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@DragonAirFight I completely hear you with the 'sour grapes' comments. There have been a lot of crappy people in the industry that have bashed the business that gave them a name in the first place. I can see these publishers/developers bashing the games media, but to say the "industry is garbage" because the industry outgrew the needs of the publisher/developer is, to your point, childish name calling.
Now, after interviewing Trip, he didn't say that the console industry is crap but he did say that console gaming has gone from a $50B industry to a $15B in just three years. That could be due to the age of the consoles, but he's saying that the console model has changed entirely and that he doesn't believe "the big three" have what it takes financially to re-engineer themselves.
He's definitely opinionated, but he can also back everything he says with a metric-ton of experience. Take a listen to the episode (if you want to fast forward past our banter at the beginning, he starts talking at the 15 minute mark) and let us know what you think after listening to the show.
Replies(1)@DragonAirFight Definitely listen to the show and hear him out. It's only 20 minutes, but he reveals a great deal about where his thoughts, and that statement, comes from.
@Niveous Thank you so much for listening to the show and for hearing him out. I think what is funny is that he's often chastised for his opinions by the gaming press but he did graduate Harvard (Magna Cum Laude) and then started up EA and 3DO.
No matter what people will say about the 3DO, that system was WAAAAAAAY ahead of its time from a business perspective. Sure the system launched at a prohibitive price point ($599) but the reason that was so high was that 3DO collected royalties on each console sold and on each game manufactured. To game publishers, that low $3 royalty rate per game was a better deal than the higher royalties paid to Nintendo and Sega (which could be up to, and over, $20 per cart) when making games for their consoles. It wasn't a success, but it certainly had the developers' costs in mind. A very similar strategy to what Microsoft chose to promote with their Xbox launch in 2001.
Is the man arrogant? Maybe. Is he right most of the time? AbsoLUTELY! No matter what people say, it was great to have him on the show and he ranks up there with Eric Patterson and Tim Schafer as one of our favorite interviews we've ever done.
Thanks so much for listening and for commenting here on N4G @Niveous!
Gamespot: "Have you ever really sat down and tried to make sense of time travel logistics? The more you try to make sense of the inevitable paradoxes that arise, the more your brain threatens to turn to jelly. Developer Hazardous Entertainment has tackled the problem--and come up with some creative solutions--with its real-time strategy game Achron. In Achron, time is fluid; you can issue orders to your units not just in the present, but also in the past and in the future. The time travel mechanics add an intriguing strategic dimension to the standard RTS formula and lead to some occasionally mind-blowing moments. It's a pity that Achron's fundamentals don't do justice to its innovations. The pathfinding is terrible, leading to uncomfortable micromanagement just so you can get a single unit around a rock. And Achron is just plain ugly, which isn't only an aesthetic concern: many of the unattractive units look so similar, you can't differentiate one from another. If you hunger for inventiveness, you'll find it in Achron--a game that requires you to think outside of the usual three dimensions. But this budget-priced RTS is also a reminder that innovation needs the support of rock-solid fundamentals."
Archon, a PC game first available on the PC platform (for Atari computers) in 1983, will be making a return to its birthright, courtesy of React! Games.
The original Archon was developed by Freefall Associates and published by Electronic Arts for Atari, Commodore 64, Amiga, and IBM-compatible PCs. The game basically pits two 16-piece fantasy armies on a chessboard to battle for control of the board. Victory is achieved by controlling all five power points located on the board or by eliminating every enemy piece.
