OXCGN:
"Well, it's that time of year again. E3'09 is getting ready to unveil what the gaming landscape will look like for another year, and with it shaping up to be bigger than ever, I started to notice something. Almost every game I'm looking forward to seeing in E3'09 is a sequel.
Mass Effect 2, Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2, Final Fantasy XIII, Bioshock 2, Assassin's Creed 2, it's just getting crazy. Of course if a game is awesome you'd definitely want a sequel for more of what made that game great, which is why I hate articles that rant on about why sequels are evil.
However, it begs the question: how does a developer keep their series alive and successful?"
While many gaming layoffs are cruel, Tango Gameworks being culled after Hi-Fi Rush doesn't even make sense.
"The sudden closure of several video-game studios at Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox division was the result of a widespread cost-cutting initiative that still isn’t finished.
This week, Xbox began offering voluntary severance agreements to producers, quality assurance testers and other staff at ZeniMax, which it purchased in 2020 for $7.5 billion, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. Others across the Xbox organization have been told that more cuts are on the way.
Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said.
Game Pass has not seen the massive growth that Xbox boss Phil Spencer may have been hoping for."
"Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said"
So what you're saying is...you bought all these studios and you guys can't run them.
Jesus.
Reports are suggesting that Game Pass will be getting a price hike soon and that Call of Duty may not be added to the day one offering. I honestly have a hard time believing this but it does beg the question why exactly did GP fail? I think the answer is that it just didn't get the growth that it anticipated. Jim was right but I wish he wasn't because at the end of the day, its gamers, devs and other front-line workers who have to absorb the blow for Spencer and team's miscalculations.
For all the armchair executives who were calling for Sony to release its big-budget AAA games on PS+, the same exact thing would have happened at PlayStation. Game Pass has killed Xbox. Congrats.
"While the 20 year anniversary edition of Nordic Game, NG24 Spring's homepage on 21-24 May in Malmö, Sweden, is getting closer, the organizers announced that more than 150 speakers are now lined up for the show." - Nordic Game.
I personally don't like the trilogy model....especially the Too Human idea if they don't go back to making Eternal Darkness 2 and instead head for Too Human 2! Also what happens if you like the series so much that you want more than 3...you can remake games to be different like they did with Bond in film.
A trilogy locks them in at 3, which works only if there is a clear story arc that is properly followed (like the original Star Wars or Lord of the Rings movies say). I don't mind the COD model of alternating time periods and locations a bit.
The yearly sports repetition is annoying though...I agree with that. Just update the player rosters!
Can't wait for Mass Effect 2, Assasins Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2 and as of today... Splinter Cell: Conviction! :D
I love my sequels! theres a hell of a lot less risk in spending that $100 of yours on a game, when you know you already like the predecessor!
Please have alan wake for release this year!
CoD MW2
yay!!!!
better be there!!!