06.07.13 |
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Tech writer and former Hypercritical podcast host John Siracusa really sets a high bar with his post regarding the likely fates of the XBox One, PS4 for and Wii U for the next console generation. Bottom line, it’s hard to guess who will come out on top now, but I agree completely with John’s belief that there isn’t going to be an “even divide” between these consoles.
If I were a betting man today, I’d say the Wii U will fall far, far short of the XBox One and PS4, both in terms of hardware and games sold. But it’s extremely hard to say now either Sony or Microsoft have the edge. We’ll learn more next week at E3.
05.30.13 |
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Kotaku editor-in-chief Stephen Totilo:
I suggested that it would be useful if Microsoft could clear some things up. And I granted that, if you weren’t at the Redmond campus, you missed getting your hands on some of the best things about Xbox One. The new rumble in the controllers, for example. That feels next-level.
Was the anger really 20%? In my extended online world, it seemed broader than that. The mood away from Redmond was, at least among the gamers I saw online, the kind of stuttering, stammering frustration that comes with the dawning recognition that, in the Xbox One’s version of gaming’s future, you might not even be allowed to borrow a game from a friend without paying a fee. To console gamers of the last two decades, that seems mad.
Totilo really nails better than any other article I’ve read the massive confusion and PR problems that Microsoft has had since its XBox One unveil last week. It’s a shame on how much of this I think could have been preventable with better organization and preparation. Then again, maybe this is what we get with Microsoft comfortably winning the last generation of consoles: laziness, arrogance, and aloofness. Just ask Sony circa 2006.
05.27.13 |
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BioShock Infinite has been one of the most critically acclaimed games of in the past year, and after having finished it last week, it’s justified. There’s just a certain level of polish and depth to the first person shooter you rarely encounter. But that ending…kind of crazy.
Listen to the Giant Bomb team spend over two hours breaking down BioShock‘s story, feel, and the many possible interpretations of that ending. Bomb crew member Vinnie live plays the ending for the first time as the others provide commentary. Very funny and very smart discussion.
05.15.13 |
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Pretty damming analysis by Gamasutra‘s Matt Matthews, from overall shipments…
During the past fiscal year, the year in which the Wii U launched, total console hardware shipments actually went down rather than up. In the previous two launches, total console hardware shipments went up during a launch year.
…to upcoming Wii U releases…
While I think it’s a step forward for Iwata to show that Nintendo has a messaging problem when it comes to the Wii U, I don’t think Wii U owners — or potential Wii U owners — will be encouraged by his proposed solutions.
Iwata appears to be saying that Nintendo will reinvigorate the Wii U starting with Pikmin 3 in July and August of this year. That alone is cause for some concern, because Pikmin might be a fine game, but it isn’t really a system-seller. And on top of that, what are consumers to do with their Wii U in the intervening three months?
…and overall:
And where will all of this put Nintendo in a year’s time? Nintendo probably needs all, or nearly all, of the pieces to fall into place to reach its ¥100 billion operating profit goal…just looking at what we know now, I really don’t think Nintendo is going to make it.
Ouch.
05.03.13 |
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Legendary game designer Ron Gilbert (The Secret of Monkey Island) on modern adventure gaming:
The focus is more on making the games themselves enjoyable. I think that is a place adventure games are going. The Walking Dead is a great example of really great games that have no puzzles. The puzzles that are there might as well not be. You just want to get on with the story. I think we should stop thinking about them as adventure games and start thinking about them as just games, or ways of telling stories.
04.23.13 |
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Ben Kuchera writing at The Penny Arcade Report about the state of video game journalism:
This system sucks, and many writers and editors involved with the system know it sucks. The writers who are often asked to create these stories know it sucks. You think you hate to read shit, imagine having to create shit that you know will do way more business than a well-researched and thought out story on a topic you’re passionate about. Now imagine making a pitiful amount of money for both stories. Is it any wonder so many talented writers leave the business?
We talked about talented, older developers leaving game development, but the same thing happens to reporters. Few sites have the money to offer writers a full-time position, and even fewer offer benefits. It’s incredibly hard to spend the years building up the contacts, expertise, and skill it takes to report a story well when there is no money in doing so, and it makes more business sense to simply re-write an existing story or go with that cosplay gallery.
It’s rare to get such a frank look at ad buys and the importance of clicks per article. It leaves you pretty cynical on the whole situation, which is why Ben’s suggestion of a business driven directly by reader subscriptions could make sense.
04.19.13 |
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Kotaku‘s Jason Schreier:
For one, people are gaming the system. On both sides of the aisle.
There’s the story of the mocked mock reviewer, for example. Some background: game publishers and developers often hire consultants or game critics to come into their offices, play early copies of games, and write up mock reviews that predict how those games will perform on Metacritic. Often, if possible, publishers and developers will make changes to their games based on what those mock reviews say. Mock reviewers are then ethically prohibited from writing consumer reviews of that game, as they have taken money from the publisher.
One developer–a high-ranking studio employee who we’ll call Ed–told me he hired someone to write a mock review, then threw that review in the shredder. Ed didn’t care what was inside. He just wanted to make sure the reviewer–a notoriously fickle scorer–couldn’t review his studio’s game. Ed knew that by eliminating at least that one potentially-negative review score from contention, he could skew the Metascore higher. Checkmate.
Metacritic is an invaluable resource to just casually get a first take opinion on a game. Yet it’s scary to see its effect here on the gaming industry.
04.10.13 |
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Nice photo work profiling the many coders, testers, artists and more that worked behind the scenes at the just closed LucasArts. Admittedly the gaming studio had little output in the last six years or so. Yet during the mid 90s, it was a unstoppable force for adventure gaming: the Monkey Island series, Grim Fandango, Sam & Max and much more. LucasArts and Sierra were the gaming giants that powered the majority of my gaming in the late 80s and early 90s; a bit sad to see them shutter like this.
04.05.13 |
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This extended chat over at the Giant Bomb headquarters post wrap up of the Game Developers Conference was really fun to watch. You get expected appearances from the GB crew (Patrick Klepick, Jeff Gerstmann) and lots of game industry veterans (Phil Fish of Fez, Robert Ashley). It’s a good balance between random humor and some actual serious discussion on game design and music.
03.28.13 |
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Gamasutra‘s Leigh Alexander:
We dispute and debate, whisper our private hypotheses about those early glimpses and how we think they might turn out, but in the end everyone publishes an obedient preview at the appointed embargo lift, cautiously optimistic.
Who do we serve? What’s the role of subjectivity? What do we owe the developer?
Excellent questions raised by Leigh here. It’s really reached the point where I’m aligned with Giant Bomb on this one: previews are effectively dead. Write up a news story that sticks mostly to the facts before a game is released and wait for a real review and discussion once it’s out.