CliffyB Thinks Used Games Are Bad, Sony is "Playing Us"

[SLasher797]

Yeah, I mean we all know how much used and rental cars are dragging down the car industry.

Well, to be fair, that's not exactly a relevant comparison.

So then let's compare the rest of the entertainment industry's used sales. Books have used book stores. Netflix is a movie rental service. Neither of those are considered things that should be shut down in order to save their mediums. The only reason that games are different is because AAA games have fucking terrible budgets.

You can't dump millions of dollars into a game and then expect it to sell 5 million copies based on how much money you spent. You have to look at your game idea, decide what would be a reasonable amount of copies to expect to sell, and then budget based on that figure. That's just fucking common sense, and AAA has none.

 

[SLasher797]

Yeah, I mean we all know how much used and rental cars are dragging down the car industry.

Well, to be fair, that's not exactly a relevant comparison.

So then let's compare the rest of the entertainment industry's used sales. Books have used book stores. Netflix is a movie rental service. Neither of those are considered things that should be shut down in order to save their mediums. The only reason that games are different is because AAA games have fucking terrible budgets.

You can't dump millions of dollars into a game and then expect it to sell 5 million copies based on how much money you spent. You have to look at your game idea, decide what would be a reasonable amount of copies to expect to sell, and then budget based on that figure. That's just fucking common sense, and AAA has none.

 

[Andy Farren]

Did he really say "newsflash" in a non-ironic way? Jeez.

 

[Bashfluff]

If you cannot make a profit with the development budget you have, lower your budget. If you cannot make a profit with the marketing budget you have, lower your budget. This is not hard to figure out. And if you do that, everyone wins. You CAN make the game you want to make with less money. I will say that as a fact. These budgets are stinking and bloated, and we can do without them.

 

[Andy Farren]

You CAN make the game you want to make with less money. I will say that as a fact. These budgets are stinking and bloated, and we can do without them.

Hear hear. More Mojang, anyone?

 

[Bashfluff]

You CAN make the game you want to make with less money. I will say that as a fact. These budgets are stinking and bloated, and we can do without them.

Hear hear. More Mojang, anyone?

Weirdly enough, I just fired up Minecraft.

 

[feycreature]

What still sticks out to me (and drives me crazy) is the "more is better" theory of design. Good design doesn't just and doesn't necessarily mean more money, it means better planning, communication and understanding of the elements you're working with. And that goes for visuals, music, story, gameplay, all of it. If you wanna do a mega huge project, go for it, but build from a solid plan first. Then maybe you won't need to sell so many billions of copies just to break even.

 

[Freyar]

Reduce development and marketing budgets. It's just that basic. The industry cannot sustain itself like this and publishers like EA and Square Enix have been complaining about it quite often recently. EA, 5 million copies of Dead Space 3? Square Enix with Sleeping Dogs, Hitman, and Tomb Raider failing to meet sales expectations because of budgets.

Reduce, adapt, and optimize development. While huge productions are amazing at times, when everything is the same, it only creates this snowball effect and for whatever reason, the publishers continue to ignore it.