Colonial Marines Developers Should Own Up to Screwing Up

[squid5580]

You know what these companies need to do? The need to publicly own up to a games failure and then behind closed doors they can pass out blame if they so desire, but if they do that they need to ensure all that behind closed door stuff stays off people's twitters and facebooks and whatever else; you know in the interest of maintaining the illusion of professionalism.

No. Watching the meltdown is the only enjoyment I have gotten from buying the game.

Well it's a little late for that with Colonial Marines anyway now isn't it?

Not really. I was one of the suckers who pre ordered it based on the E3 demo. But reading the fallout over the weeks following sure was far more entertaining

 

[Roman Monaghan]

I have less friends on my PSN then Yahtzee. I feel fulfilled.

Amusingly, try reading the ending of this article and then immediately watch the Jimquisition episode "Friends."

 

[LordLundar]

There isn't a single company in the history of the world that has made any money off of assigning blame.

Untrue. Here in Canada, Maple Leaf Foods was involved in a listeria outbreak a few years ago. They instituted a voluntary (i.e., not government-mandated) recall of products from the suspected plants, and then their CEO personally apologized to customers, taking responsibility [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/day-to-day/the-best-legal-advice-is-often-an-apology/article626797/], and said he was ignoring the advice of his lawyers and accountants and would be paying out fair and just settlements to the victims and their families.
While sales initially plummeted in the wake of the outbreak, within a few months they were almost back to normal.

Video games are a different matter, of course. If they're actually art, then Yahtzee's right: someone should have a unified vision for the thing, and that person (or persons) should stand by their art at least until they start their next project.

You're talking accepting blame, not assigning it. Assigning it essentially means "passing the buck" and that is accurate because it at best shows you just don't care enough apart from ducking for cover. Right now both Gearbox and Timegate are hurting and it's more because they won't fess up and instead point fingers at everyone but themselves than the bad game.

 

[Brainwreck]

Fuck you for making me remember Katyusha:
Расцветали яблони и груши,
Поплыли туманы над рекой;
Выходила на берег Катюша,
На высокий берег, на крутой. (etc)

All valid points though.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

You know what these companies need to do? The need to publicly own up to a games failure and then behind closed doors they can pass out blame if they so desire, but if they do that they need to ensure all that behind closed door stuff stays off people's twitters and facebooks and whatever else; you know in the interest of maintaining the illusion of professionalism.

No. Watching the meltdown is the only enjoyment I have gotten from buying the game.

Well it's a little late for that with Colonial Marines anyway now isn't it?

Not really. I was one of the suckers who pre ordered it based on the E3 demo. But reading the fallout over the weeks following sure was far more entertaining

Sure it is. They've already started playing the blame game. Any hope of saving face and maintaining any sense of professionalism has long since gone out the window.

 

[mjc0961]

It's not just the Colonial Marines developers who should own up to screwing up. It's also the publisher. In fact, it's more firmly the publisher than it is any of the developers. We can argue all day about if it's Gearbox's fault or TimeGate's fault or whatever, but there's one thing we can say without any debate: SEGA got handed this piece of shit final product and decided to put it on store shelves. You can't tell me that they had absolutely no idea about the quality of what they got handed until after it came out and reviewers and gamers started slamming it. You can't tell me that they didn't know Gearbox had been screwing them over for six years and that they should probably consider taking Gearbox to court. SEGA should have taken one look at what Gearbox gave them and immediately canceled the game and started looking into legal options. Instead, they released this piece of shit and took our money for it. Completely unacceptable.

And the thing that really gets me in this is that people are going around the internet talking about SEGA as if they were the victims in this story. They aren't. We, the hard working consumers who wasted our money on this trash, are the victims here. SEGA chose to screw us over in the pursuit of the almighty dollar. Don't feel sorry for SEGA. Be pissed at SEGA. Had they done their job as a publisher, Aliens Colonial Marines either never would have existed as something we could play or would have actually been good. They should have been making sure that Gearbox was actually making the game, not ignoring it to work on Borderlands and Duke Nukem or passing off their responsibilities to other studios. A lot of the so-called Gearbox employees posting their inside stories claim that Gearbox had to rush it out in this sorry state because SEGA was going to deny any more delays and take legal action. SEGA should have taken legal action long before this game ever reached the "I can't believe I wasted $60 on this shit!" phase. Instead they kept handing Gearbox more time and money, then turned around and destroyed consumer's trust in them as a company (or rather, that's what it should have done, but instead people treat SEGA like a fellow victim because people are idiots).

Really, this whole thing just makes me wonder about every time another publisher has canceled a game that I was looking forward to. Is THIS why they canceled it? Because the development team had been fucking around or was making a really shitty game and they knew it was better to cut their loses rather than toss even more money at the game and hope to make some of it back later by tricking consumers into buying a shitty game? Probably not always, but maybe sometimes.

 

[FalloutJack]

Your game progress is the property of the people, comrade. Now queue up for your loaf of bread.

Well now...that oddly reminds me of a certain video.


OT: If I had to argue ownership over Aliens, I'd call it a toss-up between Scott and Cameron to wrestle it out, with the others more-or-less homage artists.

 

[mjc0961]

There isn't a single company in the history of the world that has made any money off of assigning blame.

Untrue. Here in Canada, Maple Leaf Foods was involved in a listeria outbreak a few years ago. They instituted a voluntary (i.e., not government-mandated) recall of products from the suspected plants, and then their CEO personally apologized to customers, taking responsibility [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/day-to-day/the-best-legal-advice-is-often-an-apology/article626797/], and said he was ignoring the advice of his lawyers and accountants and would be paying out fair and just settlements to the victims and their families.
While sales initially plummeted in the wake of the outbreak, within a few months they were almost back to normal.

Just a future tip for you buddy: If you're going to claim that a statement saying no company made money by assigning blame is untrue, don't follow it up with a story about how a company accepted blame. Your story about Maple Leaf Foods was completely irrelevant and doesn't prove antithesis wrong at all.

 

[squid5580]

You know what these companies need to do? The need to publicly own up to a games failure and then behind closed doors they can pass out blame if they so desire, but if they do that they need to ensure all that behind closed door stuff stays off people's twitters and facebooks and whatever else; you know in the interest of maintaining the illusion of professionalism.

No. Watching the meltdown is the only enjoyment I have gotten from buying the game.

Well it's a little late for that with Colonial Marines anyway now isn't it?

Not really. I was one of the suckers who pre ordered it based on the E3 demo. But reading the fallout over the weeks following sure was far more entertaining

Sure it is. They've already started playing the blame game. Any hope of saving face and maintaining any sense of professionalism has long since gone out the window.

Oh my bad I misunderstood what you are saying. I don't think they could have saved face even without the leaks and the blaming. The demo and the TV spots vs the final product screams un-professionalism. It seems to me that the resulting he said/she said is both companies trying to regain consumer confidence they lost by doing this since they know that they showed it to us. And the company we ultimately hold responsible is gonna take a beating on their next game

 

[Canadamus Prime]

You know what these companies need to do? The need to publicly own up to a games failure and then behind closed doors they can pass out blame if they so desire, but if they do that they need to ensure all that behind closed door stuff stays off people's twitters and facebooks and whatever else; you know in the interest of maintaining the illusion of professionalism.

No. Watching the meltdown is the only enjoyment I have gotten from buying the game.

Well it's a little late for that with Colonial Marines anyway now isn't it?

Not really. I was one of the suckers who pre ordered it based on the E3 demo. But reading the fallout over the weeks following sure was far more entertaining

Sure it is. They've already started playing the blame game. Any hope of saving face and maintaining any sense of professionalism has long since gone out the window.

Oh my bad I misunderstood what you are saying. I don't think they could have saved face even without the leaks and the blaming. The demo and the TV spots vs the final product screams un-professionalism. It seems to me that the resulting he said/she said is both companies trying to regain consumer confidence they lost by doing this since they know that they showed it to us. And the company we ultimately hold responsible is gonna take a beating on their next game

True, but they could've saved some fave by owning up and admitting that they screwed up. I don't know about you but I tend to have more confidence in a company that can own up to it's failings then one that tries to pass them off one someone else.

 

[squid5580]

You know what these companies need to do? The need to publicly own up to a games failure and then behind closed doors they can pass out blame if they so desire, but if they do that they need to ensure all that behind closed door stuff stays off people's twitters and facebooks and whatever else; you know in the interest of maintaining the illusion of professionalism.

No. Watching the meltdown is the only enjoyment I have gotten from buying the game.

Well it's a little late for that with Colonial Marines anyway now isn't it?

Not really. I was one of the suckers who pre ordered it based on the E3 demo. But reading the fallout over the weeks following sure was far more entertaining

Sure it is. They've already started playing the blame game. Any hope of saving face and maintaining any sense of professionalism has long since gone out the window.

Oh my bad I misunderstood what you are saying. I don't think they could have saved face even without the leaks and the blaming. The demo and the TV spots vs the final product screams un-professionalism. It seems to me that the resulting he said/she said is both companies trying to regain consumer confidence they lost by doing this since they know that they showed it to us. And the company we ultimately hold responsible is gonna take a beating on their next game

True, but they could've saved some fave by owning up and admitting that they screwed up. I don't know about you but I tend to have more confidence in a company that can own up to it's failings then one that tries to pass them off one someone else.

Oh for sure. If pitchford had tweeted "sorry for the final product not being the same quality as the stuff we showed previously" instead of banning frustrated consumers who feel lied too it would have gone a long ways in my books. But those are my books and I'm not a shareholder so my books don't matter much. Especially now since they already got my money

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

I liked the game... so I don't feel they should have to own up to anything. In fact I believe they should be proud of their product. Gearbox makes good games, Timegate makes good games. Is colonial marines the best, no. Is it the worst, god no. So can everyone stop attacking this game and get back to being passive aggressive about otherwise mediocre games ruining the industry.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

You know what these companies need to do? The need to publicly own up to a games failure and then behind closed doors they can pass out blame if they so desire, but if they do that they need to ensure all that behind closed door stuff stays off people's twitters and facebooks and whatever else; you know in the interest of maintaining the illusion of professionalism.

No. Watching the meltdown is the only enjoyment I have gotten from buying the game.

Well it's a little late for that with Colonial Marines anyway now isn't it?

Not really. I was one of the suckers who pre ordered it based on the E3 demo. But reading the fallout over the weeks following sure was far more entertaining

Sure it is. They've already started playing the blame game. Any hope of saving face and maintaining any sense of professionalism has long since gone out the window.

Oh my bad I misunderstood what you are saying. I don't think they could have saved face even without the leaks and the blaming. The demo and the TV spots vs the final product screams un-professionalism. It seems to me that the resulting he said/she said is both companies trying to regain consumer confidence they lost by doing this since they know that they showed it to us. And the company we ultimately hold responsible is gonna take a beating on their next game

True, but they could've saved some fave by owning up and admitting that they screwed up. I don't know about you but I tend to have more confidence in a company that can own up to it's failings then one that tries to pass them off one someone else.

Oh for sure. If pitchford had tweeted "sorry for the final product not being the same quality as the stuff we showed previously" instead of banning frustrated consumers who feel lied too it would have gone a long ways in my books. But those are my books and I'm not a shareholder so my books don't matter much. Especially now since they already got my money

Well they don't have mine and that's not going to change anytime soon.

 

[squid5580]

You know what these companies need to do? The need to publicly own up to a games failure and then behind closed doors they can pass out blame if they so desire, but if they do that they need to ensure all that behind closed door stuff stays off people's twitters and facebooks and whatever else; you know in the interest of maintaining the illusion of professionalism.

No. Watching the meltdown is the only enjoyment I have gotten from buying the game.

Well it's a little late for that with Colonial Marines anyway now isn't it?

Not really. I was one of the suckers who pre ordered it based on the E3 demo. But reading the fallout over the weeks following sure was far more entertaining

Sure it is. They've already started playing the blame game. Any hope of saving face and maintaining any sense of professionalism has long since gone out the window.

Oh my bad I misunderstood what you are saying. I don't think they could have saved face even without the leaks and the blaming. The demo and the TV spots vs the final product screams un-professionalism. It seems to me that the resulting he said/she said is both companies trying to regain consumer confidence they lost by doing this since they know that they showed it to us. And the company we ultimately hold responsible is gonna take a beating on their next game

True, but they could've saved some fave by owning up and admitting that they screwed up. I don't know about you but I tend to have more confidence in a company that can own up to it's failings then one that tries to pass them off one someone else.

Oh for sure. If pitchford had tweeted "sorry for the final product not being the same quality as the stuff we showed previously" instead of banning frustrated consumers who feel lied too it would have gone a long ways in my books. But those are my books and I'm not a shareholder so my books don't matter much. Especially now since they already got my money

Well they don't have mine and that's not going to change anytime soon.

I am hopin my old copy will fill Gamestops coffers since they deserve the money more.

 

[Kinitawowi]

See, ironically enough, you used to be able to identify a single controlling influence on some games. Jeff Minter, the Oliver Twins, John Ritman and Bernie Drummond, Sid Meier, the four guys who run Introversion, and even now Shigeru Miyamoto; all guys who made games that could instantly and only be described as theirs (you could recognise a Jeff Minter game from miles away).

It seems that the quality of a game declines in proportion to the number of bodies involved in it (too many cooks and all that); the problem is games becoming more corporate. None of that list made their names in games that cost nine figures to make.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

There isn't a single company in the history of the world that has made any money off of assigning blame.

What about the Bank of America?

 

[FallenMessiah88]

I don't really any anything against "social gaming", as long as it isn't forced upon me.

 

[Lucid_Camel]

They should but wont.I watched all the cutscenes on youtube to spare me wasting money to rent it. Even if the graphics sucked, the story reworked..but ya alot of shoulds and coulds. The only saving grace to this bad story is..alien 4s plot which is uneffected by CM. Was expecting a let down mostly because of all the advertising and reuse of the demo footage in the trailers. Never liked boarderlands anyway lol

 

[Jfswift]

I like the idea of a share button.. But only when playing with friends and although I like playing against live players I do find it a bit invasive at times. Like everyone on my list can see how much I play my games and I don't really care for that. An invisible mode would be great and fix this issue. I don't really have much to say about aliens though. I'll have to think on that some more first.

 

[FloodOne]

The watching/giving control of your single player game to a friend sounds awesome. Back before the mortgage, kids, cars and demanding jobs, I used to go to my buddy's house the next town over. Me, him, two high school pals and my brother would all get together once a week and play single player games like RE4 and Mega Man. Play a little bit, pass the controller and shoot the shit. These days, my brother is in college full time, my one friend has a wife and three kids, I have a wife and two kids, the third has a brand new wife and his first child, and the other's whereabouts are unknown. None of us live within 45 minutes of each other now, so the thought of a game like Mega Man 10 (I know, it won't be on the ps4, it's just an example) being played through the PSN, each taking turns with a fundamentally single player game brings back great memories.

Of course, none of this matters if they can't get it right. Full voice chat, zero lag and seamless control are an absolute must.