Crystal Dynamics Defends $60 Tomb Raider Port

[Trishbot]

You all are spoiled.

I bought ports of Resident Evil classics on Gamecube. They were full price AND didn't even include all the content other versions of the game had.

It's a re-release. I see no biggie. If you want a cheaper version... get a cheaper version. It's like when Disney releases a movie from the Disney vault; yeah, the movie's old as sin, but the demand is still there for it on a new medium (VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray) to justify enough people plopping down money for it.

And, well, if you don't want to spend full price... wait. Problem solved.

 

[strumbore]

Stop being so dramatic!
Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix isn't getting away with anything!

Summary of comment observations:
$60 for a face-lifted game that came out less than 10 months ago.
*Everyone who might like the game, already played the game.
*Everyone who loves the game, already owns the game.
*Anyone who hasn't played the game already (and who is that?) can get the BEST version for $12 on PC, or snag a console version from the bargain bin for less than $20.

Windwaker HD is selling well because it first came out over 10 *YEARS* ago--Consumers are either nostalgic, indifferent, or experiencing the game for the first time now. Nintendo's advantage of playing exclusively to kids is that everything is new to them and there's always more where they came from once they've gotten bored. There's no need to reinvent the wheel (a common criticism of the Mario and Zelda series are their deja vu storytelling and gameplay). Nintendo may say otherwise publicly, but the truth is they don't have to worry about satisfying veteran fans to be wildly successful. Their target demographic is the young, the naive, the easily impressed...the plentiful.

Nintendo can sell Windwaker HD for $60 and be very profitable, but Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition is doomed. The target audience is older and has seen all its tricks before. The original game is still fresh in consumers' minds. Despite claims of higher production values, the only noticeable improvement in gameplay trailers is the remodeled protagonist. There is no new content to explore, no bonuses to unlock.

Tomb Raider: Definative Edition has no appeal at $60. Crystal Dynamics will be lucky to break even.

 

[J Tyran]

When they released Deus Ex: HR The directors cut they sold it cheaply to anyone that had the original release, if you had the missing link DLC the price dropped further. You think Squeenix would do something like that again as a gesture to the people that already had the game, for "fresh" purchases sure charge the full retail price but asking people to buy a slightly buffed up version for full retail price when they already own the game is a bit cheeky. I doubt it will work out for them either.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

[HEADING=2]Dynamic Hair Physics![/HEADING]

see how dynamic it is?

all blow-y in the wind.

IT'S VERY ALMOST KIND OF SORTA LIKE WHAT ACTUAL FAKE HAIR LOOKS LIKE IN SOME KIND OF WIND-TYPE BLOW OR OTHERWISE

 

[geizr]

Or you could have spent that same development effort and cost on a NEW game instead of just rehashing an older game. Then you would have been able to justify the $60 price-tag better, would have been more likely to get a flood of sales, and wouldn't have to waste time doing damage control for bad PR in the aftermath. As it is, seems to me that you guys just threw money away in the approach you've taken and gained nothing but excess stomach acid.

 

[gigantor21]

Or you could have spent that same development effort and cost on a NEW game instead of just rehashing an older game. Then you would have been able to justify the $60 price-tag better, would have been more likely to get a flood of sales, and wouldn't have to waste time doing damage control for bad PR in the aftermath. As it is, seems to me that you guys just threw money away in the approach you've taken and gained nothing but excess stomach acid.

Or even just more actual in-game content--new areas to explore, more tombs, and so forth. Why they say it's worth the purchase for anyone who's played the original already without those things is beyond me. Capcom's rereleases of fighting games offer more value than what they've described so far.

 

[HanFyren]

[HEADING=2]Dynamic Hair Physics![/HEADING]

see how dynamic it is?

all blow-y in the wind.

That screenshot makes tressFX hair look like the hair from FF8 cutscenes.

 

[Snotnarok]

It's worth it if they are putting in a lot of dev time and adding new features but it seems like the only thing actually being done is taking the PC version and porting it to the 'next gen' consoles which are literally mid/low end PCs so there's not a lot of work to be done

 

[luvd1]

Fair enough. I say leave it up to the market to deside if it's foolish. That's what the market is there for.

 

[Doom972]

Just another part of Square Enix's new policy to make up for low profits caused by their own inefficiency. Glad I stopped buying their games after the DXHR Director's Cut was released as a new game instead of a patch.

 

[Stevepinto3]

So what they're saying here is that constantly pushing graphics higher and higher results in more expensive, less consumer friendly games.

Not that they'd ever release that statement, but that's what I'm taking away from this.

 

[Callate]

I'm going to resist the urge to snark and just say that yeah, it might even be true that they're having to rip large segments of the thing apart and rebuild it piece by piece with the new architecture in mind. Sure, it's possible that some of that ground work has been laid for them by the PC version, but it's also possible it hasn't.

But all of that patient credulousness/gullibility aside, if all the architecture they've rebuilt for the "Definitive Edition" actually not only explains but requires their charging $60 for it... That seems like a downright foolish bet, given that not all that long ago Square-Enix was crying about how the original release had failed to meet their sales expectations. Yes, there's this whole audience who's just bought their new consoles and are looking for next-gen experiences to validate their choice to jump onto the sleek new technology, but most of them aren't going to be looking to a game like Tomb Raider to provide that experience. A glorious and shiny port of a game you've already played is still largely an experience you've already played, even with high-definition textures and sub-surface scattering. And if you're needing to sell a whole bunch of $60 copies of the the "Definitive" to make back what you put into the rebuild, it doesn't even take a particularly cynical point-of-view to suggest you're going to end up eating that investment.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Tress FX option put my medium range PC to it's knees by dropping the frames to 15-25, it was unplayable for me. Without it however, I played at a solid 60 which I chose in an instant. I couldn't care less about flowy hair.

I have checked the requirements needed for the option to stay on and ironically it is way higher than what the next gen consoles can put out. So I'm really curious to see if they will implement it.

Other than that, it's kinda funny how they are trying to defend a PC port by just changing Lara's face and upping the graphical fidelity.

 

[Talvrae]

I'm somewhat curious to see how this "definitive" Edition would compare to my PC edition running all at maximum of the settings and quite smoothly... see if these code face lift go beyound the performences difference of the consoles

 

[Quellist]

Oh they're perfectly within their rights to sell it for $60 if they please, just like i'm perfectly within my rightts to say 'Sod that' and wait another year for a bargain bin copy.

Really Crystal Dynamics, this is why you dont get the sales you expected...

 

[Strazdas]

Wasnt this game on steam winter sale? yep. so thats why its only 25 euros instead of 50, so its still very much full price.
also i went to stema from my work computer and i couldnt even check the main games page without age gate? what the hell?

IT'S VERY ALMOST KIND OF SORTA LIKE WHAT ACTUAL FAKE HAIR LOOKS LIKE IN SOME KIND OF WIND-TYPE BLOW OR OTHERWISE

YOur post combined with your avatar jsut made me burst out laughing making my pre-new-year work coleagues look strnagely at me.
and yes i finished all my years work and now am trolling forums at work, yay.

 

[Grim Sterling]

Has anyone seen a hd video showing off the upgrades they're talking about? Have we been given examples of WHAT the new next gen version will be? I tend to agree that they're just tweaking the pc version to run smooth clean and shiny on the new hardware and added a few small perks to enhance game play and little more. But If they want to claim that they had to get under the hood and rebuild large aspects of the game to really make it look it's best on the next gen I want to see this difference. side by sides, layered videos SOMETHING. I played the game on ps3 and loved it, grabbed it cheap on steam for my pc and fired it up, managed to get it one hair under ULTRA MAX OMG PANTS CRAPPING and it looked so much better than I ever imagined. I can't really see paying $60 at this point unless they did a couple things:

Added a completely destructible environment
set full physics to every particle, object and item in the game
Made the game more explorable by getting rid of a lot of the invisible walls they have.

THEN I'd maybe sorta kinda almost consider thinking about buying it again..on sale..with a coupon.

 

[michael87cn]

I saw the first edition(tm) >_> as a stupid face lift and this one is no better. Still won't be buying this game.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

"If it was 'only a facelift' AND we were only reselling it on the same platforms we'd already shipped on, I would see your point," Amos replied. "But as we're selling it on a new platform, with a lot of development work put in to custom craft it for the new platforms; with the new additions for the aesthetic, the physics, the particles, the lighting - taking advantage of next-gen features - so I absolutely stand by our decision to offer up Definitive Edition the way we are."

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition includes a handful of bonus content: namely, all the DLC and some digital art and documentaries. The DLC is almost entirely multiplayer-focused, so single-player gamers (or multiplayer gamers who already bought the DLC during the game's heyday) will find little new here.

In other words, the game isn't just a pointless facelift, but a pointless facelift on a new platform. Square is still trying to get their 10 million units out of Tomb Raider, aren't they? Give it up already, because it's not going to happen.

 

[The_Echo]

Wait, the original release of Tomb Raider was $30?

Definitive Edition seems similar in concept to reiterations of fighting games, like Super Street Fighter IV or BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend. Minor additions to the base game sold at the same price. The Final Mix editions of Kingdom Hearts did this too.

Games have been doing this for a while. Why are people getting all huffy about it now?