EA: Dead Space Too Scary to Handle Alone

Cognimancer

Imperial Intelligence
Jun 13, 2012
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EA: Dead Space Too Scary to Handle Alone



Dead Space 3's shift from horror to action is apparently for the good of the players.

Dead Space told the story of an isolated everyman tossed into a sci-fi nightmare. Its sequel got a little less scary and a little more shooty, but still maintained pretenses of horror. Previews of Dead Space 3 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/previews/9736-E3-Preview-Dead-Space-3] indicate that the series will shift further into the realm of shooters, and according to EA, it's no accident - it's simply trying to give players what they asked for.

"We were doing research coming out of Dead Space 1 and 2," said EA marketing exec Laura Miele. "We received feedback to understand how we can take the game out to even more consumers." Expanding the franchise's audience seems to be the ever-critical end goal, especially if EA hopes to achieve its 5 million unit sales target [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117931-EA-Aims-to-Broaden-Dead-Space-Audience].

"We were hearing feedback that they love the thriller game," Miele continued, "but it was pretty scary, and the obvious next step was that they wanted to play with someone. So we introduced co-op into the game." Miele said that despite the company of a co-op buddy, the game is "still true to its roots and no less scary."

It's hard to maintain elements of horror and desperation with a friend sitting on the couch next to you, but Miele doesn't see it as a problem. "People felt far more comfortable playing it with someone else than they did doing it on their own," she said. "Personally, I would rather go to a scary movie with my husband rather than sit at home with the lights out watching one on my own."

I'm not sure why "player comfort" is such a high priority for a genre that exists to elicit fear, but I'm not the one with the product research. EA is walking a fine line between broad accessibility and core elements of survival-horror. As for how successful this plan will be, we won't know until we step into the boots of Isaac Clarke (and/or John Carver) for ourselves in February 2013.

Source: MCV [http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/ea-research-said-dead-space-1-2-were-too-scary/099920]

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lacktheknack

Je suis joined jewels.
Jan 19, 2009
19,316
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Player comfort?

In a horror game?

They DO know what a horror game is, right? They're aware that the best ones are some of the least comfortable entertainment products in existence, right?
 

dagens24

New member
Mar 20, 2004
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Rainbows and puppy dogs comfort me quite a bit; the game should be filled with them just so I don't get too scared.
 

WorriedSandwich

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Nov 23, 2011
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I feel this sentence sums the whole thing up perfectly:

[EA marketing exec Laura Miele:] "People felt far more comfortable playing it with someone else than they did doing it on their own,"

...

I'm glad I don't care about Dead Space, otherwise I'd be pretty pissed.
 

toomuchnothing

New member
Jul 5, 2010
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I normally don't agree with everything that comes out of Penny Arcade but this article [http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/ea-never-called-dead-space-too-scary-but-the-misleading-headlines-are-the-s] pretty much sums up my feelings on this story.

Shorter version

So Dead Space 3 is going to be less scary, right? Actually, Miele said exactly the opposite. ?The horror of Dead Space is still all there. It?s still true to its roots and no less scary, but people felt far more comfortable playing it with someone else than they did doing it on their own.?

She continued and said that playing something scary with a friend is more inviting for some people, which is a good argument. I know friends who quit playing Left 4 Dead single-player and will only play with friends. ?Personally, I would rather go to scary movie with my husband rather than sit at home with the lights out watching one on my own,? Miele said. ?We?re looking for that to reach out to consumers that perhaps were not open to Dead Space 1 and 2.?
Sensationalist titles to grab attention are sensationalist. No one is forcing you at gunpoint to play it with a friend and she even says that its on par with the previous titles in terms of scares. I don't really understand what more people want considering the previous games main scares were just making dead bodies you didn't kill jump up and trash at you until you caught on and just shot them ahead of time.

If the game sucks because its balanced around co-op so single player mode suffers then maybe I'd complain but complaining about co-ops mere existence before its been released just seems wrong. RE5 co-op sucked from a single players POV simply because Sheeva's AI was seemingly functionally retarded and made the player suffer because of it however I've read nothing but positive about the same game coming from people who played it expressly with a friend. I'll wait for the game to suck before agreeing that it does.
 

DugMachine

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Apr 5, 2010
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>scary

>deadspace

pick one. I was spooked a few times just so the shock factor but after that these games are not scary in the slightest. I enjoy them but scary..? Nah
 
Jun 26, 2009
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This has been said but isn't the entire point of horror to make you feel uncomfortable?

Ah well, I played Dead Space 1 & 2 briefly and didn't care for it. It didn't scare me, which is pretty bad for a supposed horror game because I scare stupidly easy.
 

WaysideMaze

The Butcher On Your Back
Apr 25, 2010
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Way to misunderstand your audience. If you don't want to make horror games, then don't
 

Wolfram23

New member
Mar 23, 2004
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Stupid, stupid fucking morons. What the flying fuck?
"We were doing research coming out of Dead Space 1 and 2," said EA marketing exec Laura Miele. "We received feedback to understand how we can take the game out to even more consumers."
Well, there's your problem...

"We were hearing feedback that they love the thriller game," Miele continued, "but it was pretty scary, and the obvious next step was that they wanted to play with someone.
Yes, completely obvious. Did you poll a bunch of twelve year olds?

So we introduced co-op into the game." Miele said that despite the company of a co-op buddy, the game is "still true to its roots and no less scary."
Liar.

"People felt far more comfortable playing it with someone else than they did doing it on their own," she said. "Personally, I would rather go to a scary movie with my husband rather than sit at home with the lights out watching one on my own."
Well fan fucking tastic for you and your very low amount of courage. You morons need to sell 5 million copies to make a profit... can't wait for Amnesia's sequel to blow you out of the fucking water in terms of profits.
 

Hero in a half shell

It's not easy being green
Dec 30, 2009
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EA here is how you will make Dead Space successful:

1) Save money by slashing your marketing budget in half, or even more.
2) Increase the time limit for releasing the game by a couple of months, enough for the developers to actually make and polish the game.
3) Take the shareholders and suits and market analysts and lock them out of the design process
4) Create a genuinely chilling horror game about surviving in a cramped spaceship full of Lovecraftian horrors
5) Wait for the game to go viral because of its quality, not the stupidly expensive and offensive quantity of your obnoxious advertising division.
6) Make loads of money and use it to fund on a sequel that creates an even better gaming experience using what you learned from the development of the first.

You don't need to widen your audience by pandering to the lowest common denominator. You need a better game and more sensible, less expensive marketing, and if it is a good game even you won't be able to stop it making money.
 

ryo02

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Oct 8, 2007
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a horror game that didnt have a great deal of horror to begin with and theyre trying to water down the horror when theyre actually supposed to be upping it with each installment?.

theyre pretty stupid @_@
 

T'Generalissimo

New member
Nov 9, 2008
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When has Dead Space ever been scary? It has a horror aesthetic, but that's not the same thing as being a horror game.
 

Rainboq

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2009
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Deadspace has always seemed to me as trying to be body horror, and while it succeeds, unless there's a chance your co-op buddy can turn into a necromorph and attack you, I don't see any other reason for the co-op person to be there.
 

Scorpid

New member
Jul 24, 2011
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Hero in a half shell said:
EA here is how you will make Dead Space successful:

1) Save money by slashing your marketing budget in half, or even more.
2) Increase the time limit for releasing the game by a couple of months, enough for the developers to actually make and polish the game.
3) Take the shareholders and suits and market analysts and lock them out of the design process
4) Create a genuinely chilling horror game about surviving in a cramped spaceship full of Lovecraftian horrors
5) Wait for the game to go viral because of its quality, not the stupidly expensive and offensive quantity of your obnoxious advertising division.
6) Make loads of money and use it to fund on a sequel that creates an even better gaming experience using what you learned from the development of the first.

You don't need to widen your audience by pandering to the lowest common denominator. You need a better game and more sensible, less expensive marketing, and if it is a good game even you won't be able to stop it making money.
But if they do that how will I know if my 64 year old mother will hate this game!? HOW PRAY TELL!?
 

Mr.Pandah

Pandah Extremist
Jul 20, 2008
3,967
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This is when I simply want to smash my face into a desk. Man, I really want that horror experience to not be in my horror game. I don't get it. I really don't. If you want to make more money, just say it. You're EA. We know why you're doing this.
 

Ghonzor

New member
Jul 29, 2009
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Dead Space was scary? Am I in some bizzaro world? Is EA a decent company in this world?
Now that would be scary.