Gearbox Boss Says id, Crytek are "Risking Failure"

ratix2

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Valiance said:
I didn't realize Crysis sold 1 million copies. Wow.
actually, and i forgot to add this, crysis has actually sold over 2 million copies since it came out.
 

hansari

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Shamus Young said:
Pitchford is obviously a man searching for the spotlight, but he's right about the generation plus problem.
I agree. But the question now is, even though he may be right this time, does it really matter considering how annoying he has been in the past?
 

Xanadu84

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The guy has opinions. Frequently wrong opinions, but he is still opening up a dialog with the gaming community with a fairly acceptable amount of snarkiness. I think his douchbagerry is well within acceptable parameters.
 

Sebenko

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Yeah, Crysis A) did pretty well
and B) Did pretty well as a PC exclusive, which if I hear correctly, Crytek aren't doing any more, so I suspect that they're just going to make more money, not crash and burn as this guy suggests.
 

SaintWaldo

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AceDiamond said:
SaintWaldo said:
"Pitchford could have a point, I suppose, but I'm inclined to think that it's just more noise from someone who clearly craves attention."

Can I expect to see this sort of statement used to describe Newell the next time he bloviates?
Well let's see, Newell recently bloviated about how the L4D2 boycotters were preordering the game at a higher ratio than non boycotters, with actual proof to back it up. Pitchford on the other hand has been like "holy shit I put out a game time to say stupid shit." and has thus proceeded to say things that are hilariously erroneous at best and outright lies at the worst.

And now, now that he's actually gotten towards making sense with what he says I really just wish he'd keep quiet. He's become like another Cliffy B.
The point was that "craving attention" is neither unique to Gearbox, nor something that a company head should eschew. I don't see the platform-war fight-picking of Newell described as "just wanting attention", even when that's pretty much his job description as well as a reasonable conclusion from his words and actions.

I also think it's a bit asinine to accuse the subject of an INTERVIEW of seeking attention. The attention seems to have sought out HIM. Either way, it's borderline ad hominem, by asserting that his desire for attention should be considered along with his presented argument. Not fair cricket in my book.
 

AceDiamond

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SaintWaldo said:
AceDiamond said:
SaintWaldo said:
"Pitchford could have a point, I suppose, but I'm inclined to think that it's just more noise from someone who clearly craves attention."

Can I expect to see this sort of statement used to describe Newell the next time he bloviates?
Well let's see, Newell recently bloviated about how the L4D2 boycotters were preordering the game at a higher ratio than non boycotters, with actual proof to back it up. Pitchford on the other hand has been like "holy shit I put out a game time to say stupid shit." and has thus proceeded to say things that are hilariously erroneous at best and outright lies at the worst.

And now, now that he's actually gotten towards making sense with what he says I really just wish he'd keep quiet. He's become like another Cliffy B.
The point was that "craving attention" is neither unique to Gearbox, nor something that a company head should eschew. I don't see the platform-war fight-picking of Newell described as "just wanting attention", even when that's pretty much his job description as well as a reasonable conclusion from his words and actions.

I also think it's a bit asinine to accuse the subject of an INTERVIEW of seeking attention. The attention seems to have sought out HIM. Either way, it's borderline ad hominem, by asserting that his desire for attention should be considered along with his presented argument. Not fair cricket in my book.
Only problem is that Pitchford has gone from zero to eleven in no time at all once Borderlands was on the verge of release. It's a bit suspect.
 

scotth266

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Shamus Young said:
Pitchford is obviously a man searching for the spotlight, but he's right about the generation plus problem. We hit the point of diminishing returns with graphics hardware in ~2004, and at the same time CPU fabrication tech reached a plateau. So not only is it way harder to get the next 50% improvement out of the hardware, but the rewards for doing so are getting smaller and smaller.

Worse, every new generation takes more manpower to make it go, and the EA layoffs show that the last thing we need right now is for development to get MORE expensive.
Damnit Shamus, you took the words right out of my mouth.

Game development is already extraordinarily expensive. People complain about rising prices in games, but the reality of the situation is that the developer makes barely any money with the sale of an individual unit. This means that in order to justify the costs of making games, you have to move a large number of units: and as your game gets costlier, the more you need it to be a hit in order to even recoup your losses, let alone make money out of it.

The push towards more and more advanced graphics is the root of the problem really. With more advanced graphics come more advanced problems: not only must your teams learn more and more complex skills, the hardware needed to run the software increases in quality/power (and therefore price.)

I'm of the opinion that game developers should sit back for a while and focus on optimizing what they already have, rather than trying to make their games look more and more graphically gorgeous. In the end, they should try and focus on other stuff (proper storytelling/characterization and gameplay being the forerunners in my mind.)
 

SaintWaldo

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AceDiamond said:
Only problem is that Pitchford has gone from zero to eleven in no time at all once Borderlands was on the verge of release. It's a bit suspect.
Again, to me this is not a "problem", it's a "job description". You're saying it would look _less_ attention whorish to do this when he _doesn't_ have an impending or recent release?
 

NKYJYB

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I don't understand why gaming media consistently reads so deeply into what one developer says about another company, or why Randy Pitchford's words are constantly being spun out of proportion. His opinions about Valve were reasonable and he has openly declared his support for the company. His comments are mild compared to what is commonly found in blogs, even from developers. It's not like Pitchford is Jack Thompson. It seems like people have the real Pitchford confused with IGN's impersonation.

Some links:
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3175382
http://news.filefront.com/gabe-newell-playstation-3-a-waste-of-time/
http://www.fourzerotwo.com/?p=515
 

Byers

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I'm with him. Crytek has yet to make a good game, Id hasn't made one since Quake 2.

Crysis was mediocre at best. And the extent to which I had to turn down my graphics on my then brand new computer in order to run it with acceptable FPS was ridiculous.
 

brewbeard

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He talks a good game now, but a year or so after it comes out he'll be blaming piracy for the game's financial performance.
 

TsunamiWombat

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Shamus Young said:
Pitchford is obviously a man searching for the spotlight, but he's right about the generation plus problem. We hit the point of diminishing returns with graphics hardware in ~2004, and at the same time CPU fabrication tech reached a plateau. So not only is it way harder to get the next 50% improvement out of the hardware, but the rewards for doing so are getting smaller and smaller.

Worse, every new generation takes more manpower to make it go, and the EA layoffs show that the last thing we need right now is for development to get MORE expensive.
Agreed, the high end trend has to taper off. There should always be a high end, but the low end should be looked after. The best way to do this is to make well oiled and tuned smaller games, like Torchlight, which can run on a netbook and goes for 20 dollars but is effectivly DIGITAL CRACK that you can pick up and play any time, or League of Legends which has low specs and plans to run itself on microtransactions and oh god it's addictive.
 

AceDiamond

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SaintWaldo said:
AceDiamond said:
Only problem is that Pitchford has gone from zero to eleven in no time at all once Borderlands was on the verge of release. It's a bit suspect.
Again, to me this is not a "problem", it's a "job description". You're saying it would look _less_ attention whorish to do this when he _doesn't_ have an impending or recent release?
No what I'm saying is that he can stand to not act like he knows everything.
 

SaintWaldo

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Jun 10, 2008
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AceDiamond said:
SaintWaldo said:
AceDiamond said:
Only problem is that Pitchford has gone from zero to eleven in no time at all once Borderlands was on the verge of release. It's a bit suspect.
Again, to me this is not a "problem", it's a "job description". You're saying it would look _less_ attention whorish to do this when he _doesn't_ have an impending or recent release?
No what I'm saying is that he can stand to not act like he knows everything.
I think we both resemble _that_ particular remark. ;) Good talk, sir.
 

Carnagath

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What's so "next gen plus" about the new Crytek engine? I thought their main focus with this was not just improvement but mainly optimization on all fronts, especially multiplatform optimization that would allow for multiple releases that look and run flawlessly on all current gen pc's and consoles, as opposed to Crysis's "elitism". Isn't that, like, the exact opposite of what this guy is saying?
 

DeathQuaker

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Well, any gamer or game designer could say that, really. If he's out to pump himself up by complaining the competition, he doesn't have a good head for marketing, but if he's blowing off steam (like people do here), whatevs.

I think he exaggerated the effect that the high-tech development has on sales, but as others have noted, he does have a point. My personal opinion is that if you can make it more accessible to more people without sacrificing significant quality, you should. Sure, you might sell "enough" to a more exclusive, "hard core" audience, but if you know the game will appeal to a larger crowd, making it available to them seems to me a no-brainer.

Though it's an entirely different kind of game, I think of what EA did with the Sims 3--bear in mind that while it's not an action game, it still needs a lot of CPU and graphic power just like other PC games--they have the engine nicely and efficiently designed that I can run the thing smoothly on my nearly 5 year old laptop, but those who have the state-of-the-art rig can get all the more shiny experience. That was a smart thing for them to do, 'cause it ensures that a game with broad appeal can be used by a broad audience, from new-to-PC-gaming crowd to the obsessives who do their own custom 3D modeling and mods for the game.
 

WhiteTigerShiro

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Step 1: Fix the bugs in your studio's biggest recent launch.
Step 2: THEN complain about what other studios are doing wrong.
Step 3: ????
Step 4: Profit.

He can say what he wants, but he's getting ahead of himself. Until he fixes Borderlands' many many glitches, I couldn't give two shits what he thinks other companies need to do, because he clearly doesn't even seem to know what his own should be doing.