mfeff said:
The blame here, lies squarely on the feet of the developer and the serious lack of investment into the work presented. Tantamount to fraud, with no legal ramifications due to the nature of the software industry.
A craftsman or engineer would be severely reprimanded if not dismissed or brought liable for this sort of product...
Being it is a game game, fuck em; thanks for the new Ferrari. Hell even toy manufacturers are held to standards.
Reserves? "Jazz Hands!"
Oh, wow. You came here with a heart full of emotions and a brain full of words, it seems.
Awesome post, though. So awesome I found myself just skipping over and stop autocorrecting the spelling mistakes, instantly feeling stupid for being a part-time grammar nazi.
Yep, I agree with you that the state of the industry is worrying and troublesome, to say the least. Guaranteed sales are no warranty for proper funding and well-made games, it seems. I've seen pretty much the same issues pop up for a while since we all went 3D, FPS and obviously loving it. Autodesk must be making a fortune off the games industry. People that program virtual trees got a sale because, as it seems, Bethesda wasn't happy with what they got and they could't figure it out themselves before they were supposed to ship Fallout 3. Imagine that. Licensed trees.
The whole Alien conundrum is, methinks, not easily wrapped up, but I believe I see certain similarities of the 'horse meat scandal' that seems to have a firm grip over major European countries and big-name, big-money food companies and the 'utterly shite games non-scandal' state of affairs. We're bound to (want to) trust big names (Findus, Aldi, EA, Activision), but the bigger they get, the more important streamlined everything gets for them, to keep a tab on costs and TCO and ROI and whatnot. Findus does not seem to entertain fisheries, slaughterhouses, farms and crops. EA seems to buy and corrupt everything and everyone. Gearbox, although I thought they were much, much smaller, has obviously gone fully decadent and has outsourced development of a big-name franchise title that was ordered and paid for by SEGA, and Gearbox was either incapable, too busy or plain not interested in delivering what they sold upfront. Maybe they just wanted to stick it to the man and cause SEGA to sit on the massive turd that is A:CM. Maybe SEGA were cheapskates and Gearbox just couldn't be bothered.
They cheated and lied, and the crap they sold us is not worth any real time or money from average gamers, and it's bound to emotionally impact fans of the series in a very negative way. Aliens: Colonial Marines is cancer, ADD, depression and smallpox all rolled into one. It's a bad one.
I like your little bit about the Bushmaster M98B. I like the story, genesis, history of how it came to be. It took inspiration and dedication and significant risk taking to get this thing made, not just dreamed about. However, consider this: Currently, I don't believe important technological bits like Betamax or Laserdisc could happen in our current economical climate. Sony must prevail, one way or another, but I must admit that I haven't even bought so much as Sony TV for at least a decade, after pretty much twenty years of brand loyalty. I love my PS3, but from the top of my head, I can't think of a Sony developed or Sony funded title that really blew my mind lately. Was Journey funded by Sony? If yes, that's the one. The Sony party brawl thing - I haven't even played it once up to this point in time, and that can't possibly be a good sign.
I got a heavy disconnect with EA going on, I ignore most of the shit Activision cranks out. From ten to twenty games bought per year I went down to... three to four titles a year. Everything else just makes me happier with less money, and most of the additional time I spend outside, with or without other people, seems so much more important and precious to me. Driving a car, skinning deer, burying a dog and teaching a new puppy new tricks and laying down the general rules of how not be an asshole seems so much more satisfying than playing crap games and even paying money for them.
Yeah, I like Ni No Kuni. But I just can't be arsed to spend weekend after weekend dumping hours into it. I'll finish it, but I am much more likely to dump another hundred or so hours into Dark Souls, over the course of the months to come.
Oh, hey, people that hollered for an easy mode Dark Souls - get yourself Ni No Kuni. That's Dark Souls light, with Pokemons, Tamagotchis, plenty of pink and cute. And you can still die if you're thick. Oh, and you can save shit. Should tingle your easy-mode-loving fancy. Enjoy.