Jimquisition: The Unholy Trinity Of Blind Greedy Bastards

[Banzaiman]

Well there you have it, AAA bigwigs either don't know of or don't care about the millions made off of games like Dark Souls and Skyrim and just about every other game out there. They can stay that way for all I care, heavens forbid that they spread their unwelcome influence to these other genres. Can you imagine one of these dinosaurs trying to make a Skyrim knockoff? Where you have to buy each new level of armor or weapon? Whatever, at least the indies are doing well thus far. For the most part. It seems. Maybe.

Also, Jim, I appreciate you're still in beta, but I've got some advice for when the finished product finally comes out. Give me a holler if you want some polish.



On a side note, Yahtzee's post-vid vote clip is quite amusing. Can always do with a touch of ZP after a good old Jimquisition.

 

[Isengrim]

Jim, you nasty spider!

Well, yeah, what you say seems like only logical explenation to a state we are in. Other explenations involve absolute loss of faith in humanity, gamers, game dev and just hoaring money to get a biggest fucking nuke on the planet and detonating it causing the apocalypse as the world without hope is already a lost world.

But putting the silly ideas like hope aside, I think what games turely should do is keeping in check these fine lads that are not led by people with a tarrible short and narrowsighted vision. Praise them for orginality and their soft "rebelion" against terrible trends of today's gaming industry but also watching them closely and bash them with a stick for each word that may indicate they are getting narrowsighted and uncreative. And of course voting with your wallet, that's also a thing.

Maybe all these things combined, hope will stop to be a "silly" idea and one day we may be able to safely and joyously have good hopes for incoming games. As it stands however, it is not the case and won't be unless something changes.

 

[geier]

What I don't get is why none of the AAA developers has tried to copy Minecraft?

My guess is marketing and image. Whoever copies it first (i mean AAA companys, i'm aware there a hundrets of low cost Minecraft clones)will get a very bad reputation as copycat. And don't forget: Everyone who like games like Minecraft owns Minecraft. So why should they buy a (high res?) clone of it.

 

[Abnaxis]

What I don't get is why none of the AAA developers has tried to copy Minecraft?

My guess is marketing and image. Whoever copies it first (i mean AAA companys, i'm aware there a hundrets of low cost Minecraft clones)will get a very bad reputation as copycat. And don't forget: Everyone who like games like Minecraft owns Minecraft. So why should they buy a (high res?) clone of it.

Erm...but you could say the same exact same thing about CoD, CC and CoC, yet AAA's are all too anxious to copy them...

 

[SilverStuddedSquirre]

Yeah I thought you already sorta knew all this stuff, Jim... I don't work in games but I am a student of the broader IT systems industry, and they TEACH this stuff as part of the business curriculum. Appeal to large audiences, appeal to demographics with money, growth is everything and if you're not growing you're losing. Whole assignments based around trying to sell unpopular monitoring and other features as important services. In information systems in general, there have been quite a few situations where I've been asked with new and creative ways to collect data from people. Social media is not viewed as a tool, but as the most direct way to collect information to tune business and marketing strategies.

The reason why those three are the models for success is not because they are good games, but because they've done everything "right" when it comes to marketing, growth, and siphoning as much money out as possible.

To be fair, my school does teach a variety of approaches, and niche audiences are taught to be just as potentially profitable, but you're also basically taught "look at the rest of the industry and do what works."

Just for fun, could you ask your Teacher's opinions about whether or not teaching outright Deception and methods for draining the Soul out of any and all Industries is personally satisfying? Is there a set amount of income at which it is considered appropriate to just toss all integrity out the window and utterly shit all over the customers whose very dollars are providing your supper? I would LOVE to hear an answer to that at the Teacher's level.

Also, could you ask said teacher's opinion of what directly amounts to plagiarism? I hear that Plagiarism is a bigg NO NO in academic circles.

 

[RunicFox]

What I don't get is why none of the AAA developers has tried to copy Minecraft?

My guess is marketing and image. Whoever copies it first (i mean AAA companys, i'm aware there a hundrets of low cost Minecraft clones)will get a very bad reputation as copycat. And don't forget: Everyone who like games like Minecraft owns Minecraft. So why should they buy a (high res?) clone of it.

I'll be perfectly honest, other than myself and a few professional colleagues, I NEVER hear this brought up in a meeting or in an official capacity for review or understanding. That's pretty odd. Never really thought about it either.

 

[K12]

Is it weird that I've never heard of Clash of Clans before this video, and I've never played Candy Crush and have never owned a Call of Duty game. I have failed as a gamer!

 

[irishda]

There's tons of different games out there. No one notices though because they only register two games: the games they love and the games they hate. The games they hate further the stereotype that only the games they hate are being made, while the games they love exist in a disconnected bubble where they exist, but they don't come up when they discuss what type of games are being made.

 

[irishda]

Well there you have it, AAA bigwigs either don't know of or don't care about the millions made off of games like Dark Souls and Skyrim and just about every other game out there. They can stay that way for all I care, heavens forbid that they spread their unwelcome influence to these other genres. Can you imagine one of these dinosaurs trying to make a Skyrim knockoff? Where you have to buy each new level of armor or weapon? Whatever, at least the indies are doing well thus far. For the most part. It seems. Maybe.

Yeah, titles from such indie developers as From Software and Bethesda.

 

[geier]

[/quote]

What I don't get is why none of the AAA developers has tried to copy Minecraft?

My guess is marketing and image. Whoever copies it first (i mean AAA companys, i'm aware there a hundrets of low cost Minecraft clones)will get a very bad reputation as copycat. And don't forget: Everyone who like games like Minecraft owns Minecraft. So why should they buy a (high res?) clone of it.

Erm...but you could say the same exact same thing about CoD, CC and CoC, yet AAA's are all too anxious to copy them...

That's someting different (from a marketing perspective). They only copy from each other, companys on their level. In the gaming public the AAA companys are often seen as "evil, big dinosaurs". The indy companys on the other hand are seen as "underdogs who succeed against all odds" and are seen as "good".
When one of the "evil" companys clones a game of a "good" company, the backlash would explode the internet, especially in the case of Minecraft.

And smaller studios can copy big ones. I mean, what can hey loose? They don't have any reputation or goodwill to loose.

Sorry for my clumsy english. I studied Marketing and Trade Marketing in business school and i could explain it a lot better, but only in german, sorry.

 

[Banzaiman]

Yeah, titles from such indie developers as From Software and Bethesda.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I don't always pay close attention when I make verbal shortcuts. Not all AAA publishers and developers are crap, but a few rotten apples spoil the bunch. Bethesda's got a nice variety streak going with Dishonored and the upcoming Evil Within, and From Software's doing what they do well. It's just sad that the decisions made recently by entities such as EA are dragging down their reputation in the eyes of many.

As for an actual Indie Dev, if you want one, Subset Games has done right by a lot of people with that Advanced Edition thing. Best of luck to them and developers like them.

 

[grey_space]

Thanks. I avoid mobile games like the plague for just such shitty practices.

Jim's got a very good point. My recent playing experiences are DS2 (From software is hardly a major player and DS could easily be described as 'niche'), FTL, and Fallout 1 & 2 (off GOG).

I'm perfectly willing to pay money for product when I feel I'm getting value for money.

However the very second I feel like I'm being taken advantage of (ie; shoehorned in Multiplayer/DLC, pay to win, etc.) I tend to not go near anything that has even a whiff of such poicies.

Oh well. Good episode Jim if it's true it explains lot, And doesn't surprise me now I think on it.

 

[proghead]

They don't know GTA? Really? I can't believe that.

Now excuse me, I've got a Sudetenland to annex.

 

[Darth_Payn]

What? HYDRA?! YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!!!
All kidding aside, nice new backdrop, Jim, and kudos to your nameless friend for shining a light on this problem. Although, Critical Intel went over CoD's brownness by way of Saving Private Ryan using the "sepia" tone to make it look like an older movie, then the Medal of Honor games doing that, then the original Call of Duty when a bunch of MoH programmers defected from EA to Activision.

 

[Christer Jonsson]

They don't know GTA? Really? I can't believe that.

Now excuse me, I've got a Sudetenland to annex.

But...the treaty of Munich fire by event, hardly any action needed on your part.

 

[gamegod25]

Personally I am glad that you say what you do, whether its giving the industry the thrashing it deserves or reminding gamers that they too are not always right. Whether people agree or not at least these issues are being brout up and put out there. Someone needs to talk about these problems if not to slap some sense into those in charge now then at least to inform future game devs and CEO's. As bad as things are I don't worry about the games industry because even if there is a crash there will always be indie devs out there who care about making good games.

 

[geier]

They don't know GTA? Really? I can't believe that.

Now excuse me, I've got a Sudetenland to annex.

Can i come? My grandfather was from the Sudetenland and was driven out from there after WWII. He visited it 4 years ago, his old home still stands.

 

[hentropy]

Yeah I thought you already sorta knew all this stuff, Jim... I don't work in games but I am a student of the broader IT systems industry, and they TEACH this stuff as part of the business curriculum. Appeal to large audiences, appeal to demographics with money, growth is everything and if you're not growing you're losing. Whole assignments based around trying to sell unpopular monitoring and other features as important services. In information systems in general, there have been quite a few situations where I've been asked with new and creative ways to collect data from people. Social media is not viewed as a tool, but as the most direct way to collect information to tune business and marketing strategies.

The reason why those three are the models for success is not because they are good games, but because they've done everything "right" when it comes to marketing, growth, and siphoning as much money out as possible.

To be fair, my school does teach a variety of approaches, and niche audiences are taught to be just as potentially profitable, but you're also basically taught "look at the rest of the industry and do what works."

Just for fun, could you ask your Teacher's opinions about whether or not teaching outright Deception and methods for draining the Soul out of any and all Industries is personally satisfying? Is there a set amount of income at which it is considered appropriate to just toss all integrity out the window and utterly shit all over the customers whose very dollars are providing your supper? I would LOVE to hear an answer to that at the Teacher's level.

Also, could you ask said teacher's opinion of what directly amounts to plagiarism? I hear that Plagiarism is a bigg NO NO in academic circles.

Again, to be fair, it's not so much about what the teachers (keep in mind that there are multiple business classes and they all focus on the aforementioned aspects), it's about what businesses are looking for out of big-picture IT employees and marketers. It might seem strange or superbad that a marketer or CEO in the games industry has never worked in games before and know little about them, but that's the way it works in every industry. If you're a marketer for a produce company your job is not to know about every intricacy of the produce industry, your job is to market the product to the people the higher-ups want you to market to.

This is why executive decisions and the "tone at the top" is so important. Some companies just turn their marketing over to the marketing department and let them drive marketing, using a lot of employee and industry expert feedback to craft the best message. Some CEOs will try and direct marketing themselves and not bother to involve anyone who actually know the audience at the ground level, which is how you get Dead Space's "your mom is going hate it" commercials. You might hate what Clash of Clans stands for, but you have to admit that the commercials (which play quite frequently) are quite effective at appealing to multiple audiences. Your job as a marketer is not to make the game or even care about the quality of it, your job is to get people to download and buy it.

The difference between a disconnected, "soulless" company like EA and a company most people love like Valve is that Valve simply knows its audiences much better because the people at the top are gamers and experts themselves.

 

[Jandau]

What the hell is Clash of Clans? I'm serious, what the hell is it? I know what CoD is, and have a vague idea what Candy Crush Saga is (a match 3 Facebook game, right?), but I've never heard of Clash of Clans. Is this game a big deal somewhere? I mean, it's supposed to be a big deal for marketing people, but I've never seen it marketed...

 

[Fdzzaigl]

Throwing all the marketing shit out might be a good way to start. It's something a lot of sectors are suffering from atm.

It even takes on the form of self-fulfilling prophecies imo. Look at the stuff with female protagonists. "Games with female protagonists sell less copies", they say. So what happens? No mainstream games use female protagonists, only niche games that sell less by default do, further reinforcing their own beliefs while they aren't actually based on anything.