Remedy "Bet the Farm" on Alan Wake

[Andy Chalk]

Not really, the reception has been good, but by modern standards in no way a 'huge hit'.

I'm a little confused by this statement. What "modern standards" are you talking about?

 

[Jared]

Well, they have spent forever making it so I realy hope or does go well for them. After so much work...

 

[Mr. Grey]

Are you serious right now?
Because I can't help but think that you are in fact joking.

And you should... as you should for I am. I am joking, I should make that a bit more clear... I'll get on that.

Most excellent, good Sir.
I wish you a good day.

I try... and good day to you too, my good man.

*places top hat and monocle upon his head, then takes a stroll with his cane and bucket full of sawdust[footnote]I ran out of miracles...[/footnote]*

 

[hansari]

In general when I see a story driven game, with the graphics and quality shown so far, most of them have turned out to be VERY short, well below the claimed "playtime".

Without spoiling anything, I'll say the story is pretty good given the genre (though the tutorial was a bit meh), and the progression of events do an even better job of pulling you in.

The graphics are really up there too, you'll be pleased.

The protagonists voice acting though...you'll be displeased.

 

[Krakyn]

I would've gladly bought this game and played it, giving this developer support and helping with what probably will not be the great sales they're looking for...but it's only on the 360.

Too bad for them.

 

[Brotherofwill]

Not really, the reception has been good, but by modern standards in no way a 'huge hit'.

I'm a little confused by this statement. What "modern standards" are you talking about?

I'm talking about the popular review technique of dumbing down scores so people will get excited. The 'perfect score or game isn't worth it' mentality that a lot of young gamers seem to have, getting angry about 9/10 scores.

If you look at the scores from Metacritic (which should be a fairly good indication of critical appraisal) it's not that highly rated. In this year alone there've been plenty other games with a higher reception like Bad Company, GoW3, Heavy Rain, Bioshock 2, MLB:The Show, Splinter Cell, Street Fighter IV Add-on, Bayonetta etc etc. The reception hasn't been bad, but in no way a 'huge hit' in my opinion.

I wouldn't even call the reception of most of these games a 'huge hit' because most are forgotten after a month or so. The last few games that were a critical huge hit would probably only be GoW3, ME2 and Uncharted 2 and maybe MW2, because these were the kind of games that really made an impact and critics were praising them as the games of the decade when they came out. I'm not saying that you need a metacritic average of whatnot to be a 'huge hit', but most big titles score somewhere in the 80s, it's just a factor of review score inflation.

 

[Andy Chalk]

An interesting point and something I've been saying for years (about "review score inflation," that is) but when you look past the scores, you've got IGN giving it an Editor's Choice award, you've got Kotaku saying it "redefines interactive storytelling," you've got GameSpot calling it a "riveting adventure that will keep you glued to the screen until the very end," and those are just three big sites I bothered to look at first. Short of declaring it the greatest game ever and challenging dissenters to a duel to the death, I'm not sure what else there is to say.

 

[arealperson]

Nitpicking here, but I would prefer it was stated 4/4 score or at least 'five stars', as creating smaller increments could be construed as "inflating the scores". 1/5 or 20% is the lowest possible given rating under those terms after all.

 

[Byers]

I hope they do wind up selling hot dogs, for their giant 11th hour "fuck you" to their PC fanbase.

 

[Byers]

Not really, the reception has been good, but by modern standards in no way a 'huge hit'.

I'm a little confused by this statement. What "modern standards" are you talking about?

Modern Warfare 2.

 

[Byers]

Onyx Oblivion's choice makes sense. Two games, both are likely to be very good (although Red Dead will get the usually extra review points from a lot of sources as it is Rockstar) and he has made the choice to support the one that, despite probably being as good or equal to, won't get as many sales therefore potentially boosting the numbers for a company who are doing something a little bit different.

Doesn't make a lick of sense to me. I'd wait until both are released, rent them both, see which one is better or has more potential and then buy that one. Buying a game by assuming it's going to be as good as another game that you haven't tried doesn't seem to be solid reasoning for me.

I mean, it's a good intention to help fresh ideas but what if the other game ends up being much better?

I don't rent anymore. All games are gambles, now.

People still rent out video games? I haven't rented a video game since Bart vs the Space Mutants for the NES.

 

[Byers]

[...]
Though I find it odd to launch a make or break game on only one platform.

My thoughts as well. Although I would use more offensive words than "odd" to describe their abandonment of other platforms via bags of Microsoft money.

 

[mrhappyface]

Onyx Oblivion's choice makes sense. Two games, both are likely to be very good (although Red Dead will get the usually extra review points from a lot of sources as it is Rockstar) and he has made the choice to support the one that, despite probably being as good or equal to, won't get as many sales therefore potentially boosting the numbers for a company who are doing something a little bit different.

Doesn't make a lick of sense to me. I'd wait until both are released, rent them both, see which one is better or has more potential and then buy that one. Buying a game by assuming it's going to be as good as another game that you haven't tried doesn't seem to be solid reasoning for me.

I mean, it's a good intention to help fresh ideas but what if the other game ends up being much better?

I don't rent anymore. All games are gambles, now.

People still rent out video games? I haven't rented a video game since Bart vs the Space Mutants for the NES.

Hey, I don't rent games but I do borrow them. I get them at the local library for an entire week, free! But OT, wouldn't it be easier to sell if it was universal? Nearly all the big games this year are sequels, and already have established fanbases. With so much competition with already rockhard IPs, wouldn't it be better to test the waters with a universal release before switching to exclusive?

 

[DigitalSushi]

Not really, the reception has been good, but by modern standards in no way a 'huge hit'.

I'm a little confused by this statement. What "modern standards" are you talking about?

Metaratings power of decimal points, fear them!.

Eurogamer ripped into Alan Wake, for those interested. The prediction for Edge Magazine is looking like its an average score too, but those two publications are well known for having the correct scale of average being a 5 not a 7.5 rating.

You can also count on new publications and new gaming websites to downrate a game like Alan Wake, to court controversy and get more hits.

 

[The Thief]

Well that probably explains why it's an exclusive. I guess they couldn't afford to port the game to PC, since it is a riskier market.

Hopefully this game does well and we see a PC version in the future. It looks very entertaining, but I'd sooner miss out than buy an xbollox.

 

[fenrizz]

[...]
Though I find it odd to launch a make or break game on only one platform.

My thoughts as well. Although I would use more offensive words than "odd" to describe their abandonment of other platforms via bags of Microsoft money.

Yes, me too. But I try not to get probation.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Eurogamer ripped into Alan Wake, for those interested. The prediction for Edge Magazine is looking like its an average score too, but those two publications are well known for having the correct scale of average being a 5 not a 7.5 rating.

You can also count on new publications and new gaming websites to downrate a game like Alan Wake, to court controversy and get more hits.

This is normally the part where, if I had the time, I'd launch into a tirade about videogame reviews and numerical scores and all the rest of that bullshit. But I don't, so I won't. But I haven't been a regular review reader for many years; I was spoiled, I suppose, by the huge, multi-page reviews that mags like CGW used to put out and that I'd read regardless of the game question or my interest in it, just because they were so well done.

Everything comes down to numbers these days. I'd be surprised if the majority of people even really read the review. 84 percent? Four stars? 7/10? That's all people look at anymore, but it doesn't mean anything.

 

[DigitalSushi]

Eurogamer ripped into Alan Wake, for those interested. The prediction for Edge Magazine is looking like its an average score too, but those two publications are well known for having the correct scale of average being a 5 not a 7.5 rating.

You can also count on new publications and new gaming websites to downrate a game like Alan Wake, to court controversy and get more hits.

This is normally the part where, if I had the time, I'd launch into a tirade about videogame reviews and numerical scores and all the rest of that bullshit. But I don't, so I won't. But I haven't been a regular review reader for many years; I was spoiled, I suppose, by the huge, multi-page reviews that mags like CGW used to put out and that I'd read regardless of the game question or my interest in it, just because they were so well done.

Everything comes down to numbers these days. I'd be surprised if the majority of people even really read the review. 84 percent? Four stars? 7/10? That's all people look at anymore, but
it doesn't mean anything.

I know it doesn't come across very well in my comment but I distrust review scores, apart from Edge because to me they make excellent articles. I especially distrust IGN's 7 to 10 score rating and Kotaku's bullet point style "reviews", I used to use bulletpoints in exams when learning a new language because its the easiest way to put your point across in a language that your unfamiliar with, without all those messy grammar mistakes. For native English speakers thats unexcusable.

And* i'll say this again, a new publication or website will mark a big game down just to get their name out for more hits.

*I'm aware thats its poor grammar to start a new sentence with the ampersand but I wasn't too sure what to do it with my new paragraph.

I've been trying to find Russ Pitts article with regards to not wanting a numbering system on here but I can't find it.

 

[Death or OFLC]

I hope all goes well for them. But its just the wrong genre to risk everything on.
Its not the type of game that appeal to the masses.

Even if it is a great game, which I believed it will. I'm really looking forward to it, haven't had a scare since Fear 1.
Not being multi-platform will also kill a few sales.