Super Meat Boy Dev Lashes Out at Episodic Games
- Thread starter Logan Westbrook
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Advertising fail. I'd say it was nice knowing you, but I'd be lying.Pmzji Lokk said:
OT: Cool. It makes me want to get a job and earn money to buy Super Meat Boy with. Only Telltale can do episodic right (even Valve screws it up).
As was said in the article, Telltale games are an example of episodic content done right. The episodes are priced such that all of them together equate to the price of a full game. It's just cooler because you sort of get mini-installments, so you're essentially playing the game as it's developed.
Half-Life 2 also has had great episodic content so far, although everyone's still wondering where the heck Episode 3 ended up.
He's partially right, though. I paid $15 for a 2-hour game when I bought Sonic 4, which is not cool at all.
Half-Life 2 also has had great episodic content so far, although everyone's still wondering where the heck Episode 3 ended up.
He's partially right, though. I paid $15 for a 2-hour game when I bought Sonic 4, which is not cool at all.
I seriously need to leave the library before they ask me to leave. I've been laughing way too much today from comments on this site.The_root_of_all_evil said:
While I haven't played Super Meat Boy yet, they seem like great people, and very funny to boot.
I have to side with episodic releases and point out that Team Meat is blowing hot air. For a company that has never released a game with any real narrative or with high production value they talk a lot of smack without much consideration for others.
Iterative releases like 'episodes' is actually one of the only ways a smaller company is going to compete with huge behemoths like Activision in producing quality products. Remember that in a non narrative game, 'episodes' are just content downloads. Smaller companies can bankroll a smaller bite sized portion of their game without requiring as much risk. From tiny games like Alien Breed to monsters like Starcraft 2, devs can't afford the risk it would cost to produce and polish that much content and score a hit seller. Cashflow doesn't work like that.
Just another developer who doesn't think beyond their own scope when it comes to criticizing competitors. Not everyone produces graphically and mechanically simple games based on freeware flash games from Newgrounds.
Iterative releases like 'episodes' is actually one of the only ways a smaller company is going to compete with huge behemoths like Activision in producing quality products. Remember that in a non narrative game, 'episodes' are just content downloads. Smaller companies can bankroll a smaller bite sized portion of their game without requiring as much risk. From tiny games like Alien Breed to monsters like Starcraft 2, devs can't afford the risk it would cost to produce and polish that much content and score a hit seller. Cashflow doesn't work like that.
Just another developer who doesn't think beyond their own scope when it comes to criticizing competitors. Not everyone produces graphically and mechanically simple games based on freeware flash games from Newgrounds.
I'm sorry but the direct quote takes a shot at companies who really need to use the episodic model and aren't doing it to rip people off. Sonic 4 and Meatboy aside the comment was making a generalization. People who make episodic games don't "cut up" their game. They fund and create the first part on a specific budget. Then they use a different pool of funds to make the next part. There is no cutting.Galaxy613 said:
I'm commenting on the direct quote from Twitter which broadly targets any company making episodic games. It was crass and thoughtless and especially insulting to peer indy developers.
Dear Team Meat,
At least one of them is doing it right, offering the entire set of episodes for one fair price and releasing said episodes in a timely manner. Don't hate on a model because most companies that use it get it wrong.
Although I will agree that Sonic 4 Episode 1 is a crime against gaming. $15 and they don't even know how many more episodes are coming and when they are coming out, but they expect to have news for you about Episode 2 in 2011. So you do have every right to hate on Sonic 4 for that. But just know that episodic games work just fine when done properly.
At least one of them is doing it right, offering the entire set of episodes for one fair price and releasing said episodes in a timely manner. Don't hate on a model because most companies that use it get it wrong.
*"Hoist[ed] with" would be the correct quote. =PSonicWaffle said:Hoisted! Hoisted by my own petard! Oh, the shame and ignominy! I shall flee to deepest, darkest Africa and live out my days as a lonely, embittered hermit crying into his tatty and mangled beard. As I die, cold and alone and filthy with the accumulated grime of years, with my last breath I shall curse the carelessness in posting which brought me to such ruin. Curse it twice, thrice, curse it with such vitriolic fury that as my life slips away and my wizened, black heart beats it's last I will drag it down to Hell with me!Nerf Ninja said:*meltingSonicWaffle said:
See I can do it too
TL;DR - Whoops
What happened to expansion packs? Seriously? I thought it worked perfectly well before, if a game rocks and the developer plans to release a continuation of the first story they could just release the expansion pack for a reduced price that increases the appeal and longevity of the game. Good games got expanded, bad games didn't, so you didn't have to pay way too much for DLC or sequels which at the very most seem to be cosmetic and superficial with 1/3rd of the content at 2x the price. You got 2 complete games at the price of 1.5, but now you can expect 1/4 of a game every 2 years at the same cost as a full priced title.
Games industry, straighten up. We didn't put up with this shit back then, and were not going to put up with it now.
Games industry, straighten up. We didn't put up with this shit back then, and were not going to put up with it now.
Well.. as the modern founder of "Episodic Gaming", Valve really dropped the ball with Halflife 2.
They kind of poisoned the idea of it.
But turning a game that's already complete into an episodic game is just silly. Games like the Penny Arcade games, which are episodic, are designed that way, and they show that it's a legitimate way of making games on a smaller budget. If they have a publisher that'll publish super meat boy as a boxed game, I say they should definitely do that. While they're at it, once they have all of their extra characters sorted out, they should release them all on all systems.. I shouldn't have to buy the game on two different systems to get to play as all the characters. I want to play as both Headcrab AND a Castle Crasher!
I think "Exclusive Content" for either system is just another way for game makers to gouge their loyalest fans. Sure, it gives each version of the game it's own style, and includes memes that are largely exclusive to each platform, but real gamers will appreciate the different memes from the various versions, and I for one will be sad if I can't get Tofu Boy on the 360 :/
They kind of poisoned the idea of it.
But turning a game that's already complete into an episodic game is just silly. Games like the Penny Arcade games, which are episodic, are designed that way, and they show that it's a legitimate way of making games on a smaller budget. If they have a publisher that'll publish super meat boy as a boxed game, I say they should definitely do that. While they're at it, once they have all of their extra characters sorted out, they should release them all on all systems.. I shouldn't have to buy the game on two different systems to get to play as all the characters. I want to play as both Headcrab AND a Castle Crasher!
I think "Exclusive Content" for either system is just another way for game makers to gouge their loyalest fans. Sure, it gives each version of the game it's own style, and includes memes that are largely exclusive to each platform, but real gamers will appreciate the different memes from the various versions, and I for one will be sad if I can't get Tofu Boy on the 360 :/