Thanks for Failing

[ghostrider409895]

I have to say that I really enjoyed LA Noire. It is up there amongst my favorite games, but reading over this article, I can say that it did ring true in some points.
I know there were times that I would be in a case, and I would be frustrated that I could miss something in a case, or the interrogation would have some question that just seemed out there, and I would wind up missing out on part of what would happen until I replayed the case. I know there were moments in there where I would be interrogating a suspect, and then when I picked a choice Cole would go off on some wild rant about them being the killer, or something. There were faults there, but I also like the new parts it did bring.

I really thought it was cool to see all of the faces, and be able to actually reconize TV actors as characters from my game. I liked the feeling of being an officer. I liked the fact that you could actually screw up an investigation and have to work around that - or actually accept that you did not solve the case. I liked the chance to experience a rebuilt Los Angelos from the 1940s. I think it is really worth mentioning all the stuff that it did bring. I know it has faults, but I know I have never played a game like it. Sometimes I like to play cases over again just to see some of my favorite interregations, or favorite shoot outs. It is even fun to mess up an interrogation to see how the game might turn out otherwise. I remember when I replayed the first homicide case, and I messed up the inital club owner interview, I was not expecting to have a diner shoot out happen. There are definatly still sections of the game I have not even seen yet. It really gives you a lot to experience. Yeah, it is not the best, but it really did bring a lot of new things that you have to respect. It did try, and for that I hold it amongst some of my favorite games.

 

[thiosk]

Its true. So often we applaud the tried and true, (its like the old call of duty you see, but more frames per second!!11!eleven) then turn our noses up at something new. "Its not a game, its a gimmick."

Its great we can trust you for such commentary, Susan!

Three cheers

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Thank you for failing.

But because you failed, successes like Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 will continue to stagnate the market for another decade or so.

So everyone wins! (except the demographic that matters)

 

[Susan Arendt]

Getting L.A. Noire for Christmas, so to each their own.

Although considering Russ gave the game 4/5, I wouldn't exactly say the game failed. Maybe for you it failed, but certainly not for everyone it did.

Sales wise, it's considered a failure.

 

[Vault101]

LA noire was a failure? since when

sales dont always count for quality

EDIT: and wikipedia would say otherwise in regards to its sales

 

[Funkysandwich]

I was guilty of expecting the same from LA Noire as I had from Kane and Lynch - i.e. Not much, just a spin-off - for reasons that I don't really understand ... probably because it was an xbox title...

It's on PS3 as well, and it was ported to PC recently as well.

LA Noire is one of my favorite games of all time. Sure it has problems, but I found it really engaging. I'm a sucker for the 40's and 50's though.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

The facial animation was so good that it was actually distracting at times. I'd be so caught up in trying to remember where I'd seen the actor portraying whatever witness I was interrogating that I'd forget to listen to his statement. (By the way, the answer is nearly always Mad Men.) L.A. Noire, more than any other game before it, gave us hope that the uncanny valley might someday be conquered, and we'd finally be able to relate to our onscreen companions as though they were people, not merely peoplesque amalgamations of Botox and rubber.

Nope. It's the one game I couldn't play because it physically unnerved me to play. It wasn't distracting because I thought they were real, it was distracting because I thought someone had improperly cloned a human, and was trying to pass it off, and it would murder me if I wasn't looking. If that's what's on the other side of the valley, I'm fine with never going that far. I'd even take the wooden mannequins of the Bethesda titles over the creep-tastic L.A. Noire. The detective work was amazing, and near unparalleled. The animations gave me nightmares.

 

[shintakie10]

The facial animation was so good that it was actually distracting at times. I'd be so caught up in trying to remember where I'd seen the actor portraying whatever witness I was interrogating that I'd forget to listen to his statement. (By the way, the answer is nearly always Mad Men.) L.A. Noire, more than any other game before it, gave us hope that the uncanny valley might someday be conquered, and we'd finally be able to relate to our onscreen companions as though they were people, not merely peoplesque amalgamations of Botox and rubber.

Nope. It's the one game I couldn't play because it physically unnerved me to play. It wasn't distracting because I thought they were real, it was distracting because I thought someone had improperly cloned a human, and was trying to pass it off, and it would murder me if I wasn't looking. If that's what's on the other side of the valley, I'm fine with never going that far. I'd even take the wooden mannequins of the Bethesda titles over the creep-tastic L.A. Noire. The detective work was amazing, and near unparalleled. The animations gave me nightmares.

I was more caught up the by problem that the facial animations were amazin...and the rest of the body was god freakin awful. It doesn't help to see this amazingly detailed face and then to have the body go flailin about as if none of the parts were actually attached to a body.

 

[The Harkinator]

A future game along the lines of L.A. Noire could have had the possibility of being a more 'direct' detective. If you can't get enough evidence for the person sitting in front of you then use your police knowledge to kill them and cover it up.

Of course the game would have to kick you in the teeth later as a matter of consequence for attempting to resolve cases less legally than you could do. But there were times when I wished I could just throw characters like Eli Rooney into the boot of a car and finish them off in a quiet secluded spot.

If they tried to make another detective game I'd like it to be playing as a private detective who doesn't have the full backing of the law but might have a partner who proposes the option of permanently removing a suspect before they do any more damage (or maybe your character develops that character trait if they do it too many times?).

 

[Dhatz]

Face hard facts: niche games never change the whole, only once we move the mainstream we have changed anything.

 

[Broken Orange]

I bought L.A. Noir but didn't finish it because its investagation is too much guess work. Too much "Is she lying or not the whole truth?" Doubt and Lying were too similiar. But like the article said, they tried to do something new, unlike Battlefield 3: Modern Warfare.

Never played RoN, not enough good games to justify buying the Kinect and my room is too small.

 

[Vkmies]

Kinect seems like it would be a perfect fit for a horror game.

Seems terrible to me - if you want to scare people then they shouldn't be noticing themselves or the room they're in, which is exactly what motion controls do.

I disagree, in theory: if you do it right, then the process of controlling the character is intuitive, and you become completely immersed in the game. If you're actually doing stuff physically, and your physical actions provide feedback in the game, then being startled by something could literally make you jump. The key is making the controls intuitive enough that you are properly immersed.

I personally couldn't imagine a FULLY motion controlled game to work well in horror. At least not yet. recently, however, playing Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, I noticed the motion controls to work fairly well. Since you still move, run around and activate things with buttons, you are not waggling all the time, which is the problem with most non-immersive motion-control-games at the moment.

I think Silent Hill worked around this quite well. You do stuff like throw monsters away from you, roll down car-windows and turn/shake a can to get a key inside. All small, quick movements you don't think about. That's the key to successful motion controls in my opinion: You shouldn't think "Now I must do this", you are supposed to move your body parts by instinct. With a thing like Kinect, where EVERYTHING is controlled by your movement, I don't really see it happening myself.

 

[krazykidd]

The problem with articles claiming certain games to be "failures" tend to be problematic, as it is virtually impossible to make such a thing without brining in opinnions.
I never played Rise of Nightmares, but I absolutely loved L.A. Noire. It was full of fun, intrigue, mystery and memorable scenes. The whole "Truth, Doubt, Lie" thing got a little old when you had to do it really often, but in the better cases it was broken up by chase scenes with awesome music and crime scene investigating.
That doesn't sound like failure to me. Of course, that's my opinnion.

It's a failure from a sales perspective , that's what he meant. Doesn't mean people can't like it. That being said , i bought it day one , didn't like it , finished it anyways and didn't regret it. It's the first time i have bought something i didn't like and didn't regret it . I fully support innovation and the will to make somthing different , so i applaud the developpers and rockstar( the publishers) for taking this risk , it did not work this time , but it wasn't too far off mark , if they look at their mistakes and try to fix them , L.A Noire 2 will be a great sucess.

 

[Tamrin]

LA noire was a failure? since when

sales dont always count for quality

EDIT: and wikipedia would say otherwise in regards to its sales

Your right about sales and quality but I think it was a failure in the sense that it didn't meet its own expectations. It was wildly advertised, given some great reviews, and yet it has sold more or less 4 million copies. When aiming big like L.A. Noire did that?s something most strive to achieve within the first few weeks of release not the total.

 

[Alphavillain]

L.A. Noire? Meh. I get the feeling that criticising an "innovative" game makes you a Bad Person. Well, I bought the game, so I can criticise it all I want. Games are known as being primarily "innovative" when they do little else. I prefer "fun" or "exciting".

Also: forgive the double negative, but if a game doesn't sell well it doesn't mean it is a great, misunderstood work of art. Perhaps it just isn't very good.

 

[Pandabearparade]

I loved L.A. Noire. Solid game with some problems. Not the failure she called it by any stretch.

 

[Spygon]

Getting L.A. Noire for Christmas, so to each their own.

Although considering Russ gave the game 4/5, I wouldn't exactly say the game failed. Maybe for you it failed, but certainly not for everyone it did.

Sales wise, it's considered a failure.

Close to 4 million in shipped copies and became the fastest selling new IP ever in the UK.I can not see how you can count L.A Noire a failure either in views of the game or sales.

 

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

you want a major failure go look at duke nukem forever. The game hasn't even been out for year yet and I can buy it new for 9.99 at my local wal-mart

 

[6SteW6]

Thanks for Failing

Looking back on two of the year's interesting failures.

Read Full Article

Anytime a game tries something new and original I will buy it in support. New Ip's are hard to come by now, it seems like the gaming industry is going the way of movies and only releasing sequels or remakes. I'm not complaining, I understand it's a buisiness and if a certain formula sticks, well, why not re-use it?

I really enjoyed most of Noire despite it's flaws (The worst were the interrogation sequences, while stunning to watch were very tricky to pull off with the limited interaction available) and I am sad to see that it was considered a failure. I think with a sequel they would have ironed out all the kinks and had a very smooth playing experience.