THQ President: Bad, Late, and Inferior Titles Killed the Company

[Arenari]

I'm still extremely curious (and nervous) about Sega taking the helm of Relic, if they let them finish Company of Heroes 2 and Dawn of War 3, all will be fine.

I agree with you here. Unfortunately, I think it was THQ and not Relic that held the license to make the Dawn of War and 40K games. So, I guess we will have to see what happens to Dawn of War 3 and the Games Workshop license in general.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

What the hell were you thinking releasing Space Marine two weeks before Gears of War 3? What did you think would happen?

I'm still extremely curious (and nervous) about Sega taking the helm of Relic, if they let them finish Company of Heroes 2 and Dawn of War 3, all will be fine.

I agree with you here. Unfortunately, I think it was THQ and not Relic that held the license to make the Dawn of War and 40K games. So, I guess we will have to see what happens to Dawn of War 3 and the Games Workshop license in general.

Sega recently acquired the rights to make Warhammer Fantasy Battle games, giving them over to their developer, Creative Assembly (The Total War series).

With Sega picking up Relic, and THQ dead, they could very easily acquire the rights back again and let Relic continue.

 

[ThriKreen]

Also what is this Udraw disaster I keep hearing about as well as this un-finished MMO?

From my understanding, UDraw [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UDraw_GameTablet], a tablet for the Wii, did really well for that console, letting the kids draw and play Pictionary type games as such. They figured they could replicate the success for the other two consoles and upped the expected % sales based on how much of the market each one owns. And took out a loan to handle the manufacturing of the hardware for this, as it wasn't just the game itself they were releasing.

The problem was the whole "demographic" thing - the Xbox360 and PS3 player base tends to be a bit more hardcore and they didn't take at all to the uDraw tablet (then again, look at the PSMove and Kinect). So it didn't sell at all, meaning they also defaulted on the loan.

 

[marurder]

Hindsight is such a wonderful thing isn't it? If only they said this publicly earlier...

 

[Genocidicles]

Whereas if EA went bankrupt they'd be blaming bad review scores, used games and piracy.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Yeah, THQ did a lot of dumb shit. Kinda sad, really, because when they published something good it was damn good.

 

[gigastar]

At least he had the balls to admit the company was wrong. Even when he personally wasnt at fault.

EA, on the other hand... [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121799-Electronic-Arts-Drops-Medal-of-Honor]

 

[TaboriHK]

To be completely honest, I liked 3 more than 2, yes it was sillier but the over all story was more engaging and better written, and with the exception of the "movie" bonus ending

Not if the theme of the game is "look how soulless commercialism is." I don't know about anyone else, but I took Saints Row 3 as an extremely sarcastic title, which is where my enjoyment of it came from. It's pretty much the pinnacle of "this is how intellectually bankrupt gamers prefer their entertainment nowadays." They make Johnny Gat, who spent the first game rocket launchering up the town into pieces, the voice of reason in the first five minutes of the game, then immediately kill him, after making a running gag out of faking his death throughout the previous games. I don't know about you, but I find that extremely subversive.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

If Red Faction Armageddon didn't undo all of the good that RF Geurilla did, and if Saint's Row the Third didn't have significantly less to do than its predecessor, maybe THQ would have lasted long enough to actually put out and make money off of all of those upcoming titles that people wanted. Making SR3 into another game that had DLC worth more than the game's original titles was a huge mistake IMO.

I don't mean to pick on you, but this is a statement that a lot of people used to deride SR3 in a manner that I think is unfair.

It is the sign of the times, not the THQ development team that made Saint's Row the Third so 'short on content'. Every game nowadays is just a teaser for the one or two.. or more likely 4 dlcs coming down the line.

Would I have loved the level of DLC that GTAIV got? Assuredly. But if I'm having fun and laughing at how ridiculous this all is, I would willingly buy dlcs when they come up. But truth be told, I'm one of those polarized masses who loved the goofiness of SR3, and while I did love SR2, I was uncomfortable with the organized crime part of the second. So admittedly, I might be biased.

I don't think it's unfair at all to call out SR3 for its obnoxious DLC. Especially when you consider the fact that the DLC was, for the most part, clothing and vehicles. That's all fine and dandy, but do the actually expand on the game in a significant way? No.

My point is also helped by the fact that Saints Row 2 also had a decent amount of DLC, but was still a much bigger, longer game with much more mini games and other features in it. Most of those being ripped out was ridiculous. The lack of massive places with interiors(Stilwater University, Stilwater Mall) was a major upset. The removal of the territory protections missions and other things like that was another major ding against SR3. The game was not only shorter in its campaign, but it also fail to distract you with things other than the main story for the most part, because there are so few mini missions to complete.

One more reason I don't like SR3's DLC is because all it does overall is give you 3 missions and a bunch of clothing. All that is not worth another $60. I'd have preferred it if they added to SR3's game instead of giving it a massive snip. I also think that the story was not worthy of being an SR sequel. What happened to Dex? He's just gone. The last guy that screwed you over for 2 games straight is gone. And killing Johnny Gat was like killing whatever part of SR that was still true to the series. I'm sorry, while SR3 is a great game, its not a very good SR sequel.

 

[Racecarlock]

To be completely honest, I liked 3 more than 2, yes it was sillier but the over all story was more engaging and better written, and with the exception of the "movie" bonus ending

Not if the theme of the game is "look how soulless commercialism is." I don't know about anyone else, but I took Saints Row 3 as an extremely sarcastic title, which is where my enjoyment of it came from. It's pretty much the pinnacle of "this is how intellectually bankrupt gamers prefer their entertainment nowadays." They make Johnny Gat, who spent the first game rocket launchering up the town into pieces, the voice of reason in the first five minutes of the game, then immediately kill him, after making a running gag out of faking his death throughout the previous games. I don't know about you, but I find that extremely subversive.

Wait a second. I really liked saints row 3. Does that make me an idiot?

 

[Lugbzurg]

Wait, he's accepting that THQ MIGHT have had something to do with it's own demise?
Very refreshing. I was preparing to feel really bad for "not getting" their games, not reading the good reviews, and buying a used game.
THQ always seemed like a much more honest company. It's a shame they were a touch incompetent too, I liked a number of games they published.

I know, right? These people are far more honest and decent than EA. They've actually taken responsibility for their own actions. But why do they have to go down while EA continues to thrive? Why can't we have nice things?

 

[Something Amyss]

But honestly, who didn't look at Saints Row 2 and think: "You know what this game needs? Shittier character customization and fucking predator drone strikes. And dick jokes! Way more dick jokes!"

And reduced gameplay! And more dick jokes! And a shorter story! And more dick jokes! And DLC! And more dick jokes!

 

[Something Amyss]

I know, right? These people are far more honest and decent than EA.

I love how the guys who don't advertise their online passes, even promoting features locked behind one are the more honest ones. I love the fact that the guys who actively attacked used sales are more decent than EA.

 

[Braedan]

Wait, he's accepting that THQ MIGHT have had something to do with it's own demise?
Very refreshing. I was preparing to feel really bad for "not getting" their games, not reading the good reviews, and buying a used game.
THQ always seemed like a much more honest company. It's a shame they were a touch incompetent too, I liked a number of games they published.

I know, right? These people are far more honest and decent than EA. They've actually taken responsibility for their own actions. But why do they have to go down while EA continues to thrive? Why can't we have nice things?

Within 24 hours of going on sale, the game grossed over $500 million, beating 2011's Modern Warfare 3 to become the biggest entertainment launch of all time

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[TaboriHK]

Wait a second. I really liked saints row 3. Does that make me an idiot?

Not at all. I think that's the brilliance of the game. The message is hidden in plain sight.