110°

Here’s Why AAA Developers are Starting to Ignore Linear Games

"As game development costs at the top continue to rise while retail prices remain steady around the $60 mark, many are questioning not only the profitability of linear games but, more importantly, whether gamers still want to buy them in large numbers." - Calum Muirhead, Gamer Professionals.

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gamerpros.co
-Foxtrot2305d ago

Sometimes open world is not always the best choice though

This isn't talking about quality here or what's good/bad etc but if we take Zelda I would have prefered a Zelda game more like Orcarina or Majoras Mask then the open world gameplay in BotW. Epic boss fights, great dungeons, hubs filled with content, life and an overall design theme within each hub, memorable NPCs, a better story and so on. Same goes for MGSV which felt nothing like a MGS game at times.

Not everything has to be open world.

_-EDMIX-_2304d ago (Edited 2304d ago )

I don't believe what was wrong with Metal Gear Solid V really had anything to do with open world as much as it had to do with a really terrible story if you look back at Metal Gear Solid 1 even 2, definitely 3 you'll notice an open setting is something that Kojima has always preferred.

If you actually look at even Metal Gear Solid 1 and you remove all the loading screens you still actually have an open world game... same with 3.

So I would say being open world is not really that far off from a concept known to Metal Gear Solid fans I would say if anything the absence of a significant story was the biggest thing inside of Metal Gear Solid V that made it not feel like Metal Gear Solid. You need to also consider that's by choice, you never needed to even Traverse the open-world you could have simply just selected each mission in the menu...

I somebody that is played every single metal gear game on multiple difficulty settings Metal Gear Solid V is as metal gear as the series gets.. besides the story.

So you are literally doing the same concept of stealth infiltration capture kill etc

It's absolutely your choice if you want to Traverse the open-world between missions.

Overall I still agree with your point though that open world is not magically going to solve any problem you still need respectable design

ShottyatLaw2305d ago

Did you repost this article?

Like I posted before, Let's Plays aren't the problem.

There are thousands of games available to us right now. All new games, especially linear games, quickly drop in price. Convince me why I shouldn't wait to buy a game and save 50% or more off that $60 price tag.

Blaming streamers and Youtubers for the lower sales is misinformed scapegoating.

_-EDMIX-_2304d ago

Absolutely agreed somebody who's going to choose to not buy the game because they want to view it was never really going to buy the game in the first place.

would be like saying we can't play games in front of our friends if they are at our house...

rainslacker2304d ago

Really good linear games tend to sell really well, and the Let's Plays don't seem to have a negative effect on them most of the time.

I think it's just that publishers feel that every game has to sell at a certain threshhold, and it's an unreasonable expectation. Budgets have to be maintained and built around reasonable expectations, and sometimes the publisher will get lucky.

I think the sales themselves, while overall actually higher than they've ever been due to a larger market, are not as high as they could be because the SP games rarely have that much of a marketing budget. When you look at the big marketing budgets, they're always for the games which offer up big MP experiences, and usually secondary avenues for revenue.

To me, if any linear SP game got a marketing budget of say COD, then it'd probably sell a lot more. Horizon:Zero Dawn probably had the largest marketing budget of any SP game(although not linear) that I've seen this gen, and it still paled in comparison to SW:BF, COD, or Destiny.

Marketing can go a long way, just most companies don't spend much money on it for SP games.

ShottyatLaw2303d ago

Marketing can also cause a lot of issues. The money being thrown into those marketing budgets blows my mind.

Good games in general seem to sell. But the cost of reaching those numbers without hedging your bets by incorporating some kind of "live" service doesn't seem to a risk most are willing to take.

Hopefully advances to tech can lower the costs so that we get more of these "big budget" linear games. If not, they're going to have to start getting creative on the pricing, distribution, and marketing.

To my point, I'm waiting for SotC to hit $20. I want to support those types of games (linear SP - not remakes per se), but I can't justify over paying. Blame consumers like me if they want, but devs need to deal with that reality.

TheOttomatic912303d ago

Um they aren’t but I guess game “journalists” need to get traffic on their sites somehow.

190°

Console Wars - What a Waste of Energy

Phantom Knight provides his thoughts on the futility of Console Wars.

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intothesanctum.com
2pacalypsenow1571d ago (Edited 1571d ago )

Humans are competitive by nature, in life there’s winner and losers.

Console wars don’t hurt the industry.

Tross1571d ago (Edited 1571d ago )

I actually think the companies behind the systems encourage it too, as it drives brand loyalty, which in turn drives sales. It's definitely played up, but it turns what would normally be just another boring business rivalry into something people actually get drawn into.

darthv721571d ago

On the company level though, it's often seen as corporate ribbing and not to be taken seriously. the heads of these platforms have respect for each other. The fans, however... not so much. They take everything seriously when in reality we are all in the same hobby for the same reason. We like to play video games. Can't we all just play along?

2pacalypsenow1571d ago

@darthv72

If you follow sports, this is normal.

Just search an argument of Jordan VS Lebron

Vegamyster1570d ago

2pacalypsenow

Sports has athletes representing nations, cities or communities ect, consoles are aimed for personal entertainment, a better comparison would be something like music.

UltraNova1570d ago (Edited 1570d ago )

Of course they encourage it. Big companies know exactly how people will react every time one of their execs get up on a stage, do an interview or tweet something. Everything is pre-calculated and deliberate. They know that engagement with their brand, good or bad is still engagement. Fan rivalry is an integral part of any entertainment business. This is fact, this is human nature.

1570d ago
JackBNimble1570d ago

Everyone has a team they root for , I don't see why having a preferred console should be any different.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 1570d ago
Jin_Sakai1570d ago (Edited 1570d ago )

“Console wars don’t hurt the industry.”

I agree. It’s just the most loyal fans having a go at it. Nothing wrong with that.

These are your biggest supporters which is a good thing. Some may go a bit overboard in defending their brand but you just have to look over those.

Kiwi661570d ago (Edited 1570d ago )

Those "loyal fans" are usually the one's who will disagree with a known fact that is also easy to look up and you think that there is nothing wrong with that lmao

Gazondaily1570d ago

To a certain extent its fine when it's kind of loose banter. I enjoy the debates and arguments but it doesnt take much for it to descend way beyond that. Console wars can hurt the industry when people take things too far.

Generally though, I do enjoy the banter and it's a good way to pass the time at work etc. But these things often go WAY past that

neutralgamer19921570d ago

Jin

These are the fans who are buying consoles day one at full price so yes to these companies the core gamers matter especially early on

2pacalypsenow1570d ago

@Kiwi66

It’s 2020, facts don’t matter anymore, it’s all about someone feelings.

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1570d ago
rainslacker1570d ago

I think they help spread misinformation. But the "wars" themselves are used as a marketing device nowadays. Side effect of the social media age.

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TheEnigma3131571d ago

it will never die. It's not much of a war when Sony has won 3/4 of it's gens in historic fashion.

Obscure_Observer1570d ago

@TheEnigma313

It is war when there´s competition, when comes to console.

You can downplay competitors and say there´s no competition at all.

Until, of course, you hear the word "exclusive" from the other side. Then if you somehow felt unconfortable in any way, that´s when you´ll realize that competition exist, whether you like it or not.

1570d ago Replies(1)
rainslacker1570d ago

I think this gen there is more warring going on than last. Seems like the vitriol is at an all time high.

Whether that has any effect on anything I won't say, because I think there would be a lot more than internet banter to have a major effect on the overall console industry.

MadLad1571d ago

Pretty much.
Some people love tribalism though.

AK911570d ago

Just give me good games

TheHateTheyGive1570d ago

Nintendo atari sega were all once in the dedicated home console race, them 3 are the og's and none of them make home consoles anymore, Sony and microsoft killed them all and nintendo's case they ran off to their handheld market because they could not keep up with the big 2 in the dedicated home console business. Ill continue to support the big 2 as long as i can.

MadLad1570d ago

Eh. Pretty sure Wii blew away everyone else that generation. Just because Nintendo pulled a Nintendo and made hardware vastly different to what else is out there, that doesn't mean they were pushed out of the console business lol. Nintendo has been around for decades. I don't think looking at the last 7 years or so speaks for the company as a whole.

darthv721570d ago

Atari... their thing was against Coleco and Mattel. when they tried to come back against Sega and Nintendo they were pretty much ignored. Just like NEC, who was the real competitor of Sega and Nintendo at the time. All platforms are competitors because each company is vying for the consumers $$. Magnavox, Atari, Coleco, Mattel, Panasonic (3do), NEC, SNK and Sega were all once competition to each other. Only Nintendo has survived and keeps on trucking with new competition from MS and Sony. And that is just the ones that were in NA and JP. In EU you had others like Amstrad, Konica and others I cant recall.

rainslacker1570d ago

NEC could have been a real force in the industry if they had any sense of how to market their console outside japan. Had tons of support, and a great system. Having Hudson backing was a big thing back in the day, as it was the only big 3rd party partnership for hardware with a console maker in console history.

Sega was eventually it's own worst enemy, and made a lot of bad business decisions. Sony just offered up a new and better paradigm for the industry. Nintendo was too stubborn with their hardware, which caused them to fall behind.

MS really didnt have much effect on any of the consoles pre-ps1. Nintendo was already having issues getting people to buy, and sega was already out when MS came in. If sega hadn't left, chances are, MS wouldnt have gone ahead with the xbox.

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50°

Razer's Tomahawk could make it easier than ever to build your own gaming PC

Gaming desktops are usually either big and heavy full-size beasts, or else miniaturized boxes that lack the power to impress. And whether you buy a complete system or an empty chassis to fill with components, they're often on the fugly side.

120°

The 10 Most Memorable Video Game Boss Encounters From The Last Two Decades

Deville Louw put together a list of 10 memorable and sometimes very difficult video game boss encounters. Do you remember these?

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fortressofsolitude.co.za
Escamotage1597d ago

Most of the games listed span more than two decades. Why even add that in the title?

Fist4achin1597d ago

There's a lot more bosses that were memorable than just this list. Tough to narrow it down to just 10.

Terry_B1597d ago

Are you okay? The most of them are from games that were released over 20 years ago.

Thundercat771597d ago (Edited 1597d ago )

That first boss fight in God of War was totally Legendary. I felt like it was a last boss fight.

Truly one of the best boss fights I ever played in a game.

Psycho Mantis fight also was Legendary.

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