The Business Side of Video (Space) Games EXCLUSIVELY ON IDLE THUMBS

[Henroid]

  On 12/7/2015 at 2:15 PM, SuperBiasedMan said:

Episodic games are usually not very expensive, but I definitely think this is a way to make the price seem lesser. Each episode being $10 with the full set of 5 for $40 would probably seem fairer than just one $40 game that's just a remake of a decade old game. Not that it will completely prevent people complaining.

 

I never had any doubt this was about the cash though. It almost always seems to be the case for remakes except when the original is actually difficult to get a hold of/play (like Grim Fandango).

Are those assumed price points or are you quoting something? I really doubt that Square is going to sell their episodes that cheap.

[SuperBiasedMan]

  On 12/7/2015 at 3:29 PM, Henroid said:

Are those assumed price points or are you quoting something? I really doubt that Square is going to sell their episodes that cheap.

 

Entirely assumed based on the more expensive end of episodes I've seen before. I've never seen an episodic game cost more than a normal full release, but if anyone was going to do that I do admit it would be Square.

[Henroid]

  On 12/7/2015 at 3:49 PM, SuperBiasedMan said:

Entirely assumed based on the more expensive end of episodes I've seen before. I've never seen an episodic game cost more than a normal full release, but if anyone was going to do that I do admit it would be Square.

They are the company that puts apps out for $10 when everyone else is doing it for far less.

[Bjorn]

  On 12/7/2015 at 7:11 PM, Henroid said:

They are the company that puts apps out for $10 when everyone else is doing it for far less.

 

$10 if you're lucky, there are plenty of their games that started off priced at $15 plus. 

 

I'm with JonCole in hoping they completely re-imagine the flow/pacing of the game, but I don't have much hope for that. 

[Henroid]

I mean, the only way I see this episodic endeavor working is if they abridge a lot of the moments of the game. I imagine like a narration or text prologue explaining what happened at the end of the previous episode leading to where the team in-game is. Which is to say, the world map is going away, that's for damn sure. In order to provide for this game they're gonna have to use the FF13 structure of the most linear pathing ever. One of the I'm guessing three Midgar episodes will end on the highway chase, and the next episode will be Cloud telling the team what happened leading up to all of this, and the next episode will be them arriving in that port town. The Chocobo Ranch, Materia Cave, and that weird tower-town that you later do mini-battle-games on, all cut.

 

Pricing is the only thing I can't put a finger on. Anything more than $30 would be insane.

[Dewar]

I guess I don't understand why they don't just make a new game if they want to throw in that many changes.

[Twig]

Probably because everyone keeps begging for it and they know people will buy it.

 

Saw someone say on the internet today "I don't buy many games, but I'd pay $60 per episode for this FF7 remake."

 

Yup.

[Bjorn]

Huh, they sent a clarification to Kotaku that:

 

  Quote

It means instead of concluding in one entry, multiple entries are being considered in development. Each entry will have its own unique story. As a gaming experience, each entry will have the volume of content equal to a full-sized game.

 

That sounds less episodic and more like the FFXIII plan of having multiple games in the same time/universe.  They've also got the spinoff games that could be rolled (even partially) into the main game. 

[Twig]

Oh that's weird, too. But not too surprising considering all the additional FF7 content since the original game's release.

[SuperBiasedMan]

  On 12/7/2015 at 9:25 PM, Bjorn said:

Huh, they sent a clarification to Kotaku that:

 

 

That sounds less episodic and more like the FFXIII plan of having multiple games in the same time/universe.  They've also got the spinoff games that could be rolled (even partially) into the main game. 

 

Oh geez they really are gonna be $60 each.

[Bjorn]

Yep!  It's gonna be a multi-hundred dollar package to own the complete FF7 remake experience (whether or not that can possibly be worth it...well, time will tell). 

[syntheticgerbil]

You guys don't understand that FFVII has aged like a fine wine and therefore you will pay fine wine prices.

 

AERRRISSSS!!!!!

[Merus]

There's actually a third reason remakes tend to happen: revisiting an existing setting that you've decided has to stay the same, but making significant changes to it as you go. JRPGs actually have a few of these - Final Fantasy 3 and 4 have seen ground-up remakes, as have the SNES Dragon Quests. Outside of JRPGs, Metroid Zero Mission is one of these.

[Henroid]

Wait, does this mean that the first episode is the entirety of FF7?

[SuperBiasedMan]

Oh that would be MUCH weirder. But I assume not, because then there's no hook for direct continuity. Unless they rework just the ending, which would also be super weird.

[Dewar]

Well they made Advent Children, so I think they could manage a direct hook without too much work.

[Eric]

My friend made a buster sword out of plywood in elementary school

[Merus]

TouchArcade discuss how the most successful developers on the Apple TV are making, at best, hundreds of dollars per day. It's not surprising; the Apple TV seemed a half-baked games platform, as the audience that are looking for big-screen gaming experiences probably aren't the people who play the games most successful on iOS, and Apple's signalling is that this isn't a serious platform for people like Blizzard, who are doing very well out of Hearthstone on portable devices.

[Henroid]

The move to make portable entertainment better-at-home seemed premature. I'm sure it will take over someday, but also in a hypothetical world where mobile devices also take over as the home entertainment center. Right now consoles are providing too much in the way of additional content to compete with. Yeah I know smartphones can stream YouTube and such but it's not quite at the same level and its control system isn't too practical. Probably more than anything though, we're gonna have a generation or two of people who have hard lines between "this is my on-the-go device, this is my device that sits in my home." The latter will never lose style because people want to have cool things in their home.

[pkirkner]

I'm rooting for this FF7 remake to be a huge success not because I have the slightest bit of interest in it, but because I'd love to see a painterly remake of FF6 based on Amano's concept art some day.

[SuperBiasedMan]

  On 12/9/2015 at 5:35 AM, pkirkner said:

I'm rooting for this FF7 remake to be a huge success not because I have the slightest bit of interest in it, but because I'd love to see a painterly remake of FF6 based on Amano's concept art some day.

 

I would love FF6 remade as an open world game where all the dialog is visual novel style with gorgeous art.

[Henroid]

Kotaku's Australian branch is reporting that EA is expanding its eSports branch. Internally they're officially calling it the Competitive Gaming thing, rather than something clever like EAsports. The purpose is to promote competitive / pro gaming of their products, which is fine and dandy, but they've put Peter Moore at the head. This is the guy that said he wanted to monetize bullets for Dead Space 3, unironically, in case anyone forgot.

 

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2015/12/ea-expands-esports-estate-calls-it-competitive-gaming-instead/

[Architecture]

Peter Moore is awesome. I'd follow him into the gates of Hell.

[Henroid]

  On 12/11/2015 at 6:07 AM, Architecture said:

Peter Moore is awesome. I'd follow him into the gates of Hell.

Explain why. I became wary-as-hell about him when he started to do a Bobby Kotick impression. Which now that I mention it was around the time Bobby Kotick stopped being... Bobby Kotick. That guy has been quiet over the last few years.

[Ninety-Three]

  On 12/11/2015 at 4:54 AM, Henroid said:

Kotaku's Australian branch is reporting that EA is expanding its eSports branch. Internally they're officially calling it the Competitive Gaming thing, rather than something clever like EAsports.

 

EA Sports is already what they call their sports games division (they even have a logo they plaster all over things), so it's hard to pick a clever name without colliding there.

 

 

  On 12/11/2015 at 7:31 AM, Henroid said:

I became wary-as-hell about him when he started to do a Bobby Kotick impression. Which now that I mention it was around the time Bobby Kotick stopped being... Bobby Kotick. That guy has been quiet over the last few years.

 

Wait. Has anyone ever seen them in the same room together?