The Video Game Thread

[Crazed Liotta Eyes]

I do find this interesting. I know what it's like to pour your everything into a project only to have other people respond underwhelming to the project. Are the focus groups comprised of people who play games regular or ordinary people who rarely, if ever, play video games?

That's a great question. With Universal, it was mostly gamers, but they had separate sessions with people that indicated they played games in the same genre and people who favored other genres. I do remember a few people that looked like they had never played a game before.

 

[Jammer]

I finished Days Gone. It was a fun game. I will probably play it again on harder difficulty. It's a longer game than I expected. The quests get redundant, but I had no problem with it because I enjoyed each one. I had a blast riding the motorcycle to each location and only used the fast travel once at beginning of the game before I soon discovered I miss too much if I fast traveled. Besides, it was fun to ride the bike everywhere. There were a lot of things I didn't like about the game but they were minor compared to what the game does right. However, one thing that annoyed me to no end was the voice acting of the protagonist. It seemed like every line the guy spoke was of someone who was greatly annoyed and speaking through clenched teeth the entire time. About halfway through the game I wished the guy would just shut up as he irritated me so much. One of the downloads from PS Plus I think partially paid for itself as the game was worth the subscription.

 

[VaqueroTD]

Here's something you guys might find interesting. A lot of the design decisions at my studio are just made by me because it's what I would like, but obviously not everyone would agree. For that reason, I'm trying to get us to do more focus testing, which is just having random people play the game and give feedback. Some years back, Universal published one of our games and they had an entire section of their building dedicated to it. We literally watched people playing the game through one-way mirrors to see their reactions and how quickly they understood gameplay mechanics. It was utterly fascinating and sometimes, quite an ego blow. I remember our Art Director hanging his head when one of the participants said the graphics were garbage. He went back and improved some of the work and the game ended up being well received. A lot of the AAA titles that get delayed for years are because of the results from focus testing.

In that regard with focus testing making decisions, I guess video games are no different than movies these days. Certainly have some budgets on the bigger titles that compare with movies.

 

[Khartun]

I finished Days Gone. It was a fun game. I will probably play it again on harder difficulty. It's a longer game than I expected. The quests get redundant, but I had no problem with it because I enjoyed each one. I had a blast riding the motorcycle to each location and only used the fast travel once at beginning of the game before I soon discovered I miss too much if I fast traveled. Besides, it was fun to ride the bike everywhere. There were a lot of things I didn't like about the game but they were minor compared to what the game does right. However, one thing that annoyed me to no end was the voice acting of the protagonist. It seemed like every line the guy spoke was of someone who was greatly annoyed and speaking through clenched teeth the entire time. About halfway through the game I wished the guy would just shut up as he irritated me so much. One of the downloads from PS Plus I think partially paid for itself as the game was worth the subscription.

I liked that game a lot. Stuff really ramps up when you have to start taking out hordes. I really had a lot of fun at the lumbermill.

 

[Crazed Liotta Eyes]

In that regard with focus testing making decisions, I guess video games are no different than movies these days. Certainly have some budgets on the bigger titles that compare with movies.

It's amazing to me how much the game industry has grown, to the point where video games make more money than movies now.

 

[darthseinfeld]

It's amazing to me how much the game industry has grown, to the point where video games make more money than movies now.

I think Fallout 4 made 750 million in profit and Skyrim over 1.5 billion

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

I think Fallout 4 made 750 million in profit and Skyrim over 1.5 billion

Had to look that up and if I read it right steams cut from Skyrim was around 30 million. That's insane

 

[Crazed Liotta Eyes]

I think Fallout 4 made 750 million in profit and Skyrim over 1.5 billion

People wonder why Rockstar hasn't released a new Grand Theft Auto and it's because they're still printing money with the last one. My wife turned down a job offer to work at Rockstar back before they released GTA 3. She would likely be very wealthy if she had taken that job. I wouldn't have met her though, so I hope I'm worth more than their royalty payouts. Now that I think about it, I won't ask her that question.

 

[darthseinfeld]

People wonder why Rockstar hasn't released a new Grand Theft Auto and it's because they're still printing money with the last one. My wife turned down a job offer to work at Rockstar back before they released GTA 3. She would likely be very wealthy if she had taken that job. I wouldn't have met her though, so I hope I'm worth more than their royalty payouts. Now that I think about it, I won't ask her that question.

I cant imagine how much GTA5 has made

 

[SlammedZero]

Yeah I think Activision, well Microsoft now, rakes in billions a year just on Call of Duty. This year's version, MW3, I think has been the worst received in years and the sales numbers are slipping, but they still made something like $400 million right out of the gate. It's insane. They're now in the mobile phone game market too and I'm sure mopping it up there too.

On one hand, as a gamer, I love seeing the industry grow. On the other hand, as a gamer, I hate seeing the industry grow.

 

[Juggernaut]

If you wanted Dragon's Dogma 2 right now, but don't want to pay the full launch price:

 

[Jammer]

It's amazing to me how much the game industry has grown, to the point where video games make more money than movies now.

I've told people that before whenever someone "dissed" me playing video games at my age. Usually they don't believe video games are so big and many times the story is better what we're getting in the movies today.

 

[darthseinfeld]

I've told people that before whenever someone "dissed" me playing video games at my age. Usually they don't believe video games are so big and many times the story is better what we're getting in the movies today.

Narrative on some games have gotten so good its almost like an interactive movie

 

[SlammedZero]

I've told people that before whenever someone "dissed" me playing video games at my age. Usually they don't believe video games are so big and many times the story is better what we're getting in the movies today.

Yeah the social stigma behind adults playing video games is funny to me. Some people act like you should be too old to do that, but then they turn around and will zombie sit in front of Netflix for 8 hours a day, as if that's better. At least I can be interactive with what's on my screen. Plus what I'm doing is challenging with quick decision making or critical thinking with puzzles.

 

[darthseinfeld]

Yeah the social stigma behind adults playing video games is funny to me. Some people act like you should be too old to do that, but then they turn around and will zombie sit in front of Netflix for 8 hours a day, as if that's better. At least I can be interactive with what's on my screen. Plus what I'm doing is challenging with quick decision making or critical thinking with puzzles.

Should surprise now one. The Video Game Generation is middle aged now and the industry has evolved with them.

 

[Shinaoi]

Yeah I got a buddy who’s wife gives him a hard time about playing games to much but she watches tv all day.

 

[darthseinfeld]

Yeah I got a buddy who’s wife gives him a hard time about playing games to much but she watches tv all day.

Wouldn't it be funny if she watches Witcher or Last of Us. Although Witcher is more based on the books

 

[VaqueroTD]

Wouldn't it be funny if she watches Witcher or Last of Us. Although Witcher is more based on the books

Or Fallout, Super Mario Brothers, Borderlands….. Tons of movies/TV coming out. I remember for a long time no film studio could make a half-decent movie or TV show based on a video game but as the technology got better and the games bigger, I guess the games had to show the movie studio how to make stories. LOL

 

[darthseinfeld]

Or Fallout, Super Mario Brothers, Borderlands….. Tons of movies/TV coming out. I remember for a long time no film studio could make a half-decent movie or TV show based on a video game but as the technology got better and the games bigger, I guess the games had to show the movie studio how to make stories. LOL

I actually thought the OG Mortal Combat movie was pretty good for what it was. But I was like 13 lol

 

[Shinaoi]

After 7ish hours at rise of the ronin, I do feel it’s a good game but not up to one their previous titles in nioh 2 which I loved.