Microsoft's acquisition of Activison Blizzard

[Deleted member 417]

"There's no need for games outside of AAA to take longer than they used to, considering it's easier now to make games and add assets than ever before.

Economies of scale makes it cheaper to create a product for more people. What the difference is between now and the 90s is quality and quantity. In the 90s you had fewer games but higher quality, which is the opposite today. To solve this problem, the industry needs to be cleansed."

No offense but I don't think you understand how game development works. Progressively games got more and more advanced. 3D assets are extremely expensive now days. Your not dealing with small polygons anymore. Games are starting to blend between Game and Cinematic quality.

They don't have to blend between games and cinematic quality and while polygons maybe more complicated, there are better tools at making games than there ever has been. This talk of expensive, complicated games is because of bloat inside nearly every level of game development. Is it Ubisoft who have 1200 people working on a game? Bloat city baby

Higher resolution models, textures and sculpting takes a ton of talent and money. It doesn't matter if you are AAA or not. This is why a lot of indie devs rely on more cartoon visual art styles or even 2D art because it's cheaper to produce but can still look good.

why does it need to be high resolution? 1080p works perfectly well. Hell, i'll take a good 720p game.

The industry needs redefining in what it does and what it is. AA and AAA are the same type of game with varying budgets, but it shouldn't be like that. B tier games can and should still exist on small budgets. If Hello Games can create No Mans Sky with a team of <20 people, there's no good reason on this Earth why AC needs 1200 people.

There is a massive difference between 90s and now. Game standards have astronomically risen. A good looking platforming game is not good enough anymore. People want more advanced AI, more dynamic eco systems , better visuals. Back in the day, you could get away easy with a lot of stuff, because gaming wasn't as prominent as it is now.

It was a lot easier to set the standard for a FPS games, RTS or anything else. Now? Not so much.

Poppy cock. Plenty of games set new standards all of the time. The difference is those willing to try something new, vs publishers wanting carbon copies of 'popular thing' because they have no idea about the industry they work in

I don't know why you are telling me Sony is doing well at $70. I already made that point to you as well. You are acting as if I am disagreeing about Sony. Very few publishers ca get away with it. Sony is doing well cause of reputation and being around since the 90s, just like Nintendo thst hsve existed since the 80s and csn sell you the same product over and over at full price. They don't need to prove much.

I was agreeing with you, if it came off as anything else then that's on me.

But for any other 3rd party developer or publisher $70 is an issue, and not very sustainable.

I highly suggest you look up the costs game art assets, voice actors and among other 10x million things. Don't forget the insane marketing budgets and advertising. With the power of social media platforms publishers now spend more money on ads than they did ever ever. There were no influences, youtube, Facebook or anything like that in the 90s. Open up your mind a bit dude, you sre thinking very narrowly and not looking at the whole picture. Hope this helps.

There doesn't need to be voice actors, let alone top paid ones. Games don't need advertising and certainly don't need millions spending on them. The only game that needs advertising is a bad game. A good game is good and word of mouth alone will carry the sales. If games fall between the cracks and die, then so be it. Pumping millions into advertising and then complaining about how expensive games have got (thepubs/devs, not you) isn't a cause for concern for me as a consumer.

IMO Nintendo and Sony have nailed it because they have earned their reputation as making quality games. While I have no interest in Nintendo games and never have (Sega fanboy for life!) i know that whatever they release is going to be of high quality.

Ubisoft, Acti and EA desperately need paid advertisers, influences and social media shills to push their shite, because without the propaganda - and it is psychological propaganda, their games would never sell.

It would be best for gamers if the industry crashed and reset.

 

[KiryuRealty]

They don't have to blend between games and cinematic quality and while polygons maybe more complicated, there are better tools at making games than there ever has been. This talk of expensive, complicated games is because of bloat inside nearly every level of game development. Is it Ubisoft who have 1200 people working on a game? Bloat city baby


why does it need to be high resolution? 1080p works perfectly well. Hell, i'll take a good 720p game.

The industry needs redefining in what it does and what it is. AA and AAA are the same type of game with varying budgets, but it shouldn't be like that. B tier games can and should still exist on small budgets. If Hello Games can create No Mans Sky with a team of <20 people, there's no good reason on this Earth why AC needs 1200 people.



Poppy cock. Plenty of games set new standards all of the time. The difference is those willing to try something new, vs publishers wanting carbon copies of 'popular thing' because they have no idea about the industry they work in


I was agreeing with you, if it came off as anything else then that's on me.

There doesn't need to be voice actors, let alone top paid ones. Games don't need advertising and certainly don't need millions spending on them. The only game that needs advertising is a bad game. A good game is good and word of mouth alone will carry the sales. If games fall between the cracks and die, then so be it. Pumping millions into advertising and then complaining about how expensive games have got (thepubs/devs, not you) isn't a cause for concern for me as a consumer.

IMO Nintendo and Sony have nailed it because they have earned their reputation as making quality games. While I have no interest in Nintendo games and never have (Sega fanboy for life!) i know that whatever they release is going to be of high quality.

Ubisoft, Acti and EA desperately need paid advertisers, influences and social media shills to push their shite, because without the propaganda - and it is psychological propaganda, their games would never sell.

It would be best for gamers if the industry crashed and reset.

And the worst take of the day expressed in the most words award goes to……

 

[Papacheeks]

And the worst take of the day expressed in the most words award goes to……

Did you even read what night sky said? Some of his/her points are very valid. Specifically when talking about AA VS AAA and budgets. Like there are AA games with high production , or look high production value but made with modest budgets.

Kena, Sifu, are examples. Same with AA copy of similar genres like Torchlight is to Diablo/Titanquest.

 

[Shmunter]

How do you 100% if PS6 is gonna support disc's? Is that confirmed ? Link please. I doubt either of them will support discs.

If not built in, they will release an add on

 

[Bodycount611]

on MS not supporting the physical games market:

1. No limited print runs, so no limited run/strictly limited/etc xbox support. Limited run has finally, after 10 years started to make xbox games as of last year, but there's very few, and none of the other physical limited print run companies can make xbox games still. They've made 1000's for switch/PS4.

2. Limiting smaller pubs from printing games. Unless you have thee resources to print over 30k copies of your game, MS won't print discs. This is why so many games don't get printed on xbox. Also why no indie games come out physically on xbox.

3. Gamepass in general is anti physical game and that's their priority.

4. Games like Halo shipping with just a launcher on the disk and no real data.

5. No collector's market on xbox. this is more because xbox isn't a popular system to collect for, but its a trend that goes all the way back to the OG Xbox. The games are always worth less on Xbox/360/one because there aren't as many collectors. Even applies to multiplats that run better on 360 for instance, people would still rather have the PS3 version.

6. Xbox series S being their main driver, the retail market on xbox is especially dire on the Series consoles.

7. No imports/asia english games. Since Xbox has no japanese/asian support, the entire asian-english import market ceases to exist for xbox. this is why it was the only system to never get games like fatal frame, the ninja gaiden trilogy, and dozens of other printed.

All in all, physical games and Xbox are a no go. And with enthusiasts' obsession with owning their games and building huge collections, it makes xbox look like a less-serious platform for games and hardcore gamers.

 

[Deleted member 417]

on MS not supporting the physical games market:

1. No limited print runs, so no limited run/strictly limited/etc xbox support. Limited run has finally, after 10 years started to make xbox games as of last year, but there's very few, and none of the other physical limited print run companies can make xbox games still. They've made 1000's for switch/PS4.

2. Limiting smaller pubs from printing games. Unless you have thee resources to print over 30k copies of your game, MS won't print discs. This is why so many games don't get printed on xbox. Also why no indie games come out physically on xbox.

3. Gamepass in general is anti physical game and that's their priority.

4. Games like Halo shipping with just a launcher on the disk and no real data.

5. No collector's market on xbox. this is more because xbox isn't a popular system to collect for, but its a trend that goes all the way back to the OG Xbox. The games are always worth less on Xbox/360/one because there aren't as many collectors. Even applies to multiplats that run better on 360 for instance, people would still rather have the PS3 version.

6. Xbox series S being their main driver, the retail market on xbox is especially dire on the Series consoles.

7. No imports/asia english games. Since Xbox has no japanese/asian support, the entire asian-english import market ceases to exist for xbox. this is why it was the only system to never get games like fatal frame, the ninja gaiden trilogy, and dozens of other printed.

All in all, physical games and Xbox are a no go. And with enthusiasts' obsession with owning their games and building huge collections, it makes xbox look like a less-serious platform for games and hardcore gamers.

Don't forget how Microsoft benefit from going streaming only, which Gamepass is a vessel for. You can't go streaming only with physical as an option

 

[Shmunter]

Don't forget how Microsoft benefit from going streaming only, which Gamepass is a vessel for. You can't go streaming only with physical as an option

Nor VR

 

[KiryuRealty]

Did you even read what night sky said? Some of his/her points are very valid. Specifically when talking about AA VS AAA and budgets. Like there are AA games with high production , or look high production value but made with modest budgets.

Kena, Sifu, are examples. Same with AA copy of similar genres like Torchlight is to Diablo/Titanquest.

The idiocy about resolution, among other things, is egregious enough that any good points are invalidated, not that there really were any.

The main thing expressed in that screed was a fundamental lack of understanding of how software development and business work.

 

[Deleted member 417]

The idiocy about resolution, among other things, is egregious enough that any good points are invalidated, not that there really were any.

The main thing expressed in that screed was a fundamental lack of understanding of how software development and business work.

So you have no valid points?

I'm well aware how businesses operate and 80% of the time (Pareto method) those businesses operate with a lot of bloat and unnecessary, non-value added tasks carried out.

I'll repeat one of my points; How can a team of less than 20 (No man's sky) continue to deliver updates, including resolution, modes, extra 'campaigns' and even VR support, while maintaining profitability, while Ubisoft cannot make a competent AC game with well over 1000 staff.

How can 343i fuck up so badly, with all of their talent, resources and team size, on an IP 20 years old, where the characters, story and settings write themselves?

Poor scope, mismanagement of resources, bloat and too many non-value added tasks. is the main reason that the industry is in the poor state that it's in.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

this deal is going to be approved and everything is going to be better.

 

[Papacheeks]

The idiocy about resolution, among other things, is egregious enough that any good points are invalidated, not that there really were any.

The main thing expressed in that screed was a fundamental lack of understanding of how software development and business work.

So instead of correcting or helping educate someone’s points that miss the mark and commenting on one’s that hit the mark. Uou would rather just say someone is wrong on all accounts and their opinion is invalid? But only yours is valid?

You need education in how discussion can be a two street of enlightenment on a topic.

 

[KiryuRealty]

So instead of correcting or helping educate someone’s points that miss the mark and commenting on one’s that hit the mark. Uou would rather just say someone is wrong on all accounts and their opinion is invalid? But only yours is valid?

You need education in how discussion can be a two street of enlightenment on a topic.

When there’s reality and fantasy, it isn’t a two-way street.

Despite what some think, not all ideas are of equal merit in the real world.

 

[Bodycount611]

Don't forget how Microsoft benefit from going streaming only, which Gamepass is a vessel for. You can't go streaming only with physical as an option

i think the problem with peripherals is that you need a successful platform first. xbox one didn't get enough marketshare to warrant VR and a dedicated VR unit for it would never had made a profit.

Series is probably projected to sell around the same as One, so no VR for Xbox, ever. The platform just isn't healthy enough to sustain it.

 

[Elder Legend]

So instead of correcting or helping educate someone’s points that miss the mark and commenting on one’s that hit the mark. Uou would rather just say someone is wrong on all accounts and their opinion is invalid? But only yours is valid?

You need education in how discussion can be a two street of enlightenment on a topic.

"Comment Removed"

 

[Sircaw]

"Comment Removed"

Is your ban up on gaf yet?

 

[Gediminas]

Is your ban up on gaf yet?

21.01.2022 White Shark Edition..

 

[Eternal_Wings]

I guess this the end of the line for Microsoft

 

[Gamernyc78]

I guess this the end of the line for Microsoft

Damn! They have all the cards stacked up against them.

Another "L" for the arm chair analysts that said " no matter what this will pass through easily" guess nottttt!!!! (tried to tell ya

 

[Eternal_Wings]

Damn if this deal falls through I can clearly foresee how the Xbox fanboys will say: “Uh Activision Blizzard games are mid, I didn’t want Microsoft to buy them anyway” xD

 

[adamsapple]

I guess this the end of the line for Microsoft

Yes, they won't ask for any concessions before the charge sheet comes out. We knew this weeks ago.

Damn if this deal falls through I can clearly foresee how the Xbox fanboys will say: “Uh Activision Blizzard games are mid, I didn’t want Microsoft to buy them anyway” xD

You mean like a lot of people started saying "CoD sucks anyway, bring on Killzone" after January '22 ?