I'm not kissing the back of a hand that's slapped me in the face. Sorry, but I don't buy that he was joking for one microsecond. Guess what, dude... You just found out how fast a fire can spread by saying some dumb **** to a journalist. Crytek games won't get my time or my money. There are a LOT of other companies I'd feel much better supporting.
If they want to kill the used market, then they ought to make some games worth $60 in the first place. 6.5-hour campaigns and BS multi-player filler which doesn't keep a community interested past the first month of the game's release won't cut it. The comment about Sony & Microsoft choosing their position carefully couldn't have been worded better.
Excellent article, Brendan. If they (publishers & mega-corps) want to get a piece of the action generated on the used market, why is it that consumers are having to pay the price again & again? I've asked this continuously for the last few years, since "Online Pass" crap was introduced, and never gotten a good answer. Why isn't the profiting party paying for those "online pass" things? And generally speaking, chains like Game Stop make a fair penny turning over copies of Title X, or the new hardware of the moment. The whole thing is pretty unfocused, and misguided, and all it will make me do is go back to my older consoles, when life was simple. Thanks again for the well-written piece!
I do like to consider a pre-order as a message to the powers-that-be, that I appreciate the concept of a coming game, or developer... It's a way of telling the suits what I would like to see more of. I don't pre-order games like Call of Duty (although I am a player), because I know there will be a wealth of them around, but for a game like the recent "Journey" or other DLC for say, "LA Noire" which I knew I wanted no questions asked, it does feel good to support the development team by saying "HERE! TAKE MY MONEY!" a little early. =)
Every time I see crap like this, I'm glad I didn't sign up for elite. LAME, Flanders! I wouldn't buy DLC for MW3 if it were 50 cents per map. Just awful. And I really like CoD. But MW3 is a missed step. All of my regulars and I went back to BLOPs.
Magrino, you are an excellent writer. You could teach a thing or two around the Gamespot offices to short-sighted nim-noms like Varanini who couldn't form a complete thought on a bet, let alone articulate one. Your point is well-founded. Developers have shifted under the foot of the public who fuels their industry (by this I mean, of course, the upright folks who BUY games and actually do view it as supporting the artists they admire), and they need to be careful not to suck them under. The trend towards DLC for unlockables, etc. instead of including them in the game from day-one purchase, as well as "online passes" begins to erode Sony's stance of "free online", and should down-right enrage 360 players who have to pay for DLC, connectivity, AND a resale code (under current business models for many companies). If devs aren't careful, the economy is gonna get much, MUCH worse for them, fast as lightning. The old adage of "Fool Me Once, Fool Me Twice" is soon going to end with someone getting (at least financially) killed. Thank you again for your insightful editorial, and keep up the great work.
We're all aware of what dangers Sony's irresponsibility has potentially exposed us to. If you're a PS3 gamer or a reader of the gaming press, you've been smacked in the face with it like Marilyn Chambers on the pool table... Vara-Ninny, stop stirring the pot. You're like a villager from a 'Frankenstein' film. Yes, we should all be more careful moving forward, We should learn from getting burned, we should not trust Sony (or ANY company) farther than we can spit them. But kicking and screaming until Sony goes out of business or gives away every property isn't going to accomplish anything.
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