The State of Rhode Island did one thing and one thing only wrong and that was to give 38 Studios the loan in the first place. Everything else from there was all on 38 Studios. They slit their own throat from the start.
They received a huge loan for an MMO and then almost immediately proceeded to use that money for the MMO to buy another studio and their game (Kingdoms of Amalur) to lay the foundation for their MMO. None of this was disclosed to Rhode Island when the loan was asked for. So the loan money was used for deceptive purposes from the start.
When 38 was to start paying some of the massive loan back they stalled, eventually handed over a cheque that bounced and generally made it abundantly clear that they had absolutely no ability to repay any portion of the agreed upon loan as per the contract. Why would the government of Rhode Island keep throwing good money after bad and restructure the debt when 38 Studios wasn't able or willing to raise any investment capital as they had agreed to do when the initial loan was granted. Remember the MMO that all of the money was to be going towards was not even close to being finished or even shown to the public in any meaningful way.
The heads of 38 Studios weren't bargaining or acting in good faith so why are so many gamers angry with the government doing the only responsible thing left to do (after throwing away well over $75 million dollars) and quit bailing out a massively failing company? The failure rests squarely on 38 Studios after getting the sweetest start up company loan the gaming industry had ever seen (at that point).
Why does a midsized studio like Remedy need a Board of Directors? Are they traded on some stock market? Or is it just another symptom of the bloated AAA development mentality where they keep complaining about rising costs yet never, ever look to their own actions to stay profitable, always looking to screw over customers for a few more dollars at every turn.
"Why is everyone acting like this is Bethesda's fault? The just published the game, they didn't develop it. Same with Brink and New Vegas." Maybe because Bethesda is the publisher and has the final say of when the game is ready to ship and in all of the examples you have given, the games were certainly NOT ready to be sold for full price in the shoddy state that they were clearly in. If you don't hold Bethesda accountable for that undeniable fact then they will continue to do so over and over again.
Making games for the big publishers is a lot like building a car. Both jobs are just assembly lines where the workers pump out whatever product they are handed with little to no say in the final design. The final design in gaming is crafted by marketing fools who have extensive focus-group test data of whatever the competition is shoveling out and make a blueprint designed to maximize the most consumer interest in the product. There is no creativity, no passion, only a rushed out, buggy sequel in time for the holidays that has all of the same features of their competitor with nothing to distinguish it. You could set your watch by some of these sequels they come out so regularly.
Bravo Kevin. This is the best and most insightful column that I have read all year in the game industry. Heck, in any industry. Take a bow, you've certainly earned it.
Sure, the 360 could handle it NEWM0N3Y on the low settings but c'mon now. Who really wants to play a game this gorgeous on the neutered settings if they can help it? Not me.
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