General Game News

[The Lurker]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/FDDHd-reopY" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/FDDHd-reopY</a>

[Variety of Cells]

I really like this story.  I'm excited for this game, and I'm really happy it's doing so well.  It also shows that the Kickstarter model might have some legs, especially if you keep the option open to help fund the game after the initial kickstarter ends as they have.  I had yet to hear words like "more profitable" thrown around when talking about kickstarter, so it's great that developers might actually be able to make money with a kickstarter game.

Star Citizen Creator: Kickstarter Model Is Here To Stay

Chris Roberts' Star Citizen Kickstarter has raised over $8 million, and fans continue to jump in, despite the game being over a year away from release.

"I can make the same game for a fifth of the revenue [of a AAA title], a fifth of the sales, and I can be more profitable, and I can exist on lower unit sales," says Chris Roberts, speaking to gamesindustry.biz about the huge merits that Kickstarter offers developers. His own Star Citizen project has raised over $8 million in in its Kickstarter campaign, and shows no sign of stopping, with fans continuing to contribute despite the game's release being over a year away.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123490-Star-Citizen-Creator-Kickstarter-Model-Is-Here-To-Stay?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news

[Lembach]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/R9hQWqtxXPU" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/R9hQWqtxXPU</a>

Gameplay at 2:30 minutes. I cannot wait!

[Compound]

Hrmph. I've been waiting since '89. (And you better believe I backed this project.)

Not being snarky. I've literally been waiting over two decades for this sequel.

[Pak-Man]

So Nintendo's going to sit E3 out:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/25/no-nintendo-press-conference-at-e3-2013

That's surprising, since most people expected Nintendo to be tapdancing up a storm about the WiiU and all the games that are going to make people want to buy the struggling system...

[MSTJedi]

So Nintendo's going to sit E3 out:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/25/no-nintendo-press-conference-at-e3-2013

That's surprising, since most people expected Nintendo to be tapdancing up a storm about the WiiU and all the games that are going to make people want to buy the struggling system...

Which is probably the issue - they don't have the games. Most developers don't want to bother trying to figure out how to add that gimmicky little controller of Nintendo's into the mix, so third party support just isn't there . . . again.

[mrbasehart]

The word is that they'll be announcing games there, but maybe they just want to sit out this year because of the hype surrounding Microsoft and Sony. 

[Rainbow Dash]

Honestly, E3 isn't a big deal anymore.  None of the companies have really done a big blow out.  Sony has already revealed their system.  MS will reveal Nextbox at the end of May.  The press events have become much more an investors presentation than something to cater to the gamers.  Nintendo has the right idea by just doing their own events (and MS and SOny have already begun doing it as well).

[Variety of Cells]

The word is that they'll be announcing games there, but maybe they just want to sit out this year because of the hype surrounding Microsoft and Sony.

The majority of the hype I've heard surrounding sony is negative.  And Microsoft is going to have to do some major PR spinning if the always-online rumor turns out to be true.  This seems like it would have been the perfect time for Nintendo to strut their stuff and show off some new games.  But I guess they just don't have them yet.

[Edward J Grug III]

They'll probably have a Nintendo Specific conference fairly soon after it and announce a ton of stuff, I guess... Or maybe just really concentrate on these Nintendo Direct shows... But I am a bit disappointed.

The Wii U is such fun, I really want them to sell the world on it.

[Lembach]

EA Voted Worst Company in America, Again

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/04/09/ea-voted-worst-company-in-america-again/

[mrbasehart]

EA aren't particularly brilliant, but worst company in America? That just seems like silly anti-fanboyism,  The reasons given are utterly ridiculous too - they made a game with DRM and have made free-to-play games?!? That's horrifying!

[MSTJedi]

EA aren't particularly brilliant, but worst company in America? That just seems like silly anti-fanboyism,  The reasons given are utterly ridiculous too - they made a game with DRM and have made free-to-play games?!? That's horrifying!

Yeah, I'm not sure what's wrong with f2p. For a guy on my budget, that's what works for me (SWTOR, for example). I throw them a few dollars every now and then when I can, but I don't have to worry about a subscription and feeling like I HAVE to play the game to make it worth the money. Yeah, I know that f2p isn't working for most games in the long run, but done right, I think it can work. The problem is that with a game like SWTOR, they overreached by sinking a buttload of money in a game that doesn't have the audience such an investment requires. Hell, I still think it should have been another SP RPG KotOR anyway.

[Lembach]

EA aren't particularly brilliant, but worst company in America? That just seems like silly anti-fanboyism,  The reasons given are utterly ridiculous too - they made a game with DRM and have made free-to-play games?!? That's horrifying!

Whereas I can turn this around and label this fanboyism. The people voting are obviously unhappy with the company. People who spent $60 on SimCity just straight-up couldn't play it. They couldn't play online because the servers were down, and they couldn't play offline because there's no offline mode. Then they lied about the reasons for it requiring always online connection.

Kotaku editor Stephen Totilo found that he could play offline for almost 20 minutes without a problem. There appears to be some sort of code in the game that prevents people from playing offline for more than those 20 minutes.

On top of that, Rock Paper Shotgun's John Walker says he spoke to a Maxis source who said that SimCity doesn't require server-side computing at all, and that in fact it could be played offline.

"I have no idea why they're claiming otherwise," Walker's source said. "It's possible that Bradshaw misunderstood or was misinformed, but otherwise I'm clueless."

I could care less about the f2p issue. That's just them trying to salvage a buck off an MMO that failed due to lack of end game content. It's not altruism. They didn't do it out of the goodness of their hearts.

They have treated their customers with nothing but contempt and they deserve every bit of fallout that results from this.

[mrbasehart]

Nah, it's not fanboyism.  I don't like EA's practices over the years, but to label them the worst company in the US is silly.  There are plenty worse.