Dragon Age must sell 2 million copies

[DemonKing]

EA just sacked 1500 employees (the Mythic team is gone, Pandemic will be shut up after releasing Saboteur and even the C&C team is going after they ship C&C4 apparently).

Apparently they are going to concentrate on their big sellers (minimum 2 million in sales).

I guess Bio had better hope DA and ME2 sell well - and their Austin studio will be gone for sure if their SW MMO tanks.

 

[Xor]

It probably will.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

Across all platforms? That's practically guaranteed.

 

[ever]

Cool more new little developers!

I can already smell a NOX2 :Q

 

[aboyd]

I don't understand. How would the C&C people continue to work on the game after this? I mean, people might give it a token minimum effort, but wouldn't the employer have to acknowledge that the game is probably doomed? Every developer will be focused on getting his or her résumé out the door. Nobody will feel loyalty to the company or project.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

Damn they must really be going to the shitter. Is this still because of the financial crisis?

 

[Elzair]

It is because they have been complacent for too long, enjoyed their evil empire status, and are now reaping what they sowed.

 

[Elzair]

Well, it looks like Bioware IS the next Origin after all (except with a fraction of the talent)!

 

[Xor]

Damn they must really be going to the shitter. Is this still because of the financial crisis?

The game industry is slowly dying, and while the recession isn't helping it isn't the cause either.

 

[Elzair]

Damn they must really be going to the shitter. Is this still because of the financial crisis?

The game industry is slowly dying, and while the recession isn't helping it isn't the cause either.

However, the death of the gaming industry is likely to be a good thing. Hopefully its death will come quick enough that GAMING does not die with it. On this issue I agree nearly completely with Malstrom.

 

[Elzair]

I know I should not cherry-pick quotes from his articles, but this one is just too funny (and sad).

Look at American newspapers. They are dying, left and right, and they blame their ‘business model’. They look at bloggers and other alternative news on the Internet as a ’sewer’ and refuse to compete with them. But the audience is going in that direction. The newspapers aren’t offering any content worthy of reason to buy their paper compared to what you find on the Internet.

If you have ever wondered how it felt like watching the implosion of Atari back in 1983, you’re witnessing something quite similar but in a slow motion way. Back then, business people jumped into gaming because of all the money it was making. They did not understand gaming. They put their business strategies onto gaming because “they were business wizards!” and ended up destroying the industry. As Nolan Bushnell would later remark, “Damnest thing I’ve ever seen!”

Now, I am excited about the death of the “Game Industry” as I find the “Industry” to be a parasite and gaming to be a host. Gaming is being held back by the “Industry”. But the problem is that the implosion of the “Game Industry” will destroy many game companies and talented people in its shock waves. For example, while people may talk about how wonderful a hardware/software company Nintendo is, Atari used to be that in spades and more. The company was a fantastic place of innovation. Pong. Break-Out. Gran-Trak. Combat. And so on.

I’ve learned over the years that once a culture at a game company is destroyed, it will never, ever, return. The creative destruction of the “Game Industry” will wipe out all the rot wood, but unfortunately it will catch some good trees with it. I’m worried about the good tress. As for the rest: “When in doubt, use fire.”

 

[Xor]

I don't really agree with maelstrom's views in many articles but it's pretty obvious the industry in its current form is dying.

 

[Elzair]

It looks like Bioware might be one of those good trees (by a relatively loose definition of good).

 

[Elzair]

Wouldn't it be a shame if the final Mass Effect game and the two Dragon Age sequels never materialized?

EDIT: To any who have already completed the game, is the ending a cliff-hanger?

 

[SerratedBiz]

The ending is ME's.

 

[TheWesDude]

if you want to produce a quality product, you have to be willing to accept lower profits.

if all you want is higher profits, then producing a lower quality product is actually a furtherance of that goal rather than higher quality.

higher quality products require time, careful planning, precise execution, excessive amounts of verification, and time.

if you produce a low quality product, you can sacrifice in all areas. then all you have to do is hype for the immediate sales and hope you make enough in 2-4 months to recoup your losses.

quality products have a lower profit margin per copy, but generally have a lifecycle of years rather than months.


eventually the consumer will get dis-satisfied with low quality products and stop purchasing as many. become more choosier in what they purchase.


eventually those that produce lower quality products will fail. the time it takes is exactly how low of quality you produce and how many copies you can sell in the short shelf cycle.

 

[PorkaMorka]

I don't really agree with maelstrom's views in many articles but it's pretty obvious the industry in its current form is dying.

It's also pretty obvious it deserves to die.

If the industry doesn't die, and games costing tens of millions of dollars continue to be the norm, we're all fucked. Games that cost tens of millions of dollars have to appeal to the broadest possible audience (droolers) in order to sell the volume of units required to make a profit over their expenses.

Maybe if the industry collapses they'll look at other options besides the blockbuster game model.

 

[Xor]

That's pretty much the exact reason the industry is doomed - targeting the lowest common denominator is not sustainable in the long run. Hardcore gamers get tired of being sold the same games time and time again, and move on to other hobbies. It happened to me a few years ago, and it happened to friends of mine. Part of it is maturity, I think; the industry seems to aim for teenagers. Another part is that I just haven't seen very many really good games come out recently, and I'm sure that's the case with many others who have gaming behind.

Hardcore games are getting harder to sell, so companies are cutting back on the more "experimental" offerings they used to release - the kinds of games that are usually underfunded wannabe shit, but can sometimes be really good. Psychonauts comes to mind as an example. There's no way in hell a publisher would take a chance on that game in the industry today, it's just too out there.

Anyway, that's enough ranting for now.

 

[Beautiful Clown Painting]

higher quality products require time, careful planning, precise execution, excessive amounts of verification, and time.

Not sure of it, "Bloodlines" was kind of rushed regarding its scope (and it's true that it feels so on the end of the game) but it's a magnificent game nervertheless.

 

[Ch1ef]

Beautiful First post.
:respect:

 

[Volourn]

BL was good. But, it's horirble shitty combat ruined. I liked its b00bioes though so that earned it a 5% bonus.

As for actual topic, if DA doesn't sell 2 mil copies, BIO should throw themselves in the trash. Seriously, it's on PS3, 360, *and* PC. Even JE solid 600k+} copies in the first 6 months of its existence and that was only on the original xbox... and, comapred to BIO's other big RPGs (BG series, NWN, KOTOR, and ME), those sales are kinda of lacking.

If DA can't sell 2 mil + copies in a reasonable amount of time over 3 systems, FAIL.

 

[baronjohn]

I mean, people might give it a token minimum effort,

They've been doing that since the first one.

Ohh burn.

 

[Jaesun]

BL was good. But, it's horirble shitty combat ruined. I liked its b00bioes though so that earned it a 5% bonus.

This is the key to understanding volo...

 

[godsend1989]

so the collector`s edition is 70 bucks x 2millions = a lot of shit but don`t worry they will sell it fine, you don`t have to be and rpg player to play DA but at the same time the game is made for hardcore players. In the first few hours of gameplay i was not very impressed it has a slow start but the fun begins later.(blood in this game is fucking hilarious)

 

[treave]

I could see DA selling quite a lot on the Xbox360 initially. Word of mouth about difficulty, the lack of actiony combat, and the need to read may impact sales in that market though.

Also, filthy pirates are killing the gaming industry by taking what they want (Modern Warfare 2, for example) without paying for it.