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Post by Wanderer From Ys on Mar 25, 2009 16:47:57 GMT -5
Also, when video and audio tapes came out, back in the day, all the companies where crying out that recording was pirating, so you see, that's just the way they are. Same with Napster/downloading music. Now even Metallica is on itunes. Piracy hasn't lessed, it's become easier. But the music industry found a way to get a piece of the pie, so they don't care. On the other hand home video games did kill the arcades. |
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Post by SkyeWelse on Mar 25, 2009 18:14:26 GMT -5
You know, I can't prove what I'm about to say, but one day I was at a local Game Stop and the employee working there and I were talking about old Nintendo cartridges and the fact that none of the mainstream video game shops seem to carry them anymore. The employee told me something that if it was true, sounds terrible on the part of Nintendo as a company. Apparently this employee was working for Blockbuster for a time when Wii had just come out and Virtual Console was just getting started. He said that one day the the Blockbuster company was told by Nintendo to take all of the used Nintendo games for the NES, SNES systems that they had not sold yet and physically destroy them. He said that he and another guy had to take a pile of older cartridges to the back of the store and smash them. This of course was to get rid of older carts so that it made them harder to find and so more people would have to look to Virtual Console as a means of finding the game.
It's just a story, but if the guy was telling the truth, then that's pretty terrible.
-Thomas
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Post by Red Hairdo on Mar 25, 2009 19:37:12 GMT -5
 THAT is a crime! |
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Post by Wanderer From Ys on Mar 25, 2009 19:58:09 GMT -5
I find that a bit hard to believe. I just can't see a manager having his employees waste company time breaking cartridges, when they can just throw them in the garbage. Besides Nintendo doesn't have any authority over blockbuster anyway. They would either have to compensate them for all the money they were losing, which would defeat the purpose of having them pull the games in the first place. Or they would have to threaten the business relationship, which seems also seems a bit unlikely. Blockbuster deal in mostly used games anyway, so Nintendo holding back products wouldn't be an issue. Also I don't think Nintendo was in any position to do something like this prior to the Wii being released.
Stranger things have happened, but I think that employee was a BSer.
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Post by SkyeWelse on Mar 25, 2009 20:30:30 GMT -5
Well, I sure hope so he was a BSer. : ) Kind of an oddball story to come up with considering it was from his supposed first-hand experience at having to physically destroy them.
-Thomas
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Post by Red Hairdo on Mar 25, 2009 20:42:24 GMT -5
I should have said "THAT is/would have been a crime.". xD that's what I meant.
Now, whether the story is true or not... I just don't know. It can and can't be.
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Post by terpsichore on Mar 25, 2009 23:21:19 GMT -5
You can see stores throwing away food instead of giving it to homeless people every day, i wouldn't be surprised.
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Post by Wanderer From Ys on Mar 25, 2009 23:49:52 GMT -5
That's not completely true. I worked in the grocery industry for 14 years, and lots to stores donate day old bakery stuff, cakes, bread, bagels donuts and muffins, and the morning produce cull to soup kitchens. However it's done on a store to store basis, and it requires very little from us. Meaning all we do is not throw it out. It's up the soup kitchen volunteers to pick it up. Again though this why I have trouble with this story. As a manager myself I find it hard to believe that they would waste company time, and pay employees to hang out in the back and break stuff. Throwing them out I guess is plausible, destroying them, I don't believe. Well, I sure hope so he was a BSer. : ) Kind of an oddball story to come up with considering it was from his supposed first-hand experience at having to physically destroy them. -Thomas Some people make up stories to impress people, I'm sure everyone knows someone like that. If you see a clown, he saw 3 clowns juggling on a unicycle. Why do they do it? I find it's usually extraverts that have low self esteem. Of course I'm just guessing, I wasn't there. |
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Post by Adol.Christin on Mar 26, 2009 3:37:58 GMT -5
Dutch law is very stupid on this whole download thing. Here you are to download just about anything and get away with it, since you're downloading for yourself. only distributing copyrighted content is illegal at this point.
I just find it morally wrong, the artist of the music you like, the film director you like or the programmers of the game that you love to play don't get any money form you. and the less money they get, the cheaper stuff they will release.
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Post by terpsichore on Mar 26, 2009 4:21:29 GMT -5
Actually its not stupid, its how it should be, and yes, selling stuff cheaper is a good way to sell more, trying to stone people for downloading isn't.
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Post by Ranzor on Mar 27, 2009 1:16:51 GMT -5
I think he meant cheaper as worse. Anyway, that's what companies should do, sell things at a cheaper price, but sometimes all they do is say they can't lower their price because they got to make up for losses with pirating... stupid, really.
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Mar 27, 2009 1:33:49 GMT -5
I think that's how I'll roll. Specials, discounts, etc. -- hey, like some other company we know! I'm looking at you, Falcom!  |
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Post by terpsichore on Mar 27, 2009 4:55:01 GMT -5
Well, honestly, most of the times horrible games come out because:
A: The makers lack ideas and in the end don't really know what to do, so they pile up something random quickly and sell it.
B: Publishers force them to release unfinished game.
C: There was never any intention of making a good game in the first place, just something to sell, either because of the saga name ( i'm looking at you FFs ), hype or false advertising. This is quite common today, specially coming from big publishers.
Only crappy companies/artists cry because of pirating, its a fact, something good will always sell, and not just the game, merchandising as well.
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Post by Wanderer From Ys on Mar 27, 2009 21:27:21 GMT -5
C: There was never any intention of making a good game in the first place, just something to sell, either because of the saga name ( i'm looking at you FFs ), hype or false advertising. This is quite common today, specially coming from big publishers. Come on now. I don't deny they are milking the Final Fantasy name, but to say they aren't even trying is just false. None of the games scream poor programming, or low production values. A better example would've been acclaim with all their Mary Kate & and Ashley games, or various tv shows or movies. I've been disappointed by FF 10-2, XII, and the Crystal Chronicles myself, but they are freaking masterpieces compare to SouthPark 64. Square at least gets an A for effort. |
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Mar 27, 2009 21:59:02 GMT -5
Sounds like EQ, and WoW. I can't believe how many people are addicted to those. It's like they WANT to be ARPGs, but they're stuck on auto-pilot like god-awful MUDs with a terrible story and overall progression. // When I say "god-awful MUDs", I'm not slamming MUDs, I'm just slamming the ones that are god-awful. I love MUDs, although I haven't played one (or stuck with one, for that matter) in so long. |
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Post by terpsichore on Mar 28, 2009 3:12:12 GMT -5
For me, the worst examples of souless games were Morrowind/Oblivion, both highly rated and hyped, there is absolutely nothing fun in these games
As for MMOs, to me the only one that had "soul" was Ragnarok Online, you just really can't give a soul to a MMO, since they are all based around the same concepts.
Replaying old titles gives me more pleasure than most of new games, i guess there's a reason for it, i could trade all the games released on new gen consoles for a copy of Baldur's Gate II or Suikoden I/II.
Another interesting fact is that MMOs already sucessful and somewhat good, start to get dumbed down in order to "appear" to a wider range of public and sell more, and in the end the game is beyond unplayable, but of course, what could these people who belong to "wider range of public" know, since their gaming experience is probably very poor.
They just never played really good games, they can't know, so they are having fun with the commercial trash. The most famous example of the above statement is WoW.
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Post by Wanderer From Ys on Mar 28, 2009 9:43:17 GMT -5
I understand the soulless game thing, that's a phrase I've used for a long time. It's a big part of the reason I like Falcom games. Their games have that soul to them that makes them greater than the sum of all their parts. In fact I agree with you that Squares games haved lacked soul for quite a while, but I don't agree that they don't have any intention of making good games. I think it more because the current team is trying to recreate someone else vision, without fully understanding what it is that makes it great. Square's decline is obvious, and it can be traced to Sakaguchi leaving the company. But while the current games lack soul, I don't believe they are focus grouped titles made because they are marketable, it's because they are immitations rather than innovations. To put it simply Square is making Final Fantasy clones at this point, because they don't know how to make them. Again I didn't like FFXII, but it's not in the same category with Simpsons Wrestling, or DOA Volleyball.
Add Fallout 3 to that, their other game. I really don't get their following.
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Post by lindaluv on Mar 28, 2009 12:55:12 GMT -5
I actually wholeheartedly agree with the above post. And our company, BTW, falls under point C in that list, unfortunately.  I can vouch for the fact that that does, in fact, happen in the gaming industry... often. I call it "soullessness". And our most recent game is pretty soulless. -Tom Most recent game??? If its by falcom you dont mean Brandish DO YOU!!! What game do you mean??? |
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Mar 28, 2009 13:17:55 GMT -5
He's talking about his company, which wyrdwad isn't allowed to talk about to a greater extent. Rest assured, he's not talking about Falcom or Brandish.  |
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Post by Incog Neato on Mar 29, 2009 14:21:56 GMT -5
Most recent game??? If its by falcom you don't mean Brandish DO YOU!!! What game do you mean??? Good lord, you are obsessed with Brandish. :P |
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I can vouch for the fact that that does, in fact, happen in the gaming industry... often. I call it "soullessness". And our most recent game is pretty soulless. 
