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MS decision to set up The Initiative in Santa Monica pays off.

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Rightisright

Rightisright

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Was a master stroke of Microsoft to set up their new studio in Santa Monica.
With the SJW antics of Naughty Dog, apparently The Initiative has had a heap of quality ex ND employees come over to team green.
I was a little sceptical at first, but it was a smart decision.
 
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Rightisright said:
Was a master stroke of Microsoft to set up their new studio in Santa Monica.
With the SJW antics of Naughty Dog, apparently The Initiative has had a heap of quality ex ND employees come over to team green.
I was a little sceptical at first, but it was a smart decision.
Click to expand...

Good projects are results of good execution. Employees are not that defining.
MSFT problem is Gamepass, which will steer a lot of execution in a specific way.
 
KingdomHeartsFan said:
We still gotta wait and see the Initiative's game. They might get a crap ton of talented devs then one SJW team lead that makes the decisions fucks everything up.
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Pretty sure it's perfect dark.
Their comments about Rare being the new IP factory only makes sense if some other studio is making one of their old IPs.
 
psorcerer said:
Good projects are results of good execution. Employees are not that defining.
MSFT problem is Gamepass, which will steer a lot of execution in a specific way.
Click to expand...
Nah, Gamepass is just another option to play.
Let's be honest, people aren't going to sign up for it to play a heap of B grade games they don't want to play.
It's going to need killer titles to keep people on board.
Is Netflix only putting on b grade movies, or are they producing amazing content?

I personally don't have gamepass as I prefer to buy the titles I actually want to play.
 
Rightisright said:
Pretty sure it's perfect dark.
Their comments about Rare being the new IP factory only makes sense if some other studio is making one of their old IPs.
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Why should it be Perfect Dark? The Coalition was the one that was rumored to work on Perfect Dark. The Initiative is working on Microsoft's AAAA game, not exactly what you would associate with Perfect Dark.
 
psorcerer said:
Good projects are results of good execution. Employees are not that defining.
MSFT problem is Gamepass, which will steer a lot of execution in a specific way.
Click to expand...
Yeah... I was just thinking.... they are releasing 2 consoles which will require more time of devs despite game sales being pretty bad on Xbox. (See Witcher 3 sales per platform etc)

Gamepass also undercuts game sales...shown by Gears 5 sales.

It would be great to see PD return to greatness but will it make up for all the games they could lose due to the demands of putting more time into xbox for wayyyyy less sales???
 
darkinstinct said:
Why should it be Perfect Dark? The Coalition was the one that was rumored to work on Perfect Dark. The Initiative is working on Microsoft's AAAA game, not exactly what you would associate with Perfect Dark.
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Too many rumours for it not to be.
Plus, most likely they want The Initiative to get off to a good start, so let the start out with a beloved IP..
 
psorcerer said:
Let's face it XBSX will not be X360.
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Probably not.

Console and handheld sales have been dropping for years. The hey day was last gen when 360, Wii, PS3 were firing on all cylinders and handhelds were sky high too with DS and PSP. Add up all these sales, and you got close to 500 million units,

Switch, PS4 and PS5 won't be hitting Wii or PS2 levels either.
 
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We'll see if MS manages them right.

Sony has a great foundation for their world wide studios they nurture their talent so when one person leaves, they have another talented person in position to step up their game
 
StreetsofBeige said:
Console and handheld sales have been dropping for years. The hey day was last gen when 360, Wii, PS3 were firing on all cylinders and handhelds were sky high too with DS and PSP. Add up all these sales, and you got close to 500 million units,
Click to expand...

I don't really care. In my customer's hat I care about amazing, long, beautiful games.
If MSFT won't do them, I'm not interested.
 
Hobbygaming said:
We'll see if MS manages them right.

Sony has a great foundation for their world wide studios they nurture their talent so when one person leaves, they have another talented person in position to step up their game
Click to expand...

Edit:
Baby wants a baba!
 
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StreetsofBeige said:
Probably not.

Console and handheld sales have been dropping for years. The hey day was last gen when 360, Wii, PS3 were firing on all cylinders and handhelds were sky high too with DS and PSP. Add up all these sales, and you got close to 500 million units,

Switch, PS4 and PS5 won't be hitting Wii or PS2 levels either.
Click to expand...
PS4 already surpassed the Wii.
 
Rightisright said:
Naughty Dog's Sylvia Chambers joins Microsoft's The Initiative as Character Animator

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giphy.gif
 
Also I think I would be disappointed if their game is Perfect Dark. Don't get me wrong I'm all for a new PD but when this studio was announced, I was expecting something brand new. Guess we will find out soon
 
psorcerer said:
Netflix is irrelevant here.
MSFT was statig that they will not be producing development heavy AAA games.
And this initiative team is pretty small too.
Let's face it XBSX will not be X360.
Click to expand...

You're being oddly pessimistic and dismissive when we have not even begun to see the full breadth of what MS or Sony will be offering. Doesn't seem like a healthy mindset to have IMHO, but you do you.

psorcerer said:
I don't really care. In my customer's hat I care about amazing, long, beautiful games.
If MSFT won't do them, I'm not interested.
Click to expand...

Excuse me but how are Sony 1st-party games "long"? You're talking about 6-12 hr story campaigns on average, and IMO not a lot of those stories have enough meat on the bone for repeated playthroughs.

We're not talking stuff on the level of Stalker, Brazil, Pulp Fiction etc. and while that's a criticism that could be levied against a lot of games, it also means a lot of Sony's stuff is suspect to the same criticism, honestly.
 
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farmerboy said:
On a perm warning for troll threads and this is the thread you start?
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Nothing meaningful to add?
No opinion on if MS taking the risk of starting a new studio in the heart of some of the best studios was a good gamble?
It was a gamble. There was no guarantee of attracting AAA talent, and it appears that it paid off.
 
Rightisright said:
Just the most recent example. There's been plenty more.
And if I was a Sony person, I would be more worried about the state of ND than trying to make light of a new and up coming AAAA studio.
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You fell for that clickbait article I see Lol
 
kretos said:
you mutha fucking son of a bitch i avoided spoilers thread and you just post spoilers here you fucking cunt
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Yep, I avoided spoilers by not reading anything in any TLOU threads on here or the other site and this guy posts it in a reply 🙄
 
psorcerer said:
Netflix is irrelevant here.
MSFT was statig that they will not be producing development heavy AAA games.
And this initiative team is pretty small too.
Let's face it XBSX will not be X360.
Click to expand...

You hope. Minus new exclusive JRPG, it's already looking a whole hell of a lot better out the gate.

You think it really matters how small The Initiative is when they have a shit ton of resources at their disposal internally at Microsoft? What stops them from remaining small and agile but operating as a top tier production and design team that helps with planning, overseeing and directing development of new major projects using staff from The Coalition or some other internal studio at Microsoft? Kinda like how Mistwalker operated. Both the studios that made Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey weren't apart of Mistwalker, but studios that were basically enlisted to work on big projects led by the small team of talent gathered inside Mistwalker under Sakaguchi's leadership.

Even ensemble studios, to my knowledge, were also brought in to help with Blue Dragon.
 
Hobbygaming said:
Yep, I avoided spoilers by not reading anything in any TLOU threads on here or the other site and this guy posts it in a reply 🙄
Click to expand...

Exactly, me too. It wasn't exactly a shocking revelation, but still... it's the principal of the thing. People who get enjoyment out of depriving it from others deserve to have the doorbell ring as soon as they sit down, everytime for the rest of their lives.
 
It is my understanding that it's not that ND is suddenly super interested in diversity and shit, but more so that the whole community around SM and that area it's pretty much in the same wagon. I mean, if that it's how you are reading it OP. It makes no sense to say that developers are escaping from ND because of SJW to some MS studio if it's in the same area.

On the other hand, Santa Monica Studio with GOW has no qualms on stepping on some Valkyries heads, so i don't buy the narrative of ND's social concerns to be the problem.
I do find fishy how much movement there has being inside of Sony's World Wide Studios, from talent to the people running it, but i have no clue nor read anyone pin pointing the cause of it.
 
SenjutsuSage said:
You hope. Minus new exclusive JRPG, it's already looking a whole hell of a lot better out the gate.

You think it really matters how small The Initiative is when they have a shit ton of resources at their disposal internally at Microsoft? What stops them from remaining small and agile but operating as a top tier production and design team that helps with planning, overseeing and directing development of new major projects using staff from The Coalition or some other internal studio at Microsoft? Kinda like how Mistwalker operated. Both the studios that made Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey weren't apart of Mistwalker, but studios that were basically enlisted to work on big projects led by the small team of talent gathered inside Mistwalker under Sakaguchi's leadership.

Even ensemble studios, to my knowledge, were also brought in to help with Blue Dragon.
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Myst Walker is and oddity, they are only about design.
That's kinda their flaw in fact.
Sakaguchi only wanted to move to hawaii and fuck off really.
They are rolling on that mobile cash right now, no more ambitions needed.
 
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