I'd love to see one of the console brands standing up to these publishers. It would take big balls, but in the long run, it will help consumers.
The vocal minority (majority here, minority in the main) won't change a thing. This game will be on of the years biggest sellers and no amount of frame rate issues will impact pre-orders. All this review embargo nonsense puts so much power in the publishers hands and is really hurting consumers.
The problem is, the pre-order people really are beta testing games now. Digital delivery (and updates) are in some ways a good thing, but it really is a system that is being abused.
Back in the day, when a game was released on a disc or a cartridge, that was that. No downloadable updates. No fixes.
That doesn't mean to say that games were bug free, of course some existed. But in the main, publishers and developers had to get most things 99% right. There was no release dates. There was no 'pressure' to get the game out on a set date to hit marketing budgets. Everything just worked.
Compare it to the movie industry. Anyone remember the Wolverine 'Pirate Copy' debacle?
Read about it here -
Basically, a half finished copy of Wolverine leaked onto the internet. The main bulk of the film was OK, it was some of the CGI that was missing, it even had things like green screen moments where production had not been completed.
Could you imagine if that was released at the cinema to the mainstream? And they basically said "Come back in a few months, once the bugs are all fixed".
In a way, I feel for the developers in all this. They are the ones under pressure.
I work in a development team (not gaming and not as a developer), and I see it all the time. The 'commercial' side of the business tends to win through and often a product is released that we know has bugs. Now, if those are minor that will impact a small number of people, then it may be a risk worth taking (e.g different browsers and OS's)
With gaming and consoles, it is a closed system. So if a frame rate impacts on person on one console, it will impact every person who has the same console.
All I ask for is a game that works. If that means toning down a graphical effect, reducing the NPC's, reducing the resolution. I am fine with that. I don't demand 60 fps on all my games. I understand the limitations of development. I expect a rock solid 30 though, this is not the N64.