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[Eel O'Brian]

http://cruncheons.podbean.com/mf/web/gy73f3/Cruncheons46.mp3

Doug returns.

(1:35) Dead Digital Future - Discs everywhere, at least for one more console generation!

(39:23) Hardware Hopes and Dreams - iOS 7 & controller support, Windows 8.1, Haswell, Android, new Windows tablets

(1:10:35) Summer Fun - games we're looking forward to for the rest of the season

Thanks, and we'll talk to you again soon!

 

[Blast Processing]

Oh man, a Tuesday surprise.

 

[Gloam]

Boy, oh boy, hoping to hear about some summer games I might not have considered, you fellas are good for that sorta stuff.

 

[Fragamemnon]

This episode brought to you by Monster Energy Zero Ultra, the drink of 9AM Powerpoint presenters around the world.

(seriously though that shit is awesome-I have to restrain myself to one a week).

edit: I know I am going to get flamed a bit for the used game segment and some of the claims I made there, but my general point is that if you are unhappy with the status quo of big publisher output, demanding more status quo of the way games are sold and marketed isn't going to solve that unhappiness. And again, Microsoft's tactical decisions to implement their digital-only strategy are indefensible.

 

[HamPster PamPster]

This was an excellent episode. I'm disappointed the Monster White Can talk happened just as I was leaving the grocery store. I might pick some up next time to give it a shot if I remember. I'll make sure to let everyone know who sent me

Spoiler

big fat uncut cruncheons cocks

Also this was the first time I've heard a well thought out defense of no used games and how it could benefit hardcore games. A breath of fresh air after listening to journalists on other podcasts trying desperately to form some sort of justification for it. Robert almost won me over.

Anyway, while gamestop is shitty now I still have some nostalgia for it / EB Games / Babagges from the PS1 era. After I bought my first car the thing I was most excited to do was drive all over town visiting the different game shops to see who had what and I found a few gems.* Things weren't always this shitty.


* Wait, is Hoshigami a gem? Okay so maybe I didn't find any gems...

 

[Blast Processing]

'How can the used games model allow for a long tail of software sales?'

I don't think the presence of a used games market has an effect either way on catalog sales (which I take to be what you mean when you refer to the long tail, in this case). The problem is that there is no shelf space for these older games.

Places like Target only stock the newest of the new, so while you might hypothetically find Company of Heroes 2 in a store, the likelihood of also finding the first in the series, or even a more recent release from the same company like Dawn of War II, drops off precipitously.

That is part of the reason why digital retailers are so great, not just for consumers, but also for publishers. If I find myself a latter day convert to the church of Relic, I can easily go back and find their earlier games to drop a few bucks on, and the company gets some support.

This may be a separate point, but I don't think it is the job of the consumer to support failing business models. If publishers can't go on the way they are with AAA releases whilst supporting a used market, then the onus is on them to either cut back to multiple AA releases, or bat a thousand on every single AAAAA release they gamble on.

 

[Drinky Crow]

hoshigami is awesome and i'll brook no dissent

 

[border]

"Dead Digital Future"

Is Doug salty over Microsoft's 180?

Looking forward to listening to this, I am glad I've been able to get back into the show after a long hiatus. The past few episodes were quite good.

 

[Fragamemnon]

I'm probably more salty than Doug is, though we have both shitbinned all the consoles next gen, many 'NO CONSOLE FUTURE' replies were seen during E3.

hoshigami is awesome and i'll brook no dissent

playing this on the ol' PSOne+LCD screen back in the day was magic.

Places like Target only stock the newest of the new, so while you might hypothetically find Company of Heroes 2 in a store, the likelihood of also finding the first in the series, or even a more recent release from the same company like Dawn of War II, drops off precipitously.

You can find copies of year old games at Target. Unless they were complete bombs, they will still be there. I can buy PSVita launch games at mine still, and you know how many people actually bought physical Vita games. I'm talking about the 2-6 month timeframe anyway, where aggressive cutting of used game prices and wide availability eats into the ability to sell games for even significant discounts (e.g. see what Ubisoft has to do to move new copies of AC3 six months after it came out, for example, and they still get undercut by used sales).

Ideally we'd be in a place like Steam where there is a known tier of prices:

- initial buy-in price , comes with tons of preorder stuff that isn't necessarily just weapon reskins and the wub wub wub soundtrack in 128kbps MP3s. For example , free giftable games.
- One month discounted price.
- Three months in, deeply discounted price (1/2 of original retail)
- Six months in - 2/3 off or so
- Six months + = $5-$10 or a preorder bonus.

Note that console retail does kind of follow this up through three months in, and it is after that where the whole thing breaks down from used game pressure.

This may be a separate point, but I don't think it is the job of the consumer to support failing business models.

The thing is that the model doesn't really fail the companies. THQ got pasted because they couldn't keep up with the modern AAA market, and EA has had problems because of really awful management decisions not really related to the AAA business model. The other players have been fine with the AAA model. The huge marketing budgets that exist specifically to frontload sales and not escape gravity's pull of used game resales are the AAA business' model response to used games. Please note that those marketing expenditures literally do nothing for you as a gamer.

The real question is whether or not the AAA model works, its whether or not it serves your gaming interests. At least from our tastes on the show, it really hasn't.

 

[GhaleonQ]

Quality definitely wasn't compromised by the quick return. Nice one, all.

This may be a separate point, but I don't think it is the job of the consumer to support failing business models. If publishers can't go on the way they are with AAA releases whilst supporting a used market, then the onus is on them to either cut back to multiple AA releases, or bat a thousand on every single AAAAA release they gamble on.

In addition to the followup from The Real Deal below, I think I would add that there are different levels of market disruption. Resold products should exist, obviously (Gamestop was the best summer job I could imagine, in fact), but I think a huge resale marketplace causes more chaos than it's worth. It's not "piracy" bad, but I think The Cruncheons' discussion outlined how the process works.

My goal: protect mid-tier developers.
Blockbuster release: bogarts spotlight in-store, in media, and in social media.
Blockbuster post-release: deals run to maximize attention paid to blockbusters (or, admittedly, surprise hits) for 2nd wave of consumers (selling or buying)
Blockbuster long-tail: used game market consists largely of blockbusters of days past, since chains don't curate so much as warehouse

Smaller developers don't get breathing room unless (as I was) the Gamestop is the only player in miles and can afford to suggest quality games instead of just slinging promotions.

PC doesn't seem to have this problem.

I don't have detailed market research, unfortunately, so I can't say beyond intuition. I also think the podcasters are coming at it from a different angle, which is "get gigantic developers to make better video games with their resources."