• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Fez glitched-patch goes back online, will not be fixed due to re-cert fees

Mechazawa

Member
Wait a minute, didn't this game make bank? I get that sometimes developers aren't paid out immediately, but I would hardly think money is an issue.

Also, why would they choose a patch that breaks the game for some people over the previous version of the game? The previous version seemed fine.
 

Risette

A Good Citizen
Yeah, because Microsoft cares more about profit than they care about letting developers give gamers the best experience possible.
They should've given them the best experience possible before they let gamers give them money, not after.

Indie bums strike again.
 
Isn't this the guy who said he didn't want to release it on PC because he wanted the game to be a console experience?

Yes.

“Fez is a console game, not a PC game,” he states, emphatically. “It’s made to be played with a controller, on a couch, on a Saturday morning. To me, that matters; that’s part of the medium.” I get so many comments shouting at me that I’m an idiot for not making a PC version. ‘You’d make so much more money! Can’t you see? Meatboy sold more on Steam!’ Good for them. But this matters more to me than sales or revenue. It’s a console game on a console. End of story.”

http://www.nowgamer.com/features/950149/fez_interview_polytrons_phil_fish.html
 
MS have this policy for a reason. Its not to steal from people; its to force devs to publish workable games and not to patch unnecessarily or without testing first.

Don't bring out a broken patch. Fez always looked cool but its been a bit of a mess.
 
"Had FEZ been released on steam instead of XBLA, the game would have been fixed two weeks after release, at no cost to us. And if there was an issue with that patch, we could have fixed that right away too!"

yep, that's a great mentality... just push out patches since you can fix the shit you break!
 

ghst

thanks for the laugh
Phil Fish said:
Fez is a console game, not a PC game. It’s made to be played with a controller, on a couch, on a Saturday morning. To me, that matters; that’s part of the medium. I get so many comments shouting at me that I’m an idiot for not making a PC version. ‘You’d make so much more money! Can’t you see? Meatboy sold more on Steam!’ Good for them. But this matters more to me than sales or revenue. It’s a console game on a console. End of story.

dude's gonna take this one to the grave.
 

IrishNinja

Member
Yes. That's the entire point. Instead devs use the fees as an excuse not to fix their broken shit.

no, and it makes even less sense for tiny houses like this one. and how exactly is it an "excuse" when poly - much like we saw before with castle crashers and others - clearly want to fix the issue, but are being actively prohibited from doing so?
take a look at steam - my games seamlessly update all the time from these "lol lazy devs" responding to their community, as though that were a negative, and the platform oddly flourishes.

that other gaffer who called XBL a toxic platform for indie devs nailed it.

Isn't Microsoft the publisher? Why are they charging Polytron for the patch? What the fuck?

this part is also confusing me, idve thought publishing/exclusivity would be a bit more forgiving.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
I hope disgruntled customers express their frustration over Twitter so good ol' Douchey Phil Fish can tell everyone to suck his dick again.
 

Valnen

Member
Polytron had the chance to patch FEZ for free and they fucked it up. This is their fault.

It'd be lovely if Microsoft could let them patch it 72 times for free until they managed to get a bug-free version, but unfortunately that doesn't come free.

(No one would realistically patch a game 72 times really, but I imagine these fees are there to discourage just such behaviour.)

Those fees are there to make Microsoft cash. If Microsoft cared about the experience of gamers they wouldn't have such restrictions because those restrictions end up giving gamers buggier games. Nobody in their right mind should be defending Microsoft here.
 

linko9

Member
Doubt it. Maybe as a Windows 8 release, but that Live exclusivity is pretty iron-clad.

What's Japanese for "comfy couch"?

Well they (he) posted this:

Polytron ‏@Polytron

but HEY! only a few months left to our XBLA exclusivity!

and I assumed that meant they were no longer bound, but is there a lifetime "live" (be it GFWL or XBL) contract involved as well?
 

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
"Polytron ‏@Polytron

but HEY! only a few months left to our XBLA exclusivity!"

So wait. They didn't get paid and they still signed up for Xbox exclusivity? They must have gotten something out of that deal. Does Microsoft require exclusivity just for the privilege of being on their platform, for some games?

Most likely promotion and marketing.
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
Those fees are there to make Microsoft cash. If Microsoft cared about the experience of gamers they wouldn't have such restrictions because those restrictions end up giving gamers buggier games. Nobody in their right mind should be defending Microsoft here.

Cmon now. It can be both, not just one. 1: Make money in case someone has to re-fix their fixes and 2: encourage developers, financially, to not ship broken shit.
 
D

Deleted member 102362

Unconfirmed Member
“Fez is a console game, not a PC game,” he states, emphatically. “It’s made to be played with a controller, on a couch, on a Saturday morning. To me, that matters; that’s part of the medium.” I get so many comments shouting at me that I’m an idiot for not making a PC version. ‘You’d make so much more money! Can’t you see? Meatboy sold more on Steam!’ Good for them. But this matters more to me than sales or revenue. It’s a console game on a console. End of story.”

"Had FEZ been released on steam instead of XBLA, the game would have been fixed two weeks after release, at no cost to us. And if there was an issue with that patch, we could have fixed that right away too!"

So I get the impression this guy says a lot of things he ends up regretting (or that he should regret.)
 

IrishNinja

Member
"only a few months left" of XBLA exclusivity
https://twitter.com/Polytron/status/225746712692662272

ah, good for them. will likely support on steam then.

yep, that's a great mentality... just push out patches since you can fix the shit you break!

you do realize this was like 2 guys, right? i think the righteous indignation this thread's kinda seeing belongs more to massive conglomerates like EA, ubi etc.

Most likely promotion and marketing.

yeah, this'd be my guess, based on stuff from indie movie too.
 
Those fees are there to make Microsoft cash. If Microsoft cared about the experience of gamers they wouldn't have such restrictions because those restrictions end up giving gamers buggier games. Nobody in their right mind should be defending Microsoft here.

No, those fees are there to encourage developers not to release broken shit, and they work for the most part.

Someone said to think of it like a fine rather than a fee, and that's spot on.

"Had FEZ been released on Steam we could be on our 30th patch by now. What bug will we introduce next! Stay tuned to find out!"

Unlimited free patches is not good for gamers. Getting developers to get it right first time is good for gamers.
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
I don't folllow modern gaming development. Why couldn't they get it right the first time?

Not just the first time, second time as well. It's the third time that they decided "we won't pay!"
 

mclem

Member
This isn't the developer's fault. Glitches happen in code. It's a theorem. The fact that Microsoft is charging them at least $20,000 to push what's probably 5 lines of code is Microsoft's fault.

It's not the push that's charged for, it's the *test*. Microsoft doesn't want to inadvertantly authorise a patch which results in the 360 being hacked wide open.

Not a problem on Steam, of course, because your computer is fundamentally open as it is. Consoles' entire business model is structured around the fact that the system is closed, however. You'd have a difficult time convincing any console manufacturer to allow untested code to run on their system.
 

Zomba13

Member
Why didn't they release on Steam? Did they have a deal with Microsoft?

I have to wonder though why it costs so much to patch a game on the 360. What exactly is that money going toward? Does it cost to patch games on Steam too?

Phill wanted Fez to be like a Saturday morning cartoon style experience. Only available on a comfy couch in your living room and big TV.
 

bishoptl

Banstick Emeritus
Well they (he) posted this:



and I assumed that meant they were no longer bound, but is there a lifetime "live" (be it GFWL or XBL) contract involved as well?
Could be an expiry date, but that's just idle conjecture on my part.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Had FEZ been released on steam instead of XBLA, the game would have been fixed two weeks after release, at no cost to us

... so, again, as everyone on earth would point out upon reading this--when are we going to get the mea culpa for the last year of "Nope, no need for a PC release, who needs a PC release, Fez is made to be experienced on a console!!!! LOL!"
 

Risette

A Good Citizen
I get so many comments shouting at me that I’m an idiot for not making a PC version. ‘You’d make so much more money! Can’t you see? Meatboy sold more on Steam!’ Good for them. But this matters more to me than sales or revenue.
Lol, wow.

I guess revenue was too important to test the game properly though. And then to fix it properly (no, a patch that wipes out people's saves, even if this amount of people is small, is not fixing it properly.)
 

Valnen

Member
Cmon now. It can be both, not just one. 1: Make money in case someone has to re-fix their fixes and 2: encourage developers, financially, to not ship broken shit.

Sometimes stuff just can't be foreseen, no matter how good the developer is. There is no good reason to punish gamers for this. The developer isn't getting punished here. It's 360 users who bought the game. Those are the real victims. You are supporting Microsoft crapping on it's users if you support this policy.
 
Maybe they should have got it right the first time, then.

If you truly believe that everything should be fine the first time, then Microsoft's certification process should pick up on these things. The whole idea of putting patches behind a pay wall is crazy to me. I can't believe any developer out there wants to leave their game in a broken state but this is forcing them to.
 

Sean

Banned
I've complained frequently about Microsoft's shitty update process before but Phil Fish still comes across as a giant dickhead here.

Polytron released a buggy game, then released a sloppy patch which didn't fix the issue, then basically goes "oh well" and tries to pass off the blame instead of taking responsibility. Weak.
 

IrishNinja

Member
It'd be lovely if Microsoft could let them patch it 72 times for free until they managed to get a bug-free version, but unfortunately that doesn't come free for Microsoft who have to perform the cert checks.

No, those fees are there to encourage developers not to release broken shit, and they work for the most part.

Someone said to think of it like a fine rather than a fee, and that's spot on.

Unlimited free patches is not good for gamers. Getting developers to get it right first time is good for gamers.

man, your avatar and member title are just perfect for this thread
 

The M.O.B

Member
MS have this policy for a reason. Its not to steal from people; its to force devs to publish workable games and not to patch unnecessarily or without testing first.

Don't bring out a broken patch. Fez always looked cool but its been a bit of a mess.

That would be cool.........if MS's own studios and games they funded weren't guilty of releasing games that need a bunch of patches as well.
 

oneils

Member
Wasn't he talking shit about PCs and saying that this game has to be on a console and would never come to PC at one point? I know he changed his tune later, but I hope he learned his lesson.

Yeah, I remember reading an interview where he stated that he thought the game should only be on console. Can't find it right now.
 

MrDaravon

Member
Microsoft cert fees are probably partly in place to make them money, but in the grand scheme of things $40k actually isn't that much, since there are actual costs in pushing things through cert (actual people have to cert them, fairly insignificant hosting costs, etc). Also they want to not allow people to just put out patches constantly that could potentially break shit (like this) or have even worse effects (bricking the system or affecting something outside of the game).

Obviously MS could handle it much better and it could be at least cheaper, but there is at least a nugget of wisdom in there. I agree that in this case it's more baffling as it makes them look bad, and this is an exclusive of some kind. No idea.

It's not the push that's charged for, it's the *test*. Microsoft doesn't want to inadvertantly authorise a patch which results in the 360 being hacked wide open.

Not a problem on Steam, of course, because your computer is fundamentally open as it is. Consoles' entire business model is structured around the fact that the system is closed, however. You'd have a difficult time convincing any console manufacturer to allow untested code to run on their system.

Pretty much. I honestly only believe that Sony doesn't charge on PS3 (at least I don't think they do?) to get a one-up on Microsoft. Doesn't Sony charge for bandwidth used in demo downloads though?
 
D

Deleted member 47027

Unconfirmed Member
Sometimes stuff just can't be foreseen, no matter how good the developer is. There is no good reason to punish gamers for this. The developer isn't getting punished here. It's 360 users who bought the game. Those are the real victims. You are supporting Microsoft crapping on it's users if you support this policy.

I understand where you're coming from, but they had two chances to do this without the fine - and decided to go ahead and not pay and release the bad patch. I understand mistakes happen, things can come out of extensive testing that in-house testing can't do, but if you want to have this bigass platform to showcase your game, you need to hold up your end of the deal as well. If there wasn't the fine? Then who knows how many games would have 'shipped' digitally and been forgotten, and possibly broken?
 

HamSandwich

Member
As a consumer, this is really aggravating. I don't care that Fish doesn't want to pay the toll, I only care that he's abandoning the people that bought his game in the first place and passing it off as some fight the power crusade.
 
Top Bottom