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[danmaku]

Annualized AAA games.

I mean, the financial aspect of it makes sense. I know why Activision, Ubisoft, & others do it.

But I am a bit perplexed that people haven't burned out faster on the model. After a couple years of it, my interest level in keeping up with a series drops so much. I need to take a few years off before I can build up any excitement for another one.

Not many franchises can afford annual releases, but these franchises are so popular that a core fanbase buys the new game every year, and there's a ton more people that buys a game every two or three years, so they don't get burned. And then there's people that buy an AC or a CoD game, play it for a couple of months and then don't play anything else until next year because they don't care that much about gaming and they have other hobbies. Also, non hardcore gamers are way less obsessed with 100% completion and achievements so they don't get burned on grinding XP or finding collectables.

Besides, the fact that a game follows a well known, familiar formula with a few new twists is actually a positive for a lot of people. You know what you're buying.

There's a lot of good reasons as to why the model works. It doesn't always work, though. People got burned on Guitar Hero because too many games came out (much more than one per year!) and there weren't enough variations on the formula. For all the shit CoD and AC get, they offer a new story and new maps/world every year. Guitar Hero just offered new songs.

 

[a.wd]

People pre ordering? I mean, does it really bring you that much satisfaction to pay for a digital item before its ready for release?

People discounting PC as a gaming platform (especially when it comes to game comparison, that's just silly)

People treating Indy games as mainline games, they are different, it's not a bad thing that they are. in fact make a brilliant one and you may get loads of profit. Or not. #indies

 

[Matty77]

Ill bite.

I truly do not understand the nostalgia and red rose glasses of people acting like everything is shit now and that the Nes/Master system-SNES/Genesis era was some gaming nirvana that just pumped out classic after classic ( though I will admit it's nowhere near as bad here on GAF which is one reason I joined).

As someone who has gamed since about 83 I was there and there was just as many shit/shoveware/ and broken games. It's just 20 years odd on no one wants to remember or talk about the Jekyll and Hydes because we know Super Metroid and SMB3 are timeless classics. However right now we focus on the shit of the latest generations because there is no separation. Like Wii had some classics but lots of shoveware and we talk about it. 20 years from now there's a good chance we talk about Xenoblade and Smash and Mario Galaxy but most people will either have stopped thinking about or weren't there to remember the fitness clones, and dance party games and third party licensed waggle fests.

 

[SuomiDude]

One more reply to the Let's Plays.
I enjoy watching someone else play a game that I could never play myself. And that means that I don't want to buy a whole new system just to play some games I only have some interest in. Recently I've watched play throughs of games like Evil Within, Silent Hill 2, 3, Downpour and now I'm wathing a playthrough of Wolfenstein: The New Order. Ok, some of those are on PC, but I'd rather watch a play through of the game for free than buy the game and probably update my computer to even play them. And again, the important part is that I only have some slight interest in the games, definately not enough to buy a console or better PC to play them.
Also I usually watch some good commentator playing the games, someone who has humor, interesting small talk and otherwise good stuff commenting the actual game. If you find a good commentator, the Let's Plays are a high quality entertainment.

 

[Magnet_Man]

With the recent announcement of Guilty Gear Xrd getting an updated version while the original still hasn't even been released worldwide yet, I continue to be baffled by fighting game players not being outraged at buying another disc release for TWO characters on top of on disc-characters being locked behind an $8 paywall each.

Not just Guilty Gear but also BlazBlue. I can't understand how a company can keep being so gross with their releases and their consumers continually and gladly lining up for more.

Could you imagine the prospect of a new game system generation being announced every 14 months?

 

[Kai Dracon]

With the recent announcement of Guilty Gear Xrd getting an updated version while the original still hasn't even been released worldwide yet, I continue to be baffled by fighting game players not being outraged at buying another disc release for TWO characters on top of on disc-characters being locked behind an $8 paywall each.

Not just Guilty Gear but also BlazBlue. I can't understand how a company can keep being so gross with their releases and their consumers continually and gladly lining up for more.

Could you imagine the prospect of a new game system generation being announced every 14 months?

To be fair, a lot of people don't like the way Arc handles their games. On Event Hubs, the GGXRD revision was met with scorn by the posters and expectations Arc would once again release a near-full priced disc for two characters and a few extra visual novel story scenes.

So I think the dissatisfaction is growing. Arc is the only one still behind the times; everyone else is building their games to be fully patchable. Who knows. Maybe it's showing up in sales. I thought Guilty Gear Xrd hadn't sold that well in Japan, and in the US it went on PSN firesale soon after release.

 

[Relativ9]

Steam sales, doesn't matter how cheap they get, a game you'll never play is still expensive.

 

[Aaron-Lagann]

Games that don't have an anime art style. Don't get the appeal.

 

[Magnet_Man]

To be fair, a lot of people don't like the way Arc handles their games. On Event Hubs, the GGXRD revision was met with scorn by the posters and expectations Arc would once again release a near-full priced disc for two characters and a few extra visual novel story scenes.

So I think the dissatisfaction is growing. Arc is the only one still behind the times; everyone else is building their games to be fully patchable. Who knows. Maybe it's showing up in sales. I thought Guilty Gear Xrd hadn't sold that well in Japan, and in the US it went on PSN firesale soon after release.

They strike me as being annoyed at best at having to buy another version, rather than saying, "No, I'm not supporting this anymore". If anything, they're more upset at not having their favorite character added rather than paying $40 for two new characters and a balance patch. I also wouldn't put too much weight into low Japanese sales since console software sales in Japan are dropping across the board.

It's bringing in money though since when I checked Eventhubs to see what you meant, they had a news story about BlazBlue getting a new version coming out 2016 with the team wanting to add, shockingly, two new characters. Didn't the latest version of BB get released outside of Japan last month? I don't even know if it's hit Europe and beyond yet.

It's not confusing that consumers dislike Arc's practices. What is confusing is that they keep encouraging it. Arc doesn't give a crap that the players are muttering swears under their breath.

 

[Shengar]

Mobile games
and AAA games development cycle
Both kills gaming pretty steadily over the year.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

Could you imagine the prospect of a new game system generation being announced every 14 months?

It's been mentioned before, and honestly in some ways I could imagine it. Phones and tablets and prebuilt computers manage it.