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[TheRipDizz]

Oh my God.
:lol

The PS2 caught fire because of this series. I think if anything Sony should have came up with the cash to counter any 360 extras,its simple business. Afterall Sony was notorious for nabbing exclusives and using money hats way back in the PSX era. They simply didn't care enough to do that this time around,blame then,not their competition.

That's when they were trying to steal them from Sega. That shit ain't flyin that easily no more.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Over 100M USD on them? Meaning only these 2 sets of content, not the GTA IV itself?

No. They have not spent even 50 million on GTAIV itself.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

I'll take the best version of the two. If the game runs better on PS3 I'll get that one even if there might not be any downloadable episode. If both are equal, 360 version for DLC.

I do have a feeling that there will be a GTA4 "greatest hits" release with the 360 content "previously unreleased on PS3"...

you think 50 mill from microsoft is going to go towards something that will be on the PS3. I have a bridge to sell to you.

 

[szaromir]

No. They have not spent even 50 million on GTAIV itself.

What are budget for next-gen games like? I read that R6 Vegas cost 25M to make, so it wouldn't surprise me if GTA has much higher... Though 50M would be incredible by itself. Not to mention 100M. But seriously, if Microsoft spent that much money on that, these episodes must be really something special to make this sort of moneyhats worth it.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

you think 50 mill from microsoft is going to go towards something that will be on the PS3. I have a bridge to sell to you.

:lol the amount keeps going up. By October its going to be "Guys, Microsoft didn't pay $1 billion for something that will be on PS3..."

 

[Tieno]

:lol the amount keeps going up. By October its going to be "Guys, Microsoft didn't pay $1 billion for something that will be on PS3..."

Read the previous page, it's 50mil. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6754804&postcount=375

 

[Oblivion]

:lol the amount keeps going up. By October its going to be "Guys, Microsoft didn't pay $1 billion for something that will be on PS3..."

Beg yer pardon?

 

[chubigans]

you think 50 mill from microsoft is going to go towards something that will be on the PS3. I have a bridge to sell to you.

Hah, that's pretty much the capper for this episodic content. It will never ever be coming to the PS3. You don't pay that kind of money to only have a timed exclusive, after all.

Now, the real question is...will this prevent Rockstar from making it's own DLC for the PS3? If they are, they're not getting any help from Sony it seems. I doubt it very much at this point.

 

[Phoenix Down]

i wonder how much there going to charge for each one... lol if shivering isle was 30.... i could imagine these will be a pretty penny too at least

my guess is 30-39.99

if true.. that Entry point could scare Some people away

 

[Smokey]

$50,000,000.00.


50 million dollars..


:lol :lol


And some of you are getting pissed at Rockstar:lol

 

[ghostmind]

If the 360 version isn't suffering in any way (ie. lower framerate) then this will be a no-brainer...

 

[Merovingian]

Holy crap. They must be Full size expansion packs. Who wants to bet they will be sold in retail too!?

$50,000,000.00.


50 million dollars..


:lol :lol


And some of you are getting pissed at Rockstar:lol

 

[Remy]

It only seems appropriate.

 

[X26]

Don't blame R* but it's wierd that not only did MS buy exclusive DLC for the 360 version, they also bought the right to prevent R* from making any for the PS3.

 

[unomas]

We all knew this back at E3, why is everyone shocked?

 

[UncleGuito]

It only seems appropriate.

Who gives a crap if they buy exclusivity to help their brand. That's the POINT of a competitive business. The whole "money hat" fiasco is the most retarded thing I've ever heard of and is just a cop-out for people who don't approve of Microsoft's gaming endeavours.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Read the previous page, it's 50mil. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6754804&postcount=375

to quote Garnet Lee, thats IN.........................SAAAANE. The release dates would hint that they are going to be pretty sizeable episode packs, which is great news though.

 

[Merovingian]

We all knew this back at E3, why is everyone shocked?

Why?

edit: You sneaky bastard

 

[Rorschach]

50 million dollars for 2 more, eh?

How long before Rockstar pulls a Dave Chappelle and flies to Africa?

 

[soco]

Well I did some more investigating and it seems Microsoft paid $50 million for 2 episodes. From the most recent conference call:


http://seekingalpha.com/article/38017

wow thank you for digging that up. that's pretty amazing.

 

[speculawyer]

Don't blame R* but it's wierd that not only did MS buy exclusive DLC for the 360 version, they also bought the right to prevent R* from making any for the PS3.

Well, that is the only reason why the amounts are so astronomically large. $50 million . . . jeez. MSFT could have bought up a few studios for that. Or fully developed a few major games.

 

[sangreal]

We all knew this back at E3, why is everyone shocked?

nice edit

 

[unomas]

Because we know for a fact that the 360 version will sell more?

Yeah it has the userbase, but its not like every 360 owner will buy it.
GTA is one game despite the userbase difference might sell just as well on the PS3 as it does on 360.. When most people think GTA they think PS.. we'll see if that holds true this time around.

You want to put a one month ban on that?

 

[ORANGUTAN]

$50,000,000 is more than the cost of GTAIV's development and marketing combined!

That's not accurate. GTAIV dev and marketing is probably like a $75 million. FF13 is around there as well..

 

[Merovingian]

Well, that is the only reason why the amounts are so astronomically large. $50 million . . . jeez. MSFT could have bought up a few studios for that. Or fully developed a few major games.

But if the episodic content reaches retail discs...like Half Life 2...man i think it's worth it.

That's not accurate. GTAIV dev and marketing is probably like a $75 million. FF13 is around there as well..

Lol you just pulled those numbers out of your ass. Not to mention why did you include FF13 in it?

the games aren't costing that much people....

And again, if the episodic content reaches retail, 25 mill each sounds like good business to me.

 

[Ether_Snake]

What are budget for next-gen games like? I read that R6 Vegas cost 25M to make, so it wouldn't surprise me if GTA has much higher... Though 50M would be incredible by itself. Not to mention 100M. But seriously, if Microsoft spent that much money on that, these episodes must be really something special to make this sort of moneyhats worth it.

For a game like GTAIV I would say between 40 and 50 million. Rainbow Six was a sequel, it was a rather straightforward development process in the sense that it wasn't very different from the previous iterations. GTAIV is a sequel but everything is basically redone from scratch. So yeah 40 to 50 million, not more.

Puts a different perspective on that 50 million from MS too (they basically paid off for the whole GTAIV development cost, and at the same time it is likely that said DLC will be like a new island or something like that, not just a different set of pants and a blimp).

 

[HyperionX]

$50 million for 2 episodes is just a waste of money.

 

[B-Ri]

Who gives a crap if they buy exclusivity to help their brand. That's the POINT of a competitive business. The whole "money hat" fiasco is the most retarded thing I've ever heard of and is just a cop-out for people who don't approve of Microsoft's gaming endeavours.

theres a difference between incentives for developers, and blatently buying the industry.

 

[Kintaro]

$50 million for 2 episodes is just a waste of money.

Wait, now it's $50 million?

What's the correct number here?

 

[Ninja Scooter]

whats really amazing is that $50 million couldn't apparently land them exclusivity, or at least timed exclusivity, for the entire game! I wonder how much Rockstar was asking for that.

 

[HyperionX]

You guys need to realize that MS will never get their $50 million back. 2 episodes won't come close to cutting it. This is clearly an attempt to hurt Sony and PS3, even if it meant hurting themselves (but they can afford it).

 

[Merovingian]

whats really amazing is that $50 million couldn't apparently land them exclusivity, or at least timed exclusivity, for the entire game! I wonder how much Rockstar was asking for that.

The profits they would've made on the Ps3.

AKA -> too much

You guys need to realize that MS will never get their $50 million back. 2 episodes won't come close to cutting it. This is clearly an attempt to hurt Sony and PS3, even if it meant hurting themselves (but they can afford it).

If the episodic content reaches retail ala half life 2, 25 million each episode that will be the size of a liberty city stories game....that can sell some consoles. And if they put in on the Marketplace too, MS will win some $ back. Sometimes you gotta make moves, MS made this, Sony made moves too, who are we kidding? And from the looks of it Sony will show a couple more at E3. The whole "Sony doesn't money hatt exclusives" is just fanboy talk.

 

[Tieno]

$50 million for 2 episodes is just a waste of money.

They probably see it as
-Pushing people to buy GTA 360 version (which they get royalties from)
-Pushing people to buy a 360
-Attracting people to marketplace

I don't know how else you can justify such a high cost.

 

[Tobor]

theres a difference between incentives for developers, and blatently buying the industry.

No, there really isn't.

 

[ORANGUTAN]

Lol you just pulled those numbers out of your ass. Not to mention why did you include FF13 in it?

the games aren't costing that much people....

And again, if the episodic content reaches retail, 25 mill each sounds like good business to me.

Dude I'm serious... I have no like proof but just from common knowledge over the years, it's safe to say the game cost well north of $50 million with dev & marketing. For example, it was reported Halo 2 cost $50 million. Also reported that Spore is costing over $50 million. And remember FF7 cost $70 million. These types of monster games cost a ton. With all of the licenses for music, voice actors, the massive scale and tech of GTAIV + the insane marketing push it's going to get... I'd bet on it being over 50 mil. Again, I have no proof and either does anyone else.. so all we can do is guess.

 

[Hunter D]

$50 million for 2 episodes is just a waste of money.

This is a good move IMO. GTA did some insane numbers last gen. I think the GTA games sold more than 40 million copies last gen.

 

[Oblivion]

The profits they would HAVE made on the Ps3.

AKA -> too much

Fixed.

 

[sangreal]

whats really amazing is that $50 million couldn't apparently land them exclusivity, or at least timed exclusivity, for the entire game! I wonder how much Rockstar was asking for that.

I think TTWO is banking on GTA4 pushing PS3s which will help sales of their other PS3 titles, so I doubt full-exclusivity was ever on the table

Tony Gikas - Piper Jaffray

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions. A couple of questions; do weak sales of the PlayStation 3 hardware system at a high price point impact the launch of GTA 4 at all in your view? The second part of that question, will there be any premium versions that you can talk about yet and will the PS3 or X-Box 360 versions be differentiated in any way? And then I have a quick follow-up.

Strauss Zelnick

In terms of the release date, no, we’re confirming the release date and we’re going to meet the release dates, so let me just say that clearly.

We think that frankly, the release of Grand Theft Auto 4 is going to have a materially beneficial impact on the sales of PS3. Certainly if history is any guide, that’s going to be the case. We think this is a must-own title that will help the platform.

I think plenty’s been written about the price point. I probably don’t need to jump on that bandwagon but I think if you look at history, next-gen consoles sell in at certain price points. They are often introduced at high price points. Those prices tend to be reduced and when they are reduced, selling increases.

Obviously we’ve episodic content coming for X-Box 360 for the title and because the consoles do differ, there will be some differences in the games. My kids actually have three game consoles at home and sometimes play the same titles on different consoles and they see some differences and they find that compelling. So there’ll be -- these obviously are not going to be identical experiences but they are going to be very, very close.

*cue superior version talk*

 

[Uncle]

I sure hope that these episodes are big. 50 mil? God damn... I wonder how much they will spend on marketing this stuff.

 

[Merovingian]

Fixed.

tks

Dude I'm serious... I have no like proof but just from common knowledge over the years, it's safe to say the game cost well north of $50 million with dev & marketing. For example, it was reported Halo 2 cost $50 million. Also reported that Spore is costing over $50 million. And remember FF7 cost $70 million. These types of monster games cost a ton. With all of the licenses for music, voice actors, the massive scale and tech of GTAIV + the insane marketing push it's going to get... I'd bet on it being over 50 mil. Again, I have no proof and either does anyone else.. so all we can do is guess.

70 million is unreal. I'm sorry. And halo 2 cost 20 million.

 

[Pope Benedict XVI]

nice bit of research by Sangreal there

shouldn't professional gaming sites be digging up stuff like this?

 

[Luckyman]

what?

Microsoft paid $30 million for downloadable content...?

Some of that money could be for Bioshock exclusivity also.

 

[UncleGuito]

In my opinion, the $50 million is pretty much justified. They are showing gamers that there is a REASON to buy their console over the other ones, even if they have the same games. If they have the money, why shouldn't they? Their ultimate goal is to expand their userbase- the goal of all companies in gaming.

It will help them in the long run, they don't need to see an instantaneous monetary return.

 

[HyperionX]

They probably see it as
-Pushing people to buy GTA 360 version (which they get royalties from)
-Pushing people to buy a 360
-Attracting people to marketplace

I don't know how else you can justify such a high cost.

And none of those things will bring them back $50 million. They clearly wanted buy out a part of a game in order to hurt the competition at their own expense.

 

[Smokey]

You guys need to realize that MS will never get their $50 million back. 2 episodes won't come close to cutting it. This is clearly an attempt to hurt Sony and PS3, even if it meant hurting themselves (but they can afford it).

Exactly.

$50 million is equal to like 50 cents to MSFT.

They know they won't make that money back, but I don't really think they care.

 

[Tieno]

theres a difference between incentives for developers, and blatently buying the industry.

Not really, it's no different than buying a developer or getting an exclusive on a game.

 

[ORANGUTAN]

tks



70 million is unreal. I'm sorry. And halo 2 cost 20 million.

Those numbers are true.. I remember reading em somewhere and people quoting them

 

[Tobor]

I think TTWO is banking on GTA4 pushing PS3s which will help sales of their other PS3 titles, so I doubt full-exclusivity was ever on the table

Which is why the sales of GTA IV, and how it breaks down to each console, are going to be so important to the industry going forward.

 

[sangreal]

Some of that money could be for Bioshock exclusivity also.

The actual quote from Take Two is pretty clear. I'll repost it on this page

The first 25 is for the first episodic content package that’s supposed to go out and that is in March of ’08. That’s why it moved into current because it’s in the next 12 months. The second 25 will be for the second episodic, the episode, and that will be later in fiscal ’08.

 

[Tobor]

And none of those things will bring them back $50 million. They clearly wanted buy out a part of a game in order to hurt the competition at their own expense.

And it looks like it may work. A justified expense from MS's point of view.