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[Combichristoffersen]

Do we have an idea as to how long this game has been in development? 6 years seems to be the magic number (FFVXIII and Half-Life 3).

They started working on it back in 2006, but I think actual development kicked in around 2008. Might be wrong though.

 

[StuBurns]

Just seems like a bad business decision.. Could of made 2-3 other games in this amount of time

It's a catch 22 though. Maybe at this point the game won't be profitable, Sony are a first party, they make about thirty five million on a million units if sold at full price. At this point the budget should be around there, maybe up to forty million. Do you stop production and write off the forty million loss, or do you push on, and hope to spend less to make you lose less when you finally do ship, possibly even make money?

There's no doubt at this point, TLG was a mistake, but I think it would be a much bigger mistake to can it, or move it to PS4.

Ueda's done, Sony's grand 'art' division is over once this game is out, might as well end it on a positive note, and possibly, a profitable one.

 

[plainr_]

I knew it was SSM helping out even before entering this thread.

Seriously, I think I've seen Sony Santa Monica credited in every PS3 exclusive.

 

[JaseC]

They started working on it back in 2006, but I think actual development kicked in around 2008. Might be wrong though.

Presumably 2006 included key pre-production work such as engine development and such, so, yeah, ~6 years. A long time by any measure; even more so for an exclusive.

 

[Indyana]

Because that wouldn't be totally crazy expensive.

In fact, it should be cheaper. Ps4 should be powerful enough to do whatever they are trying.

What makes you think it's a hardware problem rather than a software problem?

They are trying to do stuff with AI, animation, collision detection etc that nobody has done before. I would think that moving to a new and unfamiliar architecture is pretty much the last thing they need now.

They moved Gravity Rush from PS3 to Vita. Hell, they even moved Ico from PSX to PS2. It shouldn't be that difficult.

 

[StuBurns]

It doesn't have a chance in hell of making money on PS4. That's such a bad idea I don't know why people keep suggesting it. It's the same in every Versus thread, really bizarre idea people have that a pissy small install base is somehow attractive.

 

[Indyana]

It doesn't have a chance in hell of making money on PS4. That's such a bad idea I don't know why people keep suggesting it. It's the same in every Versus thread, really bizarre idea people have that a pissy small install base is somehow attractive.

It doesn't have a chance in hell of making money on PS3 either. So you can choose your own poison. Development hell on PS3, or smaller install base on PS4.

 

[StuBurns]

It doesn't have a chance in hell of making money on PS3 either. So you can choose your own poison. Development hell on PS3, or smaller install base on PS4.

Of course it does, and there's nothing to suggest 'development hell' wouldn't continue on PS4.

 

[Sapphire Dreams]

This doesn't look good at all, SCEJ are deep shit right now.

Yeah I know I am being Captain Obvious here but still...

 

[Withnail]

Any costs incurred to date are sunk costs and the only relevant question is how much they need to spend from today to get the game out the door.

Of course from a platform holder's point of view not every first party game has to be profitable to be a successful venture. TLG might bomb but if it is critically acclaimed it could still entice some potentially lucrative customers into picking up a PS3. In that sense it's probably just as effective and not significantly more expensive than an average TV marketing campaign.

In fact, it should be cheaper. Ps4 should be powerful enough to
do whatever they are trying.

They moved Gravity Rush from PS3 to Vita. Hell, they even moved Ico from PSX to PS2. It shouldn't be that difficult.

Again, what makes you think it's a hardware problem? They could for instance be struggling to write AI routines for the creature that make it behave in a natural and believable way, having a bigger calculator is not going to solve that problem.

 

[Goodacre0081]

why are people suggesting moving the game to ps4? these developers obviously can't crate a game in a timely manner for ps3 and you want them to scrap what little they have now for new hardware that isn't even finalized?

it's time to face facts, this team shouldn't survive past this generation and they don't deserve to. who else is allowed to bleed money for six years with nothing to show for it?

 

[Irish]

You know, I don't think there would be nearly this much doom and gloom if they had just not showed any footage whatsoever. People are used to seeing footage of a game and then having it out within a year these days.

 

[AgentP]

It doesn't have a chance in hell of making money on PS3 either. So you can choose your own poison. Development hell on PS3, or smaller install base on PS4.

We have no idea about how much it cost to make and how much it would sell. We do know that switching platforms will only make it cost more to make and sell less. Math...

 

[J-Rod]

I consider this good news. We already knew they were stuck, and Sony SM seems like they are good at getting shit done.

Edit: switching to ps4 would probably be like starting over completely from scratch. Sounds like a terrible idea.

 

[StuBurns]

why are people suggesting moving the game to ps4? these developers obviously can't crate a game in a timely manner for ps3 and you want them to scrap what little they have now for new hardware that isn't even finalized?

it's time to face facts, this team shouldn't survive past this generation and they don't deserve to. who else is allowed to bleed money for six years with nothing to show for it?

There's no way there is 'nothing to show for it', RDR and LA Noire both took longer, both cost more, both sold incredibly well.

The only thing that matters is the end product.

Agent has been cooking since 2004, if it comes out, turns a profit and is great, no one will even question it's history.

 

[Grover Cleveland]

They should Polyphony to help them out.

Insert standard vs. premium joke here.

 

[andycapps]

If this game ever comes out, and if Sony gets Ueda to help out with anything, he should be working with SCEA. What a development mess. I can't wait to read a retrospective on this to see what exactly happened. That said, I can't wait for TLG.