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Why is Harmonix half assing Dance Central Spotlight?

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I like DC a lot. One of the things I liked about it is collecting the songs disk after disk. Rock Band attracted me in a similar way. This $9.99 digital download version of DC seems gimped. No disk based songs "because of technical limitations" although previous DLC will work just fine.

I would have thought a full blown DC 4 would have been there for Xbone launch, this is disappointing. Looks like a cash grab even.
 
Why is Legend of Korra DL only? Because it's not worth the publishing costs for physical copies

Wait I may be misunderstanding this. Do you have previous song DLC in disk form? Cue issuchathingevenpossible.jpg
 
jhferry said:
I like DC a lot. One of the things I liked about it is collecting the songs disk after disk. Rock Band attracted me in a similar way. This $9.99 digital download version of DC seems gimped. No disk based songs "because of technical limitations" although previous DLC will work just fine.

I would have thought a full blown DC 4 would have been there for Xbone launch, this is disappointing. Looks like a cash grab even.
Click to expand...

Because Harmonix hasn't been in great financial shape, disks are not cheap to manufacture, not everyone is guaranteed to have a Kinect anymore, and a digital release at a low buy in price allows for it to become a platform that more people take the risk on purchasing which increases the likelihood of them buying additional songs which helps them more financially?
 
10 songs for 10 bones and dlc songs are only 2 bucks now (down from 3) and have more play modes. I bought all the games and I'm fine with this new one. I hope the Kinect2.0 means less faults with recognition.
 
SwiftDeath said:
Why is Legend of Korra DL only? Because it's not worth the publishing costs for physical copies

Wait I may be misunderstanding this. Do you have previous song DLC in disk form? Cue issuchathingevenpossible.jpg
Click to expand...

Except Just Dance is one of the top selling franchises of all time.

Why did Dance Central fail so fucking hard where Just Dance appeals to appeal?
 
wapplew said:
Because MS half assing kinect?
Click to expand...

Kinect 2 is far better than Kinect 1 and Harmonix could have made a dancing game even better than the 360 ones. They just decided to make more games at the same time and it obviously is hurting DC. Its not even a retail game for crying out loud. That should tell you something. Their flagship dance game that sold millions of copies is now a downloadable shell of itself.

Dancing games are still huge and even though there are Kinectless Xbox Ones it would have sold good if it was on par as the others
 
SwiftDeath said:
Why is Legend of Korra DL only? Because it's not worth the publishing costs for physical copies

Wait I may be misunderstanding this. Do you have previous song DLC in disk form? Cue issuchathingevenpossible.jpg
Click to expand...

I am saying it's both. No retail, stripped story mode and no disk based songs from the other games will be available. Keep in mind, the DC2 and DC3 imports were essentially DLC downloads unlocked with a fee and a code so it was digital anyway.

They are citing technical reasons but it's BS.
 
I'm up for trying the new format (cheap core game, supplemented by inexpensive DLC songs), but Harmonix have been really ho-hum with their advertising for this. I'm seeing many more ads for JD2015 right now, and that's not out 'til October - this new Dance Central Spotlight releases next week, and there's nary a squeak to be heard. I don't think the full list of initial DLC has even been announced, to build up excitement over.

Between this & Fantasia, Harmonix just don't seem very excited by their own offerings.
 
I put hundreds of hours on the DC games and I'm looking forward to this one a lot due to their new model to deliver new songs faster. 10 songs and some of my DLC is a great start, hopefully we'll see some new songs every month at least.

They should have had this at launch, but shit happens.
 
blackjaw said:
MS got rid of Kinect. Id half ass it too, they know it's not worth it financially to continue to commit.
Click to expand...


Cant really pin this on MS. MS launched with Kinect and Harmonix wasn't there with their flagship. They should have waited on a risky Fantasia. Especially since they skipped their annual release cycle anyway.
 
I'm still upset that this didn't come out at launch. I'm fine with the new format, one more week and I can get back to dancing. Now I just need HBO Go app and I can kill my 360.
 
Quadraphonic said:
Except Just Dance is one of the top selling franchises of all time.

Why did Dance Central fail so fucking hard where Just Dance appeals to appeal?
Click to expand...

Because it came a year late to the party and everyone already knew about Just Dance, not mention that a multiplatform game would have more funding, more marketing, more presence?

I do think that Spotlight appears to be a much smaller offering than usual but that probably has a lot to do with Harmonix's financial situation at present

jhferry said:
I am saying it's both. No retail, stripped story mode and no disk based songs from the other games will be available. Keep in mind, the DC2 and DC3 imports were essentially DLC downloads unlocked with a fee and a code so it was digital anyway.

They are citing technical reasons but it's BS.
Click to expand...

The no disk based songs sound annoying but I don't quite understand how you want them to implement that. It might be difficult to read previous game discs while in another game.

As per the stripped down story and new model it seems Harmonix's financial situation is catching up to it
 
jhferry said:
Cant really pin this on MS. MS launched with Kinect and Harmonix wasn't there with their flagship. They should have waited on a risky Fantasia. Especially since they skipped their annual release cycle anyway.
Click to expand...

They were contracted for Fantasia. They don't really get to make the call. If they hadn't, they might be in worse shape then they already are in now.
 
SwiftDeath said:
Because it came a year late to the party and everyone already knew about Just Dance, not mention that a multiplatform game would have more funding, more marketing, more presence?

I do think that Spotlight appears to be a much smaller offering than usual but that probably has a lot to do with Harmonix's financial situation at present



The no disk based songs sound annoying but I don't quite understand how you want them to implement that. It might be difficult to read previous game discs while in another game.

As per the stripped down story and new model it seems Harmonix's financial situation is catching up to it
Click to expand...


Read my post, the first 2 games were imported via DLC download. You had to pay and have a code to get them. It wasn't read off disc like the first Rock Band.
 
Dance Central makes perfect sense in the new format. Especially given the way the Xbox One update process works.

They effectively don't have to release sequels. They can make constant tweaks to gameplay, visuals and of course add songs to the library.

In the same way SingStar is now a platform on PS3.
 
What are you talking about dude? The entry price is perfect for everyone to join in, and they allow you to expand your library as you see fit, you get to choose what's in your game. This is just smart on their part, instead of releasing yearly disc sequels where you'll have to import each disc to play them all on the same console. Not to mention they are basically allowing you to import you DC dlc purchases from the 360 so that when they are released for the xbox one, you get it for free.

Harmonix is the absolute opposite of a lazy developer, they are fucking smart. And they already have a retail release for this year, disney's fantasia.
 
jhferry said:
Read my post, the first 2 games were imported via DLC download. You had to pay and have a code to get them. It wasn't read off disc like the first Rock Band.
Click to expand...

Hmm I'm still not really understanding what you mean so I apologize for that. At the basic level, there is some problem importing previous DLC for DC games you already own into the Spotlight game? If so, yes that sucks quite a lot and I can see why some might be angry about that
 
jhferry said:
I like DC a lot. One of the things I liked about it is collecting the songs disk after disk. Rock Band attracted me in a similar way. This $9.99 digital download version of DC seems gimped. No disk based songs "because of technical limitations" although previous DLC will work just fine.

I would have thought a full blown DC 4 would have been there for Xbone launch, this is disappointing. Looks like a cash grab even.
Click to expand...

Kinect is dying. Harmonix doesn't want to put too much investment into a mainline, retail sequel as a result.
 
SwiftDeath said:
Hmm I'm still not really understanding what you mean so I apologize for that. At the basic level, there is some problem importing previous DLC for DC games you already own into the Spotlight game? If so, yes that sucks quite a lot and I can see why some might be angry about that
Click to expand...

Yeah, on-disc stuff doesn't import to this version, which is likely a licensing issue, since DLC and On-disc content are licensed separately. It may also be an issue with getting the licenses to play nice between systems. I'm not sure.
 
The previous DLC don't "just work fine", they have to be upgraded to the new game, which has many more routines per song. It's not a simple port or anything like backwards compatibility.
But yeah there's apparently a licensing issue with on-disc content, which isn't the same as for DLC.
 
Aquamarine said:
Kinect is dying. Harmonix doesn't want to put too much investment into a mainline, retail sequel as a result.
Click to expand...

Huh avatar change. Looks nice I suppose

Gunstarheroes said:
Yeah, on-disc stuff doesn't import to this version, which is likely a licensing issue, since DLC and On-disc content are licensed separately. It may also be an issue with getting the licenses to play nice between systems. I'm not sure.
Click to expand...

Yeah there could always be licensing issues at play
 
jhferry said:
I would have thought a full blown DC 4 would have been there for Xbone launch, this is disappointing. Looks like a cash grab even.
Click to expand...

So this $10 game - which will sell a fraction of what a full retail release would - looks like a cash grab? And a $60 release for the fourth year in a row wouldn't have been?

I suspect the truth of the matter about why we're getting DC:S instead of DC4 is that this is probably* going to be Harmonix's first self-published DC game, which would explain why it's download-only and not a big budget title.

Why wasn't there a DC4? I believe dancing games likely peaked ~3 years ago and have been on the decline ever since. I get the feeling, since I haven't seen any boasting sales numbers released, that DC3 (not unlike RB3) did not sell as well as anticipated. I think it's quite possible that Microsoft passed on publishing another one - even though it seems like it should have been a no-duh move for Xbox One coming out the gate with mandatory Kinect. I think it's far more likely that Microsoft said no to funding a DC4 than Harmonix saying they'd rather make a low-budget game on their own dime.

*I've seen conflicting reports on who is publishing DC:S and have not seen any direct statement from Harmonix about it.
 
RyanPierre said:
So this $10 game - which will sell a fraction of what a full retail release would - looks like a cash grab? And a $60 release for the fourth year in a row wouldn't have been?

I suspect the truth of the matter about why we're getting DC:S instead of DC4 is that this is probably* going to be Harmonix's first self-published DC game, which would explain why it's download-only and not a big budget title.

Why wasn't there a DC4? I believe dancing games likely peaked ~3 years ago and have been on the decline ever since. I get the feeling, since I haven't seen any boasting sales numbers released, that DC3 (not unlike RB3) did not sell as well as anticipated. I think it's quite possible that Microsoft passed on publishing another one - even though it seems like it should have been a no-duh move for Xbox One coming out the gate with mandatory Kinect. I think it's far more likely that Microsoft said no to funding a DC4 than Harmonix saying they'd rather make a low-budget game on their own dime.

*I've seen conflicting reports on who is publishing DC:S and have not seen any direct statement from Harmonix about it.
Click to expand...

Sharply declining sales between each iteration.

Dance Central 3 launched to very low sales. While it had legs, I'm guessing it might have given Harmonix cold feet.
 
jhferry said:
I am saying it's both. No retail, stripped story mode and no disk based songs from the other games will be available. Keep in mind, the DC2 and DC3 imports were essentially DLC downloads unlocked with a fee and a code so it was digital anyway.

They are citing technical reasons but it's BS.
Click to expand...
I'd take their word over yours. They have no reason to lie and they haven't been the kind of developer to try to screw their fans over, so I don't really understand where your ignorant hostility towards them is coming from.
 
I cant wait for it. Mrs is going to have a blast. Is it out next week? I think it being cheaper might get more sales. plus you can buy the songs you actually want. I'd rather have it on my hard drive too.

Excited
 
Seems kinda hard to be anything towards this game since there is so little about it available. I think I'd wait to play it, or even hear impressions before I was concerned with being disappointed. Straight digital will definitely help with overhead for Harmonix. I imagine the licensing fees of each song can't be cheap. Maybe this model helps keep them further in the black.
 
I'm actually pretty happy about how they decided to go with this

I pretty much prefer building the game with songs i like

DC HYPE, love this series
 
NoMoChokeSJ said:
Seems kinda hard to be anything towards this game since there is so little about it available. I think I'd wait to play it, or even hear impressions before I was concerned with being disappointed. Straight digital will definitely help with overhead for Harmonix. I imagine the licensing fees of each song can't be cheap. Maybe this model helps keep them further in the black.
Click to expand...

Exactly. They're betting on this model to cut costs as much as they can and still leverage what's left of the Dance Central IP to edge out a profit.
 
I think it makes sense. I have an xbox one, but would not commit to a $60 game for the times my girlfriend and some friends will come over and play it. With that price even with a few hours of use, I can justify a purchase.
 
Quadraphonic said:
Except Just Dance is one of the top selling franchises of all time.

Why did Dance Central fail so fucking hard where Just Dance appeals to appeal?
Click to expand...

Because Just Dance cleverly latched onto the Wii and thus an enormous casual audience, released at a budget price and backed it up with excellent marketing. Dance Central had none of these.

CaptainSlow said:
Kinect 2 is far better than Kinect 1 and Harmonix could have made a dancing game even better than the 360 ones. They just decided to make more games at the same time and it obviously is hurting DC. Its not even a retail game for crying out loud. That should tell you something. Their flagship dance game that sold millions of copies is now a downloadable shell of itself.

Dancing games are still huge and even though there are Kinectless Xbox Ones it would have sold good if it was on par as the others
Click to expand...

I don't think Dance Central was ever that big a deal. The first game sold very well (2.5 million copies, according to Wikipedia), just like the original Kinect Sports, and then the sequels sold much more poorly. A retail Dance Central 4 wouldn't sell a lot given the series' history, the Xbone's position in the market and, crucially, everyone's rejection of Kinect.
 
Quadraphonic said:
Except Just Dance is one of the top selling franchises of all time.

Why did Dance Central fail so fucking hard where Just Dance appeals to appeal?
Click to expand...

Because Just Dance is available for approximately 3,282,923 platforms as opposed to Dance Central's ONE.

Oh, and dat Wii audience that ate it up like it was candy, despite the fact the game's move recognition is absolutely horrendous. "Look kids, I am waving and it's giving me points! I'm just like LMFAO!"

I can name a whole bunch of people who were Just Dance fans who actually RETURNED Dance Central because they said it was too difficult. In short, they couldn't just spin around on the spot and occasionally throw their arms up in the air like they were parents at a wedding reception, and instantly win.
 
Black-Box said:
Don't blame MS. Harmonix screwed up. Dance Central should be a priority and should have been the first Xbox One game they worked on. It wasn't and they went with something new so now they are paying the price.
Click to expand...

Microsoft kept reiterating that Kinect was vital to their vision of Xbox One and that it couldn't be removed. When execs say that and don't tell you otherwise privately you take a long term view on the peripheral. Maybe they wanted a larger install base for DC the following year? The onus was on Microsoft to put out Kinect games that justified the peripheral's inclusion in the box? Their best effort game out 4 months AFTER the launch of Xbox One and by that time they were already far behind PlayStation.

If Microsoft's vision came off there'd be millions of Xbox One's out there each with a Kinect permanently attached.

What is more, Microsoft didn't even have the decency to tell Harmonix about them removing Kinect from the bundles until it was too late. Harmonix were already some ways down that rabbit hole.

I don't blame Harmonix for what they are doing now. They are fighting to save their studio and need as much money for as little investment as possible. I'm sure DC: Spotlight will be good enough for those who bought previous Dance Central games. It just won't be a massive step up as Harmonix can't justify the expenditure.
 
Around the time of DC 3 release in the UK it was getting advertised pretty damn heavily on tv, but was nowhere to be seen in the charts though DC2 was cos it was being either bundled or fire saled (or both), it's a pretty dead IP
 
PureXbox said:
Because Just Dance is available for approximately 3,282,923 platforms as opposed to Dance Central's ONE.

Oh, and dat Wii audience that ate it up like it was candy, despite the fact the game's move recognition is absolutely horrendous. "Look kids, I am waving and it's giving me points! I'm just like LMFAO!"

I can name a whole bunch of people who were Just Dance fans who actually RETURNED Dance Central because they said it was too difficult. In short, they couldn't just spin around on the spot and occasionally throw their arms up in the air like they were parents at a wedding reception, and instantly win.
Click to expand...

The scoring of Just Dance has more tolerance and is less punishing, so that people don't feel like losers. It's indeed easy to score up to 8,000 by simply waggling, but if you want to get the actual top scores (13,000 points), it is mandatory to follow the choreography perfectly.

On the other hand, I've also seen a lot of people say they didn't like Dance Central because the robotic characters/moves simply didn't appeal to them, which is perfectly understandable.

Let's also not forget Just Dance added online multiplayer, and was always much in advance in local multiplayer terms too. When Just Dance had 2-player choreographies, DC was still at one. When DC added 2-player choreographies, Just Dance already had implemented 4-player choreos.

The only thing that Ubisoft is still way behind Dance Central is in the handling of DLC/importing songs from previous games. It's baffling that it's still not possible after 5 years.
 
A lot of DLC songs are still not available for Spotlight. I don't know what that means but Fantasia didn't knock it out of the park. Maybe they will treat this a little more seriously.
 
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