MoviePage

Heh...fumanstan and discostu had a baby.

Michael Corvin

Whoops.

Not as fun ≠ not fun

And if we're being honest I had more fun with U3 than U2, but U2 is still the better game overall because it was so cinematic. But yeah, (agreeing with stu? ) Both fall short of Tomb Raider in my book.

Decker

Yes that's right - stu has officially awarded the 2015 game of the year award to MS! Based on absolutely nothing -- not even a second of gameplay footage.

RocShemp

Let's agree to disagree. I thought she ranged from merely serviceable to downright groan inducing. I kept having flashbacks to Halle Berry in Die Another Day.

Decker

I thought she was great. The professor guy and the big Samoan on the other hand....

discostu1337

Sigh...

Never said Uncharted was not fun, I clearly stated that I had MORE fun with TR.

I also never said that MS has the goty for 2015. I said they have "won" the holiday lineup already for the next two years. This isn't even really debatable at this point.

Do people even read anymore?

Also, wtf is the stupid picture of numbers supposed to mean Decker? Nobody cares about baseball!

fumanstan

I never doubted how much you liked the game, but like my reply to chess that really has nothing to do with my initial comment which was specifically about people downplaying the game as a launch purchase. Even though it may not be a day one buy for you, like I said earlier the reboot sold a million copies in 2 days, and given the high praise from both critics and users one would expect the sequel to sell considerably more then that.

And for what it's worth, I've been on the Uncharted 2 > Tomb Raider > Uncharted 1/3 train too.

By the way, from the first page after the initial trailer...

Michael Corvin

TR is a day one purchase for me. I love single player games and have no problem getting them before a price drop. It's the rest of the gaming population that has a problem with it. Pretty sure that's part of the reason TR had multiplayer.

mattysemo247

Just out of curiosity, why do you work for Sony if you hate their products so much? Play testing games that you despise so much is just going to make you a bitter old man

Wouldn't you be happier trying to get a job at MS? Or at least testing at a game studio that you don't hate so much?

chess

Now that you mention it, I almost never buy single player games at launch, and I think I'm more likely to rent them over a weekend going forward.

I still haven't purchased a copy of Last of Us, as an example, but I did buy Infamous, because it was open world, and I should have rented that too.

RichC2

Last of Us isn't in my top 10 of anything, it isn't a bad game, it's just kind of boring

Tomb Raider and Uncharted 2 are two of my favorite games of last gen so I look forward to Uncharted vs TR2 next year.

I disagree with discostu's assessment on Microsoft "winning" the holiday seasons since December 2015 is still a year away and a lot will change, and neither platform has quality games coming this year outside of the multi-plats. But then this is the wrong thread for that any way you dish it.

I find "open world" games to be pretty dull, they fill the lack of creative gameplay with this silly sameness. Getting from point A to B makes a game more realistic, but travelling in real life is boring too. InFamous: SS would have been boring if I had taken the time to play through 1 and 2, as it stands it was a fun little old school beat 'em up -- I liked it best when it ditched Seattle and went for old school arcade gameplay (boss battles) -- though climbing the Space Needle is still the most impressive visual I've seen this gen.

dsa_shea

His comment about Last of Us in this thread made me scratch my head. I'm looking forward to getting to play this new Tomb Raider one day.

Dan

I think TR will be treated as much more than filler next year, and may prove to be a leading title (though not necessarily a system-seller all on its own). What I was getting at here was: People who own the PS4 are forced to wait no matter what. For the purposes of this particular title, their wallets don't matter because they literally can't buy it until there's a SKU announced. For this discussion, they don't matter.
People who own the XO and want the game on day one will buy it on day one. Those who are prone to wait for price drops (on either system) will continue to wait.
But people who own both systems now, and are super excited for a new TR, have more uncertainty to deal with. Do they buy the XO version in the first 6-12 months, or do they wait for the GOTY edition on PS4 for the same price? If they know, without a doubt, that they can just wait for the GOTY edition exactly 6 months later, then that's what many will do. Thus, less sales on day one. When that 6 months passes, maybe the "regular" XO edition is $20, but the GOTY is $60. So those who waited for the GOTY might think, "You know... the GOTY will eventually drop, and I've been waiting anyway... why not wait a little longer..." thus less sales on the "relaunch" on PS4 on day 180.
I'm not claiming that this is how everyone thinks, or even a majority or anything like that. But if people know the exact date to expect the port to happen, and they own both systems, then at least a significant percentage will hold off on the chance that the port is better. In this particular case, we can almost guarantee that all tech specs aside, the PS4 version will offer more value because it'll likely be released as a GOTY edition with all the DLC, etc.. If it was barebones, like the launch XO edition, then there's no way they could charge $60.


Obviously, they'd likely be working on the PS4 version, but again, if the XO version absolutely tanks, then the money/resources may not be there. Of course, that's a tiny risk for bigger studios, but it's a real risk for smaller outfits like Zojoi; if Shadowgate tanks on PC/Mac/iOS/Android, there's no reason for them to port to consoles or Windows Phone () unless someone throws extra money at them. But the money MS threw at Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics may include a clause that it can't be used for development of the PS4 version of the game. Is Square going to pony up the cash for the port if the XO version doesn't make them any money?

Fair enough. I don't think that many people will avoid buying Temple of Osiris strictly because of the deal with RotTR. Why, you ask?

That's why.

Is that how it was for the PS3/360 version? I honestly don't know. Wasn't it given away for free on PS3 one month? Surely, that doesn't count towards "sales." I'm just asking because I'm not confident in that statement above. As for past titles, saying PS users account for the majority kind of makes sense, since Sony bought exclusivity of past titles, as already discussed in this thread. But the PS3/360 TR?

I didn't mean to imply that. But bombing on launch (on any platform, but in this case, exclusively XO) doesn't bode well for the prospect of porting a game to other platforms. Again, SE/CD are a different beast because they're bigger and all that, but what if, in addition to poor sales, the game is also actually terrible, and reviewed terribly? Like, Colonial Marines bad? Do you still think it will get ported to PS4 or will they cut their losses and move on to the next title? As you and I and others all agree, there are MANY factors to all of this. When they decide to go exclusive on a single platform, that brings additional risks, but it also allows them to gauge performance of the title and move forward accordingly.

I don't disagree. Honestly, I'm just throwing ideas out there because I like to talk about this stuff. Putting everything about this particular title aside, I do think, though, that giving an exact timeline for exclusivity to the public is a terrible business strategy. Sure it's probably six months. But what if it's two years? Would owners of the non-exclusive console even care about the game anymore, even if it did do phenomenally well on timed-exclusive one? It seems like most gamers move on pretty quickly.

Anyway, I appreciate the discussion.

*edit: I used "GOTY" a bunch above. Replace that with "Special" or "Definitive" if you like.

Adam Tyner

Xbox One games are beyond reproach, so they don't need testing or quality assurance.

fumanstan

Sorry, I assumed you were speaking for yourself and not the assumed gaming population. But if you're saying Tomb Raider sold better because of multiplayer, are you assuming Rise won't have multiplayer? I haven't seen anything to indicate that, otherwise I don't see why you keep believing it won't be a day one purchase for people since i've mentioned a few times that Tomb Raider sold decently on launch. Seems contradictory to me.

Michael Corvin

Just a hunch. I do believe that improved the brand with TR2013 though, so if everyone that bought that show up, then CD is in a good place. Not everyone bought at launch. Very easy for someone to look at TRotTR and think, "I paid $30 for TR, I'll just wait again." Honestly I doubt the new game will sell any differently.

Thanks for elaborating Dan. I can agree with most of that. However, assuming reviews are good but sales are lackluster on X1 then it changes nothing. PS4 & PC ports will still come. Its cheaper to make a port to recoup some money than forging ahead on a new game.

mhg83

Does anyone know if they're working on Multiplayer? I hope that they looked at the Data on # of players that played MP and drop it for more resources into the SP.

Music

That's right!

Beta tested in the future bitches!

Decker

MP was their only source of post-launch revenue. While the gameplay was awful, I have to assume they made some money from people buying DLC skins and maps (plus it was all they had to add to a Definitive Edition, content-wise). I doubt they drop it for that reason -- It's got to be a lot easier to make new maps and skins than new single-player content.

Dan

hmmm... maybe not so not-exclusive after all? Who freakin' knows anymore...
http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2014/08/13/x...vity-questions

Phil Spencer:

Raul3

Let's vote!

Chess and stu, opposites of the spectrum , already said that the exclusivity doesn't last more than six months.

I say it lasts at least one year.

What do you say?

Michael Corvin

This is a first. So Microsoft is footing the bill for Crystal Dynamics to make the PS4 the lead platform? That's some pretty forward thinking.

Supermallet

This is what I was responding to with my "not fun" comment. I get that you enjoyed TR more than UC. I did too! But UC is definitely fun, and since I have a PS4 and not an XO, will get my gaming dollars in 2015.

Dan

I'm going to be crazy and go with 18 months.
6 months: too short, and likely not worth the $$$ MS threw at SE/CD
12 months: puts PS versions in Holiday 2016. Could do too well and make MS jealous.
18 months: Spring 2017. No one even knows or cares what a tomb or a raider is.

Michael Corvin

If we take Spencer's 'clear as mud' words at face value, MS only has TR for Holiday 2015. So I'll say Jan 1. 2016.