Topic: Three Square Enix titles pass a mil in sales, considered "failures"

[Slayer]

http://www.destructoid.com/tomb-raider-hitman-sleeping-dogs-all-failed-square-enix-249692.phtml

The sad thing is, there are so few games that are even passing the million mark these days that it's hard to hear that these titles are "failures." Tomb Raider sells like 3.5 mil in a few weeks (Metal Gear Rising just broke the million mark only recently), yet takes a cut of the blame for Square Enix's poor financial report. Crazy times.

[VladCT]

I wouldn't put it past greed and pride.

[Ratty]

http://www.destructoid.com/tomb-raider-hitman-sleeping-dogs-all-failed-square-enix-249692.phtml

The sad thing is, there are so few games that are even passing the million mark these days that it's hard to hear that these titles are "failures." Tomb Raider sells like 3.5 mil in a few weeks (Metal Gear Rising just broke the million mark only recently), yet takes a cut of the blame for Square Enix's poor financial report. Crazy times.

Insane production costs demand insane returns, and fast. Time was when a reasonable budget for a "big" game was a few million dollars, but as the standards in graphics and every other aspect of game production have skyrocketed so have the number of people you need to employ to make them happen. Consequently the marketing has also gotten more prominent and expensive. Some of our favorite games from the past were probably made for less than the advertisement budget of today's big games. Honestly I'm not convinced the "AAA, cutting edge of graphics" model of game production is sustainable.

[Neobelmont]

AAA gaming.... personally I think that the best games are the ones that are made with a reasonable budget. Take a look at Atlus they seem to be doing very well with their games and they do not sell over a million IIRC, but they still do well within reason. Hell I think LoS did well sellling over a million that's an accomplishment, but it seems that now adays one mill means jack squat.

[Ahasverus]

The industry is bound to a crash if this doesn't change. If Dark souls can sell 400K and make a profit, I don't know why these can't.

[Neobelmont]

The industry is bound to a crash if this doesn't change. If Dark souls can sell 400K and make a profit, I don't know why these can't.

Again except not by horrible games, but by the factthat games cannot reach a certain sales mark. For petes sake Tomb Raider sold 3.5 mill in what less than a month that's amazing! But it's deemed a freaking "fail"? My mind is overloading.

[Shiroi Koumori]

Again except not by horrible games, but by the factthat games cannot reach a certain sales mark. For petes sake Tomb Raider sold 3.5 mill in what less than a month that's amazing! But it's deemed a freaking "fail"? My mind is overloading.

I suppose people just bought it because its Tomb Raider.
These days... I don't even know how to classify "fail"... wait... QTEs and glitchy parts?

[Neobelmont]

I suppose people just bought it because its Tomb Raider.
These days... I don't even know how to classify "fail"... wait... QTEs and glitchy parts?

I'm not a big fan of tomb raider but I'll say this Lara looks very proportioned compared to her past incarnations. To me that's a plus she looks like a girl that I could see in class and talk to or something.  QTEs and glitchy stuff bleh 

[Dark Nemesis]

I have bought Tomb Raider, finish it and i have really enjoyed it. I dare say that i like it more than RE 6.

[DragonSlayr81]

The industry is bound to a crash if this doesn't change. If Dark souls can sell 400K and make a profit, I don't know why these can't.

This!! I've been saying, it's the Tower of Babel. People are reaching higher and HIGHER, but the higher you go, the harder you fall when you DO fall. What's the classic saying? "It's a slippery slope...".

And in all rational logic, people SHOULD'VE seen this from miles away. It's not hard to percieve. Balance is everything. It's like, for a proper diet, you have to have balance. You eat too much, you get fat. You eat too much sweets and you loose your teeth. Moderation and balance is how to live a great life, in ALL aspects of life. If you try to bleed something too much, well, you KILL it. You can only go, rationally, so far. There's always going to be a limit to what you can do, and you have to be realistic about things(ALWAYS). Thinking you can squeeze out more juice an orange techniically has is unrealistic.

Things developers SHOULD think about, when making games(even consoles) is:

- What's the BEST we can do, utilizing our technology in the most CHEAPEST ways possible. (Finding the cheapest means you save money that can be utilized elsewhere)

- How can we make this affordable to the "everyman", not just upper-middle class people. (The more affordable it is, the more likely more people will be able to buy it).

- Can this technology be easy to develop for, so more software studios can develop more games for our consoles. (More games means more diverse selection/catalog).

I'm sure it's POSSIBLE, it's just these companies seem to be more worried about how GOOD these games look(and act like money's no object) than trying to find "different" ways to achieve the same or similar results.

I still think it's a conspiracy(call me crazy), where they are trying to see(test) who much they can squeeze out of us(and developers) by pushing the envelope. But, in the current economic state, I don't think that's a wise thing to do. It's not like we are all "there" yet.

[VladCT]

Like I said, I wouldn't put it past pride. And greed.

[Inccubus]

I say this is all a product of the "Growth" religion world economics has been worshiping for years. If your bottom line doesn't grow then you're a failure in big business. We'd all be doing better if we went back to the attitude of maintaining what we have going for us. Your CEO made 3 mil$ last year, but only 3.1 mil$ this year? Boo-fuckin'-hoo. Most of us make less than 40k a year.

[DragonSlayr81]

I can best liken it to "chasing the dragon", pure addict mentality and leads to self-destruction. Doesn't help that other studios(as well as a lot of us) act as enablers to this type of behavior. With other studios, it's almost like a "who has the biggest dick" race, all trying to out-do each other with the most realistic graphics and most cinematic cutscenes(in turn, the most expensive blockbuster games). With us, a lot of fans WANT bigger, better graphics, but only a few actually care about the TRUE price we(and studios) have to pay for it. It's all shallow eye-candy wanking. Nobody wants to rock the boat or speak out to address the problem. And like addiction, you can't start taking steps to recover until you realize and admit you are an addict.

[TheouAegis]

Hehe I'm tired. I thought it said you can't recover until you realize you're an idiot.

*hugs his Saturn collection*

Fuck hi-res graphics. I shit my pants when I saw Grandia's opening video, but when I play a PS2 game I'm just like, "ooh pretty" and when I see anything post-PS2 I'm just like, "meh." At least Nintendo is trying to endorse fun games, even if they do suck lately. I'm a born-again Nintendude.

[Lelygax]

I think that Brave Fencer Musashi is a great Squyare game, its a shame that his sequel isnt like the first one. To me its almost a Legend of Zelda for PS1.