The Business Side of Video (Space) Games EXCLUSIVELY ON IDLE THUMBS

[Gaizokubanou]

Good thing they are doing worse and worse business wise, I think (like recently got out of Spain market completely)?

 

Last time I was there with my sister to get Fire Emblem (was it awakening?) an employee tried to give her a lesson on why she should pre order in the most unwelcoming way so whatever another reason to never visit that store :x

[Henroid]

Last time I checked on Gamestop their business was still growing. They may be pulling out of markets but that doesn't mean anything in the big picture necessarily, aside from what any given country's business surrounding video games are. North America is still prime for them to rake in hand over fist.

[Gaizokubanou]

Damn that sucks.  I mean it is a large business so them losing business does have repercussion on its employees but every time I went there I heard so much story from the employees (talking to each other while I'm looking at games) about how irregular hours are, with absent management but blamed all the time, etc. (I mean gossips are kinda normal for retailers but still) so I wish they didn't continue to exist the way they do.

[itsamoose]

Wait, listening to the Beastcast and they want 3k extra for a game that sells 8 million copies? That's like a drop in the bucket.

That's actually a bit of a misunderstanding. The points on SAG's site list the current rate at 3300, which is the amount they are currently paid for residuals/secondary payments. I haven't found any concrete numbers, but residual payments would likely be far higher than this if movies are anything to go by. I don't know if this is still worth talking about since the strike vote hasn't even been taken yet, but I haven't been able to find any information regarding where this agreement will be applied (right now only the largest studios are listed).

Edit: misspoke on figure

[Dewar]

Last time I checked on Gamestop their business was still growing. They may be pulling out of markets but that doesn't mean anything in the big picture necessarily, aside from what any given country's business surrounding video games are. North America is still prime for them to rake in hand over fist.

 

In the US at least, they've been expanding into other markets such as buying used phones/mp3 players and such, as well as starting to buy up classic games again. I like the Gamestops around here, when I go buy a game on day of release, I definitely go there over a Best Buy or something. I wish some of the local game shops around here had more reliable supply on release day, but I can forgive them for only getting a copy or two in when they're running on a shoestring budget.

[syntheticgerbil]

I'm somewhat ashamed but I started going to Gamestop after buying a couple of games and getting that Pro member thing for $15 which almost paid for itself on that day. Since then I've been earning points which keep giving me coupons, so I'm somewhat hooked if I use them to buy a common game.

[Henroid]

Buying brand-new from Gamestop is the antithesis to their business model and income structure, so that's the most they get from me.

 

Actually the most they got from me was when I bought a used PS3 and a couple of games, but that was because it was one of the super duper rare fully-backwards-compatible models. So they got $700 raw profit from me. Those motherfuckers. They were literally selling that used PS3 at new cost.

[Henroid]

Square has canceled the "augment your pre-order" program for Deus Ex: MD. While I was super curious to see how that would play out, I think this is for the best.

 

In case anyone missed it, Square setup a program where the more people that pre-ordered Deus Ex: MD the more pre-order bonuses would unlock for everyone.

[Bjorn]

So, as I'm sure everyone will realize when they check their email, Humble Bundle is launching a subscription service.  I will probably try it out for at least a couple of months, see what it's like.  I've been playing Legend of Grimrock 1 a bit over the last week and have quite enjoyed it, so LoG2 as a signup bonus is pretty compelling. 

[clyde]

I'm intrigued by the Humble Bundle subscription because I fantasize about having 3-8 lesser known titles chosen for people so they end up timing their conversation about them at the same time, but the reality of my personal situation is that between my itch.io feed, Warp Door, and Glorious Trainwrecks, I can't keep up with playing all the games I want to play. Also, I could easily spend $12 a month on games that will no doubt be more along the lines of what I would be interested in playing than what is curated for me.

 

Which reminds me, I played this today and it caught me off guard in a novel way.

[Henroid]

Big news about Microsoft: They bought Havok, the company that makes those SWEET physics possible, from Intel. Before anyone freaks out too much, for once Microsoft is not pulling the exclusivity-card. Yet. So far they say they intend to continue licensing out to Sony, Nintendo, and whoever else. As for the financial details behind the acquisition though, including who stands to make how much, Microsoft is not commenting.

 

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/10/02/microsoft-buys-havok-from-intel

[Dewar]

Interesting, they mention cloud computing in their little statement, so I guess they're going to try and put Havok up in the cloud? That could be cool.

[Justin Leego]

No need to make it exclusive when competing companies would rather develop their own technology than pay for a rival's (not to mention all the data gathering that Cloud Computing would no doubt involve.)

[Henroid]

No need to make it exclusive when competing companies would rather develop their own technology than pay for a rival's (not to mention all the data gathering that Cloud Computing would no doubt involve.)

You think that Microsoft isn't announcing exclusivity because they figure everyone else will be driven to make their own solutions anyway? That's a sound theory.

[Justin Leego]

Expensive either way. Especially if the cost of licensing goes up.

 

Oooh, just imagine if they changed the license fee payment currency from dollars to retail Xbox Ones. The audacity of it.

[Merus]

To me it feels like they're going to support the 'legacy' local libraries, and introduce a new product that does cloud computing physics, based on the reaction the Crackdown 3 preview got.

[Henroid]

To me it feels like they're going to support the 'legacy' local libraries, and introduce a new product that does cloud computing physics, based on the reaction the Crackdown 3 preview got.

I've gotta ask... has there been any practical application of cloud computing yet? I remember EA lying about the new Sim City requiring an internet connection for it but that's literally the closest I know about it being a thing.

[Ninety-Three]

I've gotta ask... has there been any practical application of cloud computing yet? I remember EA lying about the new Sim City requiring an internet connection for it but that's literally the closest I know about it being a thing.

 

OnLive (a service that let your notebook remote in to a powerful gaming PC) was practical. Other than that, I suppose MMOs and anything else based on a central server are technically cloud computing.

[Henroid]

OnLive (a service that let your notebook remote in to a powerful gaming PC) was practical. Other than that, I suppose MMOs and anything else based on a central server are technically cloud computing.

Well "cloud computing" is specifically referring to a remote connection processing things that would typically be done locally. An MMO isn't really the same thing. Imagine if instead of a video card you just need a net connection to have your graphics processed and the software just broadcasts to you what is being done elsewhere. It's an awkward thing and latency would be goofy as hell. Especially with physics being processed.

[Ninety-Three]

Well "cloud computing" is specifically referring to a remote connection processing things that would typically be done locally. An MMO isn't really the same thing.

 

MMO servers handle many world functions. Hop into a single-player instanced dungeon and you've got a server handling NPC AI that could (and traditionally would) be done locally.

 

I did say technically.

[Architecture]

Aren't there already games utilizing Microsoft's server farms to deliver bigger experiences? Weren't Titanfall's AI calculations handled by Azure servers?

[Henroid]

Microsoft was making the claim about that a couple years ago but I've never really heard any big "huzzah" about the results. It might not be noticeable.

[itsamoose]

Isn't PlayStation Now (the thing where you can play PS1 and 2 games on your PS4) all done in the cloud? Either way, many games nowadays do at least part of their processing on a server somewhere, so the trend seems to be cloud assistance instead of the cloud taking over.

[Henroid]

Isn't PlayStation Now (the thing where you can play PS1 and 2 games on your PS4) all done in the cloud? Either way, many games nowadays do at least part of their processing on a server somewhere, so the trend seems to be cloud assistance instead of the cloud taking over.

I can't remember the name of that service that was based on playing the latest PC games via video and input stream only, but I think people saw that in action and realized it wasn't practical at all. Still it operated well-enough to leave me impressed.

 

But yeah. I guess the take-away from that was to offload non-critical processes to remote systems. I'm not exactly sure how that works out on the financial side though.

[rohlfinator]

With Titanfall it basically boiled down to the game having dedicated servers on console and PC. I suppose on a technical level it might be doing more than most shooters, with the number of AI soldiers/titans, but in practice it wasn't a huge noticeable thing.