Federal Charges Against 38 Studios Dropped
The story continues, but with a silver lining for Curt Schilling at least.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Players: One Player Offline
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genres: Action, RPG
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genres: Action, RPG
Release Date: February 7, 2012
Developer: 38 Studios, Big Huge Games
MSRP: $59.99
Developer: 38 Studios, Big Huge Games
MSRP: $59.99
Explore the world of Amalur as a recently revived hero! Become the master of your own fate as you uncover quests and save Amalur from imminent destruction.
Questline in Kingdoms of Amalur Requires Online Pass to Play (UPDATE)
Posted By Robert G. about 1 year, 3 months ago
I feel bad for the House of Valor now…
With about ten days to go until Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is shipped to store shelves, it seems like all has been put in place to make it an exciting role playing experience for the freshman title by 38 Studios. But Joystiq today, who received their early review copy, has reported that the game shall also be with an online pass (like most EA titles) that will restrict players in perhaps the most unfortunate way imaginable; quest lines and a full blown story arc to follow.
That is right, there is a storyline involving the Houses of Valor that is apparently seven quests long, that shall be locked off to players who purchase the game used at retailers. Chances are, this questline will be available for purchase as a DLC of some sorts, but we have no confirmation of this at this time. In fact, this is the first time an online pass for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has even come up in the conversation, although considering Electronic Arts has done moves like this in the past, it is not entirely surprising.
As of right now this is only confirmed with the 360 version of the game. That said, I don’t know if sealing off questlines for buyers is the best idea in the world. Chances are it is all extra content in the end, but it is still not the best business practice I can think of to try and circumvent the used gaming market. We shall see what happens when Reckoning hits store shelved February 7th.
Update: Well, some extra news has come to light on the locked out content. Following in the footsteps of Dragon Age and Mass Effect, Curt Schilling, the founder of 38 Studios, has penned his own statement regarding the content, confirming that the questline is Day one DLC and not on the disc.
DAY 1 DLC, to be extremely and VIVIDLY clear, is FREE, 100% totally FREE, to anyone that buys a new copy of Reckoning, ANYONE.
If you don’t buy new games you buy them used, and in that case you will have to pay for the Day 1 free DLC content the new copy buyers got for free.
The entire post is very candid on how Schilling feels about the rather public outcry against the inclusion of the online pass. He also apologizes for not being attentive enough as the leader of the company to fully address the issue before it came out the way it did. That said, Schilling makes no regrets over the decision to include the online pass.
You can TOTALLY disagree with this and I am sure many do, so we’ll agree to disagree. This is not 38 trying to take more of your money, or EA in this case, this is us REWARDING people for HELPING US! If you disagree due to methodology, ok, but that is our intent.
| PROS: | Great shooting mechanics, Paintball is fun, Diverse gun selection |
| CONS: | Soundtrack is terrible, game has no story mode |
| WTF: | WTF Text Here |
RAD episode 238-Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Review a day sets out to travel to the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Birdman is a skeptic in this review. He has heard many great things about this game but does it live up to the hype? Will this game be the game to replace his late night Skyrim addiction?
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Review
To write off 38 Studios freshmen effort based on the superficial judgments may be missing out on something rather solid, and that is what Reckoning brings to the table. Once an MMO, the bones of its previous design offer an experience that, while doing nothing to move the genre forward, is content at being adequate at what it does.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Video Review - ZGR
Does Single-player World of Warcraft sound super cool to you?!? Check out Reckoning! 
Assets of Amalur Now Property of Rhode Island
With 38 Studios’ assets seized, now comes the open bidding.
Curt Schilling is "tapped out" after the 38 Studios Collapse
“The employees got blindsided,” said Schilling. “They have every right to be upset.”
Breaking: '38 Spouse' Tell's All; A Personal Look at the 38 Studios Collapse
This is her side of the story…
Epic Scoops Up Former Big Huge Game Employees, Contemplate New Studio
Kingdoms of Amalur devs are getting a new home.
38 Studios & Big Huge Games Layoff Entire Staff
Remember when you were a kid, and it was awesome that you didn’t have to go to school because it got snowed in? This isn’t like that at all.
38 Studios Solvent Scare Aftermath: Layoffs, Job Fairs and Amalur's IP Worth
They are not out of the woods yet, that’s for sure.
38 Studios in Trouble? (Update: Now With Video)
Kingdoms of Amalur developer may be struggling to say solvent.
Federal Charges Against 38 Studios Dropped
The story continues, but with a silver lining for Curt Schilling at least.
Assets of Amalur Now Property of Rhode Island
With 38 Studios’ assets seized, now comes the open bidding.
Curt Schilling is "tapped out" after the 38 Studios Collapse
“The employees got blindsided,” said Schilling. “They have every right to be upset.”
Breaking: '38 Spouse' Tell's All; A Personal Look at the 38 Studios Collapse
This is her side of the story…
Epic Scoops Up Former Big Huge Game Employees, Contemplate New Studio
Kingdoms of Amalur devs are getting a new home.
38 Studios & Big Huge Games Layoff Entire Staff
Remember when you were a kid, and it was awesome that you didn’t have to go to school because it got snowed in? This isn’t like that at all.
38 Studios Solvent Scare Aftermath: Layoffs, Job Fairs and Amalur's IP Worth
They are not out of the woods yet, that’s for sure.
38 Studios in Trouble? (Update: Now With Video)
Kingdoms of Amalur developer may be struggling to say solvent.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Review
Posted By Robert G. about 1 year, 3 months ago
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Review
Upon first glance, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a game that consumers may approach with a dose of cautious skepticism. Right off the bat it seems to be an amalgam of several high-profile RPG systems, from Fable to Elder Scrolls to World of Warcraft, and usually these hybrid monsters rarely work. But to write off 38 Studios freshmen effort based on the superficial judgments may be missing out on something rather solid, and that is what Reckoning brings to the table. Once an MMO, the bones of its previous design offer an experience that, while doing nothing to move the genre forward, is content at being adequate at what it does.
| PROS | Excellent combat mechanics, the fates system, great graphical style and visuals. |
| CONS | Clichéd storyline and banal dialogue, audio syncing and balance issues. |
| WTF?! | Ripping monsters in half with your purple reckoning power! |
Reckoning starts off like most RPGs, with a blank slate, created character that is thrown into prominence because of plot convenience, although this time it’s because you were dead and revived through unknown means. One thing leads to another, and your heroic avatar learns that he is outside the “threads of fate,” a belief in the world of Amalur where everything is connected to a pre-determined path that people follow from birth to death. Of course, you are the exception to the rule, as you can wield your own destiny and change the fate of the world.
The story is primarily spearheaded by NY Times Bestseller R.A Salvatore, best known for the Icewind Dale trilogy back in the late 1980s. But with no disrespect to Mr. Salvatore, a majority of his works, while well written, are often formulaic schlock in the genre, the archetypical high fantasy with formulaic conclusions. The main quest in Reckoning follows this to the letter, you have the good guys, the bad guys, and maybe one or two people who are in the middle, but they follow the same characterization as everyone’s favorite fairy tale Mary Sue, the drow Drizzt-Do’Urden.
Guess who Alyn Shir is based on…no really, guess…
I think it’s a shame too, because Reckoning has a bundle of great backstory and lore that fills in the gaps of the in-game world. It’s just a shame that the route taken in the main quest line can be lifted out of any Salvatore novel. While listening to clichéd lines of exposition spouted out by a talking tree for example, it’s hard not to count how many times Tolkien was “lovingly copied” in the main points of the discussion. To be fair, this is a hallmark of high fantasy-style prose, but in a world where The Witcher and Dragon Age exist, striving to push fantasy into a more ambiguous setting of ethical morals and grey protagonists, it is hard not to notice the pitfalls in the story this time around.
It also shows in how conversations are handled in Reckoning. Following a hybrid wheel/list design, the voiceless protagonist gets to choose a response for important conversations, and a list of major talking points for everyone. But the caveat is that the dialogue ultimately becomes unnecessary to the design; most quest lines have little, if no, real reason to listen to the plight of the quest givers.
7/10
RAD episode 238-Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Review a day sets out to travel to the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Birdman is a skeptic in this review. He has heard many great things about this game but does it live up to the hype? Will this game be the game to replace his late night Skyrim addiction? Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Review
To write off 38 Studios freshmen effort based on the superficial judgments may be missing out on something rather solid, and that is what Reckoning brings to the table. Once an MMO, the bones of its previous design offer an experience that, while doing nothing to move the genre forward, is content at being adequate at what it does. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Video Review - ZGR
Does Single-player World of Warcraft sound super cool to you?!? Check out Reckoning!-
February 14, 2012 at 07:33pm
“But with one of the most anticipated RPGs to be released less than a month from now”
I hope you’re not talking about ME3. Because that’s not a RPG.
-
February 14, 2012 at 06:52pm
I like the game so far, the plot is interesting, sure it’s ultimately predictable but I like the idea of a world basically ruled by fate having it’s status quo upended by some odd cosmic loophole, that’s rather interesting. The gameplay is solid and I love the Destiny system, overall the game is a good first attempt, if they make a sequle that improves on all that this game got right I’d totally buy it.
-
February 13, 2012 at 10:24pm
So what Salvatore kind of story do we get? Nothing new but enjoyable Salvatore of the Crimson Shadow Trilogy, Cleric Quintent, Icewind Dale/Dark Elf trology, and Demon Wars trilogy kind of writing or cashcow writing of everything Drizz’t related since and second Demon Wars trilogy?
-
February 13, 2012 at 10:10pm
i actually really like this game, but im a loot whore at heart and this game satisfies my loot whoring. its by no means superb, but it is fun and long with plenty to see and do.
also, if you decide to play, keep in mind that pure mages are ridiculously overpowered in this game.
-
February 13, 2012 at 09:03pm
I buy that game…. and return it for credit for Mass Effect 3 5 day later.Dont get me wrong,the game good.But, I prefer when I game have memorable character and story insted of endless chain quest , fea that look like the same (Seriusly , they all look the same!) and boring dialogue.
-
February 13, 2012 at 08:46pm
I like the game alright it’s just really easy to put down, and by that I mean take a break from playing. Oh and can we PLEASE stop having namby pamby stereotypical tree-hugging elves (Fae) in fantasy games? I’m so sick of the Fae in this game and their Gaelic accents through that weird audio filter talking like Shakespears vomit.
-
February 13, 2012 at 06:50pm
Felicis day? it’s felicia day isn’t it. Oh man that would be sweet if that elf chick was modelled after her.
-
February 13, 2012 at 08:02pm
I was thinkin’ her outfit reminded me of the chick from Neverwinter Nights, here: http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs42/f/2009/096/2/1/Neverwinter_Nights___Aribeth_by_Chiqi.jpg
No Posts
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Video Review - ZGR
Does Single-player World of Warcraft sound super cool to you?!? Check out Reckoning!
RAD episode 238-Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Review a day sets out to travel to the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Birdman is a skeptic in this review. He has heard many great things about this game but does it live up to the hype? Will this game be the game to replace his late night Skyrim addiction?
RAD episode 238-Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Review a day sets out to travel to the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Birdman is a skeptic in this review. He has heard many great things about this game but does it live up to the hype? Will this game be the game to replace his late night Skyrim addiction?
Meh, I tried the demo of this game on Steam (You know, that service that EA has been trashing and feels that Mass Effect 3 is too good for) It’s okay. It strikes me as a pretty standard action RPG, nothing I need to have on day one. Pretty much any RPG coming out of EA these days are on my “Wait for the collected version with all the DLC” list, and the demo did nothing to change that.
I think that’s a valid economic reason for EA to cease the war on used games by way of DLC.
I really feel that the majority of used games sales don’t bother developers or publishers one bit.
However, it’s when new games get traded in and the local retailer sells them used for £2-3 off the new price and promotes the sale of these to customers. This in essence steals an effective new sale from publishers, while the retailer makes double money. I would be pissed if someone was making more money off my product than I was.
I’m not against the whole Online code thing. I can see why it’s happening and with the fall of a huge amount of developers last year and huge losses seen in companies like Capcom and Sony, it was inevitable that they would do this.
My only worry is that in 20 years, when these games are considered Retro, this additional content will simply no longer exist. Entire games worth of content will fall off the earth.
PS. I’ll never ever support piracy no matter your reason. Stealing bread for your family is still a crime, but an understandable one if your staving. Stealing entertainment because you can’t afford it is simply wrong.
You have no right to the product and no moral high horse will jump you over legality or ethical legitimacy.
Your a theif pure a simple. And not the Garret badass kind.
Jim Sterling pretty much sums up my views on this.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/4568-Online-Passes-Are-Bad-For-Everybody
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/4720-Used-Games-Have-A-Right-To-Exist
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/5268-Piracy-Episode-One-Copyright
You know, I the used game market didn’t exist I would probably pirate more games.
And you would still be immoral. Ten bucks says that you can’t give a valid reason as to why you are entitled to everyone else’s money and labour.
No, not really. I only pirate games because I’m too cheap to buy them new. I’m not going to risk 50 to 60 dollars on a game I’ve never played before, so I usually buy a used copy and try that first. But if the used game market didn’t exist the only options available to me would be Buy it new or pirate it and try it then. If I like it I’ll buy the real game, If not I won’t. It’s still wrong though.
You could also just try the demo that is available already, save you the trouble?
A lot of the games I buy don’t have demos, or I am just not noticing the demos. I try to avoid pirating as much as possible, so if there’s a demo, really in depth review, or lets play I’ll try that first. Pirating for me tends to be a last resort.
It doesn’t matter how expensive it is, it’s still not yours; you are subject to moral law, which consists of principles that can be applied to any number of concretes. Your argument that the bigger the theft the more moral the theft is doubly perverse and morally inverse.
“I only pirate games because I’m too cheap to buy them new.”
Then don’t get the game. Have some self control. Save up.
Isn’t pirating a huge pain in the ass? Come on.
Valid reason: I don’t want to pay for the game day one, I don’t want the company to succeed, and I’m not bothered by it. (may not be a moral reason, but it is valid)
If I made a game for EA and they pulled this shit, I would upload it myself on the internet. (true story) Another true story is this, I pirated Oblivion when it first came out, I played it nonstop for nearly a month. I bought a PS3 first game i bough (new mind you) was Oblivion, I bought an XBOX (first game I bought Oblivion 5 year anniversary. (day one mind you) My friend who loves RPG’s got a new computers and his birthday came up, (can you guess what I bought him, new??) Oblvion. I believe that’s 3 new copies I bought of Oblivion.
Skyrim came out, I didn’t even bother pirating it, I bought it day one, partially with the money I got from trading in one of my copies of Oblivion.
So in this case did Bathesda lose money or gain money? Did they lose a life time customer or gain one?
Oh for fuck sake.
While I agree that most of this is bullshit on EA’s part, but don’t metion or think of piracy. It that shit that give these assholes the ammo to make shit like SOPA and PIPA. So the whole boycott I can get behind, but keep it legal people this way we don’t risk them doing more stupid shit to get back at us.
Pragmatism is wrong. You shouldn’t be stealing simply because theft is morally wrong, though internet piracy is also impractical and immensely destructive for pirates and honest PC gamers.
The problem is that pirates are short-sighted pragmatists who refuse to or can’t see the subterranean effects of their piracy upon the quality of games released.
I actually think this is a good way to prevent used games sales, but as long as those quests can be bought for reasonably small fee and not be completely blocked out for those who don’t buy their games almost immediately after release. Of course this seems a bit stupid, but there really are quite a lot of used games sold and bought and no money for the developers. Pirating is almost the same thing, money doesn’t go to those who deserve it.
@The_Critic: why consider pirating when used games almost are that to begin with?
Indeed, everyone is yelling at EA but they seem to forget that the whole industry is heading in this direction. They’re just trying to fight back against used game sales which really put a dent into their profits, and without profits they wouldn’t make games in the first place and nobody wants that. It’s disturbing people would resort to piracy in retaliation.
Considering the content is actually on the disc, I would not be surprised if pirates actually crack the on-line pass code; which would be extra incentive to go get a pirated copy, and just like all the other anti-piracy (and used sales these days) schemes, it’ll only fuck over legitimate customers, and drive them into the hands of a pirated copy faster than ever before.
“I actually think this is a good way to prevent used games sales”
They shouldn’t be trying to prevent USED game sales. Used game sales are good in many ways, Cheap way to get a game, if people liked it more chances are they’ll buy the sequel when it comes out.
These online passes are garbage and it’s even more insulting this is for a single player game.
Save your 60 dollars, don’t buy EA games.
Yeah, I think that used game sales are actually economically beneficial to these companies in non-obvious ways.
The typical reasons why other industries try to avoid used sales don’t apply here as well, since there is no variable cost when it comes to selling their games.
Still, I need to read up more on the economics of used sales, but i will always grant companies the moral sanction to set their prices however they wish.
There is no such thing as a “good way” to prevent used game sails, just like there is no such thing as a “good way” to prevent used car sales, or any other used sales. Imagine coming to a used car lot, and you buying a car, and then finding the car won’t start. And the salesman says, “Oh, yeah, before it starts, you have a buy a used-car pass, for a thousand bucks from the manufacturer.”
You’d beat him into a bloody pule, find the manufacturer, where you’d find another whole group of people there for the same reason, than you’d smash the whole manufacturing HQ to smithereens until you find the CEO and toss him out the nearest window.
Then again, see below, maybe you’ll take that shit lying down as well. So what do I know.
That’s not a good analogy. The game, as far as I can tell, is still fully playable it’s just that you won’t get this line of quests. I sincerely doubt they’re stupid enough to actually block out part of the main quest until you pay money. Meaning your analogy is flawed. They haven’t removed the engine, it’s more like you won’t get the cd-player that new cars got. The car still works, it still drives, it’s perfectly safe to be in and your seat belts aren’t broken or anything, it’s just that if you want to play music while driving to work, you’re gonna have to shell out the money for that CD-player.
Besides, I thought cars were sold according to this principle already, even when new? Can’t you buy a shitload of add-ons to your car that makes it slightly more comfortable to sit in? Like special leather that breathes or an AC that circulates air 20% faster or DVD players in the back of the front seats so you can shut up kids more easily? Again, the car works just fine even if you don’t get this stuff.
This is no different than what BioWare did with the Dragon Age: Origins, people who bought it new got a free code to unlock certain sidequests and characters. Again, they weren’t game breaking or anything, it was just an added incentive to get it new rather than used. All of this was available for download via DLC later so nobody missed out on anything in the long run.
And you see, there is a good reason why companies want to get in on the used sales market… because it’s HUGE money. When a company sells a used game, NONE of that gets back to the company who made the game. Now I’m pretty sure we can all agree that if I sell my game to my friend or something, I shouldn’t have to ring up that company and ask for their bank account so I can deposit a percentage of the sales to them.
But when companies more or less exist solely to sell used games and they make MILLIONS on it, then is anyone surprised that companies who actually made the product are just a little bit pissed that they see NOTHING in return for that?
I think it’d better if companies like Gamestop and whatever were forced to give the companies a certain percentage of the sales to the original creators of the product. This way, nobody misses out on anything, used games can still flourish and generate loads of cash it’s just that the wealth is spread out a bit more evenly.
Personally I have no problem with this at all. It doesn’t appear to be gamebreaking and I didn’t throw a fit about it in Dragon Age: Origins either or in Mass Effect 2 or any other instance. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a good way to reward people who buy it new whereas people who get it used can still get the entire game, it’s just those little extras on the side that you don’t get… exactly like with cars.
Oh, and they’re not preventing used games sales, they’re merely trying to make a profit off of it and since when was that a crime?
“The game, as far as I can tell, is still fully playable it’s just that you won’t get this line of quests.”
I always like to think of my favorite games and wonder how I would react if they did this cutting of “optional” things.
Like let’s take Persona 4. Sure you can play the whole game through, but now you’ll need an online pass to get the friends social links, or Nanako’s social link. You can play the entire game without them sure, but is it the same?
Is really dicing up a game and selling it in parts really a great way to have a game?
No, it wouldn’t be the same but people treating this like some major, game breaking issue that will ruin games forever should take a step back and really think about things. It won’t and it’s not THAT big an issue as people make it out to be.
If you think there are better ways for companies to profit from used games sales that doesn’t bother people who frequently buy used games (I never do so it’s not a big problem for me what they do), I’m sure they’re all ears.
Those poor, poor publishers and their billions of dollars of pure profit every year even with used games stealing food from the mouths of their babies. Won’t someone PLEASE think of the filthy rich children! I’d give your statement a lot more credit if these companies were struggling, not making the highest profits they ever have. This isn’t Hudson saying used games are killing them.
Ya know what the biggest gripe I have with DLC and passes and such is? You’re renting part of the game. Stuff like that can, and eventually will, be taken away from you. As long as I can find a working PS1 or 2, every single game I own on those consoles can be played 100%. PSN/XBL/Origin/etc accounts, which are tied to what DLC you’ve purchased, not own, mind you, but have purchased, can get hacked, banned, or just lost. What happens if, for whatever reason, your XBL account has been suspended, for whatever reason, and you’re on a new console? You wont be able to replace any of that content. And, lets not forget, sooner or later they’re probably going to stop providing that stuff for download due to age or lack of use, then what?
And yes, right now this isn’t game breaking, but do you really think it’ll stay that way if it becomes successful practice? I think we’d all be incredibly naive to believe that EA won’t ever start blocking out major parts of the game for used owners. Perhaps even as far as installing a F2P style piece-meal release in full price games. Sure, it would make the used copy of the game dirt cheap at Gamestop or whatever cause everyone knows they’re going to have to drop at least another $10 to unlock the game itself. But, then why would you take the risk on something new if you know you can’t resell it if you dislike it? That encourages piracy.
Or, even worse, whats to stop them from just dis-continuing project $10 and making every copy of the game effectively a 1-time use? You buy the game new, you get a code that lets you into the game. No online pass, nothing. New, or go home. I expect we’ll see them experiment with this in the very near future, honestly. What happens then if your PSN,etc account is no longer accessible? Your entire library is gone. I don’t get much through Steam for just that reason, because you never know.
Seriously? You go with this poor excuse? Okay, let me get it clear: EA makes millions or even billions per year and if you would take the “used” games sells as lost profit away (which is by the way bullshit, because used games were already bought before and therefore are no lost profit but just differently spread “already given profit, hypocritical much?), thats NOT EVEN 10%. I think you have no idea of priorities, currently we are in a recension, people have not much money and rely mainly on used game sales or even pirating.
Now let’s analyze this.
Whats the use of this kind of practice? Offering a first day dlc for buyers of new games?
Pros:
-Encourages newly bought games to a extent and more money for the already money overfed companies with shady buisness practices. (and yes, EA is so shady, in night you couldn’t even see them)
Cons:
-Extremely high chance for community backlash that WILL cost more as those 10% (People closing up with EA and never buying again etc)
-Bad Buisness practice that encourages “angry repelling” of the fans, for example in form of mass pirating (and pirates WILL be able to hack the DLC quest line, you can be sure of that).
-Reliance on the service of EA, for example if the servers will have problems (maybe caused by people like anonymus who HATE buisness practice like this dlc stuff).
This is the reality, the cons overweight the pros by 3 to 1.
And the cons are all SEVERE for a company.
So, end of the discussion, companies have much money and used game sales are important in the time of monetary problems in many countries, it shouldn’t be discouraged but just taken as it is.
It will help companies indirectly (by giving a cheaper source of advertisement/fan hooking),
My point is made.
That is a fairly skewed lens though.
For the record, used sales do prevent developers who worked on the game getting paid, because companies such as Gamestop make 100% of the profits off of Used sales, none of it goes to 38 Studios, Big Huge Games, or EA in this instance. In the end it is essentially lost revenue for the people who made the game. Now we can argue it doesn’t matter because companies and publishers, like EA, are rich enough to pay workers…but they don’t work for EA.
Plus here is the thing; they still make money off the games normal sales. But considering the costs of an average game is around $10 million and change, technically almost every game released will not be profitable. In the past year, I am pretty sure only Modern Warfare 3 has turned a profit (could be wrong) because the budget was either matched, or surpassed, with over $400 million in revenue going in from that title alone!
And how did they get those numbers? Well…brand recognition and advertisements for sure. I bet the cost to make MW3 was around $30-$40 million with all of the ads they ran alone. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is going all out by the choice of both the developers and the publishers; notice they are promoting the guys behind the game, and the various features you will see in-game. It is a new I.P with a lot of speculation behind it because its unproven. The demo was a good touch and i’m glad it was open, and the cross-promotion with Mass Effect was a nice touch too. So right there they may have just increased the base a bit.
Can you really fault them for, as Curt Schilling said, rewarding players who buy it day one? It’s not about punishing people or anything like that, its just about making sure people are involved in the sales during week one.
One more thing, from your con points, the blacklash has happened but once again, EA has been doing this since Dragon Age: Origins, and frankly they do it right.
All of the content from games like that, Dragon Age II, Mass Effect 2, was free to players who bought it. Hell they are doing it for Mass Effect 3 and I don’t see people complaining about day one DLC they have planned with the extra characters, mission, K-9 dog on the ship, the hoodie, the bonus weapons, etc. This is only different because its an optional questline, not a new character or item to dress up in. Is it because its offered as a collectors item? Or does it get a free pass because of brand name?
Why should we bother buying used when it is considered just as bad as piracy. Just pirate it, they’d just assume charge you for copyright infringement either way.
Not to mention the whole ‘used = piracy’ mindset is completely focused on the short term. Vast majority of my game purchases in 2011 were PS2 games. I couldn’t buy most of them new even if I wanted. Even if I did, I’d be getting charged $100+ for a “new” game made in 2002. The developer/publisher sure isn’t getting a dime off that sale now. But hey, if the 5 different publishers who printed out the various games in the Wild Arms series wanted to make me special new prints with the case, manual, cover art, and all extras included for the original retail price, I’d be happy to pay it.
Or would you rather live in a world were “retro” gaming no longer exists? Cause if the used market is killed, that’s what we’ll get. You’ll have about a 1-2 year window to buy a game, brand new of course, before printing ends and if you didn’t, expect to drop hundreds if not thousands of dollars on Call of Duty 12 cause weren’t that interested at the time. It’ll make gaming the most expensive collection hobby man has ever known next to using original Picasso’s as toilet paper.
I wish more people would think about the long-term cultural ramifications of these things rather than just developer profits. Imagine if books and movies were only available as original, new release prints. At the very least, places like TGWTG wouldn’t exist. Think Doug is gonna track down factory direct copies of The Care Bears movie?
because pirating is free silly. But thats not the point, my point was when companies like EA do this crap, I wish they would lose all profit. I wish everyone would stop buying their games, and I wish we could see this garbage stop.
As as selling uses being pirates that’s BS if a game company makes a bad product I should have the right to get my money back, even if it is a only a portion when I trade in. If a company does a meh job on a game but releases is mostly to make a quick buck, I should have the right to buy that game at a lower price. As far as I’m concerned I buy new if I can, if I’m strapped I buy used. If I have no money I don’t buy.
EA, you still find whole new ways to piss me off. It’s quite remarkable actually.
Personally, I feel bad for the developers. Because at the end of the day they’re the ones who get cheated out of their own creation financially and I’m totally sure, they never even thought about including a Online Pass in the first place.
*Gasp* No way, E.A. is a jerk of a company that hates its consumers?
NO WAI!
Won’t be buying that shit.
The sheer audacity of computer game companies to attempt to block used game sales is ffing ridiculous, more ridiculous is that people just let it go.
(Then again, people let non-criminal courts of rape accusations in colleges stand, with the newest ridiculous addition that if a man (only a man, you know, women can’t rape) ask one too many times for sex or in what people would consider is “unreasonable” is rape, yep, flirting just became rape! And that’s above the ridiculous “I drank some alcohol, so he raped me” and preponderance of evidence (51%, which is arbitrary) as opposed to “innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt” shit that nobody bothered with.)
(Or for that matter the NDAA.)
(Or VAWA, or the even worse “plan” of Australia.)
(So what do I know.)
This is why I am boycotting buying anything from EA. EA is one of those companies that make me consider pirating.
why would you do that it is a single player game!! and you require ppl to have there 360 hooked up inorder activate this quests why not just put in a cd-key allready!
Because that wouldn’t help them battle used games sales? If you’re not online, then it can’t check whether the cd-key has been used or not so it’d be pointless. The whole point from EAs perspective is to get some cash for all the used games that retailers sell.
It’s “DLC” (not sure how Downloadable you can call it since it’s quite obviously on the disc) that people who buy it new get for free. At least, that’s the easiest way to see since it doesn’t seem like this quest is gamebreaking in any way.
i have allways and will allways hate day 1 DLC and i am pritty sure once ppl start digging in the game disc they will find large parts of the quests in there
you kinda miss the point of DLC with day 1 DLC. DLC is intended to add a longer life span to a game and a good reason to keep that game on your shielf rather than selling it to gamestop by doing day 1 DLC you are not making the life span of the game longer you are just A) saying gimme money on day 1 or B) saying the used game is inferiour to the new game
a game that did DLC perfectly is fallout new vegas they waited 4-5 months before putting out DLC and then it came out every 2-3 months with a good heap of added content for 15 bucks that is how you do it!