12 replies to this topic

[Hayashi]

For some odd reason, it seems like all the best games are being made by independent developers or small developer outfits nowadays.

Independent developers (Like, a handful of people. Perhaps even one guy.)

Sandbox: MineCraft : Reviewed 93 by review sites, 69 by users on Metacritic. Created by a single man, Mojang.

MMORPG: RuneScape: Formerly one of the most played MMORPGs in existence, it was only recently overtaken by Blizzard's World of Warcraft in terms of paying member population. Created by a single man, Andrew Gower, (He has since left the company he founded for RuneScape, and it has been acquired, the leadership has changed. IMHO the game was destroyed since then.)

Shooter: 東方 Project: One of the foremost bullet hell/top-down scrolling shooter games, and possibly the most difficult game series in existence. Created by Team Shanghai Alice, which consists of a single man (and alcoholic), ZUN.

Traditional RPG: Laxius Power/Force: Created by a single man, 'Indinera Falls', he created an epic series (7 games so far) following the adventures of a random adventurer named... Random. The Laxius Power series is free, but the Laxius Force series that continues the storyline has gone commercial. The series runs on the RPG Maker engine. The Laxius Force series is rated 89, 85 and 88 by users. Notable for having one of the largest party sizes in RPG history, as well as intricate backstories for every single one of the characters.

Traditional RPG: Master of the Wind: Created by three men. Volrath (storyline and gameplay), Artbane (gameplay and programming) and Enkur (art). Consists of 7 story arcs for hundreds of hours' worth of gameplay, centred on two wannabe superheroes... who eventually do end up becoming just that.

Small companies... but perhaps not for long...

Action RPG: Torchlight 1 & 2: Created by the programmers (and music composer) from the fired Blizzard North division, the new company Runic Games, while low in budget and lower in manpower, still succeeded in creating a game (TL2) many players believe is superior to Blizzard's 'blockbuster' Diablo III, which did well in critic reviews (88) and horribly at the hands of player reviews (37). In comparison, Torchlight 2 is reviewed 81 by critics, and 80 by players.

Simulator/FPS: MechWarrior Online: The first in the series in ten long years. Made by the Vancouver-based Piranha Games Interactive. This game.

Strategy: MechWarrior Tactics: Not too sure personally, but it looks to be a video game adaptation of the TableTop BattleTech. Made by the Vancouver (again?) based Roadhouse Interactive.

Adventure: Heavy Rain: One of the most innovative user interfaces of any PS3 game. The story also unfolds in response to your actions. Rated 87 by reviewers, 69 by users. Made by the France-based Quantic Dream.

Quantic Dream may or may not be releasing a game in the near future based on the storyline from Kara.

Artistic: Draw Something: The veritable iPhone sketch application. Made by a tiny company, OMGPOP. Since acquired by Zynga.

Shooter/Worms-like: Angry Birds: Rovio Entertainment. No longer tiny due to the massive success of the game.

Meanwhile, this is what the bigger studios have been doing:

Notable recent games created by major developers: Portal 2 (Valve), Dragon Age II (BioWare), Skyrim (Bethesda).

Recent notable PR fails for some reason or other by major developers: Mass Effect 3 (BioWare) [Ending], Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) [The whole freaking game], Skyrim (Bethesda) [Took an arrow in the knee], Dragon Age II (BioWare) [Incompatibility of savegames between DA2 and DAO between regions, making it effectively half region-locked, one of the most copy protection for ANY PS3 game out there], Diablo III (Blizzard) [Storyline, Real Money Auction House, Persistent Online DRM], StarCraft II (Blizzard) [Releasing one game in three installments].

Notable series continuations with very little change except graphical improvements between versions: KOEI (Dynasty Warriors Series), EA (Battlefield Series), Activision (Call of Duty), and the sports series NBA Live, Pro Evolution Soccer and whatnot.

Heck, the only major game development studio I still like is Valve... and more than half the reason is because they're helping small companies and independent developers publish their games through the Steam platform for very low cost, and thus giving them advertising and such exposure that would be hard to otherwise get.

So it seems the future of gaming is going to be in the good hands of independent developers and small game companies. At least, from my point of view. What do you think?

[PhoenixFire55]

Hayashi, on 16 October 2012 - 01:58 AM, said:

So it seems the future of gaming is going to be in the good hands of independent developers and small game companies. At least, from my point of view. What do you think?

I very much hope so. Small developer teams are making games are same as an artist making a picture. They do it for themselves, making profit is secondary. On the other had, most big companies only concerned about getting huge revenues out of their games, not caring much if they actually make a game with good gameplay, bug-free and such. Sad truth of our world tho is that big companies are like monsters, devouring all opposing them, they tend to buy smaller studios and turn them into part of their system. Seen that happen way too often in the last years.

[Colby Boucher]

And how could you forget the amazing mechwarrior Living Legends?

[Hayashi]

Colby Boucher, on 16 October 2012 - 02:21 AM, said:

And how could you forget the amazing mechwarrior Living Legends?

Darn, I shouldn't have.

[Tarvitz]

Speaking as someone who reviews several video games each month, i'm in agreement with you. Half the games which come my way I end up praising tend to be indie titles because they've tried something different or have returned to an older genre otherwise ignored. This is, naturally far from universally true though. For every FTL: Faster Than Light there seems to be a dozen titles as bad or worse than 2 Jawsome and even as Call of Duty is being driven into the ground there are still ones like Dishonored being made.

I'm surprised you didn't mention the problems with owner companies screwing over smaller development teams or subsidaries to support your point though. Like EA's infamous shortening of development times or interfering with the development of new instalments of major series, the Tiberium FPS for example.

Edited by Tarvitz, 16 October 2012 - 04:57 AM.

[Hayashi]

I'm not familar with owner companies screwing their teams, with the exception of Blizzard screwing Blizzard North. More familiar with how they screw gamers with DRM.

True enough, some indie games flat out suck too, but then the ones I like the most in recent years tend to be done by small outfits or indies, rather than large companies. With the exception of Portal and Dragon Age.

[Adridos]

Hayashi, on 16 October 2012 - 01:58 AM, said:

So it seems the future of gaming is going to be in the good hands of independent developers and small game companies. At least, from my point of view. What do you think?

Does CD Projekt RED count as a small studio?

[Hayashi]

Adridos, on 16 October 2012 - 09:22 AM, said:

Does CD Projekt RED count as a small studio?

Granted they only have 3 projects to their name, probably.

[JP Josh]

for some reason i see steam as the last sorta big companie that wants smaller companies to succeed. they i believe just publish game their employees make while bord. ex has any one paid attention to the tf 2 hats latley? or looked at the games developing history? it started off very striat forward now its just ***** and giggles fun and the pyro gogle set is messed up.

link of said pyro gogles.

[Lawrence Elsa]

I really like Piranha Game's morals, even if others think asking for money during a Beta test is bad. but the idea of making teamwork as the key to winning rather than money makes it a much more friendy and fun gaming experience.
true, money takes away the sting when you get killed and don't have to save up for that new Atlas with an XL engine, but the grind seems like its also a learning experience that teaches you how to play the different roles, like scouting, sniping, brawling, and most importantly, marksmanship & maneuvering

"...Skyrim (Bethesda) [Took an arrow in the knee]...
I wouldn't take the memes associated with Skyrim as its failure, but more that its essentially riding on the coat-tales of Oblivion, and is considered a watered-down version of it with new wall-paper... that last part is arguable though.

everything else is perfectly warranted though


Edit: added elaboration and changed a few typos

Edited by Lawrence Elsa, 21 October 2012 - 01:06 AM.

[Adridos]

Lawrence Elsa, on 21 October 2012 - 01:01 AM, said:

I really like Piranha Game's morals, even if others think asking for money during a Beta test is bad.

"...Skyrim (Bethesda) [Took an arrow in the knee]...
I wouldn't take the memes associated with Skyrim as its failure, but more that its essentially riding on the coat-tales of Oblivion, and is considered a watered-down version of it with new wall-paper... that last part is arguable though.

Well, the Founder'đ program was suggested by the community itself, because many people were throwing hundreds at screen and nothing happened. As long as they don't force it on anyone, or make it the only way of getting into beta, I think it's reasonable.

As for Skyrim... overhyped junk. I would have nothing against the game if it didn't completely write Witcher 2 out of the board for GotY awards, even though it has worse story, worse graphics, has more bugs than a termit nest and the only good thing about the game is teh music, which is only thanks to J. Soule, whoc is the best composer of game music, hands down.

[Hayashi]

I'd like to share with you guys the following email I received from Electronic Arts. Now the problem with my game is with Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition. There's this DLC that they screwed up. Screwed up so royally that the DLC doesn't quite exist on the disc. And the game came with a code to allow it to be downloaded. Which they also screwed up, because using the code didn't download anything in particular.

After getting bounced between 5-6 different EA CS staff, there was no response for 3 months. And today, this is what they sent me.

==========
Hello,

I wish to sincerely apologize for the delayed response. I understand that your time is valuable.

I wanted to reach out and check back with you in order to see if the issue was possibly resolved in a different case. We appreciate you as our customer and want to make sure this issue has been resolved.

If your issue has not been addressed, please contact us at 1-866-543-5435 in order to perform further troubleshooting. Unfortunately, due to the inactivity on this case, we will be closing the ticket.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding,

Andrew B.
Games Specialist
Electronic Arts

Please do not reply to this email.
==========

Yes, I certainly hope the future of gaming is in the hands of small companies and individuals. Because with people like this running the show at corporations at Electronic Arts, nothing much can really be trusted any more. Their time to retire has come.

Bear in mind that the DLC was included in the price of the purchase. They essentially committed fraud by not delivering what they promised to deliver for the agreed price.

They also break anti-trust conventions by introducing region locks (DA:O savegames are not portable to DA:II games of a different region code), but that's another, somewhat less major matter. Because everyone seems to be loving the DRM crap nowadays at the big studios. But not delivering what you promise on the package is somewhat more infuriating.

[JudgeDeathCZ]

I like FTL.
And new Mark of the ninja is great too .