What do you guys think of Microsoft's release strategy?

[fathamburger]

Has anybody else noticed that Microsoft has a specific strategy with their game releases. The games just aren't released as they come out. Microsoft considers their game lineup as a portfolio so they are delibrately staggered so that weaker titles don't end up competing with stronger/hit titles. This is great for developers as it maximises potential sales and avoids losses in sales due to competition i.e. competing with Gears of War. Not every game can be a GoW or Half Life 2 etc. It's the opposite strategy of the traditional hit driven business the game industry is everywhere else where everyone aims for Summer and Christmas and a lot of good games get lost in the shuffle as gamers only have a finite amount of money during those periods to spend.

There are also strategically planned lulls where 80% games have time to shine and games of similar caliber are released around the same time to ensure as many chances for "top game of the week/month" as possible, taking advantage of time periods where people don't have anything to play and will impulse buy out of boredom. There is usually only one of these at a time, only games that are good enough to be guaranteed hits that gamers will buy regardless are released in the same time windows. Games that seem destined to undersell get stuff added on i.e. Halo 3 beta with Crackdown and Windows Live beta with Shadowrun. Again this is a great strategy to court developers with, not everyone can make a Gears of War and this helps minimise risk/losses taken by developers since a bad game still costs and takes as long as a good one. Personally I'm a game developer so this is a benefit we get for going with the 360.

However as a gamer, this strategy has had the opposite effect on me. A lot of people still feel that outside of GoW the 360 somehow "feels" like it doesn't have a lot of games worth getting, even after a year. You basically have to be a 360 aficionado to have interest in Lost Planet for example. Something like Lost Planet is recognised as a great game within the 360 community but fails to penetrate the greater gaming populace at large and won't sell systems like Gears does. Microsoft's strategy has basically been "boost the middle class at the expense of the upper class" or simply put. When everyone is equal, no one is special. There are a lot of "polished turds" in the lineup i.e. Bullet Witch with The Darkness and Crossfire coming. Games that are graphically presentable but are otherwise unremarkable/nothing new in terms of gameplay but whether on Live Arcade or retail, as long as the game has the "look" of a AAA/HD game, then Microsoft will front you (they know how costly and hard it is to hit that level of fidelity), which is why you'll never see something less graphically polished like Line Rider on Live Arcade regardless of its fun merits.

Anyway bottom line is, does anyone feel like Microsoft is consistently trying to sell us polished turds? lol. It's like a used car salesman who doesn't outrightly lie to you but he's not completely trustworthy either. There's a lot he's trying to sell you but there's plenty that's superficially "adjusted" and not really worth your attention. At the same time there are some great diamonds in the rough in his lot if you go looking for them. That's basically what the 360 feels like to me and imo the main reason why the 360, despite after all this time with some stellar plays and major fumbles by Sony, still hasn't completely unseated the PS3 and the potential of the machine still lingers in the back of gamers' minds.

[Richlough]

It seems to be a page out of Nintendo's book , if you ask me .

[Mister Switch]

this is most evident when you parallel the live arcade releases with retail game releases too.

[help1]

I like it because it forces me to play my games out. For instance, if GOW came out and Halo came out just a month afterward, I would never get to play as much GOW as I would like to. At the same time, I hate it because I want to play Halo.

[daroga]

Coming in just a month ago to the 360, I had a bit of catching up to do, but by and large, I think it's a good strategy.

As help1 said above, it forces the gamer's hand into playing games a little more deeply, or trying out things that they wouldn't have otherwise tried. I'd probably have never gotten Crackdown, but there wasn't much coming out for a while that interested me so I thought I'd buy into the first big "release hype" on the 360 when I was a 360 owner. I loved the game, thought it was a lot of fun. Played it out, sold it (Halo 3 Beta is non-issue for me), and put the money towards Guitar Hero. And I still have a backlog of Gears, R6:Vegas, and Burnout to finish up.

I'd love to be playing Super Paper Mario, Guitar Hero 2, Mario Galaxy, Halo 3, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Mario Strikers Charged all right now, but I know when I get a glut of games (Christmas, Birthday, or even just going on a mini trading or spending spree) I never give attention to all of the games. The rotting Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Metroid Prime, and Halo 2 are evidences of that.

So, strategic releases on the game makers' part makes a good fit for my limited game-playing time-budget. That's not to say it isn't frustrating at times, though. But in the end, if it's to make the game better, no matter how much I'm looking forward to it, a delay in the game, while hard, is for the best.

[Surferflames]

Part of me likes it, and they are doing well with what they have.

At the same time, it shows how slim the library of games is. It is a nice way to work the first year/year and a half though.

Frankly if it stays like this for the duration of the system, you almost run into the problem of "forcing" people via lack of options to buy certain games out of a desire to just get something new.

[Weedy649]

im fine with it

Oct - FEAR Splinter Cell Marvel UA Nov - Gears CoD3 Dec - Rainbow Six Vegas
Jan - Lost Planet Feb - Crackdown March - GRAW 2

The games have been coming in steady IMO, because theres still plenty of other titles i didnt mention that are great and there has been at least 1 great game a month since i got my 360.

[ryanbph]

I disagree with you belief that they are giving us polished terds. Yes not every game is a great game, and some might have minor/if any upgrades over there previous iteration. Such as graw 2, but most of my friends that have it that loved the first one love this one. You also called out 2 games that haven't been released as polished terds, how are you to know that the darkness is going to be a terd. Very littlle info is out about it.

They had a small variety in games coming to us since aug...saints row was a great gta clone, dead rising was a unique horror/slasher/beat em up game, viva pinata was hailed as a great game by the few that got it, there was a slew of fps in gears, fear, call of duty 3, rainbow 6 etc that came out. Splinter cell was also dropped in the fall. Lost planet got overhyped due to the ad campain, i don't own it but my friend enjoys it. Lots of people have enjoyed crackdown. We get guitar hero 2 and the oblivion expansion next month. May allegedly has forza 2, c&c tiberium wars and mass effect. June (the begining of summer when most companies don't offer up new games) is supposed to have shadowrun, august has bioshock and blue dragon. Oct has GTA. They also have a ton of games that don't have release dates including halo 3, army of 2, kane & Lynch, the darkness, pgr 4, the next banjoo game, assasins creed and virtual fighter 5.

I have found very few people in the xbox community that will tell you that lost planet is great, or that the bullet witch is a good game. I don't know where you are getting your info from. I don't know what type of games you are into but they are going to be releasing a variety of games in the next couple of months, and have a variety to go back and play. It looks like you just got your system around the holidays. Download some demo's of games like dead rising, prey, saints row, or 1 of a number of solid fps games. That is just how the game industry works, you get a ton of releases at the holiday season and slim picking the rest of the year. At least msft is staggering it a little to give us something in the spring and summer months.

There release schedule is fine by me as I have about 8 games that I either bought or got as xmass gifts that need to be finished. I don't know what you guys are expecting a perfect 10 game out every month, that isn't how the industry works. Take the ps2, a system that sold a shit load of units. Besides ssx there was very little to play at launch. 6 months later I bought my 3rd game in medal of honor, and it wasn't untill oct, a year later there was another solid game in gta. As for the first xbox you had halo at launch followed up by panzeer dragoon orta (not a big seller) and then a long draught before anything great came out. The ps3 came out with resistance, and then a timed exclusive of virtual fighter. Not much exclusive games announced ps3 games at this time with a specific launch date.

[PyroGamer]

Devs should release games when they are done. End of thread.

[CappyCobra]

Devs should release games when they are done. End of thread.
Hardly the case when you're a publicly traded company and have stockholders to please. Thread reopened.;)

[daroga]

Devs should release games when they are done. End of thread.If you want those companies to stop making games because they've gone out of business, yes, then they should.

[Scorch]

I love how you don't hear anything at all about a game, then a month or two before it comes out, it's everywhere and it's awesome, almost like the game came out of nowhere. They did that with Crackdown. I guess they wait and see if new IP will be decent before whoring it out, but whatever the case, it seems like every single release is huge (but recently that's been falling, with Armored Core 4, Virtua Tennis, Tetris and EDF).

[Apossum]

yes. even when a demo of a game clearly sucks, people are still convinced it's somehow awesome.

[fathamburger]

You also called out 2 games that haven't been released as polished terds, how are you to know that the darkness is going to be a terd. Very littlle info is out about it.

I have found very few people in the xbox community that will tell you that lost planet is great, or that the bullet witch is a good game. I don't know where you are getting your info from.

It looks like you just got your system around the holidays. Download some demo's of games like dead rising, prey, saints row, or 1 of a number of solid fps games.


Yup I'm aware I called out two unreleased games, but if the games are being previewed they're more or less ready to go. There's little else they could do to change thme significantly and they're already past their critical path stage. I've been a gamer for a long time and I don't see anything new about those two. There's always the possibility I'm wrong but most longtime gamers can probably make the same calls I did.

There's plenty in the XBox community that will tell you Lost Planet is great, a girl I know who got her 360 over the holidays knowing next to nothing about the 360's lineup beyond Gears even knew to check out Lost Planet despite it being a love it or leave it kind of game.I just used it as an example of a game that only resonates within the 360 community but not elsewhere, there are plenty more. Also I never said Bullet Witch was a good game, its arguable whether that turd is even polished at all ;) but it certainly hits the graphical point of a "big game" much better than something like EDF

Saints Row and Prey are fine examples of polished turds, and there are too many "me too" FPS games on the 360 as is. Dead Rising I'm on the fence on, I'll probably get it when it hits Greatest Hits, especially if the rumours of co-op are true but it's a 75% game with the only novelty being LOTS of zombies. That isn't particularly hard to do from a development standpoint with mesh instancing and an update loop just to make them move a bit. My initial impressions were that it was an average game with a gimmick to it. Still I'd put it above Saints Row and Prey.

Personally I won't pick up or get into "polished turds" out of boredom since my life is already full of stuff to do and not enough time to do it, but it is kind of sad that there's nothing to look forward to until the second half of the year when a lot of the real AAA titles come out. Another poster said that right now it seems like "everything is huge" i.e. Virtua Tennis, Armored Core 4 etc. That's a very succinct way to put it, these games are equivalent to filler episodes in a TV season imo. Sometimes I wish they wouldn't promote the hell out of everything, it trivialises the cases where something is genuinely deserving of promotion.

[Trakan]

I like it because it forces me to play my games out. For instance, if GOW came out and Halo came out just a month afterward, I would never get to play as much GOW as I would like to. At the same time, I hate it because I want to play Halo.

There's much more to it than this. If Gears and Halo 3 were released at the same time, they would kill each other's sales. Having played 2+ years of Halo 2, I know I really wouldn't have played much Gears with Halo 3 being out at the same time. This way, MS gets me to buy both of them and put time into both of them.

[Indiana]

I don't have an issue with it. I have only had a 360 for 3 months and I never purchase a game at full price and there are still tons of games for me to play. I don't feal like they are holding back Halo 3 and the other big games. Yes they stager the releases to prevent a conflict but they are not going to delay a major game 6 months. A long delay for a huge hit game is going to hurt MS not help them.

[paz9x]

i really cant understand how you start your topic with a release plan and then finish it with wondering why the games are polished turds. seems like two distinct and seperate thoughts.

[Wolfpup]

To the original poster, are you talking about retail releases from Microsoft, or also Live Arcade stuff?

Because I haven't seen what you're talking about in regards to retail releases. Microsoft hasn't even released that many games, and when they did, the released Gears of War and Viva Pinata at the same time (which I thought was kind of unfair to Viva Pinata).

Otherwise, they seem to be pretty much releasing stuff when it's done, more or less. I mean they've got a ton of great upcoming first and second party games, but none of them are done, so it's not like they're holding them back.

[fathamburger]

To the original poster, are you talking about retail releases from Microsoft, or also Live Arcade stuff?

Because I haven't seen what you're talking about in regards to retail releases. Microsoft hasn't even released that many games, and when they did, the released Gears of War and Viva Pinata at the same time (which I thought was kind of unfair to Viva Pinata).

Otherwise, they seem to be pretty much releasing stuff when it's done, more or less. I mean they've got a ton of great upcoming first and second party games, but none of them are done, so it's not like they're holding them back.

Actually I am talking about both. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Live Arcade releases are getting good right as we hit this long period of lull at all. It's a good strategy in this regard. There's no reason why Live Arcade should be limited to 1 game a week, from most reports especially on here, Microsoft have too many games and much more wanting to get into the channel than they can handle. They are just being strategic in how they are using Live Arcade to complement their retail strategy.

There are a # of games being held back but I can't remember them all, just off the top of my head, Army of Two was cited as being held back a few months so it didn't compete with Halo 3.

i really cant understand how you start your topic with a release plan and then finish it with wondering why the games are polished turds. seems like two distinct and seperate thoughts.

They are one and the same if you are talking about the release strategy revolving around giving time for more polished turds to shine ;) especially as a by default thing if it's the best of a bad bunch.

[Richlough]

I loved/love Prey and I am looking forward to The Darkness .
I played the game not the demo .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/Richlough/notprey.jpg

I like when people put way too much thought into their complaints to make these epic posts .

[Monsta Mack]

I like the release strategy alot but I'm sure I'll hate it come November when every company decides to get everyones holiday cash, that really annoys me because not only does my wallet hurt, but the titles that are great and dont' get bought never see sequels in the future. My only problem besides that is MS might be release PGR4 in the holidays which imho is too close to Forza in May, because two great racing games shouldn't be that close in release date... but that's just me, as I'm a fan of racing games but can't devote a ton of time into two blockbusters like that in a year, not to mention Halo 3 will kill PGR4 come this holiday.

Oh and I can't believe not many people bought Viva Pinata. It was one of the best games I played last year, and prolly in the top 5 for the 360. Really annoyed by the lackluster sales.

[CappyCobra]

I loved/love Prey and I am looking forward to The Darkness .
I played the game not the demo .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/Richlough/notprey.jpg

I like when people put way too much thought into their complaints to make these epic posts . I have to agree with you there Rich. Prey was way underappreciated. The story was decent (though the name of the main character was a bit lame; Tommy Hawk? GTFO lol ), the pacing was good and the difficulty didn't interfere with the enjoyment. It's too bad that practically no one is on MP. It really is a fun game to take online esp for fans of the UT2000 series. It's a damn shame MP is only online or via link. I can't wait for the sequel (though it will probably take 10 years on 3d Realms development calendar!)

[DomLando]

To the original poster, are you talking about retail releases from Microsoft, or also Live Arcade stuff?

Because I haven't seen what you're talking about in regards to retail releases. Microsoft hasn't even released that many games, and when they did, the released Gears of War and Viva Pinata at the same time (which I thought was kind of unfair to Viva Pinata).

Otherwise, they seem to be pretty much releasing stuff when it's done, more or less. I mean they've got a ton of great upcoming first and second party games, but none of them are done, so it's not like they're holding them back.
But Gears of War and Viva Pinata are such different games you wouldn't expect Gears sales to hurt Viva. Plus the games are aimed towards different crowds so releasing at around the same time wasn't a hard choice for Microsoft. But I still don't see a certain strategy that Microsoft is following with retail games. They haven't released that many first/second party titles that there would seem to be some strategy they are following. I do like that Crackdown was released in the beginning of this year instead of the same time as Gears, but that also has to do with Crackdown not being done yet.

[fathamburger]

I loved/love Prey and I am looking forward to The Darkness .
I played the game not the demo .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/Richlough/notprey.jpg

I like when people put way too much thought into their complaints to make these epic posts .

You know Prey was on PC too right? ;)

I know some people liked Prey but that's why I'm writing about Microsoft's strategy at all. It's the law of averages. Even bad games have their fans, but if you release something like Prey up against GoW then you miss the sales from the people that will like it just because there isn't something better at the time.

I would put Prey in the same group as the 2006 group of garbage PC shooters. Prey, Quake 4 and Fear. Fear was the best of a bad lot but generally I don't consider PC ports like Prey or Fear real 360 games. With any game there are people that love it or hate so you have to look at the overall picture. The average review score makes out Prey to be a mediocre to average game with a couple of exceptions like IGN saying its the best game eva!!1!1. In terms of sales, Prey has seen some hard discounting because of it's quality, but in terms of the release strategy, it's picked up more sales than it otherwise would have via the traditional blockbuster plan.

Thanks for illustrating my point for me :)

http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/928189.asp?q=prey

[sidr]

I would put Prey in the same group as the 2006 group of garbage PC shooters. Prey, Quake 4 and Fear. Fear was the best of a bad lot but generally I don't consider PC ports like Prey or Fear real 360 games.
I actually played Fear on a PC last year, and I have to ask, was I the only person who wasn't very impressed with it? I mean, amazing graphically, and perhaps I've just gone off FPS's, but I didn't really get into the gameplay and found the story to be pretty cheesy. Great set piece for the finale though, I admit. Then again, I haven't really touched Gears of War since I went through the single player, so I hardly represent popular opinion (still loving R6V though!).

To add something on topic... It definitely is smart how MS is bolstering their potential weaker sellers by releasing them during lag times and including bonuses (a la Crackdown and Shadowrun). I admit to having been on the fence about Crackdown after reading previews, but it was the one-two of the demo and the Halo Beta that spurred my decision to buy, and I have had a lot of fun with it. Kind of a cross between Hulk:Ultimate Destruction and Mercenaries. Seems like savvy marketing may have turned Crackdown from a decent-selling one-off game into the beginnings of a franchise that I, for one, could definitely be interested in down the road.

[elwood731]

To add something on topic... It definitely is smart how MS is bolstering their potential weaker sellers by releasing them during lag times and including bonuses (a la Crackdown and Shadowrun). I admit to having been on the fence about Crackdown after reading previews, but it was the one-two of the demo and the Halo Beta that spurred my decision to buy, and I have had a lot of fun with it. Kind of a cross between Hulk:Ultimate Destruction and Mercenaries. Seems like savvy marketing may have turned Crackdown from a decent-selling one-off game into the beginnings of a franchise that I, for one, could definitely be interested in down the road.
Agreed, it is smart of them. They actually had a decent plan with Viva Pinata with the nice bonuses and the $50 price tag, but for whatever reason the game just didn't catch. A shame, too. Crackdown is the best example, as they took a game that should have done modest sales and turned it into a potential blockbuster. Not just because of the Halo3 beta, but it certainly didn't hurt.

Though, in fairness, Nintendo does the same thing. You will rarely see Nintendo's big franchises duke it out. Sony, on the other hand, tends to throw everything out at once. Titles such as Sly Cooper and Ico sometimes get lost in the shuffle. Luckily, last gen Sony was dominant enough to stick by such developers and franchises. I hope MS does with Viva.

[Wolfpup]

Oh and I can't believe not many people bought Viva Pinata. It was one of the best games I played last year, and prolly in the top 5 for the 360. Really annoyed by the lackluster sales.


Yeah, hopefully what that MS guy said about it's sales not tapering off-that they think it'll be a big success long term is true. I know I plan on buying it once it hits a reasonable price.

But Gears of War and Viva Pinata are such different games you wouldn't expect Gears sales to hurt Viva. Plus the games are aimed towards different crowds so releasing at around the same time wasn't a hard choice for Microsoft.

I don't know, they both seem like games that are going to appeal to hard core gamers. I know I'm the target market for both, though Viva Pinata is the more interesting of the too for me.


I know some people liked Prey but that's why I'm writing about Microsoft's strategy at all. It's the law of averages. Even bad games have their fans...

Wait, you're calling Prey a bad game?!? :lol:

I would put Prey in the same group as the 2006 group of garbage PC shooters. Prey, Quake 4 and Fear. Fear was the best of a bad lot...[/quote]

Wow. I'll take Prey or Quake 4 over Halo any day. I didn't like F.E.A.R. (at least the 360 version, though I may pick it up for Windows and give it another shot), but that was mostly because it seemed way too hard.

[Weedy649]

Thanks for illustrating my point for me :)

http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/928189.asp?q=prey

...and thank you for illustrating mine :-p

http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/932585.asp?q=FEAR

84% based on 46 media reviews is not only far from average, it was a damn good game.

Just like you said, there are always going to be people that love bad games. In the same sense there will always be people who hate good games.

[fathamburger]

Wow. I'll take Prey or Quake 4 over Halo any day. I didn't like F.E.A.R. (at least the 360 version, though I may pick it up for Windows and give it another shot), but that was mostly because it seemed way too hard.

So would I :) Halo is pretty much like the Doom or Wolfenstein for console gamers, that's why they're all so attached to it but it's nothing too impressive by PC standards. I've asked a few guys and they all said, before Halo there wasn't any decent FPS games, and if there were most of them had bad controls.

[DomLando]

I don't know, they both seem like games that are going to appeal to hard core gamers. I know I'm the target market for both, though Viva Pinata is the more interesting of the too for me.
Gears is way more of a mass market game. I mean I don't know if they thought it would do as good as it did but that's the kind of game that sells right now so I don't think at all it was made for a "hardcore" gamer only in mind.