Long time listener, first time poster. Great show as always guys. The Cheapyd, Wombat and Shripwreck combo seems to be developing well.
I agree with your feelings about motion control but I guess it's a good example of the hardware manufacturers being reactive. Not just to Nintendo but to the publishers too. No doubt the big guys (Acti/EA etc) were putting pressure on MS and Sony to do something similar in the control department due to profits being made on shitty party games on the Wii.
This has obviously led MS and Sony to spend a lot of money and time developing their own solution but it's too little too late. The irony of this situation is that the publishers have already moved on! I think this quote from Alan Tascan of EA Montreal is very telling....
"The Wii market is a little bit unpredictable these days. We're going to see how Christmas is going to do and while with the Wii we have had very successful titles, we are going to focus on big, blockbuster-type titles. It doesn't mean that we are going to abandon the Wii, but as a studio we want to be ready for new challenges, I feel right now our label wants to focus on fewer and bigger things, and the market is going through this soft transition where people want these very high value productions on one side, which is our specialty within the games label, but also this casual, but high quality, product that they can play quickly, of which mobile is one part and Playfish is another. We're just trying to adapt to the reality of today. I think the market is showing that if you don't adapt fast enough then you'll be in trouble."
I think MW2 was a real wake up call for the industry and highlighted just how much cold hard cash well planned, produced and executed AAA titles can make. Mass Effect 2 in January of all months has also backed this up. This is all obviously a big problem for MS as Sony. The hardcore gamers don't give a shit, the casual gamers don't want to spend more than a couple of bucks, and now it seems the publishers aren't that bothered!
It'll be very interesting to see how all this pans out.
Keep up the great work! Love the show!
P.S. Wombat, nothing personal as I love your insights, but lay off Cheapy for answering questions he's already answered before. Opinions, circumstances and listenership all change from time to time and I don't think 'find the old show where we talked about it before' is particularly helpful advice. I've listened from the start and it doesn't bother me as I recognise that new CAGs must be coming on board all the time. On a positive note, well done for inventing Batman AA and good luck at PAX east! Oh, and if you could find some time to invent a new Space Combat game that would be great too....
ing horrible idea, and very indicative of the cheesy direction the gaming industry is going. If this keeps up, I'm going to ditch gaming and raise bees instead.
