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[jello44]

I'm not sure who the source is for that article but much of it is completely false based on my knowledge.

Great, thanks.

 

[Bedlam]

I'm only just now reading this thread, but I don't get how anyone can think this. Bioware's problems come from sloppy writing and in the case of the first two mass effects, incredibly clunky gameplay. I don't see any real "EA influence" there, all that happened was the money made them lazy.

Didn't DA2 have an extremely short development cycle (about a year or so) because EA wanted to cash in on the franchise? And the results were unpolished art, no exploration and recycled areas. Also, "button=awesome" is in line with what EA is doing with every single one of their franchises.

But you're still not wrong about Bioware's lackluster writing.

I'm not sure who the source is for that article but much of it is completely false based on my knowledge.

Hmmm...

 

[ultron87]

Greatly exaggerated?

Implying that there was some validity to this?

That's just a famous phrase.

 

[Aquamarine]

I'm not sure who the source is for that article but much of it is completely false based on my knowledge.

Now you're a much, much more reliable source than this rumor or EA PR. That's really good to know, man.

 

[Nirolak]

Greatly exaggerated?

Implying that there was some validity to this?

It's a Mark Twain quote.

The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated
Origin

Mark Twain quotation after hearing that his obituary had been published in the New York Journal.

Mistaken publications of obituaries aren't as rare as you might expect. A recent example is of Dave Swarbrick, the British folk/rock violinist, who was killed off mistakenly by the Daily Telegraph in April 1999 when they reported that his visit to hospital in Coventry had resulted in his death. He did at least get the opportunity to read a rather favourable account of his life, not something we all get to do, and to deliver the gag "It's not the first time I have died in Coventry".

 

[Famassu]

Yes, people who want value for their dollar are ruining the game industry. Oh don't worry, they added a timer! Infinite replayability!

Mirror's Edge offered plenty of value. And you are probably one of those people who don't understand how much game development costs nowadays and are demanding completely irrational prices for games.

Again, an idiotic suggestion like "Mirror's Edge should've been 10$" is just that, idiotic.

 

[Vire]

It's a Mark Twain quote.

Clever.

Hopefully this means the series will return to its roots in the inevitable reboot.

 

[V_Ben]

Well, that's good news then.

 

[diamount]

I guess we'll find out for sure at their next investor call.

 

[jello44]

Now you're a much, much more reliable source than this rumor or EA PR. That's really good to know, man.

Mmhmm, that's why I wanted to hear it from one of the guys at Visceral, before I started believing anything from some "anonymous" posting.

 

[Lunar15]

I'm going to be honest, I'm a little surprised by the reactions here.

A lot of people seem to get upset when a franchise is killed off, but then another large group of people also talk about sequelitis and franchise fatigue. Are these two different groups of people? Some want EA to make new IP's, while others get angry when they kill some off.

I know they're not mutually exclusive, but there is a weird dichotomy here.

 

[Zabka]

I'm going to be honest, I'm a little surprised by the reactions here.

A lot of people seem to get upset when a franchise is killed off, but then another large group of people also talk about sequelitis and franchise fatigue. Are these two different groups of people? Some want EA to make new IP's, while others get angry when they kill some off.

I know they're not mutually exclusive, but there is a weird dichotomy here.

People want new stuff and more of the good old stuff. Nothing weird about that.

 

[Clear]

I'm pretty sure all the DS projects have been run out of Redwood Shores, so the fate of Visceral Montreal could well be a separate issue.

The really silly thing about all this is that despite the negative tone of this thread, the actual OT here is significantly more positive.

Sure there are complaints, but it isn't a train-wreck.

 

[BIONIC-ARRRMMM!!]

It's for the better. Instead of improving on the solid yet flawed foundation of the original, the series went off the deep end in the sequel. I never even bothered with the third. Fuck EA's meddling.

 

[plagiarize]

I'm not sure who the source is for that article but much of it is completely false based on my knowledge.

thank fuck for that.

 

[BolognaSoup]

*and edit on the OP update.

 

[Lazlo Woodbine]

People that hate on DS2 need to take the stick out of their bum. Just saying.

I love the first game but it's not exactly the blueprint for the perfect survival horror game. It has it's fair share of cheese and sillyness. Dead Space 2 did a very good job of reconciling the best elements of both ideals (action vs horror) into an more cohesive story.

 

[Nirolak]

More dev comments:

Ian Milham ‏@Monkey_Pants

@32nds Almost nothing in that article is true. But thanks for the nice words on DS!

As for what's true, we do know that Visceral Montreal shut down.

 

[subversus]

I'm not sure who the source is for that article but much of it is completely false based on my knowledge.

nice!

 

[Hystzen]

Peoples blind hate for EA is really getting tiresome instead of waiting for more details just jump on the hate wagon. Now after more details looks like it was false so good job guys

 

[LastNac]

Greatly exaggerated?

Implying that there was some validity to this?

Dat lack of literary insight.

 

[FastRedPonyCar]

 

[maxiell]

Visceral is a talented developer, and some of the changes EA made were regrettable, but isn't it possible that consumers just were not keen on dropping $60 on a sequel when many have not played the original games, which can be had for less than $20 and less than $10 respectively?

 

[xaosslug]

DS4 'in it's present form/planning stages' was probably scrapped. I doubt the entire franchise was ended. EA probably want DS to go back to DS1&2 basics.

 

[HamPster PamPster]

Looks like I'll be contacting videogamer.com as an anonymous source in a few weeks. EA reboot of General Chaos is in development, to be announced at E3!

Time to build some buzz

 

[Shrennin]

It's some kind of EA curse. DS3, ME3... what's next, Dragon Age 3?

The world isn't ready for that based on Dragon Age 2's quality.

 

[ezekial45]

In the time it took you to make this, we already had two sourcing denying this rumour.

 

[FastRedPonyCar]

In the time it took you to make this, we already had two sourcing denying this rumour.

Whether or not it's true does not change the fact that they have crippled the IP with poor design decisions and a comically oversized budget demanding unrealistic sales numbers.

They are going to have to rebuild this IP from the ground up if they want it to survive.

 

[diffusionx]

Whether or not it's true does not change the fact that they have crippled the IP with poor design decisions and a comically oversized budget demanding unrealistic sales numbers.

Just how oversized is the budget, really?

It's expensive to make a modern game at a good length with good production values. It's expensive to sell that game to the public, too.

A Dead Space made on the cheap will look and play like it was made on the cheap, and will get criticized by gamers for that.

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

Dead Space will never die!

Hopefully.

I was angry when I read that title though.

 

[EvB]

Should have slowed down, you spelled Business wrong.

 

[Ushojax]

Should of slowed down, you spelled Business wrong.

 

[Duxxy3]

Just how oversized is the budget, really?

It's expensive to make a modern game at a good length with good production values. It's expensive to sell that game to the public, too.

A Dead Space made on the cheap will look and play like it was made on the cheap, and will get criticized by gamers for that.

If they can't make a dead space game that is profitable with 2 million sales then the series is just not viable.

 

[stktt]

Should of slowed down, you spelled Business wrong.

He would of, but they're wasn't enough time.

 

[Samir Sedlar]

Dead Space 1 did absolutely no such thing.

Our last numbers were 2 million units shipped: http://www.seekingalpha.com/article/218456-electronic-arts-f1q11-earnings-call-transcript

I stand corrected then, but the point remains Survival Horror fans are many, but there is no survival horror game like the old days.

Edit: Chartz are banned here for a reason.

I didn't notice that till you mentioned, why is it banned ?!

==========================================================

Yup. If they had built up a solid fanbase by concentrating on a few, distinct core features instead of mainstreaming it, sales might have increased. Kind of how Dark Souls took off after Demon's Souls by improving the game in the right ways and drawing from an existing fanbase while at the same time winning over new fans. But the way EA franchises usually progress, they repel fans of earlier titles with misguided attempts to achieve mainstream success. Trying to compete with the bigshots with every game/series is just not a sustainable business model and EA had to face this reality rather often recently (DS, TOR, MoH). I wonder how many more ruined IPs and overblown budgets it will take them to learn that lesson.

I totally agree with you, mainstreaming is effecting every one of the oldest franchise that used to have a great core of player, and very few are able to succeed.

well if DS4 was ever to happen, then I hope they focus on survival horror fans.

=========================================================

I think the problem is we don't know if it is true or not. The assumption is if EA makes a great survival horror game that it wont sell. I'm sure they do all the market research in the world, but unless somebody actually makes such a game, we just don't know.

Perhaps the Last of Us will be telling.

yeah true, and there is Project Zwei, it may be the true survival horror game that we all are waiting for.

========================================================

There are plenty of indies on PC, but what baffles me is how nobody has tried to emulate the RE1 style of survival horror games. Running for your life is all well and good for some people, and I do enjoy kicking zombies in the face or dismembering necromorphs. But the kind of game that made the genre popular in the first place seems to have dropped off the map.

I know it's harder to balance a game with actual combat and ammo conservation than just making the PC hyperventilate whenever he's looking at a monster, but it's not impossible and I know that a game touting itself as a classic RE successor would do just fine. There's gotta be an indie studio out there who wants to do this. Or we can just wait for Mikami to save us all with Zwei.

Totally agree, and didn't RE:Remake break new grounds that RE1 didn't, I think as you said balancing and maybe budget makes indie unable to develop a similar game.

& I am as you, one of those who enjoy fighting monsters and conserve ammo, rather than run from every single one and seeing the screen shaking.

 

[EvB]

At least mine isn't in jpeg form

 

[Nirolak]

I stand corrected then, but the point remains Survival Horror fans are many, but there is no survival horror game like the old days.


I didn't notice that till you mentioned, why is it banned ?!

We had a long history of them arguing with NPD numbers and derailing threads when they were caught being notably inaccurate.

But yes, we saw Resident Evil 4 and 5 get over 5 million copies, so there is an audience that could potentially buy that many copies of Dead Space, they just have been unable to capture them.

 

[spekkeh]

I'm going to be honest, I'm a little surprised by the reactions here.

A lot of people seem to get upset when a franchise is killed off, but then another large group of people also talk about sequelitis and franchise fatigue. []Are these two different groups of people?[/b] Some want EA to make new IP's, while others get angry when they kill some off.

I know they're not mutually exclusive, but there is a weird dichotomy here.

They could very well be. Some research into player profiles shows that you have people that play games because they want to experience something new, and people that play games because they want to master something. These are often on other sides of the spectrum.

But here it's also a question of why Dead Space and a part of its development team was purportedly killed, namely that it sold less (and shy of a ridiculous target) because of aggravating things that EA shoehorned in there themselves.

 

[Dragon1893]

That's a relief. Next gen wouldn't be the same without some dead space.

 

[YuriLowell]

I still don't believe anything EA PR would say.

 

[Nocturno999]

I liked Dead Space and thought Dead Space 2 was a masterpiece. I skipped 3 because the demo felt more like another Gears wanna-be and micro transactions are gross and a step back.

 

[Toonami 99]

I completely forgot that they wanted 5 million in sales. How much did the game make in its opening week?
Sad that Visceral died in the process, I really loved Dead Space 1 and 2. I am still working on DS3 and the micro transactions don't bother me. The co-op was a great feature and is not shoe ended in the game.

EA really isn't generating IPs that I am interested in, Dead Space, Burnout, and Mass Effect were the only ones I cared about. Good luck former members of Visceral and EA I sure you can fare without my money.

 

[grosvenor_92]

How much has the game actually sold ? I know EA expected 5 million plus but I get a feeling it didn't hit that at least not yet

 

[FStop7]

False rumor or not, bad game or not, Dino Ignacio makes a mean UI.

 

[CosmicQueso]

Great to see a false story get parroted on every site with no investigation at all.

 

[schwabdizzle]

Glad to see this will live on.

 

[dubq]

EDIT: nm - beat me to it

 

[WickedCobra03]

Great to see a false story get parroted on every site with no investigation at all.

Yeah, I dunno. I have seen this story on 2 "news" sites already. I feel like rumors are fine on forums and such that are kind of lesser known to the casual audience, but it sucks to have rumors spread on mainstream websites, especially if they turn out bring totally false which this one could be.

 

[Tacitus_]

Yeah, I dunno. I have seen this story on 2 "news" sites already. I feel like rumors are fine on forums and such that are kind of lesser known to the casual audience, but it sucks to have rumors spread on mainstream websites, especially if they turn out bring totally false which this one could be.

There's a whole circlejerk of being anti EA in gamer circles. Negative news must get huge clickcounts.

 

[bidguy]

Phew, dodged the bullet there eh ?

What makes people think DS will return to its roots ?
Because of the Twain quote ?