I hate how some developers tank over one project.

It sounds like you have to be owned by a large publisher just for job security. I don't get how you can be given a contract to develop something only to get it dropped a year into development or whatever and have the whole studio go belly up. Surely they pay you for the work you have done and there are cancellation fees or at least someone on the business side should be making deals for other projects behind the scenes or something to keep them afloat?

Was it always like this or is it because blockbuster games cost so much more to develop over the PS2 era?

SteelAttack said:

The current model is broken. The industry as a whole rides precariously on the crest of a wave that is sustained by a few 800 pound gorillas, but that is unsustainable for many smaller developers.

Bizaare was closed because of Blur was it? Activision sound pretty bad when it comes to nurturing talent, they appear to be pretty ruthless when it comes to performance. To me, it looks like the best place to work would be at one of the three big platform makers in house, Microsoft Game Studios one of Sony's affiliates or Nintendo studios. I think it's because they have long term plans and are in gaming for the long haul from platform to platform and will always need new games made. They probably have more of a financial buffer too.

SteelAttack said:

I've only been playing SC2. The campaign is so good it halted my LA Noire playthrough. it's bound to remain like that for a while, though, since the single player campaign is lenghty, and I haven't even touched multiplayer.

I think I will buy Starcraft II after the campaigns for the Zerg and Protos are out.  Hopefully in a very tasty, hobo-priced box-set!  Can't wait.

...

I want a cat, but my wife won't let me.

gamingeek said:

Bizaare was closed because of Blur was it? Activision sound pretty bad when it comes to nurturing talent, they appear to be pretty ruthless when it comes to performance. To me, it looks like the best place to work would be at one of the three big platform makers in house, Microsoft Game Studios one of Sony's affiliates or Nintendo studios. I think it's because they have long term plans and are in gaming for the long haul from platform to platform and will always need new games made. They probably have more of a financial buffer too.

Yeah, shame because the PGR series was pretty good, even if it felt a bit stagnant at times. Truly underappreciated racing titles.

The trend of smaller devs having to either close or move under the wing of a big-ass publisher is worrisome.

Ok, Tom Clancy stuff is on sale on Steam today. 66% off EVERYTHING. Should I pick something? Never played a tactical shooter save for a couple hours of GRAW and I believe Chaos Theory during a rental.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell®

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent®

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory®

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction™

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter®,

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter® 2 ,

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon®

Tom Clancy's EndWar™

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X™

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.® 2

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Vegas 2

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Lockdown™

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® 3 Gold

That's a lot of Tom fucking Clancys.

<3

I saw DQIX  heavily discounted on a store a week ago. Thinking of giving portable gaming one last shot before calling it quits.