After Skyrim, Fallout 4?

[KalosKagathos]

-They lacked the time to make a new engine. They used Bethesda engine. Blame the correct offenders if you are going to blame anyone.

Sorry, but Obsidian is still to blame for agreeing to the retarded terms in the first place. If you can't do it right, don't do it at all.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Sorry, but Obsidian is still to blame for agreeing to the retarded terms in the first place. If you can't do it right, don't do it at all.

If that is how you feel then it's like Jaesun said: let that shit die.

 

[KalosKagathos]

If that is how you feel then it's like Jaesun said: let that shit die.

You say it as if there's any downside to letting Fallout die. I'd rather see Obsidian use its talent on new IPs.

 

[DragoFireheart]

You say it as if there's any downside to letting Fallout die. I'd rather see Obsidian use its talent on new IPs.

I enjoyed the IP for what it is. I'm sad to see it die. I also have little confidence that Obsidian will make a new IP: all they have been doing is modding other IPs, which leads me to believe they have little interest in making a new IP.

Don't say Alpha Protocol.

 

[KalosKagathos]

Isn't the 2D game a new IP? Then there was that Seven Dwarves project. Also, Alpha Protocol.

 

[poocolator]

Has anybody who has been closely following the news seen any indication whether Bethesda plans to make Fallout 4? If so, what are the odds it may do so using Skyrim's engine?

Will Fallout 4 target a new audience or will Bethesda also try to stay true to their original fans from Fallout 3 as well?

So, Wormlord, what did you think of Fallout 3?

 

[Wyrmlord]

Didn't play it. Hence, do not think about it.

This thread was purely idle curiosity.

 

[commie]

But they won't. Ever. They will outlive most of us. Making shit games. Utter shit games. Raping more and more IPs. Breathe that in for a moment. Now move a long.

Eh, I give them a decade more and they'll die like every developer does.

 

[Metro]

If you can't do it right, don't do it at all.

Unfortunately in the real world people have to eat, pay for housing, provide for their families, etc. I'm not going to be that harsh on them for taking on a project that would deliver them some financial security. God knows Dungeon Siege 3 won't.

 

[Roguey]

I also have little confidence that Obsidian will make a new IP: all they have been doing is modding other IPs, which leads me to believe they have little interest in making a new IP.

The interest is very much there on their side, but not at all on the publisher side, you know, the people who actually pay all the money upfront to make the thing. It's a huge risk, bad economy, easier to just clone what's already proven to be a seller, blah blah blah. They have Defiance (which no one wanted and they'll now have to rename; Square Enix may or may not be dangling that carrot with DS3's performance) and another original IP by Sawyer/Avellone which they've been pitching (we'll see if anyone takes it).

I'm not going to be that harsh on them for taking on a project that would deliver them some financial security. God knows Dungeon Siege 3 won't.

DS3 gave them just as much financial security as NV. They get paid by the milestone and there's no chance at all they're getting any bonuses/royalties with those low metacritic scores on both titles.

 

[Lunac]

As for PC? Quite probably these days PC gaming monetarily represents around 5% of the gaming profit pie at best. It was around 10% back in 2007, according to this chart:

5%? AT BEST!

By 2015-2016 PC gaming will be way, WAY beyond micro-niche status (realistically, that's where it is today), it will be extinct by most definitions by then..

You apparently missed the part where it said this is retail only and doesn't include digital distribution.
Dumbfuck.

You must mean Steam? What is the argument, that PC gaming is not in decline? Bullshit! That Steam represents a large chunk of PC gaming? Bullshit again! On the PC flash/java gaming is king, just ask millions of "players" of Farmville and other equivalents. Oh, you can belive it otherwise, I mean because you and perhaps several of your internet buddies use Steam it means everyone does, right, rite? Steam is the Scientology equivalent on the scale of things in the PC gaming world. Loud, brash, and some people heard of it (or just the word itself), except the actual number of followers pales in comparison when compared to the other players (say Christianity or Islam). Digital distribution is a bit player in a already niche-microsystem like PC gaming. Reminds of this sad alcoholic type I knew at work who tried to convince me that everyone else was a boozer as well. Like I told him: "Naw man, just you and yours!" Anywho, for some light reading here is a list of PC exclusives for 2010 (if you can find them in that mess of console titles):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_in_video_gaming


A "Sims" game, an piddly juvenile arcade game, few stale wargames (niche inside of a micro niche?), a Football Manager game, a lone STALKER title, and about half a dozen MMOs (which outnumber other exclusives put together and a genre which is certain to be a console only domain shortly after the release of MMO-ready next-gen consoles in a few short years from now.) As for other DD systems like GoG, all of them put together are still a smaller player than Steam which itself, again, is a bit player.

Also, you can expect Steam/Valve to fully jump onto the console bandwagon with next console cycle. They are a business after all, and obviously consoles is where the money is at.

I can't wait for Steam users to try and spin their latest purchase of PlayStationFOUR or XBOX3000 as nothing serious, and with arguments equaling nothing more than "Gabe knows wat IS teh best!"

...
..
.

 

[KalosKagathos]

Unfortunately in the real world people have to eat, pay for housing, provide for their families, etc. I'm not going to be that harsh on them for taking on a project that would deliver them some financial security. God knows Dungeon Siege 3 won't.

I dunno, making hardcore TB RPGs has been working out pretty well for, say, Atlus. Not Call of Duty well, but it makes them enough money to stay in business and make more games. I think it's a safe bet at this point that Obsidian makes exactly the kind of games it wants to make. Buying New Vegas will only result in more games like New Vegas.

 

[Shannow]

DS3 gave them just as much financial security as NV. They get paid by the milestone and there's no chance at all they're getting any bonuses/royalties with those low metacritic scores on both titles.

I was under the impression that NV sold quite well. And considering that some people here like DS3 there seems to be a certain amount of people who like shit and might buy it. So it doesn't have to be a complete failure (financially. Game-wise it is a complete failure, of course M . And while Obsidian might be paid by the milestone they are also paid by project. If DS3 completely tanks (and perhaps their next project too), they might end up like Troika and not find anyone to finance their games anymore. Of course, it'll be for opposite reasons but it leads to the same result.

 

[FatCat]

You must mean Steam? What is the argument, that PC gaming is not in decline? Bullshit!

PC sells as much as any console and actually sells more if title is pc-centric.Most of the charts are pulled out of their anuses , they bear no weight. Shogun 2 , Witcher 2 seem to do exceptionally well being PC exclusive.Most games are actually pirated sooner on consoles than PC , but Microsoft and Sony are influencing developers , it would be in their best interest to see PC gaming die.

 

[Roguey]

I was under the impression that NV sold quite well.

All that went to Bethesda. These days developers need to hit both a sales and metacritic target to get any extra reward. As ex-Alpha Popamole developer Patrick Mills explained

Publisher: Why should we pay you for a game that sold great, when clearly it wasn't that good! Look, you promised us you'd deliver an 85% good game. Metacritic, the arbiter of all that is true and just in the world, says you delivered an 82% good game. Try harder next time! <chomps a cigar>

If DS3 completely tanks (and perhaps their next project too), they might end up like Troika and not find anyone to finance their games anymore. Of course, it'll be for opposite reasons but it leads to the same result.

Always an issue, true, but it's up to Square Enix to release any sales data, which is what they'd have to go by (Will they? Dunno, I've never paid much attention to them in the past). The Square Enix PR people do seem to be satisfied with its soz-tastic scores so far. Keeping in mind that with the metacritic condition it's actually in their best interest to get a lower-scoring game so they keep all potential profit (which is understandable considering they took all the financial risk).

 

[Shannow]

I was under the impression that NV sold quite well.

All that went to Bethesda. These days developers need to hit both a sales and metacritic target to get any extra reward. As ex-Alpha Popamole developer Patrick Mills explained

Which I am aware of and which is why my whole post was about pointing out the importance of Obsidian's games being successful, not because of royalties or bonuses, but because of the ability to get investors/funders for future projects.
As an aside: I'd always try to get a share of the royalties at the expense of slightly lower fix-wages. But then, I'd be confident in providing a good and polished product which Obsidian probably can't be...

Anyway:

Always an issue, true, but it's up to Square Enix to release any sales data, which is what they'd have to go by (Will they? Dunno, I've never paid much attention to them in the past). The Square Enix PR people do seem to be satisfied with its soz-tastic scores so far. Keeping in mind that with the metacritic condition it's actually in their best interest to get a lower-scoring game so they keep all potential profit (which is understandable considering they took all the financial risk).

Hmm? First I thought you meant some dubious taxes saving scheme like the investors of Uwe Boll movies always aim at. But now I think you're talking about the "bonus if metacritic > x" nonsense. I doubt the bonus would exceed the profit from higher sales due to better scores. But suits might not, they're stupid like that... So you might be right.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Obsidian is the best professional modding company since Raven Software, and likewise has a bright future ahea- oh wait!

 

[DragoFireheart]

Obsidian is the best professional modding company since Raven Software, and likewise has a bright future ahea- oh wait!

STOP BAD MOUTHING MY FAV COMPANY I SUCK THEIR COCK WHY YOU MENA!?!?!?!
/sarcasm

Sadly this mostly all of what Obsidian is: a gloried group of modders that get paid to mod. Can we even call them developers? I guess we could since they made that Sonic RPG and Alpha Protocol...

 

[Kaanyrvhok]

If another fucking shit Fallout from Bethesda would allow a Obsidian Fallout game using the proper Van Buren Engine then that would be pure awesome. Other than that, Bethesda can just fucking die in a fire and go to hell.

That might be up to Nintendo. For a game like that to sell Beth standards it needs to be multi and Nintendo seems allergic to western RPGs on handhelds.

 

[markec]

You must mean Steam? What is the argument, that PC gaming is not in decline? Bullshit!

PC sells as much as any console and actually sells more if title is pc-centric.Most of the charts are pulled out of their anuses , they bear no weight. Shogun 2 , Witcher 2 seem to do exceptionally well being PC exclusive.Most games are actually pirated sooner on consoles than PC , but Microsoft and Sony are influencing developers , it would be in their best interest to see PC gaming die.

PC gaming cant and will not ever die, anyone who thinks otherwise is a moron.

 

[DragoFireheart]

PC gaming cant and will not ever die, anyone who thinks otherwise is a moron.

And what makes you so sure of this? Have less PC only games been made? Aren't most of the PC games just ports from console games? Does the fact that PC games make up such a small part of most retail stores have any significant meaning?

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

Prisoner of Ice is exclusive to the PC, and that's the only game you ever need to play. Just look at me! Three years later, and I'm still not done! It's complexity is rivaled only by its length, and it is truly fortunate that nobody else has fallen into the same trap...

Hope? Purpose? All lies... I discovered the secrets hidden away in the dark corners of the earth, and now I shall die with them. I can only pray that whichever damned soul finds my carcass has better fortune escaping from this place... than I ever had.

- Stereotypical Villain

May 16th
1894

 

[Achilles]

Have less PC only games been made? Aren't most of the PC games just ports from console games? Does the fact that PC games make up such a small part of most retail stores have any significant meaning?

No, No and none whatsoever. Although if one only plays big-budget multiplatform games, I can see how he might get that impression. PC retail is declining because you can't sell the game second-handed and that's how retailers make most of their profit.

 

[markec]

PC gaming cant and will not ever die, anyone who thinks otherwise is a moron.

And what makes you so sure of this? Have less PC only games been made? Aren't most of the PC games just ports from console games? Does the fact that PC games make up such a small part of most retail stores have any significant meaning?

Retail is declining because publishers have realized that with direct download distribution their profit margin has increased. Retail will not die but in future I predict that it will only be limited to some Collectors editions.

As for the games, PC will always have certain genres that are unable to be played on consoles, and as long as those games have their audience PC gaming will be alive and kicking.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Retail is declining because publishers have realized that with direct download distribution their profit margin has increased. Retail will not die but in future I predict that it will only be limited to some Collectors editions.

-I suspect it may not even be of that extreme. Movies still come out on CDs. Music as well. Yes, you can get them off the Internet, but DD seems more like a complement rather than competition with retail as far as consumers are concerned. Retail is arguably more secure since you don't need your credit card information online at said website with the risk of it being hacked by groups like Lulsec.

As for the games, PC will always have certain genres that are unable to be played on consoles, and as long as those games have their audience PC gaming will be alive and kicking.

But it will be a niche, not mainstream. This has it's own implications.