Quote: "Pretty boxes are created to attract people to them, and most gamers would be quite content to purchase a blank piece of paper as the cover of a box if it included their favourite game inside. And so, the idea here is that those people who would be attracted by the pretty boxes are either inherently not gamers, or prone to falling prey to pretty boxes.
These are the types of people who will pay serious money for a game that has an alien from James Cameron’s Aliens on the cover, because Aliens… and we all know the folly of that action. "
The story in part 3 of Sony Interactive Entertainment and Naughty Dog's The Last of Us series may explore a "congregation of immune people."
Former Naughty Dog artist Gabriel Betancourt explains why the "sweet spot" for game teams is under 200 people and how AAA "factories" kill creativity.
There’s definitely some truth to this. When teams get too large, coordination starts to outweigh creativity—layers of approval, risk aversion, and tight deadlines can turn bold ideas into “safe” ones. Keeping a team under ~200 people sounds ideal for maintaining clear communication and a shared vision. That said, massive AAA projects also come with huge technical demands and expectations, so scaling up isn’t always avoidable. The real challenge is figuring out how to keep that small-team creativity alive inside big studio structures.
More than that, it's logistically untenable. Inevitably, when teams get too large, how do you keep tabs on accountability? I suspect this massive team size is a consequence of the perfectionism streak Naughty Dog has.
I wish we could have so many people working on something and it turns out great because I'm all for collaboration in spirit - the problem is too many people as part of the larger team and smaller units. Suppose for example that you have too many people in the art department; you will very often come up against fiercely competing visions for how things should look. That competitive vision will cause friction between team members, team doesn't work as a unit, the back and forth can further delay parts that the other departments are waiting for, etc etc.
A 200-person team says, to me, that we need to scale back game development. Even if it means we go back to PS2 era costs and scale, why not? Those games are still great fun, the budgets were in check, and you could literally break the 200-man team into like 10 20-man teams working on different projects.
The Last of Us Part I PS5 review covering visuals, combat feel, accessibility, performance modes, and whether it is really worth the asking price of $69.99.
Means alot for the average joe, like a guy i know said ''dude, look at that guy, he's so badass!''
was the cod cover, he instant buyed it not even knowing anything except what the cover offered about it.
/sigh
Don't matter that much for hardcore gamers but maybe for them nerds.. screw the box.. it's what's inside that counts..and when you have them on your selves you can just see the back of it..
They make a big first impression to uninformed gamers. So it is important to have a striking cover when selling retail.
I think it was Kevin Levine who explained the points stated above when Bioshock Infinite was getting all that crap for its cover.
didn't Naughty Dog say Ellie was the focus of the story? even the trailers seem to direct that. Just because she's an AI doesn't mean she shouldn't be on the cover. Just because you're controlling the character doesn't mean it needs to be on the cover. It really depends what the game is about.