In the second entry of Two Minds the guest writer poses the question of 'do you pre-order games? Why or why not?'
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.
Anthony and Joe rate some classic gaming chase scenes from Uncharted 4 to It Takes Two.
Whenever I see these guys I just imagine them going to group meetings with Captain America and talk about how sad they are about their husbands being dusted.
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PlayStation has announced a sizable collection of PS4 games coming to PS5 in a massive upgraded collection for PS Plus subscribers and we here at Duel Screens are incredibly excited for old and new…
After reading the article, the second one somewhat fits me. There were few titles I pre ordered since most of the time whenever I wanted a game I could go get it. PS3/360 was really the first time I tried pre ordering, and unless there's a big title I really want, I can wait.
One thing I did change for 2016 though, if a game has a Season Pass (excluding MMO style games) I will wait for some GotY version, or a sale of game and the Pass for a discount. Fortunately I was able to dodge some heavy bullets, and to also vote with my wallet that the practice is beyond stupid.
I only pre-order hardware that will be in high demand, and limited/collector edition software.
With anything else, I see no point.
Listen, if you're looking forward to a game and want to pre-order it then by all means you do what you want to and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
I do my research beforehand on standard copies of games I want to play, making sure the game looks and runs well based on gameplay trailers and also based on the reputation of the developer. This year, Uncharted 4 (E3 trailer was awesome and Naughty Dog, easy decision, got the special edition + triple pack combo for reasonably less than the special edition standalone price), Pro Evo 17 (superior gameplay compared to it's competition), Battlefield 1 (gameplay and game modes, beta, WW1 setting. And regarding the issues with BF4's launch, Star Wars Battlefront servers were reliable at it's launch and I figured it unlikely the launch debacle of BF4 would happen to BF1).
Sometimes I preorder limited editions of games I want depending on the content, value for money, and based on the above factors. WWE 2k17 NXT edition I was able to get for much less than RRP.
However most of the time in the UK I find I can get preorder standard copy games for less than the usual launch £40+ RRP just by looking around online websites or just going on HotUKDeals.