If indeed they had a retail copy that they got on the sly, then they should have just said so. Instead of acting like it was "business as usual". They got a major release nearly a month in advance and act surprised that anyone would question that.
You'd think someone with 15 years experience in reviewing hardware and software and claims to have worked for Tom's Hardware and PC Gamer would see how this would turn out.
I really don't care ...
They could have scored it a 10 but I still question the credibility of all this.
I'm sorry but the game was obtained under questionable circumstances regardless of whether they walked into a store and got a copy.
For you or me that isn't an issue, but for a site to put out a review of a major release like this then play coy about the details of this purchase, is an issue.
The fact remains, the game is not intended to be sold at this ...
Except this isn't a "traditionally" developed game. If it were, I might agree.
By the time its actually "released" many thousands will have already been playing it. So by that time anyone who hasn't will (should) know what they are "realistically" buying. Hype needs expectations that heightened by mystery and there won't be that much mystery here.
@masterfox
What else do you expect them to show at this early stage?
What? You think $40+ million means they should be finished?
Destiny is creeping up on $500 million and they haven't shown anything more that running around and shooting. But how dare we pre-judge them.
Why do gamers hold these devs to such high standards and act like $40 million is like some hyper-budget that entitles us to instant completion and a solid...
We can hope, but lets be honest, Risen 3 will be better looking, but with the same issues every other game had.
Story of this franchise is hoping the next one will be better.
I don't know, I'm pretty VR requires much higher than 30fps. At that point the latency starts to become an issue.
All I know is, 30fps is probably too low based on everything I've read. VR needs high and stable fps.
SMS has said the standard release of PCars is going for 60 fps.
Now, Sony could be going for 30 fps per eye, but they are showing Morpheus running games at 60fps.
1. Pcars has Morpheus support.
2. Stereo rendering doesn't mean you have to render everything twice. Many things, like AI and even some visual effects can be rendered only once. There are also effects that can be turned off for VR.
Bottom line, while the Rift has the advantage of scalability, the PS4 can do VR. Sony just has to make sure games are developed with in the parameters of that system.
DayZ was a mod. A mod that put ArmA 2 (a game which despite its good qualities is far from anything resembling "mass appeal") at number 1 on Steams top sellers list for far longer than most AAA new releases.
It may not be the most polished experience ever, but you can't ignore its impact. Not only did it manage to sell many thousands of copies of ArmA 2 but it practically spawned a new genre.
If SM is saying they are supporting Morpheus then has to be 60fps and 1080p. Anything below that and it runs a huge risk of ruining the experience.
America has certainly done some horrible things, but nothing on the order of systematically exterminating 6 million innocent people. Not to mention starting a war that cost 60+ million lives.
While blacks were treated horribly (and racism in the US still exists) that was not genocide. Not even close. There isn't much worse than segregation or slavery, but what the Nazi's did was.
We rightly deserve to be called out on the terrible things we've don...
@rivencleft
No, a couple million dollars was never going to be enough to reach a mass market.
Its one thing to cobble together a low grade device made with off the shelf parts at a $300 price point. Its quite another to design and manufacture a much larger amount of superior devices for around a $400 price point.
On top of the logistics of just producing millions of devices, they have the added job of convincing people to buy them.
Personally, BioWare lost me with ME3. I was a huge fan of both series and read all the books, but ME3 just made me lose all interest in BioWare.
I know, that compared to how I saw them before ME3 that I should still be excited. One game shouldn't destroy all that I loved prior, but it did. I wish this was a case where I was just lying to myself, that there was the tiniest spark of interest left in either series, but there just isn't.
Steam sales weren't the reason Square Enix's game didn't see a profit over a long period of time. They vastly over estimated the figures for those games. How you link Steam sales with that, I don't know. Besides those were multi-plats that really didn't depend Steam for sales numbers in the first place.
That Ars Technica study left out a lot of the context and some numbers they themselves admit that they couldn't apply to the study. Interesting? Sure. ...
Should be interesting.
Well on the bright side there is a better chance now for new Star Wars games now than there was when LA was calling the shots.
Fact is, LucasArts died a LONG time ago. What upsets me is that it was entirely preventable. They had a bulletproof license and wasted it.
The best thing for Star Wars is "no George Lucas" and "no LucasArts". I have no love for EA but even they knew where the money was. They got control and BANG, Battlefront 3 anno...
This is a separate game.
I'm no economist, but isn't selling a product you invested in beneficial?
Show me the market of Facebook users ready to drop $400+ on a device that is NOT mobile and you must wear on your head.
I will gladly concede the point when you can show that there is any other market, aside from gamers, that are ready to purchase such a device.
You can dislike Facebook or, like me, have zero opinion about them at all, but at the end of the day...
@Illusive_Man
If we are talking compelling content here, "augmented reality", which is evidently where MS is heading, has far less.
In Pachter's view, if its not an instant money maker it will fail. Neither OVR or Sony are treating it that way.
Here's the problem in predicting what will happen with VR; too many assumptions about it. What I mean is, most assume that only FPS games will be any good on it, but that could turn ...
I'm a huge fan of CDPR, they are the ONLY game company I will throw money at for whatever they put out.
Having said that, I really hope they can get Witcher 3 right from launch. They aren't known for perfection right out of the gate. This doesn't bother me since they always support and fix their games, free of charge.
I just hope those going into the series fresh, understand that just based on their history, the game may not be absolutely perfect...
They claim to have had the game for a couple of weeks prior to the review. For whatever that's worth.