Blzer...our discussion from the interview thread.

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  • Rbear2k
    Rookie
    • Mar 2003
    • 107

    #1

    Blzer...our discussion from the interview thread.

    [QUOTE=Blzer]The fact is, 2K Sports picked up Take-Two because they had a great financial plan after selling terrifically from Grand Theft Auto. Take-Two, because they already were loaded, came up with the great plan to get their name out there.

    They were no longer known... Sega was gone, and ESPN was in.

    So, Take-Two started with ESPN NFL 2K5. They got a whole storyboard planned out for a huge early release date at a very cheap price. Was this because the game was worth $20? You could say that... but you can't say that it was if ESPN NFL Football was worth $50. The fact is, they got their name out. IMO the lamest excuse for the $30 drop is because they were finally making games that were just as bad as their price tag said.

    Basically, the trend carried on with the other games... and consumer sovereignty would depend on the prices for the games to follow. For instance, NHL 2K6 was $20 and NBA 2K6 was $40... again, because of consumer sovereignty. People were still willing to buy an NBA game at $40 because it was an inelastic demand. Once the name was out, it was all about keeping that fan base for as long as possible.



    At any rate, games should be $20 to $30. Now I'm not only saying this because this has happened... which is what many posters on here would do, right? For instance... if an NFL game came out this year from 2K Sports and it was at $50, people would complain saying they are overpricing the game. If ESPN NFL 2K5 was never $20, not one person would say that. I would, though... I've said it every year a game has come out.






    In conclusion, MVP 06 NCAA Baseball is a very lackluster and piss-poor game. I know this, because EA is selling it for $29.99.





    Ok, I agree with some of what you said, but I know for a fact that $20 does not pay for the development costs of ANY game out there. I just finnished a 2 year program in Vancouver in Game design and production and I know for a fact, having a few teachers who worked for EA/Rockstar and the like, that development costs are doing nothing but rising simply because teams are requiring more content and/or special treatment(textures,normal maps,higher polygon models etc) thus costs go way up. People around the industry are saying that games for the 360 and PS3 are costing double or tripple what current gen games cost to produce. Sega/Taketwo/2k dropped their prices in order to counteract the demand for EA's games and thus make up ground in the market share department (which they were losing badly I might add...not counting NFL which was doing amazingly well compared to madden, but it still came no where close to the same sales marks). This was not the debate however. In order to justify a $30 price drop, budget cuts must happen. You can't produce a game that would ordinarily sell for $50 and sell it for $20, there isn't a business model in the world that can account for a 60% revenue drop without making up for it somewhere. Granted, EA and 2k work in much the same way with their sports titles in that they work on 3-5yr dev cycles, meaning they use the same engine for the game so that they only have to spend their dev budget on it once every 3-5yrs and not on a yearly basis. This brings me to your last point of MVP NCAA being lackluster because it is going for 29.99. EA is in the final throws of using the current MVP engine, and ANYTHING they get for NCAA is better than getting nothing for the MLB game they can't release. Also, barriers to entry in any market make it so that a new product must have a selling point, NCAA's is it's lower price for the same quality gameplay minus the MLB licence but plus ESPN and NCAA. I'm not saying that 2k's games are "just as bad as their price tag said" becaues I believe that their games are good ones, just not as good as they could be because they have had to shift their focus and put more of an emphasis on meeting budget constraints and less on quality. I am also not saying that EA makes games of superior quality ALL THE TIME, but when it comes to baseball that is my stance. I prefer the NFL 2k series to madden but that makes no difference any more. I'm torn between NHL 06 and NHL 2k6 because i like the sim qualities of 2k but I like the graphics and animation of 06, sadly the latter has not appeared on the 360 yet so I'm without comparison for that console. But having owned both on the xbox and both baseball titles as well I can say for a fact that there are redeeming qualities to all of them but all in all EA's games are far less glitchy and have higher production values. The 360 version of NHL 2k6 does not look next gen, even on a HD tv it looks only marginally better than it's xbox counterpart yet cost $60 just like the other 360 games because that's the price to pay for next gen games. EA went the route of dropping features in order to make their games look next gen and still get them out on time.


    p.s. I'm not arguing with you just to be a pissant, but because I like your reasoning and you seem to know what you're talking about and a good debate never hurt anybody. It's when it turns into a lame flamewar that things get silly. I started our own thread so as not to clog up the interview questions one and piss off the moderators.
  • jpup
    MVP
    • Feb 2003
    • 4571

    #2
    Re: Blzer...our discussion from the interview thread.

    that's one big paragraph.
    NFL: Tennessee Titans
    MLB: Cincinnati Reds

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    • Blzer
      Resident film pundit
      • Mar 2004
      • 42525

      #3
      Re: Blzer...our discussion from the interview thread.

      Originally posted by Rbear2k
      p.s. I'm not arguing with you just to be a pissant, but because I like your reasoning and you seem to know what you're talking about and a good debate never hurt anybody. It's when it turns into a lame flamewar that things get silly. I started our own thread so as not to clog up the interview questions one and piss off the moderators.
      No, don't worry... that's a good call there. I understand that too, that was a perfect move for you to move it.

      But, here was my statement that I was at least trying to come across: I agree with everything that you say, especially about development costs. However, Take-Two had the next-gen consoles in mind when they made this plan. Because 2K6 is supposedly the last year that they are developing current-gen titles, they made their final stand by getting the name out there.

      I can guarantee you that they will raise the prices back up for next-gen consoles. It would be a dumb move not to... especially when working on the PS3. With Take-Two, they were able to sacrifice two years of lower prices without being harmed way too much when switching back to a default $50 price when going to next-gen. At least, that is my belief. Granted, if they were to stay with the $20 price for 10 more years, then it would cause wreck havoc. That would definitely be problematic for the boys at home working on these games.


      IMO they did the right move, and we got the same quality NFL and NBA games that we desired. The only reason I don't say the same for NHL and MLB is because I honestly think that we could have done better than Kush, especially if Visual Concepts was the main developer for it.
      Samsung PN60F8500 PDP / Anthem MRX 720 / Klipsch RC-62 II / Klipsch RF-82 II (x2) / Insignia NS-B2111 (x2) / SVS PC13-Ultra / SVS SB-2000 / Sony MDR-7506 Professional / Audio-Technica ATH-R70x / Sony PS3 & PS4 / DirecTV HR44-500 / DarbeeVision DVP-5000 / Panamax M5400-PM / Elgato HD60

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      • nemesis04
        RIP Ty My Buddy
        • Feb 2004
        • 13530

        #4
        Re: Blzer...our discussion from the interview thread.

        So far it looks like the gamecube, psp, ps2 and xbox version will be $39.99 and the 360 will be $59.99.
        “The saddest part of life is when someone who gave you your best memories becomes a memory”

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        • Rbear2k
          Rookie
          • Mar 2003
          • 107

          #5
          Re: Blzer...our discussion from the interview thread.

          Originally posted by jpup
          that's one big paragraph.

          it was late and I wasn't in the mood to separate my thoughts....it won't happen again.

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