Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

[Bahnzo]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

That was kind of my goal now. But, putting any sort of pressure or making any sort of "stance" at that point will be far too late for 2K9. This year, we didn't really start seeing any info until January/early Feb. By then the game is pretty much done and any efforts at that poing are being directed to 2K10.

And that's a good point. We need to start telling these people what we want/expect for next years game now. I always laugh when I see posts detailing wish lists for a game that's 3 months from release. It's too late then of course.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

I can't imagine what the poor guy went through with the presures he must have had running his team. I still say it is not his fault. He has bosses probably on his back saying "Is it done yet"? get going, we need that soon, I need to see it!

May not be his fault, but this is a job he chose. I doubt he has any trouble with the pressure, but if he does then maybe it's not a position he should be in (though I really don't think this is the case). People get paid big bucks to be in these positions because a) they are good at what they do and b) they can handle stressful and unpredictable situations.

Nobody wants someone running their company that is going to fold under some pressure. It's his job to oversee the production of the game and his job to make it as good as it could be.

[DrJones]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

This explains alot. Who cares about the customer, satisfy the gaming sites who will rate the game and take no accountablity. It's very clear now.

I should change the title of this thread to "Will there be any kind of follow up with Take Two/2K?" since from your experience, the flaws and shortcomings of the game aren't necessarily the fault of those who actually oversee the product.

Companies only care about the customer when they're not buying. It's all about maximizing profits and minimizing costs. The majority of the people I've worked with really want to make quality games (sometimes they actually do). But the bottom line is: your game ships by a certain date, or company loses lots of money, and someone's gonna pay the price. It's very frustrating to put in long hours on a not-so-great product. It's even more frustrating when you get called out on the not-so-great product by consumers, and you can't defend yourself without ticking people off and/or jeopardizing your career. But whatever.

Anyway, I'm done with this thread. Back to the hockey forums for me. Cheers.

[NEWYORICAN]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

May not be his fault, but this is a job he chose. I doubt he has any trouble with the pressure, but if he does then maybe it's not a position he should be in (though I really don't think this is the case). People get paid big bucks to be in these positions because a) they are good at what they do and b) they can handle stressful and unpredictable situations.

Nobody wants someone running their company that is going to fold under some pressure. It's his job to oversee the production of the game and his job to make it as good as it could be.

I understand your frustration, hey, I was one of the first bashers of this game...and I was bashing it real hard. I agree with you too! and everyone that is complaining..I'm very dissapointed.

My sympathy is with Ben because there is so much he can do. We don't know for sure if he lied to us..The game probably was in good shape when he did say it was running at 60fps and then something went wrong, who knows.

And regarding the position Ben has as producer, humm, Corporation don't pay as well as they used to my friend. We are in the era of Corporate greed!. I know, I recently worked for one of the well known Greediest companies in the world. They never ever lost $$$ always in the profits, yet, they always cried poverty and never raised our pay. most of the USA jobs are gone!! for cheaper labor

So, Ben is probably busting his butt managing a group of teams, maybe scattered all over the world..possible in India, Brazil or China or god know where now a days with this stinking outsourcing that has plagued our country to get products, services and video games out as cheaply as possible out the door.

Sorry for my ranting on Corporations!!, I hate them!!..lol!!

[UNLV_1999]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

don't count on a price drop anytime soon.

You're right. I may get this used. I am in no rush to buy this yet.

[mizzouj]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

Another issue here is the increase of monopolies in the sports gaming business. There used to be multiple choices of games per sport per platform. Now it's basically 'buy THE game or buy nothing'. I remember when I first got my playstation 2 and there were 3 choices of MLB games. Now, as an XBox 360 owner, it's 2K8 or nothing. Next year there is no 2K8 for basketball, only March Madness. EA owns college and pro football.

Competition drives better games, as companies are fighting to gain market share with the better product. When you're the only game in town, you tend to get complacent and sloppy. I think we've all seen this with Madden and other sports games. I'd love to see 2K and EA duke it out in all sports games, with some 3rd party choices popping up as well.

[baa7]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

We're gamers; it is not our responsibility to buy incomplete games to fund someone's three-year development plan or to help continue the development cycle. The minute we get off the merry-go-round of the yearly product releases may be the first step to actually getting better games.

Now THAT should have been the subject of this thread: an examination into our rush-out-and-buy mentality and stupidity! (Well, not MY stupidity: I always rent games first now )

[baa7]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

I also find it funny that KushGamer was so evident on these boards right up until release, and not hide nor hair has been seen of him since. I have to question if he was actually who he said he was and not some plant from 2K to stir up some hype.

Totally unfair, wow. If I had worked on this game, you wouldn't see me around here until July, given the level of some posters' anger and frustration right now.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

Now THAT should have been the subject of this thread: an examination into our rush-out-and-buy mentality and stupidity! (Well, not MY stupidity: I always rent games first now )

Actually, the title doesn't really work here. Again my complaint isn't that I feel jipped out of my $55. I like the game and am not looking for my money back. It's just the fact that are obvious problems and was obvious deception. I knew about these problems before purchase, so this defeats your point. The fact these problems exist is rediculous whether anyone purchases the game or not. I paid my money and am allowed to throw out my 2 cents just like the people who review this game.

[RealmK]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

Those are called bugs and glitches. They occur in any game. How does their putting out a game with glitches, lead to your statement: "Maybe a little public humiliation would do some good?"

Nor can one take them to task for putting out a game in which the gameplay isn't up to some gamers' personal standards. Has EA apologized for Madden at any time in the past decade?

Except they consistantly happen in 2k's sports titles year in year out. It doesn't take rocket science to see theres a problem when the same issues crop up EVERY SINGLE YEAR.

What Madden has to do with a competing companies' baseball title I'll never know.

[baa7]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

Except they consistantly happen in 2k's sports titles year in year out. It doesn't take rocket science to see theres a problem when the same issues crop up EVERY SINGLE YEAR.

What Madden has to do with a competing companies' baseball title I'll never know.

Except a terrible and often glitchy product like EA's Madden is consistently released year in and out. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see there's a problem when this same awful game is released EVERY SINGLE YEAR.

What a broken MLB 2K8 - which you're not forced to purchase - has to do with 2K having to answer for anything, is something I'll never figure out.

See? It works both ways.

[RealmK]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

Except a terrible and often glitchy product like EA's Madden is consistently released year in and out. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see there's a problem when this same awful game is released EVERY SINGLE YEAR.

What a broken MLB 2K8 - which you're not forced to purchase - has to do with 2K having to answer for anything, is something I'll never figure out.

See? It works both ways.

Eh I enjoyed Madden 08 personally once the fumble/int issue was patched. I bought MLB2k8 on faith from both Brinkman and Kushgamer that the fans didn't still phone it in especially during rivalry games, and that the framerate was solid. Both of which ended up being not true. So yeah, they don't owe us anything but some honesty would be nice doncha think?

Presentation is important to me, it sucks when halfway through the opening commentary previewing the nights matchup, the commentary is so lagged out it cuts out midway though, or having so much studder during key highlights it makes the game that much less enjoyable to play.

You're right though, next year I'll rent it like you did and save myself the 60 dollars.

[baa7]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

It's just the fact that are obvious problems and was obvious deception.

Now you're getting somewhere with the second half of that sentence

It's no secret 2K is somewhat deceptive when marketing their games. Blzer has continually pointed this out, as have I. One example: with 2K6 - their first new-gen game - they advertised 2K6 as having the custom music feature that was in 2K5. But what they conveniently DIDN'T mention in their features write-up, was that it only the last-gen version of the game had that feature, and not the Xbox 360 version.

An argument could be made that Brinkman intentionally lied or at least failed to mention some things about the framerate issue. So yeah, there's an unresolved issue there, I agree. On the other hand, I have yet to see one single instance of this framerate issue while playing the game, except for a very slight slowdown in the opening intro scenes where people are milling about the stadium before the game starts.

Did he lie, or did he play the game on my television?

[brendanrfoley]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

Considering Steve never mentioned the framerate issue from his Beta, I get the impression someone "broke" part of the code very late in the game's development. Much in the same way someone "broke" the hitting engine in 2K7 a day or two before the game went final.

[roadman]

Re: Will there be any kind of follow up with Brinkman?

Now you're getting somewhere with the second half of that sentence

It's no secret 2K is somewhat deceptive when marketing their games. Blzer has continually pointed this out, as have I. One example: with 2K6 - their first new-gen game - they advertised 2K6 as having the custom music feature that was in 2K5. But what they conveniently DIDN'T mention in their features write-up, was that it only the last-gen version of the game had that feature, and not the Xbox 360 version.

An argument could be made that Brinkman intentionally lied or at least failed to mention some things about the framerate issue. So yeah, there's an unresolved issue there, I agree. On the other hand, I have yet to see one single instance of this framerate issue while playing the game, except for a very slight slowdown in the opening intro scenes where people are milling about the stadium before the game starts.

Did he lie, or did he play the game on my television?

That's a good point.

I'm not seeing any frame rate issues on my end , either. Sure, I might be in the minority, but it's been an enjoyable experience on my end, so far.