[indycolts727]

These designers need to be thankful that we're a bunch of sheep. We'll keep getting in line for their products year after year, regardless of what they sold us the year prior. I bought last year's disaster for the PS3, but there I was in line at midnight when this year's game came out, as were about 40 other people at my local store.

In the Real World, consumers aren't as hopeful or blindly-loyal as we are. I'm in sales, and the company I work for has global sales in the multiple billions of dollars annually. Product branding is one of our highest priorities, so we're constantly staying on top of issues and working towards keeping the image of our various brands spotless. The consumers I interact with will hold grudges against this brand or that brand for things that happened to them 20 years ago.

Look in the mirror if you want to see part of who is to blame. We're the ones that keep putting up with this. As long as they can keep getting away with releasing games full of problems do you blame them for not changing things? Process improvement isn't something you can implement overnight - it takes an investment of time and money. As long as the guys running the show see their sales going up and to the right on the chart (i.e. sales growth) why invest in change? Apparently things are working just right.

Indy