"...we are just running at a f*cking wall, I think, and we're gonna crash on that wall really soon" - CDPR on 'AAA' RPG's

[spliz]

There were 4 street fighter games on the SNES and they all cost 65-75 dollars for the same exact roster and stages (outside of super street fighter)

SF Special Champion Edition for the Genesis was 83.99 bruh. Lol

 

[Rekkapryde]

And like I always say. Anyone who comes from the SNES and Genesis era should understand. We were paying upwards of 90 bucks for certain games. With inflation that's damn near $183 bucks for one game right now. Imagine paying that for a fukking fighting game right now. Non special edition. And those games back then ain't even nowhere near the budget games have now.

Keep telling cats this. Be fukkin grateful for the prices we. have now. Prices SHOULD be much higher than they are right now with inflation. A lot of yall don't know that 90s cartridge skruggle. fukk Nintendo.

 

[daze23]

I wonder if the success of Elden Ring can influence other open world RPG's to be less dependent on a cohesive narrative

 

[O³ (O cubed)]

Keep telling cats this. Be fukkin grateful for the prices we. have now. Prices SHOULD be much higher than they are right now with inflation. A lot of yall don't know that 90s cartridge skruggle. fukk Nintendo.

I will keep reiterating that cartridges were HARDWARE. They had ROM and RAM built in, batteries, capacitors, resistors etc.

A cartridge by itself could cost up to $20 dollars by itself. When CDs came in the cost of manufacturing games went down dramatically.

 

[Rekkapryde]

I wonder if the success of Elden Ring can influence other open world RPG's to be less dependent on a cohesive narrative

ER gets away with it due to gameplay. I do not understand why they make their stories so convoluted. Thought having GRRM would make it simpler, but NOPE.

 

[Rekkapryde]

I will keep reiterating that cartridges were HARDWARE. They had ROM and RAM built in, batteries, capacitors, resistors etc.

A cartridge by itself could cost up to $20 dollars by itself. When CDs came in the cost of manufacturing games went down dramatically.

40 bucks for a CD game in 95 is 80 dollars now. 50 bucks is 100 now.

We still getting a better deal nowadays.

Even with Cartridges, it should be damn near half the price of your system.

 

[2 Up 2 Down]

This doesn't speak to larger devs and publishers making less AA games, I agree there was an AAA boom during the 360/ps3 era, but it doesn't account for the practice of dissolving entire teams to make maps and tweak multiplayer modes that no one played. Publishers were chasing blockbusters, but people still enjoyed smaller games and supported them. Remember the xbla buzz around games like Shadow Complex or Bastion? How do you make sense of Ubisoft abandoning popular, critically acclaimed games like Rayman Legends?

Also, if you can't find that article let me know the cover, I probably have the issue from that era.

They looked at what was profitable, and made adjustments. The blockbusters were the ones that were making the best profit compared to its budget. For mid tier games that started to become less so. For small studios under the umbrella of big companies, they got tasked to help with the AAA titles instead of releasing something that would lose them money or make little profit.

 

[spliz]

I wonder if the success of Elden Ring can influence other open world RPG's to be less dependent on a cohesive narrative

I hope not.

 

[spliz]

I will keep reiterating that cartridges were HARDWARE. They had ROM and RAM built in, batteries, capacitors, resistors etc.

A cartridge by itself could cost up to $20 dollars by itself. When CDs came in the cost of manufacturing games went down dramatically.

With inflation. We are STILL paying like 30-40 bucks less than we should be paying.

 

[O³ (O cubed)]

40 bucks for a CD game in 95 is 80 dollars now. 50 bucks was 100.

We still getting a better deal nowadays.

Lol at me paying 40 bucks for a game in 95. Or 60 today. When physical dies out, you'll see the prices go back up.

 

[daze23]

ER gets away with it due to gameplay. I do not understand how they make their stories so convoluted. Thought having GRRM would make it simpler, but NOPE.

it didn't just "get away with it". a lot of people thought it was GOTY, and I'm pretty sure it was From's most successful game, by many metrics

if nothing else it's success shows that people will play an RPG that's not just about following the dots on your mini-map

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

it didn't just "get away with it". a lot of people thought it was GOTY, and I'm pretty sure it was From's most successful game, by many metrics

if nothing else it's success shows that people will play an RPG that's not just about following the dots on your mini-map

Games like Elden Ring and BoTW are fine for what they are, but theres a place for them and narrative focused open world games.

 

[MajesticLion]

ER gets away with it due to gameplay. I do not understand why they make their stories so convoluted. Thought having GRRM would make it simpler, but NOPE.

GRRM + "simpler" = does not compute

 

[daze23]

Games like Elden Ring and BoTW are fine for what they are, but theres a place for them and narrative focused open world games.

I agree, but there's a reason people call those games a "breath of fresh air"

 

[iceberg_is_on_fire]

It’s also why most big budget games are leaning towards the same “cinematic” tropes. Gotta be as safe and universally appealing as possible. Can’t be too difficult. Can’t lean too much into comedy, or any one distinct artistic/narrative style. Gotta be flashy and kinda shallow.

I’ve been having much more fun with more mid level games lately. They usually offer something more unique and challenging in both gameplay and setting/narrative.

My gaming tastes have ventured towards this in recent years. It's not all UBISoft, Activision, SquareEnix games that I buy exclusively anymore. I buy and try a lot of games, if I get burned, cool but most times, I know what I want. I can find a lot of enjoyment in a 7ish game because they tried something different and/or novel.