SG-1: The argument for dim3

[ggadwa]

First, read this:

Stargate Video Game Troubles (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=10621)

I read somewhere else that they are at least $2 million into this. This thread is NOT a slam on the developers or publishers, you don't always hear the whole story and sometimes it's just circumstances that are out of everybody's control.

That said, the original reason I created dim3 was to "liberate" game making from expensive, failure-prone projects. This also is not a dim3 thread, it's just that these kind of problems remind me of the reason for dim3 ...

... that current game development seems horribly broken.

Cost and production times are spiraling out of control, originality is wanning (and being replaced by shock value), bigger and better graphics are still the name of the game, and failures abound.

Also, the industry pays peanuts. :)

[>] Brian

[Skorche]

That and it's based on a TV show. Not to say that it can't be done or shouldn't be. Let's be honest though, how many Hollywood tie-in games are any good?

[ggadwa]

That and it's based on a TV show. Not to say that it can't be done or shouldn't be. Let's be honest though, how many Hollywood tie-in games are any good?

Is this a symptom of the problem, or a cause?

[>] Brian

[reubert]

That and it's based on a TV show. Not to say that it can't be done or shouldn't be. Let's be honest though, how many Hollywood tie-in games are any good?
Indeed. I read an article recently in the game developer magazine about how good licenses are and how much money they make. It implied that the reason licensed games are generally successful is because people already know the characters so there is less of a risk in buying the game. Personally I think the only reason licensed games can be more successful is because granny knows Johnny likes Spider Man.

Licensed games are just an expensive pair of Spider Man socks, never mind they are 100% polyester. Granny hasn't heard of Stargate and little Johnny doesn't talk about it much, so whos going to buy the socks?

[ERaZer]

Personally I think the only reason licensed games can be more successful is because granny knows Johnny likes Spider Man.

Well, sure, but it's very much also becouse Johnny likes Spider Man.
But yeah, the bigger (known) the license is, generally the more copies will be sold.

[reubert]

I guess I wasn't allowing for Johnny Halfwit. You're right, Johny Halfwit will likely save his pocket money for the Spider Man socks. He's probably not watching Stargate though.

[Max]

Bad management - the cause of just about every "video-game-development-gone-bad". In this case, Perception the developer most likely did not have the experience. SG1 is its first video game for consoles and computers.

[igame3d]

Studio space rental = $24,000 annually minimum
Programmer pay = $60,000 annually minimum
Artists pay = $45,000 annually
Management = $65,000 annually
Payroll person = $35,000 annually

Ok I haven't even scraped the surface. See the money flying away, burning in the wind?
Start throwing in cost of computers, insurance, etc etc and $2 million gets spent real fast.

Stargate is actually a very popular show, running 8 seasons and spawning its own spin off show now in it its second season. Its on FOUR freakin times every monday night, and runs every damn day. Personally I think the show blows monkeys. But obviously I am not the die hard sci-fi nerd that is sitting through eight hours of commercials ever monday, and 24 hours of commercials ever week. The sci-fi people must know their target market if they are selling $65,000 cars to these people.

I would chalk this games problems up to inexperienced developers, not that their would be a selling problem with the game. If noob devs make a crap game it is going to hurt the franchise and any potential for sequel games.

For instance I played the Babylon 5 game back at E3 1998, and it was awful. It also never got released. They could have wrapped Homeworld's play style around the B5 universe and had a great game, instead they made an awful FPS in space, really awful.
People don't watch B5 for the once in every 10 episode dog fight, they watch for the unfolding story, and the developers totally ignored that.

Is dim3 a solution for what went wrong in this situation? I don't think so, a developer is still going to need a team to create compelling assests, then he will also need marketing to get the game to the masses where they must pay to play. There's a whole other dynamic to making and selling games aside from building levels, and they have nothing at all to do with gameplay or how good/inexpensive the level editors are.

[reubert]

I'm going to diverge from my Johnny Halfwit / Spider Man socks rant, and get back on topic.

I completely agree with Max here, it's all management. They hired the programmers, they watched as it went down hill, and now they're no doubt looking for work elsewhere since it's all gone to crap.

Middle management that has no real understanding of how the code / content is progressing, and are directed by people above them that see only statistics and forecasts generally tend to screw up any chance of success.

Put a bunch of talented developers and artists in a room and give them a long string of crap management above them and you'd might as well put a bunch of monkeys in front of a bunch of windows machines with a yoga instructor and 2 million dollars worth of bananas.