General gaming news discussion

Sure there's definitely some truth to it. TimeSplitters 4, no matter how good it could potentially be, won't be a tens-of-millions seller; it just won't. But there are plenty of games approaching FPS from the non-military route. Even though BulletStorm 2 was shelved, the fact that first game was made is a clear indication that there are publishers willing to publish zany and unconventional IP - which BulletStorm absolutely was thanks to its high-score mentality.

I have no connection to TimeSplitters so it doesn't really pain me to see it in limbo as an IP. I think there is clearly a market for second-tier shooters (and I don't mean in terms of quality), but the development and $60 boxed retail model make it extremely difficult for those games to compete and succeed. I think the best example is a game like Metro 2033, which THQ made a pretty decent profit on, but not because it was a huge seller, but rather because it was a good game, sold well enough, and had a tiny (comparatively to other FPS) budget.

Hard thing with TimeSplitters is in order for it to exist, all the FPS tropes need to be selling well. It had all the FPS themes but I'm not sure a game can have them all anymore. Maybe everything needs to fit neatly and exactly within a single easily defined box. Maybe it couldn't be a Wild West, Cyberpunk, Prohibition-era, Zombie, Sci-Fi, etc. mash-up and still be considered worth publishing now. I'm sure it'll be made one day but it has to be when the FPS is at its absolute best and every genre sells. It needs more distinctive things to satirize but it doesn't work when every game looks the same and the characters have the same personalities.

Didn't really consider it but it also doesn't play as well now that Goldeneye's been remade to play like CoD. I guess I see why they're discouraged but it'll need to be done one day.

I think they are just scared of putting out a shit game.

If they are scared of money problems then just go low budget.. I am sure a 15 - 20 dollar Timesplitter would be fine release on PSN and XBLA. Probably be so easy to take old assets and make them HD. The game had a cartoony look and all.

'Afraid too few people will support it? Then release it where even fewer people will.'

EA has an Indie Bundle! And some hipsters are sad about it. This makes me feel all warm inside, like that time Activision released an XBLIG a couple months back. It's great, because who the hell would've published that game. Love seeing huge corporations getting in on the indie scene.

It's honestly not a big deal. "Indie's" just becoming a marketing term anyway.

Mostly kids who are too young to remember the complete bastardisation of that word by mid-noughties British pop-rock.

"Oh you like indie? I loo0o0ove indie-rock too, Kasabian are my fave </3333 *~*~*~*"

"...they're signed to Columbia."

"No0o0o they're from Leicester ^_^ :L :L :L !!!!"

Minecraft (Xbox 360) next week, 4 player co-op and 8 player online. Who's game?

I think EA having an indie bundle is a silly, but the developers contained are all indie developers so I don't think it's as terrible as people such as Notch have portrayed it.

The word has no meaning anymore, really, so there's nothing inherently wrong with this, apart from EA finding a way to profit from the fact that the devs are indie. Not the worst thing. EA can't even get away with putting 'indie' games on sale anymore.

The word indie to me implies the developer's background and also the spirit of the title. Even though fl0w, Flower and Journey were all funded by Sony I'd still call them indie titles, because of thatgamecompany and because those are not what major publishers traditionally fund. They're artsy, they're eccentric, and they all have something interesting to say.

I just consider it being freed of influence or involvement from larger companies. I'd only say thatgamecompany's not if they're owned by Sony but I don't know. As long as publishers are funding indies for the cred and not to gain control over potential IPs and long-term rights, I see no problem with EA, Sony, whoever funding the creative games.

Sony does own the rights to thatgamecompany's games though. They will not be able to take any of their existing titles to other platforms.

Maybe thatgamecompany can get away with it for taking an active role in the community and being vocal about the art of what they do.

Semi-related: thatgamecompany to sign new publisher deal this month

They seem pretty set on pubs.

Well the unfortunate reality is in console space they sort of need one. There was an interesting article on Joystiq yesterday about Pid, and how Might & Delight (the developer) was 'renting' space on XBLA from another developer's game to sell Pid. And it's all because Microsoft requires a publisher to be released on XBLA, rather than XBLIG.

thatgamecompany wasn't owned by Sony, they just signed a 3 game publishing deal with them. In exchange for 3 exclusive PSN titles they were given office space, funding, and access to world class testing/etc. for their titles. The Unfinished Swan game that Nathan was talking about is entering the same sort of relationship. They work autonomously from Sony but are supported by them in exchange for exclusivity.

Even though thatgamecompany's properties are Sony owned, it's probably not a bad way to get one's feet wet as an independent studio. Now they're a legit known quantity and I imagine their new deal - whoever it may be with - will be like the recent trend of major publishers signing developers to make creator owned content, like EA Partners with Respawn, Epic and Insomniac.

If I had to guess, I think thatgamecompany will wind up with Ubisoft. Of the major pubs, they've shown more of a willingness to release quirky, creator centric titles (From Dust).

Can't wait to see what the Twisted Pixel thing is. Sure it'll be good.

EA's investing in development for 16-bit. Knew they'd turn it around, getting back to their roots.

Via Jim Reilly (Game Informer)

Beyond Good & Evil 2's exciting stuff.

For everyone talking about cutting Xbox Live, it's not difficult. It gave me an option to go free or renew. Figure I don't really need it until Halo 4 and I've got plenty of other things to view media on. Also, XBLIG have been dead going on a couple months, so for now, no real need for Gold.