Comments on: No light at the end of the tunnel for Electronic Arts http://www.bruceongames.com/2010/02/09/no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-for-electronic-arts/ A veteran's view on marketing games Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:01:38 +0000 hourly 1 By: Bruce http://www.bruceongames.com/2010/02/09/no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-for-electronic-arts/comment-page-1/#comment-7928 Bruce Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:07:02 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/?p=3042#comment-7928 @Graham Reeves Middleware can be used in game to create things like weather, water, particle effects, foliage etc. Each of these reduces the amount of hand crafting. And each requires a processor and memory overhead. Their use will increase with each generation of platform. As for cost, once middlware is written it can be used in hundreds of games. This is massively more effective than just throwing the art away, which is what often happens today once a game finishes development. @Graham Reeves
Middleware can be used in game to create things like weather, water, particle effects, foliage etc. Each of these reduces the amount of hand crafting. And each requires a processor and memory overhead. Their use will increase with each generation of platform.
As for cost, once middlware is written it can be used in hundreds of games. This is massively more effective than just throwing the art away, which is what often happens today once a game finishes development.

]]> By: Graham Reeves http://www.bruceongames.com/2010/02/09/no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-for-electronic-arts/comment-page-1/#comment-7927 Graham Reeves Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:58:11 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/?p=3042#comment-7927 "The root of this is that HD games need a massive amount of content which is still largely hand crafted. The next generation of platforms will have enough power to run lots and lots of middleware so development costs should drop back to sensible levels. " Are these two things supposed to be related? How does any kind of generic runtime -as this is related to cpu expense- middleware reduce the cost/time of hand-crafting content? (which is specific and generally offline) Any middleware that would fill this need -generating assets offline programmitcally, or increasing productivity- has no boundries from existing now... The more powerful the consoles become, the MORE content people will expect. This drives up the existing massive cost (and time) of content creation. Likewise, more investment in middleware will probably become more expensive too; middleware companies have to cover their costs of developing on new platforms too. “The root of this is that HD games need a massive amount of content which is still largely hand crafted. The next generation of platforms will have enough power to run lots and lots of middleware so development costs should drop back to sensible levels. ”

Are these two things supposed to be related? How does any kind of generic runtime -as this is related to cpu expense- middleware reduce the cost/time of hand-crafting content? (which is specific and generally offline)

Any middleware that would fill this need -generating assets offline programmitcally, or increasing productivity- has no boundries from existing now…

The more powerful the consoles become, the MORE content people will expect. This drives up the existing massive cost (and time) of content creation. Likewise, more investment in middleware will probably become more expensive too; middleware companies have to cover their costs of developing on new platforms too.

]]> By: Bruce http://www.bruceongames.com/2010/02/09/no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-for-electronic-arts/comment-page-1/#comment-7889 Bruce Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:15:27 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/?p=3042#comment-7889 Disney agree with me: http://www.develop-online.net/news/33871/Disney-goes-cold-on-360PS3-projects Disney agree with me: http://www.develop-online.net/news/33871/Disney-goes-cold-on-360PS3-projects

]]> By: Bruce (another one) http://www.bruceongames.com/2010/02/09/no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-for-electronic-arts/comment-page-1/#comment-7884 Bruce (another one) Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:31:58 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/?p=3042#comment-7884 EA are trying to 'get it' but failing pretty badly. The example being their utterly awful attempts with Dante's Inferno. EA are trying to ‘get it’ but failing pretty badly. The example being their utterly awful attempts with Dante’s Inferno.

]]> By: Joseph Brower http://www.bruceongames.com/2010/02/09/no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-for-electronic-arts/comment-page-1/#comment-7881 Joseph Brower Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:06:30 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/?p=3042#comment-7881 I find it interesting the companies like popcap don't make giant blockbuster games. While they don't have the pricing discipline that other companies do, they are able to be far more flexible on pricing because they aren't throwing nearly as many resources into the game. They aren't trying to make an awesome 3d title, they are usually making small puzzle games. They have found a niche and have well dominated in it. I find it interesting the companies like popcap don’t make giant blockbuster games. While they don’t have the pricing discipline that other companies do, they are able to be far more flexible on pricing because they aren’t throwing nearly as many resources into the game. They aren’t trying to make an awesome 3d title, they are usually making small puzzle games. They have found a niche and have well dominated in it.

]]> By: Thumbs http://www.bruceongames.com/2010/02/09/no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-for-electronic-arts/comment-page-1/#comment-7880 Thumbs Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:50:53 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/?p=3042#comment-7880 i blame moore's law. i blame moore’s law.

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