I’m serious here. It’s been so long since anyone in my circle took notice of him, I haven’t even bothered sending him links to our articles when they get posted. I totally forgot the site existed.
Hmm… interesting stories about that. Sounds sort of like the complaints I’ve heard from the hardware marketing people about HardOCP. I only have one side of the story, but apparently he seems to use the Auto Workers Union method - nailing one manufacturer at a time, portraying himself as a victim and then getting concessions. (again, I stress, this is only what I heard from one side.) If that’s really the truth, I’m surprised that NVIDIA, ATI, AMD, Intel and the motherboard manufacturers haven’t ganged up to stop sending him products. That could really kill a site.
I guess that’s what happened with EvilAvatar. I haven’t seen any links or stories about him in years. It’s probably best to ignore him if he’s a problem - and ignore any emails from fans who quote comments from his site.
Don’t forget Infogrames picked this up late from Interplay. There may not have been time to put together a CE edition, produce all the extra stuff, sell the idea to retail, blah blah blah.
Infogrames had enough time to make a CE. BioWare reached a settlement with Interplay on January 24, the same day that the partnership with Infogrames was announced. It’s a safe bet then, that BioWare and Infogrames had been working together some time (a few months at least) before the official announcement. At any rate, the 6 official months they were together should have been enough. The CE is a Christmas time deal. I’m of the opinion that it doesn’t offer enough value, so I’m not buying it =]
Instead of a “Collector’s Edition” they should have called it an “Exclusive Gift Pack” or something. I mean, Blizzard seems to get away with doing that all the time. ;)
IMHO, instead of a delayed CE release, they should have bundled all the extra CE goodies with the expansion pack instead. If nothing, it would help to offset the traditionally content-lite nature of expansions. (not specifically Bioware, but in general)
Maybe you’re privvy to the inner workings of BioWare, Infogrames, Interplay, and/or what exactly it takes to get a title into retail, but I’m not so I can’t say with any certainty there was enough time. It’s possible that BioWare was working on finishing the game before tackling things live “making of” movies.
But of course it’s a holiday thing. It’s primarily for people that haven’t already purchased the game. Everyone dumps out “Gold” editions, add-ons, repackagings… the record industry pumps out “Greatest Hits” packages, etc. Oh, and new editions of DVDs, like the Lord of the Rings, which people seem happy with.
I’m not particularly privvy, but it doesn’t take long to look at the press release dates and see that there was six months from the formal Infogrames announcement to NWN hitting stores. It also doesn’t take a genius to deduce that they were working together for some time before that, given their excellent co-ordination from day one of the “official” announcement. At any rate, even 6 months is long enough for the publisher to organize a Collector’s Edition.
But the developer is the one to put the majority of content in the edition. I’m just thinking it might have been BioWare’s top priority to finish the game, and lacking Blizzard-like resources, doing both projects at once (the extra CE crap) was too much.
Back in the Evil Avatar thread, is it policy at the site to always mention the developer? It’s odd to see, “I was playing UbiSoft Montreal’s Splinter Cell…”
I figure it’s a way to butt kiss developers into liking the site more. Publishers ignore the site because it’s irrelevant, but if you mention a developer’s name a lot, maybe they return your e-mails.
I always mention the developer because they’re the ones doing the work, they’re the ones who decide the quality of the product. It’s like… comparing a record company to a music band. You’re not going to buy all Sony or EMI music.
Anyway, there’s really not that much that goes into Collector’s Editions that’s new content. Maybe a fancier manual, a figurine, soundtrack or DVD with the cutscenes. =] All of which the publisher can provide.
Dont’ forget, people used to buy records from labels: Motown, Sun, more recently, Sub Pop. In rap, people buy music based on the producer (Dr. Dre, P.Diddy, whatever).
It’s funny developers get all the credit when a game’s good, but when it goes bad it’s the publisher’s fault. Despite what developers may tell you, you never really know how much of a game’s success is due to the publisher; it could be feedback from the producer, the playtesters, the audio/cut scenes, etc. Many developers are just content generators. The design is handed to them… that’s what often happens with Electronic Arts and games like Medal of Honor.
Many developers are just content generators. The design is handed to them… that’s what often happens with Electronic Arts and games like Medal of Honor.
Really? That’s news to me…
(I have a feeling that the good folks at 2015 would beg to differ also…anyone?)
It is becoming much more prevalent with games now. I was looking at EB’s site, and they have Eidos releasing “Platinum” packages of Commandos, Thief, and Tomb Raider on 11/25.
If you’re searching for the lack of EA credibility, look no further than his over-the-top hype praise of Soldier of Fortune 2. He touted the game repeatedly as one of the best shooters in years.
It’s no coincidence he authored the strategy guide.
It is a conflict, but not for the reasons you’re probably thinking. None of the strategy book companies pay royalties, so once an author is done it doesn’t really matter how many copies of the book or game sell. Save to the author’s ego perhaps.
I wrote the Prince of Persia 3D guide, for example, and I would have given it a 5 out of 10.
It’s really no more of a conflict than being on the beta team, for example, but it’s always a good idea to avoid even “the appearance” of a conflict of interest when possible.
