@PlatinumPaladin @u1tradt I never said what you said doesn't have credibility; there was no sarcasm in my post.
However I, personally, don't have much sympathy with the ex-Infinity Ward guys. As far as I'm concerned Activision got rid of them for disloyalty. Why would Activision sweat about giving them their royalties when they're involved in such a lucrative franchise?
I mean you have a franchise here that, for the past 3 years in a row, has made gross profits upwards of half a billion dollars within 5 days of the games's release. Why would Activision worry about a couple of million (at the most) in royalties when they're making that sort of money?
@PlatinumPaladin @u1tradt Well, the whole trial with the ex-Infinity Ward members is based on Activision firing them for conspiring to leave Activision and take their game with them to a direct competitor. Based on that alone, I wouldn't believe everything those ex-Infinity Ward guys are saying. I can't see why or how Activision wouldn't pay Bungie their bonus fees if they meet their targets anyway.
I get the Microsoft paying big money part now. You may have a point there. However it also may be possible that their previous contract with Microsoft probably had a clause in it that prevents Bungie from releasing their games on a different platform for a certain amount of time after they eventually do decide to leave Microsoft. That would explain why the game would be released on PS3 2 years later. Although your point also has credibility here.
I still don't understand who's going to get fired though.
@SirNormanislost Considering the video games industry is now full of developers releasing yearly instalments of basically the same game over and over, I'm very happy that Bungie managed to get a contract where their deadline for each full game is 2 years.
You can do so much more with 2 years of development than you can with just the one. And when you take into account testing and distribution - which take an average of around 3 months - then you could say that all these yearly instalments' developers only had around 9 months to work on the game. And the DLC isn't very time-consuming either - all it takes is for them to assign a relatively small portion of the development team to work with an already established and complete game to flesh it out a bit more.
Just look at Dark Souls or Assassin's Creed II as an example of what devs today can achieve with 2 years developing a game under their belt.
@SolidSnakeUS42 That bonus for achieving good ratings is just one possible bonus out of a list of a few others. The article just hasn't specified the other bonuses and their conditions, for whatever reason.
Xbox 720? Is that really professional, now? I find it difficult swallowing the term 'Next Xbox' from you guys and now you're officially calling it the Xbox 720? As the member below me has said, you should avoid using speculative terms as fact. Just call it the next Xbox (notice there is no capital letter on the word 'next') and hope you get away with it if Microsoft decide not to continue the 'Xbox' name.
I, for one, can't see how they could continue the Xbox name and stay original at the same time; it's probably time to evolve from it.
Itagaki will have no problems looking for investors. It will turn out to be THQ's loss, I'm sure of that. Whether this game turns out to be an overwhelming success or not is irrelevant in my opinion.
I mean, what were the early sales figures for Ninja Gaiden back in 2004? Not that great, I'm sure. But the re-releases and sequel turned Ninja Gaiden into quite a lucrative franchise on the back of some deservingly great reviews.
When you have the man who was most likely responsible for the success of Ninja Gaiden Black leading this project, he's worth the risk 100%. If it flops you can take heart in the fact that most games aren't turning a profit today anyway.
However if it gets any level of success, then you have yourself a formula and a following to churn out some sequels and build on a game headed by a man who is known to create products with superior production values - a rarity in any industry today.
Back it 100% and you could have something special. My plan is to buy this game regardless of previews and reviews anyway. After Ninja Gaiden Black, I think Itagaki has earned that much from me as a gamer; that is, one blind purchase.
@DennisWZH The only reason why it wouldn't have been profitable is because THQ weren't prepared to fully back it. With the right marketing it will probably turn out to be a success.
I don't see how THQ would have turned a profit this year anyway. Unless they're going to pull Saint's Row 4 out of their arses by magic some time this year, they're well set to record a net loss come the end of the current fiscal year.
When you're already on your way down you might as well take a risk. Pragmatism isn't always the best solution for the situation THQ find themselves in.
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