Brand new brands & E3 '06

Just back from E3.  While I was gone The Hollywood Reporter ran this interview with me, where I discuss why our industry would be better off making original brands, versus turning to licenses so darn often, as if we do not have a creative mind of our own.

In the interview I was asked:

THR: What about "King Kong?" That did well as both a movie and game.

Miller: If you release a licensed game when the movie comes out, you'll probably do okay because you have that synergy working for you. That's why the "Enter The Matrix" game worked even though it was rated really low by the game reviewers. But when you do that, you can run into other problems because you're trying to rush the game out which usually results in a lower-quality game. UbiSoft really pulled off a miracle with "King Kong" and made a decent game around it. But those are few and far between.

I didn't add that if it weren't for the synergistic release with the mega-anticipated movie, I wouldn't have bothered with the Kong license.  And I would not expect further Kong games to do well.  (And yeah, Kong is dead, but if the license had inherent value to the game industry, you could easily have Son of Kong or whatever.)

While here, E3 thoughts.  Here's what I wrote in another forum:

Supreme Commander looked sweet.  Might be the game that gets me RTS'n again.

Saw the trailer for Resistance: Fall of Man (typical dumb name, like Halo: Combat Evolved) and I love the idea, and the brief look of the game I saw.  Hard to believe this is coming from Insomniac.

Saw the Turok demo, and WTF?  It was a 3 minute slide show!  Doesn't even star a Native American -- they've gone the nameless soldier route.  Guaranteed failure.

Overall impressions.  There are a LOT of games that I would not have green-lit.  A lot of followers, rather that leaders out there.  A lot of clueless publishers thinking their little me-too game with a few changes here and there are going to carry the day.  Um... no.  Money down the drain.  And way too many fantasy MMOs with interfaces that pretty much clone WoW's!

Eidos is one big failure of a publisher.  Saw several of their lackluster games at the Nvidia booth, and they all looked last generation.  The generically named Rouge Trooper is a big loser.  Tomb Raider looked like a big pile of meh (yeah, I know it's been out, but been too busy to see it).  And Hitman needs to be "Quickly Executed," because no one cares.  The Eidos games were being played by Eidos reps only, as the world walked by.  Oh how far Lara has fallen.  And deservedly so given the lack of innovation.

Bioshock looks beautiful, but a little too slow paced for my liking.  I'm sure it'll be a System Shock sized hit, though.  Which is basically a mild hit, not a mega-hit.

Good grief the Japanese can't name a game to save their lives.  Everything comes right out of the Official Manual of Generic Fantasy Words Names, like Dynasty, Final, Shadow, Dark, Legend, Sword, on and on and endlessly on.  They're not the only game name lamers -- there are so many poorly named games at the show I laughed out loud more than a few times.

Didn't see Gears of War, but heard good things.  Overall, was not an impressive E3 as far as finding unknown nuggets.  All the top candidates going in emerged unscathed by surprises.

Oh, and heard a LOT of negative comments about the Wii controller from developers who messed with it.  Be very worried, Nintendo.  Didn't get to see it myself because I didn't have 2+ hours to wait in line.  What a dumb way to run a booth, meanwhile the open booths of Sony and Microsoft I explored fully.

Comments

">> "Prey" is just a rip off of "Turok", so STFU.
>>>>You realize Prey was originally conceived back with Duke Nukem Forever."

And do YOU realise that Turok was in comic form before Prey was even thought of?

The first comic was published in 1954.

[Charles E. Hardwidge]

And do YOU realise that Turok was in comic form before Prey was even thought of?

I’ve got a range of IP in various states of being fleshed out, most of which has its genesis in earlier influences. I’ve taken a hard look at it over the years, and the ratio of generic to genuine innovation is minimal. That said, each one would still push the creative and technical envelope if they were more fully realised today, tomorrow, and probably the tomorrow after that.

How they’re pitched completely changes how people perceive them. For example, the most innovative of the lot, in my mind, was unexpectedly compared to a well known science-fiction series when I had feared it would’ve been compared to another. In reality its biggest influence was one which very few people would have heard about, and the epic quest against the backdrop of a space opera would have people screaming Battlestar Galactica rip-off when it was the furthest thing from my mind at the time of creation.

From a creation and critical point of view, there’s a lot of merit in an old argument of mine that people would benefit from making time to bring variety into their lives. It helps stop us from getting stale and taking things for granted. It’s easy to focus too much on one thing, whatever side of the fence you’re on. Looking beyond the Rogue Trooper versus Prey and similar arguments, are the possibilities of this point of view a more useful long-term consideration?

By coincidence an article on BBC Online, The">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4774049.stm">The Perils Of A Virtual World, touched on this today.

[Anon]

Rogue Trooper is a good game, just because it looks last gen doesn't make it bad. Did you actually play it? And Prey is by Human Head, Max Payne 1 and 2 were by Remedy, just because you own the properties doesnt mean 3d realms actually made the games. That means 3d realms havent made anything good in house for over a decade. Show duke forever at e3 if its so much better then the games and companies you bashed. I will probably pick up prey but you dont have to be an ass and insult everyone elses work like that.

[Scott Miller]

Well, Rogue Trooper didn't look like a good game, and on the way back from the show I read in a UK gaming magazine where it was rated 63%. By "look," I also refer to the game's lack of innovation regarding gameplay -- it looked like a standard shooter to me. I saw the game among other Eidos games that where at the Nvidia booth, where I would have assumes Nvidia was showing off games with good graphics. Boy was I was wrong. Overall, the Eidos games demonstrated very clearly to me why Eidos is going down the drain much like Atari.

Also hilarious was a Windows Vista demo on display at the Nvidia booth, which, during a brief demonstration, crashed to the blue-screen-of-death. New OS, same problems. Joy.

As for Max Payne, many of the game's key innovations came from 3D Realms, and the same for Prey. People on the outside have no idea how involved we are with the creation and polish of these games. A alert thinker would perhaps notice how all external studios we work with become so successful, going back to Id Software. Coincidence? Hardly.

<< / QUOTE >>I fully expect the Xbox 360 to win this cycle now. My overall market share prediction looks like this in North America: X360 - 55%, PS3 - 25%, Wii - 15%. I think that for mature players, they'll always start with the X360 or the PS3, and then perhaps buy the Wii as a second system. For kids, the Wii will likely be the first system purchased, unless the parent too is a gamer, then they'll likely lean to a mature oriented system.

Let's check back here in four years and then we'll see if I was close.
<< / QUOTE >>

Just like you said in 2004?
<< / QUOTE >>The Xbox is doomed to eventually fail. But with MSoft's stubbornness and riches, they'll probably keep it going until the third version before tossing in the towel.

<< // QUOTE >>

;)

[Charles E. Hardwidge]

Well, Rogue Trooper didn't look like a good game, and on the way back from the show I read in a UK gaming magazine where it was rated 63%. By "look," I also refer to the game's lack of innovation regarding gameplay -- it looked like a standard shooter to me.

Having played Rogue Trooper it scored 7/10 while Prey unplayed remains at 6/10, as per my personal marking scheme. I don't tell porkies nor will any amount of tearing clothes make me budge. Experience suggests the mark isn't likely to change.

As for Max Payne, many of the game's key innovations came from 3D Realms, and the same for Prey. People on the outside have no idea how involved we are with the creation and polish of these games. A alert thinker would perhaps notice how all external studios we work with become so successful, going back to Id Software. Coincidence? Hardly.

You've got plenty to be pleased about, but some people might read your exhuberance and passing over more modest efforts isn't good politics. It's got nothing to do with your perspective or character. It's a question of giving people room to breath.

I gave you a way out in my last post. Still, it's your hole.

[VK]

I enjoyed reading your blog and i appreciate any chance i can get at an inside view of the gaming industry. Now it appears you are focused on console gaming. I myself just started up a PC-gaming blog last night and was looking around for similar blogs. Now i dont know how engaged you are in the RTS genre but since you are a developer, if you have the spare time please read my post and if you could comment on things like why the RTS genre is so static compared to many other genres. Thanks

[CMo]

None of you are correct. The bottom line is that people's perceptions of "things" vary over a broad spectrum. What "looks" good or "feels" good to one person may not to another. It's arbitrary. Also, while Scott, you do take arrows in the back and nobody else will... playing a bit of a martyr eh? I at least applaud you for making an effort. It would be foolish to think that these external studios are successful merely because 3d is attached. It's easy to gloat when the games do well and because you happened to be in the right place at the right time to make an economic windfall. I'd like to see how many games 3d was involved in that tanked or never got made. I don't see any gloating there. Be proud of all of your efforts...not only the ones that do well. Without making mistakes, it'd be hard to make winners. Quite frankly, most of the games today are rehashed, albeit with marginally better graphics, altered plots etc. An fps is still an fps like all the other fps'. How about developing better backgrounds, plots, and twists...and let's not even get started with physics engines. I think as a whole the game industry has become enamored with itself and forgotten that the poor schmucks that plunk down increasinly larger amounts of money for sub standard product are the ones that make their bank accounts grow. You might think of the people who buy your worthless products first instead of yourselves. I'm tired of hearing the argument about how much money it takes to develop a game or brand. Look at the Blizzard / NC Soft saga. I think the game industry could learn a thing from them. Just my 2 cents.

[Some guy from germany ;·)]

Hmm, rating a game you had just a brief glimpse on it while at a expo and haven't played it yourself ... is kinda lame, imho.

<.obvious joke.> Maybe you should awed us all with a certain game, which was absent for the 5. year from E3 - in a row (if I remember correctly - I'm getting old too) <./obvious joke.>

The new Tomb Raider is a (nearly) fantastic game, and in no way the continuation of the demise the series had been with parts 2 to 6. I can assure you, I've never been a TR fan, and made a lot of jokes about the series since Eidos/Core Design decided to focus rather on Laras boobs than on the game itself (read: immediately after the first parts success), but the change to Crystal Dynamics (which I adore very much as a developer, thanks to SR) brought the series back to old glory.

<.obvious joke #2.> At least I have way more fun *playing* TRL than *waiting* for DN4E ;P <./obvious joke #2.>

[Rob]

I can certainly see where some are getting the "judge not, lest ye be judged" mentality.

However, 3drealms isn't one of the "big boys" sort of speak. They've really never played by the rules and it's actually quite refreshing.

How many of you developers out there have put 8 million dollars of your *OWN* money into developing a game? Didn't think so.

3drealms hasn't taken a dime of development money from anyone for Duke Nukem Forever. It's entirely self financed.

3drealms also doesn't get enough credit for "staying the course" when they faced adversity. They could have cancelled Duke Nukem Forever long ago and been done with it. They've kept pushing on and never gave up and continue to work on it today. (And from what I hear, a good portion of the game is pretty much done ;))

In closing, Scott has every right to his opinions(popular or not). 3drealms ain't a huge EA type company with a zillion employees. They don't play by the "typical" rules of the game industry. Never took a dime of the 8 million used to develop DNF from anyone but themselves. Lastly, they've kept working away on DNF when they could have taken the easy way out and cancelled it long ago. Those are some very admirable traits I don't see much of anymore in the game industry.

Just some perspective.

-Rob

[Scott Miller]

Regarding my comment about the Xbox being doomed. That was based on the information available at the time. In fact, the first Xbox was a total disaster from a profit viewpoint -- losing Microsoft around a billion dollars, enough to sink most companies. What gave them a fighting chance was the fact that Nintendo put a gun in their mouth with the Gamecube, thus allowing the Xbox to take second place behind Sony. This wasn't Microsoft's doing, it was Nintendo's undoing.

We are seeing the same thing with this new generation. Sony has the gun in their mouth this time around, pricing their system in the stratosphere, and losing exclusivity to the GTA franchise so that it will now appear on the Xbox 360 simultaneously. (Clearly showing that even Rockstar sees the PS3 losing its leadership hold.)

It's not that Microsoft is doing things right, it's that their competitors are desperately fighting each other for last place this coming generation! Microsoft just needs to stay the course and despite themselves they'll likely come out on top this time around -- at least in North America.

If only we could all be so lucky to have competitors like Nintendo and Sony.

BTW, Nintendo isn't necessarily doing anything wrong with the Wii (giggle -- except for that silly name...was Poo already taken?), it's just that they're saddled as a system for children, for the most part. This ain't good, given that the 17+ market is where the real action is at nowadays.

[Mach5Motorsport]

I agree with you Scott about Sony. Considering the current glut of current consoles and available games, the PS3 is still vaporware at this point no matter how many "demos" Sony runs at various trade events. $600 for a glorified console system no matter the enxtras they add-on is just a waste. Yeah, the 360 will succeed because of Sony and Nintendo mis-steps.

[Ben]

Rob - "How many of you developers out there have put 8 million dollars of your *OWN* money into developing a game? Didn't think so."

Valve - $40mil HL2 + technology.

Scott, I agree and disagree with your points coming from a film background we know all about sequels and licensing but while you may be self financing one or two games the risk factor is apparent(lets face it, dnf is still gonna sell even when it does come out) but lets compare the movie industry to the games industry there are more parrallels than most people think, especially in regards to how projects are greenlighted.

What is the budget for a big AAA game nowadays? I have heard figures reaching $10mil The movie industry would consider that a low risk and probably a budget movie(if you wanna sign an A list its atleast $20mil) with block busters easily reaching $100mil, now at the moment in the industry atleast half of those movies fail to break even; that is a MASSIVE risk on the investors part, just like in the games industry losing money is still a risk - publishers mitigate that risk by using established fanbases and crossovers like games just like game companies mitigate risk by using crossover brands and sequals.

You bang the drum about originality, but lets see you put out aload of original games and if they all fell flat you would quickly find it difficult to get funding for your next project.

The audience will always respond to something different, it's like this - burger bars are popular even though they serve the same thing over and over again; so why are there not just burger bars in the world? Because we would get sick of it, thats why the movie industry puts out movies like MI:3 but we also put out "risk" films like brokeback mountain because we have profits from other films and can afford to take a risk. Just like EA, they can greenlight a game like Spore which is a risk game because they can offset the risk with madden20XX

There will always be the next Madden game while there will always be the next Spore, they both compliment each other.

[Charles E. Hardwidge]

How many of you developers out there have put 8 million dollars of your *OWN* money into developing a game?

I don’t have that sort of money lying around but I am putting my own money into developing a game, had to restart a few times, and am trying to work out whether it’s worth pushing ahead against a changed environment. Could Scott develop a title on what I’ve got to play with and keep going? Life looks the same from both ends of the telescope.

Scott does keep banging on about how successful he is. Sure, there’s a record of achievement, just as there’s a lot of mediocre efforts out there. The thing is, whether it’s someone coming over as a bragger or a whiner, a so called AAA developer or someone on a shoestring budget, you’ve got to put all that aside and look to yourself to do better.

I just spent a few hours with a politician, trying to get him on board a project that would help put in place a better designed and marketed approach to a significant social issue. The mealy-mouthed foot dragging was something to behold. He had his chance at glory but blew it because he was awash with fear and greed. His vote chasing ego got in the way.

The single biggest open secret of the successful is this: never give up.

The Xbox actually put MS $4 billion in the hole so far. The 360 has only added to that.

Wii looks very promising. Most of the complaints surrounding it seem to be because it's something new. People just aren't used to it. Some are scared of it. etc.

[Mirik]

Key analysts are predicting Xbox 360 to run a profit early next year.

However, I think anyone should be able to give it's unsalted opinion of anything. Let the reader be the judge of wether or not this or that person has the right to speak as such. We all have the right to speak or not to speak.

I don't like the Wii, because I simply don't see the appeal of a lightfun that you need to swing around to make your game work. What I would like is new ways of imput that don't concern spastic movements, but are rather refinements of current controllers.

On games, I think every game has a right to excist, and obviously not every game can be AAA, or should be. If there is a market for a game for a certain consumer with a particular taste, then it should be there, and it will have nothing to loose by not being liked by someone else.

Also I like the new Turok game, I think it could be cool, even though it does look generic in some ways as of yet, I still want to play it. Prey also looks generic in some ways, call it Doom 4, and I still want to play it.

Anyways, eveyone is entitled to their taste in games and their opinions, aren't we all glad there is so much choice. :)

[Bjorn Larsson]

Re Hollywood and games. What you do get with a movie license may or may not be an appropriate game concept at the high level (most suck - agreed), but what you are more or less guaranteed is tail-wagoning the Hollywood marketing and public awareness machine, which helps on all levels not least garnering retail interest. Unfortunately games just don't have the kind of pull that movies do, Hollywood is still considered sexier in the West, and the majority of publishers are CLUELESS when it comes to marketing. Nowadays it seems creating a great and compelling game, well that is the EASY part - getting people to take notice and invest their time in it, now that's not so easily if you want to reach out beyond the core demographic. Probably the main reason EA still rules - they know how to create titles that are comparatively "easy" to market. Nothing lasts forever though...

[Scott Miller]

[Two comments deleted.]

I'm pretty tolerant of anti-Scott comments as long as they have substance to them. But if you're just going to troll here with worthless bashes, you're wasting your time because it takes less time to delete them you can type them.

[4d]

oh did i not make a valid point?

[Charles E. Hardwidge]

I’m no big fan of the freedom of expression argument that’s doing the rounds, from one-on-one discussion to international politics. It sounds good and is a powerful rallying cry, but it’s unrealistic insofar as it’s toleration on selfish terms. It doesn’t take account of cause and effect. Lack of understanding and insensitivity has consequences, whether it’s boasting or running people down.

In the same way Scott's been promoting better design and marketing in games, I’ve got a parallel situation in political campaigning. Here, changes I advocated have become mainstream, and it looks like all I have to do is sit back and watch the clock go tick. When people get the message, switching the tilt from advocacy to encouragement may be more useful and less wearing.

I might not be the worlds greatest game designer or statesman but I’ve got at least as good a grasp of the technical aspects as many at the top of the game. Like Hannibal of Carthage my weak spot is people. Interestingly, here’s where Nintendo is scooting between the extremes of Microsoft’s marketing and Sony’s technology. Both games and politics can usefully learn from this.

I know you can be surprised or frustrated at how long it takes for positive change to happen, Scott, but social lag suggests change can't happen any faster. Indeed, I've observed simple but significant ideas generally take about a decade to rise to the top, and another decade to be usefully implemented. This doesn't matter whether we're talking about the balance of authority within society or shifting from character to graphical interfaces.

The Tao is the worlds oldest guide to power and advocates doing nothing. I think, I get it.

[Scarbir]

Scott, you missed the spot. Not only that, you are a complete loser.

Do you ever browse around forums? The forums I visit are full of people who'd rather play the next Hitman today than tomorrow. Besides, Tomb Raider is already out and therefore it is left behind on the E3. That makes sense: everyone (except you then...) already played the game and everyone comes for the new games. Sum up things here. Didn't you know that TRL hit a temporare first spot in all the international gamecharts?

Oh why did I respond in first place? It seems you like Resistance: Fall of Men. A GAME WITHOUT ANY - NOT A SINGLE - NEW IDEA! It's all Half-Life 2 meets Call of Duty packed in more grey colours.

Sjeesh Scott, you s*ck.

[dieseljunkie]

Scott, you completely missed it. You have not played a single game on Wii and yet you are judging it. Maybe some developers have problems with the remot, that could very well be true. But I bet that says more about the developers then about the controller. They finally need to use their brains. Nintendo, and other developers (Ubisoft) have shown that it can work very well.

Your market share predictions are also ridiculous. Nintendo at 15%, you would better make that 40% or something in that line. The Nintendo DS has proven that innovation pays off, did it not? Everyone shouted that PSP would run over Nintendo, but it turned out to be the other way around.

So next-time, spend some more time playing instead of judging. Makes you look much more creditable.

[dieseljunkie]

And I forgot to mention that Red Steel is the first game since Duke Nukem (and maybe Max Payne had it) with that atmosphere I love so much. Instead of complaining about other people's work, it might be a good idea to start finishing that Duke game we are all waiting for since year and day.

[Joe M]

>> Oh, and heard a LOT of negative comments about the Wii controller from
>> developers who messed with it. Be very worried, Nintendo.
Nonsense. You must have been at a different E3 than me. The comments from developers who actually played it were wildly enthusiastic. Not only the most fun games at the show, bar none, but it also LOOKS fun ... the thing will market itself if they just put kiosks out in the mall. Great games, innovation, tremendous fun, easy to market ... be very worried, Sony. Sony was the absolute loser of this show ... PS3 games looked nothing special and played worse. Microsoft showed OK, the 360 will do OK ... expect it to take second place after the Wii.

>> Didn't get to see it myself because I didn't have 2+ hours to wait in
>> line. What a dumb way to run a booth, meanwhile the open booths of Sony
>> and Microsoft I explored fully.
Make a friggin' phone call already. Gamedevs who called a Nintendo rep skipped the line.

Frankly, it amazes me that a developer of a console FPS would not have made more effort to play Metroid 3 on the Wii. It controlled beautifully, even easier (if not quite as accurate) as a mouse. I will never go back to primitive gamepad console FPS again.

[Mr.DJ]

Lol, funny to read some of the reactions in here! :)

I think it's totally cool that a person like Scott, don't have a problem critisizing other devlopers in public, as long as he is honest about it.

And judging from the many online sites linking to his blog, I think his opinions has more impact than some people in here have expressed! ;)

Being mostly interested in PC gaming and the FPS genre, I don't really care about the Wii, so have no opinion here.
But I generally agree with Scott's viewpoints of the mentioned devs. that is milking IP's and making half attempted titles.

All in all, fun and interesting read Scott! :)