Chris Taylor of Gas Powered Games spoke out about the way piracy is killing the PC game biz and forcing them on to a console.
He said, “Well one of the key things that is really affecting the economics and the success of gaming in general is piracy on the PC,” he said, talking at GDC. “So one of the reasons we’ll see RTSs on the console is because people can’t pirate it. That’s why we’re going to see a lot more of everything on the console. When you look at the sales of really hardcore games like Crysis and you think, ‘Wow, those games should have sold a lot more,’ you realize that’s probably due in large part to piracy. And you realize that a game like Crysis would have done its true numbers if it had launched on console first.”
Since Take-Two released the award winning game Bioshock, a flood of production companies, studios, and agencies have been chomping at the bit to turn out a Bioshock movie.
Take-Two hasn’t accepted a offers for a film based on the game so far, but the door for this project project is still open.
If you cant seem to hang on till Take-two makes up its mind about the production of Bioshock the movie, then this might help you hold on.
Crytek boss Cevat Yerli, confirmed that a Crysis movie is in the cards and talks for the project are ongoing.
“A Crysis movie is definitely planned,” he said. “We are in active talks already. I think we will close this topic before the end of this year.”
With no more details to work with about the movie we move on to Yerli who made the comment "Crysis 2 was currently being evaluated, but nothing could be said on the matter at this stage."
So it wold seem we can look for a box office year in the video game industry.
Crytek GmbH will be showing off their multi award winning CryENGINE® 2 game development middleware and their Sandbox 2TM game editor at this year's Game Developer Conference on February 18 - 22 in San Francisco.
First publicly shown at last year's conference, and recently released as the technology underlying their critically acclaimed PC game, "Crysis", this engine will be shown for the first time running on multiple hardware platforms such as the PS3 and Xbox 360, to a select audience. In addition, there will be a public demonstration showing how well the fully optimized engine can perform on a budget PC which can be put together for around 600 dollars complete, including keyboard and mouse. Visitors will be able to see for themselves the extremely high quality that can be achieved on relatively inexpensive consumer hardware today using the CryENGINE® 2.
American teams focused on money rather than innovation
EA Partners' Nick Button-Brown has told GamesIndustry.biz that he believes European developers are more creative than US studios, as North American teams are focused on making money rather than taking chances.
As director of business development for EA Partners, Button-Brown sees rich pickings in Europe as the publisher continues to work with independent studios – a new deal with a German developer is expected to be announced very soon.
"There's more creativity in Europe than there is in America," said Button-Brown, speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz. "The Americans are much more refined in their processes, it's all about the money. There are less chances taken and there is more money being thrown at developers in the US."
"Taking less chances means there's less failures, but I can't see the US having ever come up with Grand Theft Auto. There are a lot of really good European developers and they all bring slightly different things and there are big cultural differences as well, that they are willing to exploit," he added.
BioShock is current tied with the Orange Box as best rated title for Xbox 360, so it's no surprise that the game did incredibly well at the recently announced Spike TV Video Game Awards.
BioShock took home three prizes for the night: Game of the Year, Best Xbox 360 Title as well as winning for Best Original Score.
Halo 3 was honored too, taking home two awards -- for Best Multiplayer Game and the quite whorishly titled Most Addictive Video Game Fueled By Dew. The producers really oughta be ashamed for that one.
Super Mario Galaxy enters UK charts at number five
Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed has shot to the top of the UK all-formats charts and become the second fastest-selling new IP on an individual format behind 2002's The Getaway.
The Xbox 360 version of the game claims 67 per cent of sales, with the PlayStation 3 version taking the remaining 33 per cent. It also becomes the third fastest-selling Xbox 360 game within a weekly sales period.
Last week's number one, Activision's Call of Duty 4, has been knocked from the top as it suffers a 33 per cent fall in sales.
At number three this week is EA's The Simpsons Game, taking a 9 per cent dip in sales, while THQ's WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2008 is at number four.
Nintendo's new entry Super Mario Galaxy only manages to debut at number five but becomes the fastest-selling Wii game, with Dr Kawashima's Brain Training staying at number six following a 62 per cent climb in sales.
Electronic Arts' FIFA 08 slips to number seven this week, whle Disney's High School Musical: Sing It! leaps into the top ten at eight with a massive 170 per cent boost in sales following a release on the Nintendo Wii.
Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 is down to number nine and More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima sits at number ten.
The only other new entry in the top forty this week is EA's PC-exclusive Crysis at number 14.