Activision CEO: “We Might Have To Stop Supporting Sony”

[Mintmaster]

Exactly, that's the point we've been making over and over again. In these marginal cases where the PS3 version isn't worth its cost, the whole project is probably a bad investment. Couple that with the difficulty in predicting when a PS3 version will underperform like Skate did, or when a game will tank badly across all platforms like Mirror's Edge did and this "to PS3 or not to PS3" debate is pretty pointless. If it's worth risking the cash on an HD game then you've already determined the PS3 version is worth doing. If you want to invest more heavily in Wii games you can do that by paring back your HD game projects overall.

QFT. Precisely my point since I first posted in this thread.

 

[groper]

That's a poor analogy. PS3 versions of games nearly always sell 50-70% as much as the 360 version,...

Its true for the hardcore games , however when it comes to family oriented games of Acti, the analogy may be a bit different:

Kung Fu Panda
HiDef sales: 3.32 mil (U.S & Others)
X360: 2.95 (88.8%)
PS3 : 0.37 (11.2%)
source

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
HiDef sales: 2.74 mil (U.S only)
X360: 2.45 (89.4%)
PS3 : 0.29 (10.6%)
source

So maybe this is why Acti is putting pressure to Sony for a price cut, so as they can become a more family friendly platform.

 

[assen]

Both Kung Fu Panda and Marvel Ultimate Alliance were bundled with Xbox 360s at some point in time, so this particular data point is particularly deceptive.

 

[Squilliam]

Yes it did, and this is overwhelmingly achieved through shovelware, not innovative, new IP million sellers.

IIRC there are more million selling Wii games than PS3 games and they are closing in on the Xbox 360 in spite of the years head start. Like I said, its not too bad.

How many 'innovative, new IP million sellers' can you name off the top of your head for the Xbox 360 and PS3 combined? I doubt its a situation which is any better than the Wii at this point in time and probably worse.

 

[2real4tv]

Both Kung Fu Panda and Marvel Ultimate Alliance were bundled with Xbox 360s at some point in time, so this particular data point is particularly deceptive.

yeah during xmas

 

[Arwin]

Ah guys, I think we're getting somewhere. Activision has tasted some bundle goodness through Microsoft, and now wants to taste more of this goodness through Sony bundles. So what we're seeing here is pressure on getting Activision games bundled with PS3s, and preferably with price-dropped PS3s at that so the bundles will sell more.

 

[2real4tv]

Sony should have more bundles even if its shovelware, parents will eat it up especially during the holidays. One of the things I never understood is that they bundled their gaming system with a blu-ray disc instead of a game????

 

[groper]

Both Kung Fu Panda and Marvel Ultimate Alliance were bundled with Xbox 360s at some point in time, so this particular data point is particularly deceptive.

Modern warfare was also heavily bundled with x360 but it didn't flop on ps3 like the aforenamed games...
As for Marvel:UA... They even optimized the game for 1080p on PS3 and they got the middle finger from PS owners.

Also What about one of the definitive family games from LucasArts(Lego Indiana Jones:TOA)

X360: 3.36 mil
PS 2 : 1.03 mil
PS 3 : 0.56 mil

The latter is irrelevant with Acti but Don't you think that it shows a trend here?

EDIT:
And since i mentioned LucasArts lets have a look at the sales of their more hardcore game (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed)
X360: 1.70 mil
PS 3 : 1.18 mil

 

[grandmaster]

As for Marvel:UA... They even optimized the game for 1080p on PS3 and they got the middle finger from PS owners.

Well it runs at 1080p, but "optimised" is a somewhat optimistic appraisal of the situation.

 

[upnorthsox]

Modern warfare was also heavily bundled with x360 but it didn't flop on ps3 like the aforenamed games...
As for Marvel:UA... They even optimized the game for 1080p on PS3 and they got the middle finger from PS owners.

Also What about one of the definitive family games from LucasArts(Lego Indiana Jones:TOA)

X360: 3.36 mil
PS 2 : 1.03 mil
PS 3 : 0.56 mil
The latter is irrelevant with Acti but Don't you think that it shows a trend here?

Wasn't there a LEGO Indiana Jones + Kung Fu Panda + Wireless 360 controller bundle that went for super cheap last xmas?


I see that amazon is still offering the LEGO Indiana Jones / Kung Fu Panda Xbox 360 bundle for $15, that's stupid cheap and $5 less than if you bought a single game. I would be shocked if it didn't sell.

I also see both of those games are still bundled with the elite too:

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Elite-Console-120GB-Bonus/dp/B001FPFVD0/ref=pd_sim_misc_11

 

[2real4tv]

Modern warfare was also heavily bundled with x360 but it didn't flop on ps3 like the aforenamed games...
As for Marvel:UA... They even optimized the game for 1080p on PS3 and they got the middle finger from PS owners.

Also What about one of the definitive family games from LucasArts(Lego Indiana Jones:TOA)

X360: 3.36 mil
PS 2 : 1.03 mil
PS 3 : 0.56 mil

The latter is irrelevant with Acti but Don't you think that it shows a trend here?

EDIT:
And since i mentioned LucasArts lets have a look at the sales of their more hardcore game (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed)
X360: 1.70 mil
PS 3 : 1.18 mil

Yeah but your talking about COD which is a huge franchise. Didn't MU come out during the first year of the ps3?

 

[catisfit]

Wasn't there a LEGO Indiana Jones + Kung Fu Panda + Wireless 360 controller bundle that went for super cheap last xmas?

There was here, pricewise it was basically buy a controller, get 2 games free. I passed

 

[Arwin]

I came across this pre-E3 interview with the president of Sega Europe, Mike Hayes. I think it's a great interview, as almost all the 'big' topics pass and the guy manages a more than sensible answer on just about all of them.

A few highlights relevant to this discussion:

How do you view 360 and PS3’s respective installed bases?
No issue that both formats have achieved a very commercially acceptable installed base level in Europe. We have to applaud both companies for making two next gen platforms viable in the marketplace. At the very least it allows us to cross collaterise the increasing cost of making video games. We are just excited at both companies’ plans to grow the business further through 2009.

Are Nintendo formats getting overcrowded at retail – and does that put you off?
Nothing ever puts us off Nintendo formats. Like every successful console there will be a perceived or actual over-supply of games. As ever we need to try and cut through with relevant brands, appropriate quality and innovation.

With Sega games such as Let’s Tap, (yup, it does what it says on the tin), Wacky World of Sports, the use of the new Motion Plus controller for Virtua Tennis 2009 and more, we think we can stand out.

Does being a big player in games help you in a recession?
It’s a mixed blessing. On the one hand we have the momentum of a large development and distribution resource, but of course it is harder to be nimble. The big issue for Japanese businesses based in the UK right now is the weak pound. And that is regardless of size!

Are there any areas of your portfolio (both in terms of genre and formats) that you think you could be doing more in?
We definitely want to take some of the space owned by Ubisoft, Activision and EA on the 360 and PS3. Sega does not have the core heritage that those companies enjoy in parts of their portfolio. Hence our focus on Bayonetta from Platinum Games in Japan, Alpha Protocol from Obsidian in the US and Aliens vs Predator from Rebellion in the UK.

http://www.mcvuk.com/features/488/Hurdling-over-the-competition

He also hints pretty clearly at that he was already aware of the motion controllers by Microsoft and Sony at this point.

What do you think will be the biggest innovation in games this year – and how can you take advantage?
Let’s wait for the E3 announcements, I reckon we are in for some treats…

 

[obonicus]

Again, let's try not to have an argument over vgchartz numbers. They're extremely unreliable (if not to say made up). And no, I don't have to come up with a better source to tell you not to use bad numbers.

 

[Neb]

Again, let's try not to have an argument over vgchartz numbers. They're extremely unreliable (if not to say made up). And no, I don't have to come up with a better source to tell you not to use bad numbers.

You still need to have some alternative source to be able to claim their numbers are bad/wildly flawed.

 

[sebbbi]

Pardon my ignorance, but can you really get the PC version for free, without having to rewrite code? What was all that about console programmers programming to the metal, even on current consoles?

The CPU side is pretty easy, as you can just define out many of your platform dependent CPU optimizations. Porting your vector libraries to PC SSE equivalents is not that big task either. Endianess changes (PPC is big endian) can result a little bit extra work to all file and network operations, but with proper design the impact of these changes in minimized. PC out-of-order CPUs are very efficient at running unoptimized code or code optimized for in-order CPUs (such as Xbox 360 CPU and PS3 PPE). You do not get exactly the same performance as running code optimized specially for PC but close enough. But if you do this other way around (optimize first for PC) you need a lot of extra optimizations to get things running with any kind of speed on in-order PPC based platforms.

GPU side requires more work if you have used lots of Xbox 360 hardware specific features or plan to have a DX9 port instead of DX10 port (Xbox 360 GPU is a DX9/DX10 hybrid after all). And you most likely have to rewrite some of your shaders (if you are using microcode asm to speed up the performance). Public info about Xbox microcode asm specifics be found at the Microsoft's XNA pages: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb313877.aspx.

All in all the Xbox 360 -> PC port requires some work, but mainly only for the technology base code and the shaders. A baseline PS3 port requires much more work, and a really well optimized PS3 version requires even more. On PS3 you likely have to move some of your game logic code the SPE. Running game logic concurrently on many different processing units and storing their data to many different memory spaces is a big change.

 

[-tkf-]

Sony should have more bundles even if its shovelware, parents will eat it up especially during the holidays. One of the things I never understood is that they bundled their gaming system with a blu-ray disc instead of a game????

Please no, they should keep on doing it with quality software and the occasional Blu-Ray. Keep the crap the f* away.

 

[catisfit]

You still need to have some alternative source to be able to claim their numbers are bad/wildly flawed.

I'd argue that VGChartz needs to have some alternative source to be able to claim their numbers are good

We all know what VGChartz is, does it really need to be discussed yet again?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

You still need to have some alternative source to be able to claim their numbers are bad/wildly flawed.

The proof in VGChartz dodginess has been revelaed before in comparing their numbers with other real-world numbers such as from corporate financials, where sometimes they're accurate, and other times they are competely out. As a consolidation of statistics, if they have received real numbers from a source and updated their records, they are a valuable resources. Sadly true reported numbers and their guesses aren't differentiated in the stats, and you don't know whether they are valud or not.

Alternative numbers are only needed to prove an alternative point, not to dispute a point based on an already recognised as unreliable source.

 

[fearsomepirate]

I think it shows exactly what I was saying. Unless you have a hit franchise from the PS2/GC era that you can milk, you're going to have a tough time getting 1M+ on the Wii.

Whereas on the HD consoles, the best-seller lists are dominated by brand-new IP like Halo, Call of Duty, Madden, Tom Clancy, and Grand Theft Auto. Do we really need to go through the list of new IP on HD consoles that tanked in the last three years? Or new IP that tanked last-gen?

In more seriousness, you are overlooking two things:
1. New IP is, in general, a gamble. The Wii is nothing special in this regard, and some of its most successful titles have in fact been new IP.

2. As far as the publisher is concerned, success is defined in terms of production costs and sales targets and varies from game to game. 1m might be stunning success for one game and disappointing failure for another.