Comments on: Penny Arcade Adventures Episode Two on PSN this week

By: schwaa

schwaa — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 23:57:55 +0000

@89

’nuff said

By: dorellie

dorellie — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 23:03:07 +0000

@ Joel.

I just beat the game on normal. In the game credits, you thank the Xbox Live Arcade team. You might want to change that.

Dave.

By: NeCrom-X

NeCrom-X — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:57:37 +0000

People who pirate are ruining those industries.

By: Joel DeYoung

Joel DeYoung — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:35:04 +0000

Speaking for Hothead, I can say that by focusing on digital the only thing we\’re trying to gain more control over is the creative process of making games.

In traditional retail products, the large publishers control so much of the creative process that there is a real lack of innovation in the types of products you see. Digital distribution has allowed indies like Hothead and others to bring games directly to gamers. If you\’re trying to make a business decision on whether to make a game, why take a risk on an innovative art look or game design when you\’re going to have to sell millions to even break even? That\’s the retail business. In digital, you can take more risks because you can make cool things people haven\’t seen before and make a good business selling a modest number of units.

So I like to think that the advent of digital benefits not only indie developers, but also gamers. And if it\’s not for you, that\’s cool–retail isn\’t exactly going to go away. But I wouldn\’t portray it as somehow trying to control your property or rights to play the games. On the contrary, I want more people to play our games wherever and whenever they want.

By: Joel DeYoung

Joel DeYoung — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:26:54 +0000

Thanks for the note. We\’d love to see DeathSpank on PSN too! The project is coming along nicely and we\’re excited to start showing some of it off….

By: Joel DeYoung

Joel DeYoung — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:24:58 +0000

We have talked about doing this, but because Hothead is digitally focused, we would likely partner with a company that is experienced at manufacturing and distributing physical copies (no small task!).

By: Wuggyboobeaufuf

Wuggyboobeaufuf — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 04:23:47 +0000

I prefer physical formats of all media – CDs, movies, games, whathaveyou.

People who buy DLC are ruining those industries.

There will always be people who want physical media, and it’s damn unfair that we’re being ignored by people who want to make a quick buck instead of thinking things through.

By: theredace

theredace — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:45:08 +0000

@83
You say people that buy DLC are ruining the games industry? How do you figure?

Did iTunes ruin the music industry? Are things like The Guild and Dr. Horrible (or hell, even Hulu) ruining television? These are being talked about as things that are saving their respective industries. They put more money in artists/developers pockets by cutting out the middleman/network/retailer. How does that ruin the industry?

If anything is ruining the industry, it’s Gamestop.

@85
Why wouldn’t we be able to access our DLC in the future? Plug in your old system and there it is. Sony, MSFT, Valve, etc. arent going to turn off their servers unless they go out of business. And even then it only matters if you delete the game for some reason.

I love me my huge wall of game boxes, but face it…DLC will only get bigger as games get more expensive to make (and hence, riskier).

By: Wuggyboobeaufuf

Wuggyboobeaufuf — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:27:02 +0000

” Think of it as having a license to play the game or use software ”

That’s exactly the problem – it shouldn’t be a license. The idea is laughable.

Companies aren’t pushing DLC because it’s easier or advances technology, it’s about control. They want to control what you play and how you play it.

If I have a choice between DLC or nothing, I’ll take nothing. I can’t wait to see all the furious people crying out when all their DLC is gone next gen and can’t access it.

Meanwhile, I’ll still be playing games I bought 10,15, hell even 20 years ago.

By: NeCrom-X

NeCrom-X — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:15:04 +0000

It is the same thing you get to play the game if you pay just like you get to watch cable and go online if you pay. Think of it as having a license to play the game or use software if you think it isn’t a service read the user agreements that’s what they say. They own the software and you paid to license it for a single user. Don’t think I’m trying to argue with you just if you worked around software enough like I do and you read every user agreement you find this stuff out. It really is the same thing except a one time payment instead of paying every month.