2014: the year AAA failed - Sensationalist Headlines

Just remember, this article is talking about how big AAA companies fucked up in 2014. Ubisoft an EA are very large companies. Where they can devote enough manpower and money to make multiple games at a time, while other companies like Kojima, FromSoftware, MachineGames are smaller and more focused on one game. Yea, a lot of games came out that were great, but the biggest AAA companies messed up. 2014 AAA games were all mediocre to terrible.

More than anything, this year seemed like it was all re-releases of old-gen games to new-gen consoles.

If nothing else, 2014 was the year that proved yearly releases(for non sports games) and rushing to get a game out for the Christmas rush can seriously hurt your creditability and sales numbers. Also, it confirmed that Ubisoft are delusional narcissists because if you take their word for it their games were not so spectacular this year due to everything except their own mistakes.

[QUOTE=Flapjacks;46798102]More than anything, this year seemed like it was all re-releases of old-gen games to new-gen consoles.[/QUOTE] Really does say something when the most technologically impressive and one of the most fun games on the next-gen consoles is a re-release. There really wasn't much from AAA studios this year that impressed me, I had lots of fun with GZ and Alien Isolation (Not really sure if that could be considered AAA even, maybe AA. But I seriously can't believe a game like that came out in this day and age), but everything else just kinda seemed bland and run of the mill. At least 2015 is already looking up right now in terms of game releases I'm looking forward to.

[QUOTE=Sgt. Khorn;46798077]Just remember, this article is talking about how big AAA companies fucked up in 2014. Ubisoft an EA are very large companies. Where they can devote enough manpower and money to make multiple games at a time, while other companies like Kojima, FromSoftware, MachineGames are smaller and more focused on one game. Yea, a lot of games came out that were great, but the biggest AAA companies messed up. 2014 AAA games were all mediocre to terrible.[/QUOTE] Nintendo is pretty damn AAA and even though they hardly released any new IPs I'd have to say they did pretty well all things considered.

[QUOTE=Stopper;46797892]Um, no. There's a plethora of things that rely on the CPU for the game to run properly.[/QUOTE] Wasn't Arma 2 a good example of this?

[QUOTE=Bokito;46798183]Nintendo is pretty damn AAA and even though they didn't release any new IPs I'd have to say they did pretty well all things considered.[/QUOTE] That's because Nintendo takes the time and polishes their games to hell and back.

[QUOTE=ExplosiveCheese;46798186]Wasn't Arma 2 a good example of this?[/QUOTE] ARMA 2 is a special case - on one hand I haven't seen any other game handle 250 AI soldiers, a dozen tanks, 2 attack helicopters and 10 APCs as well as ARMA does; that of course being on top of having 120 people in the server and god knows how many civilian NPCs roaming around the place. Plus its uncanny ability to be absolutely playable even when you have 150+ ms ping. On the other hand, it's extremely bloated and stupid in some regards. But yeah, generally speaking, it's a shining example of how not everything relies on the graphics card. ...I fucking love Arma 2... Shame the realism clans are all dead... Arma 3 is nothing like it.

[QUOTE=willtheoct;46797875]lol what [b]a pentium could calculate practically anything a game needs.[/b] GPUs are generally the gaming bottleneck, and as they improve(with each new generation), we can improve the graphics. Gameplay can always be calculated with no problem. That nemesis system probably doesn't take up more than a few KB in RAM, either. Also, some art styles require highly capable GPUs. It still falls under graphics and needs hardware to work hard, in certain circumstances.[/QUOTE] This is not even remotely true.

Titanfall, Dark Souls 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition, the only AAA games I cared for and enjoyed this year Destiny; while it was fun to play, was extremely lacking in other areas

Shadow of Mordor and Alien: Isolation are the only two games I've had fun playing this year. A real let-down too. Was so looking forward to Watch_Dogs but it turned out to be a SERIOUS let-down. Wasteland 2 was a blast too!

[QUOTE=SteakStyles;46798141]If nothing else, 2014 was the year that proved yearly releases(for non sports games) and rushing to get a game out for the Christmas rush can seriously hurt your creditability and sales numbers. Also, it confirmed that Ubisoft are delusional narcissists because if you take their word for it their games were not so spectacular this year due to everything except their own mistakes.[/QUOTE] Do we actually know that Unity's sales suffered at all because of all the problems it had? As in, fell below projected numbers?

no mention of the overly amibitious Halo:MCE? they've been throwing tons and tons of features in there to make up for the terrible networking, its a great game, and probably having 4 campaigns of missions makes up for the multiplayer hurdles, but it should be noted again, a little more polish and time would have let them ship without hours of day-one updates

The east surprisingly did good in general.

Ubisoft must burn.

Their wasn't any games that really blew me away with how good they were this year, it was just some fun games and lots of disappointing ones. Alien Isolation was probably my favorite game this year because it lived up to the hype and redeemed the franchise.

[QUOTE=TheRealRudy;46797295][IMG]http://cdn.pcgamesn.com/sites/default/files/acunitybugs2.jpg[/IMG] Great, those pictures were just out of my head.[/QUOTE] wow i didn't know that was for real so i googled it and holy shit its like aliens from mars attacks

Nintendo sits on ever increasing piles of cash because they make their games playable and fun, two things that matter most, with graphics and visuals just being a mighty bonus. Look at Super Smash Bros., for example. Loaded with content for months on end, the game still looks stunning. Then look at Super Mario 3D World, which uses all the new processing power to merely store data and give HD quality to visuals.

[QUOTE=Satane;46799470]More like 2014: the year ubisoft failed[/QUOTE] its a french company, it was going to happen sooner rather than later. its multinational so countries containing ubisoft offices should seize them and release them to domestic investors

God, that fucking image.

With KF2 and Metal Gear Solid V on the way, 2015 is already looking to be a alright year.

[QUOTE=KennyAwsum;46800413]With KF2 and Metal Gear Solid V on the way, 2015 is already looking to be a alright year.[/QUOTE] Not only that but the great saviour is comimg: Hotline Miami 2

To be honest this is more like the year Ubisoft took a kick in the nads more than a failure of AAA in general.

Makes me wonder if it would be even possible for another industry crash to happen in today's market. Maybe all or some of the biggest AAA devs decide that games aren't as profitable as they used to be and go out of business, but there are too many indie devs and such around to let the market crash completely.

If you guys are sick of playing crappy triple-A titles, just go play some classic games instead. That's what I've been doing since I'm not keeping up with the new games.

[QUOTE=Sam Za Nemesis;46799105]What is Splatoons and Steam and a bunch of Miyamoto Prototypes?[/QUOTE] Splatoon wasn't released yet though, I don't really count the prototypes as released games either.

[QUOTE=KennyAwsum;46800413]With KF2 and Metal Gear Solid V on the way, 2015 is already looking to be a alright year.[/QUOTE] Don't forget the new Starfox and Zelda U

Nintendo isn't really a AAA developer. It has enough money and resources to be one but their strategy doesn't really fit the AAA model. Only Mario and Pokemon really have their brand exploited, and Mario is still used as a base for some really ambitious projects, just not all the time. I've heard them described as a "Double A" developer, and the term also applies to a couple of other (mostly Japanese) companies.

Nintendo hit it out of the fucking park this year. Smash Bros (and the amiibo craze which is huge right now), the Marios (including New SMB, the Luigi games, Mario Kart), Pokemon OR/AS are the biggest ones and are getting really positive feedback. Other popular titles right now are Captain Toad Treasure Tracker and the NES Classic Remix they released not too long ago too. It's too bad about Ubisoft though. A lot of their games had big potential and kind of just came up short. The Crew is a big one for me because I thought it would be a popular, fun to play title. But nope, heard that it is boring and just sucks.

[QUOTE=willtheoct;46797875]lol what a pentium could calculate practically anything a game needs. GPUs are generally the gaming bottleneck, and as they improve(with each new generation), we can improve the graphics. Gameplay can always be calculated with no problem. That nemesis system probably doesn't take up more than a few KB in RAM, either. Also, some art styles require highly capable GPUs. It still falls under graphics and needs hardware to work hard, in certain circumstances.[/QUOTE] Dwarf Fortress.