Topic: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

[mac<censored>]

Hmm, what's wrong with "flashlight gaming", and fatal frame in 4 particular?  Of the games mentioned, I've only played "fragile", and while the game itself has serious issues, the controls seem perfectly fine...

[I've seen a lot of people whining about FF4, but no clear explanation of why...]

[broodwars]

Well, no go on getting the game early on my end.  The person I wanted to speak to at my local GS wasn't there, and the two that were were terrified of breaking street date for any reason.  So I'll have to wait until Tuesday to get my copy, but at least I know it'll be there on the "Ship Date" for once.  I didn't walk away empty-handed, though, since they did allow me to walk out with my pre-order soundtrack (which I'm listening to right now).  The wait's not a big deal, since I'm in the middle of playing a bunch of VC/WW stuff anyway right now along with finishing up Assassin's Creed 2.  I am a little annoyed since looking into their pre-order drawer while the guy was grabbing my soundtrack, I was the only guy who pre-ordered the game (and from the looks of it, they only got 2 copies anyway).  Wow, this game is obviously going to sell extremely well.   

[KDR_11k]

There were already reports of EXTREMELY low allocations (on GoNintendo someone talked about his Wal-Mart getting only 3 copies)

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Q:  What is Konami doing to ensure the game is a success?

[broodwars]

Q:  What is Konami doing to ensure the game is a success?

"Absolutely Nothing"

which translated into PR speak would be

"Konami of America is dedicated to bringing the highest quality games to the widest possible audience."

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

By shipping as few copies as possible, indeed.  Less discs means less money spent on manufacturing (profits UP!) and it's good for the environment.

[ShyGuy]

Think of how much money they would have saved if they just canceled the game after development? Wave of the future.

[TJ Spyke]

Companies should seriously consider adopting MOD. MOD (Manufacturing on Demand) is something Amazon does for some DVD seasons they publish (mainly old Nickelodeon cartoons like Doug and Rocko's Modern Life). Basically it works like this: a customer places a order for the product, only at this time does Amazon actually press the disc and manufacture the box and case and then ship it to the customer. This saves the company money by only having to manufacture copies they actually sell. Video game publishers, especially companies that do small printing runs like Atlus, should consider doing this.

Take a niche game like Castle of Shikigami III. Aksys Games could still be publishing this game on their website. I would go on their website (or a site like Amazon if Aksys makes a deal with them) and place a order for the game. They then press the disc, print the manual and box, and ship it out to me. They get a sale they might not have before and I get a new copy of the game, a win-win situation.

[Stratos]

Companies should seriously consider adopting MOD. MOD (Manufacturing on Demand) is something Amazon does for some DVD seasons they publish (mainly old Nickelodeon cartoons like Doug and Rocko's Modern Life). Basically it works like this: a customer places a order for the product, only at this time does Amazon actually press the disc and manufacture the box and case and then ship it to the customer. This saves the company money by only having to manufacture copies they actually sell. Video game publishers, especially companies that do small printing runs like Atlus, should consider doing this.

Take a niche game like Castle of Shikigami III. Aksys Games could still be publishing this game on their website. I would go on their website (or a site like Amazon if Aksys makes a deal with them) and place a order for the game. They then press the disc, print the manual and box, and ship it out to me. They get a sale they might not have before and I get a new copy of the game, a win-win situation.

But that seems so simple. Wouldn't a game company have done something like this by now?

[broodwars]

Companies should seriously consider adopting MOD. MOD (Manufacturing on Demand) is something Amazon does for some DVD seasons they publish (mainly old Nickelodeon cartoons like Doug and Rocko's Modern Life). Basically it works like this: a customer places a order for the product, only at this time does Amazon actually press the disc and manufacture the box and case and then ship it to the customer. This saves the company money by only having to manufacture copies they actually sell. Video game publishers, especially companies that do small printing runs like Atlus, should consider doing this.

Take a niche game like Castle of Shikigami III. Aksys Games could still be publishing this game on their website. I would go on their website (or a site like Amazon if Aksys makes a deal with them) and place a order for the game. They then press the disc, print the manual and box, and ship it out to me. They get a sale they might not have before and I get a new copy of the game, a win-win situation.

But that seems so simple. Wouldn't a game company have done something like this by now?

If anything, you'd think that Atlus would have tried this by now, since their whole business model is designed around limited runs.

[Mop it up]

I will give cake* to anybody who can give me a good reason to try this game.

*Cake exists only in Animal Crossing.

[Stratos]

That's why I wonder if there is some reason games are more restricted. There shouldn't be a reason but is just seems so obvious. I've asked why companies couldn't do something like this before but no one seemed to have an answer.

How does this MOD system work? Is it just the principle of making things as they are sold or are you investing in a machine or group of machines that are specially designed to make a number of different products that are similar (like discs, boxes and insert papers)?

I will give cake* to anybody who can give me a good reason to try this game.

*Cake exists only in Animal Crossing.

It sounds fun and exciting?...

[broodwars]

I will give cake* to anybody who can give me a good reason to try this game.

*Cake exists only in Animal Crossing.

It looks like a good 3rd party game on Wii, designed from the ground-up for Wii.  How often does that happen?

Oh, and there are some good vocal songs.  Definitely not this composer's best BGM work, though.  I'd rank it somewhere above Silent Hill 4 but below 3, 2, and Homecoming.

[Mop it up]

Broodwars takes the cake.

I'll pick it up in 2011.

[Stratos]

Right after you snag Conduit, right?

[broodwars]

Broodwars takes the cake.

I'll pick it up in 2011.

*hands the imaginary cake to Stratos*

Hey, I don't play Animal Crossing.  Eat up.

[Stratos]

But...isn't the cake a lie?

[broodwars]

But...isn't the cake a lie?

Just couldn't resist using that, could you? 

One of these days, I'm going to get around to playing Portal.  And chances are by then I'll find it highly overrated, just from how much praise that game gets.
 

[Mop it up]

I'm so sick of hearing that line. I don't even know what it means.

[KDR_11k]

Companies should seriously consider adopting MOD. MOD (Manufacturing on Demand) is something Amazon does for some DVD seasons they publish (mainly old Nickelodeon cartoons like Doug and Rocko's Modern Life). Basically it works like this: a customer places a order for the product, only at this time does Amazon actually press the disc and manufacture the box and case and then ship it to the customer. This saves the company money by only having to manufacture copies they actually sell. Video game publishers, especially companies that do small printing runs like Atlus, should consider doing this.

Take a niche game like Castle of Shikigami III. Aksys Games could still be publishing this game on their website. I would go on their website (or a site like Amazon if Aksys makes a deal with them) and place a order for the game. They then press the disc, print the manual and box, and ship it out to me. They get a sale they might not have before and I get a new copy of the game, a win-win situation.

Only larger publishers can afford that, smaller ones contract a DVD factory to press X discs for them and I'm sure those don't appreciate having a few machines standing idle until demand arrives.

[broodwars]

I'm so sick of hearing that line. I don't even know what it means.

It's a reference to a series of events in Portal where you're led to perform a series of tasks with "cake" as your promised reward.  Only when you clear the tasks you find a note scrawled on the wall that says "the cake is a lie!"  In layman's terms, it just means that something promised as a reward won't be forthcoming.  For example, you could use that phrase as response to Reggie promising a game for the hardcore at last year's (2008) E3, when only Animal Crossing showed up.

[BlackNMild2k1]

But...isn't the cake a lie?

One of these days, I'm going to get around to playing Portal.  And chances are by then I'll find it highly overrated, just from how much praise that game gets.

You should try this until you get around to the actual game
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=22646.msg377887#msg377887

Or you can take the direct link to the game here: Portal: The Flash Version

[Peachylala]

Oh ****, its below a nine. This game will not sell because of that.
 
8.6 isn't that bad.

[vudu]

One of these days, I'm going to get around to playing Portal.  And chances are by then I'll find it highly overrated, just from how much praise that game gets.
 

It's not overrated.  It's every bit as amazing as you've heard.  This is one of the few cases where the Internet got it right.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Oh ****, its below a nine. This game will not sell because of that.
 
8.6 isn't that bad.

Yay, another number for the all-important Meta Critic.  That's all the publicity this game needs, a rating number not worthy enough for a TV commercial.

KONAMI'S BRINGING OUT THE GUNS FOR THIS BABY.