I was thinking that too. I'm sure a lot of money is railroaded from production/development and bumped into marketing.
Marketing for AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA games now often cost several times the development of the games. The A denominator, after all, has always been a bracket designator for how big of an advertising budget a game was going to get. I am sure marketing departments the world over are laughing their arses off at the fact they've managed to hoodwink an entire generation into thinking it has to do with a games quality as if it were a meat ranking in the window of a restauraunt.
An entire generation so brainwashed, they will consistantly and parrot over and over again, instantly, without any thought, how much better graphically this looks:
than this:
(Why is it so hard to find a picture of Xenoblades latest build thats above like a 640 res?)
And then when confronted with the irrefutable truth like good quality pictures, do they stop to think that maybe the narrative they were fed could be wrong? the BS starts coming out of their backsides to twist what they see in impossible ways to fit the narrative.
It doesnt REALLY look better,
its not REALLY doing what ps3360 could do
Its just Nintendos ART STYLE, its really not doing what skyrim does
It wont REALLY be open world, the wii u is too weak to do open world games like skyrim!
There wont be any wildlife!
Its just a pretty skybox, you cant actually GO there!!!
The wii u's ram bandwidth is too LOW to do what skyrim does!!
But look at this crappy port!!! Thats what wii u is REALLY capable of! This is just 'tricks'
And now that we find out Xenoblade is 400 square kilometers to Skyrims 16? Nothing. They simply move on to the next narrative. Nothing, will EVER stop to make them think, gee, maybe this Nintendo non AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA studio DID make something bigger, and more graphically impressive than AAAAAAAAA western devs did on last gen consoles. No, I am pretty sure that would kill them.
Yes, i think you 're right, allthough i think to much money goes to things that nobody needs in games, like hollywood storywriters, artists and more of that :/
Yes, that is a HUGE waste of money that could be spent making a better game.
To add on just how different Monolith studios with Nintendo is than AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Western studios
http://www.siliconer...-place-to-work/
Work starts at 9 AM and Ends at 6. THATS IT.
There IS NO CRUNCH TIME at Monolith soft studios
“One of the big opportunities that put the appointed weekly hours into action came from the 2006 occupational safety and health act revision, which demanded a more thorough employee time management,” says director Yasuyuki Honne. He further shares his beliefs that development styles which anticipate overtime work have already reached their limit. With that in mind, Monolift Soft’s company motto, “Zero overtime and creative work allowed” is what they now go by.
“Playing and having fun is the most important part. It’s the key to bringing out the fun in graphics,” says Genbe, as he explains that those are the deep feelings they share at Nintendo, which he has learned since joining. According to the designer, he has also learned to put his time to better use, thanks to the results of the appointed weekly hours.
“When the work starts to overflow, the leader immediately reviews the schedule accordingly. I spend my weekends on hobbies and polishing my skills using ZBrush at home,” Genbe explains, addressing how the lenient schedule has been a great benefit, by providing him with free time to relax and brush up on his abilities as a designer.
“Not only have my skills grown as an artist, but I feel as if I’ve matured more as a person, as well. The appointed weekly hours allow me to work with a mental sense of stability,”
COmpare that too the current cancerous state of the Western AAAAAAAAAA game cycle:
http://www.gamasutra...e_vicious_cycle
"This is an age-old software development issue: reasonable scope on a reasonable schedule," says Keith Fuller, an experienced developer and production consultant who spent over a decade working on Activision projects like Jedi Academy, Quake 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops before going independent. "Our ongoing inability to properly address it is rooted in leadership issues."
"Developers rarely get to tell Marketing 'We can ship it now, we fixed all the bugs,'" notes Fuller. "Rather, the marketing department will tell you when you're launching regardless of fixing bugs. If you want that arrangement to change, figure out how to sell millions of units without telling anyone your game exists."
"The last game I worked on as a studio dev was Call of Duty: Black Ops, and Activision's legal team would go into cardiac arrest if I shared with you how few months before launch that game was almost entirely unplayable," says Fuller. "That's due to the pressure of annual franchise installments and the competitive landscape."
"Addressing this cycle is beyond the realm of development and it's sad that we think this is a development issue," says Keith. "Developers get the short end of both sticks: death marches and the blame for low quality. The solution is to address this culture."
Maybe its not Nintendo and Monolith soft who are backwards.
