Comments on: 007: Quantum of Solace / Meer: Shedload of Griping

By: Nick Halme

Nick Halme — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:57:06 +0000

I stopped reading the comments thread after I saw this gem:

“It uses the COD4 engine, which was out a few months ago, so this should look better and play better than COD4″

By: JonFitt

JonFitt — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:44:54 +0000

I think a preview is perfectly justified in saying “if X doesn’t change it’ll be criticised”, or “if they don’t do this then that’ll be a missed opportunity”. You have to avoid judgement of the game as a whole though, because you never know what’ll be chaged, or what will work within the context of the finished game as a whole.

If you phrase it all within the realm of, it’s not a review of the finished game, but a commentary on what you saw then that’s fine.

If we’re lucky then preview comments might save the developers from making a bad mistake.

Gushing previews of obviously flawed games do no good to anybody.

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:07:14 +0000

@devlocke: Except, of course “Quantum of Solace” is the last remaining title of a Bond story (other than “007 in New York”, which, frankly, is a worse title for a Bond Film) written by Ian Fleming. And, [science term] is actually mostly just Latin, although Fleming was using it in the correct sense (which has been replaced in pop culture by the utterly wrong sense) of “the smallest amount of something”.

By: aldo

aldo — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:34:15 +0000

What the…?! Are you telling PC gamers will get another watered down last gen port?

Given that it’s using the COD4 engine, it’d be an utterly bizarre decision. Perhaps the PC version simply has different level layouts, given the more accurate controls for shooty, lack of quick-timey buttons, etc.

By: THX-1138

THX-1138 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:25:37 +0000

I remember the Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude preview was rather negative, and the review of it confirmed that it was indeed shit. But then, it was kinda obvious.

I just wish that someone made an empassioned plea for it’s potential greatness in the comments thread of that preview.

By: mooey poo

mooey poo — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:11:04 +0000

Even Craig’s plasticky face looks better than that thing that was meant to be Robert Downey Jr in the Rocketeer game.

By: Gap Gen

Gap Gen — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:09:27 +0000

On the new trailer of QoS (the film): How often does Bond have to go rogue? Presumably by now their attitude would be “oh, you know what, you always do this and it works out OK, so here’s a gun and a fast car with a load of gadgets in it, go do what you want, maybe kill some guys, and we won’t ask questions.”

By: Radiant

Radiant — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:02:41 +0000

Wait what?!
Edge cursed Clear Sky???
LET’S KILL THOSE SONS OF BITCHES!

By: Alec Meer

Alec Meer — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:45:47 +0000

Exactly.

By: Bassem B.

Bassem B. — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:43:53 +0000

Skin taped over skeleton? what about the flesh? what about THE FLESH??

By: Okami

Okami — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:14:02 +0000

I somehow doubt that a developer a few months from release is going to be reading the preview press at all, let alone reading it and actually using it as advice on how to reshape the game.

Developers do read previews. Especially if they’re from major magazines or websites. And really good developers use the preview feedback to reshape their games. The problem with any QA is: They know your game. Sure, they’re good for finding bugs, glitches and crashes. But the longer you test a game, the more you get used to it and the less likely you are to make objective statements about it.

If you’ve got enough money, you can bring in fresh testers in regular intervalls, to get new opinions and a new outlook on the game. But not every studio is in such a position.

So yes, press previews can have a certain impact on a game’s development.

But you’re not completely wrong of course. I’ve worked for companies that seemed to have a blind spot for negative feedback in previews, concentrating solely on the good stuff. There was even one instance, where a media outlet whose preview wasn’t as positive as the rest was “punished” for their critical preview, by not recieving any more preview copies and not beeing invinted to preview events..

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:50:53 +0000

I do sometimes marvel at just how angry people can get over the internet. And about a game which is months away. It’d be like me getting angry about the phases of the moon…

Edit: Just thought I’d say that the all the pages load a bit strange on the computer I’m using [at work...], the side column forces the main article down leaving a blank space above it.