RSS Feeds
industry news
Take-Two Chairman: Quality Wins Out Over Shovelware
Posted by Luke Plunkett at 7:30 PM on July 22, 2008
Never let it be said Take-Two aren't focused on quality. They don't have the packed release schedule of companies like EA or Activision, but pound-for-pound, their games are amongst the best-regarded in the business. A strategy chairman Strauss Zelnick is very keen on, telling VentureBeat that quality will always win out over quantity:
In periods of high growth, like where we are now, B titles and C titles can do OK. But as soon as you get to the point where the platform penetration has reached its asymptote, then quality reins supreme. We think that if you focus on quality all along, regardless of where the market peak is, you will do better.
Explaining, perhaps, why T2's Wii catalogue isn't quite as robust as some other publisher's.
E3 perspective: Q&A with Chairman Strauss Zelnick on the future of Take-Two Interactive [VentureBeat]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Thetallywacker
Posted 8:03 PM 22/7/08
How does he get rid those nose hairs?
Thetallywacker
Tons Of Fun
Posted 7:53 PM 22/7/08
Don King's Prize Fighter is a quality game huh?
Tons Of Fun
DayTrade
Posted 7:45 PM 22/7/08
Don King's Prize Fight.
DayTrade
SupaPhly
Posted 7:44 PM 22/7/08
I'm surprised you guys aren't doing the red eyes thing anymore.
SupaPhly
DayTrade
Posted 7:42 PM 22/7/08
Yeah, Don King's Prize Fight.
DayTrade
Fryfat
Posted 7:34 PM 22/7/08
Does this mean Carnival Games 2 will be incredible?!
Fryfat
Testamonium
Posted 8:26 PM 22/7/08
I hope he's ultimately right on this one. I just keep getting awful flashes of "another pong clone?" when I look at the Wii section at game stores.
On the plus side, the previous game crash was caused by too many consoles trying to compete at once. I know we're staring down the barrel of an iPhone Derringer, but I think the industry can survive its competition. Just maybe.
Testamonium
kylo4
Posted 8:20 PM 22/7/08
To me, Rockstar games is like the Quentin Tarantino of gaming. They take their time with limited, select projects that push the gaming platform. The type to incorporate different genres and try different styles. The way they market the games, the attitudes, everything. I like Rockstar a lot as you can tell. The Warriors, grand theft auto, Max Payne (I know they just published some of these) Bully, Red Dead Revolver, and Manhunt.
kylo4
Billkwando
Posted 8:59 PM 22/7/08
@Justhesh
Indeed. "Buy 2 Take Two games and get asymptote free with purchase."
Billkwando
justhesh
Posted 8:44 PM 22/7/08
I think the real meat of this story is that the T2 chairman owns a word-a-day calendar.
justhesh
justhesh
Posted 9:23 PM 22/7/08
@Billkwando: My doctor has me on antibiotics to relieve my asymptotes.
justhesh
fire ze missiles
Posted 9:22 PM 22/7/08
I agree with this assessment.
fire ze missiles
Gene-ius
Posted 9:51 PM 22/7/08
@kylo4: Yeah, shame Take-Two can't be consistent about that quality with everything else.
Gene-ius
chaseus
Posted 10:14 PM 22/7/08
Can't you guys take a pic where he does the peace sign like Kaz?
chaseus
Von Linus
Posted 10:04 PM 22/7/08
I think he means quality 'reigns' supreme.
Von Linus
kennyd1
Posted 10:48 PM 22/7/08
Gotta love the Strausster! I still think that any story involving him should be titled in something resembling the following way:The Legend of Zelnick: Oracle of Quality. It just makes the stories as cool as he is, you know?
kennyd1
Xtreme_Hindu_Cow
Posted 10:24 PM 22/7/08
Take two should remain take two. not EA
Xtreme_Hindu_Cow
Enkur
Posted 10:53 PM 22/7/08
Ack, that perspective made him look like the G-Man when I scrolled down to this article. Well, I guess that's really all I have to contribute here for now, it's too early in the day.
Enkur
TheGameCritic
Posted 3:50 AM 23/7/08
This is obvious, with the ecomony as it is, people can't afford to buy every game that's released on shelves. We want some quality. Sadly people still buy into the reviewers instead of looking at a game objectively. That will always be a problem with purchases :(
TheGameCritic
LeLoi
Posted 4:14 AM 23/7/08
The man speaks the truth; and this is exactly why the Wii will fail in the long run.......
LeLoi
jasongw
Posted 4:55 AM 23/7/08
He is absolutely wrong. Shovelware wins the console generation every time. Yes, the big, AAA titles are the ones we remember, the ones that get published again and again, but shovelware--and lots of it, covering store shelves like mold--is what sells more games and more consoles to consumers. It worked with Playstation, it worked with Playstation 2, and it's working today with Wii. ALL THREE of those systems have predominantly *trash* to play, with a handful of truly golden titles, and all three sold like mad.
Shovelware never did anything but *help* game consoles sell more units, because consumers want variety even more than they want quality.
jasongw
Ganji
Posted 9:56 AM 23/7/08
Anyone care to enlighten me how it can actually reach an asymptote? Isn't an asymptote the point where it's undefined? A little next to the asymptote is infinite (+/-), so that miiight work if the consoles had infinite games. Maybe if he said "is approaching the asymptote from a safe distance"...
Ganji
Lukems
Posted 7:58 PM 22/7/08
Why do we have sucj a close-up of the man's face?! I can see the his pores for christ-sakes!
Lukems