“Only the developers’ conscience should define what type of game they want to make, and its level of cruelty, indecency and moral corruption.” — The Astronauts’ Adrian Chmielarz, talking along with other developers about whether there are lines that games shouldn’t cross.
Elsewhere in the business of video games this past week …
QUOTE | “It’s the software that matters. That’s it. There’s nothing else that’s going to convince you to play other than how good it is.” — Fireproof Games’ Barry Meade, talking about mobile game The Room‘s success and how they never spent a cent on PR or marketing.
QUOTE | “Making something personal as the intent of the creator is the ultimate journey through the glitter and doom of development.” — Media Molecule head Siobhan Reddy, talking about the game industry’s “strange and very transitional time.”
STAT | 3.3 million — Number of PS4s that Sony sold in the last quarter, pushing the Game Division revenues up 84 per cent; however, Sony lost $US1.22 billion overall (seven times more than last year) due mostly to its mobile unit.
STAT | 1.12 million — Number of Wii U consoles sold worldwide in the last quarter, according to Nintendo; the company turned a profit of $US131.5 million on $US1.6 billion in revenue, with revenue up 12.8 per cent over last year.
QUOTE | “Our industry seems to be afraid to really speak their mind. Scared blank cheque journalism appears to be the status quo.” — Asif Khan, new owner of Shacknews, talking about why he decided to buy the gaming website.
QUOTE | “We can communicate things that could never be communicated before.” — Vlambeer’s Rami Ismail, talking about why games are the most interesting medium of our time, and why confidence is critical to game design and marketing.
QUOTE | “This data suggests that, far from being a threat, the trend towards diversity is to the industry’s overall benefit.” — Analyst firm EEDAR’s Dr. Heather Nofziger, talking about research showing how the platform, not gender, drives gamer differences.
QUOTE | “With Oculus we’re making a long-term bet on the future of computing.” — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, explaining why the company is very excited about the prospects for the Oculus Rift.
STAT | 90.4 per cent — Amount Ubisoft’s digital revenues grew in the last quarter; the company’s revenues for the last two quarters were $US611.2 million, up over 65% from last year, with over nine million copies of Watch Dogs sold.
QUOTE | “We’re not trying to make it a success in any way. We’re not trying to make a game that will please our players.” — Pastagames designer Nadim Haddad, explaining why the company, which earns its money from contract programming, makes games as passion projects.
STAT | 90 per cent — Drop in Take-Two’s revenue ($US135.4 million) for last quarter compared to the previous year’s quarter when it launched Grand Theft Auto V ($US1.27 billion); the company raised its forecast for its full year to $US1.4 to $US1.5 billion in revenue.
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