I'm really hoping that Left 4 dead 2 is really just cover for Episode 3.
If not, why the hell aren't they working on it?
If not, why the hell aren't they working on it?
UPDATE: Microsoft Announces Left 4 Dead 2
- Thread starter Susan Arendt
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Pardon my apparent lack of enlightenment, but how is having the sequel to "2008's top-selling new IP on Xbox 360 and the PC" announced tantamount to being punched in the balls?Indigo_Dingo said:
I didn't realize Great Success + Capitalizing on Said Success now = punch-in-balls.
As a matter of fact, I am. Both games you mentioned had different developers than the games preceding them.Indigo_Dingo said:
I am, however, a little confused as to why you'd bring such a point up, given how irrelevant it is in this context.
Left 4 Dead 2, released 364 days after Left 4 Dead.....it looks like it was forced, the original characters set well with any player, the new ones look like a joke. Something valve should have done, is keep the original characters and just added more, longer missions in different locations after the rescue failed or something, you know, do something like they did with Half-Life, rather than pull a Farcry 2.
Hahaha, a winner is you. Perhaps Gabe's using a new shampoo that makes him 10x as efficient.The Bandit said:
How about we put this friendly little discussion on pause until the game actually sees completion, then we'll sit back and let the cold, hard numbers tell us who's jumping the gun.Indigo_Dingo said:
Actually IW took 2 years to develop COD4 and another 2 for MW2. I don't count 3 and 5 as being part of the series because of unbelievably sucky they were. And I've gotten a shitload more of multiplayer out of COD4 then I have out of L4D, mainly because of the large variety of MAPS and gameplay modes.Ashbax said:
Y'know, I actually once said "I swear to God, if you send another horde after us, I will beat you with a frying pan!" to the AI Director. Now I can actually do it!
This looks awesome. Having played the first, there are some things that, while they definitely could be fixed with a patch and some DLC for the original, I think need to be done with this game. I don't object to this quick-off-the-mark release schedule because a) Half-Life wasn't very fun for me, so I'm not waiting with bated breath for Episode 3 (though I have some friends who are) and b) a year in-between games is a lot of time in reality. I've coded a flash game in less than five hours and me and a friend once did a full computer version of the same game in three months. Valve has a large team of highly talented coders, so I can definitely see this "yearly release schedule" thing working for them.
This looks awesome. Having played the first, there are some things that, while they definitely could be fixed with a patch and some DLC for the original, I think need to be done with this game. I don't object to this quick-off-the-mark release schedule because a) Half-Life wasn't very fun for me, so I'm not waiting with bated breath for Episode 3 (though I have some friends who are) and b) a year in-between games is a lot of time in reality. I've coded a flash game in less than five hours and me and a friend once did a full computer version of the same game in three months. Valve has a large team of highly talented coders, so I can definitely see this "yearly release schedule" thing working for them.
Man, some people are way too touchy about this. Stop thinking "OMG I have to pay for a new game. How dare Valve make me pay for their hard work?!" and start thinking "Yay new, more awesome co-op zombie game!". All the stuff I've see and read of this so far points to it winding up to being even better than the first one. I'll miss the new characters, but it looks like Valve is putting a lot of work into making these ones fairly likeable, including more random conversations/comments, and better story-lines.
As for "OMG I have to pay for it?", well I paid AU$50 for L4D about 3-4 months ago, and I've got ~200 hours on it. That's AU$0.25 (or like US$0.10 for the Americans) per hour! The only game that beats that is TF2 (~320 hours, and I've had that since the Beta). By the time L4D2 comes out, I'll probably have something like 600-odd hours of L4D, so I'll have well and truly had my money's worth out of that game, and I'll have no problem paying another AU$50 (or more like AU$30-40 if I pre-order it) for L4D2.
And to be honest, if I had to choose between L4D2 or HL2 Ep3 coming out this November, I would honestly choose L4D2. This is coming from a guy who's played every single Half Life game made, and I'm still really looking forward to Ep3. But I know I'd play L4D2 a lot more than I'd play Ep3.
Eller
As for "OMG I have to pay for it?", well I paid AU$50 for L4D about 3-4 months ago, and I've got ~200 hours on it. That's AU$0.25 (or like US$0.10 for the Americans) per hour! The only game that beats that is TF2 (~320 hours, and I've had that since the Beta). By the time L4D2 comes out, I'll probably have something like 600-odd hours of L4D, so I'll have well and truly had my money's worth out of that game, and I'll have no problem paying another AU$50 (or more like AU$30-40 if I pre-order it) for L4D2.
And to be honest, if I had to choose between L4D2 or HL2 Ep3 coming out this November, I would honestly choose L4D2. This is coming from a guy who's played every single Half Life game made, and I'm still really looking forward to Ep3. But I know I'd play L4D2 a lot more than I'd play Ep3.
Eller
Speaking of Guitar Hero, the real developer (Harmonix) actually seemed to manage just fine. Guitar Hero - November 2005. Guitar Hero II - November 2006. Rock Band - November 2007. Rock Band 2 - September 2008. Plus, The Beatles: Rock Band is right around the corner, and looking quite nice. Not to mention all the DLC they've been churning out weekly for nearly 2 years.Indigo_Dingo said:
And, despite being complicated games, BioWare managed to release a new Baldur's Gate product every year from 1999 to 2001 (including the two expansions - which were still full retail releases). 2002 saw the first Neverwinter Nights released, with two expansions in 2003.
Rockstar also had back-to-back blockbusters with Grand Theft Auto III (2003) and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2004).
Going back a bit, the first 6 Final Fantasy games were also originally released in a span of 8 years (1987-1994), and the first 5 Dragon Quest games in 6 years. Sure, they're smaller games compared to modern releases, but they were also significantly smaller teams at the time.
It's no coincidence that these also happen to be some of the most acclaimed, best-loved franchises in existence. Depending on their size, goals, and organization it's perfectly reasonable for a good developer to be able to maintain high quality yearly releases of games in the same line. You can get a lot done in a year if you have enough hard-working, capable people that really care about the work they do, and the results show.
