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Press Pause Big vs Small Budget Games, XBL Rewards, MAss Effect 2 DLC, and New Releases

MEVIOtech

Nov 08, 2009 Big vs Small Budget Games, XBL Rewards, MAss Effect 2 DLC, and New Releases

Welcome to this week's Press Pause. This week Carlos and Jason talk about the latest news including: massive DLC will be coming to Mass Effect 2, Microsoft may be looking to create an Xbox Live rewards program, and consumers may be defecting from 360 to PS3 for big name sequels. They also discuss big budget vs small budget games. All that plus the week's new releases .

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Big Budget vs Small Budget Games

Now when we say small budget, that doesn't mean that the game is an indie game. It could just mean a smaller game that was made for a substantially lower budget than your typical AAA game.

Here is a good example of the budget of some of the biggest games of the past few years:

Grand Theft Auto IV - $100,000,000:
Too Human - $80-$100,000,000:
Metal Gear Solid 4 - $50-$70,000,000:
Halo 3 - $60,000,000
upcoming APB MMO - $50,000,000:
Tom Clancy MMO - $50,000,000
Killzone 2 - $40,000,000
Final Fantasy XII - $40,000,000
Final Fantasy IX - $40,000,000

Here is a piece written on the website greggman.com :

It depends on the game. I can tell you that a certain team I worked on which had about 15 people for a year cost 2.5 million and that's development costs only. That does not include advertising, duplication, distribution, returns etc. I can also tell you that the next title from that same team is going to cost 4 times that, twice as many people working twice as long. It all depends on the game.
For example Warcraft 2 (I think it was 2) cost only like $750k but Diablo cost like 3 mill and Diablo 2 cost like 6 or 9 mill. A game like Tetris could be done for like $20k or less, especially like "Next Tetris" for Playstation which if you take a look at as no art. It's as though it was done completely by one programmer (plus some music)

Basically the more people it requires the more it costs. A game like Warcraft2 had fairly simple graphics so it probably only took 3 artists to make all the art. Diablo 2 on the other hand has not only much more detailed graphics, probably required 10 or more artists but it also has CG video sequences also requiring several artists. It took more than 3 years so lets say each artist made $40k (which may or may not be a low figure) Assume 16 artists, that's 40K * 3years * 16, that's almost 2 million right there and that's NOT including overhead (ie, desk, computer, health ins, 401k, heat, electricity) That stuff can add up to 30% more and that's only the artists. Add 5 to 10 programmers., music people, game designers, producers.

DOOM, remember DOOM, what's it now 6 years old?. That cost probably like 200K and only took 3 people but it was designed to only take 3 people. There are only 10 monsters each with only about 10 frames of animation total if that. The levels are basically laid out in 2D which makes them much much much quicker to build than a Quake level which must be layed out in 3D. And there are only about 15 items. 7 weapons (or was it 5), health, armor, keys, doors and moving platforms. (vs say a character action game like Mario, Gex or Crash where there are hundreds of individually programmed things)

Here is a slide from game developer Factor 5 during a GDC panel that talks about how budgets have grown:

Also mentioned was some big budget disasters:

Sims Online - Estimated budget: $25m
Daikatana - Estimated budget: Unknown.
Ultima 9 - Estimated budget: Unknown (9 year development cycle)
Shenmue - Estimated budget: $70m
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Estimated budget: over $50m (inflation-adjusted)

Game News:

Mass Effect 2 to have major DLC

This morning a tipster dropped us word and images from the Expert Zone quiz for Mass Effect 2. Created so the retailer can sell the product with more information in tow, it teases what kind of optional content is coming to the follow-up sci-fi RPG. It lists, specifically in the Xbox LIVE Features section, “planned episodic combat via DLC,” weapon and armor packs, new downloadable characters for the “campaign experience,” new downloadable worlds, as well as “full campaign expansions for download.” It also mentions that the game will carry “periodic updates,” which features DLC, via Mass Effect 2’s unannounced in-game “Cerberus Network.”

Microsoft testing Xbox Live rewards program

For silver members - 100 points when you make your first purchase, and 100 points each time you fill out a survey.
For gold members - same as silver, plus "up to 5%" bonus (at 1% per month) for remaining a gold subscriber, up to 60 points (10 points per month) for 1-month or 3-month gold renewals, 200 points for a yearly renewal, 200 points for subscribing to netflix
It's a pilot program right now by invite only.

New Kids on the Block nes game??

"How much would you pay for this New Kids On The Block sample box for the NES game that was never released? If you're off your rocker for NKOTB, then surely $589 isn't too high a price."

Xbox 360 Owners "Defecting" To PS3 For Sequels?

"Multi-platform console gamers may be making the switch to the PlayStation 3 for sequels to games they may have owned on the Xbox 360, analysis from consumer research and consulting firm OTX shows."