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When are they going to get it?
Master_Razor
Member Posts: 226
I am absolutely stunned at how ignorant game companies are now adays. Just the other day I was reading about how Microsoft refused to add any achievements to old Xbox games when played on the 360, not to mention that several popular Xbox games can't even be played on the 360 (I miss Mechassault...). Sony screwed up big time by making a system way too expensive and holding back on the release that it came out way later than its competitors. Solutions to the problems these companies are having are literally being thrown in their faces by their customers but they don't even listen. Some people are so dense.
Then there's the game devs. I just recently visited the guitarhero.com forum since I've been playing the game a lot and I was amazed at how upset people were with Red Octane/Activision's complete lack of concern for their customers. Some stupidity about the guitar controllers and how badly they were being marketed.
I guess my question really is why don't these companies listen to their customers? To them, customers aren't people, they're money machines. All they want is money, not customer satisfaction.
~Razor
Comments
Basically it comes down to this; the kids who make games think the kids who just play games are stupid.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
I totally agree with you, those companies are ridiculous. If they would just listen to their customers, think how much more they would make, ESPECIALLY when it comes to an mmo.
If you go by the amount of complaining that is done on game boards, it would seem that game companies should be going out of business, especially companies such as Blizzard and SOE. Are they even losing money? Maybe those of us who bitch on the boards are a huge minority and the games companies are giving the majority of gamers exactly what they want. I have to wonder that, sometimes.
Obsolescence has always been a fact of life for console gaming, and for several generations wasn't done at all. The only consoles to ever be truly backwards compatable (the Wii with Gamecube games, PS2, and expensive PS3) are only capable of playing *all* the old games because they still contain the hardware necessary to run them.
Other games have to be at least partially emulated. Which means companies have to devote resources towards making old games work on new hardware. For games from two generations ago that are small enough to be downloaded today, this can make sense since the company can charge for the download, but for games still played on disc format there's nothing in it for the company to make their game work on a new system.
I am absolutely stunned at how ignorant game companies are now adays. Just the other day I was reading about how Microsoft refused to add any achievements to old Xbox games when played on the 360, not to mention that several popular Xbox games can't even be played on the 360 (I miss Mechassault...). Sony screwed up big time by making a system way too expensive and holding back on the release that it came out way later than its competitors. Solutions to the problems these companies are having are literally being thrown in their faces by their customers but they don't even listen. Some people are so dense.
What would be the point of adding these gamerscore points for games that are not nearly as much played? That we be a huge waste of time to add in these games. So some games can't be played on the 360, so you would rather play the old Xbox games than the new 360 games? Didn't think so.
By the way, not that many people really care about the gamerscore as long as they play the game.
Then there's the game devs. I just recently visited the guitarhero.com forum since I've been playing the game a lot and I was amazed at how upset people were with Red Octane/Activision's complete lack of concern for their customers. Some stupidity about the guitar controllers and how badly they were being marketed.
Umm..I'm guessing by marketed you mean sold? It's not like they make the guitars, and they do need to make a profit.. The company does make updates by throwing in songs every now and then, as well as adding downloads for people to play.
You say say "Somg stupidity", so you mean that they are arguing about something that is pretty much pointless. So the guitars are money, pay for it or don't pay at all.
I guess my question really is why don't these companies listen to their customers? To them, customers aren't people, they're money machines. All they want is money, not customer satisfaction.
Most people actually are satisfied with their 360 games, and all of these updates would cost money and take time.
__________________________________________________
In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
Punish them by not buying their products.Money talks louder than anything.
If those custommers are so unhappy with the current market, i encourage them to group up, pool their money and make thier own damn game.
Think they'll be happy then?
-Would you like cheddar or swiss cheese?
-Yes.
-...
I do agree with one thing, the lack of xbox games working on 360. In particular i have hitman:blood money on xbox but they will never make it work on 360 because it also came out on 360. Bullshit!
though your guitar hero complaints seem hardly valid. look at how popular that lame game is, you even said you bought it. What do you expect them to do? you didnt even say any complaints just that the forums have complaints. Looking at how popular they sold last year and this year, id say they arent doing anything wrong.
With MMO's i do think its another thing and there is no excuse for ignoring the community entirely.(SOE)
Those were just examples, sheesh. The guitar hero thing isn't a big deal and doesn't really effect me but a lot of people are upset by it and aren't really getting any good news from the company.
Also, I really don't care that much about having achievements on old Xbox games, my question there is why not? Also, some Xbox games are still quite popular, plenty of them are far more popular than a lot of 360 games.
My biggest issue here is that game companies aren't listening to their customers.
I have to consider Signe's comment though, apparently most people are satisfied with games/systems the way they are, the people on video game forums are almost always minorities. Just look at WoW's subscription count and then see how few people are on the site's forums in comparison.
Agree with Op, but is it any wonder? I get the feeling my employer looks at me as a money making machine, and care's not one whit for employee satisfaction. And the same could be said for Goverment.
It,s all about the money and however it can be grafted out of you. It's endemic of a capitol based society.
Why should they go to the trouble and expense of customer satisfaction if people will throw down there money without it.
Unfortunately, Master_Razor, you hopped on the Guitar Hero bandwagon post-Harmonix sellout. Harmonix, who made Guitar Hero I and II ( both wicked awesome games IMHO), was bought out by MTV Games and they used to support Guitar Hero I and II extensively. They cared about their product. Guitar Hero I and II also didn't have nearly as many crappy guitar controllers problems as Guitar Hero III has. My Guitar Hero I and II controllers work spotlessly still and I play both games on Expert hyperspeed mode. I havn't been gentle on them at all.
However, Guitar Hero III was developed by a completely different team altogether and I don't feel it stands up to the same quality that Guitar Hero I and II had. I kinda like the songs better on GH I and II, too, but... eh. GH3 has some winners, don't get me wrong. Never the less, they don't support GH3 as well as Harmonix was supporting their games. Its sad, but its true. GH3 is basically the "cashcow" version of that franchise and the soul of the series has already left the building.
Rock Band, however, is created by Harmonix and is a much more solid game. The drum controller has some issues, its true, but they're only noticed on Expert difficulties when doing rapid drum rolls. And often times the kick pedal breaks on its own accord simply through the natural course of playing, which is sad. BUT, they are doing whatever they can to support those issues within reason. It costs quite a bit of money to ship those big plastic bundles around.
Also, Harmonix doesn't BAN or ERASE POSTS of people on their forums who offer up suggestions on how to improve the responsiveness of the drums or how to mod out your drum set to make them more effective. While they don't outright endorse the modification of their drum sets (because it voids the warranty), Harmonix isn't ACTIVELY SHUTTING DOWN people who post this information for the public ON THEIR OWN FORUMS. It goes to show that they ARE a company that cares. This is the kind of thing we would all like to see, of course, but hey... everyone has their own philosophy.
I'm not flaming anyone here, just making an observation between the way the two companies have been interacting with customers.
Hope that helps.
I think the OP is the one who does not get it.
First, you can't make everyone happy. Second, there is always a vocal minority who will rant on anything about any game.
If you look at sales records, these companies are doing great. WOW has 10M paying subscribers. Just by chance, 1% of 1% of the players will be unhappy amd that is a THOUSAND people complaining.
Activision just released COD4 late last year and sold millions of copies. If you goes on 2K website, there are people even rail on Bioshock (of its copy protection system). And it also sold millions.
If you just look at forum complaints, you may think there is no successful games out there, everything is crap and nothing sells. That can't be further from the truth.
I am one of those people who likes to complain, and I gotta say I agree with Marius. A game with all its faults is not even as close to being as bad as a fanfaire game (FFX-2). The PS3 was also released as early as it possibly could be. Infact it was probably released too early for it to have a better collection of games on release and for them to work out the bugs in it as well as reduce the costs of production. The problem was the Cell processor was in its infancy, and at the time really wasn't ready for production.
On Emulators. They can be pretty good if the company who made the console makes it. Just look at the new PSx emulator. The thing works like a charm mainly because it was Sony guys who worked on the console who put in the code for the emulator. With that in mind, I think many companies are missing a prime oppurtunity at making emulators for the PC, Linux, and Mac. They can charge per download, or force DVD recognition. There are only 8~10 million PS3 and XBox360 users, but there are more then 100 million PC users. Its not like the hardware reqs are tough to meet on a PC port.
"I guess my question really is why don't these companies listen to me?"
Fixed that for you.