The importance of getting it right the first time (Gaming)

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, August 08, 2016, 11:07 (3029 days ago) @ Ragashingo
edited by Cody Miller, Monday, August 08, 2016, 11:16

Two things:

1. Anyone relying on and making final purchasing decisions based on a prerelease build of a game is an idiot. It is completely unfair to the developer.

But it's not… it's what people bought in the store… If you go and BUY a copy of the game, I think you are allowed to judge. If that is not the version that Hello Games wanted people to see, it should not have allowed you to connect and play until you get the patch. You are also forgetting about people who may not have their systems connected to the internet, or in the future when your console cannot connect to the internet. They get what is on the disc and nothing else.

After reading this, I find your stance against day one patches even more absurd. It boarders on deliberate hostility to game developers, even.

You act like these cert things are unique. They aren't. In my industry you have to go through CQ just the same. There are standards that have to be hit for everything. There's standards for theatre and for broadcast. Day one patches are not allowed in the movie industry. If say, your film has an MPAA rating, the film that is shown must be a bit for bit (or frame for frame if it's still on film) copy of what the MPAA saw. Literally. You cannot just show them a bluray of your film; they must see the actual cinema DCP that will be sent out the theaters. If you so much as change out one shot, or adjust the color or add a single sound effect, it must be reviewed again. What goes into the theatre is not allowed to be altered.

That's a reality, and that is worked into the schedule. If cert on the consoles is such a time consuming process, then the game developer needs better milestones and planning by allowing time for cert. The game should be ready for cert far enough ahead of launch to allow for any issues to be fixed.

I'm allowed any expectation of game developers that I want to have, and I think day one patches are bullshit.