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Acclaim - GameCube Not Worth Publishing For?
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a GamePro report claiming that Acclaim Entertainment is dropping support for the Gamecube. The article quotes UK trade magazine MCV's interview with new Acclaim CEO Rod Cousens, who says "Why should we develop for platforms that don't deliver profits for us? We will still support the PS2 and Xbox, but Nintendo? No, not in the foreseeable future." Reportedly, this won't be true for the handful of in-development GameCube conversions at the troubled publisher, but these harsh words seem to imply that further Burnout sequels, amongst others, will not be coming to GameCube. Update: 06/23 22:08 GMT by S : Planet GameCube got an official comment from the publisher which says "Acclaim will now evaluate each title and decide which system(s) it best fits", but it's clear the CEO is still very down on GameCube.
The gamecube's curse is the quality of Nintendo's first-party games.
With the PS2 and that other console, one company makes the hardware and maybe a handful of game titles, and the rest of the sales are divided between all other publishers.
With Nintendo, the quality and brand recognition of the flagship titles (Metroid, Zelda, Mario, etc) are so irresistable many first-party games are considered must-have purchases, leaving cube owners little time and money for third-party titles.
Quality kills.
But you could have just stated the whole article by adding, "Acclaim noted that Cousens comments were taken out of context. Cousens was just explaining how Acclaim is re-evaulating what consoles to release their games on." So in other words, this is a bit of a non-issue. If they can profit on the gamecube, they will, if they can't, then it won't be supported.
Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
what about Gameboy Advance? Will Acclaim be making games for that still?
Yes.
The Sony handhald gaming unit it still far off, and its doubtful it will be able to dethrone the GBA. Stopping GBA development right now is effectively stopping handheld game development. Why leave a market where development time and budget are much smaller and the payout almost the same?
This isn't the first time Acclaim has blamed its financial woes on a console instead of the fact that they make lots of derivative caca and think people will buy it because they saw it on a tombstone.
At first blush, it's easy to take all these "doom and gloom" reports as the inevitable sinking of the GameCube. But look at who has been dropping their support ... companies like Midway and Acclaim, who are used to being able to shovel crap onto any system and get it to sell through slick marketing.
We're in a recession. Gamers are educating themselves more, and are spending their dollars on games that will give them the most bang for the buck. For the GameCube market, that means that most are saving their hard earned cash on first-party games.
So what does the loss of Acclaim mean in the long run? Jack shit, honestly. Less games that weren't selling anyway, so what? The GameCube won't be dead until Nintendo stops supporting it, and Nintendo supports their machines better than anyone.
Something tells me that Nintendo may have something to say about Acclaim still developing for the GBA if they cease all gamecube development. Acclaim has to be licensed, and Nintendo may just be a little bitter. But then again, rtfa, since Acclaim doesn't even say they will stop all future gamecube development, just that they will go on a game by game basis. As a gamecube owner, I couldn't care less, I don't think I own a single Acclaim game, nor did I see any in development that I had any interest in whatsoever.
http://goldysmom.blogspot.com
Maybe Acclaim isn't making any money because all they do is make crappy games to begin with.
But overall, it is true that game sales for Gamecube on average are lower than the other two systems, as well as the overall selection of games. This is partially because most people only buy Gamecubes for the Nintendo-developed game franchises. If a game is to come out on all three systems, most people get it on PS2 because that's the most popular system, or on Xbox because of its better hardware and Live capabilities (not that Acclaim ever takes advantage of those features, anyways...)
Hey Acclaim, stop making shitty games and maybe I will buy one that you create.
--GameCube owner
When I sit back and think about all the Acclaim games that I've ever enjoyed... ...nevermind. I can't think of any. Maybe I've forgotten a good one, but I can't see this is so much of a loss.
:(
My only disappointment is the unlikeliness of a Mary Kate and Ashley Gamecube game.
On a more important note, anyone notice how it's always places like 3DO that make statements like this? Everyone focuses on one message "see! the GameCube sucks!" instead of the real message "we're reducing our platforms by one to see if we can stay in business".
Schnapple
Don't think that this spells the end, or the begining of the end, for the GameCube. The GameCube is kinda like a Mac in my opinion. It has a very defined nitche, but it is still very profitable. Many people are addicted to it. Just like you can only run OSX on a Mac (at a resonable speed), you can only play Nintendo's games on GCN.
I will always buy Nintendo systems as long as the big N is creating super-high quality games for their systems. I own all three systems, and somehow I end up playing GameCube the most. I guess I'm still addicted to the ZMM (Zelda, Mario, Metroid, etc.) universes.
I'm anxious to see how Nintendo changes their direction with their next-gen console to solve some of these problems. These are tough times, and three consoles creates a saturated market.
Go here for teh [sic] funny.
I was going to say that Gladiator looked pretty cool, but then i realized i was thinking of Gladius by LucasArts, which is still on for Gamecube. So yeah, screw Acclaim.
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Backwards compatibility (must have.) A second left shoulder button (must have.) Perhaps a better second analog stick. Some people have complained about the d-pad, but i don't have any complaints there. Develop a better online gaming presence, regardless of how important or not it is to the average gamer the lack is a PR killer. Get out just before or soon after the PS3/XBox2.
And most important, find a way to kick the (undeserved) just for kids image.
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Just pulling back, not stopping all together. Sometimes it helps to gather all the facts than to take a single quote out of context.
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http://www.planetgamecube.com/news.cfm?action=ite
If I had something intelligent to say, I would have said it.
"We can't seem to sell any games, and we need to generate some PR. Lets tell people that the Gamecube is a piece of shit. That will stir up some noise and make people notice us. It's even better than trying to disrupt tennis tournaments! Yay!"
Note to Acclaim: You're not making any money on your cube titles because they SUCK ASS compared to the other games available on the platform. GO OUT OF BUSINESS ALREADY!
If Acclaim would stop making games that completely suck, maybe they'd see their profits go up.
"Sudden increase in quality of Nintendo Gamecube titles..."
We won't get a sequel to "Mary Kate and Ashley: Sweet 16" for the Gamecube! What are we going to do now?
After the bang-up job you did on Taito's Puzzle Game Franchise (who decided it was a good idea to use some baby blowing bubbles on the cover?) I think a game console would consider itself lucky to not have your titles grace it.
Yes they will develop for GBA still. Besides, something ironic has occured to me. Despite the gamecube being called a kiddy console, it doesn't really seem to be owned by a lot of kids, does it? I mean, yeah, the GBA is probably the largest offender in what is a kiddie product, but said kiddy product even has Microsoft still developing games for it. Acclaim will always make money off the GBA because kids have them, and are willing to spend money on crap. Most educated adults (read Nintendo Fanboys from the NES era) aren't gonna buy any crap game that's out there just for the sake of having a crap game. So without games like pokemon yet for gamecube, the cube is actually probably more owned by, played by, and bought for by adults.
Honestly, how many KIDS nowadays have X-box's or PS2's, because Nintendo is considered kiddy? Probably not that many... so the kiddiest console of them all, probably has the least kiddy players on it. How ironic is that.
What 3rd party games really are that much of a loss? Seriously. I only have a GameCube, and I'm not left missing that much.
Final Fantasy X, to be sure...
Destiny Warriors...
GTA
and....that's really it.
That's all I miss coming from 3rd parties not on the GC.
Maybe I could put together a list other games I'd like to play, but I'm not missing them. Shinobi, Xenosaga, Devil May Cry..umm...not much else..
Burnout was fun...but other than that, not missing much by Acclaim leaving. I think that Nintendo needs to rebrand themselves as quality over quanity. Get on a different level than the other consoles.
*sigh*
Sega Sports, Acclaim, who else?
The only reason they leave it is because they can't compete with Nintendo's games.
You develop on the PS2 because it'll sell no matter what. There's enough saturation to support crap.
You port it to the XBox, because it's DirectX and easy to do, so it takes MUCH less to sell to profit, BUT sells more sense XBox owners are hungry for anything.
You ignore the GameCube because no matter what you do you're competing with the best game developers on the planet and make up poor excuses as to why your games suck.
First 3DO
Now Aklaim, or however they spell it these days...
seriously, Aklaim is just looking for ways to convince their stockholders that they aren't headed for chapter 11. Blame Nintendo, "see big bad nintendo made us lose money now we are roxxor company we make bestest games ever!"
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
I have a joke for everyone:
Acclaim.
hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
"Acclaim has to be licensed, and Nintendo may just be a little bitter."
Why? We're not exactly talking about Squaresoft here. Nintendo has been content to let Acclaim publish games of questionable quality on their platforms for decades, why should that change now?
How will I ever get my Turok fix?! Any game that manages to have that many sequels getting exponentially worse over time had to have some pact with Satan. Them and Home Alone.
It's not stupid. It's advanced.
Taken from the top 100 GameCube Games on gamerankings.com:
Super Monkey Ball (1 + 2, and soon 3)
Resident Evil 1 (If you haven't played the original)
Ikaruga
Burnout 2
Star Wars Rogue Leader
Skies of Arcadia Legends
Phantasy Star Online Episodes 1, 2, 3 (only 3 is currently exclusive)
Bomberman Generations
Beach Spikers
Sonic Mega Collection
Lost Kingdoms 1+2
Cubivore (3rd party published in North America)
Godzilla: DAMM (was exclusive for a time)
Granted, some of these are borderline, but if you like carefully at the Xbox lineup, you won't find many more exclusive 3rd party titles.
The real problem is that while Microsoft has billions of dollars to cut exclusive deals with publishers to improve the visibility of those 3rd part games, Nintendo actually has to make a profit on their business. Nintendo can't afford to prop up every single 3rd party game that comes out, but they try with the limited budget they have. (The new demo discs are a good step in the right direction)
But yeah, Acclaim generally sucks with its games. Except Burnout. That game is a blast.
Acclaim has to be licensed, and Nintendo may just be a little bitter.
Nintendo? Bitter? Never.
Was Double Dragon II, and they were the publishers. I think it's a good move... Less cr@p going to the GC
LAST POST!
Logitech makes a Wavebird like controller.