Examples of Damage Control in Gaming: Definitively Raiding Tombs
It was no surprise to anyone when Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix confirmed Tomb Raider would receive a next-generation console port. Though its existence was leaked before the official announcement though an Amazon Italy listing, which the developer semi-acknowledged as real, it’s becoming tougher and tougher for publishers to make their budgets back on games. And with Square Enix admitting that it sold below expectations on a financial sheet earlier this year, despite selling 3.4 million copies in one month, it was clear they wanted to make more money out of the ordeal. With perpetually-climbing budgets come publishers with hilariously exorbitant expectations on what a game should sell. Square Enix, though, is far more batty than your average publisher.
So here we have Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, releasing in late-January for Playstation 4 and Xbox One, an enhanced port coming via collaborative efforts of Crystal Dynamics, United Front Games (of Sleeping Dogs), and Nixxes (who’s handled many of ports for Square Enix in the past, including the PC port of this game). It’s ostensibly a great opportunity for anyone who skipped the PS3 and 360 versions when they released in March, as their first experience with it will be this so-called definitive version. It’s coming packed with enhancements; some of them, like the TressFX hair simulation technology (no, seriously; this is important) and higher-resolution textures were present in the PC version, while others will be new to this version. I said “ostensibly” earlier in the paragraph because the developer and publisher feel the enhancements are so good that they’re charging a full $60 for it. That’s despite the PS3, 360, and PC versions being on sale for low prices so often that you could buy all three of them for$60 combined at this point.
Sure, the Definitive Edition has some nice enhancements, including a brand new face for Lara Croft that’s, thus far, garnered mixed impressions, but does that sounds like it’s worth throwing down $60 to you? The pricing reeks of cynicism, a decision made by a publisher who thinks they can take advantage of new console owners starving for new software with a title containing a popular name. In fairness, it includes all the free and paid DLC the previous versions had, along with a digital comic and a physical art book for preorders, but that still doesn’t make it worth full price.
That’s not the only criticism being beamed in their direction, though. A separate group wondering if it’s really as “definitive” as they’re claiming, compared to the PC version. That the Definitive Version will have 1080p and the effects that version had was a given before they confirmed it, considering it’s the trend publishers have been adhering to with PS4 and Xbox One ports. But what else will it have?
This is the kind of criticism Crystal Dynamics saw while browsing certain parts of the internet, realizing some were justifiably gawking at the price and claims of definitiveness. It’s why executive producer Scott Amos greeted that skepticism with a Q&A session on the official website’s message boards, saying it will be better than the PC version in terms of the effects offered. In addition to the new particle system, new lighting details, enhanced shadows, and polished graphical geometry, Lara’s interaction with the environments received a minor polish to increase the game’s approach to verisimilitude. The water effects have been improved, and dirt will show on Lara more realistically, for a few examples.
The resolution was indeed confirmed to be 1080p on both platforms, though Amos can’t say what the framerate will be until sometime January. How ominous; his silence is nearly deafening here. It’s difficult to believe they haven’t locked the framerate down when it’s due to ship a little over a month from now. If it’s not 60fps, though, he, and many Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix employees, better be prepared to weather the rage from the PC gaming audience. He also didn’t do enough damage control to justify the $60 price.
The point of this post isn’t to tell you if you should buy it or not. I’ve provided enough information for you to make up your own mind. The $60 price won’t be as hard to swallow for anyone who hasn’t played Tomb Raider before, but I’m not saying it’s easy to stomach, either. And anyone who’s already played it will likely think twice about paying full price (rhyme not intentional). That is, unless they really adored the game. Everyone else can feel free to look forward to a price drop, and the sequel.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
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It’s not just in the gaming industry. I’m fairly certain every business has adopted this not-so-subtle attitude against the consumers. I work a grocery store where the expected numbers are always far grander than what is realistically achievable. No matter how exorbitant the markup value is, higher-ups will stand by their belief that people should be paying the asking price without question. It’s sad, but not surprising.
Yup, though it just seems so much worse with the gaming industry. That might be because it’s the one I pay attention to the most.
And man, food prices. That Christmas ham has never cost more this year, for instance. Not the amount I was expecting to spend before Christmas.