Square Enix’s recent insistence that gamers enjoy item charges and they are no different to “ordering extras at a restaurant” has been proving controversial amongst those unhappy at finding their games sold in ever smaller portions and finding the extras typically exceed the cost of the main dish…
The comments come in a recent Dengeki interview with Bravely Default producer Tomoya Asano and Chunsoft’s Yuichiro Saito:
Asano: “Spending money is basically fun. For example, it’s fun going shopping.”
Saito: “Spending money on things is certainly enjoyable.”
Asano: “If the buyer wants something, they can buy it. That’s what we’re providing, that’s service.
For example, you’re standing at a restaurant eating soba. You may want to make another order of fried tofu to go with it, and that’s what we’re providing.”
Saito: “Of course, you wouldn’t provide half as much tofu to encourage that.”
Asano: “Of course, you wouldn’t make your food extra salty so the customer needs to buy a drink. But nobody would object to being able to order extra topping for their soba.”
Saito: “Right, something like that is perfectly reasonable.”
Asano: “So if we can gradually make a consumer’s games provide more opportunities for services like this, I think it’s making a more satisfying environment for users.”
As ever with Square Enix, this does not seem to sit well with customers:
“Me: ‘What, my order doesn’t have any topping at all!?'”
“Me: ‘My order doesn’t seem to have any noodles in it either…'”
“Except in practice with games the topping ends up being more expensive than the main dish.”
“What is it with idiots and the dumb analogies they come out with?”
“Listening to Square Enix these days is like listening to a conman discussing his next swindle…”
“Item charges, or in other words the game you bought being incomplete.”
“Square Enix, where if there is no topping the meal virtually ceases to exist.”
“If it’s F2P then what they are saying is reasonable, but for $50+ games you expect it all in.”
“‘Here’s you curry sire, if you want meat in it that’ll be extra’ is what they are saying.”
“Many games these days don’t even bother with the noodles.”
“I don’t think many people buy games because they enjoy buying things as they seem to think.”
“This company continuously mocks consumers…”
“Which is more satisfying to play, a game with charges and DLC or one without? And if Square Enix are right shouldn’t they cost the same in total?”
“When I go into a restaurant, I buy from a set menu…”
difference is you’re taking half the rice from my main dish and saying do you want this pay me more!!!.
i’m sorry but spending money on actual things is fun this is just flatout being charged more for i should’ve already bought.
they should stop all development on already piracy rampart hardware like 3ds, ps3, xbox360, pc, moving all development unhacked console like PSVita, PS4, Xbox One. And Forget Wii U.
Asano: “If the buyer wants something, they can buy it. That’s what we’re providing, that’s service.
For example, you’re standing at a restaurant eating soba. You may want to make another order of fried tofu to go with it, and that’s what we’re providing.”
Me: “Uh, no. It’s more like your customers going into a restaurant and ordering a hamburger, then you give them a plate with a bun on it and tell them they have to pay more if they want any meat or toppings.”
The only way the game industry is gonna fall if the cash of 1980’s comes back. Hope it does! The game industry has turned into greedy shit now!
thats why i still play PSO2
Which also happens to be a game designed around item charges…
HA! SE never ceases to amaze at setting new lows for one to go…
They did really well with FFXIV so far, haven’t found any micro-transactions yet.
It’s rare that I read something about/from/by/etc. a business that make me want to walk in the front door of said business and re-enact the final stage of Final Fight, until I get to the CEO’s office & toss him/her out their window.
That being said…
Anyone know where I can get a good price for round-trip airline tickets from L.A. or Dallas to Tokyo & back?
Pretty much everything makes me want to re-enact the final stage of Final Fight.
RIP Square Enix, you will be forgotten…And Square Soft will always be remembered
It’s a good time for this company to die.
Final Fantasy has run out of ideas and creativity.
Kingdom Hearts is taking too damn long.
Front Mission tried to be Armored Core.
Radiata Stories never got the sequel it deserved.
Drakengard is finished.
Xenogears (And its spin offs) have gone stale.
Star Ocean became generic.
Dragon Quest is doing ok.
At this point all they’re doing is using the NAMES of good franchises to drum up some cash, but not delivering on the standard of quality those names are supposed to invoke.
I’d say FF 15 look and play good, and Kingdom Heart already announced.
But this 3 guy really need to do some self reflecting. Its like they lose the sense of reality.
Either they really suck at marketing or they don’t know how to run a business. Well, I think they suck at both.
Incredible, I could actually feel my IQ dropping reading that interview. Is this really the same company that once owned my childhood?
No, the one that owned your childhood was Squaresoft. The other one was Enix. THIS is just a monstrosity created when someone tried to use Alchemy to fuse them.
I personally do not find shopping fun. What I think people tend to look forward to is the product. Not the act/experience of buying said product.
As for games I find it very sad that we have this shit you see today. I loved finding extra features in a game that I had no idea about, because I didn’t have to buy them. That surprise is what made it as good as it was. I loved it when i beat the game and the main story was “Over” but that didn’t mean the game was over. There was still hours upon hours of things to do. None of which included grinding out achievements… I’m an avid JRPG player so those extras where part of what made the whole experience special. I really do hope something changes. Whether it’s the over inflated companies, the cash cow games, or the whole market goes through a reboot and just crashes again. I know that making games is a business and that’s the whole reason it has gotten to this point. But making books is also a business. I just wish that they would take some pride in what they do.
Square is actually right on this one. Totalbiscuit spoke on his podcast that people are willing to pay for map-packs in CoD & Battlefield, but were highly critical of getting the maps for free via pre-order.
I’m willing to pay for map packs that aren’t already on disc. You know, what dlc should be, extra content for the full game not giving us stuff that should already be in the game.
i agree, JP companies are notorious for on-disk content which requires DLC. but really, DLC or add-on content is a choice. Either buy it or dont, and if the game is crappy without DLC? Then dont even buy it because its not worth it.
Cosmetic skins are ok, but some of them are grossly expensive.
Their conversation reads more like they’re trying to convince themselves rather than anyone else.
This is what happens when a gaming company is run by businessmen and not gamers.
These guy is not even good businessmen. Charging for everything is a good way to lose consumer.
Squareenix just need to fire their people in charge and hire me, good relations will take a huge jump to the sky from that action alone.
Good analogy. Sort of like “If I dont like the piecemeal prices the restaurant is charging me, I stop eating there and go somewhere with a better value.” Business decisions like that drive customers away, not bring them in.
except when you deliberately make your game a grind, so that you have to spent hours upon hours for something, just so you can say “well you can skip all that by buying the item in our shop!” … No.. Just.. No… That’s bad design and obviously made by greedy and disgusting people who don’t play games.
It’s the way most new games are anyway, you pay for the game, which comes with everything already on the disc, yet you have to pay extra to unlock “DLC” when it’s already coded into the game, if we had gameshark and codebreaker for the newer consoles then this wouldn’t be a problem.
Which is exactly WHY we don’t have Codebreaker/Gameshark for the new platforms and they tried to outlaw those devices.
They’re protecting the scam vessel they created.
Try harder Square Enix…
Nickle and diming your customers is never a good business practice.
Listening to Square-Enix talk about games is like listening to a bunch of overly pampered, dumb blonds talking about what they got from the mall. Not a single one of them will ever use what they bought, and they end every sentence like it’s a question. They just enjoyed going to the mall, looking at guys, and feeling like they exist in the world.
Square-enix is doing this same thing. They are making games that they don’t even want to play themselves, and adding more things to purchase because it’s just fun to feel like you are a part of something. They sit around giggling, putting on makeup, and gossiping at meetings. Meanwhile their stock plunges to new lows and they will soon not be able to fund a large scale game.
They’re not worth ‘listening’ to at all.
Their recently announced quality committee or some shit? Toriyama’s in it.
That alone invalidates every bullshit they’ve been trying to feed us with. It’s like rants of a schizophrenic.
Toriyama’s idea of quality control is basically “has Lightning in it”.
Silly square enix, spending money is only fun if you’re the 1% of the rich people.
But the 1% don’t spend money anon. Only poor needy people do. This I why they’re rich and everyone else is in debt.
Then tell me who else would buy yachts over 100 meters in length complete with facilities that rival top hotels, sports cars, massively overpriced designer versions of mundane devices like a gold-cased iPhone or diamond tattered thumbdrives, etcetcetc?
Don’t be an idiot. There are exceptions to the case, but rich people are rich because they have the spending power for nearly everything while the poor people need to put themselves into debt just to live another day.
What are tax write-offs. Kid the majority of the luxury items they do buy are used as tax write-offs. They’re not actually paying anything for them because they mark it as a deductible business expense. From Hummers to yachts to private jets, it all can and is written off as a business expense. Their shifty tax lawyers take care of the paperwork and everyone else loses, because that tax revenue never goes to the government. Rich people will always exploit the tax loops their “friends” created for them.
but you can add that rich people usually don’t pay the full price…
and mostly they put the rest of the bill on us normal people…
take for example one “Norwegian” multimillionaire that got himself a 200ft yacht.
(he don’t live here nor contribute to the society like most people that move to Monaco, Bahamas and so on do)
he made his own company buy it under the uses of “out-renting, marketing and for exhibitions” but 6 months after company got it they sold it for 1\3 of the price to the “family” (it was never once used by the company) and then since the company was registered in Norway they then expected to get VAT-reduction from the state to cover for the negative flow of money… (with other words pushing the 2\3 of the bill over on us normal people that then need to pay more tax)
he got caught (or more correct not rich enough to threaten the Norwegian state) but mostly they don’t
Shit like this is why I hated the last Dead or Alive.
All the costumes cost more then the game.
It used to be fun to unlock them and gave me reason to play.
Its not half as fun as it used to be.
I hate DLC & unlocking. Especially when the actual gameplay takes a back seat to both of those.
You know a game sucks when you use cheats to unlock everything and find the game isn’t even fun to play without some form of carrot-on-a-stick incentive.
That is the other problem I have with DLC. The cost is insane.
I pirated the lot and won by default.
And that’s why I skipped on DoA for the first time since DoA 1. I don’t need DLC who are more costly than the game. I remember DoA 3 Ultimate where you could unlock a shitload of costumes. Prolly the one I played the most. But nowadays I don’t feel like buying those games anymore.
“Spending money is basically fun. For example, it’s fun going shopping.”
Spilling blood is a lot of fun too!
Khorne approves of this comment.
And so does Armok.
You must apply gratuitous amounts of molten rock to earn Armok’s seal of approval.
I’ve never heard people be so out of touch with their customers so much as this….
Close your doors already!
So… Sqeenix plans for the future is to turn my nights into real Parasite Eve-nings?
Tales of Zestiria confirmed for worldwide release
IT’S HAPPENING
I only spend money when I’m stressed out, really stresses me out when I get my credit card bill.
me: what, i only get an empty plate and i have to pay for the food separately?
That’s what they have in mind..
> Asano: “Spending money is basically fun. For example, it’s fun going shopping.”
Strange, I thought playing games was the actual fun. Man, I’ve been wasting all this time…
Spending money is only fun if you’re a woman and the money isn’t yours.
Oh please, like you wouldn’t have a blast spending someone else’s money without any repercussions to yourself.
Peddle your agenda somewhere else.
You can always spot the imbeciles in a group when they say stuff like ‘. Only weak willed people, such as women and the uneducated’.
I know a lot of guys, some very educated types, who also buy stuff just to be able to show off that they have it.
When someone else does it, they’re ‘weak-willed’. When they do it, they’re ‘smart and savvy’. Pathetic.
Not all women are like that, of course… but it’s a fact that there are quite a few women out there who do behave like that.
People in general are easily manipulated by marketing promotions and such. I know some people who get an urge to spend money based on:
– if it’s discounted, they feel they must buy it, even if they don’t need it or never use it.
– if it’s new, they feel they must have it, so they can show off and feel up-to-date.
Etcetra. None of those reasons work on me, though.
Actually spending money doesn’t give me a “high”, regardless of who’s money it is. Only weak willed people, such as women and the uneducated enjoy frivolously spending money. Which is why they’re always poor.
Peddle your feminist agenda elsewhere, faggot.
It’s just the babble of a man who’s out of touch because he’s rich.
Not only that. Going shopping is about going out of home, roaming the streets, visiting shops, comparing merchandise and prices, etc. Easily something you enjoy a whole morning or evening. Buying DLC is accesing a webpage and paying for what you need, usually it takes less than 5 minutes. Many games even have direct access to their shop to make it even faster.
So actually, their comparision is along the lines of “you find traveling abroad fun, so you should also think taking the subway is just as fun as that”
time to hit the restart button again..
I think that is the stupidest conversation I’ve ever heard..
Spending money is fun — only if you are rich.
Also, the basic food must be eatable on its own, without the extra food. For Soba, it must have noodle, broth and dipping sauce. The noodle, or the sauce, should not be sold separately.
Same as game, it should be fully playable at its basic form. No a must buy DLC like unlock the next chapter or new essential map. The player should be able to play from the beginning until the end with one purchase.
The DLC is limited to non-crucial item like a new costumes or new weapons, something that not necessary to fully enjoy the game.
remember gameshark and/or genie when you can get the same stuff like in-game credits, infinite ammo and etc for free? now developers are charging for cheating.
Piracy is fun!
That’s not why people pirate things!
People pirate things they’re unable to get a hold of. Piracy is a service problem and all that. When it’s easier to steal than to find a back-alley shop two cities over, you steal it.
Now, charging for required content? Fine. People are ok with that.
If they don’t think the content is worth the money however, they won’t buy it. They’ll simply turn elsewhere.
Piracy exists because people are ignorant, lazy and cheap. Any attempt to excuse it by saying ‘well I can’t afford it’ or ‘I just want to try it out to see if I like it’ is bullshit.
Whenever someone tries to make those arguments I always like to refer to an analogy. I’d like to have a Ferrari, but obviously I can’t afford one. Should I steal one because ‘it’s too expensive’? Of course not.
Should I steal one to joyride for a few days, just to see if I like it? Nope, that’s also a crime.
Seriously, if you can’t get an impression of a game from demos, game footage and reviews then you aren’t even trying. And as far as not being able to afford it? Well boohoo princess, life is full of things you can’t afford. Go try and steal all the stuff you want and see how far it gets you.
Gabe Newell is right, you’ll reduce piracy by making a product more affordable, accessible and hassle-free, but you’ll never get rid of piracy entirely. All you can hope to do is appeal to the ones who would rather not risk getting caught.
I would have to say the part (or Most) of the reason people pirate copies of games is because they want to play the game before they decide whether it is worth buying. I don’t believe people who Pirate games have an actual malicious intent when they choose to pirate.
Although I am sure that there are people that Pirate games they think are good but would rather not support the company that Produced the game (as in the Producer, not the developer). A good example would be Rome 2 for the PC, the game is so bug ridden and half assed that there is no way most players would want to play it until it has been thoroughly patched and is in a functional state. I would assume that most of the blame lays with Sega for rushing the release of a game that clearly was not finished.
I Personally have not pirated Rome 2, but I do regularly visit its forum on steam to check on its progress. With what I have seen I don’t think I will be buying the game.
Also I’m sure a big reason for piracy lyes with the lack of demos these days.
You’re right. Gabe Newell once said, “the key to beating piracy is to provide a better service than the pirates.”
Lack of money is also a part of inaccessibility.
Some people are unable to get hold of stuff because they lack money.
Oh quit evangelizing for GoG. People pirate for different reasons, and yes, some do pirate because they are just greedy assholes.
Speaking of piracy, “piracy is just like stealing jewelry” is now suddenly the third dumbest thing any corporate shill spewed out of their anuses, behind “if you tear your food into pieces and eat them, you’ll feel less hungry” and of course the subject of the article.
One of the dumbest things I’ve heard was “getting breast implants are just like getting a new handbag”. That was repeatedly trumpted by fashion magazines, apparently.
Because of the way things are headed, indeed Piracy FTW!
Though the gaming industry as a whole doesn’t need piracy to bring it down. Soon enough they’ll do it to themselves.
People are usually dumb and weak enough to give in the first few times, but they eventually have enough. Then there’ll be a huge industry crash again and gaming, as we know it now, will thankfully die on it’s ass, HOPEfully making way for a new wave of indies to take over with new ideas.
Good fucking riddance to all the huge bloated gaming companies and thier insidious practices of wallet raping the very consumers who built them up. Cannot wait. I won’t miss thier shit games either.
Same here, I just make my own stuff because I can’t rely on anyone else to get anything right.
I’ve long since transcended even that. Can’t rely on anyone to do the job right other than yourself. So I’m developing my own games now. Turns out that the process of creation is just as much fun.
IMO they might be doing this to counter piracy; if so, they completely missed the point.
Though Hanlon’s razor could still apply.
‘Stupidest’ isn’t a word. Talk about dumb.
stupidester works
stupid is a word. stupidest is just an add of exaggeration.
welcome to the internet.
stupidest is too a correct form so go choke on a dick.
Years ago it was “dumbest” as the only acceptable form.
Huh?
it’s called internet. welcome to internet
Stupidest is indeed a word, try dictionary.com
Actually, stupid is one of those rare adjectives where “most stupid” and “stupidest” are both accepted superlative forms.
It’s called “most stupid”, not “stupidest”.
Welcome to grammar.
Bloodsuckers
Who cares about Squeenix
Tales of Zestiria was announced for PS3
Didnt noticed how good a tales series games until played final fantasy 13
Just spawn that FF XV already and fuck everything else
Your plan have one flaw.
If they will fuck everything, you will be fucked, too.
Why doesn’t someone with ties to the company (or any big company nowdays) step up and tell the boss to go fuck himself ?
Seriously, If my boss tells me someday that he wants to monetize color swaps, hats or other meaningless stuff, i’ll tell him how much of an idiot he is because he would ruin the company’s reputation.
Gosh, seeing this conversation in the interview just illustrates how well bad ideas leak from the top of the chain to the bottom and sadly, there is no one to say no to the boss …
They’re basically shooting themselves in the foot… again…
You realize the whole way valve makes money from tf2 is hats right?
In America, if your boss says something stupid you tell him. In Japan, if your boss says something stupid you weren’t working hard enough because you could still hear him let alone have the energy left to question anything he says.
[quote]In America, if your boss says something stupid you tell him.[/quote]
In America, you don’t have any rights at all, unless you can spend a few hundred thousand on your lawyer.
In France if your boss says something stupid, you just ignore him and continue not working.
You think you guys have it bad?
BWAAAHAHAHAHA!!!
So what they’re saying is that basically Sq. Enix is now making food?
You should see all the Lightning snacks.
Food made from whorsebirds!
the brand new square-enix restaurant:
50bucks to get in, 20bucks to sit down at a table, 5 (yay, it’s cheap!!!) to have a plate, a glass and a set of cutlery.
oh, and every food is sold at a stupidly high price, divided between each flavor.
Food Fantasy
I think it’s more like Final Food for Square… as every their decision as of late is some bullshit.
I think it’s the pollution from China polluting their brains …
Actually that would be interesting…
Make a restaurant with stuff lik Final fantasy and Dragon Quest food and parasite Eve drinks.
This Anonymous person is pretty dumd.
It’s just the Apple-store business model.
Everyone is adopting it, Microsoft, Google…
Chrome is now unable to install apps or extensions from outside private websites. They say it is to “protect” you from malicious software…more like a new pricing structure is soon to be implemented with complete control of content.
last time I checked drag and drop onto the addons menu worked for me.
Yeah, it does. Anon 0:49 is just a PC noob.
Firefox is the best!
I have tons of stuff from the Apple app store that’s free and doesn’t need anything else. This is just the old screw-you game DLC model that predated it.