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Housemarque: "Arcade is dead", will do new things.
- Thread starter Turkoop
- Start date
as much as i loved nex machina, it didn't really grab a hold of me like resogun, superstardust delta and even alienation did. despite that, i wouldn't hesitate calling it one of their better titles, if not their best.
but they might have a point and it's a thought i constantly had whenever i saw the nex machina icon on my dashboard; i'm a little tired of the arcade genre myself
but they might have a point and it's a thought i constantly had whenever i saw the nex machina icon on my dashboard; i'm a little tired of the arcade genre myself
Yikes. Bad sign for the genre when one of the standard bearers can't make it work.
Those sales for Nex Machina are really surprising. I felt like that game was a bigger deal.
Those sales for Nex Machina are really surprising. I felt like that game was a bigger deal.
I imagine that I pumped more time into Resogun than any other PS4 game in those first 6 months of PS4. I also enjoyed the other games of theirs that I played.
This probably motivates me to check out Nex Machina since it'll be my last chance to experience Housemarque in this form.
This probably motivates me to check out Nex Machina since it'll be my last chance to experience Housemarque in this form.
As someone that played arcade shooters throughout the 2000s, and even now, Nex Machina is easily on my Top 5 Shooters of all time and also would rank in my Top 10 games of all time. My top 5 shooters would probably go:
- Mushihimesama Futari Black Label
- Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu
- Nex Machina
- Battle Garegga
- Ketsui
That's a real shame. Housemarque has delivered some incredible games over the years, but I don't begrudge them making a decision like this if it's the best one for the company. I have no doubt they'll come up with some really impressive stuff in whatever direction they go from here.
I've enjoyed a lot their games, and they are probably one of the few developers doing arcade games today with decent production values. Sad it is ending now.
I want them to expand on the ideas of Alienation as well. Online co-op really worked well in the game as well.
Good luck as I've enjoyed what they put out. Kind of a weird letter though...the tone made me think that it was gonna be about shuttering the studio though. Whew.
I asked the Housemarque CEO about a month ago (during a conference) about the reason for releasing Nex Machina and Matterfall back to back. The answer he gave me was basically that they delayed Nex Machina a few weeks and that delaying Matterfall would have put it into the fall season where it would be lost among the big releases.
I found the answer baffling back then (e.g. why not delay matterfall to Q1). Obviously I don't know financial situation of the studio, but why couldn't sony for example step in and delay the game they published purely to give the first one more space? Especially looking at the critics reception Matterfall might have used a bit more time in development.
I found the answer baffling back then (e.g. why not delay matterfall to Q1). Obviously I don't know financial situation of the studio, but why couldn't sony for example step in and delay the game they published purely to give the first one more space? Especially looking at the critics reception Matterfall might have used a bit more time in development.
As I said in the other thread, Housemarque's technical know-how applied to a Roguelike would put them head and shoulders over the competition. It's a pretty crowded market as well but I don't see where else they'd take their talents to.
I totally agree, I had no idea Matterfall came out. Will be picking it up since its on sale now. Wonder if they will port their remaining titles to PC.
I've never even heard of Nex Machina until now, which is a shame because it looks stunning. So maybe part of the problem was one of getting the word out.
I've always enjoyed their games but at the same time all of them have come to PS+ eventually so I lost the desire to pay full price at launch. Sad but just how it works when I have loads to play already and I can just wait to play the games.
Really sad to hear they feel the need to chase games as service multiplayer junk just to stay relevant.
Really sad to hear they feel the need to chase games as service multiplayer junk just to stay relevant.
They can't. Super Stardust, Dead Nation, Resogun, Alienation and Matterfall are Sony's games.
I feel like their last few games have just.... come out. Like Matterfall and Nex Machina were just there one day and made a brief splash and then were going. Kind of the same with Alienation (which is a very good game)
I can't wait to see what they do away from the arcade format, but I hope they put some more advertising and pre-release coverage nehind whatever it is. Their work so so amazingly consistent that if it reached more people they could really land a big hit
I can't wait to see what they do away from the arcade format, but I hope they put some more advertising and pre-release coverage nehind whatever it is. Their work so so amazingly consistent that if it reached more people they could really land a big hit
It's sad that both games came and went with little fanfare. It's weird how Sony didn't push back Matterfall to be a highlight in the early 2018 timeslot, they have the luxury of getting to choose when to release their content but instead they oversaturated the market.
When I think of Arcade I mostly come to Sega's games, they could do a Yakuza style game, that'd be great. :)
When I think of Arcade I mostly come to Sega's games, they could do a Yakuza style game, that'd be great. :)
I can understand their dissapointment with the sales of Nex Machina, but I can also not help to think that chasing trends is a dangerous path. When you're doing what everyone else are doing, you're also directly competing with everyone else.
I'm thinking a bit about Gas Powered Games here, where Chris Taylor was so vocal about every trend that made something succesful, would be the only way forward for succes, whether it was Facebook games or Console gaming, to the point where they seemingly lost what they were good at, and imploded.
I would rather have seen them looking a bit more at what devs like Klei are doing, going for survival crafting and roguelike games, where you get the gamers to continue playing the game for a longer period of games.
I hope their talk about them looking at multiplayer games won't mean multiplayer online games from them.
I'm thinking a bit about Gas Powered Games here, where Chris Taylor was so vocal about every trend that made something succesful, would be the only way forward for succes, whether it was Facebook games or Console gaming, to the point where they seemingly lost what they were good at, and imploded.
I would rather have seen them looking a bit more at what devs like Klei are doing, going for survival crafting and roguelike games, where you get the gamers to continue playing the game for a longer period of games.
I hope their talk about them looking at multiplayer games won't mean multiplayer online games from them.
i agree that sux. what smallish dev has made a big success in multiplayer? except like a lottery winner like bluehole or riot. try some rogue like shit instead imo look at spelunky, isaac, something where you can do a gaas lite or something urgh
I loved Nex Machina, but I hated the fact that you had to play it like an arcade game. I wanted to unlock one level at a time. With my fatigue issues, multiple levels at a time is really hard. I liked how they handled things in Alienation; if it was on PC, I'd buy it there so I could replay it with my friends. The issue there was that they didn't really have a good investment loop, so there wasn't a reason to replay after you finished it.
No one who has ever said "the industry is moving toward..." has ever been right. Sup, Facebook? Hey, mobile games. What's going on, VR?
No one who has ever said "the industry is moving toward..." has ever been right. Sup, Facebook? Hey, mobile games. What's going on, VR?
The way their statement is worded sounds like their next game is going to be a HUGE departure from their previous ones. Arcade is a pretty broad term that doesn't necessarily apply to top-down projectile-based games. I am a bit worried.
Love these guys. Sad that they have to leave their preferred genre behind, but I would rather have them last and make more content than wind up having to close.
A real shame. I've loved their output of software and every game i've played from them has been really well made and really enjoyable. (and i'm quite sad we wont get a Resogun sequel one day now)
I'll admit though outside of the announcement trailer for Nex Machina I honestly hadn't heard of the game again, littleown knew it released a few months back. I'll be picking it up the first chance I get. Smash TV mixed with Housemarque sounds like a match made in heaven.
I'll admit though outside of the announcement trailer for Nex Machina I honestly hadn't heard of the game again, littleown knew it released a few months back. I'll be picking it up the first chance I get. Smash TV mixed with Housemarque sounds like a match made in heaven.
Smash TV and Defender with teleport mechanics.
Arcade for sure, but a very narrow subset within a classification that contains multiple genres. Not everything in arcades was a score chasing twitch shooter.
For me, Geometry Wars RE and RE2 will never be beaten for this. I think it's the fact that the online leaderboards were shown front and centre after every game, and where you stacked up against your friends. And all my friends had a 360 and all my friends had Geometry Wars - so it was just so incredibly competitive. It was amazing. Super Stardust had a similar vibe, perhaps Resogun too to an extent, but they still fell far short of the competitive feeling of GWRE.
The answer is simple, they wanted to move asap to their next project which will deviate from company legacy, most likely Sony is funding the game and the faster it goes into full production the better, delaying Matterfall would put the studio working on that game for longer, delaying their more ambitious project even further.
It's called business and they wanted to move from Arcade, so be it, do a Triple A in the style of Vanquish.
as it is always with indie titles. There just isn't any marketing budget and you gotta hope it spreads like PUBG.
for sure, and Dead Nation/Alienation teams games were already outside of the Arcade mold. I think this just means that the Resogun/Nex and Outland/Matterfall teams are also moving in that direction.
So we will still get Housemarque -style games for sure :D
Yeah for sure, I mean I do appreciate that. At the same time I don't think arcade is dead is necessarily a very fair thing to say. It's reasonable that their production value : sales ratio hasn't worked, but I don't think that's necessarily indicative that none of these games can perform well.
Additionally, while traditional arcade gameplay might be finding less appeal, other developers have taken to transitioning that gameplay into new formulas. Enter The Gungeon is a really good example of traditional twin stick gameplay adapted into a completely new formula, and to the best of my understanding, it's performing really well.
i think that has a good chance as it along with Alienation were the farthest from arcade titles.
It sounds like they had made this decision recently due to disappointing sales. Housemarque is a fairly large studio (their site lists 53 employees as of January 2015, but that seems really outdated), the team that worked on Nex Machina could have started on their next project. They are also still hiring people for their next project, so I doubt they are actually in "full production" even now.
Arcade is not dead but companies releasing arcade games need proper market research and marketing to reach audience.
It is not enough to release a game, give review keys and hope for social marketing if you have been lucky enough before to get free marketing from the platform owner.
It is not enough to release a game, give review keys and hope for social marketing if you have been lucky enough before to get free marketing from the platform owner.
Was this posted?
https://www.pcgamer.com/are-arcade-shooters-really-dead/
Features some reactions by other devs
https://www.pcgamer.com/are-arcade-shooters-really-dead/
Features some reactions by other devs
Great dev, wish them all the best in the future, it's a bit of a shame that they are backing away from arcade games, they really had the genre on lock, I've sunk copious amounts of time into resogun and nex, so I can't wait to see what they create, hopefully they go from strength to strength.
That article sums up my thoughts: arcade shooters aren't dead but sadly they aren't popular enough to warrant the AA budget of Housemarque's games. So, AA arcade shooters are dead.
Yeah that's why for example shmups... we still don't have shmup with better graphics than 2012's Sine Mora (now it's different story about its gameplay problems). Even major series like Darius and Raiden could only get entries... with good gameplay, music, etc.. but low budget is low, and sales aren't great either..
Btw nex machine sold better than many shmups, just sayin.. I suppose
Btw nex machine sold better than many shmups, just sayin.. I suppose
Seeing this thread again made me think of the PS3 game Everyday Shooter. One of the most inventive twinsticks I've seen, and didn't need AA-quality visuals to be enjoyable. Would love to see PS4 support for it (partially because I never finished it). BTW where is creator Jonathan Mak these days? Last thing I can find that he worked on was Sound Shapes.