Square Enix: Activision Was Crazy To Drop Sleeping Dogs Pages 1 2 NEXT | |
Square Enix: Activision Was Crazy To Drop Sleeping Dogs
 Square's Mike Fischer explains why he's taking a risk on Sleeping Dogs. First, let's talk about the game's tumultuous history. It started life in 2008 as an unnamed project from ModNation Racers developer, United Front Games. Around the same time, Activision canceled True Crime 3 after the arse-poor performance of the bug-ridden True Crime: New York City. Rather than abandon the franchise completely, Activision decided to re-brand United Front's project as True Crime: Hong Kong, but after a series of delays and budget issues, that game was canceled, too. Then, Square Enix swooped in and picked up the title, but not the rights to the True Crime name. Thus, the game was renamed Sleeping Dogs. Now, Square Enix's Mike Fischer is questioning why Activision dropped it in the first place. "I can't speak to why [Activision] let that go. I'm not going to speculate on their behalf," he told Venture Beat. "All I know is, they've gotta be crazy. Because this game is just fantastic. The scale and scope of the game really encompasses all of everything you'd want to do in Hong Kong. The acting, the story, the characters are very deep." Activision passed on the title because the company didn't believe there was a large enough profit margin to warrant its troubled development. That, apparently, isn't a problem for Square Enix. According to Fischer, the company makes enough bank on its triple-A blockbusters to allow him some leeway for experimentation in the NA market. "The great thing for me is, because I have the benefit of these massive triple-A blockbusters," he said. "I don't have to try to replicate that. So I can go out and sort of seek lower-risk, smaller-scale intellectual property investments that obviously I hope will eventually, over time, grow into big franchises of their own." Sleeping Dogs is due to be released on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on August 14, 2012. Source: Venture Beat | |
All the while everyone else might as well ask if anyone at Squeenix knows how to make a game thats not an RPG. Though he does seem to be onto something with using profits from successful titles to cover losses from experimental titles. Activision could learn something from that. | |
Activision dumped it because it wasn't safe enough, because as we all know, call of duty isn't exactly paying the rent... (EXTREME SARCASM!) | |
Ah, this is the one that originated from true crime streets of LA which is a perfect example of a game being so awful but so damn fun at the same time with its ludicrous cheesiness and fourth wall breaking. I still remember that one part of the game Kung fu master : Look for them where the giant bird docks. | |
So, Square Enix is saying they should've... *Puts on sunglasses* Let Sleeping Dogs Lie... | |
Oh so FINALLY the Escapist reports on Sleeping Dogs. Where the hell have you've been, Escapist? News of the project's been around for months. Anyways, as someone from Hong Kong I'm eagerly awaiting this game. From the gameplay footage I've been seeing so far, at least it's a sandbox game which doesn't force you to go bowling with cousins every 30 minutes. | |
Hmm, first Deus Ex and now this from Squeenix... If they arent careful I might have to start taking them seriously... ...Then again Supcom2 was... disappointing... | |
It is something I think most publishers could learn from to be honest it is a really good idea as long as you don't go to over the top with it and blow all your money | |
last I heard it was only 100 dollars a month COD was bringing them. ..... Nice avatar bro | |
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It's good to see that some publishers take risks and experiment. I don't think Activision will ever have the balls to do that. | |
This is why we need a 'thumbs up' tab on these forums. OT We only have this PR guy's word that the game is even adequate. Instead of talking rubbish, why not give us a demo, THEN we'll see how much truth is in your words. As for people above saying Squeenix is taking risks, how do we know this if the game hasn't been released yet? For all we know, besides being a completely new title, it could be some typical 3rd person game like GTA or Stranglehold. Wouldn't call that very risky. | |
Release date's still a few months away, so they're still polishing it. | |
I've seen videos. Are these demos we can play? | |
So far, only in conventions. | |
Damn, that actually looks rather good. At the least, it'll be a fun diversion until GTA V lands. | |
I'm with Activision on this one. You can't seriously think they can put "Call of Duty:", "Tony Hawks:" or "Guitar Hero:" in front of the title "True Crime". It clearly doesn't fit and therefore isn't a worthwhile investment. Plain and simple economics really: No point wasting money on something where the title just doesn't add up. Nobody would buy it, and by nobody I mean not enough people will buy it so they can afford their million dollar annual mortgage payments. | |
I saw this come up on Steam, didn't know anything about it so I just left it. But that looks really good, I might go place a pre-order actually. | |
Ah I saw this at MCM yesterday, didn't get around to trying the demo out but I did watch a presentation/playthrough of part of a mission on it. Looks interesting although the demonstration of QTE's and mention of using them to get a cinematic look worries me a bit although at least it wasn't the sudden "quick press x to not die, whoops too late *dead* style of QTE. I did like the look of the combat and the parkor though, also the enviromental kills looked pretty cool although I could see them maybe getting boring after a while. They also mentioned RPG mechanics with increasing stats although I don't think they actually showed any of it. As for the actual article, it's Activision what did you expect? | |
People seem quite excited by this and, to be honest, I think they're going to be disappointed. After seeing gameplay, something doesn't click. Didn't help that they also demoed a chase sequence where the guy fucking waits for you to catch up - that's not interesting or exciting. | |
I always love the fact that Activision is so afraid of change and not following and relying on brand names, they didn't want Modern Warfare and kept trying to force IW to make COD4 another WWII game. Activison did not want Modern Warfare. I'll let that sink in. | |
They make RPGs? I thought they did marginally interactive action movies or something. | |
Because Lazy development team is lazy Fischer, and who needs street-fights with fists when you have a game where there are street-fights with machine guns?
I believe this is relevant to our situation. | |
this game could be good. At least Square is trying some new stuff out(Deus Ex,Nier,Final Fantasy XIII-2,Sleeping dogs etc..) with their franchises this could pay off and its coming out in the summer which has no good games coming out(I could be wrong) | |
How long do you reckon it is until Activision sues, Brutal Legend style?
Didn't you hear? They lost 700 million theoretical future dollars by having to fire those IW employees. They're hurting pretty bad :P | |
Shows what you know. "Tony Hawk's Guitar Hero: Streets of True Hong Kong Crime", where you skateboard around Hong Kong and engage in dueling guitar solos with criminals, would sell millions. | |
You know, I think square enix is the company that we should be supporting. We keep asking EA, Activision, and Ubisoft to do this stuff over and over and over again, but they never listen. But, you who seems to have listened? Square enix. I mean, hell, they published just cause 2. People like that game, right? They're also publishing Hitman Absolution and Quantum Conundrum. Like them enough yet? Anyone around here like deus ex human revolution or batman arkham city? Yep, they published those too. They also published kane and lynch 2 and mindjack, but I think arkham city alone made up for that. In fact, here's a list of games that square has published http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Square_Enix_video_games . Add to that they don't put in any obnoxious DRM or anti-used games bullshit, and I think we've got a company here that actually listens to us. Hell, I bet we could even get the CEO or at least some staff people to set up accounts right on this site so they can be even more in touch. | |
speculating on Activision's behalf, I suppose somewhere down the line it has something to do with the title not containing "Call of Duty" :P | |
It looks like a very interesting game. I've seen some gameplay videos and I am in love with melee combat system. It isn't as fluid as Batman, but it's interesting nonetheless. | |
How can we support Squeenix when they refuse to remake FF7? I mean, GOD. | |
Squeenix, just don't...don't invite more hubris into your portfolio. Because it's Activision, I actually want to see this game turn out good. Doesn't mean it will or that I'll support it (because supporting shit for any reason is still encouraging shit), but I'm hopeful you succeed just to spite them. | |
hmm... I think I might have to add square Enix to the list of publishers who I actually like (currently standing at Ubisoft, MicroSoftGameStudios and NCSoft They have been on a bit of a good streak with me at the moment, between this, DXHR and Kane and Lynch 2, I have really enjoyed what they have put out, and I really like the way they are doing things business wise, I have outright stopped buying EA games, and I haven't picked up anything by Activision in months | |
This is why I LOVE this company Man they're never afraid to try new things, even with Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy XIII, two of the most hated FF games known to fans, they still supported and tried new and innovative things and where they failed they tried again and where they won they improved....seriously I can't understand the hate for this company as both a dev and a publisher, they are truly awesome as a company and one we should all love, even if you don't like JRPGs | |
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