releasing the game before the movie was a big mistake

Started by Tsanten Eywa 'eveng, November 03, 2011, 04:22:33 PM

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Tsanten Eywa 'eveng

James Cameron says that releasing the game before was a big mistake, that's why it doesn't is like the movie

Why the Avatar Game Failed
The 3D debate is heating up in gaming as well, and it seems to have more critics than fans -- at least from the outside. Within the game industry, developers seem excited about 3D's potential. With Sony, Nintendo, and Nvidia all trumpeting 3D games -- and key publishers like Ubisoft committing half of their titles to the 3D format -- 3D isn't going to go away. But it's still in its early stages. Even Cameron's first video game project, Ubisoft's James Cameron's Avatar: The Video Game, failed to ride the coattails of the film's success.

"What I think we did wrong with the Avatar game was to release it before the film opened," Cameron admits. "I think that the Avatar brand hadn't been well enough established yet since the film hadn't opened. And the game got lost in the pre-Christmas rush with all the other big titles and sequels, and it didn't do as well as everybody hoped it would. I think there were lessons learned and things we need to do better."

http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/224402/james-cameron-the-future-of-games-is-3d/

EstebanAVTRBoy

Certainly, Cameron is a bit right in what he says, but however, I love the game in the same way as the movie. ;D
My name is Esteban, and I love Avatar. Oeru syaw Letsteu, sì oeru yawne Uniltìrantokx.

Tìtstewan

Well, since the revive is a new trend here, and because I have that game too, I can say what is the big fail of that game.
Ubisoft have broke a lot of possibilities of that game. The single player missions they could do much better and map could be created more playable.
It was annoying that I couldn't fly the Ikran over the mountains in Kaoliä Tei for example, only in the "valleys".
Also why an AI Ikran is able to do an attack to the humans, but if I ride an Ikran, I can't do any "active" attack.
Also it were possible to create for every section of the globe of Pandora an own map (just for more maps).
And one of the most annoying thing is, tha modder cannot mod that game, it is quite impossible...
It just sad. :(

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Eana Unil

Quote from: Tìtstewan on October 04, 2013, 05:25:50 AM
Well, since the revive is a new trend here, and because I have that game too, I can say what is the big fail of that game.
Ubisoft have broke a lot of possibilities of that game. The single player missions they could do much better and map could be created more playable.
It was annoying that I couldn't fly the Ikran over the mountains in Kaoliä Tei for example, only in the "valleys".
Also why an AI Ikran is able to do an attack to the humans, but if I ride an Ikran, I can't do any "active" attack.
Also it were possible to create for every section of the globe of Pandora an own map (just for more maps).
And one of the most annoying thing is, tha modder cannot mod that game, it is quite impossible...
It just sad. :(
Mllte ngahu, but imho that's by far not the worst about that game. I played it twice. And every single time I played (parts of) it, it hurt me to see all those mistakes and failures of content. The language, the names (Beyda'amo), the stuff about those weird "harmonics" or whatever they're called in the English version, it all made me sad, very sad only.
The game was a total disappointment to me, also because it's technically just crappy, the textures are bad and cheap, the gameplay is terrible, but hey, at least you can be a Na'vi for some hours, run and fly on Pandora and kick some aytìm sawtuteyä, hrh. ... Tse, pxasìk, I won't play it ever again, I guess.

Tìtstewan

Just by the way, "Kaoliä Tei" is also incorrect, because it is an invalid word. One big dissapointment is the last mission. You fly only the way with the Toruk to the tree and also the map will locked (you cannot arrive the landplatforem where you arrive that map). The night there are great:
old gallery link?id=5149[/img]
but the missions are too short....

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Taronyu Leleioae

I think this issue with the game is identical with the Avatar: A Survival Guide book release.  They were done as a novelty item and neither were really thought through.  (The game I think was rushed, and they probably didn't think the film would be nearly as popular.)  There have been other rushed games to match film releases (another top film franchise had similar issues with crappy games).  However now there's another chance should JC decide to push for one.  Plus time. 

The reason I mention the ASG book, is that we all know that Karyu Pawl didn't even know about it.  It was put together and published using an early version of a list being put together.  The sad part, is that ASG has words to many wonderful objects that would help expand the dictionary, but these words were not approved and definitely do not meet the language rules.

I feel the same about the game with its improper words, and particularly bad pronunciations / accents.  Re-done correctly, it would be a much nicer product.  Not to mention if it had a real exploring mode (free of missions) that let you just fly (like a flight simulator) and have limited interactions with various characters, it would definitely add value to the game.

Interestingly, Ubisoft blamed everything but the game for it being sucky.  This is a quote from their CEO back in 2010.
QuoteUbisoft CEO Yves Guillemot laid them out in a recent company conference call. It turns out that it's the movie's fault (came out at the wrong time), the holiday's fault (missed the holiday sales window) and release schedule's fault (couldn't hold on to post-holiday sales), but it is not because the game sucked.

"It will be difficult in the future to buy rights to a movie that comes in December, because it's too risky, and it cannot [capture] Christmas season [sales]," he added. "It doesn't work as well for a video game company."

Guillernot went on to say that the short development cycle on tie-in games was also to blame for the overall quality of the game and that Ubisoft would be doing far less movie tie-ins and focusing more on putting out high-quality offerings of its established franchises.

The article on destructoid dot com goes further to say,
QuoteWhat is so great about all of this is that it completely and totally contradicts every word that came out of Ubisoft's mouth at E3 last year. Avatar was a centerpiece of their press conference, with James Cameron rambling on about it for more than 30 minutes and the devs discussing how they had had unparalleled access to the film and plenty of time to work on the game. They even discussed how major movie tie-in games were a big part of Ubisoft's future plans in becoming a multimedia giant. Ubi claims that the poor sales of Avatar were not that bad, but if that is the case why does it sound like the company has completely changed their business plans based around the sales of this game?


HOWEVER...

Here is an interesting bit of possibles...  I went over to IGN dot com's website which talks about the various gaming companies and projects they are, or may be work on with release dates, etc.  We know that Ubisoft has it's North American office out in California.  If one goes and looks down the list of games that Ubisoft created and is working on, there are these two little remarks that refer to Avatar 2: The Game (2013), and Avatar 3: The Game (2014) without mention of what platforms they would be for.  Maybe IGN hasn't updated, but this leads me to wonder if Ubisoft hasn't fully said no.  And with the delay of the films until 2016, Ubisoft would have more time to improve the coding.

I'm not suggesting that Ubisoft has decided nor committed to come out with new and improved versions of the Avatar game, but this leaves me with the impression that it could still be on the table as a "possible". 

(But as we know Mo'at says in the extended version... "Possible, yes.  But Jake Sully, she is very weak...")    ::)





Tìtstewan

Mllte ngahu.

Quote from: Taronyu Leleioae on October 04, 2013, 09:22:52 AM
Here is an interesting bit of possibles...  I went over to IGN dot com's website which talks about the various gaming companies and projects they are, or may be work on with release dates, etc.  We know that Ubisoft has it's North American office out in California.  If one goes and looks down the list of games that Ubisoft created and is working on, there are these two little remarks that refer to Avatar 2: The Game (2013), and Avatar 3: The Game (2014) without mention of what platforms they would be for.  Maybe IGN hasn't updated, but this leads me to wonder if Ubisoft hasn't fully said no.  And with the delay of the films until 2016, Ubisoft would have more time to improve the coding.
This is very interesting!

If they really create that games, I really hope that they do it better and ask K. Pawl for language related stuff before they writting pseudo-Na'vi like "Beyda'amo"... And learn from the errors they did in the last game.

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Taronyu Leleioae

#7
I can't recall where I read it, but I remember reading an article (not the one on gamepro) where JC had mentioned that they had "learned a lot" and needed to change things regarding related game development.  I think he was also grouping the ASG book in there as well (as part of the general comment).  This led me to believe that someone like Karyu Pawl would be very much involved.  They've seen the reaction and frustrations the fan base (us) has had regarding the language portions.  Thus I think their learning curve with such a successful film franchise would set the bar/standard much higher.  I'm almost hoping that ASG will be rewritten in the future with approved/fixed words.  There's so much we could use (object names) out of that book for day to day cultural activities.  So I think the same would be for possible future game editions.  That the agreement/licensing would require to have Pawl approve everything spoken in future game releases.

Blue Elf

Well, I played this game several times (PC version) and surprisingly I was able finish all three possible ways. Of course, it has pros and cons, as everything. Names often break phonologic rules, pronunciation is wrong or "Englishfied" (srane = srein ;D) etc. etc. etc.
However, I still play it sometimes - night at Pandora is fantastic, and flying by ikran is fantastic experience. I'm not game player, so I'm quite satisfied, but I can understand words against the game.
Info about part 2 and 3 is interesting, but.... again games come before film. It necessarily means they will be different than movies. Hmmm.
Oe lu skxawng skxakep. Slä oe nerume mi.
"Oe tasyätxaw ulte koren za'u oehu" (Limonádový Joe)


Tìtstewan

#9
Quote from: Blue Elf on October 04, 2013, 02:07:51 PM
Names often break phonologic rules, pronunciation is wrong or "Englishfied" (srane = srein ;D) etc. etc. etc.
HRH, The German version did it a bit better. "Sraneee" :P
But "kxangangang" they failed. ;D

Quote from: Blue Elf on October 04, 2013, 02:07:51 PM
again games come before film. It necessarily means they will be different than movies. Hmmm.
The first game was also "different" than the movie!

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Tìtstewan

'ä' Somehow I've pressed the questionmark button... :-[

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