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By
David Jenkins
Gamasutra
June
12, 1998
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 News
Analysis
Eurospeak
Sayonara
Sony
With the
World Cup replacing E3 as an excuse for Euro developers not to get any
work done, there's nevertheless been time for a few shock developments.
Most obvious of which is Ian Hetherington's departure from Psygnosis.
Responsible for creating the company in 1984 (along with Jonathan Ellis,
who retired from the business two years earlier) Hetherington has been
a lynchpin figure in ensuring not only the company's success, but ultimately
that of the PlayStation itself. Although Psygnosis was sold to Sony in
1993 it was Hetherington's evangelising of the PlayStation, and Sony themselves,
that attracted many third party developers to the machine, particularly
in Europe. Since those formative years though Hetherington and Sony have
had a series of falling-outs, apparently peaking with Sony's attempts
to sell them off a year or so ago. The arguments have been largely over
the autonomy of Psygnosis, which Sony wanted to stop and Hetherington
was all for encouraging. The rumour mill has it that the last fiscal year's
disappointing results, which saw the company managing not much more than
breaking even, together with Pysgnosis' plans to develop for the Nintendo
64, and even Project X, was the catalyst that propelled Hetherington from
his throne. Additional tension was apparently created over Sony's reticence
to discuss their PlayStation 2 plans with Psygnosis experts. Hetherington's
successor has not yet been named, but Sony will certainly be keen to ensure
a more PlayStation-friendly soul takes his place.
The American price cuts announced in the wake of E3, for both PlayStation
and Nintendo 64 will not be making the trip across the water. UK retailers
had been getting rather nervous after witnessing the 'Dual Shock' pack
clock in at $149, almost $60 under the price of the current UK 'Value
Pack'. Although the Dual Shock pack will be launching in other PAL territories
Sony have been quick to assure people that they have no immediate
plans to launch it in the UK or Ireland. Although it has hinted that the
same, or similar, package will be available at Christmas. This leaves
the standard UK pack at the higher price, containing two digital joypads,
a memory card, and a RFU. THE Games hasn't even bothered to comment
on the possibility of the Nintendo 64 dropping in price in the UK, as
it is already at a rock bottom figure of £99 ($158), and yet still
losing out to Sony by sales of at least four to one.
For one company at least the World Cup has already proved not to be the
cash cow they originally thought. Surprisingly EA have found that
sales of their FIFA branded World Cup '98 to be rather less astronomic
then they originally promised. Although still easily the best selling
football game around, with sales of 40,100 across all formats, in its
first weekend of sale in the UK, this compares poorly to recent PlayStation
only mega hits. Resident Evil 2 having knocked up 73,800 in initial
sales and Gran Turismo 55,900. World Cup '98 has still managed
to make it to number one though and reached number nine in the best ever
weekly sales rankings. This is a shadow of EA's original predictions though,
as they originally expected 2.3 million European sales in just ten weeks,
including 75,000 in the UK. The reasons for this relative failure aren't
clear but the blame probably lies at the door of the strangely elusive
marketing campaign (especially since the overall European budget is $10
million). More importantly though the appearance of the game so soon after
the last title in the series, the very similar FIFA: Road to World
Cup, must be the primary reason, despite EA's confidence that punters
would be willing to pay up again so soon after the previous game's Christmas
release. Whether things will improve as the tournament gathers momentum
remains to be seen, but already EA have another problem to worry about.
Although their game has the official FIFA license they do not have the
right to use the England badge or kit. The English Football Association
has granted that privilege to Take 2's rather lacklustre Three Lions
game. It has to be said that the EA game does, at face value, appear to
feature the England kit (EA claim it only looks similar), and so Take
2 are looking to sue them. Whatever happens though Tom Stone, EA's
vice president of European marketing, has come out with an amusing attack
on Take 2: "I was one of the few consumers who actually bought Three
Lions. I have played it all the way through and I have absolutely
no idea what Take 2 is talking about." Which minces words about as much
as Ronaldo misses penalties.
Although the games industry seems to have got on the right side of the
various European governments, largely thanks to the efforts of ELSPA,
it seems that a number of British magazines have taken their place in
the firing line. The Periodic Publishers Association and the Video Standards
Council have both received a number of complaints from the public, conveyed
via the Home Office. Official PlayStation Magazine, PC Zone
and PlayStation Plus have all been mentioned by name for everything
from graphic depictions of violence to swearing. Particular concern has
been raised because videogame magazines do not feature any kind of age
rating or audience suggestion, which apparently is causing confusion for
some parents. A number of complaints were received in regards to demos
of the offensive Grand Theft Auto, which did not feature the same
18 rating as the full retail game. There are legitimate concerns here,
but the suggestion that ELSPA should step in and start age rating thins
seems a little over the top. Also the ubiquitous vitrol-spouting MP who
described the 'pornographic' nature of the magazines clearly seems to
have got them mixed up with some other publication - probably from the
top shelf. Either that or he's getting rather hot under the collar about
Lara Croft and her CGI implants.
David Jenkins (david.jenkins@dial.pipex.com)
works with British Telecom's Wireplay, an online gaming service. He also
contributes to Develop, Europe’s premier newsletter for computer
game developers and publishers, and CTW, the weekly trade magazine.
He has also been involved in the organisation of the Develop! and Online
conferences in London.
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