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Post by Goldash on Jun 4, 2012 16:37:13 GMT -5
Link: www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2012/06/04/e3-2012-electronic-arts-grabs-ufc-license-for-new-fighting-game/In a massive shock (given the, um, "rosy" relationship Dana White's had with them), EA Sports just announced at their E3 presser that they have acquired the UFC license from THQ. What, if anything, though, does this mean for the future of the WWE games? We all know THQ has their fair share of money problems right now, but does this mean WWE 13 may be the last THQ-produced WWE game? Like to hear your thoughts on this one...
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Post by fu on Jun 5, 2012 3:31:44 GMT -5
Thing is EA Sports will take MMA, which may or may not be a good thing. If THQ lost the WWE license or folded I would expect EA to be a front runner, but EA Sports wouldn't be involved which is the thing people seem to expect to happen. If they do I am concerned they might use to Mayhem engine or worse the Backstage assault one I'd fear for the create mode, whilst not perfect currently, it isn't as bad as we all complain about. EA MMAs was shocking IMO.
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Post by Oz70NYC on Jun 6, 2012 10:57:53 GMT -5
That's the thing...if THQ loses the WWE license...it WILL fold. At this stage of the game, THQ only has 2 IPs that are worth anything, the WWE series and the Saints Row series. Saints Row: The Third is making money, yes...but it's not a yearly release. There's maybe a good two more expansions coming for it after the "Enter The Dominatrix" expansion coming this fall, then that's it until a SR4 releases. The WWE series is what's holding the legs up of THQ, and safe to say if WWE13 doesn't deliver like a Ric Flair knife edge chop, THQ's fate is essentially sealed.
If EA snatched up the WWE license, we can pretty much kiss the CAW community goodbye for many, MANY years. THQ's creation engine has been the benchmark engine in the industry for years. Is it perfect? No. But it's still more advanced then anything available save for Soul Calibur V. Unless EA partners with Yuke's to develop a WWE game (which could possibly happen if the situation came about), they'd be building a new engine from scratch...and if the last couple "contenders" to the WWE series title (TNA Impact and AAA: Heroes Del Ring) are any indication...it's going to suck like Sara Jay. At this point, I see no benefit from EA getting the WWE license.
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Post by fu on Jun 6, 2012 14:41:00 GMT -5
I wonder if they would just go with Yukes, since I think it is possible WWE have the finance to publish the game themselves. It is possible THQ's assets could be bought also.
I thought it would be a stretch but I'd like to see 2K's attempt at a wrestling game, as I think the attention to detail they have particularly in NBA2K series is amazing. Of course I'd expect the creation suite would take a while to develop, unless they really focused on it.
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Post by DevildrummerX on Jun 6, 2012 16:14:15 GMT -5
I wonder if they would just go with Yukes, since I think it is possible WWE have the finance to publish the game themselves. It is possible THQ's assets could be bought also. I thought it would be a stretch but I'd like to see 2K's attempt at a wrestling game, as I think the attention to detail they have particularly in NBA2K series is amazing. Of course I'd expect the creation suite would take a while to develop, unless they really focused on it. This is what I was thinking. I honestly wouldn't be shocked if the WWE bought out THQ's assets that relate to the WWE games. They seem to be taking a more proactive role in promoting and hyping up the games the past few years. So I doubt they'd let the established tech behind the game go if they got a chance to buy it out.
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Post by Oz70NYC on Jun 6, 2012 20:24:53 GMT -5
That makes complete sense. I mean when you think of it, they do have the "WWE Games" imprint. So if it came down to THQ going belly up, I could totally see WWE buying out the "WWE" development house and making them just a stand alone developer of JUST WWE video games. It's totally feasible and definitely a smart course of action business wise. Because then they'd simply have to re-doctor the deal with Yuke's under the new imprint, and they'd pretty much lose no time in whatever development cycle it happens in, if it did happen.
Like I said in my previous post, right now...all THQ has going for it is the WWE and Saints Row franchises. Saints Row is developed my Volition, a separate dev house under the THQ umbrella, so if THQ went the way of the Dodo, Volition could easily be bought by a larger developer, like EA...who'd love to get into the open world sandbox game genre since...you know...they have none. SR:TT is doing good on the market. They release new DLC for it every month or so, and plus there's a big expansion coming this fall, so it's on solid ground, and making good money. The straw to break the camel's back for THQ right now is without a doubt WWE13.
Anyone here who knows me from CAWS.ws knows how extremely critical of WWE12 I was (and still am). WWE12 for all it added was marred and in many opinions mortally wounded by the server connectivity nightmare it suffered for months. And of course when word spread of it and how THQ drug their feet in fixing Community Creations...the life force of ANY WWE game since it was implemented...people took to the net and got hostile. And in that hostility, millions of potential buyers of the game...didn't. And that's why THQ suffered financially last year. Their cash-cow IP sold pittance compared to what they expected. Hell, we're now in June of 2012 and they're JUST NOW finally reaching the sales expectancy they intended in JANUARY. And they're hurting because of their own action (or lack there of) fixing their broken product.
So now comes WWE13, and safe to say...THQ needs to roll up there sleeves and make it the BEST game in the series if they ever want to bring back those who jumped ship in WWE12. And there are many. On average the PS3 Originals section of CAWS.ws is by this point of the year up to 20 or so pages. This year THREE. That's a hell of a fuckin' drop off of content being made and shared...simply because if CC doesn't work, why bother making anything when you can't share it? That's how it looks all over the net. That's one of the reasons why forums like the Original CAW Shack folded...lack of activity because no one is making CAWs...because CC is broken and unreliable. So with all the bells and whistles they throw on WWE13, like being able to have 6 females in the ring at once, or FINALLY having 64 layers on PS3, it all means bupkis if CC is in the same state as WWE12. THQ can ill afford that to be, because if they lose the amount of money they did on WWE12 on WWE13, there'll be no WWE14...because there'll be no THQ. Safe to say, the next few months are going to be verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry interesting.
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Post by fu on Jun 7, 2012 12:25:39 GMT -5
My concern with the announcement of that 64 layers on WWE 13 for PS3 was the word optimized, my concern with that is does it mean lower quality layers. Back on 09 I noticed that designs on 360 were sharper, I had both games. My primary concern is if it affects 360 since it has always handled that many layers fine, and because that is the console I'd most likely get it for. Also I'm sure PS3 users will want 64 layers with designs looking decent too. I could be concerned over nothing, but this is under THQ's direction so I feel somewhat justified in not entirely trusting their quality control.
THQ have had issues with the CC in the last two years and really they should have solved the issue within that time. It's not a feature I use, mainly because I got fed up of 2011's that I basically gave my online code away. Things like that highlight why a lot of people dislike THQ.
At this point I'm really of the view I won't get WWE 13 unless it blows me away.
Honestly though at this point, I wouldn't be bothered about THQ going under themselves, just more interested in if the assets to the franchises(2 of them?) they have getting bought and surviving.
That I am not sure if I'm actually on or off topic... but rant over lol
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