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Businesses Entertainment Games

Why Majesco Fell 33

Posted by Zonk from the hard-lessons-indeed dept.
CNN Money's Game Over column today takes a look at some of the reasons Majesco has bowed out of the majors of game publishing. From the article: "Majesco was hardly blameless for its failings. 'Advent Rising' didn't come close to living up to expectations - earning middling reviews at best ... 'Psychonauts,' though, was a critical darling - earning a spot on many critics' holiday buying guides. Despite this, the game never found an audience. Sales were awful, coming in at under 100,000. As for the movie licenses? 'Aeon Flux,' based on last year's Charlize Theron film flopped. 'Taxi Driver' was cancelled as part of last week's decision. 'Ghost Rider,' (based on an upcoming Nicholas Cage film) was sold. And, inexplicably, Majesco has decided to move forward with the release of a game based on 'Jaws' itself - perhaps as a last hurrah, perhaps because it couldn't find a buyer and the game was essentially complete. (I saw an early build of 'Jaws'. It is not - in any way - a game that would have reversed Majesco's slump.)" We discussed their decision last week.
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Why Majesco Fell More

Why Majesco Fell

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  • From TFA:
     
      On paper, the formula seems pretty solid. Blend original, critically acclaimed games
     
    Okay, with you so far...
     
      with the reliable franchises based on well-known film licenses.
     
    BZZZZT!
  • And now Majesco is off creating some of the worst Plug and Play TV Games on the market. Instead of creating hardware for the actual arcade games (which would have made the systems 100% authentic), they delivered the Nintendo versions of Frogger and Konami Classics as if they were the same as the arcade versions! In addition, the Frogger stick only has a single game, making it one of the worst values in a very crowded market.

  • FACT (Score:4, Insightful)

    by SimianOverlord ( 727643 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @11:00AM (#14548237) Homepage Journal
    It is a fact that gamers are to blame for good game companies going under. As a group, we simply don't award creativity or innovation in gaming. 'Cult' hits are a sign of the disease, intelligent, thought provoking gaming like Planescape: Torment simply do not get the sales they deserve, and soon appear in the bargain bin.

    I really have no idea why this happens. Fantastically good games available for about £5 in some cases is simply unbelievable in any other industry like film or music. Classics of the genre in those industries retain their value beyond a year - you don't find classics like On the Waterfront or 12 Angry Men in the bargain bin, as they seem to hold their value.

    It's a sad thing, because in response, the game industry is going to chase the brainless blockbuster format, which EA has pretty much sewn up. And its hard to blame anyone other than ourselves. I don't really know why this happens, but I'd guess that too many of us are unwilling to try something new. It seems OK to be a FPS guy, or a sports sim guy - but if you only went to movies that were about sports, you'd be regarded as a total whacko.

    Gamers will get the industry they support, and what they support is a million EA clones released with incremental changes year after year. It's so depressing.
    • actually, some of my most interesting music purchases were from bargain bins. not many of them were particularily acclaimed pieces of music. taste varies...

    • Re:FACT (Score:2)

      by miu ( 626917 )
      you don't find classics like On the Waterfront or 12 Angry Men in the bargain bin, as they seem to hold their value.

      Maybe not at movie specialty stores, but I've bought tons of classic movies on the cheap - like $4-$8 at media play/best buy/target. It is only when they become trendy again or get a special edition release that classic movies have a price at all comparable to a new release.

      Games are still based on growing technology and growing knowledge, so there is an actual reason that classic games

    • Re:FACT (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Strell ( 877448 ) on Tuesday January 24, 2006 @11:34AM (#14548479)
      You don't know why it happens? It's a self defeating industry with self perpetuated biases. It's the thought that simply because Xmen Legends was a good game based on a somewhat good movie, Fantastic Four is going to ride that gravy train on home as well. Hence, a kid goes to Blockbuster and finds 10 copies of F4, but zero-to-one copies of Psychonauts. It doesn't help, of course, than the general gaming public has become entrenched and mired in this sort of cycle - a shitty game with a big license will outsell an original game that is much better, EVEN if huge names are backing it (i.e. Shaefer).

      The industry revolves around whatever big thing 14 year old boys think is cool. Right now it's guns, killing hookers, rap, cars, and abysmal gameplay. I saw a 7 year kid (or therabouts) talking about how Shadow the Hedgehog was the greatest game ever. Why? Because he had a gun. Nevermind that the game was universally rejected as enjoyable - it was marketed as cool and thus will at least generate respectable sales (whether or not they are respectable for Sega's princely franchise is another argument altogether).

      That is the reason. That is why Halo, GTA, and any knockoff franchise - including all WW2 shooters, any "sandbox" game, etc - will be chart toppers. There's an entire group of games that go unsung and underrated, and it is mostly because the main hero isn't some generic rage filled smart mouth guy holding a big gun. We have a Scarface game coming out for god's sake. AND a Godfather game. Who in their goddamn mind thinks this is a good idea?

      Answer: The industry, based on current trends.

      I'm serious - the game indsutry crashing again can't come soon enough. Finally knock some goddamn sense into everyone, and weed out the useless people buying Madden Roster Upgrade 200X every year.

      • I'm serious - the game indsutry crashing again can't come soon enough. Finally knock some goddamn sense into everyone, and weed out the useless people buying Madden Roster Upgrade 200X every year.

        Well, the game industry can't crash as long as everyone keeps buying Madden Roster Upgrade every year. They'd have to stop first.

        I have to take issue with your "useless people" crack, though. If you're a big football fan, and get a lot of gameplay hours out of it, then it's probably worth it to spend $50/year t

    • Re:FACT (Score:2, Insightful)

      by LilBlackDemon ( 604917 )

      'Cult' movies may retain value long after their release, but are often times overlooked on release and there are certainly a large number of releases that failed to reach 'cult' status. For every 'Pi' there are a hundred independent movies that are only seen by a few hundred, sometimes failing to make back even their initial cost (usually under $30,000) and fall into disgrace (and irrelevance). The commonality among 'cult' movies is that they pass quickly through word-of-mouth and have modest box office s

    • Um...yeah. So when, exactly, did Majesco become a good, innovative game developer? I think they fucking suck and deserve to go under. Seriously, what game besides Psychonauts was actually worth playing? The only one that I can even remember as being passable was Bloodrayne, and that game was trash. And...Jaws? Are they fucking serious? THAT is their last game? Someone just shoot me and end the pain.
    • ".. 12 Angry Men in the bargain bin"

      I bought that movie for 12$ CDN. The fact is that the industry is awash in games, and the ones that sell are the promoted ones. If you want your game to sell well, you have to either promote it yourself, or hope it gets a buzz. But a buzz takes time, and retail game sales are very quarter oriented.

      I think gamers are more interested in new things. Also, since money is tight, people are less likely to buy whole boats of games. I'm only buying DS games because I find th
    • "As a group, we simply don't award creativity or innovation in gaming. 'Cult' hits are a sign of the disease, intelligent, thought provoking gaming like Planescape: Torment simply do not get the sales they deserve..."

      Maybe the problem isn't the mainstream gamers - it's the players and developers who think that Americans want intelligent, thought provoking gaming. There's very little that's intelligent or thought provoking in contemporary American culture. Anyone stupid enough to sink millions of dollars dev

    • I really have no idea why this happens.

      It's important to admit that very few of us do. Perhaps it's time to start adding IANAME (I Am Not A Marketing Expert) to a lot of these discussions about the dynamics of the gaming industry, or any industry, for that matter. We don't talk about sales numbers. We don't talk about studies on demographics and purchasing habits. Most of us don't really know what we're talking about.

      ... I have an opinion and a hole through which I expel solid waste. `Nuff said.

    • What the hell is wrong with you people?

      "you don't find classics like On the Waterfront or 12 Angry Men in the bargain bin,"

      Yeah you do, or at least, *I* have. Ever been to a Wal-mart? Anything that has been on the shelves a while and hasn't sold can get discounted.

      "It's a sad thing, because in response, the game industry is going to chase the brainless blockbuster format"

      What, like movies, and television, and books, and music, and ALL OTHER FUCKING MEDIA IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF MANKIND. How many plays from
      • I got Casablanca, Citizen Kane (the special collector's edition), and Metropolis all for less than USD10 most were between USD5 and USD 10. Those three generally make everyone's top 10 or top 5 movies ever list. I think the quip that, "no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American consumer" applies here as well.
        • Personally, I thought Casablanca sucked.

          Citizen Kane is a very good movie, and Ebert's commentary was pretty entertaining/informative.

          Metropolis was....eeehhh..... I don't think I have the patience for silent films. I "get-it" but the themes and acting methods presented in a silent film are done in such a heavy handed way that (imo) it ruins the experience as compared to modern movies.

          I've watched a bunch of them since getting Netflix and I'm going to attempt Birth of a Nation, but that's where I'm drawin
  • ...Majesco has jumped the shark?

    BaddaBing!

    Sad news though...Psychonauts was one of the very best games I have ever played. Hopefully the folks responsible for it will find a way to continue producing games.
  • That they bring Guilty Gear XX #Slash to the states before they realize selling value titles isn't a good idea either...
  • Majesco had the tools to be a success. They had quality developers in their stable and cash in the bank. Unfortunately, they pulled an Acclaim and seem to have bet on the power of licensing over everything else while spreading themselves too thin.

    The people responsible for Riddick, Nanostray, Psychonauts and Phantom Dust demonstrated that they are capable of quality making quality games. If Majesco had focused on properly promoting and advertising these games it could have been a different story.

  • I thought Aeon Flux had the potential to be an incredibly cool game.

    Then I read that it was based on the crappy movie, rather than the original series, and lost all interest.

  • Majesco had issues. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I believe that the reason Psychonauts didn't do well is because Majesco didn't bother to advertise before it came out. Afterwards, yeah, but did you see any before? Of course not...it was all spent hyping Bloodrayne 2.

    Have you ever wondered how they managed to fund so many titles? It was those 'tv episode on a gb cart' things that the article alluded to. When they first came out, and for a couple years, parents were spending huge amounts of money on the worthless things so that they wouldn't have to buy

    • Re:Majesco had issues. (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Sounds like you worked there. :-)

      The other problem with Psychonauts is they were way too conservative with their projected sales and the game ended up difficult to find! If you want to sell product, damn, you gotta put it on shelves first!
  • I'm suprised no one said it yet, the reason Majesco really left major games is simple

    Second hand/Used game sales!

    seriously though, I'm honestly suprised they aren't using that excusse right now cause it could be a very easy scapegoat.
  • "...(I saw an early build of 'Jaws'. It is not - in any way - a game that would have reversed Majesco's slump.)"
    What a polite way of saying that the game was shit, it stank and blew dead bears.
  • When a company that consistently produces sub-par titles goes under, I view this as the industry working.

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