all I know from that trailer is that is has 2 currencies. The rest is speculations. I do not know how they are used, what they are used for and so on.

I am very sceptic, but - I still do not actually know. For all we know, one of them can be for buying cosmetic things, another for staff sallery - I doubt it, but we do not know.

Most importantly: we do not know to what extent any possible microtransactions actually do have on gameplay, or indeed how the gameplay (or lack thereof) is actually is going to be. For this we need more infor.

But feel free to go back to option 1 :) (I refuse to do so)


edit: the other currency is used by ..... ALIENS!!!11111!!1!1
And all social games are the same!

All things considered, I'm smelling an opportunity for GOG in the similar vein of the nuclear inferno that was Dungeon Keeper Mobile.

Not really surprised at all. Sad huh? Theme Park studio looks promising, especially when they add the financials.

I know right? It seems it would make sense to go after the crowd that plays and enjoys your stuff and expand on it, that's where/how communities are born and loyal customers built as well... i mean it's a no-brainer decision creatively and financially - to sell a product to the individuals who dig into it... why persistently try to target and shape your product for crowd that cares little for gaming i will never understand, ESPECIALLY in cases where your product reached "maturity" a.k.a part of a franchise e.t.c... Guess there's something more important than common sense in place in the industry, i dunno.

https://twitter.com/atari/status/445600594871349248

Atari said a PC version is coming later. I'm not sure how to feel about this.

https://twitter.com/Rctzone/status/440517981580189696

"With the company again controlling its US subsidiaries and the results of the OCEANE Bond issue to be announced on February 21st 2014, Atari is now working on a new catalog for 2015 - 2016.

The company’s strategy relies on downloadable games, MMO games, games for mobile devices and licensing. The main emphasis is on traditional franchises.

Several products scheduled for release in 2014 - 2015 are already in pre-production or production, either by the company itself or jointly with third parties:

Mobile devices: Roller Coaster Tycoon iOS (iPhone, iPad) ; Alone in the Dark (iPhone, iPad); Haunted House; as well as games from Atari’s back catalog of traditional titles.

Online games: Roller Coaster Tycoon, Alone in the Dark, Haunted House and a new PC game."

Lose hope, I'd suggest.

Except it doesn't make more sense to target those customers. At least not when you want to make the most out of your money and don't give a crap about the people who play your game.
You don't want them to dig into it and spend hours with your game. You just want them to spend as much money on it as possible and once the new, better version of your game is out, they want them to play that version.

Most big game companies don't give a damn about loyal customers. As long as enough people are buying mediocre crap, they will produce mediocre crap. There's no point in putting more effort into it, since it won't make people spend more money on it.

At least that's the concept of pay to win Facebook/Mobile games. Especially those that work like "Push that button, wait a minute, then push it again". It's the most basic concept, it's dumbed down beyond belief and it's only about the cheapest way to make the player feel like they accomplished something, so they keep playing your game.

Most free to play (F2P) games now are essentially run on the gambling model. Think more casino then traditional game dev.

The goal is to get the big spenders (called "whales") addicted to spending their cash. If someone isn't willing to spend then they are not your customer. If someone is only willing to spend a little then they are not your customer. Sure they may help with advertising but your true customers are the whales. They are what make the you money (and a lot of it in some cases).

In fact F2P can be a better money maker than casinos or gambling in general. There are strict rules on gambling and and it's legal required to give a percentage of money back. F2P games have no such rules or restrictions. Their customers don't expect to win money at any point.

And like whales, they shouldn't be hunted, and could go extinct if misused.

I feel the need to defend F2P a bit, since the model CAN work when done right.

League of Legends is a free to play game and I think it's an example where F2P is done right. Paying money is completely optional. You can buy most of the things you need/want with the ingame currency you get by playing the game. Only exceptions are transferring your account to another server and skins for the champions, to make them look different. You can also buy boosts for EXP (to level up faster, which I think is pointless unless you really want to reach level 30 and play ranked; you get matched up with people that are around the same skill level as you anyway) or IP (which is said ingame currency, so you can buy stuff faster).
One thing you can't buy with real money is runes, which boost your stats. You can only get them by playing the game.

I think this system is incredibly fair, so, as I said, F2P can work, if the game is fun without spending money. But I guess in your example you were mostly talking about those games you find on facebook or mobile and I agree that that system is NOT fair at all. It's just a really cheap way to make money without effort. Comparing it to gambling is actually a pretty good simile.

what the hell roller coaster for mobile *bangs head on keyboard
for pete sakes just make a pc games and release it everywhere tycoons and simulators are selling a lot better these days

Totally agree that Free-to-play can work, the problem is most game developers/publishers are really terrible at implementing such systems in their games; so terrible in fact that they just make free-to-play look terrible as a whole and that is a real shame.

I know what you meant, so no harm done. And I agree with what you said, if we're talking about mobile and facebook games.
Also, yes, PvZ2. T_T

Yes, I agree! But as far as I know, this version of free to play is actually successful on Facebook and Mobile. Otherwise they wouldn't make games like this.
Yes, they risk alienating core gamers, but who cares? That's not their target audience anyway!

If you want to use loops, you'll have to pay.

This is quickly approaching Dungeon Keeper Mobile levels of stupid.