Don Bradman Cricket 14 General Discussion

[valettas]

This is my own personal take on the whole matter. Something more up to date may have been announced in the other thread.. but I am so far behind right now.

Big Ant were always following Ashes Cricket 13. Ashes had the name, they had the pedegree. Big Ant knew they were going to have a tough time competing head to head, but they needed to let it release and see how it faired before going on their own. Big Ant and Tru Blu only had a smaller proportion of distributors on their side.. and perhaps the other distributors would only release DBC'14 a period after Ashes released. It's always ideal to do a worldwide release at the same time.

Ashes 'releases' (ahem) and gets canned. All the distributors who had sided with Ashes were left twiddling their thumbs. Big Ant and Tru Blu then tried their utmost best to get the distrubtors on side to allow a worldwide release before Christmas, as that would be totally ideal, however it is obvious it wasn't able to be set up in time, finalized, logistics, etc. They obviously see better profit and a better release by going worldwide on the same day.

I'd fully prefer a local/limited release initially and then get to other markets as the distributors came in line, but that's only as I knew Australia would get it first.. no problem being selfish I say..

Very true,well what your saying is probabally 100% correct and appreciate your input and I just hope that all goes well for DBC 14,you made it clearer for me.
valettas

 

[Guybrush Threep]

So basically more time was required to organize agreements and get copies to previously uncommitted suppliers. And that a world-wide release keeps the suppliers happy so people in other countries don't try to acquire it either through an off-shore supplier or piracy. ???

 

[BigAntStudios]

So basically more time was required to organize agreements and get copies to previously uncommitted suppliers. And that a world-wide release keeps the suppliers happy so people in other countries don't try to acquire it either through an off-shore supplier or piracy. ???

Lots of reasons but these are the most important, after the Ashes there were no believers that a game could be any good - there has to be a roadshow.

 

[Lebanna]

Lots of reasons but these are the most important, after the Ashes there were no believers that a game could be any good - there has to be a roadshow.

Out of curiosity then - is the reception that CA nets has gotten aiding in that campaign?

 

[BigAntStudios]

Out of curiosity then - is the reception that CA nets has gotten aiding in that campaign?

Not one report in the press about anyone downloading and playing it... it was all focussed on the "delay" and how it might be another "Ashes".

 

[Lebanna]

Not one report in the press about anyone downloading and playing it... it was all focussed on the "delay" and how it might be another "Ashes".

Ouch, I feel for you. For what its worth, I've been doing my best to promote it to everyone I know. I just don't know any retailers over here

 

[Pat]

I think if BigAnt had used the word "Demo" instead of "Cricket Academy Update", it might have helped fetch a few more eyeballs from the press.

 

[angad]

Ross....maybe you can send those emails again, this time telling them that you have release a demo for this game which comprises of 'Playable Nets' and 'All creation tools'

I think its just a matter of 3-4 big guns (IGN, Eurogamer etc) to pick up this story and then the world will follow !

 

[MattW]

It's not a demo though. I think anyone who is told of something called a 'demo' for a cricket game would expect real gameplay - not batting only in the nets.

Sure, it's more than we would have expected given a demo and nets were both ruled out in the past - but for a wider audience, the response isn't going to be a positive one - if they called it a demo, it would look like they are hiding the rest of the game.

Once the word 'demo' is used the expectations as to what's included rightfully go up. It's great for what it is, and on this site and most of those following the game it might be interesting - but most people would miss the point of what we get out of just batting in the nets.

Best to keep it low key until they have a release date imo.

 

[ChinamanSpin]

If it was branded as a demo, people would complain that there wasn't bowling or a 5 over match. I think they did the right thing, and I also think the 99.94 branding was a clever idea.

 

[Guybrush Threep]

Maybe we should bombard their forums with DBC14 threads and messages Blitzkrieg!

Seriously though, the things worthy of success most often succeed. If the game is as good as it seems then people will buy it regardless of the pre-release BS.

 

[Snowy]

You're giving people way too much credit. People were dumb enough to buy AC13.

Unfortunately, quality isn't the be all and end all.

 

[Deleted member 9102]

I'd be absolutely gutted if this game didn't do well enough sales-wise to become a successful series.

Big Ant are a business, and DBC has been made to make a profit, but I also get the impression that the guys there love and understand cricket and take pride in the quality of their product. There are innovations here that needn't have been there if the sole motivator was just pure profit... The new control schemes, the tactile physics-based gameplay, the wealth of editing options, the communication with the community etc...

None of that was necessary and probably won't affect the sales massively, we'd probably buy pretty much any half-decent functional cricket game after the long wait we've had between titles, but this is above and beyond that and could be a very good video game in it's own right, not just a good cricket game compared to other cricket games.

 

[Guybrush Threep]

You're giving people way too much credit. People were dumb enough to buy AC13.

Unfortunately, quality isn't the be all and end all.

Well they didn't have any real indicators as to it's quality when they purchased. For cricket tragics it's understandable that they'd buy a game just because it was about cricket - especially so when there hasn't been one for a few years. I believe quite a few on this forum fell for that trap.

There are plenty of Indy titles and other games that started simply as a good product with no to very little marketing and publicity. As word of mouth spreads it's hard for the media to ignore and before you know it you have a "sleeper" hit.

You have to take the positives out of the Ashes13 debacle as well. Even though it could poison the cricket video game waters, it may also go down as one of the worst games ever released and so any subsequent cricket game may get attention just to compare it to Ashes13 and give the media a background story worth writing about. We've already seen DBC14 discussed as the "savior" of cricket games, etc. DBC14 could come out of this a hero and champion for cricket lovers.

 

[HappyGoLucky]

DBC14 could come out of this a hero and champion for cricket lovers

You mean 'will' come out of this a hero and champion for cricket lovers