Tom Clancy milking for all it's worth.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Tom Clancy. Renowned adventure / steath action writer. He has sold millions of books, and has since turned his interests to creating storylines for various videogames. Most notably Rainbow Six; Ghost Recon; And Splinter Cell, to name but a few...

Thing is, he (And the publishers / developers) seem to think it fit to milk the series' as much as they can in a reletively short period of time. They are in the zone, and want to milk them as much as they can before people start to lose interest, or before someone else decides to copy the idea and make a foothold in their section of the market...


I've lost count on how many various Rainbox Six games there have been already. They seem to be getting released every four months or so. This is a trend which we have come to expect from the PC market, but this is on home consoles.

The games get released at the RRP of a touch under £40, then drop in price within a matter of weeks, till they adorn the bargain bins of most shops, by which time a new one is released.


Tom Clancy must be raking in the millions. They seem to alternate between the three series. At any one point, you can bet there is a Tom Clancy game sitting up in the top 20 of the gaming charts.


My advice to Mr Clancy. Quit while you are ahead and go back to writing books. And to the publishers - Stop publishing more of the same drivel. Every Rainbow Six game plays and looks the same, and Ghost Recon is no different. As for Splinter Cell... Stop copying an idea which has been perfected by Konami's Metal Gear series, which is vastly superior, and more entertaining.

[jajaja]

I never really understood the expression "milking". I mean, no one is getting forced to buy all the Rainbow Six games (or whatever that being sold). Its totaly up to you if you want to spend your money on the games or not.

I do think the games sell pretty well acctualy or else they wouldnt have kept making so many of them.

[Rabid Peanut-Butter]

Last I heard/read was that Tom Clancy is no longer involved in that series of games. Ubisoft just got the rights to use his name from what I understand (wasn't always the case but happened in the last year or so).

As far as the actual games go, they're pretty solid titles. They're fun for what they are. And even though people compare Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid to each other all the time, I personally think they're very different franchises and can't say one is better than the other (I prefer MGS myself though I have friends that prefer SC). Metal Gear Solid is more about not being seen and avoiding conflict while Splinter Cells is more about killing from the shadows.

[gepeto]

It would be nice to be able to actually miss a franchise game. I would call it milking and overkill.

[njiska]

I gave up all hope for the series the day Red Storm became part of Ubisoft.

The best clancey games are the originals. Hell the original R6 is still probably my favorite of them all. Of the new games only the orignal Ghost Recon and the Splinter cell series amuse me.


And even though people compare Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid to each other all the time, I personally think they're very different franchises and can't say one is better than the other (I prefer MGS myself though I have friends that prefer SC). Metal Gear Solid is more about not being seen and avoiding conflict while Splinter Cells is more about killing from the shadows.

I'll half agree with you. They are different styles of steal games but SC is not about killing from the shadows. In fact i kill less people in SC then i do in MGS. Splinter Cell is all about using your enviroment to conceal you while MGS is more about hiding behind things and under things. Only in MGS3 did they start to take your surrounding into account. But all that aside they're drasticly different in presentation too. MGS is a fantasy story with some insane characters and a hollywood style. SC tries to stay reasonably real. THere both great games but i'll agree that MGS is way better, but i do so on the grounds of cinematic presentation and not gameplay. For me they both provide equally steller gameplay.

[Flack]

I've been playing Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike every day for the past month. The Clancy games are the only FPS games I've ever really enjoyed. I hope they keep making them, I will keep buying them.

[Slimedog]

Think of Tom Clancy like John Madden. Madden doesn't stay up nights thinking of how to make a better football game, he just puts his name on the box and collects the checks.

[esquire]

Tom Clancy. Renowned adventure / steath action writer. He has sold millions of books, and has since turned his interests to creating storylines for various videogames. Most notably Rainbow Six; Ghost Recon; And Splinter Cell, to name but a few...

Thing is, he (And the publishers / developers) seem to think it fit to milk the series' as much as they can in a reletively short period of time. They are in the zone, and want to milk them as much as they can before people start to lose interest, or before someone else decides to copy the idea and make a foothold in their section of the market...


I've lost count on how many various Rainbox Six games there have been already. They seem to be getting released every four months or so. This is a trend which we have come to expect from the PC market, but this is on home consoles.

The games get released at the RRP of a touch under £40, then drop in price within a matter of weeks, till they adorn the bargain bins of most shops, by which time a new one is released.


Tom Clancy must be raking in the millions. They seem to alternate between the three series. At any one point, you can bet there is a Tom Clancy game sitting up in the top 20 of the gaming charts.


My advice to Mr Clancy. Quit while you are ahead and go back to writing books. And to the publishers - Stop publishing more of the same drivel. Every Rainbow Six game plays and looks the same, and Ghost Recon is no different. As for Splinter Cell... Stop copying an idea which has been perfected by Konami's Metal Gear series, which is vastly superior, and more entertaining.

I am by far no fan of any of these series. The only game I played and liked was the orginal Ghost Recon on the PC. However, I feel compelled to defend the franchise as I feel your criticism is not warranted. As these are three separate games, you really can't count them all as one. Splinter Cell has nothing to do with Ghost Recon, nor does it have anything to do with Rainbow Six.

For the record, there have only been 4 Rainbow Six(Rainbow Six, Rogue Spear, Rainbow Six 3, and Black Arrow) games since it was first released for the consoles on the Playstation, December 1, 1999. Now the fifth one in the series, Lockdown is being released. That is about one title per year. Actually 5 releases in 6 years. No different than any other franchise, including Madden or even Resident Evil for that matter. Since 1996 we've had 12 versions of Resident Evil on the PS1 and PS2. Don't believe me?

Resident Evil
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 2 Dual Shock Edition
Resident Evil Director's Cut
Resident Evil Director's Cut Dual Shock Edition
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Resident Evil: Survivor
Resident Evil - Code: Veronica X
Resdient Evil: Dead Aim
Resident Evil Outbreak
Resident Evil Outbreak File #2
Resident Evil 4

. . . not to mention Resident Evil Zero for the Gamecube and Resident Evil Gaiden for the Game Boy Color. Resident Evil 5 will come out for the PS3 and XBOX 360. I don't see anyone complaining that Capcom is milking this franchise.

Of course there have been more releases on the PC, but those are in the form of Expansion Packs and Compilations, and as you state, that is expected for a PC. But as far as consoles go, there have only been . . .

5 Rainbox Six's in 6 years
5 Ghost Recons in 3 years (that includes the expansions, Island Thunder, Jungle Storm and Summit Strike)
3 Splinter Cells in 3 years

Perhaps the Ghost Recons have been a bit excessive, but one of those was only released on the PS2 (Jungle Storm) and another only released on the XBOX (Island Thunder). As of now, Summit Strike is only an XBOX release.

Lastly, Ubisoft has released downloadable content over XBOX Live for Rainbow Six 3. So they are giving back to the community. Not everything is being released as retail content.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Ok, fair enough, we all know Capcom are the kings when it comes to milking a franchise (Resi; Mega Man; Street Fighter; And many more), but all these Tom Clancy games IS overkill.

[roushimsx]

Oh no you did-id-int.

I never much cared for the console Rainbow Six games, but the PC version (with associated expansions) kicked all sorts of ass.

Rainbow Six? Hot.
Rogue Spear? Hotter.
Raven Shield? Cup = filled.

Ghost Recon? Better than Rainbow Six!
Sum of All Fears? Ghost Recon lite! Awesome maps.

the Splinter Cell games work better on console, and they're exceptionally fine, too. Pandora Tormorrow's main strength lied in its multiplayer, but the singleplayer in SC and Chaos Theory was roughly on par with having your salad tossed by incredibly hot twins. Unique, original, and extremely fun.

People that draw comparisons between Spliter Cell and Metal Gear Solid make as much sense as people that draw comparisons between Grand Theft Auto III and Mafia. Sure, the games share some basic similarities, but the core games are radically different (much like Contra and Super Mario Brothers). It's like comparing Daytona USA to F355.

Really, the only tactical squad based first person shooters better than the Rainbow Six games are SWAT 3/4 and Operation Flashpoint (now THERE'S a series that needs to be milked. hard)

[petewhitley]

The Ubisoft-published Tom Clancy titles on the Xbox are quite possibly the most consistantly great titles on the console. I don't know where you're coming from here; unless you don't own an Xbox that is ...

[swlovinist]

While I agree that the milking is going on, I have to say that I do enjoy the Tom Clancy Games. There are many other franchises that milk alot more(mario and mega man). It doesnt mean that they dont make great games, but the real question is...if all the main franchises are milking now, are we gonna care when they show up on the next gen systems?(espically the 360). The bigger isssue is that there are way too many cookie cutter generes out there that are repeating the same dam style of game over and over and over. How many military games are on the Xbox? 30? 40? What is another military game on that system? There comes a point in which I just dont care anymore about playing the 13th military FPS title in one year. I also do believe the quick price reduction is going to be an issue with the 360. I am really going to think twice about getting a $60 360 title when a $20 used Xbox title plays just as good. The 360 better strive hard to not be just a pretty Xbox, or the general public is not going to care.

[njiska]

Ok, fair enough, we all know Capcom are the kings when it comes to milking a franchise (Resi; Mega Man; Street Fighter; And many more), but all these Tom Clancy games IS overkill.

Not entirely. For R6 it's just blashphemous, but Ghost Recon and it's expansions (which is basiclly what island thunder was) aren't so bad. We don't need them, but they're not hurting the franchise the way the milking of R6 is.

And Capcom is more then the king of milking a franchise. They're the king of kings of milking a franchise.

To quote Adam Sessler, "We never want to see another game with the words "Extreme", "Unleashed" or "Megaman" in a title ever again.

[Slimedog]

To quote Adam Sessler, "We never want to see another game with the words "Extreme", "Unleashed" or "Megaman" in a title ever again.

Holy crap. I can't believe you actually quoted Adam Sessler. Now you are just hemorrhaging street cred.

[GrayFox]

Oh no you did-id-int.

I never much cared for the console Rainbow Six games, but the PC version (with associated expansions) kicked all sorts of ass.

Rainbow Six? Hot.
Rogue Spear? Hotter.
Raven Shield? Cup = filled.

Really, the only tactical squad based first person shooters better than the Rainbow Six games are SWAT 3/4 and Operation Flashpoint (now THERE'S a series that needs to be milked. hard)

Finally, some logic here. Rainbow Six on the PC, followed by RS and 3, are easily three fo the best tactical games of all time. I could honestly care less about the console versions. And, for what its worth, Rainbow Six: Lockdown for the PC, is going to be a completely different game from the console one, and will probably be called RS: 4.

Also, Operation Flashpoint friggen needs to return. This game is such an amazing title, and barely ANYONE knows of it. Why?!

[evil_genius]

I agree. They are all the same and they suck.

:: goes outside and burns his Tom Clancy games ::

[njiska]

I agree. They are all the same and they suck.

:: goes outside and burns his Tom Clancy games ::

::Get's picked off by Dieter Weber::

[roushimsx]

Also, Operation Flashpoint friggen needs to return. This game is such an amazing title, and barely ANYONE knows of it. Why?!

http://www.kvaerulanten.dk/armed-assault/?side=interviews

They're remaking Operation Flashpoint as Armed Assault; the graphics look awesome, so I'm looking forward to going through Resistance and The Cold War Crisis all over again (I never did pick up Virtual Battlespace :( ). Check out the Screenshots (http://www.kvaerulanten.dk/armed-assault/?side=screenshots).

Xbox version comes out soon, too....hopefully that'll help attract people to the series, and hopefully when Operation Flashpoint 2 finally comes out, it'll actually sell better.

and as an extension of what i said earlier..

Oh, and the two expansions for Ghost Recon, Desert Siege and Island Thunder? Fucking masterpieces. The night time amphibious assault on the first stage of Desert Siege and the rainy castle in Island Thunder are the highlights for me.

Eagle Watch, Black Thorn, Urban Ops, Athena Sword? Bad ass.

Covert Ops? Screw the game disc, the encyclopedia disc was absolute money.

Please god, let there be more games in this series.

[thegreatescape]

They also released the Iron Wrath expansion to Raven shield for free a few months ago:
http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/ironwrath/

1gb download but worth it :)