Rugby League Live - PS3 and XB360

[Firey_Dragon]

Yep that is very true. And not just for the Australian market. If it were truly a good game that represented Rugby League well it could boom in the UK and possibly elsewhere.

Unfortunately we're gonna have to put up with most likely one of the lowest budget next gen titles that will only appeal to the hardcore looking for a RL gaming fix.

Problem is that the "base" market for Rugby / League is relatively small in comparison to games like Fifa and Madden. The fanbase simply isn't there to justify the cost. At the end of the day you've still got to meet your bottom line. Even accounting for casual users the user base is still small for a large budget game.

You'll never get americans seeing this game on the shelves and pick it up. Everyone has an understanding of soccer or NFL, albeit small. Rugby Union or League has very defined markets in a select number of countries. League only really has a market here, NZ, Pacific Islands and the UK. The big money is in the north american market where 99.9% of people have zero understanding of the game. I'm sure studios and the NRL have done the numbers on it. As an outsider looking in, the cost would probably far outweigh the benefit.

 

[Paullyboy]

To be honest, pretty much all Americans know of rugby. And many of them get excited by the prospect, they just don't know the difference between league and union.

If you had a quality game with the words "Rugby League" on a shelf in america, I bet you it would sell very well - many would buy it out of curiosity alone I believe.

 

[cupid]

Replace all League players with Mario Characters and you sell 1m copies in Japan, easy money.

 

[perverse]

Americans think we're absolutely mad bastards, playing "Rugby". there would be niche interest for the title in America i would say, and if the game was high quality enough it would sell a bit on curiosity alone, as Paullyboy said.

 

[Firey_Dragon]

To be honest, pretty much all Americans know of rugby. And many of them get excited by the prospect, they just don't know the difference between league and union.

If you had a quality game with the words "Rugby League" on a shelf in america, I bet you it would sell very well - many would buy it out of curiosity alone I believe.

Most americans have no idea what rugby league is. They know Rugby, as in Rugby Union. Big difference. It's played in the colleges, but most know very little about the game itself. They've all heard of it, that's about as far as most people's knowledge goes. Ask most americans if they know what a ruck and maul is, they'd have no idea.

The market is small in the US, and they are a proven culture that doesn't like to experiment or go outside of what they know. Seeing it on the shelves is unlikely to inspire many to pick up the game and buy it. Having lived in North America (Seattle, Vancouver, Montreal) for quite a while now and taking my footy up to the local park for a kick around then having many people come up to me and ask what type of ball it is, is enough proof to me that they aren't educated anywhere near enough to be willing to grab a league game with both hands.

The NRL should be investing their money in getting as much air time internationally as they can. Spending money on a game when most have no idea of the basic concepts let alone the rules is just money down the drain.

 

[Bob Saget]

to be honest, Napolean has a valid point. a genuine hit video game would be quite a coup for the sport in general. the trick isn't to get the die hard fans to buy it, the trick is getting the casuals, or even non-fans of the sport to give it a go. only die hards will buy a mediocre/average title... but most gamers, both casual and hardcore, will give a AAA title that has gotten rave reviews a crack. plenty of people who have little interest in soccer play FIFA, ditto gridiron and Madden. i know, because i'm one of them.

it's also a great entry point into learning the rules of the game, etc. i would know stuff all about gridiron if it weren't for Madden.

the NRL should have quite a vested interest in making current gen Rugby League titles that kick arse.

This is true. I watched and supported the NRL religiously about 4-5 years ago and when I heard about the new game I decided I wanted to check it out since it's been ages since I have played a Rugby League game. My first was the first one which I played back in 2003.

 

[Pierced Soul]

to be honest, Napolean has a valid point.

the NRL should have quite a vested interest in making current gen Rugby League titles that kick arse.

i agree with his point, i just think the administration of the NRL has enough problems trying to organise what they've got and adding avidoe game int here will only confuse them. i can imagine Mario Fenech scratching his ehad and trying to put the disc into his dvd player

 

[Liddell]

The online play is the key. It can make a half decent game good, and you know most likely you will be playing an aussie/kiwi not some fat american kid that quits with a minute to go :lol:

 

[perverse]

i agree with his point, i just think the administration of the NRL has enough problems trying to organise what they've got and adding avidoe game int here will only confuse them. i can imagine Mario Fenech scratching his ehad and trying to put the disc into his dvd player

lol, yep, point taken. really illustrates the problems we have with dinosaurs at the top that don't understand todays youth at all.

our whole game is infested with old farts that have no idea on how to connect with the 15-25 age bracket at all... and seemingly they are too proud or stupid to enlist the help of people that DO know how to connect with this age bracket.

 

[Paullyboy]

Without trying to get too off the original topic, this is the problem with a lot of sporting organisations. They employ ex-players for two reasons - 1. Because it's an old boys club already, and they employ each other, and 2. Because they seem to think people who have played the sport, would know how to run the sport.

I don't know Mario Fenech from a bar of soap, and he potentially could do a great job, but people like him are generally only good at one or two things and are terrible at the bigger picture type things.

 

[morri (cWo)]

as long as they have Covell as a left footer this game ill be impressed

 

[LESStar58]

To do this day I still play Rugby League 2, despite all the flaws, so if this is going to be an improvement than I will be cheering.

I became quickly fustrated with RL 2 but at the same time I was playing on PC. Now that I have a PS3 I expect it to be a vast improvemnt.

Between RLR, Force Unleashed 2 and Arkham Asylum I expect to be spending a fair bit on games towards the end of the year!

I

 

[Frailty]

Just so you know, Sidhe did give Red Ant a fair bit of their work to help them out...

... I wouldn't expect anything special...

Oh well... I, for one, was reasonably happy with Rugby League 3 on Wii (using remote and nunchuck).

 

[canberra_raiders2k2]

I dont understand how a game from 1995 (Jonah Lomu Rugby) was the last decent game of rugby. If any developer made a union or league game you would think that JLR would be the first game they played and basically the only game!

all this talk about not expecting much...then why the hell would anyone waste $100 on a game that no one is expecting much from.

These game developers cannot dish out crap and then wonder why there sales suck!

is the release in August?

 

[Joker's Wild]

I think it comes out in September bro

 

[Sleep]

I had both Rugby League 1 & 2. Had. They were both awful. I expect this to be the same.

EA Sports did ARL '96 way back when. It would be great if for whatever reason they decided to do another one and bought the rights. It'll never happen but a guy can dream.

ET's Rugby League & ARL 96 > RL1 & 2 and most likely RLL.

I understand the contraints and all. Just understand my opinion.

 

[Monk]

its Rugby League, even if it sucks ill play it to death and love every minute of it.

 

[Jono078]

I highly doubt that. There is no doubt in my mind that there will be moments where you're thinking 'WTF is this sh*t!?'

I'm waiting for a video to be released just to see how it all flows and looks, will get a better indication like that of what to expect.

 

[canberra_raiders2k2]

Also how crap was it in RL 1 and 2 when the fifth tackle pass went to a prop and he could manage a 40/20! or when you would do a step that would resemble a NHL skating move, or when the dummy half grabs the ball and either gets tackled right away or if you pass to either side of the field it always hits everyone but the playmakers.

Honestly as long as the game improves on last generation its a positive. Look at the NFL games, if we were to play madden 94 it would feel like garbage considering what it is at the moment, sure its over 10 years of progression but that is something we need. We dont need to be taking backward steps.

 

[renouf]

Are we likely to see anymore screenshots or a video before the release?