[janh]

Slightly off topic, but along the lines of the above, and kind of reminiscent of the SHV drama. Almost funny to see such a repeat by a different company.

Just out of curiosity I read a review article about the new Mafia II. Off genre, but obviously the tenor could have been "copied" from SHV. Lack of features and functionality, linearity of story, poor physics simulation and purely optical damage model for cars, incomplete character development and empty cities,... sounds like another overly ambitious project that matches the above discussion.
Now it is no longer surprising that they did not widely distribute the game for previews before release... Which per se is already a huge stop sign.

I get the impression that the games, to evolve much further without only touching up the graphics (and pretty alone appears to be insufficient to make people happy), will in the future need much more time and resources. To make that happen, companies need to either accept reduced margins (and if you look in Ubi's last three or four yearly sales reports, there is a lot of earning that might better be turned into game development funds rather than dividends...), or increase the price. I assume most of us would be willing to pay 30-50% more, if, but only if, the quality and novelty criteria are truly met.