PS3 News: This Is Vegas Dead, A "Ridiculous Waste Of Money" - PS3 News

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This Is Vegas Dead, A "Ridiculous Waste Of Money"

Sometimes, we make an "oopsie." But when we're talking about this kind of money, "oops" doesn't even begin to describe it.

We've seen developers waste money on eventually defunct projects in this industry before, but if all the information is accurate, the death of This is Vegas takes the cake. As CVG reports, a "cast iron source" has said the anticipated Warner Bros. game has been canceled after three years of design time. The publisher closed the studio responsible - Surreal Software - earlier this year and quietly scattered the staff between Monolith and Snowblind; this was after Warner's 2009 purchase of part of Midway's assets for $33 million. Said the source in question:

"Apparently the entire This Is Vegas project has been totally canned. Midway spent in the region of $43 million up to the point when it was being sold to WB [July 2009]. Alan Patmore, who was [Surreal] studio boss, either left or was let go - but considering the resources and art created this is a lot of work down the drain.

It was moving along to a point where the title was on the [Warner] schedule for release late last year - but [development] still needed another eight months to a year to finish, with a studio burn rate of $250,000 per month."

What the...? So like, the whole thing would've cost $50 million and they had already spent $43 million? The source added that "it's a ridiculous waste of money" especially when you consider other projects that can make a profit with a tiny fraction of that cost. The source cites Konami's Saw, which saw profit with a budget of only $3 million. This is Vegas was supposed to have arrived for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC but as of now...it's gone.

Related Game(s): This is Vegas

Tags: this is vegas, surreal software, this is vegas release

8/25/2010 10:25:06 AM Ben Dutka

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Comments (29 posts)

WolfCrimson
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:39:04 AM
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Never heard of this game before. I'm guessing it was supposed to be GTA-clone set in Vegas?

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godsman
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 11:09:39 AM

I remember there was a trailer of a game in Vegas. I was really excited cause I expected some intense gambling. From the gameplay video, it looks like a mixture of Sims, Diner Dash, and GTA.

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Highlander
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:39:04 AM
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what genre of game was This Is Vegas? I don't remember it at all.

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:48:47 AM

Supposedly RPG-esque, but still action/adventure, I think.

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SvenMD
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 11:40:39 AM

So basically it was trying to do what all games are doing these days? Just mashing up all the genres to try and please everyone.

Glad it was canned...

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Highlander
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 12:50:12 PM

Hmm... that could have been interesting, especially if they did a good job with the character models for the show girls...

Well, it was based in Vegas, and as we all know, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. So it's no surprise that the game will not see the light of day...

;)

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Underdog15
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:48:58 AM
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"The source added that "it's a ridiculous waste of money" especially when you consider other projects that can make a profit with a tiny fraction of that cost."

Great... gotta love that mentality. /sarcasm/

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coverton341
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:53:39 AM
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I remember first hearing about this game when I was working holiday hours at Gamestop. That seems like a lifetime ago. It was an open world game that seemed like it was going to be exactly like GTA set in Vegas so it isn't a big loss to the gamers. To whoever shelled out that 43 million might disagree though.

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ffyfe7
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:53:46 AM
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Yeah I remember hearing about this game back in 2008, there was a 4 page report on it. I felt that I didn't look that interesting at the time. 8 Days To Vegas and Hei$t on the other hand.......

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kevinater321
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:58:07 AM
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I forgot about this game...too bad for the devs but honestly i wouldn't of bought it.

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godsman
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 11:11:47 AM

Games now just need a decent marketing and they will sell half a million copies. Core gamers like us probably consider it the gameplay and all, but casual gamers just look at the commercial and jump in.

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Deleted User
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 11:29:47 AM
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Too bad. As somebody who loves Las Vegas, warts and all, I wanted to play a video game with the world's most exciting city as its setting. It was supposed to have everything: gambling, clubbing, MMA, dating-sim aspects and GTA style gameplay.

Oh well, at least we have Fallout: New Vegas coming.

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Alienange
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 2:13:18 PM

Indeed we do. And heads will role!

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WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 2:32:46 PM

War... war never changes. I can't wait to knock down the gates to New Vegas.

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A2K78
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 12:00:53 PM
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To be honest, the didn't care about this game though its pretty sad that Surreal will never be making another Drakan as very much enjoyed both The Order of the Flame and The Ancient Gates.

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tridon
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 12:09:59 PM

Drakan: The Ancients' Gates was one of my absolute favourite PS2 games. After that, Surreal was sold to Midway and they made those horrible action-horror games, The Suffering.

I really wished Sony would've picked up Surreal to continue on with the Drakan series. I miss Rynn and Arokh very much so.

With that being said, I was looking forward to This Is Vegas for the simple fact that Surreal was behind it. The trailer looked pretty cool, that's for sure. It's quite unfortunate this well never see the light of day.

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JackC8
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 12:41:01 PM

I must have played Drakan the Ancient Gates at least 6 times. I loved that game. Sorry to hear the studio that made it doesn't exist any more.

Never heard of this Vegas game though.

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fluffer nutter
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 1:05:27 PM
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I remember hearing about this one for years, along with Heist. Whatever happened to that one? Did it finally get cancelled?

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Alienange
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 2:18:28 PM
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If you're buying Midway then you already don't know what you're doing so this is not really a surprise.

I'd say it's just another case of a large company trying to get in on the new trend but having the wrong people taking the lead.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 2:34:33 PM
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Never heard of it, it'll probably be years before I can get back to Vegas so maybe this is bad news. But if it sucked, then better to cut your losses and scrap it.

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NonProphet
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 3:38:12 PM
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I once took 5 tabs of LSD in Vegas. The experience would have made an interesting, terrifying game...though probably not easily duplicated.

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BikerSaint
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 4:18:53 PM
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Sooooo....

"What happened in Vegas, stayed in Vegas"

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Godslim
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 4:42:53 PM
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lol it looked pants anyway

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RebelJD
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 6:47:32 PM
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LMAO, this is pathetic. $43 million for a damn game that won't see the light? Pathetic.

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BikerSaint
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 10:01:17 PM
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For those who never saw it, or can't remember "This Is Vegas", here's a few old video's from 2008.....

"This Is Vegas" Debut Trailer (Feb 7, 08)
Get ready to put the sin back into Sin City!

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/debut-trailer-this-is/30360

Life in Vegas Trailer
(Apr 18, 08)
Keep the drinks flowing, the dance floor hot, and the losers out.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/midway-gamers-this-is/32993

"This is Vegas" Gameplay Video (Oct 29, 08)

http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/this-is-vegas/283396

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Lawless SXE
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 1:42:58 AM
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Aww, I did have a mild interest in this game way back when... alongside Eight Days. Seriously though, $43 million is a HUGE money sink. I kinda gotta feel sorry for the people who were investing in the project. Such is life.
Peace.

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hadouken
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 12:38:42 PM
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This is canceled lol. I barely saw anything on this game, so it doesn't bother me it's been canned.

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Knightedrik
Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 11:11:07 PM
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I hope Rockstar picks this up and gives it the "royal" treatment. ^^

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Lobosabio
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 3:22:39 PM
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http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Jan-02-Sun-2005/photos/lifestyle1.jpg

43 millions!!

look for that moron and don´t get back without the money.

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