Criterion (cockily) responds to Burnout Paradise criticisms

My only reaction after reading this was "Wow dick, full of yourself much?" This guy sounds like he's the next Derek Smart. I was going to buy this game next month based solely on my good experiences with Burnout 1 & Burnout 4 (never played 2 & 3), but after seeing how full of himself the lead designer is I think I'll wait and see what the reviewers say.

The lack of retry in the demo is pretty irritating. If they designed all the race courses in the final game so that the finish line is nearby the start line, it won't be a big deal. If they didn't, and they kept the punishing difficulty that's the hallmark of their series, then they totally screwed the pooch.

We all hate loading with a passion. I can't think of a single person who loves a game for its loading screen. But I'd prefer a thirty-second loading screen to a minute-and-a-half drive.

And i wondered if any in-industry arrogance would ever top that of Cliffy B

Burnout Paradise was on my "must buy list" for 08.
After the demo it went to "wait for reviews".
If something ain't broke, don't fix it!

This is burnout, not GTA. Open ended world?... that's just retarded. I'm the biggest Burnout fan around (I have every game there is) and I hated the demo. In fact, now I don't think I'll be picking this one up. It was no fun at all trying to figure out where in this city to drive to just to get a race going and if you loose you have to find your way all the way back to where it started. Plus you have to go the the mechanic shop to repair your car and fill it at the gas station??

Burnout is supposed to be unadulterated arcade mayhem, not a leisurely drive on the Jersey Turnpike!

How about they address the shitty framerate on the 360 version? With all these other gripes going around, I'm MOST disappointed that this is the first console Burnout that does not run at a perfectly smooth 60fps at all times.

I've been on the fence about this game, but that "love letter" to the fans from Criterion tipped me more towards "not buying".

My simple response to this idiot is I won't buy his game. Great way to promote your crap game douche bag.

I don't even think its worthy of a rent.

wow... just wow...

I didn't own any of the other Burnout games but I saw the videos for this, downloaded the demo, and absolutely LOVED it. Never before have I played a demo for more than a couple hours but I've got more playing time out of this than the ENTIRE Bioshock game - and I'm an FPS guy, not a racing guy! I heart the open-world environment - the burning route, if you take their path then yes the route takes about 1:20, but if you find a different route and take 2 shortcuts I've been able to get my time down to 0:58 - and that's not even the fastest possible time! I spent about 2 HOURS alone yesterday with a friend trying to get a particular jump (the double split ramp on the railroad near the auto repair onto the highway) and when we finally both pulled it off it was SO rewarding.

True, this is not a traditional racing game - but its not trying to be. It is trying to be a SEAMLESS experience - and it achieves that in spades.

My only complaints about the demo are: 1) lack of a retry option, but in the full game I seriously doubt that this will be a problem because of the glut of traffic lights and associated events: well I missed this one but oh look theres a new one right here lets try that! and 2) theres a couple inconsistencies with the physics/wrecking system, cars wreck just cause they're in a part of the map where they are not supposed to be.

To address a comment above about if the races' start and finish were close to each other than the lack of a retry wouldn't be so bad - you lack the whole point of this game. In a race, you don't HAVE to follow the path, and you don't HAVE to follow the same route as the other racers - you can choose to take a side street if you think it will get you to the finish faster than the other guys. Point is, the game could tell you to go in a circle, but if the start and finish were close to each other, no one would actually go in a circle - they'd just turn around and finish the race in 5 seconds, and that's not any fun is it?

WTF? The demo was pretty fun especially being able to go online and takedown other people. The game is still going to be the best arcade racer for next gen. Motorstorm was boring as hell, stopped playing after 15 minutes. Is their really framerate issues on 360? Haha now you now the pain of PS3 owners cuz it is smooth on PS3.

I'm a huge Burnout fan, but the demo sucks ass and i guess that means the game will suck too. Instead of actually creating a new game or just creating a ton of new tracks, it feels like they just connected the tracks from Revenge and now the tracks are really awkward. Also, I enjoy multiplayer here and there, but they made it seem like its part of the core gameplay now and that if you just want a calm race w/ the cpu, youre a pussy.

Screw that. Loading screens have been the bane of the franchise-- especially with the kind of action that you get in a single race. For all of you who want to retry faster: get better sooner.

Read that the other day. He can go ____ himself really. Well, that's not true. I'm sure he's very proud of his work and he's entitled to defend the choices they've made. I just won't be buying his product because I feel a "restart" option when you screw up an event is REALLY important in a game like this. 1 wrong turn and you have to drive like 3 miles back just to restart the event? No, that's just bad IMO and too frustrating to bother with. Nevermind that the puzzle Crash mode was my main draw to the series in the first place. This Burnout just isn't for me. Maybe next time.

I actually liked the demo and I think is great and actually other than Bioshock and Crysis I can't think on a beter demo,well Blue dragon was also awesome and Timeshift was great too.

I never played Half-life 2:episode 2 demo because I was too busy well playing Th eorange box.

"I think it's developer laziness."

Lazy developers. The only person who can say that without bursting out into laughter is someone who, 1) is under 15, or 2) has never held a job or run a business.

Lazyness doesn't factor into it. You'll all learn that when you grow up some day and actually work for a living.

The demo totally underwhelmed me, and made me re-think if I'm going to buy the game. I'll probably rent first.

I thought the demo was shit. I love Burnout 3 and Revenge, but this is crap. I won't be buying it. I won't be playing it. Best demo all year? Blow it out your ass.

Don't worry, when the time comes and demand is high enough to hurt their sales/reputation they'd just add a RETRY option via a patch - but hey maybe by then it'd be too late eh?...

I'm buying it - but I'm really hoping they get off their high horse and include a retry.

They hate loading screens with a passion but the demo takes longer to get into actual gameplay than any I've ever seen. Oh, and the demo kind of sucks. I miss old Burnout. This was like playing GTA without all the fun parts.

Add me to the list of "hate Paradise but loved all the other ones".

B2:Point of Impact & B3:Takedown were the pinnacles IMO. B1 laid the groundwork and Burnout Revenge was a good next gen followup, but this one is garbage. Who the hell wants to spend half the game driving around to find another race? The point of a RACING GAME is to RACE, not to DRIVE AROUND LOOKING FOR A DAMNED RACE TO RACE IN. Yep, we were all right...EA buys out Criterion and it doesn't take long for the series to start the inevitable turn to $#!t. Yay~! giant conglomerate corporations FTL >=(

nealbailey nailed it on the head:

"This is burnout, not GTA."

The demo was terrible, I hope the "awesomeness" of the game design bites Criterion in the ass. It's about what your fans want. You have a proven, tried and true formula, why ruin it? No one cares what an overpayed arrogant designer thinks YOUR NEW GAME EXPERIENCE should be.

Burnout = Ruined

Thanks Alex.