The #gameethics hashtag

[FirstBlood]

We all do. That's not the point YOU IDIOT.

[Yoshi]

Aren't you the biggest Uncharted fan here?

I thought it was pretty clear that games with stories wasn't what I was talking about, especially after the Bioshock post. I meant all of the peripheral bullshit that comes along with Hollywood.

[bVork]

None of the Uncharted games rise above mediocre for me, though 3 is the best out of them.

Anyway.

The game industry is not a zero-sum game. Wider audiences and more people making games does not automatically mean less games that appeal to you. People yelling that you shouldn't play something for <reasons> are a problem because they can scare away developers, but an easily solved one by letting your voice be heard that you WILL play those games. The mere existence of more people playing and making games cannot be a bad thing.

[A Robot Bit Me]

Bullshit like... like critical treatment?

[Yoshi]

The game industry is not a zero-sum game. Wider audiences and more people making games does not automatically mean less games that appeal to you. People yelling that you shouldn't play something for <reasons> are a problem because they can scare away developers, but an easily solved one by letting your voice be heard that you WILL play those games. The mere existence of more people playing and making games cannot be a bad thing.

Disagree. The sales needed for a game to be considered a success have grown alongside the user base. Thus, if a genre or style is only able to sustain flat sales over time, it will eventually be considered a failure and die out. See shooters and survival horror over the last decade or even 2D games that aren't in the lazy retro style.

[Yoshi]

Bullshit like... like critical treatment?

I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "critical treatment." To me, that phrase implies reviews that are as objective as possible, but from the context, I doubt that is what you mean.

[bVork]

I don't think so. In fact, I think the opposite has never been truer: the rise of easy independent distribution means that we are currently getting lots of games in once-dormant genres like space sim, turn-based CRPG, and arcade racing. (Okay, so the lattermost wasn't entirely dead, but there have been precious few in recent years focused on racing rather than Burnout-style car combat.) The fact that there ARE audiences out there who aren't being served by the major AAA publishers means that other people are stepping up to the plate. I see no reason why this will suddenly stop.

[Yoshi]

I don't think so. In fact, I think the opposite has never been truer: the rise of easy independent distribution means that we are currently getting lots of games in once-dormant genres like space sim, turn-based CRPG, and arcade racing. (Okay, so the lattermost wasn't entirely dead, but there have been precious few in recent years focused on racing rather than Burnout-style car combat.) The fact that there ARE audiences out there who aren't being served by the major AAA publishers means that other people are stepping up to the plate. I see no reason why this will suddenly stop.

I suspect you're referring mostly to crowd sourced games (Star Citizen, Wasteland 2, etc.). Let's see if that model is actually sustainable.

[YellerDog]

I imagine it's more sustainable than AAA, which continues to eat more developers every hardware generation.

[Yoshi]

Your imagination has likely served you well in your art.