The game industry is dying

[Jeremy]

There's still plenty of creativity in gaming, you just have to look harder to find it nowadays.

[MarsKitten]

Well if business model is what you're worried about the music industry has the same problem. New talent is risky, old talent is bankable and formual success (nsync, 98', all boy bands...)
Yeah formual successes are teh "gay" to us pretenous game consumers but fuck they work. They make the cash cows of today. But as for new ideas and talent, tough shit for you. So long as there is money and some stupid hacks with "skillz" i doubt the industry is in trouble. Stupid corpate fuckwits yes. Trouble, no, but those who don't evolve are doomed to make Army Men games till the gamers cry out "No more!" That or someone makes a l33t mod for the game ^^

[Diff-chan]

No shit MarsKitten, the music industry does have the same problem. And look where it is at now! It is now crumbling before our very own eyes. If it doesnt reinvent itself, and turn into something totally different from what it is now, then that change will be forced upon it. Is this what will happen with the game industry in 10, 20, 30, whatever many years?

[MVS]

Meh, you'll all be giving money to the NintenNamCapSegaKonaSquare Zaibatsu in 5 years.

[Jeremy]

That'd be a fun name to see in an ad. "Coming soon, the NintenNamCapSegaKonaSquare Zaibatsu Station 2- it's slightly faster."

[Saint of Killers]

Originally posted by Andrew
A nose dive could, conceivably, do it good. (like the kick in the ass to a slacker)

Yeah, a crash would do wonders for the industry. Less money, less games, less developers, and less publishers willing to take a risk on something different. Sounds great.

[MVS]

The industry isn't going to crash, just become ever more mainstream. Best hold on to Rez and the like, they probably won't come again.

The Dog wags the tail, not you fuckers wagging the dog.

[piku]

But here's how i see the cycle. Revolution (spurred by technology, concepts, genres ect), expansion (countless knockoffs, sequels), consolidation (bad companies go under, good ones get bought up by the grandaddys), and refinement (the revolution is fine tuned and perfected, merged)
ie:
Revolution: Doom
Expansion: Rise of the Triad, Duke 3D, Doom2, Quake, Hexen, System Shock
consolidation: 3d realms drops off the face of the earth, ID devours development teams, Daikatana (lol), Quake 2

Refinement: Quake 3, Unreal Tourney and the evolutions of those.

I dunno i felt like a long post. The world will not end for gaming.

Very true about the cycles. However, that is the exact reason why gaming is going to be hitting some hard times soon: because of this one question:

What was the last title released that you would consider being under the revolution heading?

I mean seriously, could somebody name any genres that have been created recently? And I mean real genres, ones that can support the aforementioned cycles? Not that I have been super keen on gaming this generation (lack of money/time), but I can't think any genres have come out of this console generation so far.

[gamevet]

Originally posted by Klonoa
This is probably a stupid question but what causes gamers to be jaded because there are millions of them out there(including me).

They become jaded, when every game they purchase, plays just like the other 2 they bought before it. What happened to the innovation?


I really see this industry heading for trouble, much faster then some people think. The PS2 has managed to saturate the market with too many (Me too) games. How many versions of illegal street racing can you get? Or how about Golf game? Hot Shots Golf 3 is already in the bargain bins, because Tiger Woods 2003 is the next big title.


The very reason the console market crashed in the 80's, was because every guy on the planet was making a game, that was just like the last big seller on a console like Atari 2600. The Atari 5200 came out and it was, wow another version of Pac-Man, or hey it's Pole Position 2!


The home computer market (C-64,Apple II) became the place to play games after the consoles crashed, because software companies were taking chances. RPG's could be played, in what ever style you were looking for, Racers came in all shapes and styles, sports games from darts, to football could be played, and the best of the arcades were replicated in the home. A little company known as EA took a lot of chances and released new gaming ideas with titles like (Freefall's) Archon, SKyfox, and Seven Cities of Gold.



I think todays companies, need to make the extra effort, to find companies like the Interplays and Freefalls of the 80's and find those games which are taking a chance with innovation. Why gamers don't appreciate all the efforts Sega has made over the past 10 years, with innovative titles like Nights, REZ or Panzer Dragoon, is beyond me?

[AaronChance]

I think people are just playing the wrong games. I've just got into Dark Cloud 2 and I'm at the seven hour mark already. This game is a bargin at twice the price because it gives you so much to do and all of it is pretty fun. Heck, even the fishing is pretty neat.

Good games continue to be made, even if sometimes you need to look a bit harder for them.

PS - I don't consider gaming a hobby either. It's more like listening to music or watching a movie. Entertainment, which is a waste of time, but if I spent every moment being somehow productive I think I would lose my mind.