Whether that means surviving on high quantity, low quality games, or low quantity, but high quality, remains to be seen. I would hope it's the latter, since that's something that seems to be missing from the market right now. There hasn't been a proper, massive blockbuster IP title for quite a while now. Most of the major titles released are either remakes, or sequels to already established games.
There hasn't been a proper, massive blockbuster IP title for quite a while now. Most of the major titles released are either remakes, or sequels to already established games.
That seems to be the trend as of late, not only with video games, but films too. When was the last original film you saw? Everything we seem to be getting now is either a sequel / prequel or is based on a comic (Batman, Ironman, Avengers), a cartoon (Transformers, Smurfs), board games (Battleship), book (Twilight, 3 Musketeers, Hunger Games) or fairytale (Red Riding Hood, Snow White & The Huntsman).
You're right though. I saw a chart earlier this week, showing the top selling movies. In 2011, only one of the five movies wasn't a sequel or remake. It seems there's a heavy need for innovation on both markets, or people will end up growing tired of the same movies and games.
You're right though. I saw a chart earlier this week, showing the top selling movies. In 2011, only one of the five movies wasn't a sequel or remake. It seems there's a heavy need for innovation on both markets, or people will end up growing tired of the same movies and games.
Sega cancelling games and cutting jobs, GAME going into administration with Gamestation possibly following, lockout software on next gen so that preowned games can't be played...
This is the Gamers Apocalypse!!!
And this is bad? The industry needs to crash. Get rid of the crooked businessmen that caused it.
Seriously, my "Gamers Apocalypse" happened years ago. I haven't bought new in months, and I have no interest in future or current new titles. I'm too wary of publishers screwing with the titles (which they always do).
Also, entertainment industry stagnation is due to a fear of failure by the distribution companies during this crap economy. Why take risk on untested IPs? Why not milk the successful ones? Doesn't help that they're wasting money on policing the internet as well.
You know why the industry fails for the same reason I do: They've been buying each other up. This is what happens when an industry runs out of resources: they buy each others stockpiles.
In the case of gaming, the stockpile you're buying - the pool you're dipping into - is one of ideas, talent and reputation. And looking at the state of games, it's clear that the pool's gotten awfully shallow. When's the last time you found a decent story in gaming? Not even an original one, a decent one? When's the last time you saw a decent interface? That is to say not one that was developed in the 90s for the limitations of the technology available at the time....
Looking at gaming brings to mind a section by one of my favourite comedy guys:
Spoiler:
I'm kinda out of shit. Not in this set, I mean I have some stuff I put on paper. But in the long term, I think I'm outta shit. [I'm] fucking cannibalizing my own— seventeen years, how much more do you have to say? If I die soon, don't ever say I died too young. [...] Every time an artist dies young- Kurt Cobain, or whatever, there's always the people "It's so sad, he had so much more to give." — How do you know? Maybe he was out of shit. How do you know? He's done. He got all the money, he did all the drugs, he fucked all your holes. And that's the American Dream, and when you're done with that you go "Oh, that's why they call it a dream. — It's bullshit, I'm still empty." And he cashed out. How do you know what any artist had left? How do you know if Jimi Hendrix hadn't had died he wouldn't have wound up doing Superbowl half-time duets with Elton John right now?
- No Refunds, Doug Stanhope
For a while now, the gaming industry has been out of shit. You know when gaming started it was a 'people programming in their mother's loft' kind of thing. And in a way its been vampiric on much of the original creativity that was around in the late 80s and early 90s ever since. It's time for the old studious to die and for the next generation to step up - the artery they've been suckling at is dry.
There's still people being creative. Video games are just getting movie size budgets now which means the stakes are higher so people are scared to take a chance on anything new. So there's a lot of sequels just like there are in movies. If you're expecting EA or any large publisher to drop $100 million developing anything revolutionary you're probably going to be disappointed.
I think the focus of big budget games is more about creating nice engines/good graphics or something along those lines. Improving in that regard is a pretty safe investment for companies because people are always going to want to play a newer, more powerful engine. But improvement in the way of story telling or pioneering a new genre is more the domain of smaller studios that can afford to take risks and experiment. That's where people should look for innovative games. There are things like kickstarter too, where you can pledge to help develop the games you want.
"you know what else is a knee slapper? America's dong."
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