To be honest, what we see now is more similar to the movie industry really, where a number of huge leaders begin to dominate.
We really aren't seeing the same kind of drop or anger as happened during the big gaming crash.
Gaming has been dying for quite awhile. Same as the Music and Movie Industry. At-least in my opinion anyway.
[QUOTE=wraithcat;39901350]To be honest, what we see now is more similar to the movie industry really, where a number of huge leaders begin to dominate.
We really aren't seeing the same kind of drop or anger as happened during the big gaming crash.[/QUOTE]
the anger is there, but sort of under the surface right now.
i don't think our industry is leading into a oligarchy either. with successes like minecraft(and the billion clones), braid, angry birds, etc., indie games are becoming more and more important to the industry. i think that we may have a more varied choice of games over time, or these up-and-coming indie companies might actually wrest control of the industry from stagnant companies like ea.
i do believe something is changing in the gaming industry. it might not be as dramatic as the 80s, but these companies are stagnating.
Saw this on /v/ some days ago.
[IMG]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/80170680/facepunch/2013-03-09%2023.54.44.jpg[/IMG]
It's not so much the crash of gaming as it is the (slow) realization that making games ooze AAA-ness at every corner is a strategy that is eating studios from inside out
A lot of the really great older game companies started off relatively small , basically indie by today's standards, Blizzard for instance, Valve too.
These people were wholly dedicated to what they loved, what they were passionate about, which is making videogames. Now both of them are massive companies with millions of dollars and hundreds of employees.
Over time they grew into the monsters we have today where companies have started to lose focus for a number of reasons, the biggest I think is that a lot of people are now in the industry because it was extremely profitable at the time and they wanted a piece of that, they aren't very passionate about videogames themselves.
More and more of these types of people have appeared, and they lord over the designers and developers.
Crushing deadlines, horrible management, profit mongering, major problems. This is why I get a little upset when people say "Well duh EA/Activision/Valve/THQ is a business they are there to make money."
It's as if that's all these companies care about anymore, they've really strayed far from their purpose, to provide their consumers with a unique product worth their money.
You can't really blame developers anymore since it's not their fault if the managers/CEO/shareholders won't let Sim City have an offline mode or if Treyarch wants to try something radically different to the COD formula.
Partly why indie groups can put out some truly amazing and original stuff is because they are 100% dedicated to making videogames.
There's no "we can't put this in the game because it only appeals to X demographic who is 5% smaller than Y demographic, decreasing the estimated profit."
10 guys wouldn't destroy their lives, health, and savings for 4 years if they weren't passionate about trying to do something no one else has done before.
Look at Perspective, its pretty much the most original thing I've seen since Portal and both of those were made by an indie team, although with Portal getting picked up by Valve.
These are just my opinions and its by no means the definite reason the industry is in a downfall but I really think this is a major problem with many companies out there.
No crash.
Big companies have figured out how to pump out money making games, games that are perfected at making a lot of money.
They play it safe, games cost a SHITLOAD more now(marketing is a big reason why) when it comes to Triple A.
Sort of like Hollywood, its rehashes, reimagines, or sequels, all movies that play it safe.
But I think people see this amount of shit pumped out of big companies as the death of gaming but forget to realize we are at a point where pushing the game industry forward is a lot harder than it was and big triple A companies are more about making money back on there initial investment.
But people forget that regardless of all the shitty games and rehashes, there will always be games that stand out and do well.
Bioshock Infinite is a really good example of a Triple A company making a fresh new thing and doing something other than making a game for just money, Dishonored was another one, same with Dark Souls.
So these games always give me hope that the industry isnt going to become shit because there will always be these amazing Triple A games, they are far and few between but I think that makes them better.
Also Indie companies, unlike indie movies, indie games have a much better chance to shine, sure you wont get that 50 million budget shine of a triple A but your gonna get a fun game that is different from the rehashed and dull $60 AAA games.
There will never be another video game crash, people forget how big the industry is and how well its doing, once next gen hits get ready for another boom.
Very interesting.
I would've listed Eidos under the 'people that are still doing their job fairly well' too, tho.
i don't see how some people can blame developers and publishers
you're the guys who keep buying their stupid shit
Remember the huge hype for games like Halo 3 and GTA IV? You never see that any more.
I don't see the industry crashing again. It's too massive and varied at this point. What could very well happen though is that big companies who rely on AAA-level titles such as EA could crash and burn badly. Especially if people actually start buying their games less. Companies such as Valve and Nintendo likely will stay around (Nintendo may not have recovered from the recession yet but I don't really see them dying off soon or easily. Their games are still fun, if a bit less inspired at the moment than we've come to expect but they're still better than the garbage companies like EA release.) but a company such as EA could very well tank and either completely obliterate themselves or reduce themselves to a mere shadow of their former selves.
I'm not an economist or anything, so I really can't say any educated thing about crashing, but from my, a consumers point of view the industry was in a better shape for me a few years back.
[QUOTE=JCDentonUNATCO;39902261]A lot of the really great older game companies started off relatively small , basically indie by today's standards, Blizzard for instance, Valve too.
These people were wholly dedicated to what they loved, what they were passionate about, which is making videogames. Now both of them are massive companies with millions of dollars and hundreds of employees.
Over time they grew into the monsters we have today where companies have started to lose focus for a number of reasons, the biggest I think is that a lot of people are now in the industry because it was extremely profitable at the time and they wanted a piece of that, they aren't very passionate about videogames themselves.
More and more of these types of people have appeared, and they lord over the designers and developers.
Crushing deadlines, horrible management, profit mongering, major problems. This is why I get a little upset when people say "Well duh EA/Activision/Valve/THQ is a business they are there to make money."
It's as if that's all these companies care about anymore, they've really strayed far from their purpose, to provide their consumers with a unique product worth their money.
You can't really blame developers anymore since it's not their fault if the managers/CEO/shareholders won't let Sim City have an offline mode or if Treyarch wants to try something radically different to the COD formula.
Partly why indie groups can put out some truly amazing and original stuff is because they are 100% dedicated to making videogames.
There's no "we can't put this in the game because it only appeals to X demographic who is 5% smaller than Y demographic, decreasing the estimated profit."
10 guys wouldn't destroy their lives, health, and savings for 4 years if they weren't passionate about trying to do something no one else has done before.
Look at Perspective, its pretty much the most original thing I've seen since Portal and both of those were made by an indie team, although with Portal getting picked up by Valve.
These are just my opinions and its by no means the definite reason the industry is in a downfall but I really think this is a major problem with many companies out there.[/QUOTE]
i think a large part of it is that companies like ea and activision are now publicly held. they are accountable to shareholders and investors who want to extract profit from the company. this means that these game development studios are no longer run by people who want to make great games, but run by a board of directors and ceo that is more interested in the ability to quickly turn profit.
valve, a private company, is able to avoid the heavy deadlines and investor pressure. their games and software updates are often slower, but valve tends to produce better quality products simply because the development of software is lead by people who are passionate about developing software.
[QUOTE=Plaster;39902079]Saw this on /v/ some days ago.
[IMG]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/80170680/facepunch/2013-03-09%2023.54.44.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
Actually, Activision was around since before the first videogame crash, and I'm pretty sure it would survive another one
[QUOTE=Scot;39902922]Remember the huge hype for games like Halo 3 and GTA IV? You never see that any more.[/QUOTE]
GTA V is pretty hyped surely?
Does anyone have a link to the Forbes article mentioned in the video?
The main reason people think that the gaming industry is dying is because they buy into sensationalistic information that propagates the belief that large publishers are the devil, they have a biased source of information, and thus have a biased outlook on the state of affairs.
[QUOTE=mixshifter;39903185]GTA V is pretty hyped surely?[/QUOTE]
Nowhere near the level of IV. I remember it was on the news quite a lot.
it's a huge money making industry i dont think it's dying. you're a damn fool if you think it is.
Also I like how the video never mentioned how badly the Wii U is failing.
[QUOTE=Scot;39903404]Nowhere near the level of IV. I remember it was on the news quite a lot.[/QUOTE]
im pretty sure it was on the news at release because it sold the most copies on its first day than any other media.
and people think video games are dying wtf people
[QUOTE=HybridTheroy;39903416]im pretty sure it was on the news at release because it sold the most copies on its first day than any other media.
and people think video games are dying wtf people[/QUOTE]
GTA IV came out almost five years ago.
[QUOTE=Scot;39903404]Nowhere near the level of IV. I remember it was on the news quite a lot.[/QUOTE]
We don't have much to get hyped about at this point. When they start releasing details and video gameplay hype will go through the roof.
[QUOTE=HybridTheroy;39903406]it's a huge money making industry i dont think it's dying. you're a damn fool if you think it is.[/QUOTE]
They only think it's dying because they don't like the games that are popular (why they don't like them can range from simple bandwagon to more serious concepts such as maturation and not really liking video games as much as they once did), such thoughts pertaining to the death of a popular form of media are really self-centric, usually following the logic of "all games suck, grr", which is not an objective truth at all. The gaming industry will never crash, too much money, too many people, partake in it. The ones that think it is crashing just never adapted to the new markets that video games reach, in a general sense.
[QUOTE=legolover122;39903433]We don't have much to get hyped about at this point. When they start releasing details and video gameplay hype will go through the roof.[/QUOTE]
My point isn't confined to simply the GTA series. Halo 4's launch was nothing like 3's, I never even knew it had released.
[QUOTE=HybridTheroy;39903416]im pretty sure it was on the news at release because it sold the most copies on its first day than any other media.
and people think video games are dying wtf people[/QUOTE]
And CODs been doing that every year consecutively since MW2 as well, seriously.
I think it will crash because quite simply the business practices of the major publishers are not sustainable.
[QUOTE=zombojoe;39903464]I think it will crash because quite simply the business practices of the major publishers are not sustainable.[/QUOTE]
Considering that most major publishers make an extraordinary amount of money without showing a yielding, I'm sure they are very sustainable.
[QUOTE=parsimony;39903438]They only think it's dying because they don't like the games that are popular (why they don't like them can range from simple bandwagon to more serious concepts such as maturation and not really liking video games as much as they once did), such thoughts pertaining to the death of a popular form of media are really self-centric, usually following the logic of "all games suck, grr", which is not an objective truth at all. The gaming industry will never crash, too much money, too many people, partake in it. The ones that think it is crashing just never adapted to the new markets that video games reach, in a general sense.[/QUOTE]
Yeah its facepunch, I know.
but given all the great games, tools, and platforms that are coming out, or have just come out. this industry isn't losing momentum any time soon.
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