5 Reasons the Video Game Industry Is About to Crash

[gorfias]

5 Reasons the Video Game Industry Is About to Crash

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_20727_5-reasons-video-game-industry-about-to-crash.html#ixzz2nAyVxQDB

I'm mostly worried about Glut, but here are some of cracked's mussings.

1) CEOs that are money people, not gamers (Sci Fi is dead for gaming?!?!?)

2) Budgets have gone nuts. Any one flop can kill a studio. 1/2 a billion for Star Wars game?!?!

3) Publishers are gaming the reviewing system (Known that since gamestop editor got canned for his opinion).

4) You're always flying blind: you don't really know what your game will be like during early advertising.

5) The Industry Is Extremely Exploitative, and It's Driving Away Talent

 

[Corven]

One reason there won't be a crash, there are so many outlets and avenues for a developer to get their game released outside of signing a deal with a publisher that there will always be someone out there creating new games.

A company can fail, but the industry as a whole isn't going anywhere.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

lolcracked.

Pro source there, bro ¬_¬

The industry won't crash, this isn't the bloody 80's.
For once, I'd like to see some reasoned arguments, instead of knee jerk hyperbolic ramblings.

 

[gorfias]

lolcracked.

Pro source there, bro ¬_¬

The industry won't crash, this isn't the bloody 80's.
For once, I'd like to see some reasoned arguments, instead of knee jerk hyperbolic ramblings.

I started a thread about glut: that I can get 3-10 games from www.humblebudle.com for under $5 on a regular basis. I have more games than I have time to play. Posters did point out that I buy $60 games anyway, which is comforting in that, if I'm that nuts (and I am) others are as well, buying games and keeping the industry going.

EDIT Just got 6 games for $1.00 US.

https://www.humblebundle.com/weekly I'll never play it all. Hope they don't go out of business before I can make use of it all.


As for Cracked, I love their site. They often mix humor with real facts (such as history: example, last words of amazing tough people... they may be funny, but they're true). Much of the bitching in this column is accurate, but not necessarily anything to be done about it. Movies try now and again to go on the cheap. While once in a while they hit on a Pulp Fiction (in initial release, earned 10x cost of only $7 million, but $70 mil for big budget film, $70 is a failure) but for the most part? They need to spend money to make money. The best stuff is going to cost a lot.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

The industry won't crash. Big publishers are in danger, though. That's why companies like EA are trying to improve their image. The fact that they were voted the worst company in America twice in a row means nothing to them by itself. The fact that it has negative effects on their stocks does. They're trying to change their image because they're finally realizing that being assholes is bad for business. How much brain mass did they gain remains to be seen.

 

[gorfias]

The industry won't crash. Big publishers are in danger, though. That's why companies like EA are trying to improve their image. The fact that they were voted the worst company in America twice in a row means nothing to them by itself. The fact that it has negative effects on their stocks does. They're trying to change their image because they're finally realizing that being assholes is bad for business. How much brain mass did they gain remains to be seen.

EA is one of those companies I hope does well in spite of their lousy business practices. I have so much of their stuff on my Origin account.

Even as a bad company, they do sooooooo much right. Playing Battlefield 4 campaign and it is just so much fun.

 

[Tom_green_day]

The music industry is all about the money, and relating that to your points
1) In the music industry, even the people making music are in it for the money. If they say otherwise, bullshit!
2) With the unnecessary effects used in studio, and the low money made from albums, lots of artists are uneconomical with their recording techniques.
3) Actually, music reviews are pretty much ignored. Otherwise metal and indie would be pretty much dead.
4) You don't know what music will sound like before it comes out. Like Green Day's new 3 albums, they had quite a large marketing campaign by music's standards and they were awful.
5) Talent? In popular music? Good joke. Unless playing a guitar fast counts as talent, pop music is renown for requiring little talent, from Bieber to Metallica and everything in between.
Yet has music crashed? Nope.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

One reason there won't be a crash, there are so many outlets and avenues for a developer to get their game released outside of signing a deal with a publisher that there will always be someone out there creating new games.

A company can fail, but the industry as a whole isn't going anywhere.

Okay, listen here, just because the theoretical crash won't be as big as '83, doesn't mean it's not going to count as a CRASH. Remember, there have been SEVERAL stock market crashes ever since the end of WWII even if they weren't as big as the BIG ONE. Will something the size of '83 happen? Probably not, but if one of the big three console manufacturers gets out or a major publisher collapses. It would cause a big vacuum and thus a paradigm shift. Heck, the writer even says this:

"The result of all of this isn't that games are going away -- it's just that the industry may look very different a few years from now. That might not be a bad thing."

The industry won't go anywhere, but that doesn't mean that a crash can't happen.

 

[Siyano_v1legacy]

mainstream AAA company games crash? a possibility.
Indie Dev: more strong than ever.
The trend I see from my perspective is that more and more smaller developer are breaking through this huge market and get praise for their work, just look at the best 2012-3, Mark of the Ninja, Isaac, FTL, Terraria, Spelunky, Fez and many others.
I think all the market is changing more and more toward "pay what you want" or very different price from the usual 60$, from humble bundle, sales, indie games, who would want to pay a full price of 60$ unless you are not patient or they are AAA cash games (COD 4!?).

 

[gargantual]

I'd say te responses are right. The only thing thats nearing death is the old media publishing model. The internet , the price of avg connections upload and dl speeds continue to devalue the power of middle men over creators intellectual properties. All they are selling is prestige' marketing and connections since IP has no burden at all on copying and distribution. The pubs dont want to admit that its that time again to discuss what distribution and copyright mean in a new age.

 

[Hap2]

Good article, good arguments. While gaming won't be going away anytime soon, the old business model does look to be heading towards a crash. If anything, it'll mean the loss of some of the bigger publishers and companies, with the indies and smaller time developers taking their place. Which isn't a bad thing either, if it means less bloated budgets, less linear, shallow, repetitive gameplay and more creative experiences.

 

[lacktheknack]

Cracked's "Everything Is Doomed" columns are hilarious in content and in concept. And they're always wrong.

I'll just address one point because it annoys me, there is no "flying blind" in this day and age unless you go to great lengths to ignore literally every bit of news on every game. If you don't pre-order (and why would you do that?), then you'll find it extremely hard to be burned by a bad game, because the bad reviews always get out within an hour. I've not been burned by buying a bad game in years.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Those aren't 5 reason why the industry will crash, it's simply 5 reasons why it can kinda suck.

You literally have the exact same issues in the movie industry.

 

[KissingSunlight]

I really see game console industry crashing. At the very least, current leaders in the industry going away. The main reason is that most of them are more concerned about making entertainment center than video game consoles. The biggest offender is Xbox One. If someone comes out with an affordable console with killer apps of original games. I can see at least one of the industry leaders closing their video game console department.

 

[gorfias]

I only see this crash happening for big budget cinematic games, niche and indie games will be fine.

 

[MysticSlayer]

5 Reasons the Video Game Industry Is About to Crash

I'm mostly worried about Glut, but here are some of cracked's mussings.

Come on, the guy was obviously trying to market his Kickstarter project (which is an abysmal state right now) and is using an inflammatory article that preys on a (fear-based) hot topic in the gaming community right now. To top it all off, the article is really just a re-hash of current knowledge (and conspiracies) that don't really show how a game crash is inevitable, just that the guy needed to fill up more space to look good for his over-long Kickstarter advertisement. Just click on the first link and you'll quickly understand what this whole article was for. Anyways...

1) CEOs that are money people, not gamers (Sci Fi is dead for gaming?!?!?)

That's not evidence of a crash, and he never really shows how it is at all. I could just as easily say that the outside perspective helps them more easily prevent failures from getting through just because it "sounds like a good idea" and that we at least getting some good games rather than a few great flops that will lead to a crash. That possibility just isn't as popular and easy to use in an advertisement is all.

2) Budgets have gone nuts. Any one flop can kill a studio. 1/2 a billion for Star Wars game?!?!

A single(?) flop. Man, Square Enix must have gone under years ago. No wonder we haven't heard a single thing about Final Fantasy XV or Kingdom Hearts III in years...

Joking aside, this is a legitimate concern, but does he ever bother to question what is causing development costs to skyrocket or how gamer demands may play a role? Of course not, because that's bad advertising for Kickstarter. It's just easier to tell everyone what they already know without bothering to offer a solution, and it also sounds good.

3) Publishers are gaming the reviewing system (Known that since gamestop editor got canned for his opinion).

He uses three extreme examples, two of which (Ghosts and ME3) are bad ones at that. Seriously, CoD always gets review-bombed by major fans and it has been since Modern Warfare 3 at least, and ME3 just received an insane amount of hate for the ending alone. Everyone knows about these and how they can lead to major disparities. The only one that really is a decent acknowledgement is the Rome II: Total War example. Well, I guess the reference to SimCity is decent.

But, again, he really doesn't show how this is harming the industry or that gamers (outside of the most cynical ones) are seriously suffering for this. It's just a "Yeah, I understand you" message meant to help advertise his Kickstarter campaign.

4) You're always flying blind: you don't really know what your game will be like during early advertising.

Yes, because citing Aliens: Colonial Marines, the most extreme example of false advertising in the AAA industry in the last few years, is really proof that the game industry is doomed. It does make for good advertising, though, because he is essentially telling others, "Hey, what you see on my Kickstarter page is certainly what you are getting."

5) The Industry Is Extremely Exploitative, and It's Driving Away Talent

Eh, understandable complaint, but he still needs to show how this is leading to a crash rather than just telling people that he isn't be exploitative on the project his failing Kickstarter campaign is meant to fund.

 

[Zenn3k]

5 Reasons the Video Game Industry Is About to Crash

Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_20727_5-reasons-video-game-industry-about-to-crash.html#ixzz2nAyVxQDB

I'm mostly worried about Glut, but here are some of cracked's mussings.

1) CEOs that are money people, not gamers (Sci Fi is dead for gaming?!?!?)

2) Budgets have gone nuts. Any one flop can kill a studio. 1/2 a billion for Star Wars game?!?!

3) Publishers are gaming the reviewing system (Known that since gamestop editor got canned for his opinion).

4) You're always flying blind: you don't really know what your game will be like during early advertising.

5) The Industry Is Extremely Exploitative, and It's Driving Away Talent

PS4 has sold over 2 million units, XBONE has sold over 2 million units. These consoles are the fastest selling of all time.

There isn't going to be a crash with that much install base.

 

[Erttheking]

I can see some AAA companies going under as they collapse under their own weight, but the indie scene seems stronger then ever, especially with steam greenlight and Kickstarter starting to bear fruit, and publishers and devs that keep their budgets reasonable (In other words companies like 2K) I think would make it just fine.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Spoiler

I think what's happening is a lot of people are really really tired or discontent with a lot of what's going on in the industry and they really really want it to crash because of that, just to show 'em meanies they can't get away with tits and shooters. The fact remains people keep buying what they keep selling. So the competition between a select couple is heavily publicized, big deal. They're not losing any money are they? Companies come and go, they merge, they disband, they change names, they pursue other venues. The industry isn't going anywhere.

1) CEOs that are money people, not gamers (Sci Fi is dead for gaming?!?!?)
Of course CEOs are money people. It's right there in the title! "Chief Executive Officer"! Not Creative Director, not Concept Artist, but an exec officer!

2) Budgets have gone nuts. Any one flop can kill a studio. 1/2 a billion for Star Wars game?!?!
I don't remember the last flop that killed a studio. Worst case scenario, a producer cuts a studio off for producing said flop. Or a bigger studio absorbes devs. Big deal.

3) Publishers are gaming the reviewing system (Known that since gamestop editor got canned for his opinion).
Have done so for as long as there's been an industry and will continue to do so.

4) You're always flying blind: you don't really know what your game will be like during early advertising.
Are you speaking for the people who make the games or for the gamers? Because the devs know what they want.

5) The Industry Is Extremely Exploitative, and It's Driving Away Talent
What talent, Phil Fisch? Good riddance.