Direction of the Gaming Industry

[DarkRevent]

I work at VideoEzy (Aussie video rental chain), so, I have access to some of the latest games and the movies that don't make it to theaters. But it's the moments I get to think "where is this company/industry/actor/director/etc going?" that I think it really makes things worth while.

But it was when I saw a new game I hadn't see advertising for. And I was slightly taken back like when Yhatzee is gob smacked. A game called 'Battle for the Pacific' But, ANOTHER war game most likely *losely* based around World War II and what not. But that's not it. It was the fact that it is developed and distributed by THE HISTORY CHANNEL. Now, I love the history channel an was surprised.

Isn't new age technology along with falseness and lack of realism against THE HISTORY CHANNEL's main principle? Well, partly... But THE HISTORY CHANNEL is trying to fix this by creating a resolution. I now find myself curious and shale research this game both online and with the help of my trusty PS3...

I now leave it to my fellow gamers to discuss on where this might go. More realism to historical based combat games? does this mean MORE lack of realism by taking more past conflicts with soldiers that can take an attack from two AK-47s, a rocket launcher and poisonous spiders from the planet Zarg?? Who knows, lets discuss shale we?

 

[Fire Daemon]

Where will games go? They will go up.
If The History Channel is making games then that is sign that games are becoming more popular. While these games are not usually good they show that gaming has become popular, that many industries recognize the large size of gaming and are willing to invest in it.

By Investing in gaming the industry grows. If it grows more games are made and more people become gamers. More people become gamers then more games will be made. It?s like a circle.

I don't think this a good thing however. It might mean a large amount of Z grade games (M&M Go Karts FTL) that don't show the quality that gaming once had.

I think gaming will become very similar to movies. Nearly everyone will play games. People think that modern movies are lacking the quality of older movies. If anything I think that gaming will copy the movie industry.

 

[DarkRevent]

You do post a great opinion, and I agree with you. But, I do hate the fact that Z-grade games will develop. Damn big annoying corporate people...

 

[Fire Daemon]

You do post a great opinion, and I agree with you. But, I do hate the fact that Z-grade games will develop. Damn big annoying corporate people...

This is a double edged sword however. When gamming becomes popular then many more creative people will feel the attraction to become game developers.

 

[ingsoc]

Personally, the world is frightening and depressing enough in and of itself, with the exception of environments, I don't want realism in my games. Period.

 

[wilsonscrazybed]

There is certainly a predisposition for gamers to compare fps games by realism. For example there were a lot of proponents of BF2 used to claim it was the most realistic war game out there. While that opinion is debatable, I have noticed a recent trend in shooters to stick to what's realistic. Do games need more believable weapon recoil and bullet penetration?

Games, I think, have come about as far as they need to for mechanical realism. What producers are always going to struggle with is believable situations and evoking player reactions. I read somewhere that only a very small portion of soldiers in WWI ever fired their rifles effectively. How do you add that mechanic into a game? Realistic fear isn't something that people can infuse a game with because in the end your choices are limited and your actions don't have consequences that effect your life. Do people really want games where they fear so much for their life that they are afraid to poke their head out of the foxhole? No, right?

I remember when new FPS games lived or died on the originality of their weapons. And aside from the occasional gravity gun, you can't find an FPS without a common stock of assault rifles, shotguns, and pistols. In a mechanical sense, most games have pretty much peaked for realism. The real question is whether the stories these games tell can inspire the feelings that are real, rather than realistic.

 

[Jack Spencer Jr]

Realism? I don't know. Is realism fun?

 

[DarkRevent]

Realism can be fun; It can also be annoying when a game is built by a corporate giant. My brother has a DISNEY skateboarding game that has more product placing and advertising that what the TRANSFORMERS movie of '07! There's one mission where you have to collect mobile ringtones and the model of the Sony phone is rediculous. And there's a mission to deliver McDonald's food to the town inahitants! Which the delivery items are also menu specific!! What happened to DISNEY?!??!

Anyways, if this keeps up, I'm gonna have to train my 4-year-old brother into games for older kids just to help keep him away from kids game clutter Advertising.

 

[sammyfreak]

Realism can be fun; It can also be annoying when a game is built by a corporate giant. My brother has a DISNEY skateboarding game that has more product placing and advertising that what the TRANSFORMERS movie of '07! There's one mission where you have to collect mobile ringtones and the model of the Sony phone is rediculous. And there's a mission to deliver McDonald's food to the town inahitants! Which the delivery items are also menu specific!! What happened to DISNEY?!??!

Anyways, if this keeps up, I'm gonna have to train my 4-year-old brother into games for older kids just to help keep him away from kids game clutter Advertising.

Whats wrong with advertising? Sure it sucks when it gets in the way of a game, but does a 4 year old really care?

 

[Doug]

There is certainly a predisposition for gamers to compare fps games by realism. For example there were a lot of proponents of BF2 used to claim it was the most realistic war game out there. While that opinion is debatable, I have noticed a recent trend in shooters to stick to what's realistic. Do games need more believable weapon recoil and bullet penetration?

I think 'Red Orchestra' was more 'realistic'. Although lets be honest, any game were you get shot and don't notice aside from your health meter going down is not realistic. Further, I've never seen a gamer forced to train for playing a game for 2+ years before even seeing the real combat.

Games don't -need- massive amounts of realism, in my opinion. So long as a game is fun and gripping, I don't care if it has the wrong bullet velocity for an AK47. In fact, escapism is supposely the point of games and movies. Now, don't get me wrong - I liked Saving Private Ryan, but that wasn't realistic - send out a squad of men to rescue one guy because all his brothers are dead in a war were hundreds of thousands of men are being killed? That said, the combat was brutal and the d-day landings were so realistic that war veterns were apparently having flash backs and had to leave the movie.

In gaming terms, I think CoD4 has the best example - weapons and shooting are pseudo realistic, and it can be gripping to play (if tough and not without problems). Additionally...

Spoiler

The scene were the guy is dying of radiation - it was wholey necessary in gaming terms, but it was highly gripping and made a clear statement about what real nuclear war would entail.

So, there is a place for a level of realism in games. But at the same time, lets look at Team Fortress 2. A popular success without any connection to realism aside from gravity and 'bullets go fast'. Its highly stylised and has a world logic all its own. The movie approximation I'm thinking of is 'Sin City' - highly stylised visually, with its own world logic.

 

[Doug]

Whats wrong with advertising? Sure it sucks when it gets in the way of a game, but does a 4 year old really care?

I wonder that too - I didn't really care about the ads in BF2142, aside from the fact that EA lied when they said it'd pay for additional content and then made you pay for the Northern Strike content.

 

[DarkRevent]

A 4-year-old doesn't REALLY care (trust me, I know about 6 of them...) but I just don't want my brother being brainwashed into this. Sure he watches Jackass, Hellraiser, Saw, and loves video games and Transformers as I do; but I don't want him growing up thinking McDonald's and living on your phone are all life is about... Although I am starting to think that a lack of realism does help in some sense in which are the values I would allow him to form a decision on.

For example, the scene in 'Call Of Duty 4' where you become a guy dying in a nuclear explosion. As well as the views and political actions raised in 'Metal Gear Solid 4' ...

Then again, as I type this in all it's seriousness, he's on my bed watching Jackass 2 for the hundredth time, laughing his head off... Young children are funny... and awesome sometimes.
I love my brother

 

[sammyfreak]

A 4-year-old doesn't REALLY care (trust me, I know about 6 of them...) but I just don't want my brother being brainwashed into this. Sure he watches Jackass, Hellraiser, Saw, and loves video games and Transformers as I do; but I don't want him growing up thinking McDonald's and living on your phone are all life is about... Although I am starting to think that a lack of realism does help in some sense in which are the values I would allow him to form a decision on.

For example, the scene in 'Call Of Duty 4' where you become a guy dying in a nuclear explosion. As well as the views and political actions raised in 'Metal Gear Solid 4' ...

Then again, as I type this in all it's seriousness, he's on my bed watching Jackass 2 for the hundredth time, laughing his head off... Young children are funny... and awesome sometimes.
I love my brother

You do realise that everywhere you go you are surrounded by advertising? EVERYWHERE. You cannot run, you cannot hide. Resistance is futile.

As much as i hate (i cannot overstate how much i hate it) materialism i have to admit it is what makes our society tick. But i remember watching pokemon as a child (still do actually) and one could argue that it has more marketing then any other show in any form of media. "Gotta buy em all, gotta buy em all" was the show's tagline. And it definately drew me in, i spent 70-80% of my childhood money on pokemon related products. But i dont regret it.

If you really want your brother to escape consumerism then i recomend you kidnap him and move to some remote area completely abandoned by humanity and live in a hut. You also use the word Brainwashed incorrectly. You are talking about influence, all things around him influence him. Brainwash often includes torture, sleep deprival and constant bombardment of a certain message.

 

[Doug]

You cannot run, you cannot hide. Resistance is futile.

We are the media. Lower your scepticism. Your cultural and consumer tastes will be crushed and replaced by our own. Resistance is futile.

 

[DarkRevent]

Brainwashing has many forms, to as high as torture and as low as influence...

(I'm gonna be humorous now)
Resistance is futile [if < 1 ohm]