Do you hope for an industry crash?

[BrotherRool]

This is terrible logic. Firstly loads and loads of people lose their jobs in a crash so hoping for one is bad.

Secondly there would be an entertainment black hole for years whilst we waiting for companies to slowly grow to fill the void.

Thirdly, when there's no money in games less people will try to become game developers, game developers will leave the industry because there are no jobs here and stable teams that have learned to work efficiently with each other will break up. So quality of games and our ability to produce quality games will go down

But most importantly, if a company is more competent, then that would be defined by their ability to outcompete the less competent people. So you wouldn't need a crash because they'd be making like Valve or CD Projekt and scoring huge profits, growing rapidly and building up a solid fanbase. If you can't do well as a company until EA dies, then it probably means that things aren't going to better under them than EA

 

[Do4600]

Something is going to change within the next generation, like j-e-f-f-e-r-s said, triple-A gaming is just not sustainable.

Some people argue the pressures that caused the crash of 1983 no longer exist, but I'd say they still do and we are seeing a situation similar to that now.

Take Pac-man for the Atari 2600, it was rushed out and nowhere near as good as the arcade version. Atari estimated a huge number of sales but the quality of the rushed game drove away customers and they ended up selling half of their sales expectation. Doesn't this sound oddly familiar?

The main reason for the 1983 crash was the loss of customer confidence because of an explosion and saturation of new independent console manufacturers mixed with a drop in game quality from the best known producers of video games.

In essence Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 crashed gaming, nobody knew what was worth buying after that, if even Pac-Man is bad what could be good?

I really wonder if Simcity is EAs last fuck up before they truly decline in the same way, I mean really what haven't they fucked up as of late and what can we trust them not to fuck up within the next few years?

All we need is a few more consoles to enter the market at the same time as Sony and Microsoft(like the Piston and Ouya) for their projected sales to fall short and few rushed games on the magnitude of Simcity and we might very well be in a situation close to the 1983 crash.

I don't think we'll see that kind of a crash though, it all depends on how the industry reacts to the problem of rising costs and no security in sales numbers.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

No, I don't hope for a crash.

How am I supposed to get a job if the industry crashes?

 

[somonels]

Yes, I certainly hope for the monoliths to fall.
As some guy from a MUD once said: "I await the the end, **** in hand."

Captcha: yes, "here's johnny" indeed

 

[Genocidicles]

The only games I'm looking forward to are all on Kickstarter so they'll be unaffected by a crash.

The games that would be affected by the crash would be the bland, homogenized pieces of shit that are trying to ape Call of Duty, which need millions of people buying them.

The publishers affected would be scum like EA and Activision, who routinely try to dick their customers over.

So yeah, I'd like a crash to happen. I know it's not going to happen though.

 

[Marik Bentusi]

Nope, I hope the industry simply learns and grows. If I have to choose between a) industry crash where tons of people lose their job and see their dreams shattered with the possibility of smaller, more focused, better games and b) no industry crash where I get these games more rarely from non-mainstream sources like Kickstarter or indie bundles, the choice isn't a hard one for me.

 

[templar1138a]

I am not excited about nor dreading an industry crash. I am just expecting it due to the incompetence of AAA publishers.

Besides, we won't be deprived of games after such a crash. After all, the independents won't be affected except for increased revenue and crowd funding. Not to mention that most of us have a collection of our old favorites to get us through a lack of new games that interest us.

Hell, I already do that. If (and likely when) the industry crashes, I will probably just go, "Huh... wonder if Steam has anything good on sale," like I usually do.

 

[McFazzer]

I'm not hopping for a crash. I'm hoping the games industry looks up in time to swerve just in time to miss it, losing a mirror and a bit of paint. Then shaken by this near miss, doesn't takes its eyes off the road again.

 

[Abomination]

I do not want developers to lose their jobs, but I do want the corporate management to somehow suffer and receive a wake-up slap as to how to handle the video game market.

At the moment the AAA is trying to tell us what we like then feed it to us when we already know what we like.

 

[gorfias]

Nope, I hope the industry simply learns and grows.

This. There might be some bumps along the way, but I think we're going to see the game industry follow along mostly what we're seeing in big movies. Anyone these days can make and publicize their own movies. We're getting more and more content from more and more sources (For instance, Netflix now has its own, original streaming IPs out there.) But we'll always need big Hollywood for truly great things. I don't think Avengers or Avatar could be made in someone's basement.

When the PS4 comes out, I hope there is a resurgence of interest in gen 8 AAA games. Kickstarter and a radically growing Android community will give us more great games then we've ever seen before. But AAA games like Uncharted 2 and Batman Arkham City still need to come from big houses. My fingers are crossed for them. Just, no more Sim Cities please. The Xbox 720 may be going the wrong way already.

 

[Gunner 51]

*Stands on a soapbox*

I can say that I do not hope for a crash, but if that's what it takes for all the big name publishers to wake up and stop treating developers like slaves and the gamers and like theiving wallets - so be it.

I'm tired of being overpriced for an game with bits cut of it and having them sold back to me for a premium.
I'm tired of being pressured into having to "sign up", "register" of input codes for things I've already paid for.

It's time for the publishers to change. Gaming as a business stinks of corruption, greed and exploitation. Perhaps the coming crash will serve as a purge for those who stagnate or corrupt gaming. The stagnation has to go lest it suck the life, soul and imagination out of gaming as a whole.

While I don't hope for a crash - just give me what I pay for, and I'll be a happy camper who'll be happy as Larry to hand over my money. But until the publishers like EA and Activision can go suck eggs.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

Maybe not a crash, but I hope there'll be a serious paradigm shift somewhere along the line, because frankly the status quo is, to me, hard to tolerate.
Homogenized AAA games with nary a new IP in sight and ludicrous business practices have become rampant, and there needs to be a shakeup.
Yeah I realize that might end up not making things better, but I can hope.

 

[Strazdas]

First of all lets seperate Hope and Predict. One can easily hope for something that clearly wont happen.

Now that we got that out of the way, i hope there will be no crash. I however want a few companies to either go down or be shocked into turning around. EA is one of them but not my primary concern.

 

[asap]

No! why would I wish so much hardship on so many people. Not just the employees but also the consumers. I like many AAA games and so do many other people in the world. If I don't like the game I dont buy it, its normal, its also the only thing the game companies actually care about. I didn't buy the new simcity because it had too many issues despite me loving the series. Basically why deprive people of the things they like, especially when it has almost no effect on me.

The problem people here seem to have is that these companies have shareholders who want profit from their investment. This is normal for many companies. You should be arguing against capitalism not video game makers. Or stop moaning and create your own capital, so you can invest, either by buying products you deem worthy or directly into a company. Either that or go full commie.

 

[Dansen]

Nope, I hope the industry simply learns and grows.

This. There might be some bumps along the way, but I think we're going to see the game industry follow along mostly what we're seeing in big movies. Anyone these days can make and publicize their own movies. We're getting more and more content from more and more sources (For instance, Netflix now has its own, original streaming IPs out there.) But we'll always need big Hollywood for truly great things. I don't think Avengers or Avatar could be made in someone's basement.

When the PS4 comes out, I hope there is a resurgence of interest in gen 8 AAA games. Kickstarter and a radically growing Android community will give us more great games then we've ever seen before. But AAA games like Uncharted 2 and Batman Arkham City still need to come from big houses. My fingers are crossed for them. Just, no more Sim Cities please. The Xbox 720 may be going the wrong way already.

^This

I want all other avenues for change and improvement to be exhausted before it ever comes to this.

 

[Something Amyss]

Why would I want a crash?

Depends. Are you bitter or petty? Would you cut off your own nose to spite your face?

If not, you probably don't want a crash. But then, a lot of people are, and they want to see these guys suffer for perceived injury.

People also think that a crash will somehow make things better. I suspect magic will be involved. Possibly ponies, because reasons.

Oh, and there's the "get the fuck away from me, you filthy casual" people. They might fall under line one, but they very specifically don't want people to enjoy the medium because they're doing it wrong.

 

[Pinkamena]

I hope for one, but I doubt it is going to happen. More likely the market will stagnate.

Yeah maybe it will stagnate at some point in the future.

Spoiler

Because that hasn't fucking happened yet or anything.

People are still buying those games, so no. It hasn't.

 

[Entitled]

The problem people here seem to have is that these companies have shareholders who want profit from their investment. This is normal for many companies. You should be arguing against capitalism not video game makers. Or stop moaning and create your own capital, so you can invest, either by buying products you deem worthy or directly into a company. Either that or go full commie.

There are many options between communism and an entirely stock market-driven incorporated entertainment industry.

Valve is a privately held company, so they can do whatever the hell Gabe wants, as long as they mostly stay in the black.

Even Nintendo, that is technically incorporated, has been majority owned by a single family all along, so it can also be driven by it's leaders' personal vision instead of the whims of the stock market.

Even if you believe in the fundamental logic of capitalism, shareholder-driven stock value maximalization is the worst possible method of success for something like the entertainment industry.