I think Gaming is slowly dying.
- Thread starter SpartanBlackman
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Lots of things suck in the gaming industry, but every time one of us turn of our respective consoles or our PC's it keeps gaming alive and well. Every time my six year plays on our 360 it ensures a future generation of games and gamers.
The bigger the companies get, the more eager they are to make lots of money. Square Enix being case in point. The Hitman Series were wonderful until the developer was bought by SE and turned into Kane & Lynch. The Final Fantasies were never perfect, but SE is pushing it.
Nintendo is also a good example. One thing I really hate about them, is that Nintendo is the largest games developer in the world and they have basically been making the same game for the past 30 years. And the really odd thing is, is that after all that time, you'd get to know the characters for a start. But I know more about the keyboard I'm writing this on then I do about Mario and Luigi together!
My point is, as long as there are small companies remaining or setting up, we'll never run out of good, new ideas.
Nintendo is also a good example. One thing I really hate about them, is that Nintendo is the largest games developer in the world and they have basically been making the same game for the past 30 years. And the really odd thing is, is that after all that time, you'd get to know the characters for a start. But I know more about the keyboard I'm writing this on then I do about Mario and Luigi together!
My point is, as long as there are small companies remaining or setting up, we'll never run out of good, new ideas.
The first point I can agree with, the second point I'm a little torn on, the third point was unbelievably stupid for reasons that should be self-evident and the fourth point is not something new. People have been milking franchises since antiquity. Literally.
of course gaming is dying, at one point humanity will cease to exist and then nobody will be gaming anymore. But you didn't mean that.
your 4. is kinda obvious, i mean the system we live in has one ultimate goal and that is not ponies and rainbows but money. So of course you don't spend a lot of money on a game to make art, you do it to make more money.
i agree with you on everything else, although i think that the fear of piracy has done more harm than piracy ever could have to PC gaming.
the conspiracy theory guy in my head keeps telling me that MS and Sony(both are not traditional gaming companies but their gaming departments are just one small aspect of the whole) pay developers money to produce for their platforms and make shitty ports for the PC, not because the PC version would not make money but because in the long run people will drop the system were they get free maps and mods and stuff in favor of consoles and will eventually be stuck with systems that are controlled by evil corporate giants who will milk them for money until gaming dies because people hate being milked for their money (lol).
But that just my paranoid part talking.
your 4. is kinda obvious, i mean the system we live in has one ultimate goal and that is not ponies and rainbows but money. So of course you don't spend a lot of money on a game to make art, you do it to make more money.
i agree with you on everything else, although i think that the fear of piracy has done more harm than piracy ever could have to PC gaming.
the conspiracy theory guy in my head keeps telling me that MS and Sony(both are not traditional gaming companies but their gaming departments are just one small aspect of the whole) pay developers money to produce for their platforms and make shitty ports for the PC, not because the PC version would not make money but because in the long run people will drop the system were they get free maps and mods and stuff in favor of consoles and will eventually be stuck with systems that are controlled by evil corporate giants who will milk them for money until gaming dies because people hate being milked for their money (lol).
But that just my paranoid part talking.
It's not dying. It's turning into business long before it had a chance to become a true art form. Major thanks to EA and Activision for that.
Considering how widely games are integrating with our popular culture and becoming accepted as a medium, I think the exact opposite is true.
I mean, Charlie Brooker's last column on the British newspaper 'the Guardian' was centred around games, and I've watched Irish comedian Dara O'Briain joke about the absurdity of Metal Gear Solid's controls, neither of which I think would have happened at least 4 years ago.
If you want to hear people talk about the games that aren't really brown FPS's then keep watching Extra Credits.
And if you want games for the art, check out one of my favourites:
http://www.jonas-kyratzes.net/
His games are pretty much the definition of art.
I mean, Charlie Brooker's last column on the British newspaper 'the Guardian' was centred around games, and I've watched Irish comedian Dara O'Briain joke about the absurdity of Metal Gear Solid's controls, neither of which I think would have happened at least 4 years ago.
If you want to hear people talk about the games that aren't really brown FPS's then keep watching Extra Credits.
And if you want games for the art, check out one of my favourites:
http://www.jonas-kyratzes.net/
His games are pretty much the definition of art.
I wouldn't say gaming is dying, but the way it's going right now, I personally am losing interest in it very quickly. Sure, it's dying for me, but not for everyone.
I'm going to pull the "old guy card" here. Speaking as someone who was playing videogames back when you had to switch floppies during the middle of a game, I'm here to tell you that PC piracy has been around for pretty much forever. Games were being freely pirated and distributed back when the Commodore 64 was the king of PCs. DRM was pretty much laughable (often a "secret" code you'd find in the instruction manual)
And yet guys like Lord British and Sid Meier emerged from that period. They weren't surviving on charity.
Like a couple of others have said, in no way shape or form am I dismissing piracy. It IS a problem, and the DRM reactions to it have hindered industry progress. But at the same time, hinder isn't the same word as destroy. Frankly, PC games are just too much fun for them not to make money. And the convienence of services like Steam will continue to outweigh the disadvantages of lack of security.
How can I be so certain? Because the industry has already survived literally decades of the self-same problems.
(That said, I want me some LA Noir and Red Dead Redemption for PC, and I want it now!)
And yet guys like Lord British and Sid Meier emerged from that period. They weren't surviving on charity.
Like a couple of others have said, in no way shape or form am I dismissing piracy. It IS a problem, and the DRM reactions to it have hindered industry progress. But at the same time, hinder isn't the same word as destroy. Frankly, PC games are just too much fun for them not to make money. And the convienence of services like Steam will continue to outweigh the disadvantages of lack of security.
How can I be so certain? Because the industry has already survived literally decades of the self-same problems.
(That said, I want me some LA Noir and Red Dead Redemption for PC, and I want it now!)
You can't kill gaming- that's what indie devs are for, a safety net. There will always be some innovative design going on. Check out Project Zomboid, Terraria, a good amount of the games available on Steam- We have plenty of material to keep us going, even if it means losing mainstream appeal.
Gaming cannot be destroyed- Only changed. It has already survived a crash, it can do it again, and again, and again. As long as there is the interest, there will be product.
Gaming cannot be destroyed- Only changed. It has already survived a crash, it can do it again, and again, and again. As long as there is the interest, there will be product.
I wouldnt say that. Its not like anything is original any more (go ahead, name something, and you'll find things like "inspired by" or, "drawn from", or, as a child, I looked up and was interested in") and so far there's a pretty solid line up.
Times are tough, economy sucks, so its better to make money than cater to the masses. The film industry did it, and they almost died doing it. I cant blame them. Hell, if i was a CEO i'd pump out FF sequels or CoD sequels or Halo sequels if it meant i'd make money.
Times are tough, economy sucks, so its better to make money than cater to the masses. The film industry did it, and they almost died doing it. I cant blame them. Hell, if i was a CEO i'd pump out FF sequels or CoD sequels or Halo sequels if it meant i'd make money.
Indeed, this is quite true. For just one example, I remember the licensed games from the 16-bit console era. They were godawfully bad, almost without exception. Nowadays they tend to be just bland, but serviceable. Bad games before were really bad, much worse than todays stinkers, even with all the bugs (which are a consequence of the software becoming hugely more complex than before).Jaime_Wolf said:
So yeah, it's basically nostalgia.
You're overreacting.Gaming is dying no more than films are there will always be problems with gaming, we live in an imperfect world. However you need only look at all the good things that have come out of gaming in the past couple of years to know that gaming is still very much alive.