Jimquisition: An Industry Of Pitiful Cowards

[Jimothy Sterling]

An Industry Of Pitiful Cowards

The games industry is so scared, it runs screaming from problems that aren't even real.

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[Evonisia]

I didn't even know Squenix said that, but maybe the other companies will follow suit and admit that they were wrong. Things probably won't go back to the PlayStation 2 era of anything getting a pass but it's better than 2008-2010 being littered with Halo clones and 2011-2013 being littered with explosion fests filled with QTEs and homogenisation.

 

[Aardvaarkman]

Hi Jim, I was the one who made all those horrible business decisions. So, uh, sorry about that.

Also, I broke the dam.

Regarding the backdrop issues, do you not have any space to put more distance between you and the backdrop? That's always been a problem, regardless of the shininess of the backdrop. You should not be lighting the backdrop with the main lights, it should be separately lit. In fact, even the terrible shiny backdrop could have worked if it was sufficiently separated and angled so that the reflections don't bounce straight back at the camera.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

You looked so naked up there without your backdrop, I had to censor it for the kids

OT: I love "no duh" moments. People like JRPGs? No duh Squeenix.

 

[zerabp]

Great episode as always Jim.

 

[james.sponge]

It's puzzling indeed, I believe the same thing can be said about streamlining games and making them too easy because for some reason all developers started thinking gamers might become disinterested in the content if it's too hard to achieve anything in the game.

I really hope SE will revert their approach towards FF, last few games in the series were abysmal, I'm still hoping for something in the spirit of FF6, 9 or even FFT or Vagrant Story

 

[Goliath100]

How ironic it it to say that Resident Evil looks like Gears of War, when Gears of War is Resident Evil 4 2.0 Halo edition.

 

[Chemical123]

I think the problem is that the executives are sitting in giant echo chambers. They think something is a bad idea and go out of their way to ensure that it fails (executive meddling, less development time, lower budgets and so on) and then point to that failure and scream "SEE!?!?! IT FAILED!!!!". This is not unique to the video game industry, anyone who is a fan of Sci-Fi and good cartoons on television will attest to the same shit happening (Firefly the most famous example among many others). And if they think something is a good idea then they will put all of their resources into it and even if it fails they will blame everyone and everything (pirates, new console generation, microwaves, conspiracy of journalists, mind control).

Also, to expand on some of the genres that were mentioned in the video, here are some more:
Space Sim genre is dead outside of X series, Eve online and possible hope of Star Citizen

Point and Click adventure genre was dead until it was revived by Phoenix Wright and then Telltale

WW2 FPS are gone

DDR, Guitar Hero, Rockband also gone

RTS hanging on thanks to Blizzard and Relic

TBS hanging on thanks to CA and 2K


Video Game industry is bigger than it ever was and at the same time it is blander than ever before. And I have no idea what can be done to wake those executives up. Bravely Default acted like a wake up call but most publishers are not willing to risk even a small niche title whose success might shock them.

 

[Pat Hulse]

Very good episode.

However, I think the problem was less about fear and more about greed. Yeah, JRPGs and survival horror and other such "niche" markets never really stopped being successful, but the problem was that executives at Square-Enix and Capcom and Konami, etc. all saw "Halo" and "Call of Duty" making way more money than they were and deciding that they could be just as successful if they did the same thing. Rather than remaining content with the modest success they were enjoying, they decided to try and out-Call-of-Duty "Call of Duty", and as a result, they alienated the market they had and reported losses.

One peculiar upside to this, however, is that this environment in the AAA industry is pretty much what allowed the indie market to gain as much appeal as it has. The timing was just perfect for them and there was basically no competition from the AAA industry. Additionally, the lack of AAA niche titles has made people so hungry for this kind of game that when they do get around to making a AAA niche title, people will absolutely devour it. Like with "XCOM: Enemy Unknown". I love that game, but if it came out in a market where that kind of game was more commonplace, people would have torn it to shreds for its abrupt story, its awkward voice acting, its lower-quality visuals, and its somewhat incomplete and inconsistent game mechanics. Still, since a AAA game like it hadn't come out in ages, it became incredibly popular and people couldn't stop singing its praises.

Let's hope this really is the beginning of a return to form.

 

[Transdude1996]

I'm surprised Jim didn't mention Nintendo at all in the video. I know that they haven't really been as extreme as some of these companies are, but at the same time, they're not reaching far enough to really warrant any applause. Look at the line-up of first party games the Wii got within it's first 16 months to what the Wii U got in it's first 16 months. You'll notice that there's a huge difference between the two.

Also, people have been shouting at Nintendo to bring back their old series such as Star Fox, F-Zero, Eternal Darkness, and a number of others. Heck, people are still screaming at NoA to bring Fatal Frame 2 and 4 to the states, but Reggie is too scared of the games failing to even do it, yet NoE took the chance with FF2 and it was considered a success. They can't just live on the trinity (Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon) for the rest of their days and hope that their consoles and games sell. That's part of the reason the Wii U is failing. There's not enough there to really warrant a purchase of it, besides the back catalogue of 2012 ports and Wii games.

Having more games like Pikmin 3, Bayonetta 2, The Wonderful 101, and Hyrule Warriors are what gets more people to buy consoles.

 

[Daemascus]

The same happened to space fighter games... The industry dropped them cause they thought they weren't popular, after great stuff like X-Wing versus Tie Fighter and Freespace 2. Right up till Star Citizen proved them 41 million dollars wrong. And still counting.

 

[Hazy992]

It baffles me too, I honestly wonder what it was that set this mindset off. There must have been a catalyst surely?

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I've always felt that the AAA industry's brains fell out around the beginning of the last console generation. Actually to be more precise, sometime around 2009. Good to see that Square-Enix has managed to salvage at least part of their brain.

 

[Gaijinko]

I wonder if it has anything to do with focus testing or something of that ilk, get a small group of people together, ask them will they play survival horror games, then when the response is not that great, declare the genre dead and move on. I have no idea. But if it is anything like the people I worked with (admittedly in telecommunications but the same principle I believe can be applied here) it could be the issue where a guy or girl says something they think is trendy like people only want action rpgs now, they have surrounded themselves with yes men or women, who nod their head and because they don't have that person or set of people who tells them they are wrong and stupid then the idea grows, evolves and money is lost.

 

[Legion]

While I agree with you that they have made many mistakes, I don't particularly agree with why they have done them.

I believe it was more to do with how much gaming sky-rocketed when it became online, as that's when it really took off. Once they saw there was a lot of money to be made in games they decided to try and only make "the next big thing". WOW was a hit so we have seen a ton of clones. COD and Halo are the same, they have made a ridiculous amount of money and so other developers want that too. So many developers that made other types of games have begun to make theirs slowly become more similar to what the biggest ones have. I can only see this as an attempt at trying to strike gold like some other companies have.

The reason for why other genres (stealth, horror, RPG's and JRPG's) have been put on the back burner is because while they make money, they don't make as much money as the largest titles. But admitting to wanting a bit more money being the reason isn't something a good corporation is ever going to do. So they spun the "These games aren't popular" line. This makes it sound as if the decision to not make niche titles is somehow the customers fault rather than theirs. It means we can't complain because if we wanted them, we'd be getting them. As we are not, clearly it's because there isn't a demand for it.

A little like how Ubisoft recently claimed that we get yearly Assassin Creed games because people want them. I sincerely doubt this was the case. I believe they knew they'd sell because customers hate to feel like they are missing out and they cashed in on it. With the exception of Assassins Creed 4, the actual opinion of Assassins Creed games has been slowly dropping since AC2. I think most people were sticking with in the hope that next time would be better. This is especially true considering most people seem to agree that the sailing was the best part of AC3 and that AC4 was a good pirate game, but not so much an AC game.

This is all my opinion of course.

 

[GamemasterAnthony]

CAPTCHA: bon voyage

Couldn't have said it better myself, Captcha.

Good episode as usual, Jim. Ya know...I think Sega's kind of in the same boat right now. It took them a while to get the clue that the thing that sold in regards to the Sonic games was more emphasis on the fast paced gameplay and less on the story elements. (Though, TBH, considering that both Colors and Generations were good, I can't help but wonder if the fans just wanted to see Eggman/Robotnik back as a true villian and final boss and not a punchline that creates the REAL final boss.) Sega also had that awkward period where they had games which were more story driven...even to the point where they ripped off other stories. *gives the stinkeye to Secret Rings and Black Knight*

Still...with them I have to wonder if they were ill-prepared for the kind of success that Sonic had. Especially considering the fans who still look to SatAM with fond memories and who probably helped create the mass of success that Sonic had back then.

 

[Uriel_Hayabusa]

I don't quite agree with Jim's comments regarding JRPGs. On other forums I visit, Japanese games (and their RPGs in particular) get a lot of flak for "refusing to evolve" or "not going with the times". I can't help but suspect that FFXIIII and its sequels were attempts from Square-Enix to respond to that criticism.

 

[Uratoh]

Are we sure the 'refocusing on traditional RPGs' etc thing from Squeenix wasn't just an april fools joke? Because they sure picked a day to announce it on.

 

[Sir Shockwave]

I find it surprising Jim didn't mention RTS - a genre that right now only has two companies in total working on them (that'll be Blizzard and Focus Interactive - you all know the former, but the latter make the Wargame Series, and are working on Etherium [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUyCd_GGu6Y]), to the point where the entire genre looks skeletal because one company has become a damned joke who deliberately try to appeal to Nostalgia to overlook how mediocre their output has been (and how they're usually quick to be screwed over by their business partners)*.

And then there's Command & Conquer 4, the game to the entire RTS genre what Resident Evil 6 is to the entire Resident Evil series. C&C 4 screwed up it's home franchise so badly that it's looking pretty damned dead at this point, to the point where it's dubious we'll ever see another C&C game. I get the feeling that a similar line of thinking lead to this.

In truth though, the RTS as a Genre has been on life support since 2007 because of this (it doesn't help that the only financially successful RTS games from that year were Forged Alliance and C&C 3 - everything else was either poorly received, sold exceptionally poorly or some combination of both**).

* For the dense, yes I am talking about Petroglyph - the company whose talent (and dignity) evacuated when Universe at War tanked hard. It says a lot when even after seven years have passed, the damage from that disaster can still be seen clearly. They are in every sense of the word a shadow of their former selves.

** From the top of my head, the list (as best as I can remember it) was Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance, C&C 3, Universe at War and SunAge. I'm likely forgetting two or three. All I know is that only Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance and C&C 3 sold decent numbers - as opposed to games like COD 4 and Team Fortress 2.

 

[Grimh]

So basically the Game Industry, when coming up on a slight curve, swerve like fucking crazy and end up in the ditch.