Poll: What is holding gaming back, as an industry?

[afroebob]

Nothing is holding gaming back.

Gaming keeps getting better and better is hugely successful considering that the medium is still very young.

While we aren't getting held back, we are getting slowed down by a lot of things, and the most obvious I can see is the community. A large amount of gamers are assholes. This means that people who haven't learnt how fun games are are going to not want to put up with them whenever they try a game. And seriously, saying you are going to skull-fuck someones mom because he prefers the Xbox over the Playstation 3 is just pathetic.

 

[verdant monkai]

It is all the corporations fault think about online passes, dlc that's already on the disc, making their products too expensive, charging for xbox live etc. Not the fault of developers or gamers, its the fault of the big companies, that dont want to make something awsome, they want to make a shit ton of money out of developers hard work and genuine interest in a game. They just want to wring every last dollar they can from the consumers, they dont care if it sucks as long as people buy it.
If you blame the community (which you are obviously part of) you are being very hypocritical because technically you are blaming yourself for playing the games, which is what will drive gaming forward as a media.
The majority of you who blame the community, will of course be blaming the Mass Effect crowd. If us asking for a better result for something we paid £40/$60, and put hours into, angers you. Then the answer is simple. Don't click on ME3 ending related stuff.

 

[Kahunaburger]

DA:2 would probably be considered to have high production values for an indie project, but even fewer people would have given the writing the time of day if it were done by someone other than Bioware, Masters of Storytelling.

And this brings me right back to this point:

Seems to me that more and more gamers are becoming like a bunch of hipsters that don't like games made by big companies purely BECAUSE they were made by big companies (and no, I'm not saying the faults they pick out of games aren't valid).

For full disclosure: I graduated with an English major and a minor in Creative Writing, so to me story is a huge part of whether or not I like a game. I'm not trying to qualify myself as some kind of expert on game writing, just give you perspective as to where my opinion is coming from. Personally I loved DA:2's story and, in particular, the story telling style while others would say that both of those are actually two of the biggest negatives for the game.

People didn't like Bioware trying out this format of story telling strictly because it's Bioware, and what they did was outside of their norms. Which brings me back to what I had just said before: I'd argue the opposite, that if DA:2 was an indie game, people would have been more appreciative of it's story telling than they are now. But again, there's no way to prove this hypothesis.

Sorry, you're not going to convince me that an RPG narrative that fails to provide choices (and ignores most of the choices it does provide), has cringe-a-minute writing, is riddled with plot holes, etc., etc., would be generally seen as good in any circumstances.

Sure, they tried to include a frame narrative, but failed to do anything interesting with it. They tried to subvert RPG conventions, but didn't do that in an interesting way, either. To me, people who say they like what DA2 did with its storytelling actually like what it could have done with its storytelling if it had been in competent hands.

(Incidentally, you know what game actually did a decent job with the frame narrative? Bastion. That game never forgot that there's a narrator telling you a story.)

 

[Tony2077]

the main problems are the gamers and the dev/publishers or just the industry in general gamers want change but when they get it they don't always buy the games so the devs/publishers don't make them and make stupid choices with some of the games they do make like the drm some games have. so we're both at fault here not just big corporations like some people would like to believe. a.d.d thank you for this post please someone make sense of it for me

 

[Hazy992]

I was going to say an unhealthy obsession over things like graphics and realism.

I completely agree with this. I'm not saying we shouldn't strive for those things but they shouldn't be the main focus. Fun is most important.

 

[babinro]

I'd say the community.

We allow for change to happen through our purchases by continuing our support for AAA sequels year after year and increasing the revenue for those games.

 

[Chunga the Great]

Consoles are totally holding gaming back, since they simply dont have the UB3R 1337 GRAFIX to compare with PCs, because gaming is just a techno-penis measuring contest, and consoles inability to play Battlefield 3 at 2560 x 1600 resolution means that it's quite literally impossible to tell a story or be innovative on a console. The fact that console have given us so many amazing games and turned so many people into gamers is completely outclassed by it's inability to use it's $250 hardware from 2005 to run modern PC games on the highest possible settings. Therefore, they are completely useless and only hamper gaming, because games are for those that spend the most money on them.

(in case you couldn't tell I was being sarcastic, and nothing is holding gaming back)

 

[TheProfessor234]

I picked large companies but only because they make somethings stagnate in the market longer than they should. I could care less about them making the millions and billions that they do make, if they would just use their resources just a bit more in development and not into making another buck.

But that's asking the ocean to stop so eh.

 

[veloper]

I'd say the community.

We allow for change to happen through our purchases by continuing our support for AAA sequels year after year and increasing the revenue for those games.

Pretty much. Publishers fund the type of games that sell.
The may underestimate and thus ignore some profitable niche appeal like Wasteland 2, but for the large crowds the companies get it right. Decisions like annual MW sequels are simply good business.
If there's a problem with DRM, DLC, 1-day passes, unoriginality, etc. it's always gamers who vote for these practises with their wallets.

 

[Robert Ewing]

A plethora of things are holding back the industry.

Companies that hold artistic rights, like EA, Activision, etc. This in turn limits the funding. Something that kick-starter has only recently bucked.

Lack of risks being taken by the developers, and when they DO take risks like Psychonaughts, nobody fucking cares, because they assume it will be terrible.

And consoles. But consoles are a necessity for the gaming industry. It holds it back, but it sure does pump out the units, and suck in the cash the industry needs.

And then you could argue, 'does the industry really need to go speeding ahead of itself?'

I wouldn't really say it would I think western gaming is absolutely fine the way it is, minus the publishers.

 

[RJ 17]

Sorry, you're not going to convince me that an RPG narrative that fails to provide choices (and ignores most of the choices it does provide), has cringe-a-minute writing, is riddled with plot holes, etc., etc., would be generally seen as good in any circumstances.

Sure, they tried to include a frame narrative, but failed to do anything interesting with it. They tried to subvert RPG conventions, but didn't do that in an interesting way, either. To me, people who say they like what DA2 did with its storytelling actually like what it could have done with its storytelling if it had been in competent hands.

(Incidentally, you know what game actually did a decent job with the frame narrative? Bastion. That game never forgot that there's a narrator telling you a story.)

No need to apologize, as I'm certainly not trying to convince you that DA:2 is anything other than what you think it is. I've given up on trying to change people's opinions a long time ago. They can always find an excuse to cling to their opinion and nothing you can say or do will change that.

Incidentally, that's also why you'll never be able to convince me that DA:2 is anything other than what I think it is. Suffice to say I disagree with pretty much everything you say in the first paragraph of the quoted response. I'd go into why I disagree but that's where it officially becomes opinion vs opinion and neither of us get anywhere.

 

[Imbechile]

What is holding gaming back, as an industry?

The community - Because most people are morons and eat the endless shit the industry is feeding them.

The corporations - NOT because they chase profit, that's their job, but because the try to make profit by creating the same type of game, hence why the market is oversaturated by shooters. It's like if Hollywood stopped making everything except Michael Bay blockbusters because those are the ones that sell the most.

Critics - Because they devolved into blowjob-giving whores who applaud both shit and mediocrity and place them on pedestals as testaments to how the industry is going forward. The day when critics up their standards and stop kissing the publisher's ass is the day my faith in gaming is restored.

There are more smaller things, but those are the main culprits.

 

[pandorum]

Hardware like DVD limiting games development as digital is good but then they can nickle and dime us Xbox needs Blu-ray bite the bullet Microsoft.

 

[StBishop]

The market. The fact that it's a service industry rather than an expressionist industry.

I understand that money from blockbusters allows risks to be taken, but bloated production costs and a risk averse production culture (not to mention buying culture) is holding back the development of gaming in my view.

Also, publishers being upset about pre-owned.

Hardware like DVD limiting games development as digital is good but then they can nickle and dime us Xbox needs Blu-ray bite the bullet Microsoft.

They're using carts.

Blue ray is not going to be in the next Xbox, the carts are faster at data streaming than bluray and can potentially hold more data.

 

[thelonewolf266]

Holding it back? You do realize that the video game industry is valued at $65 Billion - making it a giant in the entertainment industry, surpassing both films and music - don't you?

It's not "holding back" in a monetary sense, it's holding back in an artistic sense. The way games are played, the level of dedication, attention to detail, true skill and flair that goes into creating a great game, one the likes of Bastion or Journey which can more or less be considered pieces of art. Nothing is holding back the industry in the terms of finance, it's booming like crazy. But unfortunately due to things like CoD; mass-marketed annual rehashes made to cater for the lazy, stupid and consumerist majority.

And that, in essence, is what is holding video games back.

You mean like how every medium on the planet has it's version of CoD?

It's not unique to gaming, and honestly, saying things like CoD hold back the industry is like saying Twilight holds back the literary arts or that Transformers holds back the film industry.

It's a notion so condescending that I'd rather hang out with the 'CoD kids' than 'CoD is destroying the industry' types.

I love you for explaining this point so well because if I had tried I probably would have got very angry and my point would be lost amongst the stream of curses and hate emanating from my mind.
Anybody who thinks the Games industry is being held back needs to open their eyes.

 

[Carrots_macduff]

im not going to vote but i do have a question for everyone who thinks the "industry" is being "held back". what exactly is the industry being held back from? because from where i'm standing
the business and popularity of games seems to be progressing at quite a rediculous rate. and as such i think your poll should be renamed "what do you dislike about the industry"

 

[8bitmaster]

im not going to vote but i do have a question for everyone who thinks the "industry" is being "held back". what exactly is the industry being held back from? because from where i'm standing
the business and popularity of games seems to be progressing at quite a rediculous rate. and as such i think your poll should be renamed "what do you dislike about the industry"

The reason for the poll is essentially from a business standpoint. It's pretty obvious we are advancing technologywise as well as many other manners at an alarming rate, but are we respected? Do we prove our worth? Are companies holding back other industries taking us seriously? Think about how the options in the poll have affected the industry as a whole, and how we would be if any of them actually improved.

 

[lord.jeff]

Nothing is holding it back the tech and capabilities of games is growing at a steady rate, plus we have things like free-to-play, and kickstarter changing how we pay for games, digital distribution making it easier for small companies to release games without publishers and for games to find no markets, you may not like a lot of the new things happening but they are still evidence of a rapidly growing industry.

 

[Rockndoodles]

Gaming isn't being held back, on the contrary it just keeps going forward. Sure, there are bumps, and occasionally certain titles will take a logistically questionable two steps forward one step back approach, and admittedly there are a few bad eggs that give us all a foul mouthed overly competitive violently orientated name (Something i like to refer to as "X-live syndrome"). But all in all, new an innovative titles/mechanics/stories continue to pop up and both the gaming community and economy continue to grow like any other industry. There are problems, many unpleasant, fewer truly serious, but the same can be said of pretty much anything. It depends how much detail you want to go into, but on the whole, creativity and the numbers of people indulging in it press forward.

 

[SoranMBane]

Large publishers, because of the control they have over their developers, and because they're in it for the money rather than the art. It's not their fault, as they are businesses first and foremost, but the fact they tend to stifle innovation because they think it's too risky and won't sell well is simply bad for the medium. That's why I'm so excited about the whole Kickstarter trend, because developers are now starting to prove that publishers are not strictly necessary to make well-funded games; all the developers need are dedicated fans and the generosity of their fellow game makers. If this continues, it'll force publishers to either start offering developers more freedom as a means of providing a better service, or else risk dying out. Publishers as a whole won't become obsolete, but they'll become better.