Poll: what is the greatist threat to the gaming industry?
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I'd blame bad parents. The California Video Game Ban Law pretty much states that people these days can't think for themselves correctly and need government mandated laws to help them think properly, which, of course, were made by the same people that they stated couldn't think for themselves.
If you let you kid get Halo: Reach, and he/she(Gotta remember the she) loves the game, then get it. If he/she can accept the blood and violence (Literally the ESRB rating for the "M" game) and enjoy the game, then good. However, this is based upon your decision as a parent, and you can't excuse yourself for stepping out when it comes to whose responsibility is to blame.
With this magical new law, however, it doesn't matter if a 13 year old wants to get Fallout 3 or Red Dead Redemption (I love the two of them) for the game that it is, it'll just be plain illegal to purchase it. This is the thing that Andrew Ryan was trying to get away from when he created Rapture. Censors blocking the artistic merits of a piece or work.
If you let you kid get Halo: Reach, and he/she(Gotta remember the she) loves the game, then get it. If he/she can accept the blood and violence (Literally the ESRB rating for the "M" game) and enjoy the game, then good. However, this is based upon your decision as a parent, and you can't excuse yourself for stepping out when it comes to whose responsibility is to blame.
With this magical new law, however, it doesn't matter if a 13 year old wants to get Fallout 3 or Red Dead Redemption (I love the two of them) for the game that it is, it'll just be plain illegal to purchase it. This is the thing that Andrew Ryan was trying to get away from when he created Rapture. Censors blocking the artistic merits of a piece or work.
Well, that too. It's those people online(Xbox Live/Counter-Strike/Any games where mics are an option) that decide to get angry and scream four-letter words into their microphones at the people they played with to have a good time and play for playing's sake.FinalDream said:
We're the ones that act as if we're above "non-gamers" and alienating them from our society, making people generally dislike the stereotypical nerdy gamer.
The rise of casual gaming.
May i direct you to Microsoft's ultimate dick move, the Kinect.
And the slew of shoddy shovelware titles currently released for Move.
I know it's not fair to blame casuals and the industry relies on them for revenue, but it feels like the more hardcore crowd are now being treated as 'second class citizens' and our demands are not first on the agenda anymore. I know this smacks of a petulant child not getting what they want but i can't help but be biased in this. I don't fit in the casuals demographic so i do feel a little bit betrayed by the industry for this sudden shift in focus.
I would also say capitalism; i'm looking at you, Kotick. People who make games but don't play games and are only in it for the money. People who refuse to innovate because they're stuck on making what they know sells: Chest High Walls Marine Squad 14: Return of the Brown Palette.
May i direct you to Microsoft's ultimate dick move, the Kinect.
And the slew of shoddy shovelware titles currently released for Move.
I know it's not fair to blame casuals and the industry relies on them for revenue, but it feels like the more hardcore crowd are now being treated as 'second class citizens' and our demands are not first on the agenda anymore. I know this smacks of a petulant child not getting what they want but i can't help but be biased in this. I don't fit in the casuals demographic so i do feel a little bit betrayed by the industry for this sudden shift in focus.
I would also say capitalism; i'm looking at you, Kotick. People who make games but don't play games and are only in it for the money. People who refuse to innovate because they're stuck on making what they know sells: Chest High Walls Marine Squad 14: Return of the Brown Palette.
Them too! We always argue that there is no creativity and originality in new games but the publishers only make them because they sell, we argue games are too expensive but that is only because of our skyrocketing demands etc etc etcSiuki said:
What evil companies are you talking about?
Motion controls and Facebook games are for casual gaming.
Arnie's just doing what he thinks is right, he also only really wants to stop M rated games from being sold to minors, not games being stopped altogether.
Bad parents are just ignorant, which leads to my point...
Ignorance is the single most threatening thing to the world. If people don't take the time to learn about something they dislike they just make things up and become prejudiced against things. It'll ruin everything.
Motion controls and Facebook games are for casual gaming.
Arnie's just doing what he thinks is right, he also only really wants to stop M rated games from being sold to minors, not games being stopped altogether.
Bad parents are just ignorant, which leads to my point...
Ignorance is the single most threatening thing to the world. If people don't take the time to learn about something they dislike they just make things up and become prejudiced against things. It'll ruin everything.
The same thing that is infecting the film industry.
Amongst the slew of brown garbage, a gem shines forth. Of course, soon the glitter attracts the "me too" designers. They work along the lines of: "That looks like it worked pretty well. I'll do that too and get in on some of the money". Of course, nobody can blame them, because everyone is out to make money.
Then after this stage, comes the dreaded Sequel stage. Where every iota of originality and fun are ground into a fine dust as the designers quest even harder for more cash. I point to game series like Devil May Cry, Leisure Suit Larry, any James Bond game after Goldeneye, just about any game Obsidian has made, Halo, Call of Duty, and Metal of Honor.
Now, I'm not calling every game in these series horrid. As I said, every great once in a while a gem shines forth. But, for the most part, most are the same recycled copy/paste game, just re-released every few months.
I understand that the gaming industry is full of risks, and investors only want to go with something that is safe and makes money.
As I said, this affects the film industry as well.
Can I offer a solution up to help solve it? Possibly not. Otherwise I would be a rather wealthy individual using my money to fight the terrors whatever happened to catch my fancy at the time.
One thing I think would help is: Tone down the Realism a touch. I play a game to relax and have fun. If it's as gritty and realist as everyday life, my imagination doesn't work as well and I do not relax as much. Pretty graphics are nice and all, but most games (note I said most, not all games) have become more about shiny pixels and less about fun and suspension of disbelief.
*climbs down off soapbox, looks around with a confused expression, and wanders off*
Amongst the slew of brown garbage, a gem shines forth. Of course, soon the glitter attracts the "me too" designers. They work along the lines of: "That looks like it worked pretty well. I'll do that too and get in on some of the money". Of course, nobody can blame them, because everyone is out to make money.
Then after this stage, comes the dreaded Sequel stage. Where every iota of originality and fun are ground into a fine dust as the designers quest even harder for more cash. I point to game series like Devil May Cry, Leisure Suit Larry, any James Bond game after Goldeneye, just about any game Obsidian has made, Halo, Call of Duty, and Metal of Honor.
Now, I'm not calling every game in these series horrid. As I said, every great once in a while a gem shines forth. But, for the most part, most are the same recycled copy/paste game, just re-released every few months.
I understand that the gaming industry is full of risks, and investors only want to go with something that is safe and makes money.
As I said, this affects the film industry as well.
Can I offer a solution up to help solve it? Possibly not. Otherwise I would be a rather wealthy individual using my money to fight the terrors whatever happened to catch my fancy at the time.
One thing I think would help is: Tone down the Realism a touch. I play a game to relax and have fun. If it's as gritty and realist as everyday life, my imagination doesn't work as well and I do not relax as much. Pretty graphics are nice and all, but most games (note I said most, not all games) have become more about shiny pixels and less about fun and suspension of disbelief.
*climbs down off soapbox, looks around with a confused expression, and wanders off*
Goverments are the biggest threat.
They are too concerned with the protection of children, rather than (drum roll please because I have a radical idea) allowing the parents to, ummmmm......, parent.
There are two movements (that I know of) that want to ban certain content in games (yes I do want to stab you in the face Michael Atkinson) and the flow on effect will be huge. The one concerning us Aussies isn't a big deal (games industry doesn't care about us when 1 million units sold in Aus. means 1/27th of our population has it), but the current one in Califor-ni-a is massive. If the supreme court does decide to go with the goverment, the games industry will effectively be over.
That, and either crab people or Man-Bear-Pig (I'm being super, dooper serial).
They are too concerned with the protection of children, rather than (drum roll please because I have a radical idea) allowing the parents to, ummmmm......, parent.
There are two movements (that I know of) that want to ban certain content in games (yes I do want to stab you in the face Michael Atkinson) and the flow on effect will be huge. The one concerning us Aussies isn't a big deal (games industry doesn't care about us when 1 million units sold in Aus. means 1/27th of our population has it), but the current one in Califor-ni-a is massive. If the supreme court does decide to go with the goverment, the games industry will effectively be over.
That, and either crab people or Man-Bear-Pig (I'm being super, dooper serial).
The biggest threat?
Hrm, probably the fact that game "bestsellers" are unimaginative and generic series 5-15 entries deep. If franchises like "Call of Duty", for instance, continue to outsell everything else, then we will hardly ever see a shift in the industry. It will just lower itself in the same fashion the MMO industry has collapsed due to World of Warcraft.
Everyone just accepts World of Warcraft, and it makes millions. Nothing else worthy comes out, and the entire industry stagnates, with noteworthy contenders just coming up to the surface for air enough times before they die. It leads to enough investors (you know, those people who pay for games, for a return in profit) not caring about ideals.. and only wanting financial success. Just like it was stated in Extra Credits.
Basically, we will see decent original games every now and then. Though they are, and always will be dwarfed by all these "bestselling" super-franchises that never change, no matter how many sequels they put out.
I personally think the industry is suffering already. I don't think people realize how bad it is, really.
Hrm, probably the fact that game "bestsellers" are unimaginative and generic series 5-15 entries deep. If franchises like "Call of Duty", for instance, continue to outsell everything else, then we will hardly ever see a shift in the industry. It will just lower itself in the same fashion the MMO industry has collapsed due to World of Warcraft.
Everyone just accepts World of Warcraft, and it makes millions. Nothing else worthy comes out, and the entire industry stagnates, with noteworthy contenders just coming up to the surface for air enough times before they die. It leads to enough investors (you know, those people who pay for games, for a return in profit) not caring about ideals.. and only wanting financial success. Just like it was stated in Extra Credits.
Basically, we will see decent original games every now and then. Though they are, and always will be dwarfed by all these "bestselling" super-franchises that never change, no matter how many sequels they put out.
I personally think the industry is suffering already. I don't think people realize how bad it is, really.
Bad Parents that leads to complaining when they kill someone and blames on games which get noticed by government officials who immediatly judge it as bad and give bullshit cases like the one in november. I know for a fact that games will not win unfortunatly. I love them and I want to win the case but In all seriousness, we won't win. We may have defensive arguments but the enemy will bring in examples of screw-ups that our industry has created (or let be created)
I'd rank those in this order:
1: The Governator, for pushing the violent games law forward
2: Bad parents, for LETTING the violent games law get pushed forward, and for inspiring it
3: Facebook games (in particular Zynga) for being really, really shitty and scaring people away from gaming with bland 'games' and vicious--and morally questionable--business strategies
4: Evil companies (read as: Bobby Kotick and his Innovation Stifling Sequel Machine)
5: Motion controls, for being obnoxious (although I will admit that Nintendo knew what they were doing with the Balance Board--it may look like a bathroom scale, but it's actually a clever way to get a girl to shake her ass while 'hula-hooping') [sub]Man, I'm a bad person...[/sub]
6: Too many games aren't exactly a bad thing, but too many games that are exactly the same (i.e. many entries in the Halo or Call of Duty franchise) can get old after about, say, 7 entries (I'm looking at YOU, Activision).
And... that's my list. Awesome.
1: The Governator, for pushing the violent games law forward
2: Bad parents, for LETTING the violent games law get pushed forward, and for inspiring it
3: Facebook games (in particular Zynga) for being really, really shitty and scaring people away from gaming with bland 'games' and vicious--and morally questionable--business strategies
4: Evil companies (read as: Bobby Kotick and his Innovation Stifling Sequel Machine)
5: Motion controls, for being obnoxious (although I will admit that Nintendo knew what they were doing with the Balance Board--it may look like a bathroom scale, but it's actually a clever way to get a girl to shake her ass while 'hula-hooping') [sub]Man, I'm a bad person...[/sub]
6: Too many games aren't exactly a bad thing, but too many games that are exactly the same (i.e. many entries in the Halo or Call of Duty franchise) can get old after about, say, 7 entries (I'm looking at YOU, Activision).
And... that's my list. Awesome.
Bears. End of story.
But I suppose if I HAD to choose a real answer, I'd say bad parents. Or rather misinformed parents.
But I suppose if I HAD to choose a real answer, I'd say bad parents. Or rather misinformed parents.
I wouldn't count ourselves out yet. However this is certainly our darkest hour.Terminate421 said: