Poll: What's really hurting the Game industry?
- Thread starter UnknownGunslinger
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I think its the big corporations that ruin it, them driving to meet their sales figures and keeping their big bosses' pockets filled with cash.UnknownGunslinger said:Just want to see what the opinions are, it seems Developer are pretty conflicted as to what exactly is supposedly hurting their market and stealing all their hypothetical earnings!
I'd say in-original games and inflated prices in a down economy is what hurts their profits but hey that's just my view
It seem most think they're entitled to far more than what they're getting for their product like <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112949-Heavy-Rain-Dev-Says-Pre-Owned-Sales-Cost-it-Millions>Quantic Dream's co-founder.
Made me think about what is really hurting the Game Industry if anything?
Could it all be just the paranoia of a few Developers and their inflated sense of self entitlement?
Game developers are artists, scientist discovering new areas of simulation, if they would be left alone without the need of worrying for that kind of crap, we would have more games like Amnesia.
You realize the the price of all games, AAA to indie, have gone down not up?cnaltman62 said:
Does anyone else remember paying $80 for a AAA SNES game in the early 90s? Thats well over $100 in todays money. Even subscription based MMOs have gotten cheaper, they used to be pay per minute.
<link=http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/10/an-inconvenient-truth-game-prices-have-come-down-with-time.ars>Here is an article on Ars complete with real advertised prices and inflation adjustment.
The problems are that most people are looking to buy shinny games not good games and that many niche games are being dumbed down for more mass consumption. This is why there are very few quality deep open world RPGs any more, that and the decline of Interplay and the by gamers for gamers mentality.
Series overstaying their welcome. Poor new instalments devalue the originals and stifle innovation.
Aren't people voting with their wallets already?veloper said:
Just look at what games are out there and selling well, apparantly we have an arse-load of people voting already.
Just seems to be that the people who keep calling for us to 'vote with our wallets' are in the minority.
I voted DRM. All it's doing is breeding contempt between developers and consumers, and ultimately hurts everyone.
I'd agree with this as well. However, I can pinpoint down the cause of even this issue; the sheep. Consumers with no interest in games as an industry or art-form, yet will seemingly throw their money to the exact people who don't deserve it (so pretty much anyone who bought a 14 euro MW2 map pack where the only decent map was the one that was ported from COD4),Okysho said:
Making a shoddy, rushed game and expecting full market value.
Compare the time spent on Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2. For a moment forget whether you like one or the other better, just focus on time spent.
Origins was Announced in 2004 but wasn't released until 2009. That's at least a five year development time.
DA2 was released less than 2 years after the final expansion for Origins.
5 years compared to 2 years (being generous), and yet BioWare expected DA2 to outsell Origins by a considerable margin.
It didn't. Not because of piracy. Not because of DRM. Not because of Pre-Owned sales. Because they spent less than half as long on it.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the true problem with the game industry. That and Pre-orders. Why are intelligent consumers being punished by being cut off from in-game content? They paid just as much for it.
Compare the time spent on Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2. For a moment forget whether you like one or the other better, just focus on time spent.
Origins was Announced in 2004 but wasn't released until 2009. That's at least a five year development time.
DA2 was released less than 2 years after the final expansion for Origins.
5 years compared to 2 years (being generous), and yet BioWare expected DA2 to outsell Origins by a considerable margin.
It didn't. Not because of piracy. Not because of DRM. Not because of Pre-Owned sales. Because they spent less than half as long on it.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the true problem with the game industry. That and Pre-orders. Why are intelligent consumers being punished by being cut off from in-game content? They paid just as much for it.
I highly doubt you can pin it on one single thing. Take for example piracy, that does definitely have an impact on the profits of a game. However, putting it in context with (say) a poor critical reception, this effect is altered somewhat. By how much? If you know, you're going to be very rich. This effect is compounded whenever the industry evolves, as it must: Piracy expanded with the rise of broadband Internet, so DRM made an appearance. People find ways around the DRM, so they bypass it. So the DRM gets more restrictive, and so regular gamers complain about it. They post bitchy reviews, sales drop. So prices may drop, sales might pick up, and blah blah blah.
It's a continuous evolution of the industry, which must adapt to face the problems of the time. Games like TF2 have successfully experimented with a new business model, a free game (Though not initially) that now relies on micro-transactions for its main business. This policy rose (As far as I see) because sales of the game were starting to shrivel, or at least the bulk of the people who would buy it have done so.
Its also very easy to say that a developer has their priorities wrong. You could say that their latest instalment of "Generic Space Marines 9: Return of the Armageddon revolution" was a pile of shit, and you may be right. But people buy this shit. They are running a business, and they have evidently found that lots of quick, cheap, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am games pull in a better return within a time frame than a well-conceived game that takes ages to produce. Think EA Vs Valve, You may not have such a devoted fanbase, but they still buy your products. Which of those appears to be generally better off, financially?
The ultimate source of money within the industry is the consumer. These AAA companies must have found what we want, because we regard them as AAA. You yourself may hate that game, but that guy over there isn't as fussy. Or that guy over there, etc.
Hate to add to this wall of text, there's probably other points or indeed there are points against what I've said. I'll be interested to see what people make of this.
It's a continuous evolution of the industry, which must adapt to face the problems of the time. Games like TF2 have successfully experimented with a new business model, a free game (Though not initially) that now relies on micro-transactions for its main business. This policy rose (As far as I see) because sales of the game were starting to shrivel, or at least the bulk of the people who would buy it have done so.
Its also very easy to say that a developer has their priorities wrong. You could say that their latest instalment of "Generic Space Marines 9: Return of the Armageddon revolution" was a pile of shit, and you may be right. But people buy this shit. They are running a business, and they have evidently found that lots of quick, cheap, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am games pull in a better return within a time frame than a well-conceived game that takes ages to produce. Think EA Vs Valve, You may not have such a devoted fanbase, but they still buy your products. Which of those appears to be generally better off, financially?
The ultimate source of money within the industry is the consumer. These AAA companies must have found what we want, because we regard them as AAA. You yourself may hate that game, but that guy over there isn't as fussy. Or that guy over there, etc.
Hate to add to this wall of text, there's probably other points or indeed there are points against what I've said. I'll be interested to see what people make of this.
If you mean hardcore PC gaming, then yeah, you've got a problem there. But if you mean gaming in general, then the industry is in a boom time that dates from the release of the Wii attracting everyone and their grandma to the gaming scene, followed by the absolute explosion in mobile gaming thanks to cell phones/iPods, which has led to a surge in indie games...it's all good unless you're EA or Activision.
Without question, piracy.
I have friends who haven't purchased a video game in years because of it. Prior to this, they were like me in that they'd average a game purchase every 1 or 2 months.
I know for a fact that these friends could care less about the quality of a title or the state of the developer as well. They absolutely love a lot of the products they pirate and tout them as their favorite games of all time (particularly Fallout 3). Nothing the developer does will change their minds because ultimately you cannot beat a free game.
I have a hard time arguing with their logic when there's clearly no reprimand for piracy either. I've maintained the honest approach simply because of my own personal respect and morals towards gaming.
I have friends who haven't purchased a video game in years because of it. Prior to this, they were like me in that they'd average a game purchase every 1 or 2 months.
I know for a fact that these friends could care less about the quality of a title or the state of the developer as well. They absolutely love a lot of the products they pirate and tout them as their favorite games of all time (particularly Fallout 3). Nothing the developer does will change their minds because ultimately you cannot beat a free game.
I have a hard time arguing with their logic when there's clearly no reprimand for piracy either. I've maintained the honest approach simply because of my own personal respect and morals towards gaming.
I'm confused, has the gaming industry in anyway shown that it has been harmed more than any other? I have a feeling they are doing the same things EVERY COMPANY EVER has done and make it seem like it is up to their customers to save them from the hardships of business, Piracy, Fanbase, Pre-owned crap, and all of the above are just small facets of a promblem that is equal to any industry. As gamers we shouldn't pirate but we are going to anyway, just because you pay for all your games doesn't mean you're doing anyone a favour you are simply doing what is expected of you. But if their was one thing hurting development of original, creative and immersive games is the publishers who make entertainment a business and thus sacrifice quality and originality in the name of dead-lines, profit margins and do little to defend and protect the developers they employ. it is massive faceless corporations who have no care for how much fun your having that harm the GAMES. but the INDUSTRY is doing just fine.
P.S to any mods, i'm not defending pirating i am just stating facts, any opinion on that particular subject you think you see is your of own mind. piracy can be stopped in only one way, STOP MAKING GAMES TO PIRATE, other than that we better just accept it and not let it get in the way.
P.S to any mods, i'm not defending pirating i am just stating facts, any opinion on that particular subject you think you see is your of own mind. piracy can be stopped in only one way, STOP MAKING GAMES TO PIRATE, other than that we better just accept it and not let it get in the way.
