Is The Computer Gaming Industry Finished?

[Cyrien]

Jack Smith: Even Nintendo has stopped using cartridges for their consoles except the Gameboy. The Gamecube uses a mini-DVD. Both the PS2 and the X-Box use full sized DVDs that can even be used as DVD movie players. Game Consoles don't even use CD's anymore.

[PvK]

I think back to 1998-1999 when SSI and Microprose were Hasborged. The next year, practically everyone made a RTS game. Megacorps suits looking for hit games based on marketing misunderstandings dominated most of the money being spent on game development - or should I say, on graphics showcases with fragments of old games randomly glued on.

It's a bit depressing how much money and effort is spent developing uninteresting games. Perhaps it's an even worse proportion compared to the amount of uninteresting megacorp dreck churned out in the music, film, and pulp fiction industries. There are very few megacorp game releases that I have any interest in playing. There are practically zero games on consoles that I have any interest in, either.

Megacorps have determined that the most money lies in sales at Walmart etc., to unsophisticated players. Consoles offer concepts that attract suits, like built-in obsolescence and difficulty to pirate.

Megacorp offerings almost never interest me, though. If they all go to consoles only, it'll mainly just mean less distraction by crud.

BTW, Myst is a puzzle, not a game. It only seems like a game for as long as the player doesn't notice he's just watching a bunch of QuickTime animations linked with hot-spots to click on.

PvK

[ November 07, 2003, 22:08: Message edited by: PvK ]

[Fyron]

Consoles offer concepts that attract suits, like built-in obsolescence and difficulty to pirate.

Modern console games are not that hard to pirate...

[atari_eric]

Originally posted by geoschmo:
I think you might be able to sell a fw copies if you could port it to work on a PDA or something.

I would love a PDA Version of Space Empires! I've even been tempted to program a moddable 4x game on the Palm myself...

[atari_eric]

Originally posted by dogscoff:
Feh... A few years from now there will be very little distinction between a home PC and a
console anyway.

Funny you mention this; in the late 70's/early 80's there was not much of a distinction between a home PC and a gaming system, mostly because they were the same thing. Rememeber the Ataris? The Commodores? Sometimes, I wonder, with talks of integrating Internet functions and Digital Video Recording (aka RePlay/TiVo), if it is time for the resurgence of the Home Console Comupter. Hopefully, as a side effect it will engender a resurgence of self-taught programmers - I know I would not be the man I am today without my Atari 800 and my Inside Atari BASIC book...

[PvK]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:

quote:

---

Consoles offer concepts that attract suits, like built-in obsolescence and difficulty to pirate.

Modern console games are not that hard to pirate...

---

I was mainly talking about what suits think. Maybe I should also have said, "frequency of pirating", since younger kids into console games may be less likely to also have a DVD burner.

PvK

[deccan]

Originally posted by Katchoo:

Why exactly are console games cheaper to produce than on PCs?

Development costs are obviously cheaper because you have a standard, predictable platform. PCs can be outfitted with all sorts of devices, video cards, CPUs, sound cards, screen sizes, etc. and run all sorts of different OSs and other programs in the background, which makes it hard to accomodate all of the variety of different configurations possible.

Also, technical support costs for this reason is probably very much more expensive for PCs than for consoles.