Is The Computer Gaming Industry Finished?

[General Woundwort]

AT may be on to some things here.

1) The main game genres that sell big nowadays (1PS, RTS, flight simulator, etc) do well on consoles, which are cheaper and also specifically built to handle the graphics for these games. Also, the transition of internet access (away from strictly PC's to cable/satellite/console as well) will eat up the PC's share of MP Online gaming as well. And a LOT of games now out are dual releases, PC and console.

2) The genres that do do better on PC's (TBS, 4X, strategic simulations) are no longer driving the market (if indeed they ever did). These games will certainly still be produced, but probably more and more by small outfits like MM and Shrapnel. Which is not a bad thing, as we all can testify...

3) These games are all starting to look alike. You can complain about mass production and degraded quality all you want (and rightly so), but let's face it, how many variations on "run around a maze and blow baddies up" are really necessary?!? When was the Last time a really groundbreaking game (like Myst) came out? These genres are reaching the limit of their capacity.