Death to the Game Industry

[erexx]

"I think the guy is pointing out the obvious. If things don’t change there will be some problems"

Absolutely.
Things will change because we have a market driven economy.
Million dollar hype and bloat cannot last forever.

And things will stay the same in a lot ways because there will always be a desire for "easy" entertainment.

Oh, to correct myself, there certainly is more Repetition than innovation and creativity in the industry.
Not to say that repetition doesn’t lead to refinement of the entire process and even better games.

It's all about great content.
Graphics are secondary.
Nintendo has a nice business model in this sense.

Ahhh the Horror:
Adult video games should get the same treatment that Adult films get.
Rating systems need to be taken seriously.
Adult video games should not be in the hands of children.

 

[jodonnell]

System Software/Games:
Great games make lots of cash regardless of hype.

Sadly not true. Very idealistic, but unfortunately many great games do fall by the wayside. A great game will have difficulty selling without either great marketing behind it - word of mouth is important, but not always enough. Beyond Good and Evil was very highly rated, yet sold very poorly; I am given to understand Prince of Persia: Sands of Time had the same problem.

However I get the feeling from reading his rants that he has pitched an idea or two to a game publisher and was turned down for funding.

Greg Costikyan is a former developer, so he's not some young upstart with no experience. He's gained a reputation in the industry for these calls to revolution (e.g. Burning Down the House GDC session, amongst others.)

I think one issue is that people do not just want innovation in general - I have a couple friends that don't "get" Katamari or WarioWare, yet simultaneously bemoan the lack of innovative games. I think it is that almost everyone likes innovation, but often times people only like it in game types they already enjoy - e.g., you might like new micro-innovative features in some new RTS, but you don't really care for innovations that don't pertain to genres you play. I think one of the big points behind Greg's article is that by and large, the indie aesthetic isn't present in the gaming mainstream. Lots of people pay lip service to innovation (certainly not trying to accuse anyone in particular) , but how many people buy into it with actual cash?

Oh, to correct myself, there certainly is more Repetition than innovation and creativity in the industry.
Not to say that repetition doesn’t lead to refinement of the entire process and even better games.

This is true, and I think it's important to keep in mind. Refinement is not a bad thing, and there is most certainly a place for refinement in the market place. In fact, one of the interesting things in the market now is that gamers feel compelled to describe their games as innovative, because it is becoming less socially acceptable for gamers to like non-innovative games. That's why some reviews have painted Doom 3 as innovative - they like the game, but if they like it and openly admit it is merely a refinement and not innovative, they are somehow unhip. Games like Halo, World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Half-Life 2, etc are not very innovative, despite many gamer's claims. They are, however, superbly executed examples of craft, and that is most definetly acceptable. Refinement has a place, we just also need more room for innovation in the marketplace - true, real meaningful innovation, not small gameplay updates disguised as innovation.

This site, written by a British developer, has some more good points (some of which I shamelessly co-opted.)

 

[CaptRingold]

I do my bid for the indie market, at least where 4X is concerned. And graphics sure as hell aint my motivating factor, as anyone else with Stars! or Space Empires IV can attest to.

They're both just Excel and Paint's mad offspring. I dont know which is worse.. probably Stars!..

But Stars! Supernova, which in beta form looked like it had excellent potential with newer, more modern 3d graphics and the same things that made folks love the original, has folded. The few guys making it couldnt be financially irresponsible enough to drop their jobs to develop a possible financial disaster game, and no one was interested enough to risk any money on them.

Space Empires V is coming right along though. And for those that get off on it, Galactic Civilizations has a sequel coming by the indie Stardock folks.

I still get urges to play SE IV though, and even though its graphics arent.. well.. there almost are none, but you don't expect them, its not the point of the game. Using l33t strategy, unique in every game (and in every front during a game: some designs will work on some opponents, but will fall like flies against another), is the point, and where all the enjoyment is.

www.malfador.com i think for SEV if anyones interested.. crisium.com used to be Stars! site, but, alas..