Modern Games Industry: How'd We Get Here?

[Sload Soap]

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

[Erik_Twice]

Okay, even I'm confused now. I don't see where Xumy posted anything in that health care discussion.

No, but he did a quick turnaround after that, turning hostile and telling me to keep my "political opinions" elsewhere. It doesn't have to be that, perhaps he has found some other reason to act like a dick but it would be quite a coincidence.

Whatever, I just wish he didn't go on the offensive on every thread I post in.

[Exhuminator]

Not at all, Mr "Please keep your political opinions out of the gaming side of the forum."

I said that when you said my own country was ruining the world in general. Which by the way is offensive as hell but I didn't fight you on it. I merely suggested saying such things in the Off Topic section, which is where such discussion belongs as per forum policy.

You are just acting like a dick whenever you see any of my posts because you are upset for god knows what. It's ok, I just wish you didn't act like that.

I'm not upset at you. I just don't agree with you on books vs games. And this is the first discussion in which I can recall consistently challenging your opinion on something.

Okay, even I'm confused now. I don't see where Xumy posted anything in that health care discussion.

I didn't.

I think Erik just can't handle having his opinions challenged without becoming vitriolic. So howabout Erik and I just leave it alone now, and let this thread return to its original intention.

[marlowe221]

Very interesting thread for several reasons. Here are my thoughts (if anyone cares):

Digital Distribution - I'm all for it, with a few caveats. And yes, I live in a rural area with crappy internet service; I live in Mississippi for christ's sake, it's barely America... That said, digital distribution allows for games to reach market that would never get published otherwise like the "indie" games we have seen lately (see below for my thoughts on indies). Personally, I like deciding which games I will play for myself; I don't need or want EA or Activision making those decisions for me via them deciding what will be widely available. Some outlets do digital distribution better than others - I like GoG's model that allows me to back up my games and patches DRM free better than Steam, for example.

Also, when it comes to game preservation, digital is the ultimate solution in the long term. I love my original hardware in most cases. But I recognize that there will come a day when there is no longer a working NES or Genesis out there in the world. There will come a day when the cartridges no longer function. CDs and DVDs are very easy to damage and the systems that use/used them have more moving parts and seem to be even more prone to critical hardware failure than the older, cartridge-based consoles.

When will all of this happen? Damned if I know; it may not even happen in my lifetime. But it will happen at some point. The true answer to long term game preservation is the digital space. I know that none of us like thinking about the day that our SNES no longer works but those are the facts of life. The hardware and carts aren't going to last forever.

Indies - It may be true that there are more games coming out than ever before; I am not really sure. But one thing I do know is that it has never been easier to find out about a game than it is today. Professional reviews, user reviews, message boards, and Let's Play videos are a mere click away for almost every game out there. At this point, if you don't have information about a given game, it's because you haven't looked for it. And in case you haven't read any Steam or GoG user reviews lately, people are not pulling their punches when it comes to any game that I have seen.

This isn't the early 80s when the industry was in its infancy and information was scarce. It's not the mid 90s when you had to buy a bunch of magazines to find out about games. The internet is brimming with info that is easy to find about this stuff. Sure, it takes a little time and effort, but the effort and time required these days is minimal.

So yeah, I wish some of the low-effort games didn't get made at all, just like everyone else here. But it's also pretty easy to figure out which ones they are and avoid them in ways that weren't true in the past.

Modern AAA Market - It's not the indie market that is unsustainable, it's this one. Development costs have skyrocketed and sales targets to achieve profitability have become unrealistic for most games. Meanwhile, it seems to me that AAA games are just as likely to be bug-ridden messes than any other category of games out there these days. Professional reviews are harder to rely on for AAA games than indie ones due to the money involved. Consoles no longer have the "put the game in the system and it just works" advantage that they used to over PC gaming. Day one DLC and microtransactions have hit the console market and are a turn-off for a lot of people. Risk aversion (understandable under the circumstances) leads to stale experiences and chronic sequel-itis.

IMHO, it's not the indie market we should be worried about. If a collapse is coming anywhere, it's coming here. Arguably, it may already be happening with some of the traditional big names in console gaming bowing out of the market (e.g. Konami).

Star Trek - Abrams-Trek sucks balls.

I would love to see a new TV series with the original crew, with today's production values, etc. Of course, we would need new actors for all the characters but so what? Look how many different actors have played Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson over the years...

[Sarge]

Oh, hey, I didn't notice you're a fellow Mississippian! (I disagree with the idea that it's "barely America", but that's a discussion for another time and place. )

[Erik_Twice]

I said that when you said my own country was ruining the world in general. Which by the way is offensive as hell but I didn't fight you on it.

So, basically, you are indeed upset at me and it was because you thought that "See Ack? I was right. America is ruining not just the world but also video games. Specifically Metroid " was a serious comment. Ok.jpg

And this is the first discussion in which I can recall consistently challenging your opinion on something.

You didn't challenge anything, you just acted like a dick. Same snappy, sarcastic comments and thinly veiled insults like "Erik can't handle having his opinions challenged without turning vitriolic".

So howabout Erik and I just leave it alone now, and let this thread return to its original intention.

You are free to leave, I won't.

[Exhuminator]

Consoles no longer have the "put the game in the system and it just works" advantage that they used to over PC gaming.

This is the number one thing that bothers me about modern console gaming. As someone with limited game time, the immediacy of console (and handheld) play has been a prime attraction for myself in recent years. But now that consoles require periodic firmware updates, and their games have huge (sometimes mandatory) patches, that critical distinction has become deteriorated.

[marlowe221]

Oh, hey, I didn't notice you're a fellow Mississippian! (I disagree with the idea that it's "barely America", but that's a discussion for another time and place. )

Sending you a PM.

And as for "barely America", I meant from a modernization of infrastructure point of view. No worries.

[Sarge]

Consoles no longer have the "put the game in the system and it just works" advantage that they used to over PC gaming.

This is the number one thing that bothers me about modern console gaming. As someone with limited game time, the immediacy of console (and handheld) play has been a prime attraction for myself in recent years. But now that consoles require periodic firmware updates, and their games have huge (sometimes mandatory) patches, that critical distinction has become deteriorated.

Yeah. I mean, it's great that we have the ability to fix bugs that slip through (I wish that was available for Lufia II back in the day, in that area that's corrupted right at the end), but it also allows for folks to be lazier about fixing things. When you know that carts are expensive to produce, you're going to put in that time to make sure things are working properly, because there's no do-overs unless you're a mega-seller like Nintendo.

I've said it, and I know others have said it, but the current consoles are basically midrange gaming PCs, with some of the same pitfalls as the PC space. The only real advantage is that the hardware is absolutely known, so devs can code for a particular configuration.

[Exhuminator]

the current consoles are basically midrange gaming PCs

Absolutely.

The only real advantage is that the hardware is absolutely known, so devs can code for a particular configuration.

It's an advantage on the front end, but then it gets to be a disadvantageous thing on the back end. Hopefully the PS4 and One won't have as long of lifespans as the PS3 and 360 did, I think overall that unusual breadth was detrimental to the medium. But that's a long conversation in and of itself.