Another Videogame Crash

[Croooow!]

I used to be of the opinion that a crash was right around the corner. The inflation in development cost for big budget, big profit games had me really worried, and I felt that if anyone released another console with better graphics a number of publishers could go bankrupt. However, these high development costs themselves and the global recession staved off console development and instead focused on a push for peripherals. This delay in new consoles has given online distribution models a little more time to grow and as much as some people don't like it online distribution is the saving grace of the video game industry. Creativity and small development teams have the chance to flourish again with the lower production costs and more flexible pricing structure. If anything I'm really excited what the future will bring as I feel it'll bring cheaper, more experimental games.

[Jamisonia]

I this infusion of mainstream was necessary to keep the gaming industry afloat, as each generation of reducing the number of people who owned systems, many people found games to complicated to start. Nintendo realized this, and realized they could capture that market. Now the problem is keeping these people in the market for the next generation, and the rising cost of consoles and development which has driven down creativity. I'm not convinced digital distribution will catch on, I think too many want to own the game, after all Pay Per View never seemed to overtake movie rentals.

[Croooow!]

I'm not convinced digital distribution will catch on, I think too many want to own the game, after all Pay Per View never seemed to overtake movie rentals.

I'm not saying that digital distribution will completely replace physical games but it is ideal for smaller, less well funded developers to create a game, have it reach a large market, and actually make money. A good chunk of the industry could likely always exist with physical media but in an industry that was solely physical media new, creative ideas rarely had a chance.

Digital distribution is even a bigger boon to retrogaming. Yeah compilations existed before but re-releasing a game online one at a time gives people what they want rather than buying an entire collection for just a few games. The publishers have lower distribution costs and make more per game than they would through compilation.

Some people probably thought there would always be people who wanted music in a physical form as well. While there still are some who prefer physical media, they didn't prevent the entire industry from shifting to a digital format.

[J T]

I don't think the games industry is about to crash at all. They seem to be doing really well actually. I don't understand why everyone is always bemoaning the current state of videogames when it seems to me that there are tons of great games coming out all the time. You want hard? Try Demon Souls. You want casual? Try Plants VS Zombies. You want retro? Try Super Meat Boy or VVVVVV. You want scary? Try Dead Space 2. You want really scary? Try Amnesia: The Dark Descent. You want unique and creative gameplay? Try Minecraft. You want epic story telling? Try Mass Effect 2 or Red Dead Redemption.

I don't think we are flooded with bad games. If anything we are flooded with GOOD games. I can't keep up! And it's easier to be retro than ever before now with things like gog.com, the Nintendo Virtual Console, PSN, etc. I have bought more new and old games in this generation than any other, and I know I'm not alone. I think the only way that the videogame industry could possibly crash now would be under the sheer weight of our combined backlogs, keeping us from investing in new full price titles.

[MrPopo]

I don't think the games industry is about to crash at all. They seem to be doing really well actually. I don't understand why everyone is always bemoaning the current state of videogames when it seems to me that there are tons of great games coming out all the time. You want hard? Try Demon Souls. You want casual? Try Plants VS Zombies. You want retro? Try Super Meat Boy or VVVVVV. You want scary? Try Dead Space 2. You want really scary? Try Amnesia: The Dark Descent. You want unique and creative gameplay? Try Minecraft. You want epic story telling? Try Mass Effect 2 or Red Dead Redemption.

I don't think we are flooded with bad games. If anything we are flooded with GOOD games. I can't keep up! And it's easier to be retro than ever before now with things like gog.com, the Nintendo Virtual Console, PSN, etc. I have bought more new and old games in this generation than any other, and I know I'm not alone. I think the only way that the videogame industry could possibly crash now would be under the sheer weight of our combined backlogs, keeping us from investing in new full price titles.

This. Everyone in the thread is focusing on the shooters coming out. But if you recall from the podcast we actually threw out some numbers with regards to the number of shooters vs. total games, and they aren't making up a disproportionate amount of the market. Sure, a lot of them are very samey, but the worst that'll happen is we'll see less shooters in the coming years in favor of other genres. Adventure games saw this (though to a larger extent than shooters ever will) and even they are bouncing back.

[Limewater]

This. Everyone in the thread is focusing on the shooters coming out.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think so far only two people (three, if you count yourself) have mentioned shooters so far.

[Opa Opa]

This. Everyone in the thread is focusing on the shooters coming out.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think so far only two people (three, if you count yourself) have mentioned shooters so far.

Weren't there a bunch of Doom/Wolfenstein clones back in the day? Has anything really changed or now that games are mainstream we are taking notice?

I say it would be kind neat to view what happens during a game crash. Would retro game prices skyrocket or would they fall to rock bottom? What would happen to the modern console prices? Although, I wouldn't want to see a bunch of people lose their jobs but this is (hopefully) hypothetical.

[Erik_Twice]

There will no be a "crash" but we will run into several crisis sooner or later. The model Acitivision is following will crash sooner or later and several companies are going to dissapear overnight, for example.

[Bradtemple87]

I want companies to take an extra minute and sit back to think on the quality of a product before they release it. The failure rate of consoles is unacceptable.

[FiftyDollarCurse]

I want companies to take an extra minute and sit back to think on the quality of a product before they release it. The failure rate of consoles is unacceptable.

The rate at which XBOX 360s, PS3s and Wiis continue to sell 5+ years into their lifespan proves that the failure rate of the consoles is actually entirely acceptable to the people that buy them.