The Industry Needs a Crash

[Yancakes]

I guess that's true. Despite how awful they may be, however, professional gaming circuits keep things like Halo going for years on end.

[o.pwuaioc]

Culturally, I'd say, video games have as much or more impact than movies do, simply based on the fact that when a game comes out the people who buy it play it every day for long periods of time instead of a movie which would typically be watched once or twice a year.

I see this trend vanishing now that so much development is going the way of social gaming or mobile gaming. Too many games on too many platforms dilutes the cultural impact of pretty much everything except your Call of Duty's and random smash hits like Angry Birds.

Mean while, all movies share the same screens...

But Angry Birds has become entrenched in our own society. Like Mario and Sonic of yesteryear, I see Angry Birds candy, pillows, back-packs, clothes, hates, board games, advertisements, parodies, cartoons, even a theme park ride. Games might not have the budget, and they may not be quite up to movies, but that's because they're still many decades younger.

[AppleQueso]

But Angry Birds has become entrenched in our own society. Like Mario and Sonic of yesteryear, I see Angry Birds candy, pillows, back-packs, clothes, hates, board games, advertisements, parodies, cartoons, even a theme park ride. Games might not have the budget, and they may not be quite up to movies, but that's because they're still many decades younger.

I think it's honestly way too early to tell if it's just a passing fad. Lots of things of yesteryear have appeared with huge marketing and merchandising pushes like that which really didn't have much of a lasting cultural impact in the long run.

[o.pwuaioc]

But Angry Birds has become entrenched in our own society. Like Mario and Sonic of yesteryear, I see Angry Birds candy, pillows, back-packs, clothes, hates, board games, advertisements, parodies, cartoons, even a theme park ride. Games might not have the budget, and they may not be quite up to movies, but that's because they're still many decades younger.

I think it's honestly way too early to tell if it's just a passing fad. Lots of things of yesteryear have appeared with huge marketing and merchandising pushes like that which really didn't have much of a lasting cultural impact in the long run.

While true for this one particular game, it is following a route already trail-blazed by Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Mario, and Sonic before. If I were a gambling man, my money would be on this being more than just a passing fad. The theme park ride for me pushes it over the edge making it as ubiquitous as Pac-Man and Donkey Kong were in the 80s, and I don't think anyone who actually is scrutinizing pop culture will say that those two are entirely irrelevant.

[BoringSupreez]

But Angry Birds has become entrenched in our own society. Like Mario and Sonic of yesteryear, I see Angry Birds candy, pillows, back-packs, clothes, hates, board games, advertisements, parodies, cartoons, even a theme park ride. Games might not have the budget, and they may not be quite up to movies, but that's because they're still many decades younger.

I think it's honestly way too early to tell if it's just a passing fad. Lots of things of yesteryear have appeared with huge marketing and merchandising pushes like that which really didn't have much of a lasting cultural impact in the long run.

While true for this one particular game, it is following a route already trail-blazed by Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Mario, and Sonic before. If I were a gambling man, my money would be on this being more than just a passing fad. The theme park ride for me pushes it over the edge making it as ubiquitous as Pac-Man and Donkey Kong were in the 80s, and I don't think anyone who actually is scrutinizing pop culture will say that those two are entirely irrelevant.

Time will tell. Mario, Sonic, and Donkey Kong continued to get games decades after their initial appearance. Angry Birds could peter out within five years, I'd say.

[J T]

But Angry Birds has become entrenched in our own society. Like Mario and Sonic of yesteryear, I see Angry Birds candy, pillows, back-packs, clothes, hates, board games, advertisements, parodies, cartoons, even a theme park ride. Games might not have the budget, and they may not be quite up to movies, but that's because they're still many decades younger.

This made me think of this quote:

"Angry Birds, it seems, is our Tetris: the string of digital prayer beads that our entire culture can twiddle in moments of rapture or anxiety — economic, political or existential."


-- Sam Anderson

Source Article

[Menegrothx]

Culturally, I'd say, video games have as much or more impact than movies do, simply based on the fact that when a game comes out the people who buy it play it every day for long periods of time instead of a movie which would typically be watched once or twice a year.

But movies are way more popular and widespread. Average Joe might watch an old (black and white film) classic just for the sake of its cultural impact, but he/she sure as hell wont play through a game like Deus Ex, let alone a game like Ultima IV just for the sake that those games had a huge cultural impact on the gaming world and that they did something that no other game has ever since, even today, done. A big part of the problem is that video games require a much bigger time investment and you actually have to learn and adapt to things. When you are watching a movie, all you need to do is sit on a couch and stare at the screen for two hours. There wont be no learning curve or game overs, let alone a 50 page instruction manual and 35 different keybinds to remember. You wont need to draw maps or make back up save files. An epic RPG game might take 200 hours to complete. Besides having to learn how to play the game there is also the fact that TVs havent changed that much over the years and there has only been VHS, DVD and Bluray so far, while gaming hardware rapidly changes and gets outdated quickly. Since the average Joe probably wont play the game on an emulator, it is unlikely that he/she will track down an old computer/console and a possibly rare and expensive copy of the game just so he/she can play it.

^quoting the wrong guy.

[Flake]

^quoting the wrong guy.

Edit: It happens.