Evolving industry

[Maiky-NiSuTe]

Evolving industry

® http://www.nisute.com "world's first video game column site"

 

This industry – meaning, the games industry – is changing, evolving and re-shaping itself. Off course this is a logical reaction to the growing popularity of the gaming scene. If you try and remember the scene that represented the industry about fifteen years ago, an era where Nintendo and Sega were still battling for the consumer-market, you’d see some drastically different marketing and opinions about this pastime. See, nowadays it’s pretty normal to at least have a Playstation2 sitting under your television. Maybe people like us occasionally get a weird look when we tell people we’ve got all consoles from current generation at home, but it’s a stroll through the park compared to what people might have thought of you fifteen years back.

 

This shift in the market is mostly – actually, almost entirely – caused by the marketing and the new companies who saw a new way to earn their profits. Microsoft and especially Sony stepped in with dollar signs in their eyes and took a big fat chunk out of the market share that Nintendo and Sega where holding. They saw a chance to make gaming the new cool – a chance to bring this pastime to the mass market. And they did. The Playstation became a household name and the rest, as they so frequently say, is history.

 

And it’s not a bad thing. The commercial success of games made sure developers could earn big heaps of cash. In turn gamers got better technology and better looking games, not always in favor for the gameplay, but hey, putting a lot of FMV in your game just to hide the fact that the game sucked donkey balls sure made a lot of profit for publishers, ensuring even more games would be in the pipeline.

 

Slowly though, gamers realized graphics weren’t everything. After a while, your eyes adapt to the beautiful imagery on screen. If the gameplay isn’t interesting enough to keep you playing, then it’s, well, game over basically. Like every popular digital pastime these days, a product has to keep reinventing itself if it wants to receive attention from the market. New music styles arrive, better image quality is reached with DVD, but what about games? Statistics show that the interest in playing games is slowly going down. Developers need to pursue new ways to play games and new experiences for the gamer. Because this is what the gamer wants: new experiences. They do not want to relive the chore they have to go to every day at work.

 

If this all sounded a bit too much of a Nintendo conference speech for you, well, I can’t blame you. Nintendo seems to have the right thoughts about it, or at least the right marketing people. It’s a shame though that it’s not exactly what they are delivering. Let’s take a look at the NintendoDS for example. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a well crafted handheld, at least from what I’ve seen so far, but where the hell are the interesting games that make use of the great possibilities the control setup offers? Instead of designing a game that makes use of all the different functions the DS has, Nintendo seems to force Super Mario 64 on the machine just to make more sales. From what I’ve gathered, playing Super Mario 64 DS is like playing Super Mario 64 without an analog stick… which seems to be a chore.

 

Meanwhile, you can’t blame Microsoft and Sony for just drifting in the direction they once chose for, because it makes them a lot of profit. But one has to wonder: how long will that last? How long before everyone’s bored with the same old experience?

 

So the industry is changing, constantly. For all we know, we could be on the brink of another collapse, just like Atari experienced before Nintendo resurrected the market. One important aspect of the big picture is that the press covering this industry has to change too. These days, everyone has a thing or two to say about a game and because of this, thousands of sites pop up on the net and they disappear just as quickly. In order to survive, the press also has to find a way to keep readers interested, and to offer more than just mere opinions about games. Perhaps offer new perspectives on the industry, try to put more effort in subjects readers really care about. Finding a right balance is everything. Let’s hope you’ll be the first one to experience that balance, right here.

 

Michel Musters

 

® http://www.nisute.com "world's first video game column site"

[Johelian]

Meanwhile, you can?t blame Microsoft and Sony for just drifting in the direction they once chose for, because it makes them a lot of profit.

In all fairness though, these platforms do offer a place for originality to be staged; I mean, the PStwo plays host to some of the craziest game concepts out there. Yes, they can make a lot of profit; but it also means that a concept that couldnt see the light of day on a niche console gets a chance at life on a mainstream one. I think this is something that most people overlook while bemoaning the lack of "original" game concepts; yes, a console like the PStwo has a lot of big player games like EA's range, but it then also has room for games like Katamari and ICO.

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Volcano classic vaporizer

Edited February 16, 2011 by Johelian

[Pesten]

Evolving industry

® http://www.nisute.com "world's first video game column site"

 

 

 

Let’s take a look at the NintendoDS for example. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a well crafted handheld, at least from what I’ve seen so far, but where the hell are the interesting games that make use of the great possibilities the control setup offers? Instead of designing a game that makes use of all the different functions the DS has, Nintendo seems to force Super Mario 64 on the machine just to make more sales. From what I’ve gathered, playing Super Mario 64 DS is like playing Super Mario 64 without an analog stick… which seems to be a chore.

 

 

® http://www.nisute.com "world's first video game column site"

 

I totaly agree with you there. The DS has (in my opinion) been a disastrous dissapointment. It seems like the only games truly taking advantage of the DS's attributes are games like wario touched and project rub - wich really is nothing but a bunch of mini-games. And they aren't wery long-living. I've got tired of minigames long time ago now, and want some real games.. And this seems to be the opinion of the main-stream also. Most of my friends having tried the DS, says "it's funny but are there any real games on it?" where I sadly has to reply "not really". Forcing Super Mario 64 on the DS is a silly move by Ninty, who claims that the "Developers System" is for making developers use their imagination... Well. We haven't really seen any amazingly original games from Ninty on this front.. My hope is that when the wifi system is up and running is that someone should set their eyes on our problem and say "Hey! Let's make a great game for the DS!" and that Ninty realises that going through all that effort making Nintendogs (and other games like that) look "cool" really isn't worth it.. It's ok. I like dogs. But buying a "tamagotchi look alike" (I know that's not fair, but that's what people say) is not really anything I would consider a "coop".

 

'nough bitching now..

[Moz La Punk]

Wow, you're here too Maikel? Nice. I'm not really a poster here, I just watch this forum.

 

So yeah, I wrote this article, some time ago though when the Revolution controller wasn't revealed yet. Nice to see people agree!

[Maiky-NiSuTe]

Jup and for those who want to read more you can find his columns on http://www.nisute.com every saterday. But hey stay here for all the news stuff R-E is the best Nintendo site I knowe!! and that meens a lot from some one like me. :wink: