View Full Version : Next gen consoles causing concern (BBC News)
Vroomfunkel
08-28-2003, 04:46 AM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3185663.stm
Obviously no-one told them about Feet of Fury and all the other DC homebrews . . . . but I guess they are broadly right. Does this mean we are going to see a real dip in the diversity of games on offer? Is everything going to be produced with mass-market appeal in mind?
Vroomfunkel
Phosphor Dot Fossils
08-28-2003, 06:01 AM
It's absolute madness is what it is.
Wrong direction, guys, wrong direction.
Oy vey.
Do you hear something?
It sounds like....
....like...
CRASH!!!!!!
christianscott27
08-28-2003, 09:32 AM
maybe or maybe not,
after reading this post i read a bit about the phantom, you know the much mocked download only console thats yet to debut. i'm not about to say the phantom is the future but perhaps the concept is. if you're just downloading games, just taking the software off a wire there are huge areas for the company to save money. you can subtract the cost of the case, the pressing, the packaging, cover art, manual printing, warehousing, shipping, inventory control, returned unsold games etc...i havent seen a pie graph on this but that must be a considerable chunk of it. then theres advertising and getting your games onto the shelves, you could do without most of those costs. marketing could be as simple as downloading a promo/demo along with a full game you're using. again i dont know the exact % but marketing is always a big expense.
Oobgarm
08-28-2003, 09:42 AM
Do you hear something?
It sounds like....
....like...
CRASH!!!!!!
I've been thinking that for sometime now, especially with good old M$ in the console biz.
I also like the idea of the Phantom. If it were implemented properly, this could very well be the way things go in the future. Instead of a "Room of Doom", we could have a "Hard Drive of Doom"!! LOL
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39450000/jpg/_39450399_xbox203b.jpg
^^Looks way too excited to be playing the Xbox! LOL
christianscott27
08-28-2003, 09:48 AM
as a side note if the entire gaming industry went download/hard drive only my collecting goal would be a lot more feasible. theres no way i can have every game ever made if they keep making more carts and discs! this should be a source of comfort to my wife.
YoshiM
08-28-2003, 10:21 AM
Is this perhaps why retrogaming is steadily growing in popularity with the younger crowd? And I'm not talking about ROMs...
Recently a friend of mine had a garage sale. In the early 90's both of us were pretty big PC gamers and picked up the hot titles at the time (Warcraft II, Doom 2, Comanche vs. Werewolf, US Navy Fighters, etc.). Well he was selling a lot of this older stuff and a kid (age 10 maybe?) came by and was excited to see Doom 2. He said he'd have to get money from his mom, so he left. Other kids came by and saw Doom 2 but didn't have the cash on them as well but were equally excited. Long story short, a kid bought the game and throughout the day people kept ASKING about it (but would buy up the DOS stuff). Overall the most games that were left were the more modern Windows games while the majority of DOS stuff was purchased by young teens.
Is it a collection mentality or is it because they want something fresh that doesn't require the latest and greatest machines to play? People I talk to who buy PCs from the local Goodwill usually say it's a secondary PC for "games they can't run on their more modern machines".
Personally, I'm not really looking forward to the next generation. For a while I thought it was just the 3D expansion blues as this is really the 2nd generation of dedicated 3D consoles (thoughts of how the 16 bit generation was merely an extention of the 8 bit games is where I'm coming from with this). But after playing some of the "big" games for all the major platforms I'm not overly enthused over what the future may bring. Maybe my expectations are too high, but is that truely bad?
Kevin Listwan
08-28-2003, 10:31 AM
after reading this post i read a bit about the phantom, you know the much mocked download only console thats yet to debut. i'm not about to say the phantom is the future but perhaps the concept is. if you're just downloading games, just taking the software off a wire there are huge areas for the company to save money. you can subtract the cost of the case, the pressing, the packaging, cover art, manual printing, warehousing, shipping, inventory control, returned unsold games etc...i havent seen a pie graph on this but that must be a considerable chunk of it. then theres advertising and getting your games onto the shelves, you could do without most of those costs. marketing could be as simple as downloading a promo/demo along with a full game you're using. again i dont know the exact % but marketing is always a big expense.
Yup christianscott27, good post, this is the reasonsing for it, major savings. Some have said the music industry should have gone this way (it has to some extent latly).
ManekiNeko
08-28-2003, 10:33 AM
I have to admit, I am hoping for a crash. I think it will be beneficial to the industry in the long run. Yes, yes, I've heard the arguments against one so please don't bother repeating them.
JR
Bratwurst
08-28-2003, 11:42 AM
Wasn't the reason for the crash in 84 because it was too easy for startup companies to regurgitate games of their own, adding to an overwhelming glut of software and few buyers?
The focuse of this article seems to point to just the opposite, that the small players are dying off to make way for the big leagues.
Sylentwulf
08-28-2003, 12:34 PM
Creating a DVD game with artwork, manual and case costs less than $1.00 per game. That's not saving them much at all compared to a download-game type of console.
Imagine the ungodly amount of server bandwidth Sony would have to have if people were downloading 3 gigabyte games. It would be absolutely unfathomable.
Drexel923
08-28-2003, 12:51 PM
Creating a DVD game with artwork, manual and case costs less than $1.00 per game. That's not saving them much at all compared to a download-game type of console.
Imagine the ungodly amount of server bandwidth Sony would have to have if people were downloading 3 gigabyte games. It would be absolutely unfathomable.
I agree with Sylentwulf...the biggest problem here is the money it costs to make the game, not distribute it. And it all comes down to making games more complex. If games went back to being fun and simple it would elimate the extra costs of trying to make everything "life like" and "real". Costs are so high because of new software, but most importantly the time it takes to make a game. As the guy in the article from EA said...it could end up taking close to 10 years to make a game. That may be a strech but still. I don't think there needs to be a crash per say...but I think consumers (read: mainstream gamers) need to realize that games can still be fun/entertaining while not mimicking (sp?) life. If this happens, then developers won't have to push so hard and will save money. I'm not saying that games should not improve year after year in all aspects, including graphics, but I think they can slow down a little.
Kid Fenris
08-28-2003, 01:13 PM
Oh my God! The industry is crashing! The industry is crashing! Quick, everyone! We can hide in Mr. Fox's den! He's a true HARDCORE gamer and wouldn't hurt a fly!
Seriously, I think this talk of a crash is overblown (and that such a crash is nothing one should look forward to), but I'm concerned about the smaller developers dying out. Treasure, for one, has recently resorted to making Tiny Toons stuff and boxing titles. It's not as though they haven't worked with licensed properties before (remember McDonald's Treasure Land?), yet I'm worried that they haven't announced a new independent project.
Elsewhere, Compile and Psikyo seem as good as dead, and almost every RPG developer is working for a larger company. Then there's Working Designs, though I'm not sure if their setbacks can be blamed on the industry.
If the entire game industry were to go away today and never to return, how many of us have more games in our homes then we could ever reasonably finish in our lifetimes ? How many of the current and past generation's game gems are waiting for you to discover ?
How would you like to buy Madden just once and update the rosters a couple times a year ?
How about buying an RPG game engine and you could download episodes into it ? One story is fantasy, the next is sci-fi.
Everyone is thinking about game production the way it always has been done. The future will require thinking differently. This applies to every industry, not just video games.
FRED