The Industry: the past really is cyclical

[YoshiM]

Over the last few months (and for sure longer) there have been debates and statements about the "sour" state of the game industry. The stupid lawsuits. The lack of innovation or the stagnation of games. How "mainstream" gamers bring creativity down by not buying the "good" games. I know some of us, including myself (see Lendelin debates) have carried this banner from time to time.

Last week I received a shipment of old Video Game & Computer Entertainment magazines. This was my by far most favorite game magazine. Ever. I perused a couple- one from October of 1990 and another from 1991 and was floored at what I read. A lot of the stuff we see today happened back then. Smaller publishers/developers getting hammered by poor sales and succumbing to larger publishers. Lawsuits being flung back and forth. Games causing controversy (before Mortal Kombat: Dr. Mario got raked across the coals for portraying the idea that playing with pills was "fun").

A reponse to a letter in February of 1991 touched on "why not all of these [new 16 Bit games] are cracked up to what they claim to be." VG&CE reponds with explaining how games are taking longer to make and are sometimes released before they are really finished (sound familiar and recent?) They also say "One of the biggest complaints that concerns the release of game after game with similar formats. Most players believe that the software market is getting boring. Some new titles are simply alterations of the characters and theme from previous efforts. New game concepts like 'Tetris' (boy if they only knew what the future held-lots o' Tetris clones) and 'Quarth', are, sadly, not released frequently enough for our liking." Andy Eddy said in the Letter From the Editor in the September 1990 issue that "video game companies have to be careful not to let quality slip, lest they alienate their value customers. And we wouldn't want to see a repeat of 1983, would we?"

This hit me like a ton of ET carts. I didn't remember a lot of that stuff nor did I really *think* about it back then either. After years of year seeing the industry evolve it's not too hard to think that the issues we complain about today are unique to today. Yep, the past really is cyclical like our parents or grandparents told us.

Figure I'd share that with y'all.

[Ed Oscuro]

That is eerie, but you have to admit that there really IS a lot more work put into games today than there used to be. You also have more professional types working on games, and they have a lot of concepts down and ready to be applied to any game (i.e. the Game Programming Gems series...those books are a treasure trove), but I have to wonder if the work that's done is actually taking longer, or is it essentially automatic, computer-generated?

MP3s might be a lot bigger in size than the older music, but is the music actually more complex? I'd actually venture to say that programming game music (on CD-ROM and DVD-ROM based systems) is a whole lot easier than it used to be since you can separate the composer and the sound engineer. In the past, the composer and the sound engineer had to be one and the same (C64 SID tunes, for example)

I guess what it boils down to is that, for a good while anyway, game concepts and designs won't be bigger in scope (on average) than the limits human imaginations put on the process.

However, I think that the Warcraft MMORPG (WoW) is going to help push the limits in one direction...while the basic components of the game are definitely human-comprehensible, the game itself will be very large and have a lot of stuff for the person to do. It is supposedly going to be a very content based game with an emphasis on reducing (eliminating?) "level grind."

[Daniel Thomas]

That's the way it always goes. There is some innovation, and the industry rallies around the new hit, trying to cash in. After time, the market becomes saturated with copycats and "me-too" games, and hardcore gamers start to feel stifled. Of course, something new and innovative pops its head out once again, and the whole cycle repeats itself.

Look back to 1990, when that VG&CE was written. There were too many tired retreads, but there were also many greats that we now regard as among the finest games ever made. Tetris, Populous, Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog, Herzog Zwei, Devil's Crush, Street Fighter 2...that's just off the top of my head. I'm sure you could name many more. The 16-bit era was just beginning to hit its stride. I would suggest that the same rule applies today. There are some classics among the current consoles, and there will be more classics to come.

p.s. Last time I checked, MP3's are typically inferior than CD's. They have the advantage of smaller file size, but that compression means a lot of the original music is lost. The most common sizes for MP3 is 128 or 160kbs; a CD usually tops out over 1400kbs. Of course, I'm of the belief that vinyl records still sound better than CD's, so maybe I'm just loopy.

[Ed Oscuro]

p.s. Last time I checked, MP3's are typically inferior than CD's. They have the advantage of smaller file size, but that compression means a lot of the original music is lost. The most common sizes for MP3 is 128 or 160kbs; a CD usually tops out over 1400kbs. Of course, I'm of the belief that vinyl records still sound better than CD's, so maybe I'm just loopy.

Debating MP3 vs. CD wasn't the intention of my comment. I'm referring to the tendency of many game developers to throw MP3s in for music, ambience, whatever -- it's cheap, and that's all I need to know ;)

Also, the part about MP3s having smaller file size (there's Ogg Vorbis, but that's a whole other kettle o' fish) actually runs counter to what I'm trying to argue. MP3s are not the way of the future -- in all things we'll see the complexity of the data increase, and MP3s in game music are soon to be a rare breed (it does seem like just yesterday that Ritual Entertainment's [i]Sin[/u] used pre-MP3 audio).

It seems to me that while you can have larger types of media and more data needing to be put on a disc, game designers still capture the natural essence of that data and the programmers work to make it appear more natural (smoothing out motion capture at the end of a frame so the right posture is automatically reattained, for example). While some games have had much larger teams working on them than seen in most previous games, it has to be mentioned that a number of games (such as Super Metroid) had very large teams working on them. Game designers will be able to create increasingly complex worlds and still stay within budget and within the correct timeframe.

[GaijinPunch]

I'm of the belief that vinyl records still sound better than CD's, so maybe I'm just loopy.

I owe you a beer.

As for games taking longer, or being more complex... well, yeah, sort of. The market is much bigger, and there's definitely more money going into the games, but also more coming out.

I remember that interview with a Grain Ground developer where he talks about taking 14 months to program the AI for the game, and that game is like 13 years old.

[IntvGene]

However, I think that the Warcraft MMORPG (WoW) is going to help push the limits in one direction...while the basic components of the game are definitely human-comprehensible, the game itself will be very large and have a lot of stuff for the person to do. It is supposedly going to be a very content based game with an emphasis on reducing (eliminating?) "level grind."

Speaking of cyclical, I thought that this was supposed to be the big deal with Ultima Online too. But, I'm just making a passing comment, Ed. I haven't really researched WoW. :)

I look at the upcoming releases for the year, and I see alot of big names, and a lot of sequels, a lot of safe bets for the gaming companies. There are still some semi-creative stuff to look forward to, Fable, being something that I've had my eye on. However, the real ingenuity will probably come from an unexpected source, not an over-hyped title, should there be one.

It's funny because maybe our standards for creativity may have fallen. All my friends were talking about the "Shark gun" in Armed and Dangerous. Sorry, I am looking for a creative game, not just a creative weapon. :roll:

As for the development of the modern games, I think that it is just a different situation. I think you plan it alot more, there is a director overseeing the entire project, and people are bringing their parts together. I still think that's a lot different. I believe that it's tough for creativity to survive in an environment like that, although it can happen from time to time.

[Ed Oscuro]

However, I think that the Warcraft MMORPG (WoW) is going to help push the limits in one direction...while the basic components of the game are definitely human-comprehensible, the game itself will be very large and have a lot of stuff for the person to do. It is supposedly going to be a very content based game with an emphasis on reducing (eliminating?) "level grind."

Speaking of cyclical, I thought that this was supposed to be the big deal with Ultima Online too. But, I'm just making a passing comment, Ed. I haven't really researched WoW. :)

Quite true, but they have specifically stated that they're working on ironing that out. That and the "unsophisticated graphics" everybody is (foolishly) complaining about signal that they're taking a different route. WoW is a game to watch if you're into MMOs.


It's funny because maybe our standards for creativity may have fallen. All my friends were talking about the "Shark gun" in Armed and Dangerous. Sorry, I am looking for a creative game, not just a creative weapon. :roll:

No. Back when the N64 was new kids would spend hours talking about special secret weapons, rooms, etc in Goldeneye, some real (paintbrush) and some not (what's on the other side of the vent?) ...I'm sure this is true of other blockbuster games, take Super Metroid (which also has some hidden weapons not covered in the player's guide). In any group of kids there will be one who's very creative and imaginative who will think up all sorts of rumors to talk about. There's stories at these forums about the rumors that sprung up about Atari 2600 games, too.

If your friends are still at that stage, that's just a signal that you're thinking on a different level about games than your friends are. Slapstick humor is as big as it ever has been (which is what I think of when I view GTA 3 now after watching it -- lots of unrealistic hijinks with automobiles).