Your perception about the future of videogames

[lendelin]

Since the introduction of the NES the game industry overall epanded, profit margins are growing, games became more and more recognized and respected.

Listen to the following conversation about the future role of videogames in the next 10 years:

A: I'm very optimistic about the future of videogames. The market will grow even more, games will become better and innovative, and they will become an established and respected form of entertainment and art like literature and movies. W've seen nothing yet.

B: I'm not so sure about that. Games are pretty good these days, sometimes great and sometimes disapointing, and that's how it will always be. I think we reached the limit of an appeal for a broader audience, and the market is saturated. Games will play second fiddle to other entertainment forms and probably won't get the respect like movies and literature.

C: The market is overheated already, and there will be a slow-down or even a recession. Game quality didn't get better in the last couple of years, and it might get even worse. Games will always be just games, the established cultural elite won't let them have the respect they deserve.

D: I can't think about this stuff, I'm so concerned about Martha Stewart. Granted, she's evil, but she doesn't deserve THAT.

[SegaTecToy]

Person C.
I'm not being optimistic here but I think that the market is very overhyped just now. Too much crap being released, too many good games being ignored and too many game-ignorant suits trying to make a fast money from games.

[Oobgarm]

Person C.
I'm not being optimistic here but I think that the market is very overhyped just now. Too much crap being released, too many good games being ignored and too many game-ignorant suits trying to make a fast money from games.

I think that sums it up quite well. Prince of Persia and Beyond Good & Evil and good examples of how great titles are overlooked because all this filler product is being jammed down people's throats.

[drid]

i picked A, i do believe there is alot of junk out there and saturation but i think that even if there is a recession, it'll really just clear out all the junk and leave the folks truly caring about making good games standing, supported by the people who truly care about good games, namely people like us.

[Cmosfm]

Im going with A...I feel that games will become more and more accpted and will just get more and more popular. I see no recession or "crash" coming.

[Mr Mort]

Person C.
I'm not being optimistic here but I think that the market is very overhyped just now. Too much crap being released, too many good games being ignored and too many game-ignorant suits trying to make a fast money from games.

I think that sums it up quite well. Prince of Persia and Beyond Good & Evil and good examples of how great titles are overlooked because all this filler product is being jammed down people's throats.

Took the words right out of my mouth. It seems that only games with the biggest marketing push sell well, regardless of quality. I also feel that the standards for quality and innovation have been lowered in the past couple of years...

[Sotenga]

Damn... gotta think about this one... okay, here's my perception on games: I think that the way things are going now, what with all the mundane and stupid ideas for games today, plus the overload of craptastic liscensed titles... okay, so there are still great games being made today, but there are only so many when compared to the titles created in the golden era following the market crash. So my reckoning point is that we're due for another crash... and another Renaissance. :D

Maybe I'm being too hopeful here, but when people become tired of the crap today, they'll look back to their single digit-bit andcestors and realize, "Hey, this is pretty good. There should be more games like this." What I'm looking forward to is the second coming of public arcades. All the modern and vintage classics that can be crammed into as many buildings as possible... maybe game companies will take a page from their past and create more shmups, more action-platformers, more overhead run-and-guns... could it be? A Commando 3 perhaps?!? Maybe, who knows? :-D

So after my rant above, what person would I be? I sorta have a little of all three personalities in there, but I'm mostly A... however, considering the not-too-distant future, I'd go for either B or C... I vote Q, mon capitane. :P

[Garry Silljo]

A and C. Games are ebcoming more accepted, but the market is too saturated with even MORE systems being announced. We need less consoles and more GOOD games. Acceptance IS growing though. Look at the movies. It seems half of the movies announced nowadays are based on hit games.

[farfel]

C: The market is overheated already, and there will be a slow-down or even a recession.


Brilliant games like Beyond Good&Evil get marked down to $10 so quickly while crap like Enter the Matrix sells millions. You know game buyers will get dis-illusioned and stop buying. Recession will result.

Also.. Too many games equals too few sales per game equals companies going bankrupt.

[kainemaxwell]

I voted C. Like others have said, the market's becoming too saturated with cookie-cutter games, not allowing the more innovate titles breathing room, so to speak.

[jdc]

"B" and "C" for sure. "A" doesn't even factor into the equation. It's the beginning of the end, albeit very slowly. We've hit the peak.

The sale of used video games and the rental of video games is the death knell. Don't forget, this is now the era of the casual gamer. The casual gamer thinks with his wallet, not with his emotions.

Casual gamers will see what's on the horizon for new software and do one of two things. Either wait for a used one to show up so that they can get it cheaper....the urge to grab it on launch day takes a back seat to cost savings....or they'll rent the game for a few dollars, play through a portion of it or all of it, and then NEVER purchase the software since they've already played it. Developers have complained for some time that there isn't enough software being purchased at launch. Sell-through numbers just aren't as high as hoped, unless it's something like casually-targetted Tony Hawk or GTA.

This last generation of systems was pricey. People complained over the price of hardware, memory cards, peripherals and especially software.....and then stubbornly sat and waited for a price drop, sometimes well into the second year. What will the reaction to the next gen systems and their ever-increasing costs be?

Many people have started to realize that gaming is a priviledge...not a birth-right....and to some it's a priviledge that just cannot be afforded. The larger segment of the population doesn't video game or even care to, outside of perhaps owning an old NES and a copy of Pacman or Tetris. The industry numbers look huge, but when looking at the big picture it's not as popular as you would think that it is.

I'm sure that many people, myself included, got tired of spending countless hours indoors in front of a tv while sunny days passed them by. Eventually you want to join the living world again and start mountain biking or fishing or skiing again.

The hardcore gamer will eventually rule again and the industry will shrink to a more manageable scale as the casual gamer heads off towards the next fad.

It's started already. Nothing you can do about it.

[AB Positive]

Crickety-crack-crack-crash 'a comin'


... C


-AG

[Sylentwulf]

NOTA, but I'd choose A.

Game are ALREADY about equal to movies, and will stay there. There isn't going to be a "crash" ever again. Gamers know what games they want, crappy games don't sell, good games do. Simple as that. The reason for the initial crash in early 80's is because games were a new area, and people thought there couldn't be such a thing as a "bad game"

Now, it's like movies, even the WORST movie has SOME fans.

[Captain Wrong]

D, Martha Stewart really got hosed. That and nothing current gen has interested me anyway, so as long as I've got my Neo and my Saturn, I really could care about New Gen.

[Kejoriv]

Person A:

I believe there is not going to be a crash soon. Like someone said before gamers know what game to buy and what games not to buy. The shit ones just dont sell. Video games are become more and more popular with society.

Just this past year, there was a video game awards show.
People spend more money on games then on movie tickets. I think we have just seen the beginning. The people that played Atari and Coleco when it was out are now in their 30s. These people still will play games as the young kids that have grown up with xbox, ngc, and ps2. Overall more and more people are playing games. The industry is only going to get better.

[PapaStu]

Just this past year, there was a video game awards show.
People spend more money on games then on movie tickets. I think we have just seen the beginning. The people that played Atari and Coleco when it was out are now in their 30s. These people still will play games as the young kids that have grown up with xbox, ngc, and ps2. Overall more and more people are playing games. The industry is only going to get better.

Well Duh they spent more money on games. At current ratios thats 5 movies for one new game. movies costing about 10 a person, and a game running you 50. Thats easy to see, especially if it was a bad year in movies. How many new games did you buy last year??? I saw maybe a dozen movies, i bought a crap load of games.


I choose B. I think the market is glutted, though there is still some amazing stuff comming out, its just much fewer and far between. I dont think that there will be a crash among the biggies, though we may loose another compaines home console division if they dont start respecting 3rd party development... None of the current biggies will go anywhere, and the other systems that might or might not come out, are not going to garnish any real support unless they get some unique titles developed for them that are worth their weight in salt.

My forcast is for maximum gluttage of games, alot of it mediocre and some great, and some crap. The only boat rocking will be done by themselves. No crash YET...