The next Videogame crash in 2005????

[wisekrak]

This guy seems to think so. He has some good points too.
http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/games/crash.html

[Jasoco]

Yay! Another "Doom and Gloom" thread.

In before teh lock!!! ;)

[Kejoriv]

Not a bad written article. He does have some good points.

[christianscott27]

people have been predicting another video game crash every year since 88, dont hold your breath waiting for it to happen.

[Jasoco]

Pretty interesting article. I'll have to finish reading later... after I choose which smiley and french fries are my favorites. And after work.

[RCM]

I do not dig all these predictions about the end of gaming. I don't believe gaming is a fad. It is a form of art. I really didn't see many good points in the article nor did I enjoy the frequent general statements that the author used to back up his theory. I can't think of many or any fads that have been able to exist for over 30 years. If anything, I believe that gaming will be a very different beast in another 30 years (duh). If gaming must be compared to film, look at films first 30 and look at its second 30. The changes are significant on many levels (the art of filmmaking, it's social acceptence and value, etc.). Is this what is meant by a crash? A change of the very definition of gaming? I don't think that's what the author meant. Something that i haven't seen addressed is where the crash will take place. If the industry does crash, will it be in all markets? Is it possible for gaming to survive minus one of the major markets while the other 2 exist? I predict that gaming will be strong in 2005. It will be strong in 2006 and beyond. Of course the industry won't always have significant growth or any at all. Is that a harbinger of doom if 2004 is a less profitable year then 2003? Nah.

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[stargate]

"All it will take is some other fad, some toy, some other hobby to come along, and interest will fade. It's out there, on somebody's drawing board. Something truly new and different and novel, dammit. The market is ripe for it."

Umm, is it just me or does anyone else feel this guy makes very few good points if not any at all? I mean does he actually believe some new "fad" will come along and replace video games? Is he living under a rock?

Look, the dreaded video game crash of the 80's affected us gamers, how exactly? Quite frankly, besides having to play some crappy games, I'm pretty sure I was gaming as much as ever and when the NES came along, everybody and their mother was a video gamer. The whole crash wasn't really much of setback for video games and one can argue that the whole video game industry actually learned some valuable lessons as a result. This is probably why today many games have their release dates bumped up many months so the developers can make sure the game is ready for release and not be faced with another E.T. dibocle.

Gaming has really come a long way. I am 34 years old and gaming more than ever. My son is 12 and we have to literally pry him away from his GameCube to sit down and eat. ALL of my friend are gamers and most of their children have systems.

"I'm going to share a secret with you; the average video gamer isn't big on
fist-pumping competition with strangers."

Another ridiculous quote. My son and I will both play Diablo II for hours on end. I LOVE being able to play against other people, strangers or not. It basically means the enemy AI is human and not a program. It makes it much more exciting. Granted this is on a PC, but we are both waiting for online play on a console to be more affordable and have better support. This time will be coming soon.

The comparison screenshots he displays to show how little graphics have improved over the past 7 years are a joke. I am sure any gamer on this forum could go on a tangent regarding the graphic quality differences between a PSX game and an XBox game. I really feel that 3D graphics are truly just becoming acceptable. That crap we had to deal with on the PSX and N64 was, for the most part, headache inducing garbage.

Look, the fact is that console gaming has been going strong for 26+ years and counting. We are not taling about a fad like a Cabbage Patch doll or the friggin Care Bears (which I believe are also going strong BTW). We are talking about a multi-billion dollor industry that has been growing by leaps and bounds for close to 3 decades. This guy is a moron and obviously has too much time on his hands.

One more of his quotes I would like to com,ment on before I go:

"Quick, go get your old 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System. What? You donated it to a homeless shelter ten years ago? And even they don't play it"

Nope, I still have my original NES and I play it every day, thank you very much.

[josekortez]

How do the homeless play video games? Well, maybe, they could play handhelds...

WILL WORK FOR BATTERIES!

[poe]

Wow. That's the first article ever on PWOT to use some facts or informed speculation. Read "50 Reasons Why Lord of the Rings Sucks" for an idea of typical fare for the site. Lots of articles there are meant as satire or to agitate fanboys. You can also look at any of the links at the end of the article.

[crashdummycow01]

the name of the link says it all..

http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/games/crash.html

[HellStar]

Cdc is right...thats :bullshit:

[swlovinist]

I have said this before, and I will say it now. There will not be a crash like in 84, but a correction is due. 10 years ago, games got caught up in embrassing technology and not gameplay. Games were jumping to 3-D, and FMV was everywhere. Many consoles were trying to get a piece of the action. The Jaguar, 3D0, Saturn CD-i all ate it big time. The game market in general took a dive in sales until the Playstation came out. While I question the overpowering wacko format of the article, it does make you think about where games are going. How many people think that games could be better? I know that many here at this site are frustrated at the ho hum level of quality and creativity the new batch of games has delivered. What I see is the market again getting flooded with consoles and games that all try to do the same thing and that is bad. Unless there is a breakthru in gameplay or type of game offered, I dont see the people Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo expect accepting the new systems. Is the market crash? I dont think so, but I feel enough of the game market is going to be affected by a lack of sales to at least have the industry in general look at itself and wonder........can we still sell Xgame sequel #6 and profit?????

[Mr. Smashy]

It's good to see that everybody else is as annoyed as I am with any sort of talk about a future video game crash.

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm glad that Yamauchi and the rest of Nintendo have realized that Nintendo has traditionally focused on fun, not simply technology. That also helps from the standpoint of cost performance -- cheaper for them, cheaper for us.

I do hope his idea succeeds...it will be a dark day if it does not.

[crashdummycow01]

until they can make a person ACTUALLY look realistic in games, then it can always get better... most games i've played on the new consoles, theres just something about how the characters look that make them not realistic... whether it be their hair that looks matted together, or their body's having sharp edges.. whatever it is, they still havent quite nailed that... until u can walk into a room and look at the TV at a video game playing, and not be able to tell whether its a video game, or a movie, there will always be room for improvement..

[MarioAllStar2600]

I have been saying this since I joined this board. I am not even going to get into it cause its gunna happen.

[crashdummycow01]

to quote Mr Garrison....

YOU GO TO HELL... YOU GO TO HELL AND DIE!



jk

[mezrabad]

Okay, I'm not an economist, nor have I ever played one on TV, however I seem to have heard something about basic economic theory predicting that markets have cycles, not necessarily predictable cycles, but cycles that can be analyzed after the fact. If they happen in every market, why would video games be any different? And So What? if they are?

Do I think the author at pointless waste of time is talking out his ass? Well, yes, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a chance of being right. To quote Carl Sagan "Possessing scientific genius does not prevent you from being dead wrong.", (said in Cosmos, regarding Ptolemy.) from which we can derive "Being a dumbass doesn't prohibit you from guessing correctly for the wrong reasons every so often."

So what if it crashes? What is everyone afraid of if the gaming industry crashes? That might actually be an interesting topic.

[Packerfan66]

That article is kinda scary because it describes the phases I go through for video game cycles. Everytime I get a new system I'm into it for three years then it seems the games get stale then I lose interest in video games a little. A new system comes out and boom I'm right back into video games again. This happened for NES, SNES, N64, Dreamcast and now.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Mezrabad has some other smashing crashing thoughts in this thread (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/modcp.php?t=30800), but since it's locked let's keep the discussion going here. :)

[nildem]

Maybe I'm alone here, but I wouldn't mind another crash, just as long as I have a chance to catch up on my collections before the next Nintendo comes along to revive the industry. ;)

[Jasoco]

Maybe I'm alone here, but I wouldn't mind another crash, just as long as I have a chance to catch up on my collections before the next Nintendo comes along to revive the industry. ;)
Ditto! Cheap games, anyone!? ;)

[AB Positive]

to quote Mr Garrison....

YOU GO TO HELL... YOU GO TO HELL AND DIE!



jk


*ahem*

It's "You go to hell, you go to hell and you die". I nitpick :)

-AG

[Flack]

If there is another videogame crash, I'll finally have time to complete one of my wacky ideas. Like playing at least one round of every game MAME supports. Or writing a one paragraph review for every NES game (or SNES) game. I have enough dumb ideas to keep me busy through any drought.

[calthaer]

until they can make a person ACTUALLY look realistic in games, then it can always get better... until u can walk into a room and look at the TV at a video game playing, and not be able to tell whether its a video game, or a movie, there will always be room for improvement..

Improved graphics do not alone an improved game make. Just because something looks like the movies doesn't mean it will give you the same sense of character development, plot, and coherence that a good movie experience does. In fact, I would argue that a good game experience is fundamentally different from a good movie experience.

Recently, the "improvements" video games have made are iterations of the same thing. I bought the first Unreal Tournament and see no reason to buy any of the later ones. Now Half Life 2, on the other hand, should present an original story, so maybe it's worth it.

The article had several good points. It's off the deep end, of course, and there probably won't be a crash, but come on. There's certainly no "golden age of gaming" going on right now.

[jaydubnb]

Heh, this is the videogame equivalent of The Second Coming....people have been predicting it forever in order to smash the big, bad evils out there. The only thing I can envision happening is , say, Microsoft bailing out in a few years. Other than that, I cant see an 80s crah -ever- hapening now. Gaming is far too engrained into mainstream culture in a totally no-fad way.

[RJ]

AdamG wrote:
It's "You go to hell, you go to hell and you die". I nitpick

Regarding your sig- it's "O'Brien"

I nitpick too :P

[sabre2922]

First off another crash would be great for us "real" gamers even though I hate to use the term "hardcore" but hey thats why were all here, for many reasons.
First and Foremost it would weed out all the casual gamers that keep buying crap games like enter the matrix and shrek.
second I think Sony would run for the hills like uncle jed on speed and beleive it or not I actually think Microsoft and Nintendo would be the ones to tough it out and take equal portoins of the pie after the dust settled.
just think of it brand new games for 9.99$ and no more EVIL places like my local GAMESTOP damn I really hate the manager there he knows nothing of games and has even less common sense.
LATER GAMERS!!!

[Cmosfm]

I'm getting pretty tired of hearing about "OMG, there will be another game crash!!!"

There will not be another Video Game Crash!

Games crashed before because it was a niche hobby, it was a geek hobby, technology wasnt advancing fast enough and there was nothing new. Everything was being rehashed...theres only so much you can do with a few pixels.

Games nowadays are huge, like movies and music, its a hobby for everyone. Technology is moving fast and games show it. Maybe a lot of stuff is being rehashed but not to the point of 2 games looking exactly alike. Games are a viable entertainment source nowadays. If games crash, then movies and music might as well too.

I don't care what this article says, I just skimmed it by the way, but this guy seems to be trying to hard and wanting to industry to crash. It won't, there will be games today, games tommorow, and even if they still look the same as today there will be games 20 years down the line.

We're alive, we're kicking, and we always will be.

[Jasoco]

to quote Mr Garrison....

YOU GO TO HELL... YOU GO TO HELL AND DIE!



jk


*ahem*

It's "You go to hell, you go to hell and you die". I nitpick :)

-AG
DAMN YOU!

I WAS GONNA NIT-PICK THAT!!! But for some stupid reason I decided not to.. Grr... I missed my chance.

I nit-pick as well.

[sabre2922]

oh by the way NATALIE IS PERFECTION!! mmm baby i like your avatars j @_@

[Jasoco]

oh by the way NATALIE IS PERFECTION!! mmm baby i like your avatars j @_@Here's one of her in a very suggestive shirt... What's she trying to say. :evil:

[crashdummycow01]

hrmm... lol i've never heard him say that other "you".. or atleast i dont remember it... o well..

[farfel]

Games crashed before because it was a niche hobby, it was a geek hobby, technology wasnt advancing fast enough and there was nothing new. Everything was being rehashed...theres only so much you can do with a few pixels.

Games nowadays are huge, like movies and music, its a hobby for everyone.

Didn't Atari sell around 30 million consoles? Doesn't that qualify as "huge" too?

Youre probably right (no game crash) but when awesome games like Primal and Beyond Good & Evil sell for $10 only a few months past release, something has to give. Those programmers are losing money. There's too many games on the market.

[hegyak]

Why do I think there is a crash coming? When I look out at what the gaming masses have to play, I feel like it is just the same old thing with better graphics.

I have played more FPS games on my PC then most people. I got Halo 1 and I was completely disappointed. The game was not much fun and there was no real reason to play it again after I had beaten it. The story was not much to say, Troops fight aliens, A lone solder saves the day. Seen it all before. The recycled story items were not what made the game atrocious for me but the Library was. The flood just kept coming and going up that damn elevator... I think I remember doing something like that in a better game. I think it was called "Smash T.V."

The problem I see is this; Most games are just recycled ideas with a different look. Halo 1 was just using all the old clichés of Science Fiction. Advent Rising was accused of ripping off Sci-Fi novels and movies, well seeing that Halo did the same thing why not? Halo is the MOST popular game for the X-box despite the fact that it uses the same engine style for Medal of Honor games and uses Sci-Fi clichés.

What games are ones that are new then? Postal 2 was quite an FPS. The overall style of the game went FAR beyond another game. Conker's bad fur day, GTA and those adult games from Japan are no where NEAR what Postal 2 had in terms of inappropriate actions and activities. The game's story line was not exactly that well written. On Monday you have to get your pay check, cash the pay check and get some milk. Sounds boring? Considering that protestors assault the main character’s office and will kill him on sight, it is not so simple anymore.

Why am I yammering on about game play? If the same old ideas are recycled but given a different look someone someday will catch on and then the great question will be asked, "why do I want to play this?" It's just like the one I got at home when all there is a new look?

Now, just how do I propose the gaming industry fixes itself? Easy, when I read the E3 reports about the new consoles, I heard the usual, "More power, better graphics" line from Microsoft and Sony. Nintendo, however, said, "We do not want to focus on power and graphics like our competition but we want to focus on game play. Retro games from most of Nintendo's consoles will reappear on the "Revolution” That means that Good and Bad games (as there were both) will be able to be discovered by a new generation and the older generations will get to enjoy the classics again.

How does this stop the crash? Nintendo is not following Sony and Microsoft like a lemming to the proverbial cliff of the 2nd crash. They are thinking for the future. Games can only look so great then you need to go and look at other elements, such as story and game play. A game is only as good as its story I believe. Maybe I am wrong, but if I am wrong I want to stay that way, some day I may become right. :)

How's that for a diffrent approach?

[squidblatt]

The problem is that you're using a huge success like Halo as an indicator for market decline. You can lament stale gameplay all you want, but it's selling extremely well. And then you cite Postal 2 as an example of the kind of game that would save the industry (unless I misread). I don't know whether Postal 2 was a commercial success or not, but I suspect it was not a humongous seller. Combine that with the fact that its tone alone is enough to turn off many gamers, and you're left with nothing but a niche title.

I think your concern is that you yourself are becoming bored with current FPSs, not the entire market. I actually agree with your critique of Halo, but derivitive or not, it sells wildly. If you've got a taste for originality in gaming, you're going to have to be satisfied with less. The mass market will always get more of what it wants, and right now it wants Halo.

[Gamereviewgod]

See, I'm one of the people who will cry crash everytime Circuit City and Best Buy start their $5 blowouts. Yet, I don't think the industry has changed that much.

Instead of SHMUPS, we get FPSs. Instead of character platformers, we get GTA Clones. Instead of beat-em-ups, we get hack & slash dungeoun crawls.

There have always been countless games out there that are carbon copies. It's just the genre has changed. Now a 2-D SHMUP draws an audience around here.

[phreak97]

while i do believe current gameing has gone to crap, i dont believe there is a crash coming. while the real gamers can see plainly that almost every game coming out now is a big bucket of pre-used ideas and cinematics, often combined with a crappy storyline and lack of functionality, there are still hundreds of millions of on the side gamers who buy as many games as we do, but only play them minimally as a pure boredom killer, or an occasional gaming night with friends. i have two much older cousins who both fit this catagory, both will claim to be gamers, but you can tell they arent. both of them have xbox libraries of 10-15 games, none of which i enjoy playing. the only game their combined librarys had that i enjoyed was Amped, and he sold it cos he couldnt get the hang of it..
it is people like this who run the market, the ones who buy games and never play them hard enough or dont have enough knowlege of games to realize the faults, they will claim a game is awesome without even noticing any problems with it. therefor there are best seller games with ok gameplay, alot of problems, used ideas, and most importantly a plethera of pretty graphics and cinematics.

[Mianrtcv]

WHatever may come. Bring it! I still have many games new, or ineed of replay. Plenty of stuff to carry me through a drought.

Also I don't see it happening, so I am not worried either way.

[MegaDrive20XX]

This is the point of view of one man...who is in his 30's who cannot seem to organize his life, yet take the time to write this long article.

It's not so much that you don't have time...it's you have to MAKE time in order for you to enjoy your games.

We all work, we all have something going on...because that's just life, you can't stop it.

The only point that made sense to me, was the online issues. He was pretty accurate on the number of people who use internet.

Yet, I think he has forgotten how fast it takes technology to improve itself. I felt that comparing a game from 1980 to 1987 was just silly and far fetched. To me, that was like comparing Pong to Mortal Kombat. It's just not going to happen.

Plus he has forgotten that their is an over populating amount of children in the world then adults.

Who do you think will be playing them more, middle aged guys or tommorrow's future children?

Hell even GameFaqs recent polls show that kids under 18 are playing video games more then middle aged guys

[Lothars]

Well honestly if we would see better games and stuff, im all for the video game crash but honestly i don't really see it,

o well it could happen

if it does cool, if not that's fine

we will see. never know.

[Zadoc]

Why do I think there is a crash coming? When I look out at what the gaming masses have to play, I feel like it is just the same old thing with better graphics.

I have played more FPS games on my PC then most people. I got Halo 1 and I was completely disappointed. The game was not much fun and there was no real reason to play it again after I had beaten it. The story was not much to say, Troops fight aliens, A lone solder saves the day. Seen it all before. The recycled story items were not what made the game atrocious for me but the Library was. The flood just kept coming and going up that damn elevator... I think I remember doing something like that in a better game. I think it was called "Smash T.V."

The problem I see is this; Most games are just recycled ideas with a different look. Halo 1 was just using all the old clichés of Science Fiction. Advent Rising was accused of ripping off Sci-Fi novels and movies, well seeing that Halo did the same thing why not? Halo is the MOST popular game for the X-box despite the fact that it uses the same engine style for Medal of Honor games and uses Sci-Fi clichés.

What games are ones that are new then? Postal 2 was quite an FPS. The overall style of the game went FAR beyond another game. Conker's bad fur day, GTA and those adult games from Japan are no where NEAR what Postal 2 had in terms of inappropriate actions and activities. The game's story line was not exactly that well written. On Monday you have to get your pay check, cash the pay check and get some milk. Sounds boring? Considering that protestors assault the main character’s office and will kill him on sight, it is not so simple anymore.

Why am I yammering on about game play? If the same old ideas are recycled but given a different look someone someday will catch on and then the great question will be asked, "why do I want to play this?" It's just like the one I got at home when all there is a new look?

Now, just how do I propose the gaming industry fixes itself? Easy, when I read the E3 reports about the new consoles, I heard the usual, "More power, better graphics" line from Microsoft and Sony. Nintendo, however, said, "We do not want to focus on power and graphics like our competition but we want to focus on game play. Retro games from most of Nintendo's consoles will reappear on the "Revolution” That means that Good and Bad games (as there were both) will be able to be discovered by a new generation and the older generations will get to enjoy the classics again.

How does this stop the crash? Nintendo is not following Sony and Microsoft like a lemming to the proverbial cliff of the 2nd crash. They are thinking for the future. Games can only look so great then you need to go and look at other elements, such as story and game play. A game is only as good as its story I believe. Maybe I am wrong, but if I am wrong I want to stay that way, some day I may become right. :)

How's that for a diffrent approach?

Yet another gamer in denial about how poorly Nintendo has been doing in the market since the SNES. Seriously, the Revolution is going to bomb and Sony and Microsoft are going to thrive. You even pretend to not like Halo. Pathetic.

[Zap!]

Video game systems may not crash, but arcades had the crash in the late 90's and still have not recovered. There hasn't been an arcade smash hit in YEARS.

While we're on the subject, what would it take to go back and have 8-bit and 16-bit systems once again dominate the market?

[Nesmaster]

LOL, love number 3

cant see a crash happening though

[Amy Rose]

Video game systems may not crash, but arcades had the crash in the late 90's and still have not recovered. There hasn't been an arcade smash hit in YEARS.
I'm not really in the know about arcade games, but when did DDR come out? My local video arcade had the DDR Extreme machine for a while and was thriving. People would come in, play lots of DDR, play other games while they were waiting for their next turn. The arcade ended up selling the machine, and everytime I'd walk past, there would be 1-2 people in there at the most.

They got DDR back, and I think it saved their butts. :P It's always crowded again now, but most of the crowd doesn't move from the DDR machine. I guess they're scared to see it go again.

Regarding the market crash, I'd be up for one. I'm really, really sick of the same old crap being rehashed over and over. Some games have had sequels that I have loved more than the original (Burnout 3, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle*), a few games have come out that I'm absolutely addicted to (Gungrave, Baten Kaitos, Gitaroo Man, Lumines) and it's fun to play old games with touched up graphics, especially when it's cheaper than buying the carts (Sonic Mega Collection Plus) but... I can see what the author's point is. Games ARE getting stale. I also hate FPSs and most racing games, so that market definitely doesn't appeal to me. If it happens it happens, if it doesn't, it doesn't, and no amount of speculation is going to tip the scales. It sure is fun though. ;)

* YES I am aware that this was a Dreamcast game! However, it has some bonuses that are great, and I had this before I could get my hands on SA:2 for Dreamcast. So there :P

[lendelin]

This "article" can't be taken serious. It is a joke. Not worth a comment.

[Zap!]

Video game systems may not crash, but arcades had the crash in the late 90's and still have not recovered. There hasn't been an arcade smash hit in YEARS.
I'm not really in the know about arcade games, but when did DDR come out? My local video arcade had the DDR Extreme machine for a while and was thriving. People would come in, play lots of DDR, play other games while they were waiting for their next turn. The arcade ended up selling the machine, and everytime I'd walk past, there would be 1-2 people in there at the most.

I certainly do not consider DDR a "smash hit". It hasn't come remotely close to "Grandmother status." What is that, you ask? It's a term I invented years ago, put in use if a game gets so popular the average grandmother has heard of it. Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, etc. all had Grandmother Status. DDR does not, nor will it ever.

[mezrabad]

I certainly do not consider DDR a "smash hit". It hasn't come remotely close to "Grandmother status." What is that, you ask? It's a term I invented years ago, put in use if a game gets so popular the average grandmother has heard of it. Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, etc. all had Grandmother Status. DDR does not, nor will it ever.

I gotta agree with this. I am *shocked* by the number of people to whom I mention DDR who have not heard of it. I even take the trouble to pronounce it "Dance Dance Revolution" and they still have not heard of it. (even though it was in an episode of Will & Grace. heh.)

It's funny how easy it is, for me anyway, to sit in my World O' Videogames and just because something is really cool in it I expect other people to know about it.

So, the subject was Crash right? I've asked this before: Why do we even care if there is going to be a crash? Of course, pointless speculation is an enjoyable passtime, but I don't see a downside to one. I'm not in the industry (damn them); I'm never going to finish the games I already have; and if the current gen starts selling at record low prices, I'll be tickled pink.

Does this get discussed because people like to theorize or because people are worried about it?[/i]

[WanganRunner]

His logic is fundamentally flawed, he's an idiot.

People buy new systems and more advanced technology because it is there. If the pace moved slower or not at all, people would still buy new games.

His cause-and-effect is backwards. People didn't get bored with the NES and then just demand the Genesis. The Genesis came into existence, and THEN was in demand, because it was THERE.

All the hardware manufacturers need to do to stop this cycle is to STOP producing new hardware altogether....but they won't do this, because if one guy does, another guy won't, and then the first guy loses his customers, that's called COMPETITION.

His comparisons of gaming to cinema are idiotic, and are blatantly ignoring many strengths that videogames hold over movies.

This quote:
"A few of us can still play games at 30, I suppose. You cannot play games at 35 or 40 and seem like anything but an intellectually-stunted manchild"

That's because Atari Age kids are about 30 years old now, and they grew up with games, so a 30 year old gamer seems normal. In 10 years, when those people are 40, they will still be playing games.

He limits the medium so many times in this article. If I meet him in real life, I'm going to punch him in the face. If he's on this forum, well, then, lick my balls, your article sucks.

[Damion]

The only real reason we had any kind of crash was thanks to atari and there Ego. But even then we had arcades and the good ol' commadore 64. Films had the very same hicups with lack of intrest and snobs when it was getting off it's feet.

Hell I remeber reading a quote about the value of airplanes in the military stating they would never be useful from the early ninteen hundreds. look at them now.

Everything in it's infancy has problems but games are certianly growing up and this person and others like him well be looked at as fools.

[chrisbid]

a total crash is unlikely, toys r us stopped carrying video games fro cripes sake.

but i do see a point where the growth stops and things level off.

[googlefest1]

i agree with what chrisbid said -- i was going to say that

but i do agree with some of what that guy said - i said similar things about the technical aspect - but that was in regards to me thinking that it was too early for the next gen consoles to come out (not realy from sony - but from MS and nintendo)

i think things will probbaly level off - how much i dont know - how bad i dont know - but i never realy saw a crash in the 80 anyways - i always saw games being sold and people buying them - sure they may have been marked down - but i think new games are over priced anyways -- these next consoles may be around for a while unless there will be some huge break through or virtual stuff becomes fashionable - which is where i think thing will be heading too -- VR isisnt realy that far behind - its it still expensive BUT i think cheap in mass quantities and definatly 5 years from now (LCD gets cheaper every month). i actualy hoped something like that would have come out on the xbox or game gube- but it didnt (only that awsome 40 button controller on xbox - yes i like it )

an fps would realy be more of an fps that way - your head controling the camera - i think that would sell -- but back to the main point - if there arent any new gimiks i can see the market leveling off and the only reason to buy a next gen next gen console would be if your forced to (end of game production and only continued production on new consoles)

but i will say this - if a worse recession hits then game industry will hit bottom (among other things)

[The Plucky Little Ninja]

God, did anyone else find the insult laden section titles as freakin' funny as I did?

The Grandmother test of video game greatness seems like a pretty good idea, but there isn't a chance in hell that my Grandmother would have any idea what Street Fighter II is.

It's been mentioned a few other times, but a crash could only benefit the retro gaming set. Either way it looks like a no lose situation. If the market vanishes then the ebay prices on old games should plumet.

[CartCollector]

You HAVE noticed the author of this article listed other articles he wrote at the end of the page, right? Taken from "Sony vs. Microsoft vs. Nintendo: 2003":

You. You out there, who snickered at me and my other almost-30 friends who just spent four consecutive hours discussing video games, nearly coming to blows and shedding the occasional tear. You need to understand us, because video gamers are the future. Gaming is now a 23.2 Zillion dollar industry in the United States alone; it is the next big thing, ready to change the culture in ways everyone but the Japanese will consider bad.

EDIT: Mr. Wong might have had a change of opinion, seeing as Sony vs. Microsoft vs. Nintendo was written a year before the article discussed here. Strong is the zeal of the convert...