Aging Gamers change Video Game Industry

POSTED BY: Succatash
UPDATED: Saturday, April 3, 2004 02:13
VIEWED: 7074
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SUCCATASH

Monday, March 29, 2004 5:27 AM

Video Game Industry Faces 'Crisis of Creativity'
Sun Mar 28, 8:50 AM ET
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&ncid=581&e=1&u=/nm
/20040328/tc_nm/biztech_games_dc_1

The video game industry is facing a hardening of the creative arteries as aging gamers' tastes increasingly shift toward sequels and games based on movies... "The gaming industry will shrink unless we start to see new games," said Toru Iwatani, who created Pac-Man....

I say Firefly/Serenity is the perfect place to start. What better audience than us aged gamers?

BROWNCOAT1

Monday, March 29, 2004 1:29 PM

I agree Tash.

Make a game about Firefly. It is new, it would be ready for the streets by the time the movie comes out, and it would bring some video gamers into the theatre to check out the movie as well.

I know this "aging gamer" would buy and play the game.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

ATHERTONWING

Monday, March 29, 2004 1:40 PM

well i'm no aging gamer....i dont remember that game with the ping pong thing....i'm one of the playstation generation. But i agree a Firefly game would be amazing.The one thing that pissed me off so much about the show going was the fact that no other show has made me want to explore the worlds in it so much, i long to see the back streets of Ariel or go exploring on white fall we need a firefly game!

JEBBYPAL

Monday, March 29, 2004 2:03 PM

If done well, a firefly game would rock. Unfortunately, have yet to see a game based on a movie worth playing (my own opinion). Star Wars KOTOR is about the only exception.

If the game got bad reviews and was linked with the movie, it might turn off gamers who weren't familiar with the show. might be better to wait for a post-movie release as a promo for series return (or movie sequel if we fail to get a weekly dose due to contracts etc).

HKCAVALIER

Monday, March 29, 2004 4:42 PM

Absolutely a Firefly game would be great, but getting back to that article, I think it's a little confused. Seems to me like they're taking a film industry problem and grafting it onto the video game industry. Sounds like aging game developers getting nostalgic for "the good old days."

We could all prolly count the number of good movie sequals on one hand. And the number of good video games based on a movie on one finger. But video game sequals are consistently better than the original. This has partly to do with advances in technology. A movie sequal is usually a simple rehash of the original movie. But if you look at "Doom III" just as an example, it bares only a slight resemblance to the original "Doom." The "Final Fantasy" series is a series of very different games in terms of story and even genre but the gameplay is a continuing evolution.

So I think this notion that the creativity in the industry is somehow drying up is merely a smokescreen for the fact that various developement teams are getting a name for themselves based upon the good products they have put out in the past. The industry itself is maturing, and I think that's a good thing. And with video game sales outdoing box office receipts for several years in a row now, I think it's pretty bogus to say that the industry is in some actual crisis.

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

KALIMEERI

Monday, March 29, 2004 5:32 PM

I would not say there is a crisis in creativity, only what the video game publishers wish to promote. (There's a parallel with F*X TV here somewhere). Small video game companies have been forced out of the market or gobbled up, so there are less places for creative individuals to work. Not to mention that "what sold last year" or "me too" are the standards by which games are often chosen for marketing. (Survival shows? Ugh.)

It's tough to sell something really different, and pretty impossible if you are talented but 'little' and broke. Hence some of those extremely well-done expansion packs, the evidence that somewhere "out there" intelligent life exists. (Take a look at the Scratchware Manifesto-- www.the-underdogs.org sometime, if you're interested).

I love games. There was a time when I'd order two or three titles from Sierra just from the description in their catalog. Yep, full price. But I no longer buy ANY game until I've read the reviews. Why? Because they're rushing some of these well-hyped things out the door before they even can limp along without crashing, and because sometimes the hype is the best part.

I do miss the 'good old days', I guess. But I'd rather see them do nothing in regards to Firefly, than something awful.

My hat's off to KOTOR. It's a gem. And I hope Bioware/Lucas can do it again in KOTOR 2.

Jen dao mei.

JARED

Monday, March 29, 2004 5:57 PM

you trust reviews? i prefer demos (with again kotor being a rare exception). unfortunately more and more demos pull that annoying "only x% finished, doesnt represent quality for finished product" nonsense. then what the heck are they publishing the demo anyway? wait til it DOES represent the finished product, because thats the one reason i bother to download a demo.

that said its funny this thread is coming up right now. a few days ago i was wondering what kind of game would work for firefly. obviously elite/privateer cover the "job" part quite well (smuggling, plundering, transporting passengers, doing special jobs, etc.). but it would lack an important part. walking around serenity, interacting with the crew. adding another genre like 3rd person action adventure or maybe even 1st person rpg (wouldnt you enjoy being the 10th crew member?).

unfortunately combining two genres rarely appeals to the fans of both but repels them, as half the game would be something they dont like or care about. a simple solution would be to let the player decide where his focus is.

one way or another, i would hope for it to be an unrestricted game with lots of options for exploration (compared to games that spoon feed you the story and drag you along a linear path).

and no, im not offering to work on one. all my projects tend to end somewhere in the middle, not to mention a single person could never create what i have in mind ,-)

LORDJ

Monday, March 29, 2004 5:58 PM

I think the technology is driving this more than fan tastes. As the capabilities of consoles/PCs increase the amount of resources needed to produce a game have changed the financial calculations in the industry to the point that innovative titles represent a much bigger risk.

The Shenmue series is a good example; Sega spent millions on the game, it took several years to develop (and in the process switched systems); and barely made a dent in terms of sales, and then only in the US. How many times are investors (i.e. publishers) going to line up to give the kinds of resources you need to develop that game?

ARDEN

Monday, March 29, 2004 6:05 PM

I was actually just thinking the other day that it might be fun to play some kind of Firefly video game, but in reality I unfortunately feel that if they made one it would probably be sub-par at best. I'll reiterate the fact that, with KOTOR and Goldeneye N64 as notable exceptions, I can't think of a truly great game based on a movie. (I can think of a long laundry list of terrible games based on films, however, but I'll leave that be so as not to clutter the thread)

The real development dangers in a Firefly game for me would seem to be that 1- The show encompasses several different kinds of "action," e.g. gunfights, flying Serenity, chases, sneaking about, etc. Games that try to do lots of different things usually do none of them well. 2- Story-wise, the show revolves around 9 characters, and giving all of them adequate time to develop could prove futile. Of course, they may choose to drop story development and simply create a game similar to Buffy on X-Box ("go do this Buffy! Good job! Now go do this!"), a passable if not great game.

The only sure-fire escape is to give the game to some genius developer who will find a way to make it outstanding. And it's already been said that there are too few of them out there right now. (wow, another long post... yikes)

You got a wife? All I got is that dumbass stick sounds like it's raining.

KALIMEERI

Monday, March 29, 2004 6:32 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Jared:
you trust reviews? i prefer demos (with again kotor being a rare exception).

unfortunately combining two genres rarely appeals to the fans of both but repels them, as half the game would be something they dont like or care about.

IMO, reviews are better than plunking down $50 on a coaster. Obviously, some reviewers have more credibility than others; i.e., they refuse to be bought or misquoted. I don't like demos, as a general rule.

You're right about the game type. A strict interpretation of any of the genres would be a loser.

Jen dao mei.

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