If you could change something about the Videogame industry...?

So, if you could change one (or more than one) thing, aspect, tendency or...well...anything, about the videogame industry, what would it be?  It could be anything, getting rid of a entire series or personality, moving a release date, turning a company into a console manufacturer, let your imagination run wild, and post as many ideas as you have

One thing I would do, or I guess eliminate, is the idea of "brand loyalty" within the gaming community.  I'm talking about mroe than just console loyalty, but also those who feel they have to be absolutely loyal a company, developer, gaming website and etc. (and thus, in opposition to anything that "threatens" it).  it is just silly to me that some people who suffer from this seem to forget that at the end of the day, what is most important are Great Games and playing those Great Games!

So, there is one of my ideas....What do you all think?

I'd change the way much the mainstream media reports on video games in a mostly negative way.

I'd change the way that release dates are staggered in favour of the USA, but never Europe. It pisses me off when we have to wait for months for new games without any real acceptable reason (if GTAIV can have a universal launch on both sides of the Atlantic, there's no reason other games can't).

"I'd change the way that release dates are staggered in favour of the USA, but never Europe. It pisses me off when we have to wait for months for new games without any real acceptable reason (if GTAIV can have a universal launch on both sides of the Atlantic, there's no reason other games can't)."

More huge, good RPGs, and a ridiculous amount of international support that lets the PSP live up to the name everyone doubts it has. Which it does.

And no more fucking idiotic Fall Slam.

"More huge, good RPGs, and a ridiculous amount of international support that lets the PSP live up to the name everyone doubts it has. Which it does.

And no more fucking idiotic Fall Slam."

I may be alone in this, but it feels like there are almost too many features in some games. In your Maddens & Halos is great to have several modes, but it seems like it gets to be too much with map editors, video chat support, customizable weapons, microtransactions, stats, levels, unlockables, achievements. I love games that have plenty of features, but sometimes it's just overwhelming.

Maybe I'm just old fashioned though.....

I'd definitely get rid of the idea that people only buy video games in the winter. This Summer of Arcade has been a huge success for Microsoft and I think a large part of that is because there's simply nothing else out for people to play. If a company would take a game like Spider-Man: Web of Shadows or Tomb Raider: Underworld which look like they'll be overlooked during the Autumn/Winter period, and release it in June/July/August, it would probably fare better.

Another thing is i'd like to get rid of all games being marketted to the stereotypical 13-year old male who can't go 5 seconds without shooting something. Like I mentioned in the BioShock forums, I think that game would have played out far better had the combat been kept to a minimum and you spent more time investigating Rapture than killing monsters.

Credits.

Mandatory crediting. Every single person who worked on a game should be credited in said game, ex-employees are not. If they work on it, they need to be credited.  There is no excuse that justifies why people are still not being credited, or why credits are taken out.

I would bring Sega back to its former glory.

The stigma that goes along with violence & video games. It's not as prominent as it used to be, but I still hate the way plenty of people still think video games lead to violence.

Make General Grievous a playable character in more games.

Hahaha.

Region-free consoles ftw.

I would like to see more art-critic style critique, less consumer reports.

People already know whether or not they're going to buy the game, even if they don't admit it.  I'd like to see more in-depth analysis of design philosophies and artistic discussion, as that's what we're really lacking at this point.  By the time a review comes out, gamers already know everything there is to know about the game.

I'm not talking about reviews that say GTA4 has an Oscar-worthy story or that MGS4 changed their life.  I'm talking about a review that discusses GTA4's decision to sacrifice sandbox gameplay in favor of cinematic storytelling, or MGS4's decision to go no-holds-barred on non-interactive cutscenes, and whether or not these are good directions for the franchises to take.

Instead we get shit like "You know it's good, it's fucking GTA.  10/10" or "This game has 12 levels, 6 weapons, and 4 multiplayer maps.  7.9/10"  That's not helpful to anybody.

I'd stop letting developers release unfinished products.  I'd also not allow them to set a release date until it can be guaranteed that it will indeed be ready to ship.  I'm tired of something not being done, but getting rushed out anyways only so the devs can get the paycheck and we get the short end of the stick.

"I'd stop letting developers release unfinished products.  I'd also not allow them to set a release date until it can be guaranteed that it will indeed be ready to ship.  I'm tired of something not being done, but getting rushed out anyways only so the devs can get the paycheck and we get the short end of the stick."

The whole industry is loosing it right now, need to get away from the cash cows and shovelware, bring back original ideas like we had in the N64, Dreamcast and Playstation 1 and somewhat playstation 2 era, get rid of paying for online, get rid of paying for extra things when it should be included or downloaded at no further charge, hyping things to extreme proporations need to stop, it is getting to the point like others have mentioned where reviewers are getting paid off to give it good scores or they just get wrapped up in the hype themselves and just score it when there are obvious flaws in the product. Last thing is that game devs who think they made the best game ever blame it on piracy due to poor sales when in fact the game actually does suck and people don't want it

Movie based being strictly tied to the release date of the movie.

There are a lot of sub-par, movie-based games that I think could've turned out to be pretty good if they had been allowed to cook for a little longer.

Every game has to be made or at least approved by Team Silent or Team ICO.

I'd remind Kevin Rudd about the Free Trade Agreement. I find it hard to believe that it costs $60 per game to import into Australia.

"Out_On_Bail said:

"I'd stop letting developers release unfinished products.  I'd also not allow them to set a release date until it can be guaranteed that it will indeed be ready to ship.  I'm tired of something not being done, but getting rushed out anyways only so the devs can get the paycheck and we get the short end of the stick."

Its the publishers that do that, not the developers.

no-one likes the game they worked on to have problems.

"

i hate the cookie-cutter approach to certain genres. i mean ever since Gears Of War anyone doing a 3rd person shooter tries to do a cover system. look at bullet time, after max payne it was showing up in soooo many games. i would much prefer developers were more creative and tried some new mechanics and new ideas. look at The Force Unleashed. not a fantastic game and im a huge fan of the Jedi Knight games and lucasarts could have made another jedi knight style game but i respect the decision to try something new and do the force powers in the OTT style , the game itself has issues but i much prefer to see games that try something new and even if they are not great they are at least thinking outside the box