What's Wrong with the Gaming Industry?

Okay, so my dad just sent me this article, titled "What's Wrong with the Gaming Industry?":
http://seekingalpha.com/article/172102-what-s-wrong-with-the-gaming-industry?source=from_friend     
 
Read that first.  
 
First of all, why most of this article is bullshit:

About his first point: I agree that there is a lot of copying going on, mostly with hardware though, not software. His example is BS. Guitar Hero was made by Harmonix (published by Activision), Harmonix was bought by MTV games after the second Guitar Hero game. Then they started making Rock Band. Rock Band is not a rip-off of Guitar Hero if it's made by the same people. Also, The Beatles Rock Band was not a flop, it sold quite well (around 500,000 copies in it's first month) which isn't the best, but good for a game that's $250.


Second Point:   Who makes the most annual iterations of there games? Activision. Guitar Hero? at least five games a year. Call of Duty? One game a year, just to name a few. Plus, they have even said that they will not make a game if they can not annualized it.

Third: Activision. But I don't think you can hate them for making a popular game. Also, Modern Warfare 2 is not "adult rated."

Fourth: I have no idea what he's talking about.

Fifth: I kind of agree with this actually.

Sixth: I don't know how he can say that with the amount of game ads you see today. Plus the ad campaign for Modern Warfare 2, and the 25 million dollar ad campaign for L4D2.

Sixth: Get over it. There have always been used games, why is it just becoming a problem now?

Seventh: Wait... didn't he just say that the problem with the gaming industry is that companies release games TO often? He's contradicting himself.

Eighth: I'm completely against piracy, but I don't think it's a big enough problem to ruin the industry. On PC? Yes. Consoles? No.

Ninth: We can't do anything about that can we?     
 
Part of what is wrong with the industry:  

Now, I think that points 2, 3, 4, and 5 are at least somewhat valid. But lets look at them: who is most guilty to all of these things? Activision. I'm not saying that all of the industries problems lay with Activision, but what they are doing is certainly not healthy for it.

Now, I ask you: what do you think are the main problems with the gaming industry?

The main problems are that games like CoD sell millions but other great games get ignored

" The main problems are that games like CoD sell millions but great games get ignored "

The main problems are that games like CoD sell millions but great games get ignored

" The main problems are that games like CoD sell millions but great games get ignored "

Just gonna pull out a comment on that article:
 
  cowlady: "Until NATAL comes out, gaming will just make us illiterate, ill-informed and OVERWEIGHT."
 
:D

" @toast_burner said:

" The main problems are that games like CoD sell millions but great games get ignored "

Great game like? "

meh. mediocre article that doesn't point out enough of the right things.
 
@toast_burner said:

Grim fandango sold only 200 thousand in its life time and CoD sells millions in a week "

Most games these days try to appeal to everyone rather then one particular group of people. Back when the industry was pretty small, you get games like Freespace and Eye of the Beholder. Though not everyone may enjoy those games, those who do, find the game incredibly immersive and fun since it feels like it was tailored just for them.
 
I miss my old games.

So what the point was that great games don't sell as much as a game like cod or halo. For example grim fandango and persona 4 they sold  not that many copies but cod can out sell them day 1. I think the reason for this is that people either don't care enough about the game or people have never heard of it and so they can't buy it. So maybe if they could market as much as cod does than maybe those games could sell as many. We know they never will or can but still i can hope .

@BenX02 said:

"@toast_burner: I'm not personally a fan of CoD, but a lot of people consider it a great game. And if a game gets the amount of press, and sells as much as Modern Warfare, isn't that good for the industry? "

According to the numbers I could tabulate from VGCharts.com, Beatles: Rock Band sold 1.5 million copies and Guitar Hero 5 sold 1.45 million copies on the 3 major platforms.  I don't know how that would be quantified as a failure, but I guess if someone was expecting Halo/Modern Warfare numbers, then yes it was a failure by those standards.  
 
A lot of his complaints are reasoned but nothing new.  Do we need new IPs from publishers?  Sure, but following the reception that games like Mirror's Edge and Madworld received can you blame publishers for being hesitant?  
 
Also, if gamers are moving faster to online purchases than publishers are willing to offer then how is it also explained that gamers are buying games with an eye towards resale?  Or is this one of those "among people who do" things?  That's a convenient way to incorporate both ideas as long as you don't mind devaluing both.  
 
Does he really believe that publishers are out of ideas with their titles and are waiting for the next console?  My goodness, that is quite possibly the dumbest thing I have read in a while.  Most game companies are just getting a feel for the current generation hardware and now he is suggesting they release the next generation of console? 
 
Finally, he doesn't offer any solutions to his grievances.  Okay, I don't expect him to come up with a way to circumvent the global economic downturn, but come on, "piracy", "secondhand sales" and "awful marketing" could have been addressed with a some sort of suggestion to correct the problem.  
 
One of the issues with the gaming industry that I see he doesn't even address.  Price.  New games are too expensive so gamers are much more hesitant to experiment.  If games were 20% cheaper then I think more unknown titles might be able to "beach head" themselves into gamer's consciousness.  Modern Warfare, Halo, Starcraft...those are going to sell.  But, I think that games like Borderlands, Brutal Legend and Dragon Age: Origins would benefit with a lower price tag since they are new IPs.  I, personally, only bought one of those three titles because they're $60 each.  Sales are great, but I don't like being pressured into a purchase.  If new IP games were all cheaper and I enjoyed the experience, I'd be willing to pay more for a sequel if it promised to provide the same or a better level of enjoyment the second time around.  

I don't think the problem with the gaming industry is the industry itself but the consumers. It is a business after all and so of course publishers are going to try and put out games that are going to make them the most money. I think the problem is that the industry went through such a growth spurt from last generation to this generation of consoles and so many of the new consumers are just to ill informed to know what to get. By far the greatest example of this is the Wii, which definitely holds the most number of new consumers to the industry by default of having the largest player base. These people came into the gaming industry knowing essentially nothing about it and never experiencing the evolution games have went through over the years. For them, everything is new and exciting even if the game and its mechanics are old and stale.These people simply need to take a step back and look at the industry as a whole and realize that not all games are considered equal even if they are being sold for the same price.

i think that the developers need to get into something new. they need to make more that aren't sequels after sequels. i think that they dont' put enough into their games.  they don't put great things things that were in another game. halo 3 has split screen online, which not a lot of other games have. i think they need to start adding that into games. 
 
another thing games should be cheaper. if games were even cheaper like $20-40 then i think there would be more people playing video games. there are still a lot of people playing video games but i think that if they made video games cheaper then MORE people would play. last generation games were $50 and before that they were around $40, 50.

One problem is that developers and publishers are too fussy about review scores.  Reviews are just the opinions of journalists who are paid to write reviews.  Shouldn't they be more concerned with the consumers who play video games not just to write reviews about them?  Advancements are being made however.  Infinity Ward listened to a lot of community suggestions for Modern Warfare 2.

" The main problems are that games like CoD sell millions but other great games get ignored "

" The main problems are that games like CoD sell millions but other great games get ignored "

" The main problems are that games like CoD sell millions but other great games get ignored "

" @toast_burner said:

" The main problems are that games like CoD sell millions but great games get ignored "

Great game like? "

" According to the numbers I could tabulate from VGCharts.com, Beatles: Rock Band sold 1.5 million copies and Guitar Hero 5 sold 1.45 million copies on the 3 major platforms.  I don't know how that would be quantified as a failure, but I guess if someone was expecting Halo/Modern Warfare numbers, then yes it was a failure by those standards.    A lot of his complaints are reasoned but nothing new.  Do we need new IPs from publishers?  Sure, but following the reception that games like Mirror's Edge and Madworld received can you blame publishers for being hesitant?    Also, if gamers are moving faster to online purchases than publishers are willing to offer then how is it also explained that gamers are buying games with an eye towards resale?  Or is this one of those "among people who do" things?  That's a convenient way to incorporate both ideas as long as you don't mind devaluing both.    Does he really believe that publishers are out of ideas with their titles and are waiting for the next console?  My goodness, that is quite possibly the dumbest thing I have read in a while.  Most game companies are just getting a feel for the current generation hardware and now he is suggesting they release the next generation of console?   Finally, he doesn't offer any solutions to his grievances.  Okay, I don't expect him to come up with a way to circumvent the global economic downturn, but come on, "piracy", "secondhand sales" and "awful marketing" could have been addressed with a some sort of suggestion to correct the problem.    One of the issues with the gaming industry that I see he doesn't even address.  Price.  New games are too expensive so gamers are much more hesitant to experiment.  If games were 20% cheaper then I think more unknown titles might be able to "beach head" themselves into gamer's consciousness.  Modern Warfare, Halo, Starcraft...those are going to sell.  But, I think that games like Borderlands, Brutal Legend and Dragon Age: Origins would benefit with a lower price tag since they are new IPs.  I, personally, only bought one of those three titles because they're $60 each.  Sales are great, but I don't like being pressured into a purchase.  If new IP games were all cheaper and I enjoyed the experience, I'd be willing to pay more for a sequel if it promised to provide the same or a better level of enjoyment the second time around.   "  

" i think that the developers need to get into something new. they need to make more that aren't sequels after sequels. i think that they dont' put enough into their games.  they don't put great things things that were in another game. halo 3 has split screen online, which not a lot of other games have. i think they need to start adding that into games.   another thing games should be cheaper. if games were even cheaper like $20-40 then i think there would be more people playing video games. there are still a lot of people playing video games but i think that if they made video games cheaper then MORE people would play. last generation games were $50 and before that they were around $40, 50. "  

" @toast_burner said:

" The main problems are that games like CoD sell millions but other great games get ignored "

Yes, but sadly in the present it is about graphics, hype,cloning,story, cutscenes ,etc,  not about gameplay or creating something truly unique. There are exceptions,but...they are hidden behind all the hyped titles and not so good games, so you really have to know where to look to find the goods. I didn't like grim fandango all that much to consider it a great game. "  

Well, money talks. Everybody's doing a job, everybody's just trying to pay the bills. But it's a shame that games are falling into ready made slots, FPS, RPG, MMO, etc. These are the games that sell, that make money. No money, no business, no games.
 
I remember games from the early eighties, the lack of any real graphics power forced programmers to use their imaginations. I wonder how games would look today if the box art from some of these ancient old games were used as the concepts for new games. I was a little disappointed with the Mass Effect 2 trailers I saw. I thought the designs looked a little 'safe.' I'd love to see some really far out alien and robot designs.
 
I suppose until development costs come down or profits go up, publishers won't be able to take punts on revolutionary new designs or gameplay genres. Surely there must be some crazy ideas rolling around out there. Perhaps with the growth of outlets like Xbox Arcade or PSN, we'll see some crazy new stuff. Remember, Wolfenstein 3D was a shareware game. This gave us the 'modern' first person shooter.
 
Till then, awesome games like Uncharted 2 will just have to do. Oh well.

" @Ma7moud said:

" @toast_burner said:

" The main problems are that games like CoD sell millions but great games get ignored "

Great game like? "

Grim fandango sold only 200 thousand in its life time and CoD sells millions in a week "

That article seems pretty correct to me. 

IMO the game industry is set for a big two-sided revolution. First, gaming is going to finally be widely recognized and accepted as the world's biggest entertainment industry, especially with the fact that every day we grow one step closer to the time when the majority of the working-class will have grown up around video games all their lives. 
 
Gaming is still so new to people like my parents and grandparents that it's viewed as some weird hobby like collecting hair. Soon our congressmen, our bosses, and even our Hollywood execs will be cycled out of the industry as younger minds take over. Plenty of people who are just now in their 30s have been playing games most of  their lives, and soon they'll be the majority that runs the show, and attitudes toward gaming as a whole will definitely change. No industry that brings in as much capital as video games do can remain isolated and looked down upon for long, and gaming is still relatively young compared to other entertainment mediums that bring in millions of dollars per year. There will always be a division between those who view it as a stigma and those who recognize it as a valid and highly personal form of entertainment, but the disparity between the number of people who enjoy games vs. the number of people who don't grows smaller and smaller everyday.
 
Second, the amount of creativity and diversity to be found in games will once again become the norm rather than the exception. While games that take a more artistic tone or cater to a smaller userbase will never be as popular or as moneymaking as big-title blockbuster games, consumers will continue to generate enough profit for the developers of these games (which are usually made on a smaller budget in the first place), to allow them to continue to reach their target demographic. This exists in other form of entertainment media with many fans supporting indepentdent films or bands. The success of games like ICO and Shadow of the Colossus shows clearly that gamers don't just want reiterations of Madden and new Rock Band DLC every year, though there are plenty of people willing to shell out for those games as well. I also believe that industry-wide fixed price points ($60 for every console game, $50 for every PC game), are becoming a thing of the past, especially with the advent of digital downloads. This should also allow many smaller "artistic" developers to get their names and products out tere, and offer more enjoyment and diversity among the games being produced. For every Mirror's Edge or Madworld (no offense, PenguinDust) that comes out, there's a Braid or ICO that consumers are eating up with a spoon. We just need to continue to support the devs that create the types of games we enjoy.
 
I think the industry and the powers that be will soon come to realize that a single game can hold a consumer's attention for 25-250 hours, and still be something extremely specific and enjoyable to that person, be it a racing game, FPS, RPG, MMO, or sports title. There's too much enjoyment to be had from these experiences, and too much money to be made on the consumer who enjoys games, for the industry as a whole to continue to languish under copycat games, lack of ingenutiy, and yearly repeats. I think what we're currently seeing are the game industry's growing pains, and the light at the end of the tunnel will be a stronger field of games with more diversity all around. I also think that Hollywood's treatment of the Prince of Persia movie (whether it's succesful or not), is an indicator that there's hope on the horizon, and the game industry itself really is being taken more seriously as a normal, valid form of entertainment.

" @Icemael: I don't think Okami was a great game. "

"@569874123 said:

" @toast_burner said:

" The main problems are that games like CoD sell millions but other great games get ignored "

Yes, but sadly in the present it is about graphics, hype,cloning,story, cutscenes ,etc,  not about gameplay or creating something truly unique. There are exceptions,but...they are hidden behind all the hyped titles and not so good games, so you really have to know where to look to find the goods. I didn't like grim fandango all that much to consider it a great game. "  

 
That is one of the biggest problems as well. The fact that devs care far to much about graphics, and not nearly enough about actual gameplay. This is why I respect the direction that Nintendo went with the Wii. It's not about graphics, it's about gameplay. "

I can't put my finger on what's exactly wrong with the gaming industry itself. Developers are doing what every other industry is doing, putting out what sells. If this is the problem, then every other dedicated consumer for their favorite entertainment medium must be going through the same nonsense we're going through. The question now becomes, is it a problem with with the entertainment industry or is it a greed issue? I'd take my chances with the latter. 

Although i don't agree with everything Michael Pachter says...he made an interesting point on one episode of the Bonus Round. He said that new gamers get exposed to games on the iPhone or iPod touch and then believe that the games they play on those devices are the standard for games. This gives developers opportunity to create games of less quality but more importantly with less cost for development. 
 
Also, i think the general public simply are not educated enough to know what games are, what they mean, etc.
 
Also remember, all the developers we see in the media are passionate about games and want to make the best product they can. They don't necessarily make the decisions on what goes in a game. That's normally done by business-people who want to make a profit and easy as possible.