Another big gaming crash heading our way?

[johnjwaters]

Thing about game prices... If I want to get a lot from a game I have to play it for a lot of hours in a lot of cases, if games were all 10-15 quid, I don't think I'd want to buy any more than I do now (say one every two months, with a big splurge at christmas), purely because playing one properly requires so much time and effort. Unlike music which I can slap on while I'm doing other things, in the car etc. buh i dunno

[Sketcz]

Modern games eh?

Fantastic graphics, surround symphonic sound, limitless sandbox gameplay, a script of Makavelion proportions, fantastic voice acting, hundreds of side things to do, packed with easter eggs, 200+ hours of gameplay, 100+ people working on it, 5 years in development and a dev bill running into many big millions.

You know what? Im sick of it.

Dev costs are so cripplingly high, that most companies can longer survive, and games are so pricey, many dont want to buy.

What I want to see, is budget made/released games, real B-Movie style games. Where it costs ?5 for a CD, in a box, no booklet.
And popping it into your PS2/Xbox/GC, youd be greeted with a game of SNES/Megadrive graphical/gameplay quality.

Ive been playing "Jurassic Park RE" on my XBOX emu, and you know what? Its damn fun. Sure, it may be a rom, but the real game only cost me ?5 also. (I loved the JP games on the megadrive)

And I thought to myself, Id actually quite like a short, easy to play, spritelicious game, of the quality found in 16 bit generation games.

And I dont mean retro rehashes, Id like to see some new IP created.

There are some genres and ideas which can only work in 2D and on a big screen.
What Im worried about is, can you imagine all the potential games that have been killed of, because they arent suited to the GBA, and they arent suited to the money-mens marketing plans.

A budget game would cost less, need less people, and would complete production much sooner.
Meaning they could be sold much more cheaply.
Heck, maybe ?5 for a single CD containing 4 games made by a team of say 10 over 1 year, on a minimum budget.

Ive seen some quality titles being made by a single lone person, using tools as basic as "game maker" ("Metroid Revolutions" for those interested), so surely something like what Ive mentioned would be marketable?

I dunno, maybe Im rambling, but Id like to see NEW retro quality games being released, whilst exploring ideas with the beneift of greater experience and hindsight than back in the day.

[JammyD]

I see next-gen online console gaming preventing stagnation down the line and I reckon that the push owards bb online gaming by Sony and MS is a pre-emptive move in this regard.
They will drag online gaming mainstream on XB2 and PS3. I can see the masses playing FIFA 2006 and the Sims online. I hope that EA gets its ass in gear and brings BF1942 onto next gen consoles so that maybe in a few years I could be discussing it with casual gamer friends instead of getting blank looks "It's like Medal Of Honour except with real people and tanks and planes and stuff and it's so much better! Really!
Maybe it's just wishful thinking from me.

I see plenty of innovation being filtered through from PC gaming into the console scene. The launch of the PS3 should bring Half-Life 2. For us - big wow, maybe, but for everyone else it will be like nothing else.

What does worry me is the knock on effect of this Christmas' performances. I mean everyone except EA - (EA Sports voice: "It's in the marketing") and Activision did poorly - imagine if there were 400 films being released this Christmas
Hey, at least I can pick up BG&E and Metal Arms for budget prices a few weeks after their release. Imagine if it started a trend and all the good games wre released at ?19.99 (Gregory Horror Show, Psyvariar etc.)

[Sketcz]

Those things are precisely why gaming will die for me.

Online gaming = no way, I simply dont want it, no matter how good anyone tells me it is. Because it isnt, and Im stubborn.

PC gaming moving onto consoles = for me, that wont really be gaming anymore, theres a certain aspect about consoles and the games that are made for them that I like. Apart from HL1 and DeusEx, I dont really like PC games, or the ethos around them.

<sigh>

Somewhere along the line, Ive grown horribly bitter.

[JammyD]

Online gaming = no way, I simply dont want it, no matter how good anyone tells me it is. Because it isnt, and Im stubborn.

This is exactly what I thought a year ago. Then I played BF1942. Have you played BF1942 or FF11?

Now I think online gaming will transform the next gen and exist as a viable alternative to single player gaming. You don't have to embrace it but I wouldn't knock it without sampling the best on offer.

[Sketcz]

Dont get me wrong, I posted in haste.

Playing against other people is great.

I just hate online gaming.

The best online gaming I had was quake 3 on DC. I used to really get into that, playing the USA version.

The thing is, current online gaming is like this.
I need broadband, I need to buy a specail package, I need to sign up, I need a 101 things to get it to run.

The DC had it so right, take it out of box, plug it in, type in some details, and budda bing budda bang, your ready to rock.
Very easy.

Xbox? Modded system, cant be bothered to fight with M$ buarocracy. Oh, and no broadband.

PS2? I think I have to buy a modem or some crap.... already its too much hassle.

GC? they do internet gaming?

Unless the next gen makes it super easy, Im afraid I may get left by the way side.

I love gaming, I love playing against real people. Sadly, when it comes to net hook-ups Im just too lazy, Ill spend ages mastering firing patterns or combos, because thats the game, mastering my net connection is not part of the game.... or is it?

Sorry, Ive been surly all day.

But another thing I dont like, is games that force me to be online.
For me, a game must be 1P first and foremost, it must good on its own. If it has good multiplayer, then that makes it golden. I HATE it when I am forced to go online, or play multiplayer to get full enjoyment out of it, or download some extra stuff.

I mean Metroid prime, why cant I just have my godamned freakin suit and NES game without the GBA connector!?

<yawn>
Im off to bed, hopefully my newly purchased games will be in tomorows post, and the day will look brighter. No work for me luckily, I have no job!

[dave heats]

I share your apathy towards online gaming otaku. Not being a fan of pc games myself, I have no desire to play generic fps or aforementioned BF1942.
The only games on consoles that currently make me wonder what theyre like online are Minna no golf online and FFXI, neither of which seems likely to be released in the States or Europe anytime soon. My pc is too decrepid to run FFXI.
If games such as ollie king could be online enabled, I might be more tempted. There doesnt seem to be enough innovation at the moment though, you either get fps, sports games or serious racers.

Imagine a game like siren with co-operative play, both unarmed and both reliant on your colleague not giving you away. Resi outbreak is the closest to this scenario I suppose.
Instead we have rainbox six #114 on xbox with cliches as far as the eye can see, grey palettes and nothing unique whatsoever. But it does have voice comms via the headset!!!!111.........So what.

To someone like me, who is cynical toward the whole online thing, theres nothing out there to change my opinion. Replies like "but rainbow six is great" dont cut it. I mean there is a lack of any online game screaming "Buy me, I am what online gaming was meant for!!11"

I would rather developers think about games that will work both online and off, rather than design for one, and bolt on the other at the last minute to try and sell more copies. This way we might see some new ideas appear online rather than sticking to the standard formula.

[jethro jazz]

what a lot of people ignore about the big crash of 84 is that it had very little effect on the japanese or UK markets, it was very much an american thing. what it did here was to pave the was for home computers like the speccy and c64 which offered other things and evolved the medium. such a medium is hardly going to just die and disappear, they'll just change. which, looking at todays crappy saturated market, i wouldnt necessarily (sp?) say is a bad thing.

[Smeghead]

with people goin on about epic games, I completely agree, far too much is focussed on "HUGE!" "LONG!" "WILL TAKE A LIFETIME!"

games I tend to like the most, are ones I can do in a sitting (or 2), but play time and time again.

Games like Jet, Set Radio, Gitaroo Man, Mr Driller, Virtua Tennis (yep, arcade games are great for this as u can play for even just 20 mins, and get satisfaction out of it) are to me, fantastic.

I lose count of how many games I've gotten 15 hours into, then got bored of. (I know I have a short attention span) but we're losing the simple stuff as people want epics they'll never finish.

Maybe a crash would be good, get dev costs down, get the focus back on pick up and play fun. RPGs in small doses, great, but flooding the market with em just = a huge backlogue of "to play" games that will most likely never get played as "the next big thing" arrives. sorry I've babbled :S

[Sketcz]

huge backlogue of "to play" games that will most likely never get played as "the next big thing" arrives. sorry I've babbled :S

edited your quote, but damn, if that isnt right on the money!

When I was working, I ammassed a huige stockpile of great games, but never got round to playing them through until much later.

This also results in me not wanting to buy big new games.
Gregory horror show, PoP, and BG+E all look fantastic, but I dont know if I have time to play through them all, they all seem so epic.

So I might give them alla bit of a miss.
Im only just getting GTAVC and Animal Crossing next week.

Sadly, I end up not buying so many classics due to time constraints, and when I do buy them, I barely play all of them.

In the end, I just go for retro, I can complete most SNES games in a sitting, some SNES rpgs in a few evenings. Had a big 14 hour go the other day, by morning the adventures had been sowed up, and I was satisfied that the realm was again safe.

Id really like shorter games, but priced accordingly.

[R.Y.N.E.X.]

The whole strategy of keeping the best games up until Christmas and releasing them then clearly doesn't work and I hope the companies get ****ed from their greed. I wouldn't feel so down though, by the time you've finished uni, things will be clearer in the games industry....I hope.

Could"nt agree any better,absolutely right!
Greed Greed Greed,idiots!

[R.Y.N.E.X.]

Its just simply the marketing machine aiming at kids who will in turn pester their parents to buy all the licensed dross at xmas time, games like BG&E,POP are not selling well because kids pay no attention to them due to lack of exposure/new game(bit risky lets stick to the the 3rd installment of this game)/not made by EA!!!!!!!.

[snip]

The future is bleak Im afraid.

That's right.

Glad we got some decent down to earth realistic views for once,lets face it the commercial side of gaming is frankly a joke,for many of the reasons you stated,the games mags are so full of jerks,Edge and Games TM,an exception here,you get some prats work for one mag,and when the console goes out of fashion,go and work for or set up another piece of trash,charge a fiver and expect people to buy their ****e.
Lets be realistic for just a moment in time,the games industry in Japan is a good thing,part of their culture and lets face it,they make good games.
The only thing that is good over this way in Europe ect:,is the PC games market,everything else is pure crap,highlightd by seriously ****ty awards shows like that one that was on ITV few months back(you know the one,with the bald chap presenting and the bird with the tits doing ****all).
Tacky ****!!!!!! Honest what a load of bollocks,i mean i know that BITS on C4 was"nt much,but at least it had two fit birds in it,and im not talking about that bloke with the Blackadder bowel haircut!
Yeah,the future is bleak,better believe it you commercial gamesplayers!!!! ft: ft: