Game Industry: Critical Review
Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:11 am
I want your opinion. How do you think the game industry is doing these days? Is it growing for the better or are the experiences that we have known on the verge of extinction? How do you think the industry is doing compared to 5 or 10 years ago?
My opinion:
I think the game industry is digging itself a hole that could turn into its grave. Now, that may sound irrational with games taking on new record budgets and the fact that there are more gamers than ever. Despite these facts, I would like you to consider this:
Higher Budgets, Lower Risks- Game companies are required to spend more and more money to make games these days reaching into millions of dollars. It is because of this developers are leaning less on trying creativity that might be popular in turn for taking on tried and true ideas. The number of original franchises compared to years gone by seems to have diminished as less new games are created in favor of sequels. Thinking back ten years ago, most of the franchises we know today got their roots. From this what franchises today have fostered the same creativity and originality to spark a completely new line of games that will continue a line up in a series as the ones in the past. Where are the new Metroid, Donkey Kong, Final Fantasy, Halo, Mario Kart, Street Fighter, and Burnout? All of these games took risks to enter the market, but now it seems that the majority of the "good games" are only their sequels. Most game developers seem to have lost the courageousness to think independently and originally as they face more to lose if their game doesn't make it in the market.
Graphics are King- The game industry relies heavily on new technology and thus realistic graphics. I feel that most games these days may be original in concept but have fallen flat because the developers care more about looks than gameplay. Take a game like Crysis for example. I have played only the single player demo but reflecting on it now, the big catch is the graphics which don't even run well on my GeForce 8600GT. Sure the weapon changing system is new and the power ups are cool, but all said and done, the game is still a straight forward linear path in which every time I played though the enemies acted the same. Once interacted with they had smart AI, but generally the set up to get to them left few options for the AI to do than the same thing over and over again. It was a game built on graphics. I think games need to spend less resources on graphics and more on interactivity and intelligent AI or we will have the same experiences over and over again just in different settings.
End of Challenge- Remember the old days when lives meant something in a game? Remember when games were truly difficult? The time has come that most games these days have lost the level of difficulty that they once had. An example of this would be the Mario franchise as the original games were no cake walk and 1-ups were something to celebrate. The newest Mario game Super Mario Galaxy is designed for children. I have played a few hours into it and the difficultly level is less than half of Super Mario 64. I have compiled a total of 15 extra lives and wonder if I will ever see what happens if I run out because I don't think I ever will. The only time I have felt the experience as if I am playing an old Mario game is in the hidden galaxies that have the platforming difficulty that I expect from the series. The game industry has left these traditional forms of gaming for auto save points and games that do not require lives which is fine. However, I have not met a true gaming challenge in recent years that wasn't anything more than the computer "cheating" or using its ultra fast reaction time and unlimited resources to defeat me. I want a game that tests my skills, not assaults my player with the same attacks and gimmicks. Games are leaving the hard core market in favor of getting more people to play. This leaves us veterans wondering where we will get our next thrill of accomplishment in a game.
Closing Remarks- Combining these items makes me fear that the industry is going to cut itself down to become something that everyone can play and make it something that they already have played before. The lack of creativity astonishes me as many more carbon copies and clones are rushed out the door to make fast money and then have the process repeat. Yes there are the few games that do foster the feelings of gaming that keep you up into the late hours of the night, however, more and more games do not live up to their expectations. When was the last time you had high expectations for a game and after playing it you felt it more than met them, it exceeded them?
My opinion:
I think the game industry is digging itself a hole that could turn into its grave. Now, that may sound irrational with games taking on new record budgets and the fact that there are more gamers than ever. Despite these facts, I would like you to consider this:
Higher Budgets, Lower Risks- Game companies are required to spend more and more money to make games these days reaching into millions of dollars. It is because of this developers are leaning less on trying creativity that might be popular in turn for taking on tried and true ideas. The number of original franchises compared to years gone by seems to have diminished as less new games are created in favor of sequels. Thinking back ten years ago, most of the franchises we know today got their roots. From this what franchises today have fostered the same creativity and originality to spark a completely new line of games that will continue a line up in a series as the ones in the past. Where are the new Metroid, Donkey Kong, Final Fantasy, Halo, Mario Kart, Street Fighter, and Burnout? All of these games took risks to enter the market, but now it seems that the majority of the "good games" are only their sequels. Most game developers seem to have lost the courageousness to think independently and originally as they face more to lose if their game doesn't make it in the market.
Graphics are King- The game industry relies heavily on new technology and thus realistic graphics. I feel that most games these days may be original in concept but have fallen flat because the developers care more about looks than gameplay. Take a game like Crysis for example. I have played only the single player demo but reflecting on it now, the big catch is the graphics which don't even run well on my GeForce 8600GT. Sure the weapon changing system is new and the power ups are cool, but all said and done, the game is still a straight forward linear path in which every time I played though the enemies acted the same. Once interacted with they had smart AI, but generally the set up to get to them left few options for the AI to do than the same thing over and over again. It was a game built on graphics. I think games need to spend less resources on graphics and more on interactivity and intelligent AI or we will have the same experiences over and over again just in different settings.
End of Challenge- Remember the old days when lives meant something in a game? Remember when games were truly difficult? The time has come that most games these days have lost the level of difficulty that they once had. An example of this would be the Mario franchise as the original games were no cake walk and 1-ups were something to celebrate. The newest Mario game Super Mario Galaxy is designed for children. I have played a few hours into it and the difficultly level is less than half of Super Mario 64. I have compiled a total of 15 extra lives and wonder if I will ever see what happens if I run out because I don't think I ever will. The only time I have felt the experience as if I am playing an old Mario game is in the hidden galaxies that have the platforming difficulty that I expect from the series. The game industry has left these traditional forms of gaming for auto save points and games that do not require lives which is fine. However, I have not met a true gaming challenge in recent years that wasn't anything more than the computer "cheating" or using its ultra fast reaction time and unlimited resources to defeat me. I want a game that tests my skills, not assaults my player with the same attacks and gimmicks. Games are leaving the hard core market in favor of getting more people to play. This leaves us veterans wondering where we will get our next thrill of accomplishment in a game.
Closing Remarks- Combining these items makes me fear that the industry is going to cut itself down to become something that everyone can play and make it something that they already have played before. The lack of creativity astonishes me as many more carbon copies and clones are rushed out the door to make fast money and then have the process repeat. Yes there are the few games that do foster the feelings of gaming that keep you up into the late hours of the night, however, more and more games do not live up to their expectations. When was the last time you had high expectations for a game and after playing it you felt it more than met them, it exceeded them?
) here are the main reasons I find the future of the industry to be with indies.
You definitely should write a paper. I know I would read it, and i'm sure many others would find this interesting as well. I thought it was really interesting Disney Imagineering made ToonTown, then released the engine they used to the public and its opensource. Which now goes by panda3d. I found that to be extremely odd behavior for a big company like that to contribute to indy game development in that way.
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