tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post1414858844424492829..comments2024-03-17T00:00:13.417+00:00Comments on The Wertzone: How the Next Generation Could Kill Gaming (as we know it)Adam Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-82039043932366034552013-02-27T22:41:21.128+00:002013-02-27T22:41:21.128+00:00Vintage games are making a comeback. Gamestop is p...Vintage games are making a comeback. Gamestop is preparing to start selling old 8-bit and later consoles and games again as they see a market for it.<br /><br />I don't see next gen. killing gaming, I do see companies downsizing and filing for bankruptcy, if they do not meet their sales goals after putting a pile of money to fund the project.<br /><br />Another issue that may hamper the market is the inability to play used games on the new consoles. PS has already stated they will not allow used games to work on the PS4. As far as I know, XBOX has yet to make that statement. Used games may hurt some companies, but if there is downloadable content, then they should be able to survive. <br /><br />Easiest way to still make money on used games it to have players purchase a key. Most games now have you enter a key when you purchase it so, why not generate keys for a low price and then let the second hand game generate revenue for the publisher. You get die hard gamers buying DLC all the time.<br /><br />I do see a trend of making the game free and the content (constantly updated) purchased for a small fee.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16360866031595951964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-51392073070250538862013-02-27T14:54:04.193+00:002013-02-27T14:54:04.193+00:00Sony desperately need the PS4 to be a huge hit to ...<i>Sony desperately need the PS4 to be a huge hit to help arrest their company's decade-long decline, but it's far from certain it will be.</i><br /><br />Might not have been such a terrible decline if they'd bothered to put backwards compatibility on the PS3. *grumble* This is just my opinion, granted, but I think Sony's downfall really started picking up speed when it became painfully obvious that they didn't give a rat's behind about the fnbase that had gotten them where they were, and instead put their focus only on getting new fans. Sure, it's great that they give people the option of purchasing virtual copies of older games now, but I can't say that I feel particularly inclined to spend money repurchasing games that I already have working copies of. That's why I didn't buy a PS3. That's why a lot of people I know didn't buy a PS3, in spite of spending years as Sony fanboys prior to the release of that system. <br /><br />As other people commented, the increase of indie and virtual games has certainly played its downfall in console gaming too, which I'm not really happy about. Personally, I like my consoles. I like being able to sit comfortably on the couch to play my games instead of having to sit at my computer all the time. I like having a system that isn't hooked to the Internet and bombarding my with updates and ads every 10 minutes. I know I'm a bit of an oddity where this is concerned... or at least the marketing teams for gaming companies tell me so, because everything these days tells me that I don't matter unless I want to publish my gaming achievments on Facebook. :/<br /><br />I hope consoles don't die. So much of my gaming career has been on them, they're comfortable things as well as nostalgic. But to me, they're getting to be rather like cell phones. A cell phone is no longer just a thing you can make calls on while you're away from home. It's an MP3 player, it's a pocket computer, it's a movie machine. Ditto new gaming consoles. Gone are the days when your console just lets you play the games you want to play. Now they have to let you watch movies, listen to music, all that stuff that I have no interest in using a gaming console for, and I don't doubt that plays a part in jacking up the price of both the system and the games. It's not enough just to play the game anymore. And that makes me kind of sad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-6594527453010021922013-02-27T09:47:09.559+00:002013-02-27T09:47:09.559+00:00I would't dig a grave for the consols. PS4 is ...I would't dig a grave for the consols. PS4 is targeting a consumer segment that has the money to afford it. Playing games with elaborate hd graphics is only one feature of the console, many use it to consume other media types (music, film, etc). And don't forget the classic reasons behind the console, if you don't want to build your PC part by part or don't want to install your games and update your drivers regularly, it's still an alternative. <br /><br />Eric and the others highlighted other ideas that I think might increace profitability as well. I believe that big publishers are more responsible for the trends you mentioned compared to the consoles. However, the alternatives are there and these alternatives are thousands: mobile gaming, FB/flash/html5 games, indie games, good old games, etc. Now you have many options to play, not only the floppy disks or casettes of the 80-90s. Don't treat the consoles as living in a vacuum.zs.gothpunkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16979882804188961823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-32246460085712256522013-02-27T05:04:58.661+00:002013-02-27T05:04:58.661+00:00Steam has changed the way I purchase games. It...Steam has changed the way I purchase games. It's rare that buy a game at full price anymore when I can buy top games for ten dollars on steam less than a year after release. I have more games than I can play for the price of a single just released game. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-17957193208681351302013-02-26T22:36:42.280+00:002013-02-26T22:36:42.280+00:00I don't have alot of input on this subject, as...I don't have alot of input on this subject, as I'm relatively new to the console gaming market.<br /><br />But, I am/was a PC gamer for years. And, the same theory (Different reasons) that PC gaming was going to die.<br /><br />And yet, it's still around. I think the market just fluctuates. I, for one, love my console. It's also a easy platform/delivery for great indie games. (Eg - Shadow of the Ninja, Limbo, Journey, etc)<br /><br />Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14880298916426357358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-36861075930829206562013-02-26T19:34:29.165+00:002013-02-26T19:34:29.165+00:00An interesting point to this is the lack of longev...An interesting point to this is the lack of longevity to games versus films. Films made 70 or 80 or even 100 years ago are still making money. Games, particularly console games, released even 10 years ago aren't making any money at all. Recently that's changed with iOS reissues of games like GTA3 and Vice City, and re-releasing classic titles via X-Box Live and PSN, but for a long time games had a very limited shelf-life compared to other forms of entertainment.<br /><br />GoG and Steam have also shown the value of taking older games, making sure they work with current systems, and re-releasing them so they can continue to make money (as SYSTEM SHOCK 2's recent re-release shows, or Double Fine's belated port of BRUTAL LEGEND to PC, which came out today).<br /><br />The idea of games making money over a long period of time seems quite alien to the industry. Sega originally declared that ALPHA PROTOCOL had bombed, for example, but apparently it quite quietly recently crossed over into being profitable via online sales, to Sega's surprise (and apparently Obsidian think it's been successful enough to revisit in the future).Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-11727183415376343442013-02-26T19:24:53.252+00:002013-02-26T19:24:53.252+00:00I think the publishers are trying to circumvent th...I think the publishers are trying to circumvent the $50-60 Standard Price-point in response to these trends, without actually increasing the obvious sticker price - which would raise the wrath of gamers, or worse, lead to greater video game piracy. It's why you're seeing all kinds of add-ons to games, like DLC and micro-transactions. <br /><br />This is a good essay, Wert, and I particularly like those links you provided (although the one with game production costs seems unfortunate in light of the Wii U's softer than expected launch). The <i>Dead Space 3</i> one was a particular eye-opener, and the sheer unreality of the amount of sales needed to continue the franchise makes me wonder if that was just the publisher's way of letting everyone know that there won't be a <i>Dead Space 4</i> except under some very unlikely circumstances. As is, the ending makes it unlikely anyways. <br /><br />@Alex Walsh<br /><i><br />But back on topic; in the context of the value of the market, a $100m budget isn't excessive. The real issue lies in the funding model. Basically the proceeds from your current release fund your development work on the next title. There isn't enough cash floating around in the industry to support commercial failures. Which is odd, because the money must be going somewhere.</i><br /><br />I'm not sure what the alternative would be, aside from developers big enough to fund multiple AAA games at the same time and use the successes to pay for the losses. We've already seen some of that with the mergers and acquisitions, like EA and Activision-Blizzard. <br /><br />The film industry tends to have an easier time with these kinds of budgets, simply because they have more potential revenue streams. Imagine if mega-blockbuster films had to support themselves just off of the box office proceeds remitted to the studio-distributor - they'd be in the exact same boat as the video game industry right now, with the "mid-list" films dying off under the weight of marketing and production costs.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05741738070067590221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-5981704628580223222013-02-26T16:39:49.306+00:002013-02-26T16:39:49.306+00:00I doubt the next generation will kill gaming simpl...I doubt the next generation will kill gaming simply because there are so many viable alternates to consoles. I think consoles as we know them could be dead in this generation without some major changes to their strategy.<br /><br />I think you are absolutely correct in pointing out how inefficient game developers are in regards to re-using assets. It always amazes me how often game developers re-invent the wheel for every game that is released. I think better asset re-use and better cross team tools would help reduce costs.<br /><br />That aside, I think the current renaissance in indie gaming is going to be the wave of the future. Platforms such as Steam, Humble Bundle, Android, and iOS are giving smaller developers a way to release reasonable priced games that only need to sell modest numbers to be profitable. That model simply doesn't work in the retail space w/ consoles.<br /><br />So while consoles may die, I think the proliferation of powerful and connected devices will provide fertile ground for legions of game developers.WordTippinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18242202749617102417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-70457519055845834842013-02-26T15:52:37.018+00:002013-02-26T15:52:37.018+00:00I was looking at the cinema vs video game markets ...I was looking at the cinema vs video game markets in North America earlier on today in light of all the publicity over the Oscars. Game revenue dropped by 22% from 2011 to 2012 but standing at $13.3bn it comfortably eclipsed the cinema take of $10.8bn.<br /><br />That obviously doesn't include the DVD/BD sales but equally it doesn't factor in 2nd hand game sales either.<br /><br />With an average age of 35 for a gamer, against 25-39 for movies, I find it baffling how games are still seen as niche and treated as such by mainstream media. You don't even get a consumer electronics show on the BBC (apart from Click), and there's never been a gamer show targeted at adults. It's baffling, we have to resort to podcasts etc.<br /><br />But back on topic; in the context of the value of the market, a $100m budget isn't excessive. The real issue lies in the funding model. Basically the proceeds from your current release fund your development work on the next title. There isn't enough cash floating around in the industry to support commercial failures. Which is odd, because the money must be going somewhere.<br /><br />And then there's the second hand market, which in most ways is fairly similar to piracy, inasmuch as publishers get to money but the punter gets a game. Much less prevalent in the film industry.<br /><br />Anyway, apologies for the rambling comment :)Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09622441892958864311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-9460272771003111562013-02-26T15:45:32.513+00:002013-02-26T15:45:32.513+00:00What are your thoughts about procedural approaches...What are your thoughts about procedural approaches and procedural 3D engines like Outerra, especially with regards to the increasing amount of content needed for the games?masalamnoreply@blogger.com