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Post by Youngster Joey on Sept 2, 2012 4:34:30 GMT -5
With all the talk of iOS games destroying the traditional video game industry, what do you guys feel is the ultimate direction the industry will take?
Right now, I don't really think mobile phone and iPad games constitute a huge threat against traditional gaming platforms. Are they a threat to some degree? Absolutely. All of the cheap shovelware that you would get on traditional platforms is now available on smartphones and tablets instead, and it's significantly cheaper to boot. Companies could get away with shoving out a $30 decked up version of Tetris on the DS or Wii or whatever before because there were no other gaming platforms to enjoy those games, but now you can get the same game for a fraction of the price on a nontraditional platform and have it play equally as well. Why bother getting it on a dedicated system that costs several hundred dollars when you can just play it on your phone?
As for meatier games? Nah. I'm not going to turn to an iPad for the same experience I'd get on my 3DS or PS2. Nothing on the market really has that sort of power, and even after using an iPad fairly extensively, I still think it's a pretty awkward system to game on. Cool as hell, but awkward. The people signaling the rise of tablets as the death knell of traditional games are getting ahead of themselves.
That being said, I do think that within the next five to ten years, dedicated gaming consoles will be obsolete. Technology's going to be powerful enough to handle the type of games we enjoy only on traditional systems right now, and it'll naturally merge over time. I'm okay with that, too.
Thoughts?
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Post by AokiShizuku on Sept 2, 2012 6:25:55 GMT -5
We're doomed. I'm just kidding (It'd suck if I was right though). Anyways, here's what I think: (A lot of) Japanese games are made for the hardcore which are made for being analyzed, studied and completed 100%. Of course that includes all the time spent grinding and farming. Don't forget the huge difficulty too. English games are made just for the simple purpose of having fun. Whether it being a simple puzzle game like Tetris or to an action game/platformer like the Uncharted series. No matter the genre, most English games are very simple and to others that makes it fun for them. With the hardcore audience slowly dying down and the ever-changing business world of gaming, we're bound to reach a point where simple games will take over. Just look at Angry Birds, that thing sold over 2 million in it's first weekend. Because of games like Angry Birds reaching out to millions of people, that puts niche games in a horrible situation whether it be because of their difficulty, design or gameplay. Personally I'm against it. It means they'll stop making games the hardcore audience love. I mean look at Japanese companies, some are accepting the change (Which is completely understandable) but again, they'll stop making games the hardcore audience love. Should iPhones and iPads reach the point of playing meaty games that you'll find on a 3DS or Vita then maybe I'll accept it but as of right now I'm against it. I also hate the DLC business model. DLC is a wonderful idea. It allows developers to add in something new and expand the game's lifespan. I just hate how it's executed. A lot of the times it's not even worth it. For example, Blazblue DLC. $7 per character. Isn't that a little much for one character? DLC even influences laziness like Namco with Tales. It makes them act lazy and think 'Oh we could add this new feature in. Heck it's even finished! But we'll add it in 1 week after release and make them pay for it.' I'm pretty sure iOS and Android games support DLC but I dunno. I actually take it back. We are doomed.
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Post by Frederick on Sept 2, 2012 21:47:10 GMT -5
Should iPhones and iPads reach the point of playing meaty games that you'll find on a 3DS or Vita then maybe I'll accept it but as of right now I'm against it. The World Ends With You just got a port to iOS, and that was supposed to be one of the best JRPGs for the DS
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Post by supersonic1453 on Sept 3, 2012 20:51:51 GMT -5
I don't care. Games blow now anyway.
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Post by sukotsuto on Sept 3, 2012 22:10:20 GMT -5
With today's market and over-saturation of unoriginal material, it's hard for any small developer that actually has fun, original artistic content to actually break into the market, unless they're within the umbrella of some major videogame publisher/corporation that will provide them with all the resources at the price of originality in order to satisfy both the mainstream audience (who is not exposed to different videogames, and would therefore buy whatever's most popular) and please the investors. It's hard to sell something original to investors, as it's a huge gamble, especially with the economy as it is today.
Small-timed developers are being eaten alive by bigger companies to use, dissolve, and integrate part of the original workforce of that development team for the sake of quick profit.
Just as all other things that become popular, it's simply just inevitable for any sort of media to lose its artistic integrity for the sake of having a quick buck.
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Post by AokiShizuku on Sept 4, 2012 2:25:43 GMT -5
Should iPhones and iPads reach the point of playing meaty games that you'll find on a 3DS or Vita then maybe I'll accept it but as of right now I'm against it. The World Ends With You just got a port to iOS, and that was supposed to be one of the best JRPGs for the DS I heard that they reduced your partner to a summoning pin. A good way to adapt the game to iOS but the game was made for the DS and the use of HD drawings looks odd. The jagged sprites added to the style of the game... Well that's just me. Just as all other things that become popular, it's simply just inevitable for any sort of media to lose its artistic integrity for the sake of having a quick buck. I remember when creativity was rewarded but now I feel like the industry has lost it's soul. Who is to blame though? The game companies or the actual players?
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Post by Frederick on Sept 4, 2012 11:58:06 GMT -5
I remember when creativity was rewarded but now I feel like the industry has lost it's soul. Who is to blame though? The game companies or the actual players? Probably more the players, their purchases determine what developers make more of. Nowadays that's First Person Shooters, which don't really provide any innovation in new releases. It also probably has something to do with the fact that a lot of people are shifting towards online multiplayer, which the vast majority of RPGs don't have. I never hear anything about the single player campaigns in an FPS, all I ever hear about is the online multiplayer mode. I think people want to lose themselves in a game, but in such a way that it's like an "alternate reality." By which I mean, they'd play something with realistic graphics to make it more relatable to themselves so that they can immerse themselves in it more. But that's just my theory. This makes me remember the time a kid in my class bashed FF13 before it was even released because it was "about people running around with sword shooting magic balls at monsters." And yet guess who praised Skyrim. (;¬д¬)
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Post by hikarihanazono on Sept 4, 2012 23:51:53 GMT -5
I think it is doomed....because of the stupid tablets and smartphones...
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Post by Sirth on Sept 6, 2012 12:31:12 GMT -5
Well, for consoles? Probably, despite there being a charm to sitting on a comfy couch or chair and playing a game on your big-screen TV, where the game was built to play on that screen. But since everyone is getting tablets now, it's probably where the money can be.
Hard core gaming? Not really. They just need to make the game for it. Simple puzzles can only take certain people so far. I'm sure there's a number of people that'd look for something else to waste their time, something that makes them think and be immersed beyond some quiz game or something.
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Post by AokiShizuku on Sept 7, 2012 6:45:15 GMT -5
Hardcore gaming will die down eventually at this rate. The creativity and awe that hardcore gamers look for in games is very rare in games these days. With the interest of hardcore games dying down, it makes developers that cater to that audience either resort to portability and lower the quality of their games or just stop completely.
Due to casual gamers being a huge majority of the audience today, that means companies will target them since it gives them a higher chance of making more money Since casual games can literally come in any form, whether it be Tetris to even Uncharted. The fact that they come in any form, gives people so much exposure to these games. That's why I think it'll be hard to turn back from this gaming apocalypse. (Ok I was exaggerating but you get what I mean.
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Post by sukotsuto on Sept 9, 2012 0:29:31 GMT -5
Hardcore gamers never die. They just play older games
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2012 6:04:21 GMT -5
Hardcore gamers never die. They just play older games very true... especially for RPG players...I know they never stop even if no new games released... other players may quit the gaming universe because of those stupid tablets that kills the true joy of games.
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Post by Umbra on Sept 25, 2012 11:29:43 GMT -5
I second that hardcore gaming will never die. If sales of consoles and handheld systems plummet in the coming years, this doesn't mean that it's over for hardcore games. If people want it, there is a market for it. Of course, as Scott said, hardcore gamers could always play older games.
Now the question comes up, why are traditional video games suffering in this market? (I define traditional, in this context, to mean video games designed specifically for notable video game systems.) There are a couple of reasons I've come up with on my own.
The first is that there is a "Phone > Game" mindset in today's market. (Well, I suppose it's been that way for a while now.) What do people more likely carry with them? A phone that plays games or a handheld system that has cell phone functions? The first, obviously. And most people I know don't carry a phone and a game system on them. (Makes the pockets full!) Essentially, video games are secondary in today's market and serve the purpose of providing quick, fun entertainment as opposed to full-length, immersive entertainment (That of traditional video games.)
The second problem is the high production value of traditional video games, especially consoles. They take so long to make, and for some companies a video game can be make-or-break for them. Perhaps if there were a greater market for 2D games, there wouldn't be so much time spent on making overly massive console games and, instead, a lot more games out there to boot.
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「Breaker」™
Oracle Knight
Ghost whip, flyin' high like the marvel hero.
Posts: 140
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Post by 「Breaker」™ on Sept 29, 2012 22:40:05 GMT -5
Gaming now (imo) is really lacking in what used to provide essential feeling and essence over visuals themselves. I could go on about how aesthetics are slowing taking over the prime focus and how I disagree with the people who think game creation can be put under the same category as an art (for example, games that are literally made like movies but in all reality play like crap).
tl;dr, I want gaming in general to return to its roots rather than focus on everything but. I haven't been satisfied as of late with a lot of what recently came out or some titles from a few years back.
Dunno, I feel like a legit nostalgia f*g, lol.
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Post by E on Oct 7, 2012 10:54:23 GMT -5
WARNING! WALL OF TEXT!
Funny that you bring up this topic (haven't been on in a while) as I'm working on a project about high street retail games specialists and essentially this is what it is all about.
Here are a few of my findings from over the past 3-4 months:
1. Online multiplayer Currently most people who play on current gen consoles (PS3 and Xbox 360) play games which have online multiplayer functions so with that in mind, a lot of companies seem to be throwing out DLC so people play one game for a very long time until the next one in the series comes out i.e. Battlefield, Call of Duty and Fifa. This makes it harder for other games to get spotlight if everyone is willing to play the same one or two games for a year before getting the next one.
This leads on to the fact that few new IPs have been successful and even less indies being successful. The only indie I think of that has done well in the past year or so is Minecraft. New IPs I'm sure people can name some but as said before, all the new ones have big corporate marketing/funding/brand name to support.
2. Cloud gaming A new console got introduced here in UK called OnLive which allows you to stream games in the same way you stream videos online in that all you need is an internet connection where all the processing power is located elsewhere and it is just a box streaming to your TV (or mobile/tablet/PC) and as well as synchronising the inputs on the controller with the game all online. Unfortunately for them, it didn't kick off as well as they had hoped but a lot of companies have taken interest including Sony who bought Gaikai who also did cloud gaming. From asking some publishers (who I will not name), they believe it could very well be the future but only when the infrastructure is right (ie fast enough internet so there is minimal delay between inputs and the action on screen). Yoichi Wada of Square Enix also believes cloud will be dominant within the next 20 years which was published in MCV magazine. If what he says is true, then there will be no boxed games essentially.
3. Mobile gaming A lot of people now own smartphones (Android/iOS/Windows phone to a certain degree) and that has replaced handheld consoles for many people. A figure published a couple of weeks ago surveying UK gamers living in urban areas showed that 47% played on their smart phone or iPod touch in the past six months while only 1 in 5 on a dedicated handheld console. Currently from what I can see, the only selling point of handheld consoles compared to mobile is "the experience" and I quote that from people who I've interviewed but if you look at the price of mobile games compared to handhelds... yeah, it's got a very big difference plus the fact that smartphone can also... well you know phone people and text and things like that so it is convenient to most anyway as people may be just looking for something to pass time when playing on the train or something rather than go for an immersive experience and miss their stop. Personally, I prefer having actual buttons to press than a smudgy touch screen but everyone else isn't me so meh.
The there is also free to play and digital methods of distributing games which people speculate to be the future but I can't be asked to type about it right now.
So what is the future of gaming? Phones that can do what the Vita can do but better, existing big name games, lots of DLC, everything online in some way whether it be DRM or just online multiplayer games. Boxed games will exist in one way or another though. Dedicated consoles being obsolete is a definite no no if you count PCs but for PS, Xbox or Wii, I reckon they will evolve so you only have to buy one package where you can put it onto a TV or take it like a portable with you similar to the New Neo Geo X thing.
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