Current Console Transition Far Worse Than Previous 87
A report released yesterday indicates that this console transition is far worse than previous hardware iterations. From the Gamasutra article: "This console transition, he said, is 'far worse' than that seen from the years 1999 through 2001. Additionally, Lowell points fingers at the increased popularity of online games, a general lack of creativity in game development, and 'no Halo or Grand Theft Auto-type blowout titles launched in 2005,' echoing the sentiments of many other analysts." Next Generation has an analysis of what makes this transition so bad. (this last piece is satire)
A Joke (Score:3, Insightful)
It blames the Germans.
It blames companies (Nintendo) and consoles (the PSP).
It lists developers at number five.
Can't we just admit that there's been a severe lack of imagination in video game design recently? We have no one to blame but the people who envision the games--and even then, we can't really blame them for not coming up with the latest and greatest concept.
Maybe we should be encouraging developers to think outside the box and have them attend liberal arts colleges instead of 2 year technical colleges where they only learn how to make clones out of already existing games?
Re:A Joke (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:A Joke (Score:2)
A good liberal arts college will actually make you read a lot of really good books, and also discuss them in-depth.
Games are approaching works of art, but face it, it's only pop culture art. I'm hoping one day we might se a game that not only entertains but actually changes the world.
Re:A Joke (Score:2)
Had I not spent the time and energy learning new ways to comprehend the world I live in, I wouldn't have appreciated my time abroad near
Re:A Joke (Score:2)
Re:A Joke (Score:2)
This is all tangential, though. Again, I ask: what, in your view, makes a liberal arts education "worthless"?
Re:A Joke (Score:2)
Re:A Joke (Score:2)
As for the value of a liberal arts education, it's well demonstrated that people with bachelor's degrees earn significantly more than people with incomplete or no college education [census.gov]. An individual's income level has a direct bearing on their quality of life, including access to superior healthcare, more flexibility
Re:A Joke (Score:2)
Until you norm for IQ. You've been lied to about the worth of college.
Re:A Joke (Score:2)
Re:A Joke (Score:1, Funny)
Chuck Norris (Score:1)
spenT ! Hasselhof is history nowadays (Score:1)
Re:A Joke (Score:2)
It appears you've been heard [google.com]. Help is on the way in Q4 '06.
Re:A Joke (Score:2)
Re:A Joke (Score:3, Interesting)
Also, completely different concept.
Spore isn't exciting to me just because it looks like it'll be a really cool game. It's exciting because the ideas behind it could infuse some new life into the industry as a whole. The idea of giving players very simple, intuitive tools with which to create content, to actual make that content creation part of the game itself (as opposed to something you do externally with modding software) is promising.
Also, nice as the quasi-on
Re:A Joke (Score:1)
Re:A Joke (Score:2)
The whole industry is fucked up chasing the money right now, and most companies have lost all perspective. That's why I'm hoping beyond a
Not the developers, the designers... (Score:1)
I've met some Designers who used to be programmers, but the majority weren't. ex-management
Re:A Joke (Score:5, Insightful)
No. Because there hasn't been. If you go digging through shareware, through PopCap or MiniClip, on sourceforge, et cetera, you'll find quite a bit of novelty. The problem is disasterously risk-averse publishers built on a long-term untenable business model. It's got nothing whatsoever to do with design. A game costs $6-10 million to bring to market at the low end on TV-bound consoles. People don't take risks on DynoBright, Tower of Goo or Pontifex to the tune of $6-10 million. Instead, they release James Bond 27: No Franchise Lives Forever, because it's gonna profit whether or not it's actually a good game.
Bad for games? Yes. Good for business? Yes.
All those people who say things like "businesses are absurd" or "businesses are ignorant" are honestly pretty damned self involved. If people really could just have a great new idea and bring it to market, this business model would be in the process of collapsing right now. I can think of exactly one game which was bootstrapped that way recently: Roller Coaster Tycoon. Chris is the only guy I know who pulled it off lately, and I'm in the industry. Before that, it was Black and White, except Peter was working on money he had left over from previous successful games like Dungeon Keeper, Syndicate, Magic Carpet and so on, plus industry contacts and whatever.
You think it's a lack of creativity? Great, bring me the next big game. Hell, if it's good, I'll even write it for you and get it published for you, and give you a cut.
Until that day comes, and until you've been through the process of trying to convince a publisher that such and such an idea is a great idea that would sell, then you're really not qualified to comment on what the problem actually is.
Transition Going Bad (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Transition Going Bad (Score:1, Interesting)
Wait for Nintendo. (Score:2)
Re:Wait for Nintendo. (Score:2)
Re:Wait for Nintendo. (Score:2)
While I agree MS lost the last round, I do think they have a great chance of over taking Sony this round. This is just a personal theory, but I think Sony might have bitten off more than they can chew. If the PS3 doesn't ship by Black Friday, Sony will lose much of their user base to MS and Nintendo. Not to mention the negative reactions of fans if Sony has over promised and under delivers. Sony, more than
Re:Wait for Nintendo. (Score:3, Informative)
The GameCube controller only works for GameCube games. You have to use the new controller for Revolution games. Some of the new games will use a WaveBird-like shell over the new controller, but for the most part you must use the remote control controller.
Re:Wait for Nintendo. (Score:2)
Re:Wait for Nintendo. (Score:1)
Of course, since the hardware is there, there is nothing stopping developers from utilizing that as an option with new games, but if Nintendo doesn't do it, don't expect 3rd party developers to even consider it.
The recency illusion bites again (Score:3, Informative)
People have been saying that for as long as I can remember. There was a time when it was possible to describe Doom as "realistic" with a straight face. But even last year's games look artificial. Even Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 are starting to look dated. Trust me... there's plenty of scope for improvement.
Games cost a lot to produce now so no one will want to risk anything too off the wall.
A-list games have cost a lot to produce ever since people found out t
Re:The recency illusion bites again (Score:2)
Re:Transition Going Bad (Score:1)
Re:Transition Going Bad (Score:1)
Re:Transition Going Bad (Score:2)
Pilotwings 64 was for N64 [nintendo.com]
Nit-picking, but hey....
Re:Transition Going Bad (Score:1)
Re:Transition Going Bad (Score:1)
Re:Transition Going Bad (Score:2)
This is probably due to the fact that the console wars were in full-swing, and Sega and Nintendo figured getting the new console out was top priority. I mean, it took Sega a couple y
Re:Transition Going Bad (Score:1)
Start here:
http://media.cube.ign.com/articles/651/651334/vid_ 1260570.html [ign.com]
Could be fun and they're not even showing any game graphics.
The big N is not the only one, try this:
http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/748/748484/vid_1196 815.html [ign.com]
Though, we'll see if they deliver.
And from MS, well there is always Live! where you can voi
Re:Transition Going Bad (Score:3, Interesting)
Current Gen: Dreamcast released a full year before most competitors, over half a year before PS2. Status: Sega no longer making consoles
64 bit era: Atari Jaguar released over a year before ANY other console, a full TWO years before
Re:Transition Going Bad (Score:1)
Re:Transition Going Bad (Score:3, Insightful)
8 bit era: Colecovision released over a year before any competition. Status: Colecowhat?
The generation before that, we have the Atari 2600 which was released significantly (about a half year) before the other consoles, and had pretty much the longest stretch of any console (even beating out the Atari 5200, which I assume was an improvement somehow.
[Historical nit-pick mode on]
Re:Transition Going Bad (Score:2)
Perceived Lack of Improvement (Score:1)
More powe
Re:Perceived Lack of Improvement (Score:1)
Re:Quality drop (Score:1)
Re:Quality drop (Score:2)
Re:Quality drop (Score:1)
Re:Quality drop (Score:2)
?
Re:Quality drop (Score:1)
Sorry, sir, but you are in a no-thinking zone. If you continue to think, you may be asked to leave.
GNU/Linux - a printer driver gone horribly wrong
Nice sig. Made me lol.
Re:Quality drop (Score:2)
-Crash Zone Ahead- (Score:1)
I think this would be just fine, because it would force companies to be innovative with their titles. I think Nintendo is headed in the right direction with the Revolution, because they know we're *ALL* tired of playing the same old games over and over again.
Re:-Crash Zone Ahead- (Score:1)
Re:-Crash Zone Ahead- (Score:1)
It's deplorable, that's not what this industry should be about. Rather than making the same game as last year with upgraded visuals, why not make something that's actually fun, new, and exciting t
Jumping the gun (Score:1)
Re:Jumping the gun (Score:1)
Analyse this... (Score:3, Insightful)
Does it really take an analyst to realize that "impending" means that the next generation of consoles isn't out yet. Of course there won't be a base of users installed with the next generation of gear...
Maybe these analysts should wait for the PS3 and the Revolution to come out before they make these reports.
No, the transition is going great (Score:4, Interesting)
I see a lot of interest in the DS and DS Lite. I see record sales in Japan (SOLD OUT- something that almost never happens) and increasing sales in the USA and Europe.
It's a handheld? So what?
When a market is really changing, the old models don't work so well any more. Sony and Microsoft are utterly convinced that convergence will happen in your living room. That's because they sell things that go in a living room- Televisions, Stereos, Home Computer OSes, etc. Sony's fantasy is that you will pay them an enormous sum of money and subscription fees to install very complicated equipment so you can spend a lot of time at home. Microsoft thinks you are willing to spend $400+ on a console to play the $5 Geometry Wars (perfectly playable on Game Boy) or Paperboy.
Apple and Nintendo both understand that convergence is happening IN YOUR POCKET.
iPod, Cellphone Television, Handheld consoles. What do these all have in common?
A home theater experience is very nice, but a device that shows movies, plays music and games, and allows phone calls is totally convergent, and cheap by comparison, which allows a much larger market. Simpler games also allow market expansion by appealing to nontraditional gamers (Women and Seniors, mostly).
Sony has delays on PS3 because they are feverishly working to make it the all-in-one living room box. Does anyone actually WANT an all-in-one? Also notice that the PSP section of your local store has 2x the movies as games. PSP is a very expensive portable DVD player that plays some games.
I would love to know what the U.S. XBox360 sales would look like if they could actually produce some of the things. "Sold Out" is meaningless when you can only allocate a dozen units per store. For months at a time. It's March, where the hell are the things already?
In Japan, where XBox360 stock is plentiful, games are important, and home theater convergence is desired to to lack of space, no one is buying them. But there are lines around the block for the DS.
If your model of transition is upgrading consumers from FooBox 2 to FooBox 3 (with slightly better graphics and a modem at double the price), the transition has been a failure.
If your model of transition is selling more units to more customers no matter what new product you offer (from FooBox to PortaFoo), this is one of the best transitions ever...for Nintendo.
Re:No, the transition is going great (Score:2)
I see a lot of interest in the DS and DS Lite.
People looking at the DS, however, find they still have a few
Re:No, the transition is going great (Score:1)
I'm sorry, but there definitely appears to be a Microsoft bias in Japan -- the primary reason the units sell so poorly there. It also doensn't help that the 360 doesn't have a killer app yet. The popularity of the Nintendo DS in Japan can be traced to the popularity of portable gaming in general in Japan. Far, far more popular t
Re:Gimme a break.. (Score:3)
What the article does say is that there's due to be a year and a half slump to the tune of almost 20%. The previous console slump was about 7%. So, it's prospectively gone up by triple. That is far worse than the previous one. Nobody said worst ever. Just worse than last time.
Re:Satire yes (Score:2)
On the contrary - we should all go outside!
Bad? Maybe. Different? No. (Score:2)
Re:Bad? Maybe. Different? No. (Score:1, Flamebait)
Lack of originality is nothing new. (Score:3, Interesting)
This article should be tagged as (Score:1)
Seriously, is this the only thing that determines the launch success of microsofts console?
There wasn't a Halo or GTA in the last transition (Score:3, Insightful)
This is March, a mere 5 months after the so-called transition to the next generation, and they're calling it?
it's the visuals (Score:1)
The problem is clear. (Score:4, Insightful)
And if they don't show healthy growth within the next few months the stock market reacts negatively. All these jerks want money in their pockets right now, instead of looking at the long-term health of a company.
Certainly the reality is a lot more complicated than that, but I think this is one of the core problems. It's why we see garbage coming from the game industry, and this problem is reflected in other industries.
Blurb nailed it (Score:2)
Online games, MMORPGs in particular are sweeping the world by storm, and lets face it...the computer is a much better tool for playing these than consoles. Then lets take a look at blockbuster titles...there are none, or if they do exist, they are sequels which don't justify spending $400 just to play.
The biggest issue by far though is innovative gameplay. I have a sneaking suspicion that if the Revolution can come out with one or two innovative games that focus
Re:Blurb nailed it (Score:1)
I've played World of Warcraft for a year. If I could play it on the 360, from my comfy couch, on my 54-inch DLP, with a real game controller, and built-in voice chat support, I'd be right back on the money train in a second. Less than a second, I'd be offering to pay early to support the beta.
I don't see any reason why MMO's on the 360 shouldn't be as good as, or better than MMOs on a PC.
Death to the mouse and keyboard games. I use a mouse and a keyboard for work 18 hours
Re:Blurb nailed it (Score:2)
To your point about built in voice chat...I wonder if that may indeed help turn the tide to the console. One of the main reason for using MMORPGs on the PC now is all of the auxilliary software people tend to run with it....voice chat...map overlays.....mods.....etc. But I don't foresee the keyboard and mouse going away anytime in the immediate future. They simply
I would buy a next gen console... (Score:2)
Seriously, when are these companies gonna learn that the vast majority of people aren't going to go on a waiting list, camp out in front of the store, or purchase a bunch of crap we don't need just to help you beta test your product?
When was (Score:2)
And for that matter, most consoles do not have any break-out games as release.
Those tend to take at least 6 months to a year to start showing up.