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Future of gaming I hear you say?
Well, to be honest, is there one?
Probably, but imagine if there wasn't one! No Mario, No Sonic, No Lara(for those of you that like her), and no......(gasp) Final Fantasy! Oh, the horror....
Well, my non-feathered friends, this could very well be the case in the not to distant future. Any fool who reads a newspaper or watches the news these days, can see that the computer(and therefore the games) industry isn't exactly thriving, infact it is on the decrease. Only recently, have companies such as Dell, Packard Bell and the like layed off workers in their factories around the world, claiming "reduced profit".
What does have to do with games? Alot, actually, because although the likes of Squaresoft, Sony and Nintendo may be making healthy profits, if the computer industry collapses(which could very well be the case if things continue as they have been for the next few years), then the games industry, whether it likes it or not, will also.
Many may disagree, but Online Gaming is the future. What if computers become scarce, which will(obviously) raise the prices of not only the computers themselves, but also the software(that's games!) and even the cost to get on the beloved internet.
If, in a few years time, this is the case, Sony(and probably the rest of them), will have established a thriving online gaming market, but with soaring internet prices, they will be forced to take a step backwards, costing them millions or even billions. Most, if not all gaming companies would probably at this point decide to pull out of the gaming industry.
The result being either a huge shortage of gaming titles(and very little variation), or no games whatsoever. Noooo!
Of course, this is not likely to happen within our lifetime, but afterall, it wasn't likely that Bubble would be evicted from the Big Brother house, was it?
You have been warned.
Just something to stay awake thinking about tonight, you can thank me later.
Well, to be honest, is there one?
Probably, but imagine if there wasn't one! No Mario, No Sonic, No Lara(for those of you that like her), and no......(gasp) Final Fantasy! Oh, the horror....
Well, my non-feathered friends, this could very well be the case in the not to distant future. Any fool who reads a newspaper or watches the news these days, can see that the computer(and therefore the games) industry isn't exactly thriving, infact it is on the decrease. Only recently, have companies such as Dell, Packard Bell and the like layed off workers in their factories around the world, claiming "reduced profit".
What does have to do with games? Alot, actually, because although the likes of Squaresoft, Sony and Nintendo may be making healthy profits, if the computer industry collapses(which could very well be the case if things continue as they have been for the next few years), then the games industry, whether it likes it or not, will also.
Many may disagree, but Online Gaming is the future. What if computers become scarce, which will(obviously) raise the prices of not only the computers themselves, but also the software(that's games!) and even the cost to get on the beloved internet.
If, in a few years time, this is the case, Sony(and probably the rest of them), will have established a thriving online gaming market, but with soaring internet prices, they will be forced to take a step backwards, costing them millions or even billions. Most, if not all gaming companies would probably at this point decide to pull out of the gaming industry.
The result being either a huge shortage of gaming titles(and very little variation), or no games whatsoever. Noooo!
Of course, this is not likely to happen within our lifetime, but afterall, it wasn't likely that Bubble would be evicted from the Big Brother house, was it?
You have been warned.
Just something to stay awake thinking about tonight, you can thank me later.
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But making profits on consoles isn't feasible. You only buy one console but for that console you buy maybe 15 games. Therefore it's a better idea to make the consoles as cheap as possible so you get a user base and make more profit from the games.
The only reason a lot of the companies you have mentioned are having problems with profits is just that, to keep the price down on computer equipment the profit the actual manufacturer makes is quite small. It is not comparable to that of writing software. A software house does not have as much manufacturing and development costs.
A good example of this is Nvidia who do not make their own boards and so can consentrate on development and make a profit by selling the right to make the card.
Look at what Sega have done dropped the dreamcast so they can make games where instead of making a loss for the first two years of the dreamcasts life they can make a profit on the games.
A good example of this is Nvidia who do not make their own boards and so can consentrate on development and make a profit by selling the right to make the card.
Look at what Sega have done dropped the dreamcast so they can make games where instead of making a loss for the first two years of the dreamcasts life they can make a profit on the games.
In the US, where nearly EVERY gamer has cable connection for gaming, they are getting a head start on us third world gamers. I blame BT/OFTEL/Cable companies and the red tape that surrounds the whole issue of faster internet connectivity in the UK.
Without the red tape, we'd be happily fragging the Americans in UT every night of the week, but as it stands now by the time we get faster connection, we'll be stepping into the gaming arena and getting slaughtered due to lack of experience.
Without the red tape, we'd be happily fragging the Americans in UT every night of the week, but as it stands now by the time we get faster connection, we'll be stepping into the gaming arena and getting slaughtered due to lack of experience.
This of course is a possibilty but not a very likely one. Considering the games industry is bigger than films it's going to take a big axe to fell the gaming tree.
The root of your argument is the relience on online gaming in the future. Even though half the nation is online, I doubt the future of gaming will rest on online shoulders. Here's why.
You're online right now reading this. What connection are you using? Apart from some of the lucky ones (Bonus, Reaper) most of you will be dialed up using a 56K modem. Well, it's says 56K on the box but the maximum is around 46K on Britain's phone network. Even then, realistic download speed is more in the region of 4kbps, if you're lucky. The main reasons for this are
a) It's available to everyone
and b) It's cheap.
1p/min online, less if you're on contract, you can see why a lot of people are online. Although a modem is perfectly fine for normal surfing, gaming is another matter.
Now, anyone who's ever playd an online game over a modem will know it's poor. Very poor. Your character is sluggish and the refresh rate is hideous. You're shooting someone who's apparently standing there but 2 seconds later you find out he's actully run round your back and has killed you. Online gaming is near impossible without broadband.
Broadband is the future of online gaming, granted. The problem is, how many people will pay for broadband? Nearly a third of Britain think narrowband (modem) Internet is too expensive so what chance will they give broadband? There's also another thing to consider. Not many people have broadband available. I really want ADSL and I am prepared to give up my pocket money for it but if I phoned up BT or NTL they'd say something like "I'm sorry, our new Internet services are not currently available in your area." Translated to: ""orry, you live in the middle of nowhere and we have more important places to consider." Chances are I will never see more than 56K in my little village. That peeves me but it's a fact so I live with it. OK, here's some more facts about broadband:
a) It's a permanent connection
b) It costs loads to install
c) It doesn't cost as much as you'd think monthly
d) It's not available in many areas
e) It's bloody quick and reliable
f) Britain is way behind the whole of Europe and parts of Asia in terms of availability and price
So yes, broadband is the future of online gaming but if it's so limited is online gaming the future of gaming? I think not. Online gaming will play a part in the fututre and sure some people will still play it through narrowband but with a rise of Internet prices I think it's unlikely that that axe is big enough to fell the gaming tree.
The root of your argument is the relience on online gaming in the future. Even though half the nation is online, I doubt the future of gaming will rest on online shoulders. Here's why.
You're online right now reading this. What connection are you using? Apart from some of the lucky ones (Bonus, Reaper) most of you will be dialed up using a 56K modem. Well, it's says 56K on the box but the maximum is around 46K on Britain's phone network. Even then, realistic download speed is more in the region of 4kbps, if you're lucky. The main reasons for this are
a) It's available to everyone
and b) It's cheap.
1p/min online, less if you're on contract, you can see why a lot of people are online. Although a modem is perfectly fine for normal surfing, gaming is another matter.
Now, anyone who's ever playd an online game over a modem will know it's poor. Very poor. Your character is sluggish and the refresh rate is hideous. You're shooting someone who's apparently standing there but 2 seconds later you find out he's actully run round your back and has killed you. Online gaming is near impossible without broadband.
Broadband is the future of online gaming, granted. The problem is, how many people will pay for broadband? Nearly a third of Britain think narrowband (modem) Internet is too expensive so what chance will they give broadband? There's also another thing to consider. Not many people have broadband available. I really want ADSL and I am prepared to give up my pocket money for it but if I phoned up BT or NTL they'd say something like "I'm sorry, our new Internet services are not currently available in your area." Translated to: ""orry, you live in the middle of nowhere and we have more important places to consider." Chances are I will never see more than 56K in my little village. That peeves me but it's a fact so I live with it. OK, here's some more facts about broadband:
a) It's a permanent connection
b) It costs loads to install
c) It doesn't cost as much as you'd think monthly
d) It's not available in many areas
e) It's bloody quick and reliable
f) Britain is way behind the whole of Europe and parts of Asia in terms of availability and price
So yes, broadband is the future of online gaming but if it's so limited is online gaming the future of gaming? I think not. Online gaming will play a part in the fututre and sure some people will still play it through narrowband but with a rise of Internet prices I think it's unlikely that that axe is big enough to fell the gaming tree.
yeah, it does, I needed to change it, and I decided to rip-off Radiohead, sorry about that, maybe I should change it to, lets see.....
Throw it in the fire...no!
When I am King...NO!
Supply and demand....NOOOO!
Ah, forget it!
Throw it in the fire...no!
When I am King...NO!
Supply and demand....NOOOO!
Ah, forget it!
Does your tagline refer to a certain song, by the way?
Too busy to read anything else.
Too busy to read anything else.
Plenty of ppl have spelt it wrong don't go hard on yourself.
Yeah, the computer hardware industry is what I said was on the decline.
The actual sales of computer software are higher now than ever before. The games industry is in a trough because it is in a transitional period, but things will only improve. What is effecting the sales of companies os competition. The free market is forcing companies to throw together thebest possible packages at the cheapest posible prices because they want to tempt consumers away from their regular suppliers, but alas, lower prices and better packages means less profit, so no one makes any money.
Great, I can't even spell FUTURE now!
Bah!
Bah!
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